FAQs

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Please see below for some answers to frequently asked questions…

Have you used DNA to help with research?

Yes, I have found a client’s Norwegian father using DNA and a name that had been passed down verbally from his mother.  I approached the Norwegian Archives and obtained a copy of this sailor’s ‘Statement of Sea Service’. It confirmed the exact spelling of his name and showed he was in England at the time my client was conceived.  Knowing his name meant I could approach my client’s DNA matches and I found someone who recognised the Norwegian sailor. She asked a male relative to take a test and it confirmed that this relative and my client were first cousins.  My client now hopes to meet his relatives and travel to the Norwegian town where his father grew up.

I have also used DNA to confirm the name of a father on a client’s birth certificate.  The father’s name had been crossed out, but by matching my client with their father’s family in Nova Scotia I was able to confirm that the crossed-out name on the birth certificate was the correct father’s name.

Another client had no father’s name on her grandmother’s certificate.  Yet, we suspected who the father was. By joining a Family History Society I was approached by a person researching the same surname.  He persuaded one of his elderly relatives to take a DNA test. It matched with my client’s DNA and we were able to confirm who her grandmother’s father was.  My client is planning on meeting her new found family for the first time soon.

What if your research discovers nothing about my family?

Unfortunately, there are times when records cannot be found for a number of different reasons that are beyond our control (incorrect spelling of names; incorrect transcription of names; your ancestor changed their name; the records have been misfiled; or the records have been destroyed etc.).  I will always provide a client with a detailed list of the records I searched including the positive and negative results. By listing the negative results, it will help you to avoid wasting valuable research time by researching these same areas again in the future. If I do not find the answers you are looking for I must still charge for my time spent researching.

Is the 30-minute consultation really free?

Yes!  Your free 30-minute consultation will allow me to assess your case and decide how best I can help you. Once I have spoken to you I will contact you with an estimate of the costs involved. If you wish to proceed with the research I will arrange to speak to you again to get a more detailed picture of what you already know about your family history.

Free 30 minute consultation

Contact me to book your consultation.

Maddy has been so helpful, supportive and interested.  She has found information which I would have been unable to find myself.  Her eye for detail makes seemingly irrelevant findings prove to be highly significant.  Using DNA she has confirmed that I have a Canadian Grandfather and proved a family myth that I had a Great Grandfather who was a famous scientist.

Jo Drummond

Reading, Berkshire