John and Charlotte Nye and the first six children left England to find a better life in Australia, landing in Portland, Victoria in 1851 after 3 months at sea. Osborne, their seventh child, was born at Mt. Rouse, Victoria where the family worked on a sheep station owned by Matthew Gibb.

During the Australian gold rush, the family leased a home in Warrnambool and a farm in Wangoom, Victoria and began hauling goods from the port to the gold mines in Ballarat and Bendigo, becoming quite prosperous.

Suddenly, in 1858, the family made the momentous decision to sell everything they owned and start walking to Sydney with a goal of migrating to the USA. Halfway to Sydney they became bogged down by the weather and spent the winter in Beechworth, Victoria. Misfortune befell them, the family split up, and some headed for South America while the others made plans to go to California.

Two years later the family was reunited near San Francisco, California, and travelled by wagon train to Utah.

Their extraordinary adventures have been thoroughly researched and compiled in a compelling book. Readers have said they cannot put it down and descendants of the family should not be without their own copy.

THE NYE FAMILY Mormon Converts in Victoria 1852-1859 by Michael C. Bouy and Janice Nye Lutz