O’Shea, Chloe

Description

My interest in genealogy began in 2006, long before I realised I could turn it into a career. Researching my own tree uncovered long forgotten family secrets, such as a fourth great-grandfather who was a Prisoner of War during the Napoleonic Wars, a fourth great-grandmother who was a smuggler and a trigamist great-grandfather (married to three people at the same time!).

I believe every ancestor has a story to tell and love nothing more than acting as a detective and revealing their hidden stories. I established The Past Revealed to help others discover more about their family history.

I am currently based in South Derbyshire but lived in Dorset for over 20 years. I specialise in English genealogy, particularly historical newspaper research.

I have always been interested in history and gained BSc (Hons) in Heritage Conservation in 2009 and MA Museum Studies in 2010 from Bournemouth University. I am also a graduate of the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies (IHGS). I was awarded the RQG Student Prize for my dissertation on a house history in South Derbyshire. I now work for the IHGS as a course tutor.

My first book ‘Discover Your Dorset Ancestors’ was published in 2022 with my second book ‘Tracing your Staffordshire Ancestors’ released in 2025. I am a regular contributor for Who Do You Think You Are magazine and the MyHeritage blog and have also written for Family Tree magazine, Discover Your Ancestors magazine and Dorset magazine. My latest book ‘Tracing your Ancestors using Newspapers’ was released in May 2026 by Pen & Sword, with contracts for a further two publications to follow after this.

I live in South Derbyshire with my husband and our two children.