How much does it cost?
The family history package I offer covering one surname line, as described on the website, costs £699.
Up to three certificates are included in the package price, and any other certificates necessary are ordered from the General Register Office (GRO) and provided at cost price to you, in addition to the package price.
The current cost of a birth, marriage or death certificate from the GRO is £11, or £7 for a birth or marriage certificate in PDF format, which will then be printed out for you and included in your file.
Postage is not included in the package price. It is advisable to use track and trace and include a sufficient amount of compensation in case your parcel goes astray. The cost of postage will depend on the weight of your family history file.
As an example, a small parcel weighing up to 2kg, tracked, and with compensation up to £1000, sent within the United Kingdom by Royal Mail, would currently cost £12.
So the total price for the family history package is £699, plus the cost price of any necessary certificates, apart from up to three certificates included in the package price, plus the cost of postage. There are no extra costs hidden elsewhere on the website.
After the free initial assessment to see if the research you have requested is possible, half the package price will be required as a deposit in order for research to begin.
When your family history package is completed it will be delivered to you on payment of the rest of the package price, plus the cost of any extra certificates obtained and the cost of postage.
How long will it take?
The information and documents available varies for each family, but a single direct line would typically take from 1-3 months, depending on the complexity of your family history and the documents available. More common surnames can be more difficult to trace as there may be more than one person with the same name.
Certificates are ordered from the General Register Office, which can sometimes take a bit of time, but it may not be necessary to order many, or any, certificates, if other documents and information can confirm someone is the right ancestor.
Many hours will be spent researching your ancestors, using mainly online sources, and writing up the results, in order to present you with your personalised family history. Documents such as census pages and parish records will be enhanced before printing to make them as easy to read as possible, but please remember that these are old documents written at the time, in variable states of preservation.
What information do I need to provide for research to begin?
It is often possible to begin research with fairly basic information, such as the name, year of birth and place of birth, or place of residence, of the start person.
However, it’s very helpful if you can provide as much information as you know about them such as full name, date and place of birth, date and place of marriage, name of parents, if known, and where they lived. Date and age at death is also helpful, especially if date of birth is not known. If you have birth, marriage and death certificates for any relevant family members the information these contain will help in starting the research.
If you don’t have much information it’s likely certificates will need to be obtained in order for the research to begin.
What will be included in my family history package?
I aim to provide as much information and detail about your ancestors and their lives as I am able to, but sometimes people cannot be found as documents have not survived, and there is no guarantee that everyone can be found.
The documents in your family history file could include census pages, certificates (where purchased), parish records (where available) and perhaps also military records or other documents relating to your ancestors.
I will endeavour to find your ancestors on each of the censuses on which they ought to appear but sometimes this is not possible as the page has been lost or your ancestor was “away” somewhere and did not appear on the census.
Many parish records have not survived, and earlier ones have less information. Where these are available it may be possible to trace your family line further back in time.
You will receive a family record sheet for each couple and their children, with details of births, baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials, where this information is available. Your family history will also include details about the jobs your ancestors did and the places they lived, plus any other relevant information discovered during the research.
The text of your family history story can be read as a stand alone narrative of the history of your family, without referring to the other documents also included in the file.
There will also be a list of sources used for the research, along with suggestions for further research, if appropriate. Some background information about the sources, such as the census, civil registration, parish records and other documents, will be included where this is relevant.
If your ancestors are from my local area it’s possible I may be able to provide photographs of churches, or other buildings, or places relevant to your family’s history, and perhaps even photographs of headstones, if these can be located.
Your family history package is supplied with all documents and information printed and in a ring binder. This format means you can add your own photographs and information at any time in the future, placing them in the appropriate position in the file.