A native of Norfolk, England, I came to Canada (Ottawa) in 1966 and have been a resident of the City continuously since 1985.

Formerly a PhD research scientist, I retired as Director, Policy and International Affairs for Canada’s Weather Service while serving as President of the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society, in 1998.

Since retiring I’ve spent most of the last two decades exploring my family history, as speaker, author, and as an advocate for family and local history.

I served on the City of Ottawa Arts, Heritage and Culture Advisory Committee from 2006 to 2009 including as the committee chair, was a member of the Library and Archives Canada Services Advisory Board from 2007 to 2009 and am currently on the advisory panel for Ancestry.ca and the External Review Committee for the LAC Documentary Heritage Communities Program. Memberships include the Society of Genealogists, BIFHSGO, The Guild of One-Name Studies, and the Ontario Genealogical Society.

Since 2006 my blog, Canada’s Anglo-Celtic Connections, now with more than 10,000 posts, has been an independent view of family history resources and developments from an Ottawa perspective.