Why should I pay a researcher to do what I think I could do for myself on an ancestry website?

 

Good Question. The simple answer is that we have a lot more experience at researching and we know how to solve a number of problems that the amatuer genealogist may not have encountered yet or know how to tackle. We also have more time to spend searching. that you probably do. We do this on a daily basis, not just just occassionally. We can be working on YOUR case while you are at work. Hunting down records can be frustrating and time-consuming - we save you the effort and get you results - not headaches.

 

When you first begin researching your family history there will be a frustrating point when you come to a standstill. No mater how hard to look, you just won;t be able to track down a record or bith certificate or find out who someone's parents were.. Ths can be due to a munber of things. Often, if you are trying to decipher old documents, the spelling of names can be different, mistakes and errors can occur in transcriptions, and the writing may be very difficult to read. You may not understand some of the terminolgy or languge used. You ancestor may have got married, changed names, been in prison, moved away from an area, died abroad or emigrated for work.  A researcher can explore many other avenues of enquiry that you are not aware of. They may be able to shed some light on the problem by looking in speciialist record archives or by searching newspaper clippings and historical publications from the local area where your ancestor lived at the time. The information you have may been given may not correctly match up with other sources. Certain ecords may have ben destroyed or lost. A good reseacher can be an nvaluable trouble shooter for you at times like this. They may be able to suceed in finding what you are looking for, and save you a lot of time,effort and frustrtion. They also have good general historical knowledge which may be of use. For example, if multiple people in a family gied on a certain date, it is likely that it was from an accident or illness. If there was a medical epidemic or a disaster that occured in the region your ancestors lived, a reseacher would be able to uncover the reason, and find the evidence through contacts with historical societies and other organisations.

 

Many people begin researching their family tree on ancestry websites but don't like paying out over £100 per year for worldwide membership in order to access the greatest ammount of records. They are afraid that they wont know how to use the site tools, or that they'll find that they don't get enough time to use their memebership effectivley. We DO have worldwide memeberships on a number of websites, plus we know how to use the search tools to ensure more accurate results. We have many more resources at our fingertips and you get much better value for money by hiring a professional to do your research for you, than you do if you decide to go it alone.

What's the advantage of booking one of your research packages over hiring you by the hour?

 

All our research packages are designed as long term  projects. Hiring us by the hour is normally only done by those clients who need an expert to  help them to solve a short-term problem .  Buying a package from our site is much better value for money as you are effectivley buying a whle block of our time so we can consentrate fully on your case, for a specific period. If at the end of that time you want us to continue our research or you decide to re-engage us in the future,  you can re-purchase a package extension at a discount fee.