Genealogy Research

Hi, I am Kevin Harradine and I have been an Amateur Genealogist for many decades.  It is time for me to turn my hobby into a business. So, I have started a business “Common Ancestors Pty Ltd”. Why this name?  Well, many good names are already taken and one of the many pleasures of finding out about your family history is that you get to meet many people with whom you share common ancestors.  Lots of people research their lineage in the hope of an inheritance or a royal or famous connection. The reality is that nearly all of us will find the common people are the majority of your lineage (even if you have celebrity connections).

Your common ancestors should be celebrated just as much as your more notable connections. They are survivors, every single one of them!  It can be hard to imagine at first but once you start looking into what trials and tribulations your ancestors went through in their lives you will be amazed.  For me, as an Australian with British and Irish heritage going back to the early 1800s in Australia, it was educational to uncover all of my convict ancestors sent here and the ancestors who were soldiers sent out to guard them.  The assisted and unassisted immigrants arriving in Australia from the ports of the United Kingdom also so had tough time of it with disease and other dangers on the 3 or more-month journey to the antipodes.

So, I am here to help you research your family history.  Every researcher has their area of expertise.  So, here is a summary of my areas of experience:

1.        Australian birth, marriage and death records

2.        Burials in Australia

3.        Convict records

4.        Australian Newspapers

5.        Australian Immigration records

6.        English and Welsh parish records

7.        Scottish records

8.        Irish records

9.        British newspapers

Sorry if this seems a bit “white bread” but it is where I have been operating for a long time.  I am willing to take on challenges as that is where the biggest rewards exist. Some of the difficult brick walls I have solved include the following scenarios:

v  I solved the problem of a person whose death had been registered as Niscon instead of Nixon.

v  I located a birthplace and county in England for a man who consistently didn’t give the authorities in Australia any information on his origins.

v  Researched two notable Australians back to their common ancestor’s arrival in 1850s and onwards to a link via a common ancestor in a small village in England.

So, this is my business and I am ready for your Family history research challenges.