A Thunderbolt from the past: uncovering the skeletons in the family tree We’re sorry, this service is currently unavailable. Please try again later. Dismiss Normal text size Advertisement Once upon a not-too-distant past, having a criminal or an orphan as a distant relative, especially one like Thomas Mason who ran with the notorious bushranger Thunderbolt, was conveniently omitted from a family tree. Now state records are “a rich vein for family historians”, said Ruth Graham, the chief executive of the Society of Australian Genealogists. The pandemic had resulted in a marked interest in people wanting to find out more about their own family.