Looking for info on Harrington family.

[bhar]

I have been searching for info on our ancestry for years but have never had the resources to do so. I am desperate to find out more and to see if we have family in the UK that we have perhaps lost touch with.

What I do know is that my paternal grandfather was John Garett Harrington born in 1902 in South Africa. He had several kids with an Afrikaans woman. Any info would help! Thanks!

[joboy]

I cant help much but I was a great friend of a George Harrington before I left for Australia in late 1945 ....... he lived near me in Willesden North West London and a well known musician (saxophone).
Not sure if I am allowed to post this but he would be well past 100 years old so he may squeeze in.
Joe

[bhar]

Thank you! Every bit of info helps!

[Sandgrounder1]

Hello,

The only record I can find is a birth of a John Xavier Harrington, born South Africa in 1904.  It can't be your grandad as they are both named John and the date is different.  This John married Frances Joyce Graham in 1930 in Benoni.

You really need to obtain his birth certificate.  I am assuming that South African certificates are similar to the UK and give details of the father,  and his occupation.  That would give you a clue.

Do you have any older family members you could ask to see if they have any more information?

Bear in mind that if the family was originally from the UK or Ireland, Harrington is a relatively common name!

If you find any more information, post it on here. There are lots of people who will try to help you.

[Gillian Mauchan]

There is a government gazette entry for a John Garrett Harrington born 1943 died 1996 in Pretoria who could be a son. It might be worth looking in the Pretoria Telephone directory for relatives to contact. I cannot see any records in the Archive lists for your Grandfather but as the indexes run out c 1974 he could have died later.
If you join Gendatabase.com - you can sign up for as little as a day - you can do a search for John Garrett Harrington- there appear to be several generations with the same name. They do offer a family finder view.

I also found this DN which is probably for his wife Christina Stella De Klerk:
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C912-RNV5?i=1957&cat=1162069 you can page through her estate file for the will written in Afrikaans

They were married in Pretoria so you could look in the familysearch catalog for Civil records in the Transvaal and page through the Pretoria district for their marriage. Given John George was their 4th child they were probably married in the 1890's

[bhar]

Thank you so much @gmauchan this really helped! My Dads name is on the document you found a picture of!