To The Great Southern Land

In the smoke-choked streets of 1830s London, where iron-shod wheels rattled over cobblestones and the hum of industry heralded a new age, a boy was born who would unknowingly ignite a legacy spanning continents. Robert Bantin, son of the bustling city, and Mary Barrett, raised among the green hills of Surrey, came from worlds apart, but their destinies collided beneath the soaring arches of old St Pancras Church in 1855.

From that moment, their lives became a tale of love, courage, and relentless determination. Leaving everything familiar, they boarded a ship bound for the far reaches of the British Empire, chasing opportunity and a future beyond imagination in Sydney, Australia.

But this story begins far earlier, in the bloodlines that shaped them: the hardworking Bantin, Drewe, and Quicke clans; and the steadfast Barrett, Avenell, and Crouch families, rooted in rural toil, royal courts, Viking shores, and Plantagenet grandeur. Across centuries, their ancestors weathered the rise and fall of monarchs, wars, plagues, and revolutions, their lives intertwined with the great sweep of English history.

Meticulously researched over four decades, ‘To The Great Southern Land’ blends genealogy, historical narrative, and vivid storytelling to uncover the trials, triumphs, and quiet heroics of ordinary people living through extraordinary times, from the reign of Rollo, to the Australian gold rushes and the dawn of Federation.

This is more than history, it is an unforgettable tribute to those who dared to dream, to leave, to build, and to endure. Step into their world, and follow the thread that binds past to present.

Author Biography

Dr Tracy Rockwell (1955) originally taught in both primary and high schools and was later appointed as a lecturer in the Faculty of Education at SydneyUniversity, where he spent 25 years, ahead of launching out on his own as an author, artist, and scholar. As a sportman he was a swimmer, surf lifesaver, rugby player, a NSW representative water polo player, and in 2021 was Oceanic Indoor Rowing champion for his age group. With a penchant forhistory he has written widely and published Water Warriors: Chronicle of Australian Water Polo’ in 2009, receiving the ‘Harry Quitter Medal’ for hiscontribution to Australian Water Polo. He is also an avid genealogist and continues his ‘Rockwell Genealogies’ with this publication.