About me

I was born at Wigston Fields, which is near to Leicester, England, in my aunt and uncle’s house, which is where my parents were living at the time.
I should have made my entry into the world in July but I must have been impatient as I was born 2 months early.

The result being Perinatal Cerebral Palsy, though this was not diagnosed till I was aged 38. 

The effect of this is mainly apparent in my poor mobility.

I now live-in North-West England where we have lived for over 30 years,

I have been actively researching Family History since I retired in 1998.I began with my family, then my wife’s and more recently the families of my children’s wives/husbands.
Due to my disability all research had to be on line and at the beginning there was only a limited amount available.

Over time this has increased (as has the cost) and now there are always new discoveries to be made.
One of my early discoveries was a man called John Heritage who was doing a one-name study of our surname.
He was a great help and it was sadness I learnt of his death early in 2018. After a great deal of thought (because of my own age) I decided to take on the study.

So, I became a member of the Guild of One-Name Studies and I registered the surname of Heritage.

During my working life I had been both a Financial Accountant/Auditor and a Methodist minister.

These roles have given me an analytical mind and an interest in people and I have found that both of these help with Family History research.

Some time ago I wrote “My Story”, the story of my life. Originally as pages on a web-site. But more recently an updated version as a book.

Derek