A family-historian's account of the research and recollections about Phoebe Louisa Morgan, a significant mother for at least two Australian families: Clarke and Aird. The research is factual, while the recollections are anecdotal. The facts include hard information on the family history, and generalities about conditions and attitudes of the times. The recollections are mainly those of Frederica (Rica) Cooke, a desendent of Phoebe. The Victorian goldfields of the 1850's are brought very much alive by the stories here, as is the history of the Murray-river town of Echuca. The tenor of the book generates for the reader a personal involvement with the events and people it portrays. A good read for anyone interested in Australian goldfield times: and invaluable for descendents of Phoebe (of which I am one - a great-great-grandson!).