Has anyone ever Paid for reasearch

[Kaybron]

A professional researcher is beneficial to those who have no time/inclination for genealogy but have money to pay for the service.

I also believe this comment is a bit harsh and unnecessary.  As stated previously by goldie61, it is a bit difficult when you live twelve and a half thousand miles away to conduct some research.  I personally devote many hours to family history research and take my research seriously.

[KGarrad]

As I said in my earlier reply (first reply on this thread), I have used researchers for particular problems.

Railway Records can get very complicated, unless you know what you are doing - so I had no problems paying a researcher on TNA's list.

The Jersey records I needed weren't available online; so again worth every penny. I donated a sum to the Channel Islands FHS, too!

Guinness World Records insisted I use a "professional" with qualifications. I don't have formal qualifications in genealogy; just 40 years experience!
Paid for 1 hour, and got our family added to the relevant entry in GWR!
(Most successive generations of twins - we tied the record! )

For my own part, I am able to research actual documents at the Manx Museum for people.
I always tell people my hourly rate, then ask how much money they want to spend; then I do that amount of research. If they want me to continue, then we come to another agreement.
It's important, for me, to allow the client to be in charge of the amount of money spent!

E.G. I have a client coming from Australia  at the end of the month. She wants 1 hour of my time.
But I have done some (free!) preliminary work to ascertain which part of the island her ancestors came from, and in which graveyard(s) some of them are buried.

I would rather have a satisfied client, than fleece them for a lot of cash?
Genealogy is my hobby; for which I now (sometimes) get paid for.

I realise that not everyone is a nice as me?!

Try to use researchers who are recommended. Or at least listed by the relevant archive.
Agree a price, and stick to it.
But also start with some firm leads - the more research you can do yourself, the cheaper it will be.

Finally please remember that what you are paying for is expertise
I can (probably!) find more info in 10 minutes than most people would find in an hour or two

[Rosinish]

A professional researcher is beneficial to those who have no time/inclination for genealogy but have money to pay for the service.

I don't think Barry was meaning anything untoward regarding people at a distance for their own research but a general comment meaning it is beneficial to some who don't have time or knowledge of 'how to' & nothing more i.e. not a comment relating to all/anyone.

I will also add, there are probably many 0,000s of people (already doing research) yet to discover RC as a 'Genealogy' site which helps people for free, albeit many of us use sub-sites which cost us £s.

Many people are dubious about 'joining' sites they don't know of/never heard of, for obvious reasons i.e. it's not until a link pops up with a 'google' search which brings up RC & of course curiosity takes over.

Annie

[Rosinish]

Guinness World Records insisted I use a "professional" with qualifications. I don't have formal qualifications in genealogy; just 40 years experience!
Paid for 1 hour, and got our family added to the relevant entry in GWR!
(Most successive generations of twins - we tied the record! )

KG,

Of course we know about this but what I can't fathom is why GWR couldn't sit down with your certs. & see the connection...not rocket science so what is it which determines a 'Professional' in genealogy as I've read there are no qualifications as such to become a genealogist?

Annie

[KGarrad]

Guinness World Records insisted I use a "professional" with qualifications. I don't have formal qualifications in genealogy; just 40 years experience!
Paid for 1 hour, and got our family added to the relevant entry in GWR!
(Most successive generations of twins - we tied the record! )

KG,

Of course we know about this but what I can't fathom is why GWR couldn't sit down with your certs. & see the connection...not rocket science so what is it which determines a 'Professional' in genealogy as I've read there are no qualifications as such to become a genealogist?

Annie

It's their standard Terms and Conditions!
You need 3 Expert Witness Statements to back up any claim; one of which MUST be a professional in the relevant field.
They have a list of people they are prepared to accept statements from - a bit like the list of people who can countersign your passport application!

Son-in-law's father was a policeman; so he had long term police friends we could use.
Daughter #2 (not the twin's mum) works at the hospital where 3 of the generations were born; so she got a statement from a paediatric professional.

For the genealogist, I was in Bristol at the time and asked at Bristol Archives.
Linked up with a lovely lady!

[Rosinish]

KG,

"It's their standard Terms and Conditions!
You need 3 Expert Witness Statements to back up any claim; one of which MUST be a professional in the relevant field.
They have a list of people they are prepared to accept statements from - a bit like the list of people who can countersign your passport application!"

How strange when 'witness' statements overide genuine documents which are easy to follow (at least to us non 'professionals') , must have been a bit confusing to say the least

Annie

[KGarrad]

Like a lot of people, they are impressed by letters after a name!

Actually, I don't think GWR do much initial verification?
That's why they want an "expert" to do it for them.

Anyhow, I simply played along; took me 6 months to get it all through and I now have a framed certificate on my wall

ADDED: The lady I used was not only a member of AGRA, but also a qualified archivist registered with the Archives and Records Association.

[majm]

PROFESSIONAL GENEALOGIST ... in one of the guidelines documents from a Privacy Commissioner's Office (a statutory authority) of one of the eight jurisdictions in Australia ....
If you are not researching your own family, but are undertaking family history research, pro bono or otherwise, you are a professional genealogist for the purposes of our various Australian Privacy laws and regulations....

Infringing those laws and regulations brings huge penalties upon you .... and ....
Well in Australia,  your given, middle and surname,  date of birth,  home address,  etc are all part of your identifying data and thus are private. 

So,  You dont need any formal qualifications to be a genealogist,  just know how to effectively research other people's family history. 

Whether you charge any fee is beside the point,  the 'trigger' is ...if you are researching your own ancestors or someone else's.

I notice that the search engines at family search,  ancestry etc do have some possible understanding of that concept as they mentioned 'your ancestor' near the blank box to fill in for the look up ....last time I looked.

JM

[Puffin81]

Thanks for your feedback, I think I’ll wait for a little extra info to come back that might help then see if the roots chat experts can help.  I think all I need is to find a birth and marriage record, maybe I can’t see the wood for the trees.

From reading your responses I think there is a good chance I’d end up with someone who found anything rather than coming back and saying they can’t find anything if I paid