We are going to Port Macquarie on Saturday we have been going there for 15 years and stay at Edgewater Caravan Park Which is at Hibbard on the Hastings River. There is the remnants of an old convict cemetery on the edge of the park grounds it has about 4 visible head stones scattered on the ground. Every year I take a walk to see the graves the locals tell me that Hibbard was a convict settlement for the purpose of cutting timber. The inscriptions are very hard to read as the sandstone has erroded away. There is one headstone that I can just make out the year 182.??? if I read between the missing letters It looks like R or K Davies. I'm very interested in finding out who these old souls are. I know that we have Davies ancestors in Port Macquarie. We have just inherited a Jewish bible (Siddur) it's origin is Polish with a hand written history dating back to the 1600's. We are not Jewish but it seems the Davies married Jewish women at some point and the Davies family features prominently from the early 1800's. This bible has been handed down to the first born son of a Davies and now my son will inherit it at some point and so will his new baby son and we will continue the tradition by adding our history to it. This bible is currently in Port Macquarie and has been deciphered by a Rabbi who says this bible is one of the very first to come to Australia and is a very rare edition in excellent order. The hand written history has filled in a lot of gaps for the early Jewish Society in Australia and Tasmania. I will be bringing it back on return from our holidays. It may be able to help others on the trail of the Davies mob who roamed far and wide all over the world. They were quite the adventurers David Davies b.1836 his son became a bushranger and changed his name from Davies to Edward Davis he was known as the JewBoy Gang and eventually he was hung. I see that I've got carried away my original question was how to find out about the grave sites and if I can claim Mr Davies as my descendant.
I would be very happy to share my extensive family history with anyone interested.
Regard Ann Davies

Correction: The Jewish bible I refered to in my post is not a bible but a prayer book. Also Edward Davies the Jewish bush ranger was the son of Michael John Davies. David Davies was Michael's Grandson.
I've returned home from Port Macquarie loaded up with lots of family history. I bought historical books on Port Macquarie and visited the old cemetery. A lot of the very early headstones are not very legible so I bought a booklet called If I could just see Your face put out by the Port Macquarie Historical society some years ago they translated most of the inscriptions into this booklet so the information wouldn't be lost. I also got a book called the windingsheet it has some great information on most of the convicts that were sent to Port Macquarie when it was a penal colony and the families that settled there. I'm willing to share this info if anyone is interested. The four graves I spoke of at Hibbard were of William Brown b.1817 d.1855, George Smith b.1829 d.1857, John Cockburn Johnstone b.1823 d.1856, James Young b.1798 d.1856. I was able to find these names in the booklet. I also found the grave of David Davies b.1823 in England and died 1836 aged 13 he was the son of Michael John Davies a convict transported for seven years. Michael is also the original owner of Jewish prayer book I spoke about in my last post.

Regards
Ann Davies

Hello I am interested in the book windingsheet you were talking about that has information on convicts in Port Macquarie. I am hoping you can help me as there is very little information available for that area. My interest is Thomas Rae/Wreay/Wray who arrived in PM as a convict in 1835. Also Henry Sutton settler of port macquarie. Any information would be greatful.
Regards
karen

Hi Karen,
I've checked in the windingsheet book and I'm sorry to say I can't find anything on the names you mentioned. If I had seen your posting earlier I could have done some digging around for you. We've been in Port Mac this last week and only got home today. Sorry I couldn't help you.
Cheers
Ann

Hi Ann
I am a 3rd great grand-daughter of Michael John Davies descended through his son John. I am also in touch with another direct descendant of George Louis Asher. We would be most interested in exchanging information about our families. Our information is quite extensive but I would particularly like to explore earlier than Michael.
Regards
Faye

To Faye,

I am also a third great grand-daughter of Michael John Davies descended through his eldest son John, then John George, then Cecil Bertrand (my grandfather) and Kenneth Bertrand - all eldest sons. I have been in touch with Ann and would like to get in touch with you. My cousin and I have been trying to piece together the family tree from Michael Davies down all branches and also would like to know more of the earlier ancestors. We have managed to get the branches from John George and Charles Ellis Davies, the 2 brothers who became Davies Brothers owning the newspaper The Mercury in Hobart. There were a number of siblings of those brothers of whom we have little or no detail about their descendants.
Can you help?

Judith

Hi Judith
It's nice to get in touch with your part of the Davies family. We have been trying for years without much success previously. I am still hoping to hear from Ann, and have tried a few places. Maybe you could email me directly on flbgen@optusnet.com.au and we can arrange to swap information.
Regards, Faye

I am a descendant of James Young who was buried at the old cemetery. He owned the place when it was called Hamilton having bought it from Sarah Maria Hamilton in 1850. John Cockburn Johnstone was his son-in-law. I don't know who George Smith or William Brown were but family stories say they were men who worked on the property which at that stage was a vineyard. The last burials of the total of six graves were Dr Carlyle who died on 8 Sept 1844 and Claudia, the young daughter of Mrs Hamilton. There is a memorial to Dr Carlyle inside St Thomas Church in Port Macquarie. I don't think any of them were convicts. The graves were originally where the caravan park is now - the headstones were moved some years ago and now there are only four of them. Hope this fills in gap or two for you.
Regards, Jennifer Willmott.