Intrigued by the thought of uncovering your family’s history? Or maybe you have carried out your own research and have frustratingly ground to a halt? With nearly forty years’ experience of researching family history, I work on projects large and small. I am familiar with a wide range of both commonly used and obscure genealogical records—ranging from parish records and censuses to maps, nonconformist records, military records, records of French Huguenots in London, and many more. My research work ranges from small projects to a detailed family history. The scope of research is completely tailored to your instructions and will be written up in a comprehensive and engaging report. My work is underpinned by professional and meticulous attention to detail, and is fully confidential to each client. Although I mainly specialise in English family history, if your ancestral trail leads back to other areas of the UK or further afield, I am still able to research using online resources available to me.

There is so much more to discover beyond the digital records which are accessible from home. Venturing into the realm of archival research opens up access to material which is never likely to appear on the mainstream commercial websites. Do you need a researcher to visit Thames Valley archives on your behalf? I travel to Royal Berkshire Archives, Buckinghamshire Archives and Oxfordshire Archives, looking up records and documents.  Archives and libraries in London are also within reach.

Many people want to learn how to carry out their own research—but where do you start? I’m very happy to offer online sessions where we can collaborate. Using a video chat platform such as Zoom or Google Meet we will be able to explore together the websites available and talk about research methods and techniques to set you on your way with an absorbing pastime. From a single session to a series of consultations, spaced out to allow you to carry out your own research in the meantime, this is a great way to learn the skills necessary to have full confidence in researching your own family tree.

Maybe you have been researching your family history for some time and have hit a brick wall. You may benefit from one-to-one advice sessions to drill down deeper and explore the more unusual sources and websites to reconstruct your ancestors’ lives.

Have you ever experienced the excitement of walking in the footsteps of your ancestors and visiting the village or town where they lived? Site visits are fascinating and really bring your family history to life. With careful reconfiguration of old and modern maps and cross-referencing with other sources, I can often produce a well-researched report which will enable you to plan your own visit. Just imagine being able to find for yourself the places of historical significance to your Thames Valley ancestors: the churches where they worshipped, perhaps their school or place of work, even the streets and houses where they lived.

Our ancestors lived through exciting times of development and change. It is helpful to understand the wider contemporaneous events they experienced—the inventions, the conflicts, the societal changes. But we also need local knowledge—understanding the communities our ancestors lived in, how they were affected by serious weather events, crop failures, flooding and enclosure of common land. Reconstructing the past and breathing life into the evidence helps us to understand what life was like for our ancestors and why their lives might have taken a particular course. This approach to family history provides a much richer experience than simply adding names and dates to a family tree.  I regularly use less common resources—such as historical weather data, old newspapers, historical maps, and even occasionally old paintings and etchings.

Found an old will or letter you are struggling to read?  Depending on legibility, I am usually able to provide transcriptions of post-1700 documents (English only).

If you have already carried out your own research and would appreciate the benefit of a professional genealogist looking over and verifying your own work, do get in touch. I am a careful and meticulous researcher; my background as a skilled medical summariser constructing computerised medical records stands me in very good stead for this type of work.

Nonconformist churches were particularly prevalent in the Thames Valley and Chilterns area, especially Buckinghamshire. Having grown up with a nonconformist church background myself, I am well-placed to research in this sometimes difficult area. I also have some experience of Huguenot research with my own family; my good reading knowledge of French (A Level standard) is very helpful when researching digitised records in the French departmental archives.