Research & Photography Services

Research & Photography Packages

Prices of all services are subject to change without prior notice.  However, we guarantee that no increase in price will be charged to you if we receive your request for our service prior to any published raise in price for this service.

We offer a unique research support service for amateur and novice genealogists through our consultation service.

Benefits to you

• Assurance that your research stays in the right tree
• Quicker, more efficient solutions to your research problems
• Breakthrough research roadblocks
• Maximize your time at an archive or library
• Less waste of your valuable resources

Why we think we can help you

• 49 years of combined successful legal and genealogical research
• 17 years of respected editorial and copywriting activities
• 9 years of full-house seminars and lectures
• 9 years of successful genealogical class instruction

Our professional full-service genealogical research services promote respect and appreciation for one's family heritage. Thorough and professional attention is given to all research projects. Whether you are investing in a time-limited research package or on-going open-ended research project, regular progress reports with accounting of fees and expenses incurred and a full range of charts and research logs are prepared, updated and submitted throughout your research project.  All sources consulted during the research will be cited and copies of all sources and source documents will also be provided to you with our reports.

Family research will often produce results of personal and emotional importance. We, therefore, respect the sensitivity of personal information and provide our assurance that confidentiality is maintained at all times. No information will be released to anyone other than to our contracting client or to their authorized nominee.

We provide research services for:

• Canadian, British, Italian, French, German and American ancestry;
  
  
• French Canadian and Metis or Native heritage; and,
  
  
• biographical and historical manuscripts
  
  

There are many different options to consider when researching your family history.  Each family is vastly different and the success of any research is wholly dependent on available and accessible records. Accordingly, positive results cannot be guaranteed in relation to any of our Research Services.

We have a variety of Research Packages to offer as set out below.

Family Archive Organizer

Do you have a container full of family ephemera and don't know where to begin? We will carefully examine and organize your family archive along a structure that will be easy for you to use and maintain into the future. We will also create an inventory of the documentation in your family archive as well as abstract family information from the records to create a timeline for the history and development of your family's story. All of this information will then be of great benefit to you when you are ready to begin research into your family's lineage.  Lastly, we will also conserve any letters, documents, books, ledgers, newsclippings, photographs and negatives that are in danger of being lost due to decomposition.  We will contact you to arrange a meeting within 24 hours of receiving your payment for this service.

Family Archive Organizer*:	$375.00*	Your payment is secure

*Fee does not include any additional costs associated with conservation of any items amongst your family archive.

          

Location Photography*

To complete your research, we can provide crisp, clear digital or print photographs at very reasonable prices. We can photograph any location of genealogical value to you - any edifice, gravestone, church, chapel, house, shop, factory, mill, school, street, village, town, city and any other structure in the Niagara Region in connection with your research. We may also be able to obtain photographs from the past, too . . . whatever your photographic requirements, in the first instance Contact Us. With photographs of all the places mentioned in your wonderful family archive documents you will be able to visual the environment and imagine how your ancestors lived, worked and played.

Do you have damaged, torn, or faded family photos and think they're beyond repair? Think again. We can also digitize and restore your photographs, negatives and slides and turn your tattered paper memories into fresh new ones for future generations to enjoy. Our fast and friendly photo restoration service is extremely affordable, with prices starting at just $10.00 per image.

For cemetery and headstone photography you will have to provide us with the name and location of the cemetery, name and date of death of the deceased, as well as the location of the grave or graves, if located in a large municipal or church cemetery. For all other location photography, please provide me with the building or site to be photographed, the location and number and types of photographs desired.

Location Photography*:	$20.00 per location*

*Fee for location photography is based on one-half hour of time spent at travel to and from and attendance at each location. If time is estimated to be greater than one-half your quote will reflect this increase. Our fee covers the cost of digital photographic images delivered electronically to you and does not include any additional costs associated with printed images mailed via Canada Post to you. All fees must be paid prior to commencement of this service.

          

Preliminary Investigation

Ideal starting point if you are just setting out on your journey to discover your family history and suitable for Irish ancestral research. As an example, if your little-known ancestor was born c1865** through 1911, Ancestry Solutions will spend up to four hours researching this person, then create a concise report to provide you with a solid foundation for further investigation. This two-to-three page report should contain at least one additional generation of that person's paternal and maternal direct lines and possibly two generations, all with basic dates and names of children within each generation.  See Instructions for Ordering a Research Package at the bottom of this page.

Preliminary Investigation*:	$176.00*	Your payment is secure

*Fee does not include any additional costs associated with copies of documents or civil registration certificates.  **This search is based on an ancestor whose date of birth, marriage and/or death occurs after the start of civil registration in the place of the ancestor's residence.

          

Standard Investigation

Eight hours of specific research following your ancestor in Canada, U.S.A., England, Wales, Scotland, France, Belgium, and/or Germany using post-1850 Statutory Records, parish registers and all available Census Returns. Our report will contain all family members identified from these records. All pertinent events will be recorded, fully transcribed with source references. Also included is a family tree chart depicting both the paternal and materal lines with descendants in each generation as found during the investigation.  See Instructions for Ordering a Research Package at the bottom of this page.

Standard Investigation*:	$356.00*	Your payment is secure

*Fee does not include any additional costs associated with copies of documents or civil registration certificates.

          

Comprehensive Investigation

In addition to all the data gathered for a Standard Investigation, during this 11-hour investigation into your family history all the relevant parish and municipal material will be included for your ancestor's direct line. In most cases, this should take your family back into the 1700's. This option can be selected for either the paternal or maternal line. This research package is available only for Canadian, American, English, Welsh, Scottish, French, Belgium, and some German ancestries.  See Instructions for Ordering a Research Package at the bottom of this page.

Comprehensive Investigation*:	$470.00*	Your payment is secure

*Fee does not include any additional costs associated with copies of documents or civil registration certificates.

          

Inclusive Investigation

Again using all the aboves resources, this 15-hour investigation in your family history produces our ultimate report containing all available and accessible information about both the paternal and maternal direct lines of your Canadian, American, German, and British, including Irish, ancestry.  See Instructions for Ordering a Research Package at the bottom of this page.

Inclusive Investigation*:	$630.00*	Your payment is secure

*Fee does not include any additional costs associated with copies of documents or civil registration certificates.

          

Independent Research

The Independent Research service may be the only way to advance your particular ancestry as not all of the research packages set out above are conducive to certain types of research. For instance, it becomes difficult to package Italian research across generations or even across the paternal and maternal side of one's ancestry due to the lack of central archives and record offices for civil registrations and parish registers. It is always necessary to consult two tiers of archives for 19th through early 20th century ancestry - the town held parish registers and the commune held civil registrations and it does not always hold true that both father and mother were born in the same town.

Alternatively, you may have a specific but unknown ancestor for which you wish to locate all available and accessible information. In such an instance a package plan would not best suit your research project and may result in no progress at all along that family line.

Therefore, you, the client, have the opportunity to limit the research to one or more particular lines of enquiry (based upon an initial research proposal to be prepared before commencement of your research project).  Bearing in mind the initial 4-hour minimum research limit, it is not necessary to undertake the remainder of the entire project, as proposed, all at one time.  Additionally, on-going research may be stopped at your request, at any time, for any reason, during the project.  An account would be issued to you and payable for all fees and expenses incurred up to that time.

In order for me to be able to prepare an accurate Research Proposal for you, it is necessary for me to undertake up to 3 hours of preliminary searches to assess the availability and accessibility of records crucial to your search.

Due to the time required to complete the preliminary searches I do have to charge a nominal fee to offset this preliminary research and my consultation fee. The fee for the preparation of the Research Proposal is payable in advance whether or not you decide to proceed immediately with any of the research steps outlined therein. The information contained in your Research Proposal is expected to be as valid in 5-years time as it is on the day it is prepared, so it should provide you with a solid basis to expand your research in future.

Please see the list of fees below. Please also download our Family Knowledge questionnaire for the information and documentation that I will require from you before I am able to commence a preliminary search.

Independent Research Fees*           CAN$45.00/hr. total CAN$180.00*

Research Proposal Fee:	$95.00	Your payment is secure

Sample Research Proposal.  *Fee does not include any additional costs associated with copies of documents or civil registration certificates and represents only the minimum initial 4 hours of research time. Fees will be charged at the rate of CAN$45.00 per hour thereafter. Any additional costs and expenses are not included in the hourly research fee.

Instructions for Ordering a Research Package

If you wish us to begin your family research, today, please:

1.  download our Family Knowledge questionnaire (this PDF file will open in a separate window), which we will need you to complete and return to us and, remember, no information is too small or irrelevant to not be included in your answers; and,

2.  complete your payment for the applicable service by clicking on one of the two payment buttons below the research package which you wish to purchase, and follow the instructions given to take you through the checkout process.

Once we have received confirmation of your payment and we have received your completed questionnaire it will be reviewed to see if we require any additional information from you. If we do require further information or clarification we will contact you by email or by telephone if you reside on continental North America.

If you are purchasing Independent Research your Research Proposal will be emailed to you within 15 business days following receipt of your payment in full for the proposal and your completed Family Knowledge questionnaire.  A hard copy of the Research Proposal will also be mailed to you via regular post at no additional charge to you. We will not begin any research on your behalf until after you have had an opportunity to thoroughly review our Research Proposal and have provided us with your written instructions to proceed with certain aspects of that proposal.

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