Hiring Professionals

[mitch_flo]

Hey everyone,

I'm new here and some what new to studying my family history.  I have thought about hiring a professional genealogist to help me get started. I wanted to know if anyone had any experience doing this? Thanks

[KGarrad]

Welcome to RootsChat!

You should be able to get started yourself - maybe with a little help from helpful RootsChatters

Start with yourself, then your parents, then grandparents.
Use websites like FreeBMD.org.uk  (for England & Wales) to fill out some of the details.
(e.g. all births after 1st July 1911 will show Mother's Maiden Name - which should lead you to a marriage!)

You haven't stated, on your profile, where in the world you are? So what resources are available will depend on what countries.

[lizdb]

Welcome to Rootschat from me too!

Totally agree with KGarrad.  No need to hire a "professional". They will only have access to info that is in the public domain, the same as everyone else.

Start with what you know, and then go one step at a time, confirming each step from as many different angles as you can.

If you are unsure how to proceed just ask on here (remember not to name anyone who is still living)

Start with your parents - have you got their birth certs? marriage cert? Do you know the names of their parents? and when and where the grandparents were born? etc etc

[ScouseBoy]

Also,

If you know where grand parents are buried, the head stones can provide valuable details.

[StevieSteve]

You could also buy a textbook and/ or join the (free) online course that a lot of people on here are about to start

[jaybelnz]

Welcome Mitch😀

This is the best genealogy community in the world, hundreds of experienced researchers 24 hrs a day 7 days a week!  Welcome!

Certainly a great place to start your enquiries, and get advice and assistance - totally free!

As Lizdb says, start with what you know and people on here will help you work back from there. However, we are not permitted to post details of living people on Rootschat, nor email addresses.

There is a personal message system that will activate automatically after your 3rd post, where if needed you can discuss personal details with other members.

So if your parents and grandparents are deceased, you could perhaps post their names, dates and locations, and tell us what you already know about them. I'm sure you'll get some good starting points from there!

Happy hunting!

Jeanne 😄

[groom]

Welcome to RootsChat. I agree with the others, don't waste your money on hiring a professional for something that you can easily do yourself with help from people on here. There are so many free records online nowadays, that it should be fairly easy to get back to the last available census, the 1911. Subscription sites such as Ancestry and Find My Past often have free weekends or introductory offers, so make use of those.

[anne_p]

I agree that hiring a "professional" is not always a good idea nor is it financially viable.

One of my ante-decendants hired a professional in the hope of locating a death record his mother.
It was a very sad story involving 3 very young children whose mother simply vanished from their lives

Many years later, their son caught up with his estranged father  who insisted that his wife/ the children's mother was in a mental institution in the north of Scotland.
The son did not believe his father.

The "professional" insisted that he had used all the information provided, had searched everywhere but no death record existed.

I looked at the death cert for the father.
 He was not a widower when he died.
 It indicated that his wife was still living. ( the professional did not pick up in this)
It took me 2 minutes to find the death certificate  for his widow.

She died in a mental institution, in the north of Scotland some years after her estranged husband.

Simply because he hired a professional who failed to find any of these records , their son died in full belief that something really bad had happened to his mother... at the hands of his father
His children also held this belief until I found her DC

[pharmaT]

I agree that hiring a "professional" is not always a good idea nor is it financially viable.

One of my ante-decendants hired a professional in the hope of locating a death record his mother.
It was a very sad story involving 3 very young children whose mother simply vanished from their lives

Many years later, their son caught up with his estranged father  who insisted that his wife/ the children's mother was in a mental institution in the north of Scotland.
The "professional" insisted that he had used all the information provided, had searched everywhere but no death record existed.

I looked at the death cert for the father. He was not a widower when he died. It indicated that his wife was still living. ( the professional did not pick up in this)
It took me 2 minutes to find the death certificate  for his widow.

She died in a mental institution, in the north of Scotland some years after her estranged husband.

Simply because he hired a professional who failed to find any of these records , their son died in full belief that something really bad had happened to his mother... at the hands of his father
His children also held this belief until I found her DC

Oh Anne that is so sad, poor family