If you have clicked on to this page, then you must be interested in Medieval genealogy too! As I say on my About Me page, a big passion of mine is Medieval genealogy. If you are wanting to trace your family further back and into the Medieval period, then you have come to the right place. Medieval genealogical research is something I can help you with.
How does it work?
Like my standard family tree and genealogical work, I offer a bespoke service and tailor the work to your specific requests and needs. I still offer a free initial assessment, which I try to perform within 48 hours of your initial request. Sometimes though, it may take a little longer depending on:
- how complex the research request might be
or
- how much previous research needs to be assessed.
I still would ask any enquiry to include the following details where possible:
- What it is that you would like to be researched?
- Any information that you have about those being researched (including previous research performed).
- Any other information such as whether you have a restricted budget, or would like me to look for any specific records in the final research.
The next steps are also the same as my general family history research. When the initial assessment is complete, I will contact you with an estimate of how long the research will take and the cost of the research. You will also receive a Research Plan which sets out the research aims and an outline of how those aims may be achieved. Any extra costs such as travel (if research is needed at The National Archives in London), or archive fees will also be stated. These will be added to the final price estimate.
When the research has been agreed, the finished product will include a written report and any appropriate family trees. For Medieval genealogy and family history research, this very much depends on whether information is found. This is usually sent in a PDF format via email. If you wish to receive a paper copy, then extra charges will apply to compensate for printing and postage- please do indicate whether this is required in any initial communication. Please see my Family Tree Research page for details concerning payment and the use of PayPal.
What information can you find?
If you have reached this point in your family history, then you have probably exhausted sources from the 19th, 18th, 17th centuries and possibly the 16th century too. You might need some advice about where to look next or you might want me to conduct the next part of the search for you.
It is important to be aware that Medieval genealogy is not always as straightforward as research that takes place in earlier centuries. Most of us are now used to using birth, marriage, death and census records- they are quite easy to access and can contain quite a lot of information to work with. However, Medieval records are different. This sort of research takes place before births, marriages and deaths were recorded and a long time before the census was even considered! That means that different records need to be considered, which can often take more time to read and understand. This is because records can sometimes contain less information, so more records need to be used in order to piece together a family and more evidence is needed to be able to build a family tree. Unfortunately, in some cases, the records and information sadly do not exist any longer. There is no guarantee that the answer to your query can be found, but I always see Medieval research as a voyage of discovery- you never know what you might find until you look!
What else do I need to know?
A great deal of records that can be used for Medieval family history research still have not been digitised! There are some calendars of records that have been and there are some projects that are working on digitising certain record sets. But overall, research in archives looking at physical documents will be necessary! Due to this, I focus my Medieval genealogical research on ancestors located in Somerset, Dorset and Devon, although I can travel to The National Archives in London as well.
Not all of our ancestors will be found in Medieval records, but that doesn’t mean that none will be. I was recently able to help a client travel back through the generations to 1422! Often, it is our wealthier ancestors that we might be looking for but it can be possible to locate those a little further down the scale. As I said above, it really does depend on what records and what information has survived. So, I can help you to look for both wealthy and less wealthy ancestors- just remember that success is not quite as guaranteed as for 19th century research. That said, I look forward to going on this journey of exploration with you! Please contact me to discuss your needs.
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