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We provide a quality RECORD SEARCH SERVICE in the LOCAL ARCHIVES. This service
is available not only for Devon, but also for other locations in the South West of England. Our growing network of contacts
also allows research in other counties by special arrangement.
This service is particularly suitable for clients who
have a specific project in mind and are already clear about the basic information crucial to a successful search, e.g. names,
maiden surnames, date ranges, parishes, trades, and ages. For example, you may simply require a parish register search for
a short date run or a more detailed examination of a small group of parishes. You may want a more advanced examination of
other parish chest material or sources such as quarter sessions papers. You may even have tried these avenues of enquiry in
the past and now need a careful assessment of the various indexes and catalogues in a Record Office or Library. You remain
in control of the enquiry; we provide the results of searches with full references of documents looked at and offer advice
on where to look next and what is available. However, you do not receive the same detailed analysis, discussion and assessments
provided in our Genealogy Plans. We offer a rising discount according to the length of the search commissioned: THE QUICK SEARCH (up to one hour of archival
research and subsequent report writing), THE STANDARD SEARCH (up to four hours) and THE EXTENDED SEARCH (over four hours).
We aim to report within six to eight weeks. QUICK SEARCHES may well be completed more promptly, while interim reports may
be given for more open-ended enquiries as progress is made with the investigation.
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In addition, we provide a RECORD SEARCH SERVICE for the LONDON ARCHIVES. Our associate regularly visits the Family Records
Centre, the London Metropolitan Archives, the National Archives, the British Library Newspaper Library (Colindale) and other
repositories in the capital. A search can be carried out to locate the existence of any of the following items:
*
London Parish Register material;
* Newspaper reports;
* PCC Wills (wills proved in the Prerogative Court of
Canterbury up to 1857);
* Post-1857 Wills;
* Criminal records;
* Career details of personnel in the
Army, Navy, Coastguard and other services. Such records can sometimes be located from a name, date range and a relatively
small amount of additional material, e.g. a regimental name or number, a ship's name, a coastguard station, etc. It is sometimes
also perfectly possible to trace a career from a basic clue on a marriage certificate identifying the groom as a soldier in
a particular regiment.
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GRO CERTIFICATES AND CENSUS PRINTOUTS
We can also obtain GRO certificates (civil registration of births, marriages and deaths since 1837), Please provided
a first name and surname, date range and an area, if possible. We will then search the indexes for any entries that match
your criteria. If successful, the relevant item can then be ordered.
Please note that with common names, there may
be several possible candidates even in one Registration District. In such cases, we use the GRO 'checking service'. This involves
provisionally ordering a certificate with a 'checking point' such as 'the father's name must be Thomas'. Major alternative
spellings of a surname will require separate searches for each variation. This is a result of the alphabetical layout of the
indexes, e.g. the surnames Mann and Manns are separated from each other by entries for such surnames as Mannell, Manners,
Manning, Mannings and Mannion. Pre-1911 marriage searches are normally carried out on the most unusual name only.
We
can also obtain census printouts for any place in England and Wales from 1841 to 1901 inclusive. We generally require a surname
plus a parish (if small), or a street-name or district in a large town Indexes are now available in many cases, but the quality
is very variable. In some cases, it is therefore still necessary to search entire census piece numbers manually. If you wish,
we can also attempt to trace the location of a family through a series of census returns.
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ACADEMIC
RESEARCH SERVICE
We also offer a special service for those who require non-genealogical research work in the local
and national archives. This service is flexible: we can provide help to academics, students, reporters, authors and others
in a variety of ways. For example, students may require a search for material relating to the history of a particular village,
historical personalities, locally important trades, transport, etc. In addition, we can often arrange book indexing and footnote
and reference checking.
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If you are unsure of your requirements,
we are happy to provide some initial guidance and suggestions, on request. However, if you need much more detailed assistance,
for example a detailed appraisal of existing research, then we may suggest that you commission one of our full Genealogy Plans. We also reserve the right to decline a RECORD SEARCH at the outset if the information provided is inadequate or if the request
does not otherwise appear to be viable. This can happen when a potential client has already carried out extensive research
or another professional genealogist has concluded that a dead end has probably been reached.
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GEDCOMS AND FAMILY CHARTS
Many clients are happy to compile their own family charts from the research details
we provide. However, if you wish, we can produce hand-written or typed working drafts of a tree and update them in the light
of further findings. Once a family line has been sketched out as far as possible, we can create a GEDCOM (GEnealogical Data
COMmunication) file using computer software. We can print out charts from any GEDCOM onto A4 pages or can arrange for the
chart to be printed out on any page up to A0 in size (equivalent to 16 A4 sheets tiled 4 x 4) that can be laminated. For even
larger charts, we can recommend the services of GENEALOGYPRINTERS who can print your entire tree on one continuous piece of
paper 24 to 40 inches tall and as wide as it needs to be. Sumptuous calligraphy charts of the very highest quality craftsmanship
can also be produced by NEIL BROMLEY. For full details of both GENEALOGY PRINTERS AND NEIL BROMLEY's work, please see our Links.
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For details of our RECORD SEARCH, ACADEMIC
RESEARCH SERVICE, GEDCOM and CHARTfees, please see Payment Details and to order any service, please complete a Commissioning Form.
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