I must take this opportunity to clarify and explain what you can expect when you hire me; or other researchers who present in the way I do.  When you hire me for a full Research Project, as listed on my page titled Research Projects & Fees, you are getting true value for money.  Normally, a genealogist will bill you hourly, however the majority will also offer “projects” or “packages” which are more hours for less cost.  Many companies do the same.  Why?  Well, not only is this a good way to do business, but genealogists are the same as many in their chosen professions in that we do it for the passion and the joy, not just for the money.  I find that I can present a “whole” picture, most of the time, when I get a chance to do a full project.  The money you pay for a Project could be as much as half the actual cost if it was billed hourly; that’s a massive saving.  But let’s look at what you get for that too:

1. Amazing documents that actually show your ancestors names, whether on a census image, a Will, a war record, or even a gaol photo with description.  We can sometimes find literally hundreds of documents like this, pages and pages of your family’s story from generations ago that will have you enthralled for hours on end.  All of these will eventually become a legacy for your own descendants, and a story you can add to and enhance at any time in the future.

2. Professionally designed folders with all your family lines laid out in Paternal and Maternal order; with each document in a silver lined plastic sleeve and labelled for ease of reading and searching.  Each family line is sectioned off with professional colour opaque dividers and the folders include an index on each section.

3. Included in the folders is a section titled Genealogical Reports; these reports are quite fascinating to read.  They will usually list each and every member of your family tree in alphabetical order, showcasing the specific intentions of that reports concept.  For example, one of my favourite reports in this section is the Place Report.  Indeed, many of my past clients have taken this report on their travels in order to stand in the same street that their ancestors lived, or to search for the old unmarked grave of their 5th great grandfather, and even to walk down the aisle of the old parish church where their great grandparents were married.  These reports are truly invaluable.

4. And perhaps the most sought after; the wall chart.  Whether an ancestor chart, or a descendant chart, nothing prepares you for the visual impact of seeing your name and the names of those gone before us, in full colour on the wall.  It’s almost as though looking at their name long enough will conjur up a memory, or story, or an image that you read about, heard or imagined.  Although it takes maybe hundred of hours and many documents later to gain the details needed for an ancestor chart; clients always state how much they love walking past and stopping to look at it, or unrolling it and studying it again.

Many people become hesitant to spend thousands of dollars on their family history, and I can understand that; yet I know that most who are hesitant do not understand that what they receive is “invaluable”; it’s priceless (in my eyes)…but I am a little bias 🙂