I have been working as a professional genealogist since 2005, and am a fully qualified member of the Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives (AGRA).
My work over the years has been varied and fascinating, and I treat every new commission with equal diligence and enthusiasm. In addition to my research, I produce family trees in traditional pen and ink, (which our ancestors would surely have approved of).
I studied Early-Modern History at the University of Sussex as a mature student, completing a Masters Degree in 2009, graduating with a distinction. My final dissertation involved researching and examining the migration patterns of rural families in 19th century Sussex. I was lucky enough to be awarded a grant in order to continue this research, and was awarded the MPhil in 2016, for my thesis entitled ‘Understanding Rural Migration in Late Nineteenth Century England: Taking Parish Research to a New Level’.
During these university years I started researching my own family tree, and greatly increased my knowledge and passion for family history, and social history in general. As I consequence I started researching family history for other people.
I also give history talks on various topics (many relating to my home county of Sussex). These include ‘A History of the Lewes Workhouse Building’, ‘A Turbulent History of Pub Life in Lewes’, and ‘A History of Sport in Sussex; from the amazing to the bizarre’. As a writer I have been a regular contributor to Viva Lewes magazine, writing articles on various historical subjects, including a long-running monthly slot on the town’s long forgotten pubs.
History is an incredibly important (and fascinating) subject, and I believe passionately that we should not forget who our ancestors were, and the hard times many of them went through in order for us to be where we are today.