Your family has a story. I find it, trace it, and present it in a way you can keep for generations.
Professional family history research for the UK and Ireland, carried out entirely by Gary Skerritt. Based in Nottingham. Available nationwide.
You know there is a story in your family. You can feel it in the gaps between what you were told and what does not quite add up. A grandparent who never talked about the old country. A name that keeps appearing without explanation. A branch of the tree that goes curiously quiet around a certain date.
If any of those feel familiar, you are in exactly the right place. I have been researching family histories for twenty years. That work began with my own family's secrets, including a convict ancestor hidden for generations. I know what it feels like to need the truth about your family. And I know how to find it.
I do not sell database access or beginner tutorials. I carry out the research myself, working through every relevant record set until the story is as complete as the evidence allows. Then I write it up for you, clearly and in full, as a document your family will want to keep.
This is not a family tree printed on A3 paper. It is an investigation into real people: where they lived, what they did, who they married, when they moved, and why the story looks the way it does.
Every family history research commission begins with a free 30-minute call. I listen to what you know, ask the questions that help me understand the scope, and plan the investigation accordingly.
From there, I work systematically through the record sets most relevant to your family: census returns, birth, marriage and death certificates, baptism and burial registers, land and property records, military files, emigration and immigration records, and specialist archives.
For families with Irish heritage, I work through the specific record sets that survived the 1922 Public Record Office fire, including Griffith's Valuation, the Tithe Applotment Books, and Catholic parish registers.
Read more about how I approach every investigation on the research methodology page.
At the end of every commission
You will know the full cost before I begin. Every other genealogist in the region either hides their pricing or charges by the hour. I do not, because I believe transparency is the right way to work.
One focused investigation into a single surname line, traced as far as the available records allow.
One complete side of the family, fully researched across all four grandparent lines.
All eight great-grandparent lines investigated. Your complete family history, every branch traced.
Not sure which package is right for your family's situation? Book a free 30-minute call and I will tell you honestly which investigation best fits what you are hoping to find.
Not sure which package? Let's talk.You do not need to know anything about genealogy to start. Most investigations begin with almost nothing: a name, a rough decade, a county. That has always been enough.
We talk for 30 minutes. You tell me what you know about your family and what you are hoping to find. I listen, ask a few questions, and explain honestly what I think is possible. No preparation is needed. No commitment is required.
I send you a simple written brief confirming exactly what I will investigate, what you will receive, the fixed price, and the expected timeline. You confirm, and the investigation begins. There are no surprises from this point.
I research. You wait. I contact you when I find something significant, or at agreed milestones during a longer investigation. You are never left wondering what is happening. Typical investigations take four to ten weeks.
You receive your complete Heritage Report and family tree. I then walk you through the findings on a follow-up call: every discovery explained, every question answered, and a discussion of where the research could go next.
Bring whatever you have, even just a name.
I have been researching family histories for twenty years. That work began not as a business idea but as a personal investigation: I needed to understand my own family, including the side of it that nobody ever talked about.
What I found, eventually, was William Goddard. A Nottingham framework knitter, convicted and transported to Australia in the 1880s, hidden from the family record for over a century. DNA evidence was what finally connected the dots. That investigation changed how I understand my own story, and it changed how I understand this work.
Read the William Goddard investigationTwenty years of research means I know where the records are, how to read them, and what to do when they are missing. For families with roots in specific areas, I bring personal familiarity that no database can replicate.
I am based in Nottingham and have spent years in the Nottinghamshire archives. I know the local record landscape: the lace industry, framework knitting, the mining communities, the migration patterns into and out of the East Midlands. For local families, I bring context as well as skill.
My father came from Ireland. Tracing that side of my family, through the gaps left by the 1922 destruction of the Public Record Office, through parish registers and Griffith's Valuation and the Tithe Applotment Books, is part of my own personal history. I understand the specific challenges of Irish genealogy research from the inside, not from a textbook.
Many Irish families came through Liverpool, and many settled there. My wife's family history has deep roots in that city. I understand both ends of the Irish migration pathway, which means I can trace families that moved between the two countries without losing the thread.
DNA evidence is increasingly important in family history research, particularly for families with gaps in the documentary record. I work with results from AncestryDNA, 23andMe, MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA, and Living DNA, combining the genetic evidence with documentary research to build the most complete picture possible.
I take a small number of clients at any one time. Every investigation receives my full personal attention, not an assistant's, not a database search. Mine. This is what the price reflects. Gary Skerritt, Meet Your Past
The first investigations are currently underway. Client testimonials will appear here once the work is complete and reviews have been gathered. If you would like to discuss the service before committing, the free consultation call is the right starting point.
Obligation-free. Private. Just a conversation about what is possible.
If your question is not here, the free consultation call is the best place to ask it.
Very little. Most investigations begin with a name and a rough generation or location. You do not need to have prepared anything or to understand genealogy yourself. On the free consultation call, I work out what you have and what the investigation will need. I have never yet encountered a family history enquiry where there was genuinely nothing to start from.
Most investigations take four to ten weeks from the point we agree the scope. The timeline depends on the breadth of research, the availability of records for the relevant family, and whether DNA evidence requires additional investigation. I will give you an honest timeline estimate before we begin, and I contact you at milestones during the work so you are never left waiting without news.
The Heritage Report is a fully written, clearly laid out PDF document. It covers every ancestor uncovered during the investigation, written in plain prose rather than tables of names and dates. Every discovery is explained in context. Every source is cited. Significant original records are reproduced as scanned images within the report. It is designed to be read and kept, not filed in a folder and forgotten.
In twenty years of research I have never found nothing. There is always something. I may not find exactly what a client hoped for, but I always find something: the records that survive the furthest back, the migration that explains the gap, the relative branch that fills in the missing generation. Occasionally what I find is different from what the family believed. I handle those discoveries carefully and with no judgement.
Yes. I work with clients across the whole of the UK and Ireland. Research into national and international records is carried out remotely, and all consultation calls are conducted on Zoom. Being based in Nottingham gives me particular depth for East Midlands families, but my work takes me into archives and records from every county in England and Wales, across Ireland, and beyond.
Yes, and with particular depth. My father came from Ireland, and tracing that side of my family is part of my own personal history. I understand the specific challenges posed by the 1922 destruction of the Public Record Office and the record gaps that resulted. I work with the records that did survive: Griffith's Valuation, the Tithe Applotment Books, Catholic parish registers, civil registration records, and estate papers.
Yes. DNA evidence is increasingly important in genealogical research, particularly for filling gaps in the documentary record or for investigating unknown or unexpected parentage. I work with results from AncestryDNA, 23andMe, MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA, and Living DNA. I offer a dedicated DNA Investigation service for cases where the DNA question is the primary focus.
It often is, in some way. Illegitimacy, hidden adoptions, name changes, family secrets, a relative on the wrong side of the law: these are not rare. They appear in almost every family tree if you look closely enough. Every discovery is communicated carefully and without judgement. You will always have time to absorb what I have found before we discuss it fully.
My expertise comes from twenty years of personal and professional research rather than from a formal accreditation. I am happy to walk you through the depth of my own investigations, including my own family's story, before you commit to anything. The free consultation call is specifically designed for this.
Payment is made in two stages. A 50 per cent deposit is required before the investigation begins, with the balance due on delivery of the final report. I do not take payment in full upfront, because it is fair that you see the finished work before paying the final amount. All prices are fixed and confirmed in writing before any work begins.
Every family has unanswered questions. Some are small curiosities. Some are things that have mattered for a long time. Whatever yours is, the free consultation call costs nothing and commits you to nothing.
You tell me what you know. I tell you honestly what I think is possible and whether I am the right person to investigate it. From there, you decide.
If you are interested in the history of the property your ancestors lived in as well as the people, I also offer house history research.