Genealogy Chat

i have been trying for a long long time to trace a certain ancestor and have got nowhere. I think the time has now come to get some professional help. Can anyone recommend a person or company who will undertake to do some tracing for me for a reasonable fee? thanks barbara

Professionals make mistakes as well as any one else.

One member on this site used a professional and I & a couple of other members managed to disprove the work done but the member who posted the thread would not believe it was wrong.

and others have paid high prices for no result


only to have the information found by people on here!


so post the information, and let us see what we can do!



sylvia

On my Derbyshire thread i had an enquiry from someone who was convinced she was related to Florence Nightingale..thanks to a professional who was obviously too keen to please his client.
It took me two hours to blow him out of the water.........but she preferred to believe what she wanted to believe......

Derek

I agree with the others, the people who do look-ups on this site are 100% better than any professional. I. too, have dealt with someone who uses the services of a professional who has made more mistakes than the peeps on here would ever make. There are some who believe that the word "professional" gives some kind of magical powers. T'ain't so!

At the risk of repeating all this too often, I totally agree. I have had some near-miraculous finds by fellow members, and even made a few good discoveries for others. Sometimes you just need someone else to look at the problem a bit differently.
Jan

Hi Barbara,don't keep us in suspenders then,post the details and lets see what the brilliant people on here can come up with.

I love reading these threads just as a suspense novel, Derbys Derek's searches keep me amused for hours.

Thanks nina!! Derek xx

C'mon Barb! Give us the names. Let's see what we can do. No charge!

Do you think someone should PM her?? cos she's not listening!!
Derek

Have given in and sent a PM
Jan

I think that if she doesn't reply we can all give in!!

Shall we offer our services for a fee? Might as well.
Jan

I am sceptical too, as they could take your money and feed you with any info they like whether its true info found or made up to justify their fees. I really feel you are better going it alone because IF the info/records are there you can find them with some searching.
US amateurs with a desire to find info are just as good as so called professional researchers cos we would look in the same place as them!!

Just another thought !! sometimes the paper trail just isnt there to follow up .

The problem is that you have to pay for the researcher's services irrespective of whether there is a result at the end of it.

It's a bit like pay as you go records. Brilliant if you find the one you are looking for, but disappointing if you have spent your money for the wrong one.

However good the researcher is, he or she can only look at information that is out there in the public domain, so can anyone else. If the information isn't there to start with then no-one is going to find it.

I know some people who have had some success using researchers for searching specific records, perhaps where you can't access them yourself.. When I was over in Dublin a few years ago we met several, often students, doing just such a thing.with the censuses and BMD records. They then returned copies of what they found to their clients to work with, but did not attempt to build the tree for them.

Wow, thanks for all those replies.

Well here is my "brick wall" now lets see who can rise to this challange!

My information is so limited I am afraid. I am trying to trace Cicely Hall, and all I know about her is that she lived in Reed Pond Walk Romford, Essex in 1926 and was working as a millinery designer. She also visited Portsmouth around that time and may or may not have from there.

So now you see how difficult it is!

Any suggestions would be much appreciated

Regards Barbara

Wow, thanks for all those replies. Apologies, my computer has been out of action for the past couple of days (careless daughter!).

I am afraid my information is very limited. I am trying to find information on Cicely Hall (whose middle name may or may not be Louisa) who lived in Reed Pond Walk, Romford, Essex in 1926. At that time she was working as a millinery designer. She also visited Portsmouth and may of lived there for a time or may even have come from there.

See what I mean, a difficult one, there is a challange if you like!

Regards, Barbara

Hi Barbara, I'm fairly new to genes,so may not be much help.

There is a Cecily Hall on the 1911 census,born 1904,in Fylde Lancashire,

If there is any chance she is yours I will look at the full transcription.

There's this one born Portsmouth. Could the Mary L. be Mary Louisa?

Births Sep 1909 (>99%)
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HALL Cicely Mary L Portsmouth 2b 433