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Depending on which search option you choose, we can identify your maternal or paternal
ancestors - or both - tracing many of them back to the late eighteenth century. We can find
when and where they were born, what they did for a living, who they married, what religion
they were, how many children they had, what kind of houses they lived in, who their
neighbours were and of course at what age and how they died.
That ought to give you food for thought!
For special searches, we can look up churchyard inscriptions, family wills
and find out more about the parishes in which your ancestors lived. If you have
a specific request - just ask us!
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We don't need much information to start researching your family: but it
does need to be concrete information: and the more recent the better! If you, your mother
and your grandmother were all born in Scotland then we prefer to begin our search
with your details rather than your Grannie's. (If this sounds surprising, it's
because it helps us to get a "feel" for your family to work through as many generations
as possible.)
We need the full name of a person born, or married or known to have died in
Scotland. We need to know the date of that birth, marriage or death and
preferably the place.
If your ancestor has a common name - that is - a name common in Scotland! - or if you
only know his birthplace as "Glasgow" (Scotland's biggest city), then add as many
supporting details as possible: family christian names, mother's birthplace, family
religion, names of siblings. These details can all help, but nothing is as good as
unambiguous facts about one specific event.
Robert Andrew Ewart, born in Athelstaneford, 5th August 1922. That's all
we need to know!
But if you're not sure, just ask us
for our advice. Remember - there's no obligation.
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Scottish Forebears have access to all the public records, held here in Edinburgh.
These include: centuries of records kept by local parish
ministers; the official Birth, Death and Marriage records, which were first taken
in 1855; all census records over 100 years old (more recent census records are kept secret);
registers of Wills and property records; records of graveyard inscriptions; local street
guides and gazetteers... the list goes on.
We Scots are fortunate - we're a small country with generations of our hatching,
matching and despatching meticulously recorded, making life so much more rewarding
for genealogists.
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Our prices are based on how long we are likely to spend on researching your family:
hence a detailed search costs more than a short search. Costs (quoted in pounds sterling)
range from £25.00 for our Spot Search to £295.00 for our Special
Search.
Have a look at our
services
page for more details.
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For most of the year, we can carry out a normal search in a week or so, but if
you need the work done for a special date - a birthday perhaps? - let us know and
we'll schedule your search accordingly. We aim to please!
We'll always try to accommodate your requirements, but accurate, quality work can
never be and will never be rushed.
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You will receive a fully detailed report on your family history.
We include full reference numbers for each of the birth, death, marriage or
census records we find, in case you might want to order copies later. We also
include a family tree chart, to enable you to visualise the relationships
between all your ancestors.
Depending on which service you have ordered, we can include copies of
certificates or census records.
have a look at our
services page for more details.
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Yes we can - sometimes.
We've had a lot of success tracing living Scottish relatives, but lets be honest,
it can be trickier than tracing dead ones. We're family researchers, not private
detectives: we only use publicly available records and we don't attempt to trace people
who obviously don't want to be found.
The best thing is to contact us
and discuss with us what you need.
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We don't have set prices for tracing living relatives as each of the cases
we have had has been so different. Usually, we prefer to quote by the hour.
Contact us for a quotation at
no obligation to you.
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Of course you can!
You can also pick up a pair of scissors and cut your own hair, or get a
pack of spanners and fix your own car. Lots of people can and do!
But if you don't have the time, or like us,
you prefer to employ a skilled hairdresser and a reliable mechanic
(names available on request) - then get us to do the dirty work for you. We're pretty
good at it!
Then you can use your precious time visiting the farms, streets, clachans or
castles where your ancestors grew up and leave sunny afternoons spent in
Edinburgh's dusty old archives to us!
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The Scottish Forebears research team is led by Vicky Stephenson and Morna Findlay.
Vicky became fascinated by genealogy during the years she spent working in medical
research. She learned her formidable skills by tracing families with interesting hereditary
diseases, monitoring patterns of deaths near infamous chemical factories
(we hope this isn't putting you off!) and investigating different life expectancies for
varying groups of Scots over the centuries and so on... Quite an apprenticeship!
Morna's family own an ancient book of sermons which has been passed down from son to
son (and never to daughter) for twelve generations. Resentment at this neanderthal
tradition (Morna is the eldest of her family) inspired her rebellious teenage interest in
her female ancestors. So far, Morna's son Jim is the only male
grandchild in the family but her brothers are working on this "difficulty".
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You can email us right
now!, and we'll get back to you as soon as we possibly can. Or take a look at our
contact telephone numbers
and phone us. We ask only that you remember we're in Scotland and try not to phone
in the middle of our night - we don't guarantee to answer the phone then!
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