Charles L Commins (b 1832) left England for New Zealand in 1851, and then it seems he went to Melbourne where "he obtained the assistant clerkship of the Legislative Council in that city which post he continued to fill till his retirement with a pension in 1894." (Emma Commins). He married Annie Hunter and they had 11 children.

Charles A Commins (b 1857) was their first born. "A great diversion to me .... was the arrival in England of my two little nephews Charlie and Johnnie." (Johnnie is presumably the second child of Charles Liburn Commins and Annie Hunter. This was in 1863, so presumably they were born in New Zealand or Australia and were sent back to England for some purpose. Charles could not join the Navy because of poor eyesight, and "he made up his mind to be a solicitor." (Emma Commins). He succeeded, because he was a lawyer in Bairnsdale, after it seems he headed back to Australia "before his 16th birthday."