What Do You Specialise In?
My research focuses on direct ancestry in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. The term “direct ancestry” refers to one’s parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents, and so on. For information on the services provided, see the page Services. For answers to common questions, see FAQ. For more information on myself, stay on this page!
In addition to providing research services for clients, I publish educational articles regularly on this website, which I hope you will find helpful (see the latest posts below). This is a growing platform, so if there are any topics you would like me to write about in the future, please feel free to let me know.
My research services are normally provided remotely, however I also offer face-to-face consultations in Nambucca Heads, NSW.
How Did You Become Interested in Family History?
Like many, my interest in genealogy began with my own family tree. My direct lines extend to England, Scotland, Ireland and Germany, many of my ancestors having immigrated to Australia during the 1800s. Some came as free settlers, others as convicts, each with their own story to tell. Fragments of their stories have been preserved for future generations through paper documents, some of which have since been digitised online.
My interest in family history began when my grandfather showed me a book tracing our ancestry back seven generations to Norfolk, England. I was already fascinated by the subject of history, but family history added two new layers to my interest: it allows us to be detectives, and we can add ourselves to the picture.
Later, I read about the controversy surrounding the famous Australian outlaw Ned Kelly. I was so interested in his story that I decided to write his life-story, as others had done. Little did I know that, as my grandmother later told me, our family is apparently related to Ned Kelly!
Over the years, however, I have seen numerous errors spread like wildfire among family trees. Indeed, at times I have been surprised! Many novice researchers are quick to accept guesses as fact, without checking the sources. It can be difficult to read the old handwritten manuscripts, which presents a real challenge for some. So I echo this key rule of genealogy: you can often find clues in others’ family trees, but never rely solely on them without evidence!
What Sources Do You Use When Researching?
My toolkit includes the following:
- Parish registers (baptisms, marriages and burials)
- Birth, marriage and death records (civil registration)
- Wills and related documents
- Cemetery indices
- Census records
- Court and criminal records
- Immigration documents
- Military files
- Electoral rolls
- Historical newspapers
- Heralds’ Visitations (for noble families)
Some of these records have been preserved for hundreds of years. Many have now been made available online through scanned images and transcriptions. Much of this work has been done by volunteers, including Online Parish Clerks.
As a researcher, it is my aim to provide clients with family histories that they can be confident in. This involves reasonably exhaustive research and non-biased analysis of the available evidence. Complete source citations are required for three main reasons: (1) to credit the copyright owner, (2) to prevent duplications in the research, and (3) to allow you to verify any of the evidence for yourself.
I hope the findings will provide fascination for your family for generations to come!