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So many stories have come down to me about my remarkable family going right back to escaping from France in an open boat in 1572. There was a great-grandfather who was City Surveyor of the Melbourne Corporation and a remarkable hero, Sir James D'Ombrain, who refused to follow Westminster orders and delivered grain, aboard the revenue cruisers, to the starving in Ireland during the potato famine. Then at age ninety I am blessed with a clear memory going right back to the days when I was but three years old. I have so many memories I wish to share. Some are amusing and some hard to believe. There are simple stories that bring life to many family members I have known, past and present. A love of the sea and craft that sail upon it is also woven through the text. I tell stories of friends, and people whose contributions to society should not be forgotten. I tell the story of how I came to establish a ground-breaking tertiary music education program. I share my reflections on war, religion and politics and tell some amazing tales of closer contact with our remarkable First Nations’ Australians. Our family has long displayed a passion for botanical and zoological pursuits. It is appropriate that I conclude the book with a few unbelievable stories about my encounters with birds. In all my stories I am somewhere in the middle closely watching life’s cavalcade.
