Amateur Genealogists (Help)?

Question

Hi, i am looking for a amateur genealogists who dosen't charge a fortune to trace my family tree back as far as possible.

I am in West Oxfordshire and if possible can you please leave me your email address.

Kind Regards, Martin.

Answer 1

It would be better to do the search of your ancestors yourself, then you could consider yourself an amateur genealogist. The professional genealogists charge large search fees, even if it is for just a preliminary search, usually a 2 hour endeavor. My advice to you is to gather as much information that you have already on your family, as well as asking any of the older generation still living what they know of the family's history, then go from there.  There are an abundance of family history sights throughout the U.S. and Great Britain, on-line as well as physical genealogical and historical library's that can be of great assistance to you. CyndisList.com, OliveTreeGenealogy.com, ElectricScotland.com all have areas for you to search through without charging you for searches and cover Europe and Great Britain. Ancestry.com asks for an annual fee to access their files, which are extensive. You can also try the LDS website, FamilySearch.org, but the majority of their information is taken from people that have submitted their family 'information'; not all of it is accurate.

Answer 2

Your best bet is to do the work yourself and then post your "brick-walls" on here for us to help.  I would not trust an amateur to do something like this.  Experience with amateurs on this message board tells me that they do not know what they are doing and will give you inaccurate information.

Answer 3

well i started investigating every branch of my tree (first parents, then their parents, then their respective parents, then their respective parents, and so on, and so on etc)

in 3 years, i am still only around the 1830ish mark on all names, some names i havent even got anywhere because i cant find them, others might be only back to the 1870s and then no further back

in those 3 years i have sent off for about 150ish certificates, they cost 7 pounds each,, so you can work out how much that has cost, in addition are the costs of the subscriptions i have for ancestry.com, findmypast.com, fhs, origins, and loads more

now, because i cant get any further with some irish ancestors, im thinking, just thinking about engaging someone to do the irish work for me, but its going to cost an awful lot

so what im saying is that its better to do a lot of groundwork yourself first, something like 100 to 150 years worth, and then engage the services of someone if you cant go further

Answer 4

If you want every branch of your family tree traced back as far as possible it will cost you more than you think in terms of time and expenses,especially if any family is from other parts of the world.

Answer 5

No one in their right mind would take on this, because they would, in your own words probably have to charge a fortune.  Even if they gave their time for free and already had an existing subscription to websites like Ancestry, they would still have to purchase birth marriage and death certificates on your behalf and possibly travel to a distant record office (not necessarily in Oxforshire because the further you get back the more distant families you will find) and then pay for photocopies etc.  If they charged petrol and any other reasonable expenses the fee would be huge.  And it isn't something that could be done in two weeks or even two months.  Most people who search their tree seriously have been at it for years.  I'm at four years and counting and there are still certificates I need to buy and avenues to explore.  There always will be.  It is a never-ending hobby, and no-one you pay will ever find everything, even after ten years, so there's no point paying someone to begin with.  Besides which, half the fun is finding the info for yourself and doing the work at your own pace as your finances permit.  

If I was starting from scratch I'd need copies of your parents marriage and birth certificates which at £7 a throw is £21 for the three copies and a weeks waiting time from the GRO.  If I then try and find your grandparents marriage and bitrhs from these documents (plus any death certs if not still alive) thats another six certificates at least and another £42, and that probably still won't get me back to 1901 to use the online census, so I'd have to buy another ten certificates or so (say £70) to get your great grandparents details.  Already, even if I didn't charge for my time and expenses I've spent about £150 inside a month and that's if I don't find connections to Scotland or somewhere and have to pay for credits at the ScotlandsPeople website.  The bills can rack up very quickly.  I wouldn't even do this as practice or training to keep my hand in the hobby because I can see the bill running into hundreds very quickly.

Over the past four years I have probably spent well into four figures myself, and that doesn't include the "holidays" to various places across the UK that just happened to be near a record office or an old ancestral village that I could visit and traipse round graveyards.  Petrol costs, train fares.  It all adds up.  What you're asking just isn't feasible.  I do this hobby because I love it and it keeps my brain active, and everyone has to have some kind of hobby.  My dad climbs mountains.  My sister likes dancing.  I like hunting for my ancestors.  I wouldn't enjoy it so much if I was hunting for other peoples ancestors, even if I got paid for all the certificates I had to order because I know also the amount of hours I'd probably have to put in.

A professional genealogist would charge a lot for sure yes, but even an ethustiastic amateur would have to charge a small fortune, probably a lot more than you would be expecting.  Count me out.  I might be mental, but I'm not stupid or certifiable. It's just not doable in the timescale or price that you would want to pay.  It is something that you should do yourself.  Once you get going it is quite easy.  It's just a matter of understanding how the system works and ordering your first certificate.  Anyone can point you in the right direction for where you need to be, but I can't believe that they would want to do your tree for you.