After leaving university in 1999 with a first class degree in Linguistics, Jo began work at her local archive, Norfolk Record Office. There, she worked initially in the strongroom with original documents, and then joined the research team working in the searchroom. She helped members of the public with their research, answered written enquiries and carried out research for people unable to visit in person. Jo wrote a number of Norfolk Record Office’s family history information guides and articles for the local newspaper.
In 2006, Jo set up her own research business and over the next 11 years carried out over 1000 research projects across England. She worked on a number of projects for the BBC TV programme ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ and featured in the Mary Berry episode. She was interviewed on BBC Radio Norfolk several times, as a local expert genealogist.
In 2017, Jo joined the international team of Ancestry ProGenealogists, the research arm of Ancestry.com, where she worked for 5 years. There, she carried out hundreds of research projects for clients across the globe, researching families across the British Isles and North America and became proficient in the use of DNA as a genealogical tool. She also worked on cases featured on TV programmes: DNA Journey, The Queen and Her Cousins with Alexander Armstrong, My Family Secrets Revealed and Every Family Has a Secret.
Jo is now working again as an independent, freelance genealogist. She is a full member of AGRA, the Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives, the professional organisation promoting high professional standards in the field of genealogy and historical research in England and Wales.
