Brian - great to hear from you. Our Walter thomas COFF came to Australia circa 1851 when gold was first discovered in Ballarat in the state of victoria. Prior to that he had been a coal miner in ? Liverpool where he was born circa late 1829 - early 1830. Still haven't found his baptism listing yet - just a matter of time and digging. Our Walter had 4 sons - Walter Robert, Thomas, Wiliam and John COFF. William died a baby but the other 3 boys were left fatherless when Walter thomas COFF was killed in a mining acident in 1862 - his wife died 2 years later, leaving the 3 boys orphans. John was also killed in a near-identical mining acident to that of his father in 1898, but the sons Walter Robert and Thomas COFF lived to a ripe old age. I'm keen to trace the COFF connection to the USA because we know there was one. I don't know who our Walter Thomas COFF's brothers, etc were, but since he named his first-born son Walter, its a fair bet that Walter was the family name, with Walter being the first-born son in each line. He possibly had brothers or uncles named thomas, william and John - that's the way they named their children in those days. During WW2 one of Walter COFF's nephews visited the family of Thomas COFF in Fremantle, Western Australia, indicating that the family had somehow re-newed the family acquaintances when the orphaned boys grew up. If we can trace WW2 COFF veterans we may begin to trace the USA - Australia connection at least. We know that one of Walter's brother's went to north America after first coming to Australia circa 1851 - but it's possible that he went there for 2 reasons - the California gold, and because the boys already had relatives there. Detective work will find the connection, so please keep in touch. I can be contacted
smaiden@amitar.com.au Regards, Sandra