The pedigree chart
Seven generations on one spread, so the whole shape of the family is visible at a glance before the detail begins.
Some families want a tree on the wall. Some want the whole story.
The Gold package is for the second kind. I trace your direct line back as far as the records allow, and then I write it up: a timeline for every ancestor I find, the households they lived in at each census, the work they did, the places they moved between, with the photographs you already own set alongside the images of their time. It arrives as a hardcover book, printed and bound, made to be read at the kitchen table and passed on.
Who it is for
A seventieth or eightieth birthday. A golden wedding. A retirement. The parent who has everything and the family who want one object that holds all of it. Brothers and sisters often club together to give it, and one of you simply makes the booking.
What is inside the book
The timelines
One page for each ancestor I identify, from birth to death: where they lived at every census, what they were called in the record, their occupation, who was in the house with them, and the events of the wider world running beneath their own. This is the part people read first and come back to.
The family group sheets
Your ancestors' brothers and sisters, with their dates, so that the people who are missing from a direct line are not missing from the book.
The images
Historic images from the period and the places, and your own photographs if you want them included. Digital copies of everything found in the research come with the book.
The finished book, bound in black with the title blocked in gold 
A hardcover, printed and bound, made to be passed on
How it is made
We begin with a consultation, in person or by email, where you tell me what you know and what you want to find out. The research follows, and it is the longest part: I read every record myself, check it against the others and work out what it really says about your family, rather than simply downloading whatever a search turns up. I then write the timelines and set the pages. Only then does the book go to the binder. The timescale on the Services & Prices page is honest; it is not a figure I can shorten.
The price and the terms
£995Timescale: Approximately 3 to 4 months
For Gold service, half is paid before research begins and the remaining half prior to the book being printed.
The price is fixed and agreed before any research begins. One printed copy of the book is included.
Gold includes
- Everything in Silver
- Deluxe hardcover family history book, containing:
- 7 generation pedigree chart
- Detailed timelines for all identified ancestors, showing life events from birth to death including residence, occupation, family status and household members at each census date
- Family group sheets detailing ancestors' siblings
- Historic images from the period, and your own photographs included if you wish
Giving it as a gift
A Gold search cannot be finished in time for a birthday a few weeks away, and I will not promise that it can. What I can do is a gift voucher: a printed certificate for the recipient, with a note that the search begins when they are ready. For Christmas, that is a better present than a half-finished one.
Honest limits
How far back the line goes depends on the records, and I will tell you at the consultation what I expect to find. Parish registers thin out before the 1700s, surnames were spelt as the clerk heard them, and a line can end at an illegitimate birth with no father named. If a line stops early, the book is still made, with everything that was found and an honest account of where and why the trail ends.
What a Gold client said
“The work that has been put into researching my family tree is unbelievable... all the things that have been unearthed, and photos and a book written by my ancestor, it is amazing to have all this, and the stories that go with it in-between the 112 pages is more than I would have ever thought possible! Thank you Liz at Ancestry Search Services, I can't thank you enough for the Gainford family tree, it's fascinating! Can't wait to see what royal blood you dig up from my maternal side now. Thank you so so much! Highly recommended.”
Questions about the book
How many copies do I get?
One. The Gold package includes one printed copy of the book.
Can we add our own photographs?
Yes. Send them to me as scans or photographs of the originals and I will set them with the ancestor they belong to.
What if the research finds something unexpected?
It often does. I tell you what I have found before it goes into the book, and you decide what the book says.
Gold package
Would you like to talk it through first?
Get in touch and I will tell you, free and without obligation, what I expect to find for your family.