We are fully trained in palaeography (interpretation of early handwriting) and have a working familiarity with most of the major historical archives in the English-speaking world.
Recent research projects for our clients have included biographies of John Strachan (1778-1867), first Anglican bishop of Toronto; James Gordon Bennett Sr. (1795-1872), father of the American mass media; a group biography of the Gregory family of Scottish scientists and academics; estate histories of the Glassel House and Nether Ardgrain estates; an examination of Anthony Burgess’s own, unproduced film adaptation of A Clockwork Orange; and a commercial history of Banffshire whisky distilling.
It is not unusual for our investigation to unearth previously unknown facts; for instance, that the man in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery’s de la Tour portrait of Bonnie Prince Charlie is in fact Charlie’s brother Henry and that William Elphinstone did, in fact, leave his heraldic mark on King’s College Aberdeen’s fifteenth-century chapel.
Our rates for research are £90 per half day, £150 per full day, or £750 for a week of six days. exclusive of any travel that may be absolutely necessary.
We are also experienced in preparing statements of historical significance, United Empire Loyalists’ proofs of descent, and Scottish feudal barony claims and counter-claims.
