This site is dedicated to 
                                      My Uncle
                               
                                 JOHN BRIAN HARRISON 
                                     1935 - 2004


Hello and welcome to my family.
Let me introduce myself.  I am Christine May Brooks nee Pinniger.  The eldest child of
Maurice John Pinniger and Sheila May Harrison, the eldest Grandchild of Frederick 
Percy Harrison and Sarah Jane Bowring, Granddaughter of Robert Remfrey Pinniger and 
Elsie Weal, Mother of three and Grandmother of six, and I am going to tell you a 
story. 
A story that spans hundreds of years, a story that I will leave behind, so that my
children and grandchildren and future generations will know who they are and where 
they came from.

This has been and still is a labour of love, an unfinished Symphony, a never ending
story.  I have tried to include not only people but a bit about the times that they
lived in and some interesting facts. My relatives range from a Bishop to a dustman,
from jewellers to labourers and some strange occupations in between.   I moved away
from my Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and cousins when I was 10 years old and came to
live in Australia with my parents and Sister Wendy.  I also spent many years out here
in Australia without my parents and sister as they chose to go back to England and as 
I was married with a child I stayed here with my husband. Maybe that is why 'Family' 
is so important to me, to feel a sense of belonging is so important. I missed my 
family  so very much.  I am happy to say that we are all together again now, and we 
know we belong. But the stories along the way are amazing. 
 
I have dedicated this site to my Uncle John, (John Brian Harrison, 1935 - 2004). 
He started all this interest and I was so fortunate to get his notes, information and
photographs kindly given to me by my Aunt Brenda, and my cousin Jackie. He had some
great information and put me on the right path in the search for family on the 
Harrison and Bowring side,  and through his research I have found family that I had 
no idea existed.
My extreme gratitude also goes to my cousin Lyn Price, who set 
me well on the way to discovering the Pinniger side of my family, she had previously 
researched our family many years ago, and it has been a great basis on which  to 
continue. Lyn shared so much information with me that I have now been able to track 
back and back and back.

This Family research would not have been possible without the dedicated research 
of my Mother Sheila, who would have to be one of the most tenacious researchers I 
have ever met, ask her to find a date or an event  and 99 times out of a hundred she 
will, and also she has a remarkable memory...thank goodness.  She gave me the love of 
all things family, and encouraged my thirst for knowledge.

Many thanks to all the members of my family that have contributed in some way and especially Claire, Rick, Jackie, Aunty Brenda and my very special Munca Marg, who have helped with information and photos on the Bowring side, to my Aunty Amy, who had wonderful photos on the Pinniger side  A special thanks to the American leg of our  large family, who gave me great trails to follow, and to the newest members of  the 'Harrison' clan that found me Ron and Craig...well what can I say, you see Craig  you are not alone..there are hundreds of us,  and a special thank you to Matt and  Geoff for all their information on Alexander

Lastly but by no means least, this is also for my wonderful, loving, story telling
Grandfather, Frederick Percy Harrison, who started his own search in the late 1950's
along with my father, searching for his mothers grave in Scotland.
He never 
found her resting place, but thanks to his wonderful family, we now know where 
Charlotte is resting, and I do feel he is watching over and he is very pleased.  My 
Granddad always told us stories when we were children, and I know as the eldest 
grandchild he told the same stories to me as he told to Wendy, Susan, and Barbara, 
Jackie, Kevin, and  Paul, Andrew, Sandra and Ian and his favourite was: I'll tell you 
a story about John Dorey now my story's begun, and I'll tell you another about his 
brother, and now my story's done.



The time has passed since we used to look for 4 leaf clovers in his garden, 
because the promise of half a crown if we found one was a fortune, (no one ever found 
any), it kept us busy for hours, who was the most silly, us children or my Granddad, 
it kept us quiet, gone are the days when my Grandfather used to sprinkle tiger dustin 
his garden to keep the tigers away. (and Sandra never ever saw a tiger so it must 
have worked).  

I have my grandfathers dictionary, the one I used to look through every time I 
was there, and yes my name is still in the back...how amazing.  And as I write this I 
am resting my feet on his footstool.  My what a family I have, what wonderful 
memories, and now thanks to so many people I have new memories to share with you 
all.


I have made this site and have included all of my family.  You will find each 
family very different, Harrison, Bowring, Critchell, Pinniger, Axon and Weal.  This
covers all of my grandparents on both sides, because each one of them is as important
as the other, and through their actions and deeds it shapes us to be who we are. I 
hope you find it interesting and I hope you find out some things that you didn't know.


As you can see by looking at this family history, I have a lot more information to
collect, lots of dates and events to find.  I can imagine that I will be working on it
for years.  Don't forget to come back and check every now and then to find new photos
and information. I don't guarantee all of the information is 100% correct but it is 
to the best of my knowledge.  Please remember this is no where near finished I add to 
it daily, but I wanted to share with you the start of it all.
If I have made any errors please contact me and let me know, and also if you are part
of this enormous family and want to add something please feel free to do so.

Don't forget to sign the guest book, just to let me know that you have passed by..it's nice to know when you have had a visitor.

So let's go read John Dorey's's story, it's just a click away.

Christine 2008