My great-great grandfather lived in Särichen and his mother was from an area near Müchenhain and Odernitz, near Görlitz, in former East Germany.  Johann Gottlieb Thiele came out to Australia with his brother Johann Gottfried and wife Phillipine Bürckner and her sister Antonie Bürckner who later married J. F. Straube in Australia.  Phillipine was from an area which is now in Poland, Lippehne, near Grünberg, now "Zielona Góra".  The region from which they all came was called "Silesia" at the time.  They settled in Doncaster (Melbourne) as there was a severe storm which prevented them from docking in Adelaide.  They came out to escape religious persecution at the hands of King Friedrich Wilhelm 111, who wanted to bring about a union between the Lutheran and Reformed Churches, under the control of the State, which prevented the people from practising full religious freedom. The delayed "Act of Toleration" was not passed until 1847 and this created distrust of the government .  Many Lutherans, left Germany for South Australia because of this political dissastisfaction.  George Fife Angas was a wealthy Christian businessman who was looking for suitable settlers, and was interested in helping them in order to develop South Australia as a new colony made up of free settlers.  The Thiele's, left Hamburg in Germany, in 1848, on the "Wappaus", and after having to bypass South Australia, arrived at Port Phillip (in Victoria) in 1849.  Dad is Australian, and like most of my Thiele relatives still lives in/nearby to Melbourne, Australia, although some have spread to others parts of Victoria and even to other states in Australia, including South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia.

According to "The Historical Research Center" and book "The Thiele Family of Doncaster" , the name "Thiele" came from a personal name origin, "Thilo", which is the shortened familiar form of "Theutram", "Theudhar" and "Tuetger", beginning with the element "Thuid" from the Gothic meaning "people".  One of the earliest records of use of the name is "Thiedericus Pust-in-die-Bussen" who was a resident of Göttingen (1343).  The name was used as a surname when "Johann Thilonis was Lord Mayor of Döbeln (1331) and also mentioned was "Heinrich Thyle zu Freiburg" (1380), The name was still used as a first name however, until about 1512 when "Thilo" was Bishop of Merseburg.    In  the same year a name recorded was "Thile" who was mayor of Merseburg.  Johann Alexander "Thiele", was a painter born in 1685, who died in 1752.  The "Thiele" name varies; "Thiel", "Thielen", "Thielo", "Thielius", "Thielicke", "Thielmann", "Thieler" and "Thielert".