Nedlands 1992

The earliest family reunion by descendants of Simon and Sophia Gribble that I am aware of was held in Nedlands WA at the home of Gordon (Charles) Gribble back in 1992. If my memory serves me correctly the motivation for the event was a combination of the family research being undertaken here in Victoria along with a realization by Gordon that the remaining members of the generation of his father were aging rapidly and that if anything was to be uncovered in the West concerning our family origins then prompt action was required. Gordon initiated a reunion to be held at his residence in the suburb of Nedlands.

This turned out to be a very successful event for a number of reasons. Basically there was an excellent representation of young and old Western Australian descendants of Charles and Kate Gribble along with a modest input from descendants of Charle's sister Lily May who had married Bob Lyon. The other development which apparently electrified those in attendance was the timely availability of historic family photos containing images of Simon, Sophia, William, and Charles Gribble amongst others. These had been provided to Peter and Janette for reproduction by Mavis Haynes a descendant of William Gribble.

A great if somewhat hot day was enjoyed by a mix of young (a baby) through elderly (Reg) and many in their teens and early twenties. As well as positioning oneself on a family tree attendees provided other details as occupation and educational qualifications which was later used in a presentation on change through the generations. Gordon astutely organised a semi professional video record of the day's activity which has proved interesting viewing in later years. Shortly after this reunion Gordon and Margaret were able to visit Cornwall and the village of Illogan. While attempting to uncover additional family history (of which we still knew little at this date) they were warmly welcomed by some Cornish descendants of the Trescowthicks (a Cornish family into which Simon's aunt had married) who were engaged in the mining industry internationally. Unfortunately this Cornish family was not able to shed any light on Gribble family origins.

The Ballarat reunion of 1998.
The Northcote reunion of 2004.