Currently accepting clients for...

• Family History Research
• Speaking / Presenting

Hi there,

My name is Sarah and my business is called Unlock Your Past. I provide family history and genealogy services to anyone who wants help with their Scottish ancestry.

Based in Kinross, I have access to archives in Perth, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Fife, Stirling, Tayside and Alloa. As a retired Mathematics teacher, I now use my mathematical mind to solve puzzles and create amazing family trees.  The bespoke family histories include narratives, biographies, family photographs (provided by you), and a family tree. They can also include social histories, news articles and occupational facts.

If you are based outside Scotland, I can retrieve an archival document on your behalf.

I also help clients overcome genealogical challenges by offering specialized solutions to break through longstanding "brick walls" in their family history research.

In other words, I help people unlock their Scottish past.

Geographic Specialities
Perth and Kinross
Edinburgh and Midlothian
Dundee and Tayside
St Andrews and Fife
Alloa and Clackmannanshire
Stirling and Stirlingshire

Testimonials
From my google reviews:
Sarah has researched twice for me, and she provided information of great value both times. First, finding a new family member and, second, breaking down a brick wall my family and I have searched for 20 years. Her reports are concise and easy to read. I could not be happier having Sarah research for me.

We are extremely pleased with the family tree Sarah has done for us, so much so she is doing my fathers. I commissioned Sarah to do my husbands family tree ‘Hynds’. We learned so much about an Uncle who was in WW1 and various family facts that he and his father did not know. Sarah is a very professional and a very knowledgeable genealogist. The family history book, family tree poster and documents we received are so interesting, also a great gift to pass on to our children. I highly recommend Sarah to anyone who is interested in their past.

We have long wished to investigate my Scottish ancestry, wanting to research not only basic family tree information, but also the social/political history of the C17/C18 Scottish Borders. Organising this all from Australia initially seemed quite daunting. Once I found Unlock Your Past and made preliminary enquiries with Sarah re our geneology requests everything was made easy! Despite time differences between the UK & Scotland all our requests were answered promptly within the day. Sarah's work was detailed, clear, professional and thoughtful. She took time to answer any and all questions along the way. Sarah demonstrates real passion for her work and provided detailed research from the Scottish archives and parish records. We now have 2 Family Trees dating back to the early 1700s and some wonderful collated social history reports and background for our Australian children, so in future they may explore.

What a great service! Sarah treated my family history research as if it was her own. Such detail and information we didn’t know about my ancestors. Her family tree was well presented and family history book was lovely. Thank you Sarah

cannot recommend Sarah enough; nothing is too much trouble; i could never have done this without her help

 

Repositories
National Records of Scotland
National Library of Scotland Special Archives
University of Edinburgh Archives
City of Edinburgh Archives
Dundee City Archives
University of Dundee Archives
University of St Andrews Archives
Fife Archives
Perth Archives
Stirling Archives
Stirling University Archives
Kinross Museum
Alloa Archives 

Research Time Periods

• 19th Century
• 18th Century

Languages
Scottish, English, French

Affiliations
ASGRA - Association of Scottish Genealogists and Researchers in Archives (Accredited and Full Member)
RQG - Register of Qualified Genealogists (Full Member)

Degrees
Masters with Distinction - Family and Local History at the University of Dundee
PgDiP - Mathematics - University of Edinburgh
Masters - French and Mathematics - University of Edinburgh