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Thankyou for your reply. I hadn't realised they were childhood friends. I assume that was from when Henry moved to Birmingham when he was quite young. It is all very fascinating.

Hello, I have not been on this site for a while but I am researching a relative of mine, Henry Parkes who emigrated to Australia in the late 1830s and was friends with John Hornblower, printer who also emigrated to Australia shortly before Parkes. I am assuming that this is the John Hornblower...

Just to re-cap more. I don't need to know the maiden name of Robert Varney's wife, Clarinda. That would be interesting but not necessary to my search here. I guess my aim is to research and write a novel based around the life of Clarinda Varney/Parkes. Any info I could find out about her life...

I am very interested in Clarinda Varney/Parkes life. There is a fair amount known in Australia about Henry's political achievements but not much about the woman who stood beside him. I suppose my main aim is to find out more about her life and situation in Birmingham. There are a lot of...

Could I add another query? I know that Clarinda and Henry's first two children died in infancy while they still lived in Birmingham and were buried there. This would have been in 1837 and 1838. Any information on these infants would be great. Their next child, Clarinda as well, was born in...

Wow. This is fantastic! it looks like Clarinda Parkes mother was also Clarinda and died in 1825 when Clarinda would have been 12 years old. I think the step mother who she didn't get on with must have been Ann Varney. I'm not entirely sure who Sarah was or why Dinah Parkes would have been...

Just re-read your Parkes suggestion. Yes, this probably was Henry Parkes. As I said in previous post, his father was Thomas. I have only read that he was a bone and ivory turner but I know he tried his hand at lots of things. He and Clarinda sailed to Sydney in 1839. From his humble...

Thank you! John Varney's father, Robert, was a whipmaker so this sounds promising. Clarinda and Henry left the UK in 1839 so the other Thomas Henry Parkes is probably a relative. I'm pretty sure Henry's father was Thomas. I'd love to find out about the women in the family - Clarinda's mother...

I'm researching my family history for a possible book. I'm Australian and my ancestors came from Birmingham in the 1830s. My great great grandmother was Clarinda Varney whose father was Robert Varney and brother John Varney. I know her mother died and she did not get on with her step-mother...