Family History Journey in England

Book a professional family history researcher to undertake a specific genealogy task, or range of tasks, on your behalf, or book a specific genealogy-related service.

You can request a genealogy researcher to:

• trace your pre-Victorian family history
• locate, search and copy archive records and documents
• advise on your own research, or check the accuracy of your research to date

Other family history services you can request include:

• Personal history / life story recording - written, audio only or audio-visual
• Missing beneficiaries and heirs
• Lost friends or relatives
• Translations from Old English or Latin

Tracing your pre-Victorian family history
Identifying your pre-Victorian ancestors can take time and expertise. It often requires searching for original records and documents local to the area where your ancestors lived and worked: parish, manorial and legal collections. A Family History Journey researcher will locate and search relevant baptism, marriage and burial records for you, and research other available documents concerning their life and work.
For Victorian and post-Victorian family research see the Family History Tree packages on the Starting your Family History Tree page.

Archive locating, searching and copying
Very many documents and papers exist which may contain information about your ancestors. They may be located in various local and national archive respositories. Finding out what records are available, and where particular documents are kept, can be a time-consuming exercise, especially if you are not sure where to start. Even if you know where the relevant collection of records and documents are, they may need to be searched in person. The document or record entry can then be copied, that is, scanned, photocopied or photographed and/or transcribed. Family History Journey, through its network of agents and consultants, can locate, search and copy records and documents in both public and private collections in any part of England.

Advisory and checking service
If you need your own research to be checked for accuracy or if you are stuck and not sure what to do next, then please do ask for a consultation. A research plan can be drawn up for you to take away - and to either follow up yourself or with an estimate for how much it would cost to commission.


Charges

Time is chargeable by the hour, with additional charges as described below. There is a minimum booking of 3 hours, you pay a 50% deposit in advance, and the balance when the results are available. There are reductions to the hourly rate if you book blocks of 5, 10, or 20 hours:

Hover over the fee to view it in dollars for guidance: $ USD (USA), $ CAD (Canada) and $ AUD (Australia)

Additional charges are made for copying, postage, some telephone calls, unusual travel, etc. You are kept fully informed and no step is taken without your prior agreement. You are provided with a full research report showing what work has been undertaken on your behalf and which records and documents have been consulted.

To request a genealogy researcher
1. Have the information about the research you need to hand, and click on the request button >

2. You will receive an email acknowledging your request, and within 5 days you will receive a telephone call to discuss your requirements.

3. If Family History Journey can help, you will receive an email confirming acceptance of your booking. You will need to pay the requested depost (usually 50% of the price for the number of hours booked). You will be informed on completion of the research and you then pay the balance plus any additional charges.

Everyone has a valuable story to share. Family History Journey can record the telling of personal memories and experiences of a living person - a relative, neighbour or friend, or yourself. Their childhood, teenage years and adulthood can be explored, as well as what they remember of their home, other family members and of local or national events. The memories can be preserved as a written record, as an audio recording on a CD or as an audio-visual recording on a DVD.

To make the most of recording time, the memories and experiences of the person are sensitively explored in one or more interviews beforehand, the topics to be included in the recording are agreed, and their informed consent must be freely given. Both interviews and recording will be conducted at a pace and place to suit the person concerned, and may take more than one session. Oral histories are recorded digitally, editted for clarity only, and transferred to CD or DVD (with advice on their preservation).

Charges for the personal history recording service are by the hour, plus any equipment hire/use. Each request is unique, and the number of hours and equipment needed varies accordingly. Before any work begins, you will be provided with an outline plan to meet your request, an estimate of the number of hours required for prepartion, recording and editting, and the equipment needed. For your guidance only, the hourly rate starts at £ 26 GBP (travel time above 2 hours is usually charged at 50% of this rate).

To request an personal history / life story recording
1. Firstly, think about what you want from a recording, and then click on this Request button >

2. You will receive an email acknowledging receipt of your request, and within 5 days you will receive a telephone call to discuss your requirements.

3. If Family History Journey can help, you should receive an email confirming acceptance of your request, together with an outline plan, an estimate of the hours and equipment needed and the expected price. To proceed, you will need to pay a deposit (usually 50% of the estimate).

Family History Journey can also trace living people such as missing beneficiaries or heirs or lost friends and relative - needed perhaps because you/they moved away or perhaps because of an adoption.
For more information about tracing living persons, you need a Genealogy Researcher here >


Do you have documents written in Old English or Latin and can't understand them? Family History Journey can arrange to translate them for you.
For more information about translations and the price, use the General Enquriy form here >

1. You will receive an email acknowledging receipt of your request. and within 5 days you will receive a telephone call to discuss the details.

2. If Family History Journey can help, you should receive an email confirming acceptance of your request. together with the terms and cost of the service.

3. If you wish to proceed, simply pay the requested deposit (usually 50% of the cost) and work will begin.