Questions, answered honestly.

Every package is a fixed price, agreed up front, with no hourly surprises. The Bronze package is GBP 275 and the Silver package is GBP 365. Bespoke research is priced individually, a fixed price agreed before work begins, so you always know the full cost in advance. You can see exactly what each package includes on the Services and Prices page.

For most British families I can trace a direct line back to the 1700s or early 1800s, which is often around 8 or 9 generations, depending on how well the records for your family and area have survived. Some lines reach further, and a few stop sooner where records were lost or never kept. I will always be honest about what the surviving records can and cannot show for your particular family.

It depends on the package and on how straightforward your family lines turn out to be. As a guide, Bronze research usually takes around 2 to 4 weeks, and Silver around 4 to 8 weeks. Bespoke timescales are agreed with you before we begin. If anything is likely to take longer, for example a tricky brick wall or records held only in a distant archive, I will tell you at the outset.

Payment is by PayPal or bank transfer. For the Bronze package, payment is made at the consultation stage. For the Silver package, half is paid at the consultation and the remaining half on delivery of your finished tree. Bespoke payment terms are agreed up front, before any work begins.

Yes. The United Kingdom is my main area of work and where the records I know best are held, but family lines rarely stay in one country. I regularly follow ancestors who emigrated or arrived from overseas, and I can carry research beyond the UK where the records allow. If your family story crosses borders, tell me at the consultation and I will advise honestly on what is realistic.

Often, yes. The 1922 fire at the Public Record Office in Dublin destroyed a great deal, including most of the nineteenth-century census returns, but it did not destroy everything. Church registers, civil registration from 1864, land and valuation records, and many surviving substitutes can still rebuild an Irish line. It is more painstaking work than in England, and I will be honest about what is realistic for your family, but Irish research is far from hopeless. There is more detail in my blog post on tracing Irish ancestors after the 1922 records fire.

I will always tell you honestly what I have and have not been able to prove. I never add a name to your tree unless I am certain, beyond reasonable doubt, that it belongs there, so I would rather report an honest gap than guess. Where a line runs into a genuine brick wall, I will explain why, show you the records I have checked, and suggest whether any further avenues are worth trying. The scope and price we agree at the start hold regardless.

I hold no formal accreditation, and I would rather say so plainly than imply otherwise. What I offer instead is 17 years of genuine experience, results I have delivered for families across Lancashire and beyond, and a fixed price agreed in writing before any work begins, so you are never billed by the hour. Every search is carried out personally by me, from your first email to the finished tree.

It begins with a free, no obligation consultation. Send me a few names, dates and places from your family, whatever you already have, and I will tell you honestly what is possible and what it will cost. From there, if you are happy, we agree a package and a fixed price and I begin the research. You can start today from the Contact page.