Don’t be deceived
Unfortunately we live in a “instant” world where everybody wants everything NOW. To cater for this need many on-line genealogy services have sprung up charging high fees for access to their databases which are claimed to be “everything you need to discover your ancestors”.
There are certainly some genuinely useful online resources available, and, indeed, we list several of these on our Useful Links webpage. But, sadly, many others leave a great deal to be desired and are incomplete with vast amounts of data missing. The range of documents available from these services can also be extremely limited often just comprising of Birth, Marriage and Death data (and even this is often just in summary form). It is therefore easy for someone researching their ancestors to overlook the vast range of other documents that exist and can be consulted.
Why hire a Professional Genealogist?
Discovering when an ancestor was born, married and died is a worthy achievement… but what were they actually like as a person?
Are you really content just knowing their name and these 3 dates?
Does this simple data really tell you much about their life?
What was the village like they grew up in? Did they come from a rich or poor family? Where did they go to school? Were they mentioned in their local paper? Did they ever appear before the local Magistrates? Did they serve in the Armed Forces?
This is where hiring a professional Genealogist becomes invaluable. As a small, friendly, Family History Research Service staffed by people born and bred in Suffolk our Genealogists have access to a vast range of local documents relating to Suffolk and it’s residents:
- Bastardy Bonds
- Bishops Transcripts
- Register Bills
- Boyds Marriage Index
- Census Returns
- Crew Lists
- Electoral Registers
- Evidences Of Title
- Goal Records
- IGI Index
- Manorial Records
- Maps
- Marriage Licenses
- Military Records
- Monumental Inscriptions
- Name Indexes
- Newspapers (Archived)
- Nonconformist Registers
- Parish Histories
- Parish Records
- Baptisms
- Banns
- Marriages
- Burials
- Parish register Transcripts
- Pedigrees and Biographies
- Petty Sessions
- Poll Books
- Poor Law Union Records
- Probate Records
- Quarter Sessions
- Rate Books
- Removal Orders
- School Records
- Settlement Certificates
- Street Directories
- Wills
In addition, if you are more interested in Local History, or Property History, our Local Historians can access:
- Census Returns
- Deeds
- Electoral Registers
- Enclosure Awards
- Evidences Of Title
- Tithe Apportionment Records
- Town Directories
- Land Tax Assessments
- Manorial Rentals
- Manor Court Roll/Books
- Maps
- 50 inch to the mile Ordinance Survey
- 25 inch to the mile Ordinance Survey
- 6 inch to the mile Ordinance Survey
- Tithe Maps
- Enclosure Maps
- Estate Maps
- County Maps
- Parish Maps
- Newspapers
- Photographs
- Rate Books
- Sale Particulars
- Wills & Inventories
There are also many other specialist documents we may be able to access:
- Building Plans / Drawings
- Business Records
- Church Guides
- Duncan Pamphlets
- Diocesan Records
- Glebe Terriers
- Parsonage House Papers
- Education Records
- Family/Estate Records
- Listed Buildings
- Local Authority Records
- Housing Department
- Planning Department
- Parish Records
- Petty/Quarter Sessions (eg. Licensing)
- Printed Sources (eg. Hearth Tax/Subsidy Returns)
- Nonconformist Records
Do not be tricked into thinking that the only information available about your ancestors is just Birth, Marriage and Death data. There really is an enormous amount of other, very useful, documents from which it is possible to obtain additional information and build up an interesting picture of your ancestors.
If you would like us to assist you with your research by looking into any of the above documents to help you bring your Family Tree to life then please do not hesitate to contact us, without commitment or obligation, using our Contact Us Webmail Form and we will be very happy to discuss your wishes with you in more detail.