A difficult ancestor
Investigate an individual whose birth, marriage, death, parentage or later life has proved elusive.
Genealogy research
Follow the evidence. Recover the story.
Focused research for people who want to identify an ancestor, extend a family line or test a story handed down through generations.
Answers built from records, not attractive guesses.
Genealogy can produce remarkably convincing wrong answers. Similar names, shifting ages, inconsistent spellings and copied online trees all demand caution. I begin with what can be established, search outward from verified facts and make the reasoning behind each conclusion visible.
You receive a clear account of the findings, relevant source references and an honest explanation of any uncertainty or competing possibilities.
A family line
Build carefully from known relatives into earlier generations without relying on unsourced online copying.
Lives in context
Explore occupations, households, movement and community rather than collecting names alone.
Possible evidence
Records chosen for the question.
Depending on date, place and availability, research may draw upon civil registration, censuses, parish registers, newspapers, directories, probate material and other archival sources.
The method follows the problem rather than forcing every case through the same checklist.
What you receive
- A readable account of the research undertaken
- Findings separated from interpretation and possibility
- References to the evidence used
- Relevant record images where licensing permits
- Sensible suggestions for further research
A defined scope
Genealogy can expand indefinitely. A useful commission therefore starts with a specific person, line or question and an agreed stopping point. That keeps the work purposeful and the cost understandable.
Already have a tree? Existing information can be checked and used as a starting point, but not treated as proven until supported by evidence.