I was awarded a 2.2 degree in History for a Russell Group Uni. And been contemplating on doing a masters, and possibly a PhD. My weakness has always been with Uni exams; whilst research has been a very strong skill of mine. However, I am just wondering, even if I have done reasonably well in my Masters. Will my undergrad grade hinder any possibility of me ever getting on to the PhD?!. Thanks.

You will really need to get a distinction or strong merit in the MA to have a chance of getting on a PhD (my university is only allowed to accept a student with a 2:2 for a PhD in humanities / social sciences if the dean gives special permission and I doubt we are that unusual). I assume from your statement about your research talent that you got a good first for your dissertation - that will help, but you'd also need a consistently strong MA performance. I'm afraid even then getting funding is unlikely given the sheer level of competition for a small amount of history studentships. I would not advise self-funding a PhD unless you are independently wealthy, or are supported by someone with a higher than average income, and money is really not something you will ever need to earn for the 3-4 years. Think very carefully about why you want to do a PhD and what alternative ways of scratching that research itch more cheaply there might be. If you aren't already aware very few PhDs in history will get a lectureship so you need to be very aware about whether a PhD would actually help you at all in your career aims.