In mid 1871 John Smith, a respected book-keeper from Droylsden, England, became ill with tuberculosis. His doctor advised him to move to Australia for his health. In 1872 John, accompanied by his younger brother Alfred, left industrial England for a new life in the early farming settlement of Horsham, 300 km north-west of Melbourne, Victoria. In 1875 John's fiancée, Elizabeth Rawlinson, sailed from England to marry John. They went on to have six surviving sons: Harold, Egbert, Ethelbert, Wilfrid, Norman and Sidney. In 1877, John's brother, Alfred, took up an opportunity to lease, and ultimately purchase, uncleared land offered at low cost by the Victorian Government. John and Alfred became partners in this land and so began their careers in farming. The farm, named "Confluence", was near the junction of Norton Creek and the Wimmera River. Alfred, John and John's sons worked together as a successful farming enterprise and the sons' families grew. Five generations on, the numerous strands of the Smith family have been recorded here to show the lasting legacy created by John and Alfred's initial journey across the world.
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