Is it too late to give someone their family history for Christmas? Not yet, but the window is narrower for some packages. Research has a working time that can’t be squeezed, so a traced family tree is the one present on your list that runs on arithmetic rather than shop opening hours. Here’s the arithmetic for this year, explaining what to do if you’re reading this in December, and how to gather what I need to start, without giving the surprise away.
Working back from 25th December
Every package starts with a conversation, and payment is made when the service package is chosen and before the research begins. So the clock starts when you and I have spoken, not when you first read this.
My Bronze package, full research of the family lines with an A4 chart showing the first 5 generations, and permanent access to the complete tree online, typically takes up to 4 weeks. So, if you get in touch by 15th November, the Bronze package will be completed in good time for Christmas.
Silver adds the piece most people picture under the tree: an archival-quality poster, 24 by 18 inches and ready to frame, covering six generations. It typically takes 4 to 8 weeks. If you get in touch by 25th October, the poster can be delivered to your door ready for Christmas Day. If you want it framed before the day, leave time for the framer as well.
Gold, which adds a hardcover family history book, takes about 3 to 4 months. A Gold search started now is a present for the new year, and I’d rather tell you that in October than in December. It’s a wonderful gift and a future heirloom which can be passed down through the generations, but it takes a lot of time to put together, so a gift voucher is the way to give a Gold package this year.
If you’re reading this in December
Ask me anyway. A gift voucher announcing that the search has begun is a lovely thing to unwrap, and the finished tree arrives a few weeks later as a second occasion, usually in that flat stretch of January when nothing else is happening.
It’s also the honest route for Gold. The book can’t be ready for Christmas, but the news that it’s coming can be.
Getting the details without giving the game away
To start, I need the full name, date and place of birth of the person the tree is for, and ideally the same for their parents and grandparents. Dates and places of death help too. You will rarely have all of the information, but you don’t need it all. A full name, a rough year and a town are enough to begin. The gaps are what I’m for.
The trick is to find what you can without asking the person directly, and most families have more of it in the house than they realise.
Start with the ‘bits and bobs’ drawer, or the shoebox under the bed, or the folder nobody has opened since the last funeral. A marriage certificate is the best single document for this: in England and Wales it records the names and occupations of both fathers, so one sheet gives you a generation further back on both sides. A birth certificate gives the mother’s maiden name, which is the detail people most often can’t remember.
Then look at any family photos. The backs of photographs carry names and dates more often than you’d think, and a family grave can name three generations on one stone.
When you do need to ask, ask someone else: a brother, a cousin, the aunt who keeps everything. Or ask sideways. “What was Grandad’s middle name again? I was trying to remember the other day,” asked over the breakfast table, gets an answer and no suspicion.
One decision to make before you start is whose tree it is. A tree traces one person’s ancestors, so a tree for your father has none of your mother’s family in it. I explained in my earlier gift post why the best subject for a family present is often you yourself, so that both sides end up on the same chart.
Where I come in
For this year’s Christmas present, Bronze is the safe choice on time, Silver is the one that goes on the wall, and Gold is the new year present that starts with a gift voucher. What each includes is set out on my Services and Prices page.