Hi, when family have been in Australia since early white settlement, searching can be quite easy, and after all there are still only 23 million people here, so it's a relatively small country. The only State that charges for basic information is Victoria, but all the rest are free. My husband has complained that I had all the intersting characters and when was I going to have a look at his lot. So I caved in and found it was a relatively easy task given that we lived in the Region where his family settled when they arrived here and they didn't stray far. They were in fact considered "pioneers". He had the usual mix of convict (Irish) and free settlers and it was the convicts that were of particulart note. I discovered that he had a cousin, Edward Rennix "Teddy" LARKIN, the grandson of an Irish convict William RENNIX. William RENNIX's daughter Mary Ann married a William LARKIN and apart from "Teddy" they had four other children. Teddy and his siblings although born near Newcastle NSW were raised in an inner suburb of Sydney, Newtown. Teddy and his brothers went to St Joseph's Hunters Hill. When Teddy left school he became a Policeman, he was a "capped" Rugby International, then in 1909 after Rugby Union broke away from Rugby League he became their full-time Secretary (they were in financial trouble. In 1913 Teddy LARKIN was elected to the NSW Parliament and when WW1 broke out in August 1914, while still a serving member of the Parliament he enlisted, saying that he was setting an example. He embarked from Australia and landed at Gallipoli and was killed on the 25/04/1915 along with his brother Martin LARKIN they have no kinown grave. Teddy was still a serving Member of the NSW Parliament. He left a wife and two small boys aged 6 and 3 years. Last year on Rememberance Day 11/11/11, I received a random email from a lady claiming to be the daughter of Teddy's son Howard Rennix LARKIN, after some enquiries we discovered that indeed she was Howard's daughter, that she was only a young women, and that her father had died when she was 3 years old (history repeating itself). Her father, Howard, had been a pilot in the RAF (UK)in WW11 and was captured by the Germans at Dunkirk in 1942 and was interned in Stalag Luft 111 (Sagen), the "Great Escape" camp. Howard's daughter was keen for information about her father but we were unable to help her, since all the information that we had was what was a matter of public record. The young lady has choosen not to stay in touch with us, and that's sad, but my husband is very proud and happy about his cousin "Teddy" LARKIN and his contribution to public life. It was quite a "find" and probably by best accomnplishment to date. Cheers, Sue.