AMATEUR genealogists tracing their ancestors back to Colchester will benefit from a man’s labour of love.

Museum assistant Wayne Dutnall has located, documented and mapped about 80 per cent of the gravestones and plaques in and around the former All Saints Church.

Mr Dutnall, 42, had already been tracking his own family history for 16 years, and has gone back six generations. But it was a chance request two years ago which led to his mammoth undertaking.

He said: “A couple came in. They were on holiday and came to Colchester, as they had traced a family member to the parish of All Saints.

“He had lived in Culver Street 80 years ago, and it just got me thinking. I wanted to be able to help other people as well.”

Since then, he has painstakingly and systematically mapped the graves and plaques, working from a basic graveyard survey.

Burials at the church, which houses Colchester’s Natural History Museum, are documented from 1609 to 1881, when burials went to Colchester’s main cemetery.

Many he has traced back working simply from a date on the gravestone where decades of corrosion have worn away any other salient information.

All the grave documents and a copy of the parish records of births, deaths, baptisms, marriage banns and weddings are now kept at the museum, and can be viewed on request.

Mr Dutnall has had more than 160 requests for help, including one from Australia. He continued: “When I got a call from Australia, I couldn’t believe it. The line was quite crackly, but I straight away made out that he was asking after a James Watts.

“I recognised the name straight away, as I knew there was a plaque in the grounds of the church telling people he had donated some money to the poor.”

Another of his discoveries is the grave of Mary Ann Smith, who was the governor of the prison at Colchester Castle.

Mr Dutnall identified Mary, who was 79 when she died, from the date on her gravestone, which indicated she died on December 18 1852. She died at the castle, where she had been jailer for 37 years.

Mr Dutnall added: “At that time, there would have still been some inmates there, but one of her other main roles would have been showing people around.

“We found a picture of her dated two years before she died, doing just that.”

He also identified the final resting place of William Seaber, who was the mayor of Colchester Corporation and was buried in 1784, as well as the grave of clockmaker Nathaniel Hedges. Mr Dutnall said: “Nathaniel was the apprentice of another clockmaker, John Smorthwaite. He ran off with and married Smorthwaite’s daughter, Sarah.”

Among those he has helped is 46-year-old William Westbrook.

Mr Dutnall has helped him trace his family history on his grandmother’s line, which led him to All Saints Church to try to find the graves of his family.

He said: “I helped him look through the parish records and then look for the graves.

“The parish records are kept here and at the library, but people often find it easier to look at them here, as you do not have to tackle the microfiche.”

Together they discovered the name Howard runs through William’s mother’s side of the family and they have a 300-year connection with the church and the town.

He said: “They lived just round the back of the church. We found a member of his family features in every generation buried here, going back to 1650. One of his ancestors, a baby called Arthur Howard, who died on 4 November 1881, aged six months, was the last recorded burial here.”

Mr Westbrook, who lives in Colchester, said: “I knew quite a lot from my mum, because my gran got married in this church.

“But I needed help to take it back further. I got interested in tracing my family after watching Who Do You Think You Are? on the television.”

Mr Dutnall has also traced the First World War dead whose names are on the plaque in the grounds of the church. They included his own great grandfather, Edward Victor De’sbois, a stoker on HMS Indomitable.

When someone called him requesting help finding a relative who had been on the same ship, Mr Dutnall said: “When I told him the name of my great-grandfather, he said it was on a list of people he was looking to trace, and it turned out they had been friends.”

While the majority go away happy customers, others have been disappointed.

He said: “There is one site people use which has given people incorrect information. They are adamant it has traced a grave here, but I know when it hasn’t.”

Mr Dutnall says he has really enjoyed the project. He added: “I think it is helping people find what they are looking for. But also, it really does fascinate me.”

Copies of documents are available for 30p each.