About Me
My experience of family and local history research dates back to the early 1960s when I started researching my own family. With my family's connections with Shropshire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire, I have built up an extensive knowledge of the sources available from these areas. In particular, my archive of private transcriptions of south Shropshire and north-west Worcestershire material is extensive.
With a degree in classical languages from Cambridge, I was particularly interested in documents in Latin, and so I came to transcribe much Church Court material from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, where abbreviated Latin was extensively used. A sabbatical term at Christ Church, Oxford, in 1989 cemented this interest. Recently I have been involved in the national project, based upon Roehampton University, to transcribe, edit and publish Hearth Tax records of all counties. So far, I have, with a colleague, completed a transcription of the Herefordshire Hearth Tax for 1664, and part of the West Riding of Yorkshire for 1682.
My working life was in education, and for 23 years I was Headmaster of Old Swinford Hospital School for boys 11-18 in Stourbridge. In 2001, I was awarded the O.B.E. in the New Year Honours for services to Education.
Currently I am Chairman of the Ludlow Historical Research Group, and Chairman of Cleobury Mortimer Historical Society. I am past President of Stourbridge Historical and Archaeological Society. As Churchwarden of St. Laurence's, Ludlow, I am fortunate to help with one of the finest Parish Churches in England.
I have carried out family history and local history research for people in England, USA , Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Apart from carrying out genealogical research, I am often asked to transcribe Wills and other documents.