How to Proceed
If you wish to proceed, please e-mail us on . We will reply with an estimate of what we think your requst will cost (i.e. how much time it will take to do the searches you request), and you can then decide whether you want to go ahead, and if so, for how much time. There is no obligation on your part; we will undertake research for you only after you have sent payment, so you control every session.
Please send the following information:
- Your name and location;
- The information you are seeking;
- The GROS data if you have it (this will save us time, saving you money);
- The methods you have already used to find the record you seek.
- The information you already have on the individual(s); this avoids duplicating records.
For example, if you were looking for someone on the 1891 census, you might write the following message:
Mary McGough, Brisbane, Australia.
I'm looking for the 1891 census for the Tullis family. I know the head was Samuel Tullis, and that he had at least one daughter, Christina (my grandmother), who would have been about 2 at the time. I've looked on Scotland's People, and got a "hit" but when I went in to see it, it said 'No Image'. The GROS number given was 6670/000 003 Frame 72. I've also looked on the FamilySearch site, but there was no mention of either Samuel or Christina. I would like to have the information from the document for which there is no image.
In this example, the cost for a Standard search would be about £17 as there is only one record to search. This person hasn't saved any money, as they could have sent for the record for £11 plus postage, but if you want to get the information more quickly, this may still be an option for you. If Mary orders a Basic search, she could have her record for £5, but may have to wait a while to get it. Please rememberthat the documents we send you will not be certified. If you go directly through the New Register House facility, you will get a certified copy of the document.
Here are some tips to getting the most out of our service:
- Gather all the information you are seeking before asking for lookups. We can do 3 hours worth of work for the single £10 entry fee. If you ask for 5 lookups, it could likely be done at a cost of £25, but if you write in 5 separate times asking for one lookup each time, your total cost would be at least £85.
- Get together with family or friends who want to use the service. If several
of you each have one or two lookups, you can get together on the entry fee. Two
to three lookups might cost you £25 if you go it alone, but if there are
four of you with similar requests, the cost per person could be as little as
£6.50.
Don't be afraid to make these arrangements publicly, as in through a mailing list or forum. We are not averse to working for groups of people, whether or nor they are related; unfortunately, we cannot currently offer to organise the shared session for you. - Order the Basic Service rather than the Standard Service; if you require fewer than five records, this could save you considerable money, but remember that you will not get your results as quickly.
- Got more tips? Let us know and we may include them here!
