One on One

You could be just starting and want to get it right from the start.

Or maybe you're been tracing your family for a while and just want to review where you are and where you are going.

With over 35 years’ experience and access to all the major genealogical databases and knowledge of some other really useful websites, not to mention local archives, I can help you with your research.

When you choose to work one on one with me there are two ways this can happen.

We do the research together

We work together on your research via coaching. This way you don’t miss out on the fun of the family history search.

This is usually done via the internet, which means you don’t have to live in the same place that I do. I can help you to set your research plan and make suggestions on what research you do next.

Any documents that we find while we research will be shared with you and I’ll help you learn how to keep track of both our positive and negative search results (so that we don’t do the same thing twice).

I’m happy to discuss setting a regular coaching schedule to keep you on track and focused.

I love coaching one on one and your first step for us to work together is to book a chat here so that we can discuss working together.

I do the research for you

You brief me on what you want to achieve and share with me all of your family history research to date and I do the research for you.

This may involve me building your family tree, from you back several generations or working on one particular ancestor. It may also involve analysing your genealogical DNA results to solve family mysteries or break through brick walls.

We will have agreed on the amount of time that I will spend on your project and a deposit will be required for the project. If there is a requirement to buy birth, death, marriage certificates or other records, I will let you know about these and payment for these is separate to the project payment.

Once I get started there are different parts to a family history project:

Review: When I start with a client project, I will always review the material that I am given first, to ensure that I am starting from solid ground. You don’t want me researching people in your family tree, only to find that they may be the same name, but they are the wrong person.

If you are a returning client this review may not be needed depending on whether there are any changes to where we left our research.

Research: This will be focused on the research objective we have agreed.

This is where I dive deep into the records and work on your project. The availability of records and also our preset time constraints prevent me from guaranteeing that I will be successful in achieving what is required. However a negative result, just means that we have eliminated possibilities that may in the future be solved with new record releases.

Report: So that you know what I have done and reviewed, all the research that is done, with both positive and negative results will be reported. Copies of documents that have been acquired as part of the research will be supplied and depending on what we have agreed before starting a family tree may be prepared online or in a family history computer program.

If I believe that there are further research opportunities, I will let you know what these are and you can choose to extend our project.

If this sounds like what you are looking for then your first step for us to work together is to book a chat to discuss your family history project.

Photograph: The wedding of William Thomson and Lucy Hill Thorn, 14 January 1914, Hokitika, New Zealand. Fiona Brooker Collection,