Discover your family history
I’m Dean Kirby – a professional genealogist, family historian, ancestral tour guide, non-fiction author and a former investigative journalist with a PhD in urban history.
If you’re tracing your roots in Victorian Manchester or the cotton mill towns of Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Ashton-under-Lyne, Bury, Bolton, Wigan and wider Lancashire, I can help find your ancestors in the heart of Cottonopolis – the world’s first industrial city region.
For me, family history is so much more than just finding out names, places and dates. It’s about uncovering forgotten stories, reconnecting with your heritage, passing on a legacy – and most of all it’s the start of a journey to discover who you really are.
Connect with me:
Services
Four ways I can help find your roots in Cottonopolis
1: Genealogy research
Whether you are a novice family historian or an old hand with decades of experience, I will use my 30+ years as a researcher to investigate new leads, find ways around your brick walls, bring colour to you ancestors’ lives and help you take your ancestry research to the next level.
2: Ancestral tours
Let me show you the places where your ancestors lived and worked in the streets of Manchester before they emigrated to the New World with a bespoke, guided tour designed just for you using maps, photographs and archive records to reveal your family story.
3: Mentoring and support
Together, we’ll work through a plan to break down your family history brick walls in a series of online sessions where you’ll get full access my skills as a professional genealogist and urban historian to develop your own research strategy that you can take forward in your own time.
4: Online masterclasses
Dive into a masterclass where you will learn new skills to deepen your family history research including tracing Irish roots, interpreting criminal tattoos, locating demolished slum dwellings and following the journeys of First World War soldiers using trench maps and satellite imagery.
What folks are saying about Dean
A story I will cherish forever
My son hired Dean Kirby from Manchester, England, for my birthday. In my quest to find out about my father’s service in the British Army in WWII, Dean was able to provide me with a story that I will cherish forever. He was able to compose not only a detailed story right before, during and after the war, but also to provide diagrams and information about where exactly he lived, the battle he was in and his POW experience which had my father in five different locations. I would never have had the resources or the fortitude to produce such a story. It reads like a short story and is quite amazing. I am forever in deep gratitude to Dean Kirby for his ongoing work during this project. He met with me via Zoom several times and left no stone unturned. I highly recommend him without hesitation for anyone who wants to delve into their British family history.
Pamela
Massachusetts, USA
Approachable to deal with
Having extensively researched the lack of a death record for my great-great-grandfather I asked Dean to carry out some final research on my behalf. Mission impossible probably but I was looking for someone with extensive knowledge of historic Manchester and local records not available online. He searched multiple record sets in Manchester Central Library, he provided a report detailing exactly what searches he had undertaken and his findings. Although the answer was not found, the likely event window was narrowed and further records related to my ancestors were uncovered. I found Dean to be very approachable, easy to deal with and the research was conducted in a timely manner. I would recommend his service.
Tony
New Zealand
Valuable insights
Dean has undertaken two pieces of genealogical research for me discovering the lives of some of my Manchester ancestors. In the first piece, he located my family in the overcrowded housing of the Victorian city, while in the second he traced my great-grandfather’s experiences in the First World War from his training in England to the trenches of the Somme. I have been delighted with his work on both occasions. Dean has produced thoroughly researched, informative and well-presented reports, that have not only detailed the dates and places of my relatives’ lives but have also given valuable insights into what those places were like and how day-to-day life might have been for them.
Adrian
Peterborough, UK
What folks are saying about Dean
Rich and vivid reports
After discovering that my ancestors once lived in Manchester, Dean’s book caught my attention. I was pleased to find out that he also offers family history research, and I couldn’t have been more happy with the results. Dean’s reports are rich with vivid details about my ancestors’ lives, transforming a previously unknown part of my family history into something real and meaningful. They are going to make a wonderful gift for my dad’s 80th birthday. I would highly recommend Dean’s services to anyone seeking expert family research.
Joshua
Virginia, USA
Impressive research
If you are looking for a professional, committed and pragmatic researcher, Dean Kirby is the very best choice. Dean was extremely professional in documenting every step and evidentiary lead in an easy to understand, succinct manner. His expertise as an investigative journalist shined throughout his work. When his impressive research was compiled and shared with relatives, it was well received with praise such as, ‘This is epic’, and ‘Wow, that’s incredible. I can’t wait to share this’.
David
Colorado, USA
High professional standards
I have been very impressed with the thoroughness and professionalism of Dean’s work concerning an ancestor of mine who served as a coastguard in Ireland. Dean’s suggestions for further research, both within the local area and outside were very helpful. It is evident that he applies high professional standards to all aspects of his genealogical research and I would endorse his work. It has been a pleasure dealing with Dean whose professionalism and helpfulness is much appreciated.
Ann
Gold Coast, Australia
Online classes
Unlock new family history skills
Embark on a new family history journey after learning new skills in one of my upcoming family history masterclasses.
Find your Irish townland
Struggling to find out where your family came from in Ireland? Aimed at descendants of emmigrants who found new lives in northern England on their way to the New World, this class will cover skills and tips including: using free online sources to assist your research, key Irish census substitutes, making homemade maps to narrow your search, researching relations and neighbours in the place where they emmigrated, and planning a research trip to Ireland.
Track criminal ancestors
The lives of Victorian criminals are among the best recorded of any ancestors thanks to the survival of detailed records including court reports and prison registers. This class will help you to work like a detective to reveal the story of you ancestors’ criminal activities and their lives outside of crime and reveal hidden family stories by using unique records including descriptions of criminal tattoos. We’ll also discuss revisiting Victorian crime scenes and writing up your story.
Trace your ancestor’s home
In cities where the pace of change is relentless, it can often be hard to visualise what the streets were like when our ancestors walked along them more than a century ago. This class will help you to locate the house where they were living even if it has long been demolished by deploying techniques used by investigative journalists to locate world events with tools including censuses, maps, rate books, photographs, newspapers and satellite imagery.
FAQs
Why should I hire a professional genealogist?
Researching your family tree can be an incredibly rewarding and deeply personal experience that helps you discover the stories that shaped the person you are. But it can also be a time-consuming and sometimes frustrating journey that can lead to what appears to be a dead end. If you are just starting out, a professional researcher can give you the confidence to know you are on the right track and, if you get stuck, can bring their skills and ideas to help you break through that brick wall. A researcher can also add personal context to your ancestors’ lives that you cannot find in history books.
Why did my ancestors live in Manchester and Lancashire?
Manchester was the world’s first industrial city and the place where it is said the modern world began. As the cotton industry flourished in the early- to mid-nineteenth century, tens of thousands of people came here and to the surrounding mill towns in search of work from Ireland, Scotland, elsewhere in England and from across Europe. They often lived in very poor living conditions and many went on to emigrate to countries including the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand as they sought to make new lives using the skills they had learned in the mills of the city-region that became known as Cottonopolis.
What sets you apart from other researchers?
I have been researching my family roots in Manchester, Lancashire and Ireland for more than 30 years after starting out helping my dad in Manchester Central Library in the 1980s. In 2016, I wrote a bestselling book about living conditions in Victorian Manchester after discovering my ancestors lived in a notorious slum called Angel Meadow and I now lead walking tours in the area. I also have experience of researching Mancunian-Irish roots by undertaking several research trips to Ireland and cycling across the Somme tracing my WW1 soldier ancestor’s final journey. I will use my skills as a genealogist, non-fiction history author and tour guide, and also my background as an investigative journalist, to help you make new family discoveries.
What can expect if you take on my project?
We will meet online for an introductory conversation to discuss your research needs and I will then give you an estimate of the cost of the project. If you want to go ahead, I will ask you to send across any relevant research you have already done and then I will carry out my own research using online and archival sources. Once my research is complete, I will provide a comprehensive report on my findings and the sources used and suggestions for further research. If you want to, we will meet again online to discuss the report and any questions you might have and discuss the next steps of your genealogy journey.
What can I expect from an ancestral tour?
We will meet online for a chat about your ancestors and I will review any research you have already carried out. I will then do my own research into where and how your ancestors were living in the Victorian era using my skills as a genealogist and historian. Then we will meet at an agreed location and walk the same streets where your ancestors walked. In cases where the original houses may have gone in the 1940 Blitz and slum clearances in the 1960s, I will use my storytelling skills and bring along documents and photographs to help you see and understand what their lives were like.
How will your mentoring sessions help me?
Often a genealogy brick wall feels impossible to break down and you can be stuck for years without making any progress. In these cases, a second pair of eyes from an expert can bring a fresh perspective that can help you finally find a way forward. We will agree a set number of online sessions at times to suit you. I will review your existing research, draw up a research plan and work with you over a coffee to find ways of tackling the problem so you can take the next steps on your own.
Can you help with adoption cases?
Unfortunately, I don’t do research into adoption cases or search for living relatives as this requires specialist advice and support. However, I can recommend other genealogists who have experitise in this field. Analysing DNA results also requires specialist support and, while I do not currently do DNA research, I can point you in the right direction to get professional help.
How much will it cost?
The cost of my research is depends on each project, the depth at which you want me to research and the difficulty of tackling your brick wall. It also depends on whether you want a report, an ancestral tour, a series of mentoring sessions or a combination of all three. If you’re considering commisioning me and still a little unsure, we can meet for a free online consulation using the link below where I can find out more about what you need and give you an estimate with no obligation on you to commission me for your project.
start your journey
Are you ready to discover your story?
Schedule an introductory conversation on Zoom and find out how I can help with your family history research using this button, or tell me about your research needs using the contact form below and I’ll email you to chat about how I can help. Please note that I specialise in historical family research only — I do not undertake work involving living individuals.
Thank you for your response. ✨
Manchester and Lancashire Cotton Towns Ancestry 