Scotland / Australia
The Gray Family Heritage Book
Documentary discoveries, period landscapes, maps and everyday life in eighteenth-century Scotland.
Family Legacy+ | From research to heirloom.
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.
More than a family tree
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.
A new collection · Samoa · Tonga · Cook Islands
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.
The research behind the artwork
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.
Family registers, baptisms, marriages, maps, gazetteers and historic documents.
Follow the correct line, reconcile names and generations, and make uncertainties visible.
Understand occupations, traditions, communities and the events that shaped their lives.
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
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
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 →Not just a family tree
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.
Scotland / Australia
Documentary discoveries, period landscapes, maps and everyday life in eighteenth-century Scotland.
Duyun / China
Old clan records, generation poems, family traditions and the journey of a lineage across centuries.
The craft behind every heirloom
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 legacyOur selected fine-art paper is Hahnemühle's 308 gsm cotton Photo Rag, valued for its beautiful matte surface and acid-free, archival-quality composition.
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.
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.
Archival-quality materials are chosen with future generations in mind. Display conditions and careful handling still matter.
More from our family collection
Beyond the Gray and Liu histories, our earlier artwork celebrates the Kinnaird, Crombie, Pendreigh and blended family stories that inspired Family Legacy+.
A multi-generational family piece connecting ancestral roots with living family love, continuity and belonging.
From old Scottish records to the present day, a visual story of resilience, craft and quiet strength across generations.
Nine generations brought together in one piece, celebrating ordinary lives, work, perseverance and love carried through time.
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
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
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.


Choose your level of discovery
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.
Your existing family tree
US$1,250
A few names, photos and memories
US$2,500
Multiple branches or countries
US$5,000
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.
Beyond Blood
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
We begin with your family, the purpose of the piece and who it is being created for.
We gather records, names, dates, photographs, places, memories and the material already held by your family.
We identify the narrative thread, the human meaning that sits behind the genealogy.
Research, portraiture, historical context and symbolism are composed into a bespoke visual piece.
You review the work with us. Details, wording and emphasis are refined carefully.
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
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.
We do not invent history to make a prettier story. The beauty comes from revealing the story that is actually there.
“I began by trying to give the next generation of my own family a stronger sense of where they belonged.”
How Family Legacy+ began
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
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 →Founding release
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.
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 commissionQuestions
No. Some projects begin with years of research, others begin with a handful of names, photographs and memories. We work from what genuinely exists.
It is the meeting point of both. Research gives the piece integrity. Story and design give it emotional life.
Yes. In many cases that is exactly what makes the work powerful, especially for children, grandchildren, significant birthdays and family milestones.
Yes. The Three Families piece shows how multiple lines can be brought together into one coherent visual inheritance.
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.
Yes. Selected commissions can be extended into a Family Legacy Film using the same research and visual material.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.