Laura's love of, and addiction to, genealogy and family history began over 30 years ago, but it is only relatively recently that she made it her second career. Her interest is stitching together the titbits of information available in records to build a picture of our ancestors' lives. Whether their choices are labeled as ‘good' or ‘bad', they have led us to who we are today and never fail to be fascinating.
Education and Training
Laura is a Registered Qualified Genealogist and holds an MSc in Genealogical, Palaeographic, and Heraldic Studies from the University of Strathclyde. Her dissertation focused on the children born into or conceived during early Victorian bigamous marriages in England and the effect (if any) their parent's crime had upon them.
Specialties
Her specialty areas include the British Isles (notably England, Scotland, and Ireland) and ex-British colonies such as Australia and New Zealand.
Experience
Laura's own family history research began in the 1990s. She was keen to test the accuracy of family stories told to her throughout childhood and to try to separate fact from fiction. During this research, she discovered the truth of a harrowing emigration to New Zealand in the 1850s, learned how a murder in 1865 caused a family to move from their ancestral Yorkshire village, illegitimate connections to the first Superintendent of Police in Maryhill, Scotland, and more about her ancestors.
Laura joined Legacy Tree Genealogists in 2023 and loves that it allows her to help others discover their own ancestral stories, understanding more about how our ancestors lived and the motivations that drove them.
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