John is a chartered aerospace engineer educated in Bristol and Cranfield. His career included Concorde, the Beagle 2 Mars lander and several Airbus projects, on which he was a transnational manager of UK, French, German and Spanish staff, retiring in 2010.

He was closely involved in the early days of computer aided design, and obtained his doctorate in robotics from the Open University in 2007.

After retirement John ran his own aerospace consultancy business, during which time he was a Visiting Fellow and ‘Recognised Teacher’ at Cranfield University, supporting the teaching staff and graduate students in developing the design of satellites and satellite equipment.

John’s interest in genealogy is purely that of an enthusiastic amateur, his experience of the topic spanning over 30 years. During that time the subject has evolved hugely with far greater accessibility of data via the internet. John has also gained experience of dealing with the College of Arms in London.

John has experience of being on the receiving end of several CASA and WEA courses (in bead-work and early European history).