Are these guys any good

[alphonso31]

before going any further, has anyone any experience of family-history-reports ?

[Pam Downes]

Hello, and welcome to British-Genealogy.

I will say straightaway that I have never heard of the company.
I can't comment too much on their prices because obviously how much information you need them to provide will affect how much time they have to spend searching. It's a pity that they don't say that their quotes are based on an average cost of x amount per hour. That doesn't stop them giving a quote of a fiver for a simple look-up. ( Though some apparently simple look-ups turn out to be anything but!)
I will give them full marks for the cost of providing BMD certificates - cost price plus 25p. Click on some sites which pose as an official government site and you will get charged about twenty-three quid. (Probably more nowadays, because that was the cost about five years ago.)

However a lot of what you want to know can often be found by using genealogy forums such as B-G. For instance, we can point you to lots of free sites. What we can't do is do all your research for you - but that company can. Whichever way you do it, be prepared for it to cost. Genealogy is sometimes an expensive hobby.

Pam

[emmteeyess]

I will say straightaway that I have never heard of the company.
...
However a lot of what you want to know can often be found by using genealogy forums such as B-G. For instance, we can point you to lots of free sites. What we can't do is do all your research for you - but that company can. Whichever way you do it, be prepared for it to cost. Genealogy is sometimes an expensive hobby.

I too have never heard of the company, but I would hesitate to use any professional company straight off (or at all) without having a good bit of my own research to hand.
As we all know, it's far too easy to get caught up along a wrong branch of the family, and without carefull checking of their findings/resources you might get something expensive and totaly irrelevent.

(Publishing your own findings as a book or story would be something else. Not sure how you'd go about that, so that would need a seperate topic.)

Cheers, MTS

[Peter_NB]

I hate to be "Johnny Raincloud" and as someone who also made a living from running my own business, I kinda sucked air through my teeth when I visited their website. Just struck me as a bit like playing the one arm bandits at a casino. "I am in for £100 already so maybe another £20 will come up 3 cherries. I presume I am not alone in having lived and learnt may way through genealogy.
Each to their own but I guess my opinion on this one is fairly clear.

[elsinore]

It's run from a semi-detatched house in Gravesend. Nothing wrong with that but if you're going to offer your services as a genealogist, it's as well to let people know your qualifications, experience and accreditations (if any).
If you want to know more about the man behind it, click on “Fame at Last” on the website.

Peter

[christanel]

Hi
How far along in your research are you? Do you think you need a 'professional' service because you have come up against a brickwall or are you looking for someone to do the lot?
If you are just starting out then as Pam says we can give you lots of free sites to get you started, then there are the pay as you go sites.
The best free site is the Brit-Gen forums so if you want to give us a try just pick a suitable forum, give us all the information you have, tell us what you want to find out and it won't be too long before our friendly and knowledgeable members offer help.
Christina

[emmteeyess]

If you want to know more about the man behind it, click on “Fame at Last” on the website.

Good grief - he's not doing himself any favours is he?

That would make my mind up - and it's a definite no!

Cheers, MTS

(Mods - if this is a bit inflamatory then please delete my post)

[AntonyMMM]

If you want to employ a professional to help with your research - I would look for someone who is at least an associate or member of AGRA (for English/Welsh research).

https://www.agra.org.uk

[wimsey]

slightly off topic perhaps - what resources, if any, are available to a "professional genealogist" that aren't available to the rest of us ?

[Peter Goodey]

what resources, if any, are available to a "professional genealogist" that aren't available to the rest of us ?

Off the top of my head, knowledge, time and mobility (particularly the ability to visit record offices and other repositories). The "rest of us" vary a lot so far as these factors are concerned.