Greetings visitors,

My name is Doug (Douglas Alexander) Long and I am the from the 6th generation of  Longs that have come from William Long.

William Long (my oldest ancestor to enter Australia and paternal great great great Grandfather) was born in England in 1791

He became a soldier in the 3rd Regiment of Buffs which are one of the oldest  regiments in the standing army of England which began in 1660. Their more official name is the Royal East Kent Regiment of Foot. Hopefully one day I will get to England and visit their Regimental Museum in Kent to find out more about them. I don't know a lot of his history, but I know the Buffs fought in the Napoleonic Wars  in the Iberian peninsula and in the 1812 war against the USA.

It would seem from the fact that my Great Great Grandfather William Long was born in St Omer France in 1818 that his abovementioned father's regiment was amongst the occupying forces in France after the Battle of Waterloo. I do know that the Buffs did not get to Waterloo in time for that battle.

Apparently the Buffs originally arrived in Sydney around 1822, I think in the ship "The Commodore Hayes" and subsequently different detachments were sent to different places. His detachment was sent to Tasmania. In searching records in the Australian Genealogy Society I also found one Morris Long also in the same regiment whose detachment was sent to Port Macquarie, a half hour north of where I grew up on the mid north coast of NSW. I wonder if they were related?

He moved with his first wife - Charlotte Montague Heaney - to the central coast of New South Wales (where she passed away in 1863). Their first child William James Long (my great Grandfather) subsequently married Maria Bartlett and they moved farther north to the mid north coast of New South Wales. Their youngest child (of 10)was Abraham Long who was my Grandfather. So there we have the progression of the paternal Long line down to my father then me. Interesting it ran eldest child for 3 generations, but hasn't maintained that order ever since.

I'm also proud of my Scottish heritage where I can trace my great great grandfather's (William McKay) arrival in Australia May 1853 on the "Derry Castle". His wife Isabella (maiden name McMillan)came out with their 2 children already born, just under a year later in April 1855 on "Ellon Castle". McKay is the surname of my paternal grandmother's grandfather as abovementioned. There is also another Scottish connection through my paternal grandmother's side. Her grandfather,Henry Arnott was a Scot married to an Englishwoman, Sarah Clarke.

On my mum's side, the Mathews; she tells me they were Sots who settled in Ireland, but I've had no luck tracing them back earlier than 3 generations. However the Australian Archives has given me interesting reading through her uncles'and father's war records of the Boer War and WW1.

Hopefully with time and patience I will learn more about them all.

Mind you, it has been nothing short of amazing finding out a little about all the  Longs who spread from Tasmania, throughout Tasmania, Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales and even a couple in Western Australia.

I've now had contact with 6 different descendants, one still with the name of Long,  since discovering on this and other websites.

I must give a big thank you to Dianne Wilkinson from South Australia, a descendant of the Longs who moved to South Australia. I first stumbled on one her family trees from a google search and discovered so much of my family history in one go. Also it's been great to catch up with Brian Long in Victoria and Nadine Long in Tasmania who've both given me further information about the Longs in those states.

Also I must give a big thank you to the lovely ladies of the Camden Haven Historical Society whose wonderful little museum is located in the historic Laurieton School of Arts at which I attended many dances and balls in my teenage years. Also a special mention to Pat Longworth who went to the trouble of mailing me a hard copy of some valuable family history information. I look forward to catching up with those ladies and also meeting Pat next time I'm home.

If you find any connections here with your family please email me so we can share information.

Regards all,
 Doug Long