Family Legacy+ | From research to heirloom.

Your family's story is bigger than a family tree.

We uncover your family's history through meticulous genealogical research, bring the people and places of the past to life, and transform their stories into beautifully illustrated books and framed heirlooms.

I'm Gavin Crombie. Family Legacy+ grew from my own family research after my grandson asked me, “Who am I?” I personally research each family history and draw on three decades of visual storytelling to shape it into a lasting heirloom.

Adoptive, step and blended families are welcome too. Discover Beyond Blood.

Truth first. Then craft.
Illustrative scene of the Gray family admiring their framed family legacy.
The Gray family legacy, created as a framed heirloom.

More than a family tree

Names and dates are only the beginning.

A family tree records who came before us. A Family Legacy+ piece asks something more personal: who were they, what did they carry, and what has reached us because they lived?

We bring together genealogical records, family photographs, places, occupations, personal memories and visual symbolism, then shape them into a finished work with the depth and presence of an heirloom.

The Plus in Family Legacy+

Your Stories. Beautifully Told.

Some stories are waiting to be discovered. Others are waiting to be written.

From memories and wartime diaries to family letters, unfinished manuscripts and heartfelt tributes, we turn meaningful experiences into beautifully written books and keepsakes.

Personally written by Gavin Crombie, author of four published books.

Explore our storytelling services
An older person holds a treasured family photograph above handwritten memories and letters
Every photograph holds a story. Every life deserves to be heard.

A new collection · Samoa · Tonga · Cook Islands

Pacific Family Legacies

Generations of love. A lifetime of belonging. A legacy to treasure.

Across the islands of the Pacific, family is more than a connection between generations. It is a living heritage, woven through stories, traditions, celebrations and the enduring bonds between ancestors and descendants. We transform those precious connections into personalised family portraits, bringing generations together in a beautifully illustrated work of art.

Illustrative concepts featuring fictional families, not documented genealogies.

Discover our Pacific Family Legacy Portraits →

A legacy built on more than names.

Original researchRegisters, archives and family records
Historical storytellingPeople, places and the lives they lived
Fine-art heirloomsIllustrated books and framed artwork

The research behind the artwork

Every family has a history.
Finding it is the art.

What you see on the wall is the final chapter of a much bigger undertaking. We trace names through the sources, test relationships against documentary evidence, and research the world in which each generation lived.

From eighteenth-century Scottish parish registers to Chinese family genealogies passed down through centuries, the records themselves shape the story.

01

Find the evidence

Family registers, baptisms, marriages, maps, gazetteers and historic documents.

02

Reconstruct the family

Follow the correct line, reconcile names and generations, and make uncertainties visible.

03

Bring history to life

Understand occupations, traditions, communities and the events that shaped their lives.

04

Create the heirloom

Turn the research into a family book and artwork designed to be shared and preserved.

Historical records are distinguished from artistic interpretations.

Family story 01 / Scotland and Australia

From Cadder to Victoria. A family story worth preserving.

Lee Gray's family research follows parish registers, historical maps and generations of lives from Scotland to Australia. The 1724 baptism connection is Strongly Supported, not conclusively documented.

Discover the evidence, the book, and Lee's complete account on the dedicated family page.

Explore the Gray family story →

Family story 02 / Duyun, Guizhou

Centuries of Chinese family history, carefully reconstructed.

Traditional family genealogies, local gazetteers and family memories helped us explore the Liu lineage across generations. Xiaomei, formerly a lecturer in English literature at Sichuan Agricultural University and a principal of Digital Frontier for approximately 27 years, combines fluent Chinese and English with deep familiarity with traditional Chinese genealogies (族谱) and local gazetteers.

The full source discussion and ancestral artwork are on the dedicated Liu family page.

Explore the Liu family story →

Family story 03 / Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Eight generations. One extraordinary Scottish family story.

From the agricultural communities of Ellon and Logie Buchan to the engineers of today, the Bannerman family legacy traces more than two centuries of Scottish life through family photographs, parish records and illustrated heritage artwork.

The earliest link to Adam Bannerman senior remains a promising but unconfirmed connection. Explore the documented family history, the draft poster and the research still underway.

"Suddenly it has hit me in quite an emotional way - wow."

Graham Bannerman, on seeing his family legacy artwork
Explore the Bannerman family story →

Not just a family tree

A family's history, beautifully told.

Our illustrated history books combine ancestral lines and original discoveries with the wider story: the places people called home, the work they did, and the events that changed their world.

Illustrative mockup of the Gray family history book open on a table.
Illustrative product visualisation

Scotland / Australia

The Gray Family Heritage Book

Documentary discoveries, period landscapes, maps and everyday life in eighteenth-century Scotland.

Illustrative mockup of the Liu family genealogy book in a Chinese study.
Illustrative product visualisation

Duyun / China

The Liu Family Genealogy

Old clan records, generation poems, family traditions and the journey of a lineage across centuries.

The craft behind every heirloom

Beautifully researched.
Made to endure.

The research deserves presentation worthy of its significance. That is why we work with specialist fine-art materials and professional printmakers, rather than treating a family legacy as an ordinary poster.

Discuss your family's legacy
01 / THE PAPER

Hahnemühle Photo Rag

Our selected fine-art paper is Hahnemühle's 308 gsm cotton Photo Rag, valued for its beautiful matte surface and acid-free, archival-quality composition.

02 / FINE-ART PRINTING

Museum-calibre fine-art production

Every Family Legacy+ artwork is entrusted to a specialist, Epson-certified fine-art printing studio with experience serving museums, galleries and cultural institutions. Professional pigment printing, precise colour management and carefully selected archival-quality materials give each family heirloom the exceptional craftsmanship its story deserves.

03 / THE FRAMING

Museum-standard framing

Every artwork is framed by a specialist studio in Chengdu that frames work for art galleries and museums. Each piece is mounted to museum standard on acid-free materials and glazed with museum-grade acrylic, which is lighter than glass, won't shatter in transit, and protects the print for generations.

04 / LONGEVITY

Made to endure

Archival-quality materials are chosen with future generations in mind. Display conditions and careful handling still matter.

More from our family collection

Every family deserves its own kind of legacy.

Beyond the Gray and Liu histories, our earlier artwork celebrates the Kinnaird, Crombie, Pendreigh and blended family stories that inspired Family Legacy+.

Kinnaird family legacy artwork.
01

The Kinnaird Family Legacy

A multi-generational family piece connecting ancestral roots with living family love, continuity and belonging.

Crombie family legacy artwork.
02

The Crombie Family Legacy

From old Scottish records to the present day, a visual story of resilience, craft and quiet strength across generations.

Pendreigh family legacy artwork.
03

The Pendreigh Family Legacy

Nine generations brought together in one piece, celebrating ordinary lives, work, perseverance and love carried through time.

The Legacy of Three Families artwork.
04

The Legacy of Three Families

Created for Nathan, this piece brings the Kinnaird, Crombie and Pendreigh lines together as one visual inheritance of identity and belonging.

See the idea come to life

A short introduction to Family Legacy+.

This short film brings one of our founding family stories to life and shows the feeling behind Family Legacy+: research, memory, imagery and belonging brought together in a form that can be shared.

This is an introduction to the Family Legacy+ concept. Bespoke Family Legacy Films are separately developed, fully produced narrative films created for major commissions.

Made to live on the wall

The finished piece should feel like it has always belonged in the family.

Each final artwork can be prepared for fine-art printing and presentation in a deep, traditional frame, turning the research into something with the presence of a family portrait.

Print-ready masters Fine-art presentation Designed for framing Made to be passed on

Choose your level of discovery

Three ways to create a Family Legacy.

Some families arrive with years of research already complete. Others begin with a few names, photographs and questions. We can begin wherever your story is today.

01

Your existing family tree

Family Legacy Portrait

US$1,250

  • Up to 6 generations
  • Up to 3 hours verifying your tree
  • Key links checked
  • Framed fine-art artwork
  • High-resolution digital master
  • 12-page written family story
  • Illustrated heritage book with presentation box: add-on
  • Photo restoration and historical maps: up to 4 photos
  • 2 mantelpiece-sized framed family photographs
  • 1 refinement round
Ask about a portrait →
03

Multiple branches or countries

Family Legacy Commission

US$5,000

  • 10+ generations where records allow
  • 30+ hours of research, archives in multiple countries
  • Full source report
  • Multiple framed fine-art artworks
  • High-resolution digital master
  • Detailed narrative per branch
  • 2 illustrated heritage books with presentation boxes
  • Photo restoration and historical maps included
  • 5 mantelpiece-sized framed family photographs
  • 3 refinement rounds
Discuss a bespoke commission →

In addition to your framed artwork, you receive print-ready masters of both the framed artwork and the book, suitable for printing and framing locally, so further copies can be made for other family members.

International shipping and import charges, and research beyond the included hours, are quoted before work proceeds.

Most commissions take 4-6 weeks from your deposit and family material to delivery. If you have a birthday or anniversary in mind, tell us when you enquire and we'll confirm whether we can meet it.

Three family lines brought together in one legacy artwork about belonging.

Beyond Blood

Family is inherited in more ways than one.

Genealogy can tell us where our blood came from. Family tells us where we belong.

For adoptive families, stepfamilies, foster families, blended families and families whose deepest bonds cannot be explained by DNA alone, a Family Legacy can honour the people and relationships that truly shaped a life.

The Legacy of Three Families brings Kinnaird, Crombie and Pendreigh together in one story of love, attachment, care and belonging.

Ask about a belonging commission →

From research to heirloom

A thoughtful process, not a production line.

01

Discovery

We begin with your family, the purpose of the piece and who it is being created for.

02

Research

We gather records, names, dates, photographs, places, memories and the material already held by your family.

03

Story shaping

We identify the narrative thread, the human meaning that sits behind the genealogy.

04

Artwork

Research, portraiture, historical context and symbolism are composed into a bespoke visual piece.

05

Refinement

You review the work with us. Details, wording and emphasis are refined carefully.

06

Final master

In addition to your framed heirloom artwork, you receive print-ready masters of both the artwork and the book, suitable for printing and framing locally, so further copies can be made for other family members.

Research integrity

Beautifully designed. Honestly researched.

An heirloom should not merely look convincing. It should be trustworthy.

Family Legacy+ works from genealogical records, documented sources, family memory, photographs and historical context. Every important family connection is assessed before it becomes part of the artwork.

DocumentedSupported directly by records.
Strongly SupportedThe evidence fits closely, but no single definitive record survives.
UnconfirmedA possibility that still needs evidence.

We do not invent history to make a prettier story. The beauty comes from revealing the story that is actually there.

Gavin Crombie in a creative digital media environment.

“I began by trying to give the next generation of my own family a stronger sense of where they belonged.”

How Family Legacy+ began

A personal idea, backed by three decades of visual storytelling.

Family Legacy+ grew out of my own family research. Names in parish records slowly became people. Occupations became lives. Places, photographs and fragments of memory began to connect generations that had once seemed distant.

The first pieces were made for my own family, including artworks for my grandson Josh and my son Nathan. They were never intended to become a business. But somewhere in the process, it became clear that other families might value the same thing: not simply a chart of ancestry, but a beautiful expression of belonging.

That personal journey sits alongside more than three decades of my work in creative digital media through Digital Frontier, working with imagery, animation and visual storytelling.

Gavin Crombie
Founder, Family Legacy+

Beyond the frame

A fully produced film for families who want to go deeper.

For major commissions, the research can be developed into a bespoke narrative film with its own structure, archival material, photographs, maps, interviews or narration, original visual sequences and carefully developed sound and music.

These films are separately scoped productions, designed around the depth of the family story rather than as an animated version of the artwork.

Discuss a Family Legacy Film →
Legacy FilmA bespoke narrative family documentary
Celebration FilmFor birthdays, anniversaries and reunions
Memorial FilmA deeply personal tribute to a life

Founding release

Ten founding family commissions.

We are opening our first ten commissions at a founding price of US$888. This is our full Research + Portrait commission, which will be US$2,500 after the founding release. You pay US$288 to begin, with the remaining US$600 due only after you approve the artwork, before printing and framing.

In return, founding families agree to let us share their story as a published case study, with their approval at every step, and to give an honest account of their experience.

Up to 8 generationsUp to 15 hours of original researchEvidence assessmentCustom legacy artworkFramed fine-art printIllustrated heritage book with presentation boxFull written family historyPhoto restoration and historical maps (up to 4 photos)5 mantelpiece-sized framed family photographsPrint-ready masters of the artwork and bookTwo refinement rounds

International shipping, estimated provisionally at US$100-200, and research beyond the included hours, are quoted before work proceeds. Import charges are confirmed with your shipping quote.

Founding families sign a short written agreement setting out what they receive, what we may publish, and their right to approve it.

9 of 10 founding places remaining. Once all ten founding commissions are taken, Research + Portrait returns to its standard price of US$2,500. Founding families keep their founding price for the full commission, even if work continues after the offer closes.

Apply for a founding commission

Questions

Before we begin.

Do I need a complete family tree?

No. Some projects begin with years of research, others begin with a handful of names, photographs and memories. We work from what genuinely exists.

Is this genealogy research or artwork?

It is the meeting point of both. Research gives the piece integrity. Story and design give it emotional life.

Can this be created as a gift?

Yes. In many cases that is exactly what makes the work powerful, especially for children, grandchildren, significant birthdays and family milestones.

Can several family branches be included?

Yes. The Three Families piece shows how multiple lines can be brought together into one coherent visual inheritance.

What do I receive at the end?

Deliverables depend on the commission you choose. Family Legacy Portrait includes two mantelpiece-sized framed family photographs; Research + Portrait and Family Legacy Commission each include five. All options include framed artwork, written family history and print-ready masters. The illustrated heritage book is an add-on for Family Legacy Portrait and included with the other two options.

Can you create a film as well?

Yes. Selected commissions can be extended into a Family Legacy Film using the same research and visual material.

What happens if the records run out or can't be found?

Some records are lost, damaged or were never kept, so we can't guarantee how many generations can be traced. If the trail ends earlier than hoped, we'll tell you what we found, explain where the gaps are, and agree with you how to shape the finished work around it. Often the places, occupations and history of the generations we can confirm make the story just as rich. We never fill gaps with invented ancestors.

Is the deposit refundable?

Yes, in full, if you cancel within 7 days of paying and before research begins. Once research is underway, the deposit covers the time spent, and you receive a written summary of everything we've found so far. The balance is only due after you've approved the final artwork, so you never pay for printing and framing until you're happy with it.

Which countries do you ship to, and roughly what does it cost?

We ship worldwide, including Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the US and Canada. The framed artwork and book travel together in one protective consignment, fully insured. Shipping is provisionally estimated at US$100-200 depending on destination, and we confirm the exact cost before work begins, including any import taxes, so there are no surprises on delivery.

How do you handle the privacy of living relatives?

Carefully. Your research and family material are used only for your commission. If your family appears in our case studies, nothing is published without your written approval, and we never publish the names, photographs or details of living relatives who haven't agreed to be included. Within the book and artwork itself, you decide how living family members are named and shown.

Can I order just the book or just the artwork?

Yes. Our Family Legacy Portrait creates the framed artwork on its own, and the heritage book can be added to it. If you'd like a book without the artwork, get in touch and we'll quote for it.

Which payment methods do you accept?

We accept PayPal and Wise for international clients, and Alipay and WeChat Pay. PayPal also lets you pay by credit or debit card without creating an account. Prices are in US dollars, and we send a secure payment request or invoice for each stage: the deposit when you begin, and the balance once you've approved your artwork.

How long does a commission take?

Most commissions take 4-6 weeks from your deposit and family material to delivery. If you have a birthday or anniversary in mind, tell us when you enquire and we'll confirm whether we can meet it.

Begin your family story

Tell us who this is for.

You do not need to know exactly what the finished piece should look like. Begin with the family, the person, and the reason it matters.

Founding commissions are limited to ten families.

Michelle receives her family legacy poster