Welcome to the People Detective website.  Are you curious about your history and what makes you who you are?  Or have you ever wondered if that family story really is true?  If so we would love to help you uncover your family’s story.  Perhaps you have already begun your research and have hit the proverbial brick wall or perhaps you need someone to visit a record office on your behalf.  With over 10 years experience, we can help with any stage of your family history research.  

People Detective offers a comprehensive and confidential service to individuals and companies. We use a number of resources to ensure we provide accurate and thorough research for our clients.  Based in the East Midlands, we are ideally situated to reach Record Offices in Leicestershire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.  We also regularly travel to Greater Manchester and London.  We are a family business and have extensive knowledge of the Bolton and Manchester areas as well as the East Midlands area.  Overseas customers are also welcome.

We offer a variety of services - from targeted look ups to family trees - we are happy to help.  We can undertake research by the hour and work to an agreed limit or you can choose from one of our value-for-money fixed packages.  If you would like a photograph of where your ancestor lived, the church they married in or where they are buried, we offer location photography. We can accept payments made by instalments.

We carry out a free 15 minute appraisal of any request so if you are unsure what type of service would suit your research needs, contact us and we will be happy to advise you. 

We are committed to providing an excellent service and high quality research to our customers but there are times when it is not possible to complete some research requests.  This can be due to a number of reasons such as illegible or missing registers.  Please make sure you read our terms and conditions.

People Detective does NOT share any of your personal information with anyone else and is registered with the Information Commissioner.

If you are a law firm, council or insurance company, People Detective also provides Probate Research and can trace missing beneficiaries named in wills, insurance and pension policies etc. Please go to our Probate page or contact us for more information.

Even if you do not wish to purchase a research service from us, please feel free to look at some of the interesting photos on our website.  They are mainly from the Bolton area and if you recognise any, please get in touch.    

We are a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists