I have a couple of blog post about using this wonderful site. Not conclusive postings but good starters. You'll find them on my page. Be sure to search the groups for all your surnames to see if there is one and then if you have a special interest in things like Ancestry.com or footnote, there are groups here for those as well. A great group I believe everyone would benefit from joining is the GenWise Member 2 member peer group.

I have a Confederate Ancestor group and Texas Cemeteries and Texas Ghost Towns and Rev War Ancestors, plus some others so be sure you get around here. This is a real jewel of a website!

Thanks Sherry, I'll check those site out. I'm so excited....... lol

I am interested in the Merritt family.

In particular a John Merritt born about 1829 in Chatham Upper Canada to Stephen Merritt and Ruth Emily Baker.

John came to Australia in 1853 and married Catherine McDonald an Irish girl born in Laois

Birth:
About 1829 in Chatham, Ontario, Canada
Death:
14 Aug 1886 in Drouin West, Victoria, Australia
Sex:
M
Father:
Stephen Merritt b. About 1800 Carpenter
Mother:
Ruth Emily Baker b. About 1800
Immigration: About 1853 Australia
Occupation: Farmer
Married: Catherine McDonald (Wife) b. About Oct 1838 in Laois, Ireland

From this website
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jhcna...
 
 Hope we have the same family line, but think its a long shot.

Cheers
Kieran Merritt