Genealogy Chat

I'm so frustrated with a brick wall in my ancestry that I'm seriously thinking of using a 'professional' Genealogist ... except I fear I may not be able to afford their fees ! Has anyone any advice or personal experience to offer please?

No experience, but.......please be very cautious, as many of these 'professionals' can be charlatans.

Their charges are usually astronomical, and quite often you find that they have only the same access to info as you or I.

It depends a lot on what time-scale you are talking about.............

Reg

thanks Reg - I've been thinking about it for a long time and I won't rush into anything. I did think they may have extra access that I don't have - so maybe you're right and I should just try and persevere .....
Eileen

HI eileen
i guess it is a possibility if you can afford it but to be honest with you there is probably just as much experience available here on genes all for the cost of good manners LOL
have you run them past the more experienced folk on here.
I had some amazing help here recently,I found some valum documents available for my family at the Guildhall library,the researcher there told me it was impossible to copy them and it would cost me hundreds of pounds.
meanwhile an amazing man on the records board was going to the guildhall library and took photos of them for me and they came out really well.
I was just so thrilled
so fire away on all the boards you just never know
Regards Tania

Hi Eileen. I can only speak for myself but after contacting an agency when I was searching for my grandmother, and before I discovered this site, I would have forked out hundreds and hundreds of dollars to them.

The people on this site found her for me. And they didn't charge me a cent!

All the best in your search and keep trying. It's worth it.

Deb:)

I think the people on this site are much better than any professional genealogist. It's been proved over and over. The latest "sad little tale" is a great example.
Margaret

Hi Eileen

Explain your brick wall - you never know !

Carol

Hi Eileen,
My local library offers genealogy sessions with an experienced volunteer. I can't remember if they charge for it but if they do it is only a small amount. I am thinking of trying that with my brick wall. Maybe you could ask at your local library if you haven't already.
Sally

My cousin paid a fortune for one who managed to find exactly the same information as me!

They don't do anything we can't do ourselves...or with a little help from the lovely people willing to give a little time on here.

Sheila

My 2nd cousin (found through Genes)had a professional look up done on our g.grandfather,and he sent me the info,which,when I checked it out,had him in the Australian Army,and had another family over there,and I have found it to be the wrong man,I was suspicious,because my gran used to tell me about her father serving in India,and I know this to be true,and he certainly wasn't bigamously married,it was someone with the wrong name.

I would be wary of believing all you pay for.This cost my cousin £75,or £25 per hour.

A huge thank you to everyone for your advice and comments. I guess I'll have a go at the 'trying to find' boards again - meanwhile if anyone here [ although I know it's not the right place to ask] can find a birth record for John [James] Smith b.1838/39 possibly Tunbridge Wells I would be overjoyed !

bless you all
Eileen

Hi

I advocate the help of the knowledgable crew on here.

I used the services of a reputable genealogist to trace my husband's grandmother. It cost me £75 to get the same information that I had provided them with in the first place. I was told that they thought they had the right woman and needed a further payment of £75 to continue...I politely declined.

Tricia

I used an Irish researcher but it was only £12.50 but he didn`t get the info I wanted but was worth it to try as Ireland is hard to trace,
Ros xx

I paid for research to be done at the LRO 10 years ago and it was one of their archivists who did it. It cost £17 ph then so I dread to think what it would cost now. Since then a lot of information is now online making it easier for those without access to record offices ect but I guess parish records are still hard to find but for those who want census' at least they are available.

There are charlatans who prey on people and with the increase in interest in family history they see a market to be exploited and folks to con.

loz

Once again - thank you all you helpful people ! Margaret - I'll have a look at your finds ... and Jo - the only info I have comes from marriage and birth certs from John Smith's two sons and his own marriage cert.in Oct 1871. This gives John's father as James Smith, deceased. They were both Tailors and the address is given as High Street, Tunbridge Wells. I haven't been able to locate him in the 1871 census [or any previous census].
His wife, Mary Ann, died in 1879 at 5, Park St, Tunbridge Wells and I would love to know where she's buried.
Confusion over John's name arises because on one son's marriage cert he is John James but on all other certs he is John. His eldest son was James but his birth cert says he's John James too. SO - is John James' own father James a John James too I wonder? Oh dear !!

Eileen

The only time I've ever paid anyone to do research for me is for the Devon side of my family.I can't get to Devon to do the research myself and the Devon parishes won't let the LDS film their records.I felt she was very good but went off on a tangent on one line.I would send her how much I could afford usually £30 and she'd work until she used that up,charged £6.50 an hour which I thought was reasonable.I know a professional who charges £300 for 4 generations,I told her it was obscene and she said it was business!

Hi Titus - I'm sure they are worth their money if satisfactory results are given - but it seems from the replies that nobody has been very happy with the results they got - some saying they only got back the info that they'd already supplied to the 'Genealogist'.
At this point - with no positive recommendations I'll try my requests with these good folk here.
Eileen

Eileen

I contacted a Family History Society for some information I needed in Gloucestershire. One of their members looked up some parish records for me and she only charged £12 a visit. Most reasonable. I am sure that other FHS members provide a similar service.

Tricia

What I always wonder is, say if they were looking up a family line on a census, what if that name was mistranscribed?

For instance, I am hunting down my Siggs over the 1841-1901 census records and half of my battle is with the Ancestry transcriptions. They are down as Sigge, Ligge, Liggs, Tiggs, Seggs etc and many other variants. Would you expect a professional to just look for the name as you give it or would you expect them to follow up "missing people" by seeking mistranscriptions?

I have a woman in my tree who I am hunting for now in 1901, have found a realistic death date in 1912 but the woman is nowhere to be found on the 1901 census - I am racking my brains as to how many ways you can misspell Henrietta. Would you expect a professional to search all possibilities for her?

My dad has suggested that I should do it professionally but, as others mention, I don't know how you can price your time. I have another ancestor that I am seeking the burial place of. I think he may be in one particular Lancashire church but need to get to the records to find out - but if I was doing it for someone else and he turned out not to be there, what would I charge for not finding their person even though I had looked?

I used a semi professional through tracing relatives and one of them found me birth and marriage cerrtificates which gave me lots of leads