On the weekend of 22-23 March 2025, about 60 descendants of Old Tom & Sarah Brown (mostly from their son, Thomas Jnr’s son, Benjamin’s line, plus a few representatives from Tom & Sarah’s other children: Stephen, Harriet, James, Benjamin, and Elias lines) met together at Dalton for a fantastic gathering. We shared resources and stories, as well as honoured 88yo Ronnie Brown, a great-grandson of Old Tom & Sarah, and the patriarch of the Ben & Janet Brown clan.

First, we all met together for a BBQ lunch at the Dalton Cricket Ground on Saturday, and had a leisurely afternoon of chatting, photographs, and reading the many documents and family history posters on display.

Then, at 5:30pm, we all retreated to the Royal Dalton Hotel for a delicious dinner in the beer garden.

On Sunday morning, some of us visited the Dalton Cemetery where the Brown name dominates the headstones in the Methodist section.

At 9am, the Dalton Methodist School Hall was opened up, displaying more old photographs, documents, and church / Sunday School memorabilia.

At 10am, we all met at the Dalton Uniting Church (AKA Wesley Vale Methodist Church) where the local layman from Gunning UCA led a short Church service, honouring the legacy left by the Brown / Holgate / Starr / Southwell, etc families. Watch a video of the 30min Church service.

This was followed by a light luncheon in the Dalton Town Hall.

Then, a cavalcade made their way out to “Oak Retreat”, a few kilometres south of Dalton, to view a cairn that had been set up in 1986 honouring Tom & Sarah.

The first steps towards planning the TB200 celebrations in 2038 were also discussed.

To see the photos, documents, headstones, and family trees gathered at this weekend, tap here: