Expeirences of Commisioning a Genealogists

topmanamillion · 15-01-2015 2:05am #1

Im considering commissioning a genealogist to research my family history.

I live in Sligo and most of my core family history would be based here. However, I would have no idea where to start researching or how to separate relevant information from irrelevant information. I have used genealogy websites but the information is limited. I find names disappear from census to census and I would like to know a little bit about these people. I see names of relatives in their teens and twenties disappear from census`. Did they immigrate? Move down the road and have a family? could I see birth and death certificates? etc etc

I wonder has anyone experience of commissioning a Genealogist in Ireland, Were you happy with the end product? Can genealogists get access to records other people would not be able to get to?

I would not be willing to spend a fortune on the research. My maximum would be E150-200.

Coolnabacky1873 · 15-01-2015 3:33am

Your choice of course, but I would say definitely try and stick with it. Invest in John Grenham's Tracing Your Irish Ancestors, call into Sligo Library Local Studies and Sligo Heritage and Genealogy Society for a chat and you'll have a hobby/passion for life! Sorry for not answering your question.

shanew · 15-01-2015 8:45am

I employed a researcher back before I got started in this, definitely worthwhile. The searches were from civil, RC parish and census records for one branch of the family, and was about half a day's work for them. The notes provided were a great starting point, which I ended learning from and following up on, and extending the research out to other branches.

Some locations, e.g. National Archives, require you to sign up for readers tickets etc, but everyone can access the same records, it's just a case of knowing what's available and might be relevant, where it can can accessed etc.

pinkypinky · 15-01-2015 11:26am

Full disclosure, I am a working genealogist.

Your budget would pay for a few hours work but if you're keen, you should do it yourself. It's more rewarding, there's a lot of free help out there (and here) and in the end your work will be more detailed.

On average, I spend 7-10 hours working on a tree for commissioned research. This doesn't compare to the hours and hours I'm willing to spend working on my own tree. Because it's my own family, I have more intuitive knowledge when I need to make a leap to find the next generation. Your local knowledge of the area will also be a huge boon.

dido2 · 15-01-2015 12:50pm

I would say give yourself a chance first to see what you can do yourself, if you actually do want to do it yourself it's very very rewarding...

The best thing to do is work backwards from your grandparents, and document everything as you go, in my book unless there is paper proof it's not proof..

Things to remember,

-Spellings of both names and surnames can vary a lot so always check all variations
- Dates of births, often wrong date or year, they simply didn't need to really know their dates of births, often they just knew where they came in the family..
- emigration, more often than not if someone emigrated they went over to someone..
- Naming, there was a naming pattern of first son after fathers father, second son after mothers father, third son after father, 4th son after fathers oldest brother. First Daughter after mothers mother, second daughter after fathers mother, third daughter after mother, fourth after mothers oldest sister..
- If one child died then their name was often used for the next son or daughter which is why we often find 2 Marys from the same family a few years apart..

If you'd like a head start post your info her and we can show you whats out there!

Jellybaby1 · 15-01-2015 2:47pm

About six years ago I was working in a fog but bit by bit I managed to tease out more information and I have hundreds of people in my tree now. It's your decision of course, but it's a great thrill when you find the information yourself. If there is a teenager in the house in 1901 and absent in 1911, there are all sorts of scenarios. They may have (a) died, (b) emigrated (c) living and working somewhere else i.e. in service (d) married and living somewhere else (e) never recorded for whatever reason. Don't forget if you need RC records, the parish registers will be coming online before the summer which hopefully will help you along the way.

topmanamillion · 15-01-2015 5:15pm

Thanks for the replies everyone,
I have sent some e mails out to genealogists and I get the impression it would be very expensive to commission one.
E150 for 2 hours consultation, 35 euro an hour for their time spent on research plus expenses.
I'm particularly interested to hear the RC church records are coming online. Id imagine there's a massive amount of information there. I live in a rural parish so id imagine something like a marriage book could have between 50-100 years worth of names in it.
It was something I was considering pursing but if its a thing that my local priest has to go looking through attics, I wouldn't feel right asking.
Will RC Birth, Death and Marriage records be going online? if so it will be a hundred times more useful than the current census archives.

Coolnabacky1873 · 15-01-2015 5:38pm

topmanamillion wrote: »

Will RC Birth, Death and Marriage records be going online? if so it will be a hundred times more useful than the current census archives.

It sounds like you are just starting out so definitely read the Sticky at the top of the forum.

For Sligo, RC births and marriages (RC don't really keep death records) are available in transcription format on http://sligo.rootsireland.ie. They do a monthly subscription for access.

Digital images of the registers, not indexed, will come online in the summer.

There are a number of diffrent websites (both free and fee-paying) that have RC records in both digital and transcription format.

The Irish Times' Irish Ancestors site will tell you where you can access all the Catholic registers, this is the link for Sligo.

FluffyAngel · 26-01-2015 7:49am

i am having a bad experice at the moment with a searcher
paid money upfront and have being trying to get in contact since november and havent heard back anything from her

She came from a reputable person ,so really surprised

Coolnabacky1873 · 26-01-2015 2:31pm

FluffyAngel wrote: »

i am having a bad experice at the moment with a searcher
paid money upfront and have being trying to get in contact since november and havent heard back anything from her

She came from a reputable person ,so really surprised

If that person is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists in Ireland, then you can lodge a complaint with their membership body
http://apgi.ie/

Also, just a note for anyone else reading and who wants to hire a professional: just like with any industry, get a written quote with estimates before you hire and have a written agreement of understaning with the researcher that outlines pricing, time frames, what work they will/will not carry out, etc.

If the researcher is not willing to provide you with one of these then they should not be hired.

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. It's very annoying too for us professionals, who do keep up a high standard of professionalism and respect for the client, when we hear of clients being badly treated.

Expeirences of Commisioning a Genealogists

Comments