Our service can help if you live
many miles away from your roots, or simply have insufficient spare
time to conduct research yourself.
Whether you have decided to satisfy a long-standing curiosity
about your ancestors, or about where you live, and need some help
in getting started we are delighted to be able to offer our
Research Service.
This service offers you a valuable opportunity. It enables your
searches to be undertaken without the expense and trouble of a
personal visit.
Searches may be made in a variety of subjects including the history
of a family, a property, or an organisation or area. In fact, past
researches have covered more topics than we can reasonably list
here.
The potential benefits to you are impressive: for many the fee is
more than offset by eliminating travel expenditure. Even if
you are planning a future visit, the likely effectiveness of your
trip could be ascertained in advance. Furthermore as your
searches will be carried out by our experienced staff, you will
have a sound basis on which to build. Of course if you are a
more experienced searcher you may find it useful to switch to our
services to support some difficult stage in your own
investigation.
The charges raised cover the research done and the reporting of
results. Our researchers are professional, proud of their
record of customer care, and are uniquely placed to apply their
skills to the extensive holdings of archives, printed material and
microform held in our three branches. The service, not
surprisingly, is extremely popular, and it is possible that, from
time to time, a delay of four weeks may occur.
We can assure you though that every enquiry is given thorough and
appropriate attention, and we are meticulous in processing all work
in the order in which it is received.
We are totally committed to offering value for money. Our
policy has to be one of charging on an hourly basis, and we can
assure you that your fee is for one hour's work with all
administration being conducted outside your paid research time. We
therefore use the time you have paid for effectively, we do not
waste time, and where success looks remote we will discuss with you
the wisdom of proceeding. It is not possible to guarantee
positive results every time; but of course we may well exceed your
expectations.
We ask for payment in advance for research work undertaken, but if
it is clear to us immediately that the work you have specified is
likely to take longer than that covered by the fee paid and time
authorised we will advise you. We promise not to carry out
work without having first obtained authorisation from you.
Transcription & Translation
If you are having trouble reading or understanding a difficult
document, our transcription service is for you. In some cases you
may also require a translation, the most requested of which is from
Latin to English.
To keep your costs down, please be concise in specifying the work
to be undertaken. It is far better to undertake enquiries one
simple step at a time. It will deliver better value for money
in two ways: it will maximise the time spent on searching and give
you the time to consider what is your next, most effective way of
moving forward.
If it is at all possible please confine your enquiry details to the
application form (PDF 71Kb). With a more complex
enquiry you may however find it easier to convey your information
in the form of a draft family tree.
For further information
contact us.