RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: FraserandFraser on Tuesday 29 June 10 17:44 BST (UK)
-
Some Heir hunters are to be repeated in the summer in fact quite a lot; it may be as much as 8 weeks worth of series 2 and 3, in the 9.15am slot on BBC1, I am told.
We are filming series 5 at the moment but they are not due to be shown until Christmas, but if any one has any stories please just drop me an email.
-
lovely, cant wait.. great series...
xin
-
Will look forward to both the repeats and the new series, why cannot it be on at night?, instead of the mainly dismal viewing.
Still waiting for a rich rellie.
monica meg ;D
-
Fabulous can't wait I started geneology when i was ill last year with nothing else to watch and i am completely hooked Great programmes
Regards Squinth
-
I love this programme - looking forward to it already. ;D
-
I loved watching this show when I was home in Yorkshire last summer, just wish I could get it here in Canada.
cheers
anne
-
sorry it is not in Canada or the US and I haven't heard any plans for it to be shown there.
filming is well under way at the moment, we have I think another 6 to 8 weeks but the programs are not due until Christmas 2010. 25 in total that will make 105 heir hunter over the 5 series.
there is talk about a program just on how we work, how we get paid and how long cases take.
The first few weeks of filming were very hard we just didn't have the work coming in and what was filmed was either a dead case, a case that went over seas or heirs that didn't want to be on film, the last few have however been much better.
-
I think its great that you allow the programme makers into the Office as you do. It must be terribly intrusive and then to allow them to see the workings of the firm... That will be interesting...
Good luck with it.
xin
-
I love this programme, and i enjoy watching you put together a family tree. How can you do it in quick time and us mere mortals take years? lol
-
Superb program that really deserves to be in a better time slot than 9.15 in the morning. Fair enough it can be recorded or viewed online via the iPlayer.
-
I agree Alan, 9.15 am although its a good time for some folk, it would be better on in an early evening slot. I am always fascinated how they get a tree together. I wish they would do mine lol. Although it has'nt got money to inherit, although there might be, but in my case i might find debts that need to be paid off from long ago lol.
-
One of my favourite programmes :D
-
I tape (Sky+) it and watch it later in the day at my leisure. Would like it to be about 1 hour rather than the 45 minutes, then we could see more about the results of previous shows, rather than taking up precious time in the 45 mins. slot.
Would love to spend time in that room with all the directories - not for genealogy purposes. I would probably get lost in the smell of old books and reading interesting facts about some of the old businesses mentioned. I might even take a few minutes to look at an ancestor or 2, but not important.
-
I Sky+ it aswell (Sky+ such a marvellous invention ;D), then watch it when I get home from work.
I'm with you Plummiegirl, the smell of old books is wonderful :)
-
really enjoyed watching this for first time on iPlayer just now. Luxury. Series 2 - Belby. They didn't really need those quasi-amusing altercations with motorway service stations and register office staff did they. You could have done it all in your kitchen over a civilised breakfast and be ready to make a phone call at elevenses.
Step 1 - find mother was Ada Eileen Harris (24 Dec 1908-)
Step 2 - spot the twin (I did!) - Meynie, and find her death and marriage as 'Maynie', and entry in 1911 census as 'Mayne' with her mother and other Harris relatives (including elder brother?)
[Ada Eileen is in 1911 as well, Eileen A Harris with the Buswells who witnessed her wedding]
Step 3 - from 1911 find the marriage of mother Florence UNKNOWN to UNKNOWN Harris (year given in 1911) and cross-check her maiden name with place of birth
Step 4 - find the youngest child Moyra Harris's birth (ms Riseley) which is the key to the rest of the puzzle....
But a low-carbon surf on the internet would hardly make for good telly would it
-
I love the programme too.
Watch the orignals and all the repeats if I am able to
Cant wait for the next series. :D
-
I like watching the repeats to see the variations in Neil's hairstyles :)
-
So cruel ;D
I keep coming across the odd episode that I haven't seen before (as I was a late starter with these), likes todays for example.
-
Even hubby has been watching. In a repeat last week a Stanton estate was mentioned so he wonders if there is any connection...... looks like I,ll be doing some digging around for clues.
Tazzie
-
In a repeat last week a Stanton estate was mentioned so he wonders if there is any connection
I must see if that is still available on internet. I am descended from Stantons in Lincolnshire too, having traced them back to the 1500s.
Lizzie
-
Just a quick question to Neal - the repeats we are watching at the moment are before the 1911 census came out - has the release of the 1911 census helped your research ?
Nesta
-
I also love to watch this programme, but as I work three days I watch them all at a later dater, one after another if I can ;D
To work there would be my dream job...........
Keep them coming :)
Jane
-
Hi, I love these programmes as well. I just wish I had access to all of the resources that they use. There again you have to earn the commission to buy them
Keep them coming please
Regards
Kathb
-
Just a quick question to Neal - the repeats we are watching at the moment are before the 1911 census came out - has the release of the 1911 census helped your research ?
I might have been seeing things but on yesterday's programme (which is obviously a repeat, one of the items was doing research to find the heirs to a £250,000 estate and finding out that there literally were no heirs), I thought I saw a file on a shelf marked 1921 census. Was I seeing things Neil, or do you have access to the 1921 census already?
Another query regarding the man with no heirs. Why did you stop at his g.grandparents? Is it not cost effective to check out generations further back. Surely the whole of that family cannot have consisted of one child families, that would have been unusual in the extreme in the 1800s/1900s.
Lizzie
-
I might have been seeing things but on yesterday's programme (which is obviously a repeat, one of the items was doing research to find the heirs to a £250,000 estate and finding out that there literally were no heirs), I thought I saw a file on a shelf marked 1921 census. Was I seeing things Neil, or do you have access to the 1921 census already?
Two suggestions....
1. The book contained statistics from the 1921 census. Only the personal details within this census are subject to the 100 year rule.
2. The book referred to the US 1921 census ?
-
I saw it again when I watched a recording of today's programme. The book was next to one that was 1871 census (I think) but all that was visible on the next book was 921. The first number was missing but it has to be a 1. Whether it was a book of stats, or a US census we won't know until Neil comes back on here.
Lizzie
-
Great program a great source of knowledge and inspiration, leading a lot of people to "Wannabee a Heir Hunter" it's not as easy as it appears - but certainly each case can be challenging.
-
Uhhhm Websi I have Clarkes Leicestershire too.. From Shenton and area ?? just as a by the way..
xin
-
Great program a great source of knowledge and inspiration, leading a lot of people to "Wannabee a Heir Hunter" it's not as easy as it appears - but certainly each case can be challenging.
Their objectives are rather different to most of us - Heir Hunters don't usually go back beyond grandparents, so they rarely have people pre-1841, and not on censuses. The really tricky bits for them are filling out trees sideways, and finding the living people. Still extremely interesting, though.
-
I watched an episode of this for the first time recently. Sorry, but I was very disappointed by the style & presentation - it was SO dumbed down and repetitive (at least one sequence was repeated three times!). I suppose I should have expected it, as so many programmes seem to be made this way nowadays: aimed at the lowest common denominator with the memory and attention span of a gnat. ::) While the content was interesting, it could have been much more so, but as it is I find programmes made this way too irritating to watch. This is meant as no criticism of the participants, just the production.
[/rant]
-
Sorry, but I was very disappointed by the style & presentation - it was SO dumbed down and repetitive (at least one sequence was repeated three times!).
I think this was particulary true of the earlier series but I think it improved in later series. What I like about the later series is that there was more research into the lives of the deceased and their family by the programme makers.
PS What I do hate is that this programme, in common with many others splits up the stories, instead of telling them in one go, then have a recap. Why can't they tell each story in one go grrrrr
-
In this morning's programme a researcher was going through birth indexes finding all births of a certain name after 1911. They had the mother's surname, could they not have used FreeBMD? Or was this a repeat from way back.
After Sept 1911 if I am correct, mother's maiden name was in the birth record.
Just a thought. I wait to be shot down!
Kooky
-
What I do hate is that this programme, in common with many others splits up the stories, instead of telling them in one go, then have a recap. Why can't they tell each story in one go grrrrr
That's easy - it's because the programmes are made to be sold to commercial channels, so they build in ad breaks. And of course they want people to keep watching, so they string the stories out over the whole programme. It was particularly blatant in the ep of HH that I watched: they even flashed up the programme ident between each segment. And as I said, they don't trust their audience to remember anything that happened before the ads. ::) So many programmes these days are spoiled because of this. >:(
-
Regarding use of FreeBMD - I believe that Fraser & Fraser have their own BMD records which they use where possible - but they do use FreeBMD you often spot someone on there in the background.
But what we must remember FreeBMD is not 100% accurate, they are reliant on people transcribing records and that they do not making any mistakes.
As more people use FreeBMD and submit amendments & Postems, it is becoming a far more reliable source for this information. But I always go back to Ancestry once a record has been found to check details are correct.
-
Why "back to Ancestry" Plummiegirl?
The option is already there to display the original record on FREEBMD, without needing the subscription, so how can Ancestry be more accurate?
The only advantages with Ancestry are the more recent transcriptions.
-
Hi Dudley
I find that when I try to check the originals on FreeBMD it takes forever to open, and even more so if there are lot of people trying to use the site at the same time, when it then chucks you out.
I will often do more than one search at a time, so its not a case of the odd one, but several at one time.
The air around my computer is often "blue" when I have had enough of FreeBMD & its limited access at certain times of the day & at weekends.
UPDATE: Try getting onto FreeBMD at about 9pm on a Sunday night - it's a nightmare. I try to access FreeBMD at different times of the day (do not work so have the luxury of doing this) and even when being this random I often feel like throwing my computer out the window with frustration, do 1 seach its OK, then you try to do a 2nd and FreeBMD tells you to try later as they are busy. ARRRGH.
Never had any problems with Ancestry (now I have said that sod's law says that I will next time ;)
-
Interesting as one of the reasons that I did not renew my Ancestry subscription was its frequent inaccessibility.
I've not noticed it so much on FREEBMD, even though I have been using that for much longer.
The same problem seems to happen with most sites at times (this week it has been yahoo which has locked me out occasionally).
-
A lot depends on the time of day (and the day of the week) that you're trying to access either of them.
-
"websi7" or should I say "heir hunters association" again very little to add, please come clean with who you are posting for, when entering forums.
We have lots of records that were open to the public and no longer are, we have built up lots of little things over the years, what I can say is that the US census is from 1920 not 1921, and we would have no use for a load of stats. Also that the 1911 census took up about 1.5 miles of shelf space at Kew, I dont have that much room.
1911 census helps a loot you just have to be careful with births in jun Q 1911 after the census but before maiden name.
I cant really comment on each program they were filmed so long ago.
"student325" program filmed before the 1911 census.
-
what I can say is that the US census is from 1920 not 1921,
Neil - I'm happy to accept what you say, but am intrigued what the book is that keeps being shown on the current programmes? It seems to be next to one with 1871 on the cover and definitely shows 921, but the book is tilted slightly so that the first number is not visible.
By the way, I presume you saw the two disparaging (for heir hunters) articles in The Times on Saturday 14 August?
Lizzie
-
Yes saw the times, a lot of lobbing is needed to get in the times, by a firm of researchers who don't do competitive work any more, only hourly fee work. They charge more than us by the hour and I have been told by there staff do some of there research overseas. Cant really say more but Fraser and Fraser don't charge 40% on BV cases, real fees for this type of work are in the region of 5-15% for a reasonable size case and up to 1/3 for smaller cases. AV fee is probably 10%.
The book does say 1921 census on it.
I have corrected some of the points in this post after a request from the administrator.
-
Glad you cleared up the Times articles for me Neil. I couldn't really believe that Fraser and Fraser charges were as quoted.
Lizzie
Modified to remove inappropiate comment.
-
But what we must remember FreeBMD is not 100% accurate, they are reliant on people transcribing records and that they do not making any mistakes.
As more people use FreeBMD and submit amendments & Postems, it is becoming a far more reliable source for this information. But I always go back to Ancestry once a record has been found to check details are correct.
But you must also remember that Ancestry is the same. Not reliable. Some of the Census information on there is totally incorrect. I found information on there for my family ancestors and it has Muir as mecie or Mair and Lolla as Salla plus other mistakes.
marcie
-
Nothing is 100% reliable. Even when the paperwork is 100% correct, DNA may say something different. It has been estimated that at least 40% of us do not have our real father's name on our birth certificate.
-
But you must also remember that Ancestry is the same. Not reliable. Some of the Census information on there is totally incorrect. I found information on there for my family ancestors and it has Muir as mecie or Mair and Lolla as Salla plus other mistakes.
Are you talking about transcriptions? The original is there for you to view and make your own interpretation.
Let's also not forget that (before 1911) these "originals" are transcriptions by the enumerators and also contain plenty of errors. Not to mention any wrong information supplied by the householders in the first place!
-
Hi
I have not watched the programme much but I found the Times article very interesting. Link below for those who missed it. Must try and catch it more often.
http://www.titleresearch.com/getdoc/4b0f31f4-6dd6-489a-8561-45809e4b8d2b/The-Times
afossil
-
Like I said an article written after a lot of lobbing, the true story is so different as I am sure you would have worked out.
I know I would be happier to have the work carried out by experienced people in the UK rather than shipped out to the cheap labour overseas.
Fraser and Fraser charge using every possible method we can think of and leave it up to the instructing party to choose the method they prefer, however how TS cases currently work it is just not possible or ethical to have a firm instructed to charge by the hour when there is no one empowered to instruct them. It is the responsibility of the firm to ensure that the fee (as a %)reflects the work done and required. I believe there is ground for regulation but also think that us, as well as several other firms have opened up to regulation in the form or the accreditation we hold. I also think that by the industry working like this in a competitive form the heir, is getting the best deal as they can negotiate with possible more than 1 firm. If a single firm was instructed by the hour there is little or no room for negotiations.
I could go on for a long time when talking about fees but don't think this is the correct place or format for such a decision, all I can say is that we all have our own opinion and with out all the facts it is hard to draw a conclusion, but neither an hourly charge or a % fee is perfect, and I believe the choice should be made by the instructing party, not dictated by a genealogist.
-
Neil, in a very recent repeat currently on BBC1, the programme went into more detail on how your company can assist families in dealing with property and effects of a deceased person. I think this subject deserves a programme of its own, because the original programme left so many aspects barely covered, for example whether (and how) descendents get involved with the handling of personal effects, and whether disputes ever arise over the distribution of personal effects. I realise that you can't comment on individual cases, but this is a side to the work of Fraser and Fraser that we rarely see.
I really wish that your company had dealt with my half-brother's effects - unfortunately the company that dealt with his estate didn't care about items with only sentimental value, and I was glad to see that yours does. I'm not sure what photos and papers that my half-brother left when he died, but as far as I can tell, it was all binned.
I'm very much looking forward to the new series at the end of the year.
-
The work my husband does is paid on contract price from which he works out his hourly rate. it is neither a percentage of the contract nor an hourly sum. but from the contract price he can work out what his hourly rate would be and from that if it is less than say £25 per hour he is working at a loss.
Maybe something like this would allow for competitiveness and keep the prices logical for the clients.
marcie
-
Fraser and Fraser, I am intrigued by your remark in the post 16.8.10. "Documents that used to be open to the public, but no longer are" Can you enlighten us further on these please? I thought the idea was to have a more open society.
-
Marcie,
with out some one to instruct a firm there cant be a contract price, it doesn't matter how you charge, fixed fee (contract rate) or hourly there is still no one authorised to instruct.
RedRoger,
data protection ect means that more and more records are being locked down and access denied we however shill have old copied of these records, and no I will not tell you what records!!
-
Crikey -- we better grab what info we can then-- before its all in lockdown..... what a world we live in...
I do understand the need of privacy amongst 'Living people' I dont want my life spread around for all to see...
but surely if they moved on from this planet over a hundred years ago then its not so much of a problem ---
Its ok Neil I am not digging for Info... I think what you do is great and you earn every penny -- So I dont expect you to give info out for 'nada'--- Of course you have to take a percentage... and the people you actually 'HELP' should realise that without it... they would not have the money from a relation that they had no previous knowledge of.........
xin
-
I can think of at least one group of documents which are now "edited" before publication.
-
Huge fan of the programme and another one who Sky plu's it!! I would love to know if, since the first time this series was aired will making has increased. And also if anyone watching the programme and believing themselves to be alone in the world has got in touch with one of the companies shown and asked them to find if they have any relatives? The reason I thought this was I watched a programe the other day where a first cousin was traced (by Hoopers) and she honestly believed she was the last of her line - but she had first cousins once removed all over the world and was going to be given their address's to write to them. Just a thought!
Maggie
-
Neill,
If I placed a request for you to do a search of newspapers in Edinburgh to find a specific item, how much would something like that cost. Say a person searching for a grandson (illegitimate). My grgrandfather was the grandson that was being searched for, but we do not know by whom.
All we know is that his son had died during the war WWI and he knew he had a grandson whom originally he would not recognise. Purportedly he placed an advert in the Scotsman. My grgrandfather was born c1872 and died of sleeping sickness in Edinburgh Infirmary, he was I think 51, without checking my records.
marcie
-
Hi marcie dean
The Scotsman digital archive 1817-1950 is online and search is free ;D
Heather