Research Options
How far do you want to go?
Whatever option you choose, I will find all I can, within a reasonable timescale, on names, dates, occupations and places through internet-based research of records including censuses and BMD (Births, Marriages and Deaths) records.
I will produce a report of my findings, also providing you with “GEDCOM” file of the information gathered. This file is of an industry-standard format which can then be used by commercially-available family history software packages so that you can continue to research yourself, or produce a variety of reports of the information provided.
Whichever option you select, we would begin with an INITIAL CONSULTATION, where you will pass on to me all the information you already have about your family. There’s no point me spending my time and your money finding out what you already know! I will then enter in this information into the software that will be used to produce your tree. This Initial Consultation will be chargeable at £20 per hour in addition to the costs below. To make best use of the time available, I will ask you to provide as much detail as you already know (or suspect) – and also to say whether you have particular areas of interest that you want me to be on the lookout for. I am unlikely to exhaust all the information available in the time allocated so can “delve deeper” if requested [see below].
REFUND OPTION: I don’t want to waste my time or your money! If it becomes clear early on in the research that the information is just not there (for example, your family were immigrants from places where the details are not readily available – or they are all called “Smith” and lived somewhere in London), then I will stop and offer you what I have found together with a 50% refund.
The following options use as their starting point an individual of your choosing – whether you, or an ancestor.
Full-grown Tree
from £500
Up to 30 hours work
finding all I can about
ancestors and their siblings
Get StartedRESULT PRESENTATION AND POSSIBLE EXTRAS
Traditional ‘Family Tree’ Chart – This will be produced as a set of large sheets (each sheet maximum size 100cm x 150cm, designed to make best use of space) provided rolled in a sturdy cardboard tube. Size, and therefore cost, depends on the size of the tree but is likely to be in the region of £40 – 80 for the first copy, with extra copies available at a reduced rate if ordered at the same time.
Narrative Documents – You will also receive a comb-bound booklet giving you your family history, on a generation by generation basis, from the ‘root’ individual or couple. The first of these is inclusive in the price, but extra copies can be requested, whether duplicates or based on a different individual or couple, and these will normally cost between £10 and £15 each depending on size.
GRO Certificates – Sometimes, to overcome uncertainty about tracing the right family out of potential options, obtaining a Birth, Marriage or Death Certificate from the General Records Office is necessary. If that happens, I will go for the lowest cost option (some certificates are available as downloads rather than official certificate copies, and these are then considerably cheaper [£3 – £8 rather than £12.50] and more rapidly available) and I will charge the cost price + 20%
Source Documents – I will also provide you with a OneDrive folder containing all the downloaded source documents – censuses, parish registers, miitary records etc, together with the GEDCOM file which contains all the information I will have input to produce your tree and reports. There is bound to be more that you can glean from what I have found, so while it might be the end of my work, it could be just the beginning of yours! To help you proceed, I recommend the purchase of “Family Historian“, which is the software I will use to produce the file and reports. I have no connection with or benefit from my recommendation of Family Historian – simply many years experience of using it. This is a ‘lifetime’ purchase of a very powerful package, costing around £60, rather than a ‘subscription’ software package, so is excellent value.
DELVING DEEPER services
Follow-up research is offered as follows:
Internet research: £24 per hour
London research: £250 [whole day including all costs + maximum 6 hours research at the London Metropolitan Archives]
Other County Records Offices research:
Warwickshire £80 [half day], £150 [full day]
Other counties within 3 hours travel time of Kenilworth: £180 [full day] + TRAVEL COSTS (Car 45p/mile or Train & Taxi at cost]