Terms and Conditions
For all work I offer a free initial consultation.
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For archive visits, a one person study, brick wall smashing, newspaper search, document search, I charge £25 an hour plus expenses, this time would include travel time, examination of sources or documents, time sending off for relevant documents or certificates and report at the end of the research. Please note that particularly with brick walls, results are not always guaranteed and you are paying for my time and expertise.
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If you would like some more extensive research, such as a whole family tree back to approximately 1837 UK records which is when civil records began, or 1841 when the census began please contact me to discuss, using the form provided on this website on the contacts page, or by e mail: sheila.herd@mail.com.
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A budget and plan will be agreed in advance before research starts.
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​​Cost of any documents ordered will be charged at cost price in addition to the set budget, for example birth or death certificates are either £3 or £8 for a black and white PDF, marriage certificates are £12.50, or, all birth, marriage and death certificates are £12.50for a full green copy. I will always run it by you before ordering a certificate, please bear in mind that NOT ordering said certificate may mean I cannot proceed any further with research on that line.
If there are parish records or other records which could take your tree back further, I will let you know, further research and time will be charged at £25 an hour.
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Results will be shared electronically, and/or I can put together a physical album using software.
If you choose to have an album put together, I will charge £20 for the physical album and the archival wallets will be £0.75p each. A4 parchment paper for the album is £10 for 50 sheets, or I can use plain white A4 throughout the album for no additional charge. Time spent on putting the album together will be £20 an hour, and it typically takes 1-2 full days.
£75 deposit to be paid before I start work and balance to be paid on completion of work.
Payment to be made by bank transfer or PayPal.
I will always check with you before I order any documents incurring extra costs, but bear in mind, NOT ordering the documents will mean being unable to proceed any further with the research.
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I will always communicate clearly with you through the research process.
Family trees, reports or albums produced will include reference to all the original sources i.e., civil records, parish records, census returns and any other documents examined.
All work will be carried out in strict confidence. Living people are by default hidden from public view on Ancestry website to comply with Data Protection. I also have a Data Protection certification.
It is possible that research may not produce results because records may be lost or cannot be found. If this happens, I will contact you to discuss and review our options.
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Finally, I am an Associate of AGRA (Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives) and I abide by their code Code of Practice and Ethics: Code Of Practice and Ethics : About : AGRA : Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives
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