hey pam

thanks for your message i am just sending you an email as well.

I havn't as yet been able to do a lot of research on John Lofts. From the info that i already have is that John and Mary lived together before they were married and possible had children out of wedlock.
It is most intriguing though that there as of yet has been no further documentation of Sarah Ayres or Mary Ayres, John's mother.
With the Halladay surnames being spelt differently as is Ayres it is very hard and confusing at times, which one it might be. Persons filling out forms would have spelt them to which they thought was right. On the documentation of the family's arrival in Victoria they have the surname spelt as Holliday. This is because Sarah's sister Ann [aged 20] emigrated at the same time, on the same ship 'Monteagle'. This comes from the Victorian Public Records Office online search.