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First Minister's family tree
28/05/2009
First Minister Alex Salmond presented his distant relative from New Zealand with a Homecoming certificate at the Scottish Parliament after they met today for the first time.
Homecomer Susan McLean, originally from New Zealand but currently living in Melbourne Australia, has shared ancestry with the First Minister through their Great Great Grandfather Alexander Dobbie.
The First Minister extended a personal invitation to Susan and her husband, Thomas McLean, to return to Scotland to take part in the Homecoming 2009 celebrations after discussing their family tree on BBC Radio Scotland's "Digging up your roots", which aired in January. 
One of the key five themes of Homecoming is 'culture and heritage' and it is hoped Homecoming 2009 will attract some of Scotland's 40 million diaspora back 'home' to explore their roots.
Susan has been tracing her family history for 30 years. Her husband, Thomas McLean, is originally from Paisley and emigrated with his parents to Australia in 1951.
First Minister Alex Salmond said:
"I am delighted to welcome my distant relative Susan and her husband Thomas to Scotland during our Homecoming 2009 celebrations.
"Inspired by the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, Homecoming extends an invitation to people around the world, with a family link or an affinity for Scotland to come home, reconnect and play a part in the dynamic, modern country we are building.
"The wonderful work and research undertaken by Susan has identified our shared link through our Great Great Grandfather Alexander Dobbie.
"Susan is part of a 40 million strong Scots Diaspora that we hope will come back to Scotland during our Homecoming year to explore their heritage and roots further.
"Ancestral tourism is worth #64 million annually to the Scottish economy and has the potential for significant growth with Homecoming, and its legacy, igniting interest in Scotland's past and future."
Susan McLean said:
"I have a great interest in Scottish family history and for the past 30 years I have been tracing my ancestry. I discovered that I shared a link with the First Minister through my Great Great Grandfather and was delighted when the First Minister invited us to the Scottish Parliament as part of our visit to Scotland.
"Both my husband and myself are keen Burns admirers so we are pleased to be in Scotland for the Homecoming celebrations. We have already enjoyed the "Burns and 'a that" festival and hope to take part in more events before we travel back to Australia."
Homecoming 2009 marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of our national bard Robert Burns and celebrates Scotland's great contributions to the world: Golf, Whisky, Great Scottish minds and innovations, our rich ancestry, culture and heritage and Burns himself: HomecomingScotland2009.com
The Homecoming certificates have been created to provide a lasting memento from the year. The free mementos are available at all VisitScotland Information Centres.
Earlier this month the First Minister officially opened Scotland's first custom-built ancestral history hub, The Burns Monument Centre, in Kilmarnock: