Research Services Offered

I offer the following research services at competitive rates. The results of my research are detailed in a professional report which fully describes all work undertaken, accompanied by copies of all original documentation.

Photograph Collection Documentation & Preservation
Analysis of Old Photographs
Genealogical and Family History Research
Document Transcription

Photograph Collection Documentation & Preservation

Advice on how to document and research your old family photographs, and ways you can protect them for future generations.



For photograph collections, albums, shoebox hoards or loose photos, a full documentation service is offered, including:

- In situ digital photographs of album pages
- High resolution scans of individual photographs, storage as TIF and JPG files on archival quality DVD-ROMs and print copies
- Full cataloguing and documentation of photographic collections
- Evaluation of current storage methods
- Recommendations for archival storage & preservation of collections

More about my photo documentation services ...

Analysis of Old Photographs

A detailed analysis of individual photographs and collections, with emphasis on dating for the purpose of subject identification.



This can comprise:
- Provenance research, including a history of the ownership of family albums
- Interviews, correspondence, sharing of web albums & internet conferences with family members
- Comprehensive dating analysis of individual photographs
- Use of dating, along with genalogical and family research, to aid identification of subjects

More about my photohistory research services ...

Genealogy and Family History Research

Specialising in the English Midlands counties of Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Leicestershire & Nottinghamshire, I have had extensive research experience with families and records throughout England and Scotland, as well as for the Netherlands, Canada, United States, Australia, New Zealand and colonial era India.

With 15 years of research experience, I familiar with most UK records. Using my extensive library of reference material, online subscription databases, microfilms at my local LDS Family History Centre, and directly at record offices via a network of associates, I have access to a wide range of records, including:
- civil, parish and non-conformist registers
- census records and electoral registers
- military records
- poor law records
- probate & court documents and property deeds
- passenger lists
- city, trade and phone directories
- newspaper collections

My speciality is in the building up of life stories. Do you have an ancestor who intrigues you, but about whom you know nothing apart from perhaps the vital statistics: birth, marriage, children, then death? Maybe you have an old photograph of a mystery great-great-grandfather, or a sampler embroidered by a 3xgreat-grandmother?

Let me try to build on those bare bones, filling in the gaps and providing an interesting background story, researched from a wide variety of sources, and illustrated with relevant images, photos and maps? Send me what details you have for an individual and, for a small charge, I will carry out an initial scoping study, to see if there is likely to be much material available. Visit my Photo-Sleuth blog to read many such articles.



I am also familiar with records used to document emigration of families from Europe throughout the rest of the world, and have access to a huge database of passenger lists and other related documents.

For further details of my experience please click here.

Contact me if you have questions or would like a quotation.

Document Transcription
Having difficulty deciphering that old handwriting on your ancestor's will? I will transcribe old documents, including parish registers, wills, census other handwritten documents dating back to the 16th Century, and am able carry out some limited Latin translation work.

Please visit my Recommendations page for some comments from satisfied clients.

Contact me for further details or a quotation.