My father was born on May 25th, 1860, at Ballarat in Victoria. His father was Richard English, one of a family of six born in Durham, England. His mother was Rebecca Colclough, one of eleven - who came from Kilkenny, Ireland. I assume that the two were unknown to one another until they chose to emigrate to Australia on "The Champion of the Seas" in December 1856. Rebecca's sister Matilda - of 16 years - accompanied her. I have no copy of their marriage certificate but assume that it would have been in 1869.

In 1911 Mr & Mrs Leary arrived in Melbourne from Ireland. They had married in London on the way. Ater a short stay in Melbourne during which time Mr Leary worked on the cable trams, they came to Ultima at the invitation of Mr Herbert Cuttle Snr. Ater working for a period with Cuttle's Mallee Stores the Learys "Selected" a government block of land at Boinka (pronounced bow-in-ka), a locality between Ouyen and the South Australian border.