Genealogy Chat

I am wondering how much it costs to do this and I suppose it depends how much time it takes. I have not had much luck and don't feel I know enough to go from here so wondered if anyone had hired a professional. Thanks

If you hire professional you don't get the thrill of the chase yourself.

Hi, I'v used a researcher at a Record Officer to look at parish registers for me (too far to travel myself)and got a load of info for £15. for 1 hour.

I have heard it costs about £25 ph on average, and they start with yourself if you have no leads or dates to go on, a lot can be researched by yourself just by starting off with a certififcate.............my cousin paid Hundreds for information that I found online myself and he never had as much as I have or the frill or doing it himself. maybe we can help you! Carrie

I think it depends on what you need to find out and where. I have paid records offices for research - they generally charge about £18 an hour - but I've been specific about what I wanted - e.g. all baptisms to Fred Bloggs & Jane Doe between 1750 and 1790, etc. I prefer to go to records offices myself, nothing beats the 'hands on' approach, but sometimes I need the answers NOW, and the research fee is less than I'd pay for the train fare and possibly an overnight stay I'd need otherwise. nell PS if you say what you are stuck on we might be able to help.

Before considering hiring a professional, have you sought help on these boards. There are a lot of people with a wide knowledge base who are more than willing to help. It really depends where you are stuck - 19th century ? or before ?

It is very difficult esp when you dont have much to go on. My nan Janet Jacobs born 1917 in Birmingham, her mother was called Sarah Jacobs and neither of them married. I am told that Sarah Jacobs had other brothers and sisters, could be up to 11 of them. One was called Bessie jacobs which could be short for anything. That is more or less all the info I have, not much eh especially when i dont have dates to go on and dont know when Sarah Jacobs died i can only think around 1964-1970. It is a real shame that I cannot get anywhere on this but not sure what the next stage is.

Sarah, Have you got your Nan's birth certificate? It's usually the best place to start.

Yes have the birth certificate at home so will dig it out tonight and hopefully start.

Hi Sarah Professional researchers can be helpful for specific things, but I wouldn't be in a rush to use one if I were you. Hold on to your money a little longer because I am sure that you will be able to get a great bulk of your research done yourself and with help from us on these boards. Having just done a quick search, I can tell you that there is one large family of 'Jacobs' showing up in Birmingham on the 1901 census. I'll give you the info here and it might come in handy once you have a bit more info. Could turn out that this family is yours, or related to them somehow. You'll see the mother is named Bessie and there is a daughter named Sarah. No sign of a daughter named Bessie or Elizabeth (which is what Bessie is usually short for) - but perhaps Bessie was born later? Anyway, here's the info from 1901 Census: Bessie Jacobs abt 1865 Hartlepool, Durham, England Wife Birmingham Warwickshire Frank Jacobs abt 1894 Birmingham Son Birmingham Warwickshire Hannah Jacobs abt 1882 Birmingham Daughter Birmingham Warwickshire Isaac E Jacobs abt 1883 Birmingham Son Birmingham Warwickshire Kate H Jacobs abt 1900 Birmingham Daughter Birmingham Warwickshire Matilda R Jacobs abt 1897 Birmingham Daughter Birmingham Warwickshire Phillip Jacobs abt 1889 Birmingham Son Birmingham Warwickshire Samuel Jacobs abt 1845 London, Middlesex, England Head Birmingham Warwickshire Sarah G Jacobs abt 1885 Birmingham Daughter Birmingham Warwickshire Soloman Jacobs abt 1884 Birmingham Son Birmingham Warwickshire Victor N Jacobs abt 1886 Birmingham Son Birmingham Warwickshire Let us know if you need any help once you've had a look at your nan's birth cert. best wishes - Leah

If you look for Sarah Jacobs death yourself it will only cost you time - the GRO death indexes are free on Ancestry at the moment. A professional will use the same indexes, but charge for his time. nell

Thanks Leah I will have a look at the birth certificate tonight and see where I can go from there.

I have used Bill Lawson who has been working on Hebridean family histories for the past 30 years. Given that much of the material is in Gaelic (which I can't read/speak) and that so much more of the material is held in the oral tradition (mind-blowingly accurate too!)...I contacted him and paid £70 for all known ancestors of my maternal grandmother. He got me back to c1750 and I can let it lie there knowing that I won't turn up anything more than he has already found. Given that he finished that line for me, £70 was a small price to pay! William

If you did get someone to trace it wouldn't you need to check the information they gave you was correct. Would they give you all the regerence numbers etc

I wouldnt want anyone to do my whole tree (though I cant ever imagine a day when its 'finished') but there are a couple of real brick walls (as opposed to the garden fences some people put on here!!) which I would be willing to pay for professional help. In fact I will do that I think with GGGPx4.

In the past, I had a researcher to look up references in a record office that I couldn't get to, but I 'directed' the search, saying which parish, which couple or which 30 or 50 year time span I needed looking up. I couldn't bear to hand over the thinking or analysis to anyone - the chase is what it's all about! This was all pre home PCs and the internet. The only other alternative was to plan a holiday and go yourself, but that meant researching only once a year! Jay

Hi Sarah Don't give up hope - there are loads of great people out there willing to help.I felt like giving it up as a bad job, but have had replies tonight which have restored my faith - see my request about death certs. Sharon

I have never used a professional researcher myself, but a Canadian contact generously sent me his research which had taken 15 years, all done by a professional. To my great dismay and embarrassment it was glaringly wrong. I cautiously asked him for instance, why he thought John, born 1671 was the son of George, when I had proved he was the son of James. My researcher told me this was the one, he replied. She is very good, I have been using her for years. But she has that John born in Darwen, ours was born in Blacksnape, see the Shuttleworth Family Papers. What are the Shuttleworth Family Papers, he asked. Anyway, to cut a long story short, he has gone off in a huff, convinced I am wrong and he is right, because he has paid THOUSANDS for his research. But his researcher obviously has not used all the sources that I have used, which are literally hundreds. Not having any personal knowledge of the family, the researcher does not realise exactlyhow many men with exactly the same name lived in the same general area. She has also provided translations from the latin entires in the Parish Registers - wrong wrong wrong! So, be very careful - pay for one thing at a time if you do decide to go down this route, rather than giving someone a blank cheque to research your tree. Olde Crone

I found my nan’s (Janet Jacobs) birth certificate, so as follows: When and where born : 9th March 1917, 2 Raddle Barn Road, Selly Oak, U.D. Name Janet Sex girl Name and surname of father - cross through that. Name, surname and maiden surname of mother - Sarah Jacobs a munition worker of 12 Summer Lane, Birmingham U.D Occupation of father - cross through that Signature, description and residence of informat - S Jacobs, Mother, 2 Raddle Barn Road, Selly Oak Registered 13th March, 1917 Cas from the boards emailed this to me today: Sarah Jacobs Age: 19 Estimated birth year: abt 1882 Relation: Daughter Gender: Female Where born: Pol Foreign Subject Civil parish: Birmingham Ecclesiatical parish: St Asaph County/Island: Warwickshire Country: England Source information: RG13/2832 /Folio: 108 Page: 18 Registration district: Birmingham Sub-registration district: St Martin Israel Broidey abt 1874 Pol Foreign Boarder Birmingham Warwickshire Abraham Jacobs abt 1888 Pol Foreign Sub Son Birmingham Warwickshire Annah Jacobs abt 1861 Pol Foreign Subject Wife Birmingham Warwickshire ***Betsy Jacobs abt 1886 Pol Foreign Subject Daughter Birmingham Warwickshire Deborah Jacobs abt 1878 Pol Foreign Daughter Birmingham Warwickshire Etty Jacobs abt 1891 Pol Foreign Sub Daughter Birmingham Warwickshire Louisa Jacobs abt 1894 B'ham Son Birmingham Warwickshire Michael Jacobs abt 1847 Pol Foreign Subject Head Birmingham Warwickshire Morris Jacobs abt 1897 B'ham Son Birmingham Warwickshire Nathan Jacobs abt 1899 B'ham Son Birmingham Warwickshire Rose Jacobs abt 1884 Pol Foreign Subject Daughter Birmingham Warwickshire ***Sarah Jacobs abt 1882 Pol Foreign Subject Daughter Birmingham Warwickshire Theresa Jacobs abt 1891 B'ham Daughter Birmingham Warwickshire Woolf Jacobs abt 1873 Pol Foreign Subject Son Birmingham Warwickshire Now how do I know that there is a link there? What would be the next course of action bearing in mind I do not know when Sarah Jacobs died only that she was buried (I think) in Birmingham. My mother always said that Sarah had a sister called Bessie / Betsy and a brother called Morry which must have been Morris which appear above but how do I know if this is correct. Thank you for your help yesterday as I don’t want to give up or pay someone to do this for me but when I have so little to go on I wonder if it can be done. Sarah x

If Sarah was a munitions worker, the odds are that her brothers were in the army. Have a look at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission site, to see if any of the boys were killed: this might provide addresses. The National Archives has medal cards on Documents Online. This is frankly a waste of money, but you might pick up a regiment. If the service papers for any of the brothers survive, these may list Sarah, with address, as one of the next of kin.