Tracing Your Ancestors : Recent Projects

December 2008. Client based Reading, UK. Gift Voucher for Research, Report & Family Tree
Gift Voucher for Christmas present for client's mother. Gift to provide a report and family tree of mother's paternal and maternal ancestors back to late 1700s. Research conducted February/March, 2009.

In the course of the research, it was discovered that one ancestor born in the 1700s had links back to the 1100s whose ancestors included Sheriffs, Lords and Earls. The client opted to extend the research to include this family line.

January 2009. Client based Republic of Ireland. Production of Family History Book & Family Tree
Research of the client's maternal line back to the 1700s covering the counties of Essex, Middlesex (London), Sussex, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire.

February 2009. Client based Cambridgeshire, UK.   Research, Report & Family Tree
Paternal ancestors traced back to the 1700s in Cambridgeshire. Report included information about other family members.

March 2009. Client based Scotland, UK.   Family History Book & Family Tree
Family history book and family tree researched and commissioned by three clients as a 60th birthday present for their father.
Large family tree of Lancashire based ancestors back to the late 1500s produced in scroll format.

March 2009. Client based London, UK.    Research & Report
Client looking to establish whether there was a relationship between himself and supposed family relative who won the Victoria Cross during the Indian Mutiny in 1858. Client was unconvinced that a relationship existed as family members were unable to provide any further information about this man.

Research was carried out which traced back through the generations. The supposed relative was found to have been the great great uncle of the client. Report included information about the client's ancestors back to the late 1700s.

April 2009. Client based Halifax, Yorkshire, UK.   Research, Report & Family Tree
Family history report and family tree commissioned by the client as a 70th birthday present for her mother.
Ancestors traced back to the 1600s. Family tree produced in scroll format.

June 2009. Client based Buckinghamshire, UK.   Research & Report
Client looking to establish where his grandfather was born - believed it was possibly Battersea, London. Any further information about ancestors/realtives located was also requested. The relevant ancestor was found to have been born in a small hamlet in the county of Mayo in Ireland. The research also confirmed that the ancestor's father was a farmer. Information provided to the client included the nature of the farm buildings, acreage size of the farm, rateable value and name of the landlord. Names of people with the same surname living within a 10 miles radius were also supplied in the report and suggestions/contact details were provided enabling the client to seek out living Irish relatives.

July/August 2009. Client based Hampshire, UK.   Research & Report
Client looking to locate the birthplace of his great grandfather. The research trail led to Germany showing the relevant ancestor was born in East Prussia, now in Lithuania. The client was provided with the exact address where his ancestor was living aged three, the name and occupation of his father, the name of the family's landlord, names and occupations of other people living in the same street providing a 'flavour' of what life was like in the town in the 1850s. Report included street directory entry for the relevant family, street map of the town, map of East Prussia, information about the town.

September 2009. Client based Derbyshire, UK.   Research & Report
Follow up to work carried out for the client in 2008 who had been unable to locate the birth record of her great grandmother. The client had been provided with the relevant information and, on receiving the birth certificate, had been able to discover the names of her great great grandparents. The client now wished to discover the births/information about the birthplaces and ancestors of these great great grandparents. Ancestors in Derbyshire traced back to the mid 1700s.

September 2009. Clients based Hampshire, UK.   Research & Report
Clients looking to trace background and origins of local family in relation to a local planning application.
Project included searches of and information provided on birth, marriage and death records, census records, electoral rolls, trade directories, telephone directories, company/director listings and other relevant records.

October 2009. Client based Surrey, UK.   Research, Report & Family Tree
Client looking to obtain information about her parents and their ancestors. Ancestors traced back to mid 1700s in Marlow, Buckinghamshire and London. Report included birth, marriage and death records, census information - names, ages and occupations of family members including the wider family.

October 2009. Client based Somerset, UK.   Research, Report & Family Tree
Client had managed to trace London born ancestors back to the late 1800s but was unable to locate ancestors further back. Research to date has taken the family tree back to the early 1700s and has included the discovery that family name ancestors were Watermen (providers of passenger ferry services) on the River Thames in London. Research included the location of relevant apprentice records. Naval records of the client's father also obtained providing a complete record of service and names of ships on which his father served.

October 2009. Client based Australia. Research & Report
Client seeking ancestral and trial information about his ancestor, a convict, who was transported to Tasmania in the 1820s. The original trial record was located which included offence and sentence as well as providing his place of residence in Norfolk, England. Research of parish records provided names of his ancestor's parents, siblings and grandparents.

October 2009. Client based New York, USA. Research & Report
Client requesting information about an English ancestor born in the Lancashire area circa the early 1800s. The relevant ancestor, his parents and grandparents were located as well as the parents of his wife. Baptism, marriage and census records were provided showing family members, locations and occupations.

November 2009. Client based Gloucestershire, UK. Research & Report
Client looking to trace several generations of his maternal line. The relevant familes were identified in London and Norfolk. Report included baptism, marriage and census records. Occupations of ancestors included drivers of horse-drawn Hansom Cabs.

November 2009. Client based Australia. Research & Report
Client looking to trace her English ancestors from the Essex area in England. Several generations were traced and records/information about occupations provided.

November 2009. Client based Illinois, USA. Research & Report
Client requesting birth record look up and birth certificate plus any census information about her great grandmother who was born in London, England. Birth certificate was obtained as well as the marriage certificate of her parents. Census information was provided showing her great grandmother's parents, siblings and grandparents, their locations and their occupations where relevant. A number were of ancestors were shown to be seamstresses.

November 2009. Client based Surrey, UK. Research & Report
A Christmas gift for a friend of the client. Ancestors traced back to the mid 1700s.

December 2009. Client based London, UK. Research & Report
Client looking to trace his paternal ancestors.

December 2009. Client based Kent, UK. Research, Report & Family Tree
Client looking for help in tracing both paternal and maternal ancestors. He had experienced particular difficulty with the paternal line and it was discovered that the spelling of the surname had been changed in the mid 1850s. Once this had been established, several generations further back were located.

February 2010. Client based Cannes, France. Research, Report & Family Tree
Client looking to learn about her maternal ancestors. Research showed that her grandfather had entered the army as a rating and worked his way up to a Major. Regiment/medal records were located and provided as well as regiment information on involvement in World War 1 Battles of the Western Front in France/Belgium in 1914. After leaving the army in the early 1920s, her grandfather had emigrated with his family to New Zealand. The address + picture of the house they moved to in New Zealand were located and provided in the report. Other ancestral discoveries included mariners and coastguards based in Kent and on the Isle of Wight.

March 2010. Client based Berkshire, UK. Research, Family History Books & Family Trees
Client requiring separate family history books and family trees for paternal and maternal ancestral lines. Maternal line traced back to 1700s. Paternal line (Italy) ongoing. Photos of ancestors, information on birthplaces and occupations included.

May 2010. Client based Hampshire, UK. Research & Report
Extension of research carried out for client in September 2009.

May 2010. Clients based Staffordshire, UK. Research & Family History Books
A Staffordshire based couple commissioned a family history book each. One was a former jockey and information about the races he won was included. Also information about occupations of other family members and ancestors. The Books included ancestral lines traced back as far as records were available, in one case, back to the 1500s.

June 2010. Client based Hampshire. UK. Research & Family History Book
Client requiring research and production of a family history book. Research showed that a number of ancestors had been farmers of large farms. Maps, photos and information about the locations were included as well as information on birthplaces and occupations of other ancestors.

July 2010. Client based USA. Research & Report
Client, making a visit to the UK, seeking an updated photo and address of an ancestral home in England. An         old photo was provided by the client with a 1930s address. A search showed that the address provided did not exist. Through the relevant record office and searches of historical records, an approximate location was identified. Based on the approximate location, aerial photos were compared with the old photo provided by the client and the property located. It was discovered through land records that the large property had been divided into 3 homes and the addresses of the homes were provided to the client along with the aerial photo and a map.

August 2010. Client based Ohio, USA.
Client seeking information on his Cornish great grandfather having hit a brick wall in his own research. His great grandfather was identified and civil records, census records and other information was provided spanning several generations.

August 2010. Client based Ireland. Research & Report
Client seeking information on his grandmother having being unable to locate any civil records.
Birth, marriage, death records were located and additional information was provided on her parents/grandparents.

September 2010. Client based USA. Research & Report
Client seeking to trace the families of her grandparents including their parents, brothers and sisters. Report included birth, marriage and census records as well as information about birthplaces.

October 2010. Client based Australia. Research & Report
Client seeking birthdate/birthplace/parentage/family information and reasons for one of his ancestors emigrating from England to Australia. Ancestral information going back several generations was provided. It was also discovered that the ancestor had left for Australia with his family at the beginning of the gold rush in the year that some 360000 immigrants arrived in Australia seeking their fortune. En route their boat was shipwrecked but all passengers were rescued and safely completed their journey. Examination of birth records in Victoria showed that descendants were born in towns that were built in gold mining areas during the gold rush.

October 2010. Client based North Carolina, USA. Research & Report
Client seeking to trace her mother's ancestors - a number who were discovered to have been Sussex and London based. Others were found to be Sephardic Jews who had been part of the Jewish community in Spain in the fifteenth century and whose descendants had settled in Gibraltar, Tunisia, the Netherlands and subsequently in England.

November 2010. Client based Surrey, UK. Research & Report
Client seeking to discover information about the origins of her grandfather who never spoke about his family background. Information about the day to day living that he would have experienced in a Stalag Prisoner of War Camp in Poland was also provided.

November 2010. Client based London, UK. Research & Report
Client seeking to discover any maternal line living relatives in the UK. Tracing back from information provided about the client's mother and grandparents and then forwards, a descendant of her grandmother's brother was located providing the client with new-found family.

November 2010. Client based Solihull, UK. Research & Report
Client seeking to locate a cousin known to be living in British Columbia, Canada. A press cutting passed down by the client's parents which was about a sporting event in which the cousin took part in the 1970s suggested a possible region in British Columbia. Cousin located with address and phone number and contacted same day.

November/December 2010. Client based Essex, UK. Research & Family History Book
Comissioned as a Christmas gift for the client's mother. Paternal ancestors included French Huguenots one of whom managed to escape from a French chateau where he had been imprisoned in the 1690s before making his way to England. Client was so thrilled with the book that she has now comissioned research on her mother's maternal line.

January/February 2011. Client based Essex, UK. Research & Family History Book.
Follow up to work comissioned in November 2010. Family History Book on client's mother's maternal line.

March/April 2011.   Client based in Lancashire, UK. Research & Family History Book.
Comissioned as a 60th birthday gift for the client's mother. Paternal and maternal lines traced back to 1500s/1600s.

May/June 2011. Client based Pennsylvania, USA. Research & Report.
Client seeking to establish connections with Charles Dickens - a reported relation of his great great grandmother.

June/July/Aug 2011.   Client based Cannes, France. Research & Family History Book.
After having her maternal grandfather's line traced in 2010, the client asked to have her maternal grandmother's line traced back to the 1700s. Research showed branch lines that included illustrious ancestors and the client opted to extend the research which led back to William the Conqueror, as well as other Norman knights, and beyond to Norse viking Rollo, Duke of Normandy (c846-931), founder of the Viking principality which became known as Normandy. Ancestors also included Baron Hugh de Buron of Horestan Castle, Derbyshire, (c1120) also ancestor of Lord Byron; Ranulf de Meschin de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester (c1099); Robert de Caen, Earl of Gloucester (c1093); Henry I of England (1069).

September 2011. Client based Marbella, Spain. Research and Report.
American-born client seeking information about his ancestors beyond his paternal grandfather who had been a Carpenter in Boston, Massachusetts. Family stories, passed down over the generations, had placed his paternal line ancestors as originating from Edinburgh, Scotland. Research showed that his ancestors had, in fact, originated from South Uist, an island of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. His fifth great grandfather had fled South Uist with his family, relatives and friends in 1772 following persecution for their Catholic beliefs and ever increasing rents demanded by their unscrupulous landlord. The ten families from South Uist and others from neighbouring islands sailed aboard the ship Alexander - landing at Port Edward Island - located just off the east coast of Canada where they formed the first catholic settlement of the island. The client had no idea his ancestors had originally settled in Port Edward - believing they had travelled directly from Scotland to America - and is now planning a family trip .

October/November 2011.   Client based Surrey. Research & Family History Book.
Commissioned as 50th birthday present for client's husband. Research showed that paternal line ancestors were barge builders, publicans and taxidermists who were based by the River Thames in Surrey - all completely unknown to the client's husband who had very little knowledge of his ancestors beyond his parents.

November/December 2011.   Client based Berkshire. Research & Family History Book.
Commissioned as a Christmas gift for the client's brother. Research led to London based ancestors - one of whom was descended from reknowned Italian musicians and musical instrument makers who had played for the Doge of Venice and later came to England to play in the courts of King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I of by whom they were highly regarded.

Dec 2011/Jan 2012.   Client based Northern Ireland. Research & Family History Book.
Commissioned as a 70th birthday gift. Paternal and maternal lines traced back showed that paternal line ancestors included wealthy Irish landowners and policemen and that most maternal line ancestors were Crofters in the Scottish Highlands.

Feb/May 2012.   Client based Berkshire. Research & Family History Book.
Client seeking research on ancestral lines as well as complete incorporation of family documents and photos into a family history book to be preserved for future generations. Client learned from the research that his family name had, in fact, come from the man his great great grandmother had married, after his great grandfather was born, and not from his actual great great grandfather who had had a relationship with his great grandmother when they were young adults. They never married. This came as a complete surprise to the client who had always been led to believe that the man his great great grandmother had married was his ancestor. He learned that his actual paternal line ancestors had been successful farmers of a large farm in Buckinghamshire.

June 2012. Ongoing Projects.

For further information about our range of services, please telephone 0118 9696612 or email enquiries@tracingyourancestors.com.

Jane... brilliant thank you. I would like to continue using your services if possible and you are agreeable? I love doing the research myself (although I am inexperienced) but we have 2 small children and the time I am spending on the computer is starting to get me in trouble!...
Thanks
Chris, UK

Great report, very professional, but fun to chat to. A big thankyou from
Jo, Australia

Great Information, and thorough. Pleasure to work with. If I get stuck I'll be coming back to you, Thanks!
Shayne, Australia

Absolutly fantastic, was so impressed with the report I received and the findings within, the communication was excellent via e-mail and the work was completed quickly and put together in a very thoughtful and sensitive manner, which was very much appreciated. We will definitely be looking to this expert again for any further help.
Charlotte, UK

Jane went over and beyond my expectations! She was able to give me more information than I ever thought about a new family branch in England and at a very reasonable price. Jane was passionate about helping me look for my ancestors and I recommend her without hesitation. She not only looked up the records I was looking for, but interpreted them.
Janet, USA

My expert truly exceeded my expectation. Very professional and very well done.
John, USA

Thank you again Jane for your help the information you supplied has been very interesting and a great help for my research for my family tree. I will certainly contact you in the further for help researching my ancestors. Thanks,
Mel x, USA

Thank You for everything the maps and detailed information were fantastic. In fact, I would like to hire you to find out additional information regarding this location. Thank you again for your expertise.
Regards,
Kimberly, USA

Jane thankyou again. You certainly did a great job. I have other English relatives and will let you know when I'm ready to track them down. You have surpassed my wildest dreams. You have most certainly outdone your self. Thankyou ever so much.
John, Australia

Hey Jane,
Everything looks Great!
Very Happy with your work!
Thanks a lot~
Jay, USA

Thank you so much Jane. You have been so thorough. Way beyond the original contract. Again thank you for your great efforts!
Regards,
David, Australia

Can't believe, from just a newsaper cutting passed down by my parents, how quickly you managed to locate a cousin of mine in Canada and provide me with his address and phone number. I talked to him last night - it was fantastic. Canada here I come!
Hilary, UK

To say that I am so excited is an understatement. You have done a brilliant job and in such a short space of time.
Many, many thanks.
Christine, UK

I wanted to let you know that the book has arrived safely today and I am so grateful for all your hard work. I know my Mum will love the book - it will be a very treasured item. The book is full of interesting information and really brings our family history to life thank you so much. In the New Year if you would be able to take on a new project for me I know my Mum would now like to find out about her mothers family so perhaps you could let me know so we can arrange it. Would also like to find out about my Dads family history.

Once again THANK YOU so much. Everything you have done is so very much appreciated.
Take care,
Kind Regards,
Kim, UK

I just returned from a two week trip to England where i met up with several newly found relatives, including my mother's sister. To say the least we had so much fun. We went on family discovery field trips and all types of adventures to find our family tree members. I cannot thank you enough for all your work and findings. Everyone was so impressed and enchanted with your discoveries. I am forever grateful to you for finding my family!!
J.J., USA

You have gone not just the extra mile, but an extra 100 miles. I am so grateful and can’t wait to give the book to my brother!
Lisa, UK

I love what you have done and my husband will be thrilled. I am already planning a trip to the family pub!
Many thanks,
Jen, UK