About me

Following on from successful academic, corporate, and consultancy careers in the field of sustainability, and after having a family I started a new career in local, social and family history research.

I am on the committee of FOBALS – Friends of Bradford Archives and Local Studies - which aims to support and promote their services.

I have been working as a genealogist for clients both from the UK and overseas most of which have ancestors in West Yorkshire but other families were located all over the UK.

I am often found in the archives either conducting research for clients or working on my own research project BradfordWW1.

BradfordWW1 examines what life was like for ordinary people living at home in Bradford at the time of the First World War. I hope that it provides some insight and knowledge on lives of your ancestors and the issues they faced at the time even if they did not live in Bradford. Most home front literature relates to the Second World War not the First and it has been a fascinating journey looking at a wide range of documents to uncover new and interesting information.  I have been creating a name index as I have gone through the records and will be adding to this and publishing other articles and further information in the run up to and during the centenary.

BradfordWW1 demonstrates my research ability which was honed during the course of my PhD. It taught me many skills as well as knowledge, for example, it also taught me to be methodical, to question and analyse data as well as tenacity and attention to detail.

These skills were put to use in both the academic, corporate, and consultancy sectors. Each of which has taught me something new including how to communicate effectively with a range of people whether they be managing directors, employees or students. Working alongside corporate communications I learnt a lot about how to engage readers and in consultancy how to be methodical about recording work undertaken and communication with clients. Whereever I have worked communication whether it is between colleagues, clients or students is the key to a successful project.

I also have a young family which has taught me the importance of passing on our heritage to the next generation. My strong belief that children will take in more information if it is about a place they know has resulted in my plan to help schools make history more local.

I have been researching my own family history for a number of years, I love finding out the detail behind my ancestors lives and not just the names and dates of key events in their lives. My ancestors and their families are scattered across the UK and I know how difficult it is to uncover those stories if you are not close to the local archives. The thrill of uncovering a snippet of information that provides that additional insight into their lives cannot be matched and I am privileged to be able to pass that thrill on to my clients.

Please feel free to contact me to discuss potential research, educational or publishing opportunities.