Our story begins in Edinburgh's historic Grassmarket, where Ed's father ran an antique dealing operation from the 1950s through the 1990s. This was not a modest shop—it was, as one specialist later described it, "antiques on an industrial scale," with multiple warehouses filled with extraordinary pieces sourced from across Britain and Europe.

The scale of the operation meant access to museum-quality treasures. Among the most remarkable was a 15th-century Tudor bed—later discovered to be the marital bed of Henry VII himself. This priceless artifact passed through the Edinburgh warehouse before finding its way to a curator at Holyrood Palace. The bed had already lived several lives: it appeared in the 1974 film Carry On Dickwith Sid James, in early 1990s episodes of Poirot, and in the beloved 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Only years later was its true royal provenance confirmed.

This was the world Ed grew up in—surrounded by history, learning to recognize quality, understanding the stories behind each piece. The Edinburgh operation exported extensively to the United States, with containers regularly shipped to North Carolina and Tennessee throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

In the late 1990s, Ed's mother Edith arrived at Paris's legendary Marché aux Puces de Saint-Ouen by chance—asked to cover a friend's stall during August vacation. She discovered a world that captivated her, and she decided to take a permanent gallery space at the market.

It was there that she met a Scottish antique dealer who kept visiting her stall. He would spend hours talking with her, yet never bought anything. Eventually, Edith realized he wasn't there for the furniture. As she tells it with a smile: "It all ended in marriage."

Ed's parents moved their base to Paris, where his mother continues to run Galerie Edith Davidson at Marché aux Puces today. Originally specializing in English furniture, she has evolved her offerings over the decades, following fashion and taste to present quality pieces from the 18th and 19th centuries, with occasional forays into contemporary design. This is where Ed learned the art of sourcing at Europe's most famous flea market—walking the alleys, building relationships with dealers, recognizing the exceptional among the ordinary.

Angela's family heritage in the antiques trade runs even deeper. Her great-grandmother sold clothing and bric-a-brac at London's "Old" Caledonian Market in Islington—a legendary 19th-century market where she traded for thirty years until its closure in the 1950s.

In 1964, Angela's father founded the family business at Bermondsey's world-famous Friday morning market, starting with a single stall. Within two years, he had opened the first shop at Highbury Park, next to Arsenal's football ground. The area quickly became a mecca for international dealers, with traders queuing from early morning every Wednesday to get first pick of the week's finds.

The business expanded dramatically in 1968 when an American collector from Houston visited and placed a substantial order. This led to a transatlantic operation shipping four 40-foot containers per week to the United States throughout the late 1960s and 1970s. The family opened showrooms in New York and Florida, becoming one of Britain's major antique exporters to America.

Over the decades, the London operation moved through the city's most prestigious antique districts: Westbourne Grove near Portobello Market (where the family traded for over thirty years), Church Street near Alfies Market, and finally to a large warehouse and showroom in Hertfordshire. Angela joined the family business in 1994, learning from her father's decades of experience working with interior designers and sourcing for high-end clients.

The business adapted to the digital age in the early 2000s, pioneering online antique sales while maintaining the traditional practice of shipping containers to American auction houses—"coming full circle," as the family notes, to their 1960s roots.

When Ed and Angela founded Source Me It, they brought together over a century of combined family expertise. Ed's mother Edith continues to run her gallery at Marché aux Puces, providing invaluable Paris connections. Angela's family business continues to operate from Hertfordshire, maintaining relationships built over sixty years in London's antique trade.

This heritage means something tangible for our clients. We don't need to build relationships with European dealers—we inherited them. We don't need to learn which auction houses handle the finest pieces—we've been attending them for generations. We don't need to figure out international shipping and customs—our families have been doing it since the 1960s.

Most importantly, we inherited something that cannot be taught: the eye for quality, the instinct for authenticity, the ability to recognize a museum-quality piece in a crowded warehouse or a hidden gem at a flea market stall. This is knowledge passed down through family hands, refined over decades, and now brought to bear for our clients around the world.