Genealogy Chat

Thank you to all of the people who took the time to reply to my query. Food for thought !!! Please have a very pleasant New Year to you all. Chris O'Hara

Chris, You aren't the first to bring this subject up. One question I have thought is this...why would anyone pay someone to research for them when there are so many kind hearted souls both on this site and others who are willing to do a brilliant job at helping others...for free? From what I've read of 'professional' researchers, they don't come across too brilliantly. But that is just my humble opinion! Mandy

There is an example on the boards at the moment where a chap claims to have paid a 'professional' the frightening sum of £600, and from what one can deduce, has got a load of rubbish in return for his outlay. So, anyone who uses these boards is likely to be very wary of 'professionals'........... Reg

Well - there ARE people who make a living out of doing research for people, so it IS possible that you could do it. However, because there is now so much information on the internet (although I agree it's not so easy with Irish ancestry) and so many people are willing to do look-ups for free (lots of people on here for instance), I'm not sure whether you could make a full time job out of it. Personally, I just like helping out when I can and would hate to feel it was just a job rather than a very interesting hobby, but that's just my opinion, and I'm sure there will be lots of people who think differently. Good luck if you decide to go for it. Kath. x

Reg....that was the example I had in mind too!

I'D LOVE TO I could spend all day everyday doing what i love Jess

The fact that your workmates keep you busy doing lookups for free doesn't, of itself, suggest that they would be just as happy to pay you to do it. What would you have to charge to cover your costs and provide the equivalent remuneration of even a modest job, and could you find that many paying customers? The silly bugger who paid £600 (silly if he got rubbish, not for paying £600) would represent about three or four days work on average earnings. How much could YOU research in that time, and would you consider the results value for money? I have spent about 2000 hours of my own time so far, and have not actually counted the cost of certificates/subscriptions/travelling expenses. I couldn't imagine paying anyone to replicate even 10% of my research, and I've hardly scratched the surface of my lot yet.

Clive- a 'silly bugger' as you elloquently put it, would not have parted with £600 knowing that the research was going to be poor. You have no idea what he actually got for that £600, and if it were me, i'd very much resent you calling me a 'silly bugger' without knowing the facts. 'Silly' is often only acknowledged with the benefit of hindsight.

I dont think it would pay well for a main job but maybe a side one? Maybe for someone semi retired or retired. I'm sure there are some people out there who would pay money for it, epecially if you could lookup things for them at are not available on the internet. I'd love to go into something familyhistory/archivist. There are a couple of graduate degrees that i might look into in my final year or before because for some you need some work experience for. I'd love to work in the Edinburgh GRO, they could give me the supervisor job in the Doom and i'd be quite content. Helping customers with problems while looking up stuff in my free time on the computer. I mean i dont have a clue what i want to do (gaining Politics degree at the moment and no! i'm not going into politics) but i'd rather be doing something i enjoy than not.

Jess, as it wasn't you, it's a bit rich taking vicarious umbrage. But thank you for thinking me elloquent.

Clive yes i do know what vicarious means,and dont really see as it is appropriate. i have done more than anyone else to help this guy make the best of what he did recieve for that £600 than the researcher himself did (vicarious means ''experienced as a result of watching, listening to or reading about the activities of other people, rather than by doing the activities yourself:'') I take umbridge at anyone calling anyone else a silly bugger without the full facts

I am not sure of the rules, but wouldn't Ancestry be rather put out if you used their site for commercial gain (or any other site, for that matter). Or wouldn't they care, as long as you paid? I know that LDS History Centres have a strict policy of not allowing their information to be used for commercial gain by professional researchers - I was present when one such woman was kicked out! On the other hand, as you have a 'specialist subject' as it were, in Irish genealogy, then I would imagine it would be possible to make at least a part-time wage, if not a full-time one, depending on how good you are at it. I too have seen some so-called professional research which has made me weep. And the person paying for it never questions a word of it, no matter how bizarre it appears - quote Gildert de Holden b abt 1301, died abt 1388, followed by five or six unknown generations, William Holden1501. (And the information on those 'five or six unknown generations' is in the Records Office!) OC

Jess, I'm not going to bicker with you. You take all the umbrage you like, and I wish you well as you move on to pastures new. OC, I was suprised to see that Ancestry T&C do licence their material for private AND professional ancestry research. Different rules might apply to Crown copyright in some images, but I suspect that if the copyright is acknowledged, it is not infringed.

I paid £12.50 for an Irish research on familyulster.. Felt it was worth it although they didn`t find my greatgrandmother. Ros

i agree with old crone, there are people on here that have had ancestry a few months, and then do look ups on the census from there only, and think thats the be all and end all of research, and most just copy and paste the ancestry result on here, which is totally illegal, try doing that on roots chat and you will be deleated straight away, i have spent days at the records office looking at parish records, and at £20 an hour i would not have paid anybody to do that, this site gives a distorted look at genealogy, like i say all those replies with ' view record ' are copyed from another website, which is illegal. you should transcribe the data, into a way that shows the result, but has not been copyed and pasted, Reggie the biggest culprit

Gary As this Site ALLOWS copy and paste, then why should people bother to do anything else? As you so rightly point out, other sites do not allow this and clearly state that fact. GR isn't bothered what you do and has no guidelines on this matter. And it is not fair to single out Reggie - EVERYBODY does it on this Site. OC.

OC I agree with you. Well said.

Point Taken old crone, reggie is just one of many that just copy and paste an whole list of data, that has no meaning and with all those 'view record' included must look confusing, when i did do look ups on here, i always took the time to list the people, from head downwards, and list age place of birth ocupation, etc, address, piece no etc, but these quick replies with a result full of no use data, to me seems slack and unthought out, take a few seconds and make the result look intersting, by puting the data in some sort of order.

Gary - in doing that Reg is doing his best , as are others. I tend ( or maybe should now say tended cos I wont do many more ) to remove the superflous info when i though it would confuse particually new enquirers, when ancestry added parents names, as part of an idndividual record, 'greensticks' got completely confused!! interested in joining the new place? it good for serious researchers! Jess

i do not think i would be welcome on the 'other side' i am too out spoken for delicate souls,as i see it this site is just full of chit chatters, going as i do to local studies librarys on a weekly bases, i offten canves opinion on this site, and get the impression that all serious researches think it is bougus, and not used by any, but arm chair researches.