Nicholas David Barratt (born 16 May 1970) is an English

genealogist Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their Lineage (anthropology), lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family ...

, broadcaster and historian and is currently the Executive Director of Student Journey at

Royal Holloway University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public university, public research university and a constituent college, member institution of the federal University of London. It ...

. He was the original genealogical consultant and on-screen expert for series 1 to 4 of the BBC show '' Who Do You Think You Are?'' and worked on the format in the Republic of Ireland and Australia. Barratt has made other TV appearances, written books and been the President of the Family History Federation, Trustee of the

Society of Genealogists The Society of Genealogists (SoG) is a UK-based educational charity, founded in 1911Fowler, S School of Advanced Study, University of London. Date unknown. Retrieved 2011-10-30. to "promote, encourage and foster the study, science and knowledge ...

and board member for the Community Archives and Heritage Group. He is a Fellow of the

Royal Historical Society The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a learned society of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history. Origins The society was founded and received its royal charter in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the H ...

Biography

Barratt was born at

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He was educated at

Hampton School Hampton School is a fee-charging, boys-only private day school in Hampton, London, England. As of the 2024–2025 academic year, the school charges a minimum of £26,040 per year for attendance. Until 1975, the school was a voluntary aided gram ...

, and took a BA (Hons) degree in history from

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, before completing his PhD in state finance and fiscal history also from

. He then worked at the

Public Record Office The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was m ...

, now

The National Archives National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention. Conceptual development From the Middle Ages i ...

, from 1996 to 2000 before leaving to work as a specialist researcher at the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

until 2002, whilst establishing Sticks Research Agency. He was CEO of Nation's Memory Bank and advisor at Digital Estate Corporation and created the ''Family History Show'', a genealogy video magazine. Following a career as a broadcaster and author from 2002-2012, he returned to work at The National Archives in 2013, before leaving in 2015 to join

Senate House Library Senate House is the administrative centre of the University of London, situated in the heart of Bloomsbury, London, immediately to the north of the British Museum. The Art Deco building was constructed between 1932 and 1937 as the first phase ...

at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. In April 2018 Barratt was appointed Director. The following year, he joined

The Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

where he worked as the Director of Learner and Discovery Services before leaving in 2023 to take up his current role at Royal Holloway.

Television

Barratt has made numerous TV appearances, and his research credits include ''House Detectives'', ''Invasion'', ''Omnibus'' and the BAFTA-nominated '' Seven Wonders of the Industrial World''. Since 2002 he has moved into presenting, with appearances on ''Who Do You Think You Are'' in the UK, Ireland, Australia and USA as well as ''History Mysteries'', ''Hidden House History'', ''So You Think You’re Royal'', ''Secrets from the Attic'', ''Missing Millions'', and ''Live the Dream as Seen on Screen'' on television, and ''Tracing Your Roots'' for Radio 4. He also presented the research strands for BBC's ''Who Do You Think You Are?'' DVD as well as onscreen appearances for the format in the UK, Ireland, Australia and the US.

Published works

*''Tracing the History of Your House'' (Public Record Office, 2001) *''House History Starter Pack'' (Public Record Office, 2002) *''History Trail'' (BBC, 2002) *''Your Family's War History'' (BBC Learning, 2004) *''Who Do You Think You Are?: Trace Your Family Tree Back to the Tudors'' (with Anton Gill; HarperCollins, 2006) *''Genealogy Online for Dummies'' (Wiley, 2006) *''The Family Detective'' (Ebury, 2006) *''Who Do You Think You Are?: Discovering the Heroes and Villains in Your Family'' (with Dan Waddell; HarperCollins, 2006) *''Who Do You Think You Are Encyclopedia of Genealogy'' (Harper Collins, 2008) *''Lost Voices from the Titanic: The Definitive Oral History'' (Preface, 2009) *''Nick Barratt's Guide to Your Ancestors' Lives'' (Pen and Sword, 2010) *''Greater London: the Story of the Suburbs'' (Random House, 2012) *''The Forgotten Spy'' (Blink, 2015) *''The Restless Kings'' (Faber, 2018) Barratt's other works include academic articles and volumes on

medieval history In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

. He wrote a weekly column for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' (2010-2013) and has been a contributor to various family history magazines.

References

External links

*
Nick BarrattFamily History Show
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barratt, Nick 1970 births Living people Alumni of King's College London English columnists English genealogists English television presenters People educated at Hampton School People from Hammersmith People associated with the University of London People associated with the National Archives (United Kingdom) People associated with the Open University