Family History

The purpose of this publication and now website has been to give you an insight into the Buerckner Family history. I believe there is a need to record more of our family’s history. Too many people believe history only deals with what happened 70 or 80 years ago. We are living history all the time and it is surprising what we forget of the past five, 10 or 20 years. 

Please don’t look on this book\website as a definitive history book\website. It contains many gaps and omissions. Our purpose has been to record what was available at the time for you to peruse, discuss and let us know what’s missing, so the next person can do a better job on a future publication. 

In writing this book\website, much time has been spent in researching records in Australia and overseas in places such as England, Poland and Germany for information that was a struggle to obtain. Many gaps remain due to the fact that records have been destroyed or thrown out. Because of this frustration, I have been unable to reach back beyond 1800. 

It has been interesting and enjoyable to make connections with other Buerckners and to discover the history of the various areas where our ancestors lived. It is easy to understand the desire of Carl Wilhelm Buerckner to venture to this proposed wheat-growing colony on the other side of the world. He left his family and, at a young age, travelled with fellow German emigrants in 1849 to Port Phillip Bay. 

In the 150 years since arriving in Australia, the Buerckner Family has had success and triumph on many occasions, and also hardships and sadness through which they survived. Hard work and determination to succeed have done them and us proud. After discovering where my ancestors have come from and what they have achieved, I feel very honoured to be called a Buerckner. 

I could not have compiled this history without the help and response to requests for information from a number of people. I sincerely thank everybody responsible. Special thanks must go to Jenny Buerckner, my wife, for all the days and long nights we have spent researching the history of the Buerckner Family. I could not have done it without her. Should there be errors and gaps in the records, I apologise to those concerned. I would ask you to please contact me to rectify the error. I hope in the future that someone will add to these records. 

I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. 

Craig Buerckner
Sept 2001