00. Introduction

Preface to the Web Edition (revised 26 December 2007)

This web version of The Cossticks is based upon a family history I had been researching since the mid 1970s and finally published privately in 1999.

Like any family history this story is not, and never will be, finished. I would however ask the visitor to this site to help me make it more complete by adding their comments and emailing extra information, and I thank those who have already provided feedback and contributions.

The published family history has extensive footnotes and source notes that are not included here. On some pages the footnotes were almost as extensive as the information contained in the main narrative.

While I have listed sources of my information in the Bibliography at the end, should the reader seek clarification of any details or the sources of information please do not hesitate to contact me. I would be happy to share additional information with the enquirer.

A comprehensive family-tree containing several thousand names was also included in the original publication. An abbreviated Family Tree Chart is included here. Details are available upon request.

This story was originally written to trace the origins of the Cosstick family in Australia. Most Cosstick descendants in this country were aware that six brothers of the Cosstick family came to Victoria during the 1850s, and that one of them, Sam, became a somewhat legendary cricketer. But most people were not aware that there were at least another seven brothers and sisters in that family. One sister, Mary, went to New South Wales. Another branch of the family, descended from the earlier ancestor, Thomas Coulstock, came to Sydney during the early 1900s. Another branch went to Canada and the United States. Some of the Australian Cossticks also went to Canada and others to New Zealand.

Nearly one hundred and fifty years later the Cosstick descendants number in the thousands. That is hardly surprising when we consider the size of some of the early families - ten, twelve, even fifteen children were common.

This narrative makes no attempt to tell the story of all of the descendants. That would be an impossible task. The main emphasis has been upon the six brothers and extending in the best way that I could backwards and forwards from the 1850s. In some cases, as with my own line of descent, I was able to find a substantial amount of information, and that is included for the benefit of those readers related to that line.

One family is inevitably related to many others and I have decided to include brief excursions into the stories of other families which were related to the Cossticks - the Henderson, Martin, Matthews, and Reeves families for example. The Hamilton family, connected to the Cossticks through marriages to John and William Cosstick in the early 1860s, have had their story told in my previous Family Chronicles volume, The Hamiltons 1762-1862, a version of which is linked to this web site.

The story of the Cossticks in Australia is inseparably linked to the story of the town of Amherst. It once had a population of forty thousand. Today the visitor would be lucky to find a dozen people living there. I have therefore included a substantial chapter on the development of that town and the events of the 1850s and 1860s. Those who have a greater interest in the history of the town might like to refer to my Master of Education Thesis from 1986, The History of Education in the Amherst and Talbot Districts 1836-1862.

There have been many who have helped along the way. They are listed in footnotes and in the acknowledgements. I thank them all.

I am adding photographs, maps and other graphic material to this web site. There is a page of unidentified photographs also included - should you recognise any of the people in the Photo Gallery please let me know who they are.

Should the reader discover, as you will, errors or omissions, I urge you to let me know so that the next edition might put the record straight.

Douglas Wilkie
December 2007