What is your trade

[Mike Cecil]

Worked in the family sheet metal/tinsmith shop (Cecil & Co) while an undergrad at university, then stayed at university on lecturing, etc after earning a B.Sc (Honours) and a B.A. Worked as a geologist in the State Geological Survey, then went into private practice for several years on my own and later with Geo-Eng Australia. Spent another couple of years with a government department before taking up an offer from the AWM on a short term contract as an assistant curator. Within 6 months I was on staff, and within 4 years was Head of Military Heraldry and Technology. Retired in 2010 and moved to the USA with my wife, artist Krystii Melaine.

Been researching since I was a teenager, and got serious about writing in the 1980s. First book in the early 1990s, and the rest is history, so to speak. No longer have any 'one to one' scale examples in the shed, just sticking with an ever-growing collection of paper and digital images! I enjoy the research and writing and don't know how I ever had the time for a formal job.

Mike C