Record agents
The people whose names are included on this list may be available to undertake paid research in local archives. Arrangements must be made directly with the record agents themselves and not through Lancashire Archives. Lancashire Archives staff cannot recommend particular agents nor enter into any negotiations concerning them.
Please note that inclusion on this list does not constitute any guarantee of availability and that Lancashire Archives cannot be held responsible for any work undertaken.
This list was last updated August 2025.
Name: Jane Hamby
Qualifications: LHG
Postal address: 26 Fulwood Hall Lane, Fulwood, Preston, PR2 8DB
Email address: hambyje@aol.com
Family and Local History: A comprehensive genealogical service searching all types of records, background research for authors, digital photography of documents and ancestral locations.
House and Property History.
Research for Legal Enquiries: adoption and intestacy.
Palaeography and Transcription: English palaeography and transcription from the 16th century onwards.
Research areas covered: Lancashire, Cumbria, and Cheshire.
Business Name: Lancashire Family History Research
Name: Denise A Harman
Qualifications: Over 40 years’ Archive experience.
Postal address: 12 Wrights Fold, Leyland, Preston. PR25 4HT
Email address: deniseharman62@gmail.com
Website: Lancashire Family History Research
Family and Local History: A comprehensive service provided by a long-established professional researcher. Photography, problem solving, and document ordering.
Research for Legal Enquiries: Tracing living relatives, and Probate inquiries.
Research for Media: Worked with the producers of ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’, and ‘Secrets of the Workhouse’.
Palaeography and Transcription: English Palaeography and Transcription from 16th Century onwards.
Research areas covered: Lancashire, Cheshire & Cumbria, searching all records held at the Lancashire Archives and other repositories.
Business Name: Kate Hurst Family History Research
Name: Kate Hurst
Qualifications: BA (Hons)
Postal address: 15 Beverley Drive, Clitheroe, BB7 1HY
Email address: kate.hurst@icloud.com
Website: Kate Hurst Research
Family and Local History: I prefer to concentrate on pre-1900 queries. Particular interest in parish register searches, document transcription, wills and probate, trade directories etc. Family History talks available.
Particular interest in Roman Catholic parish records and related documents.
House and Property History: Experience of electoral roll searches, land tax assessments, town surveys, tithe maps, trade directories and newspaper archives.
Legal Enquiries: Will assess individual cases and advise whether or not I have the skills to take on the work.
Media Enquiries: Can provide research for TV, radio and other media outlets (e.g. YouTube).
Palaeography and Transcription: Transcription of wills and other historical documents (16th to 19th century preferred).
Research areas covered: Blackburn Library, Bolton Local Studies, Burnley Library, Clitheroe Library, Lancashire Archives, Liverpool Archives, Manchester Central Library, Skipton Library, West Yorkshire Archives (Bradford, Leeds, Wakefield), Working Class Movement Library (Salford).
Business Name: House Historians North West
Name: Carole Knight
Qualifications: A member of the Vernacular Architecture Group.
Postal address: 14 Higher Bank Road, Preston, PR2 8PD
Email address: info@househistorians.co.uk
Website: House Historians
House and Property History: Researching the history of buildings, the people associated with them and the area in which they are situated.
Local history books and articles for county magazines have been published.
Media Enquiries: Employed as a consultant on the BBC series The House Detectives in 1997.
Research areas covered: Lancashire and South Cumbria.
Business Name: Anglia Research Services
Name: Eileen Lavelle
Qualifications: AGRA member. Member of the Professional Paralegal Register.
Postal address: Gordon House, 3-5 Leicester Street, Southport PR9 0ER
Email address: Eileen.lavelle@angliaresearch.co.uk
Website: Anglia Research
Family and Local History.
Research for Legal Enquiries: Genealogical research for Appointees and Deputies.
Research for Media: TV researcher for Who Do You Think You Are and other programmes.
Research in libraries.
Research areas covered: Lancashire Archives, Cheshire Archives and Manchester Archives. Other specialist archives and libraries in Lancashire and Cheshire.
Name: Simon Martin
Qualifications: Bsc (Hons) Cert HE, AGRA Member
Postal address: 21 Petticoat Lane, Higher Ince, Wigan, WN2 2LH
Email address: FamilyHistoryDet@aol.com
Family and Local History.
Research for Legal Enquiries.
Research for Media.
House and Property History.
Palaeography and Transcription: Limited Latin.
Research areas covered: Lancashire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Cheshire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Cumbria, Cumberland, Westmorland.
Business Name: Evergreen Ancestry
Name: Anne Mealia
Qualifications: BA(Hons) MA, PGDipLib, Higher Certificate in Genealogy; AGRA member
Postal address: 1 Castle Cottage, Dobroyd Road, Todmorden, OL14 7JJ
Email address: info@evergreenancestry.com
Website: Evergreen Ancestry
Family and Local History: Comprehensive research in all periods and records; research for private clients, TV companies and academics; covering Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cheshire.
House and Property History: properties in Yorkshire and Lancashire.
Media Enquiries.
Palaeography and Transcription: 16th century onwards.
Research areas covered: Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cheshire.
Business Name: Adventures in History
Name: Helena Sanderson
Qualifications: BA (Hons), MA English Local History; AGRA Associate
Postal address: 62 Hayclose Road, Kendal, LA9 7NE
Email address: helena@helenasanderson.com
Website: Helena Sanderson Adventures in History
Family and Local History: Comprehensive research 16th - 20th centuries, including Parish Registers and Bishop's Transcripts, wills, probate and administrations, apprenticeships, manorial records, etc.
Particular research interest in East Lancashire, mainly Haslingden and Rossendale Valley.
Media Enquiries: Genealogical and local history enquiries welcome.
Palaeography and Transcription.
Research in libraries and at The National Archives.
Research areas covered: Lancashire, Cumbria, parts of Yorkshire. County Archives: Preston, Manchester, Kendal, Carlisle, Barrow-in-Furness, Whitehaven, Northallerton.
Business Name: Jayne Stevenson Genealogist
Name: Jayne Stevenson
Qualifications: BA (Hons), MA,
Postal address: 11 Kipling Drive, Blackpool, FY3 9UX
Email address: jayne408@btinternet.com
Website: Jayne Stevenson
Family and Local History: All Family and Local History. Military history.
House and Property History.
Media enquiries.
Palaeography and Transcription: 16th century onwards. Not Latin.
Research undertaken at The National Archives.
Research areas covered: Any archives and libraries in Lancashire and the North West and also elsewhere, including London.