Research, Advice, and Clinics

Although I am primarily a researcher and lecturer, I also offer private tuition and some online advice services. Details of all these services may be found on this page.

Personal Research. Hourly Rate: £15 an hour plus expenses

I specialise in research in Kent and London but research can also be undertaken for other parts of UK. I also specialise in tracing the family history of adopted people and tracing birth relatives. I have personal experience in this sensitive and often emotional field of research. If you are adopted and wish me to either trace your birth ancestors or birth families I will discuss this with you in detail so you have a clear idea of what it involves.

Once I have completed the required research I will send you a report of what I have found and, if you would like one, a family tree. You can then decide whether you would like me to continue your research and we can discuss a further plan of action.

What do I charge for?

Expenses will include the following:



• Travel costs
  
  
• the cost of buying birth, marriage or death certificates (currently £7 a time)
  
  
• units required for access to various websites and the copying or downloading of any other documents or images
  
  
• Time spent communicating with you, such as time spent on telephone calls, emailing
  
  
• Time spent writing up your report or compiling your family tree.

I advise all my clients to stipulate a limit to the amount of money they wish to spend, or the amount of time they wish me to spend on their research. If you have any queries regarding research please feel free to contact me. If you are interested in commissioning me to research for you then please contact me with the following details:



• What would you like me to research? Maybe you are interested in just researching one line of your family, or you may wish to research all lines.
  
  
• What are your hopes and aims? How far back would you like to trace, is there a specific person/occupation/location in the family tree you are hoping to find? Is there a family legend you are hoping to confirm or disprove?
  
  
• Give me details of any research that has been done so far and if none has yet been done then provide details of all your family as you know it, including dates and places of birth, marriage and death.
  


Please be aware that research is not a certain science and there is no guarantee as to how much information can be found on each family. This is because some records may have been destroyed or inaccurately compiled and in some rare cases because our ancestors hid their true identity for a variety of reasons. There are always some ancestors that just refuse to be found!



Online Advice. Hourly Rate: £15



Make sure you send me clear details of what your question is and, if appropriate, what you have already done to try and solve your problem. If you have already searched the Internet for whatever you are looking for, please specify which websites you have used. After all I don't want to waste your money telling you to look in places or to try things which you have already tried! If your query takes less than an hour you will be charged for the proportion of the hour worked to the nearest 15 minutes.

Head-to-Head Clinics: £25 an hour or £35 for an hour and a half.

If you are a more experienced researcher and would like to discuss the research you have already done and ways to tackle any problems you are experiencing in person, a head-to-head clinic may be what you need. Bring along the research you have done so far and we will discuss it together and take a look at where you can go from there. I also offer private lessons for the same price. If you are a beginner or more experienced and there is a subject or subjects you would like to know more, about I can offer sessions lasting between one and two hours and tailored to your individual needs.



Surname Interpretation - price £3.50

Do you want to know where your surname originates or what it means? Many websites offer a free surname look-up. However these are often very basic and do not allow for the fact that the origin of some surnames are lost in the mists of time and cannot be summed up in one sentence. Using a combination of linguistics, etymology and a study of local records means that, for most, I am able to give an indication of the original meaning (in some cases there may be more than one possibility) and in many cases a precise definition. Note: this is purely an advisory service for those who are curious in the meaning of their surname - you will not receive a printed certificate with your surname on. You can choose to pay via Pay Pal (you do not need a Pay Pal account to do this) or you can send me a cheque if you prefer. Where possible the expected turnaround time is ten days.