Simple record searching
One of the more popular requests I’ve had from clients in the past is to search for individual records. Usually, it’s something like a birth record or an immigration record. Typically I start with the online databases, but then I branch out into other resources when I am not able to locate things online.
These types of services can be challenging to cost up, especially for US resources, where there isn’t one place to go for birth, marriage, or death records that aren’t online. That’s why I decided to add a new service to my website that covers the cost of searching for the record itself. This includes the record if it is available online, or a report with next steps if the record might be available elsewhere. I’ve also made it so you can purchase this service directly from my site.
One benefit of hiring a genealogist, even when searching for online records, is that we subscribe to all of the things, so you don’t have to. A couple of months ago, for example, I managed to find that some of my husband’s family had parish records online on FindMyPast, they also had electoral rolls that Ancestry didn’t seem to have for that area.
Another benefit is I don’t just stop at online resources; I do the extra legwork to determine if the record is even available at all or find the best cost on getting the record. I do find it frustrating when one department or agency is charging ridiculous fees for a record when I’ve also discovered that a local or state archives also has the same record for no cost. While it’s not possible to visit archives in the US myself (though I have some flexibility to in the UK, travel restrictions aside), I have actually hired local genealogists to retrieve records for me at a cost cheaper than if I had ordered the same record through a vital records office in the same state.
Unfortunately, not everything is available at all, which is something I know all too well with my Kentucky ancestors. Kentucky is one of those states that both started and stopped registering individuals, and even when it was required, not all counties complied. Of course, it can make your research more difficult. Still, it is beneficial to understand the ins and outs of birth, marriage, or death registration of a particular area of research, which is why I always dig into when these registration dates start and stop, and what other sources might be available where a specific individual record is not. The search fee is non-refundable in these instances, but it’s also why I wanted to keep this low cost to you.
If you’re interested in locating a record for a family member, or if you’re curious why you can’t find something, this service could be a great place to start.