Family History Research

Ancestral Tours

Working in partnership with Drams Scotland we can advise a schedule of visits to places and sites which are connected with your family’s past. We will work with Drams Scotland to coordinate a visit on your behalf which suits your timescales, budget and interests and which will ensure that the visit is customised and relevant, while always enjoyable, rewarding and unforgettable.

For further information see www.drammscotland.com

Family StoryBook

Features:

• Customised family history books based on research and findings to achieve a unique story of the lives of your family
• Builds on the work undertaken for the Family Handprint and Family Footprint choices
• Popular for those who want a more detailed account of the social and economic background within which your ancestors lived and worked to provide a meaningful context for the individual and personal lives of your family’s past
• A satisfying and comprehensive account of your family’s origins and lives
• Ideal for special events such as birthdays and anniversaries or as a family heirloom for future generations

What is included:

• Birth, Marriage and Death dates subject to availability of records
• All known siblings of both maternal and paternal lines
• Completion of Pedigree Chart to illustrate the paternal and maternal ancestors.  This will outline the essential Birth, Marriage and Death details of your ancestors.
• Completion of Descendant chart to include details of all above
• Completion of a narrative report of findings which provides a chronological account of your family’s history building on the information found for the Family Handprint or Footprint choices, to identify what your ancestors did for a living, where they lived and if they moved around, together with any information from relevant and available Will and Testament, Probate and Valuation Roll information which might supplement and enhance the research.
• Identification of any secondary information sources such as newspaper articles and announcements, journals or maps which could be sourced where it is felt relevant to inform and enhance the research will be accessed and summarised tailored to your family.
• All relevant references to sources used will be provided
• Travel costs and access to records
• Copies of records and certificates can be ordered additionally as required
• Available in report format and bound professionally

Cost: 

• Fees for work are £25 per hour + costs such as travel (rail fare or car mileage), entry to ScotlandsPeople (£15 per day) and any entry fee or other expenses incurred to identify chargeable records. An initial non-chargeable enquiry and discussion (in person, online, telephone) will help to establish a rough estimate of likely costs and any unexpected expenses anticipated will be highlighted before they are incurred to ensure transparency.

Family Information Doctor

The Family Information Doctor helps you to make sense of the work you may have started on your family tree but never had the time to finish by recording the information you have collected to generate charts and reports which summarise all of your hard work.

I meet a lot of people who complain they have spent many hours collecting and accumulating records and information about their family, all contained within bags, piles or boxes but with no systematic way of collating or recording the information because they haven’t had the time or don’t have a software package that can record it all.

As a result they have often ended up repeating searches that have already been done, or miss things that still need worked upon.

I can help by making sense of all your information and recording it systematically and accurately to produce reports and charts which summarise all your hard work.

An initial discussion will help to understand the extent of the work and your needs so that a projected cost can be established and agreed.