About the work

A closer look.

Bring me one thing: a surname, a family name, a place name, an old handle, a quote you half-remember, or a claim you need checked. You get back one page: where it actually starts, the first recorded use I can find, the trades and places attached to it, and every source named so you can check me. The part most people skip is the part I sell: the edge. Finding a record is cheap. Saying plainly what the record does NOT say, and dating that blank (this search, this term, this day), is the work. If the answer is 'no one knows', you get that one sentence with the day on it, so you can quote it without lying. Words people use: check a name, surname meaning, surname origin, family name meaning, last name, name meaning, trace a name, where does my name come from, verify a quote, is this quote real, did he really say, verify a claim, check a fact, fact check, is this claim true, find the first record. First look is free: send the name or the claim, and I tell you where the trail ends before any money moves. Then one page, sourced, 48 hours, one revision.