THIS 486-page, privately-published book was co-authored and released at Brisbane, Australia, in time to go on sale at the Maudsley Family Reunion held at Boonara (about three hours' drive north-west of Brisbane) in 1988 - Australia's Bicentennial Year.
Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives: A History Of The Maudsley Family contains 60 indexed, extensively-illustrated chapters, covering the genealogy of the Maudsley Family which originated in the Long Preston district of North Yorkshire, England.
The earliest traces of this family date back to 1500. Other counties they were associated with include Westmorland and Lancashire.
The professionally printed, soft-cover book (only 1,000 copies of which were ever produced) was named runner-up in the 1988 Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies' annual Alexander Henderson Award.
It went on to be judged runner-up in the inaugural Queensland Family History Society Annual Family History Awards in 1992.
The book traces the origins and genealogy of the early English family by uncovering the pedigree and life story of village coal dealer and sometime colonial experience man, Richard Maudsley (1822-1920), who, at the age of 44, left the village of Holme, Westmorland, and emigrated to Australia in 1866.
Richard, his wife, Agnes (nee Booker, of the same family which established the renowned Booker Prize for Literature), and their seven children booked passage aboard the renowned American-built packet clipper, Queen of the Colonies
The group's destination was Brisbane, Queensland...en route to cotton and sugar plantations established by entrepreneurs, George and Richard Board, in virgin scrubland at Pimpama (located just north of one of present-day Australia's famous international tourist drawcard, Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast).
The co-authors have compiled a fulsome, extensively illustrated biography for Richard and Agnes, as well as each of their seven children, and the first Australian-born generation - Richard and Agnes Maudsley's grandchildren...all 48 of them!
Compiled using professional historical research techniques - both within Queensland and England - a feature of Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives: A History Of The Maudsley Family is its use of maps and black and white illustrations to illustrate the narrative.
Blending the use of never-before-published photographs, as well Family Tree Charts with each biographical chapter, the book uncovers an array of essential statistics for the family up until the time of publishing.
Utilising best-practice local history interview techniques, the authors have also sprinkled the text with numerous amusing and often-touching first-person reminiscences by family members.
Apart from being an irreplaceable, reference work for anyone with any link to the "Maudsley" (or "Mawdesley" or "Maudslay") surname, this unique book would be an asset for Family History Centres, Genealogical Libraries and Educational Instiututions.
Dozens of other families naturally have become intertwined with the family down through the centuries and the book features many surnames.

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