Family members of locally born William John McClelland and Myra Ellen Brodie are set to return to Grenfell this September for a family reunion and are calling for extended family relatives to reach out and join.
William was the fourth of 11 children born to Andrew Robert McClelland and Sarah Jane Simpson who were married in 1875 and arrived in Grenfell in late 1875/ early 1976
His siblings include Jane (1876), Sarah (1879), Andrew (1882), William (1883), Samuel (1886), Susan (1887), Arthur (1890), Frederick (1890), Agnes (1893), Hubert (1898), and James.
Myra was born in Jindabyne 1892, the eleventh of 13 children of William Brodie and Agnes (nee Woodsman).
Sadly her mother died in 1896 shortly after the birth of her thirteenth child.
Her siblings (mostly born in Jindbyne) include: Mary (1873), John (1876), Annie (1877), Margaret (1879), Walter (1881), Florence (1883), Archibald (1885), (Unnamed born in 1887), Laurence (1888), Isabel (1890), Ida (1894) and Angnes (1896).
Myra was married to William under the surname Spencer and her marriage certificate nominates her father as Spencer.
One of William and Myra's granddaughters, Carol Marks, along with her cousins have been the driving forces behind the family reunion, set to take place in Grenfell from September 6-8 and are encouraging extended family members of the McLelland and Simpson families to reach out come to the family reunion.
Mrs Marks said although they were mostly a tight knit bunch as kids, with nine aunts and uncles, there were many cousins who grew up in various parts of Australia, adulthood, careers and marriages took them further afield.
There will be a meet and greet on Saturday, 6 September at the Criterion Hotel from noon, with a dinner at the Bowling Club at 6pm.
On the Sunday, Mrs Marks said they will be going through a tour of Grenfell on a coach.
As of this stage there are 30 extended family members to head back to Grenfell for the reunion, across three generations.
For those wanting to get in touch and find out more about the family reunion, send an email to Carol Marks at deadroc04@yahoo.com.au