I enjoyed very much Brian’s book, reading it from cover to cover. We would be excused to think that the book would mainly be of interest for the Menzies family but it’s not the case at all. Brian cleverly uses his great great grand-father as a vector into this account, for the purpose of depicting the life in these times in their many different aspects, such as the trip from England to Australia, the growth of Brisbane, the early beginning of sports, when players were not even sure yet what game they were playing or for how long. The weather, the city lighting, the visit of the prince Alfred, the politics are documented into many details, creating some kind of fascinating report full of information. This book is a must have for families whose ancestors migrated to Brisbane or Australia at the same time as Pawky John. I migrated only to Australia some 20 years ago but I felt however a great interest in discovering the city of Brisbane and the life there in the infancy of the Queensland colony, so different from the history you learn when you’re a European kid, like discovering a parallel universe that was existing at the same time. You also can’t help but noticing the incredible amount of research work done here by Brian. Well done!

Jean-Marc     29th January 2020