Peter Turvey

The standards of accuracy, thoroughness and integrity that Peter set when he founded Anglia Research still shape and define the company today.

He started working as a professional genealogist in the 1970s, researching pedigrees as far back as the 12th century, but also specialising in modern research. His knowledge and abilities were soon recognised and he became the chief agent for two charities that reunited adoptees with their birth parents. Other activities included working on a large number of successful German-Jewish land reparation cases.

His scrupulous approach meant that he excelled at probate research, where success after success led to this fascinating work becoming the company’s mainstay. Anglia Research has continued to grow, both in size and reputation, ever since.

Maintaining professional standards is of utmost importance to Peter. He has consistently declined to take part in the BBC’s Heir Hunters series, which he believes undermines client confidentiality and attracts amateurs into a field where experience and integrity are crucial. However, Anglia Research does cooperate with high-quality TV programmes and other productions, and the firm’s researchers have been heavily involved with many episodes of the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are?

Peter is a member and former chairman of the Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives (AGRA) and bound by its strict code of ethics. He has served as chair of AGRA’s board of assessors, and as a lecturer and tutor at the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies (IHGS) and other institutions.

He is also an accredited expert witness, a long-standing member of the Association of Professional Genealogists and a chess-playing, crossword-solving marathon runner – who still finds the challenge of tracing families as exciting now as he did all those years ago.