Why should you hire me? A vast range of genealogical records are now available online. Some are free and others are on subscription sites. To the beginner, it can be bewildering and costly. It’s easy to spend time and money researching what turns out to be the wrong family. You can be led astray by hints to other people’s families, where they may not have been careful researchers. Many websites charge fees to search and view records but may not cover a time or place relevant for you. As a professional genetic genealogist, I can guide you in the right direction. In all cases, you would assist me by providing as much information as you have. People often know more than they realise! I offer different types of services.
DNA Consultation
DNA testing is now forming a significant part of genealogical research. Many people have already tested but struggle to understand their results. Advertising is geared towards ethnicity results, which are actually not that reliable. Far more important is the cousin matching, which is almost guaranteed to help you further your ancestry, once you start contacting people and sharing information. As a genetic genealogist, I can also help you understand the DNA results and teach you how to get the most for them. This can take the form of a one-off consultation (in person or by Zoom) or a short-term agreement to manage your results. Let me help you kick down that brick wall!
Traditional Research
Traditional research involves consultation with the client to develop what they already know of their family history into a fully researched report using all the relevant sources for the period. This includes searching the 1901 & 1911 censuses (earliest complete censuses for Ireland), subscription sites such as Findmypast and Ancestry, online parish records and other census substitutes. From there, certificates of birth, death and marriage are ordered (where copies of the registers are not available freely) to flesh out the tree and it may be necessary to visit repositories such as the National Archives & the National Library to gain further details. This work would be charged on an hourly basis for a minimum of 8 hours of research, which is exclusive of report writing time and any expenses. At the end of the process, I send a report with copies of sources, recommendations for further work and, of course, a family tree.
Review
If you have already done some research of your own, I also offer a service to review this and advise on where to go next. Plenty of people make a start themselves, then after a while get stuck. This is where I come in. Typically, we’d chat on Zoom. I can go through what you’ve done and make suggestions. People find this service particularly useful if they’re on a budget. For people who have already done a lot of research, sometimes their online trees can get messy and confusing, particularly if at the early stages, you added information from hint systems offered by the various big subscription sites. While the hints can be useful, it’s easy for errors to creep in. I can help you sort out what’s right and wrong.
If you are interested in commissioning some genealogy research or would like a consultation, contact me today for a free quote. Give me a brief outline of the information you already have and what you would hope to achieve through research. I will contact you with a suggested outline and costs. You can read reviews from past clients on Google and my Facebook page.