This investigation is for people who already have an identified family member or branch and want to go further. It can help add context and history to turn plain names into three-dimensional individuals and households.
What would help you?
Family history work comes in many flavours. One of the following may resonate with your situation:
- You’ve found a new close family member and want to learn more about their (your!) history
- A family story has always intrigued you — but is it true?
- One branch of your heritage has never been investigated, and you feel it’s finally time
- You want fresh eyes to check your family tree and see what your DNA matches can add to it
- Your family tree is on many pieces of paper and needs consolidating and digitising.
How I work
Before any work begins, I’ll explain what’s likely to be possible, what isn’t, and what the initial investigation would cover, so you can decide whether it’s right for you.
Our first piece of work together will have a specific goal, deliverable in a short length of time. That way, you know you’ll soon get something useful that’s affordable—whatever your research issue. Check out the case study below. Later, you may want me to do more research in a follow-up effort.
Case study
Here’s a real question I once investigated: did our great grandfather come to Kent from East Anglia on the run from the law?
In a first-pass investigation to explore the claim, I would:
- confirm the man’s movements through census and other records
- search contemporary newspaper records for the man’s name and key locations
- check core legal and court records where relevant.
Newspaper articles in fact revealed the story to be true, and very colourful… Output in this case would be a short, written summary of events, with scans of the relevant articles. If no direct evidence had been found, I would have assessed the likelihood of the story by reconstructing a documented timeline of movements and context, and I would have suggested next steps.
Pricing
The first piece of work we do together will cost in the region of $300-450 (NZ dollars excl GST). The range allows me to scope useful output around your question. We’ll confirm the scope and price before work begins. Any expenses are agreed in advance and charged at cost.
Get in touch
If you have a question about your family history in mind, get in touch and tell me what you already know. A few lines is enough to start with.
There’s no open-ended commitment. We’ll agree a clear scope and a fixed fee for the initial phase before anything starts.
Get in touch