About Me
Hello, my name is Garnet Marshall. I ordered my first microfilm reel of a census at the local LDS Family History Library in 1985, and ended up being a volunteer librarian there for 12 years, advising patrons on their genealogical research.
I have a B. A. in English, German and History, and have also studied librarianship at university. After obtaining my law degree in New Zealand, I worked as a solicitor before getting married, and then followed my husband around the world. I have researched our family trees back to the late 1500s and keep finding new branches and interesting stories. I have the analytical skills and experience to help you find your ancestors, and offer a highly professional service.
I would be very happy to help you find your past. In order to prove your descent, I will rely on original sources, as well as reputable secondary sources, and indexes and transcriptions. Where necessary to prove descent, I will obtain original birth and marriage certificates on your behalf, and provide digital photographs of any parish registers, which have been consulted.
Please be assured that any information that you send me will be handled in the strictest confidence, and all research results will only be sent to you, unless you request otherwise.
Over the years, I have given pleasure to many people around the world by tracing their ancestors, now let me help you!
FAQ
Are all birth and marriage certificates needed?
Yes and no, depending on your family names and circumstances! Sometimes you can prove descent with no certificates, particularly if the surname is rare, and people stayed in one place for generations. However, our ancestors were more mobile than we might think, and there is a great risk that the surname is shared by many others. You can easily have two Jasper Clutterbucks living at the same time, in the same place, of the same age. The certificates provide more information than the censuses alone.
What is the best deal for finding my ancestors living after 1800?
It is difficult to say whether an hourly charge is better than the packages, as some branches turn out to be very time consuming. As to whether to trace one line or everyone, that is up to you. I had a case once where I was just tracing the male line, and although the surname was rare, I came to a dead end. I then embarked on a complete ancestry, and thereupon all problems were solved: the wife's mother's maiden name was the same surname as her son-in-law. They were obviously related and I knew where the mother had come from, and was so able to grow the tree.
What will I find out?
There may be surprises, good or bad. If you live in Australia, it probably won't upset you to learn that your ancestor was a convict. But many people were illegitimate, and parents married after the child was born. Sometimes your ancestor spent time in the workhouse. For a woman, the death of her husband could be awful, in many ways, and you see widows who have no choice but become washerwomen. Other ancestors did well for themselves are lived prosperously, leaving watches and silver spoons in their wills.
How far back can my ancestors be traced?
Realistically, you may get some branches going back about 400 years. If you are related to a noble family, then, of course, you may be able to go back to the Norman Conquest. With most English, Scottish or Welsh families it is possible to go back in time to around 1800. There is a lot of detailed information on Great Britain's 19th century inhabitants, so there is a good chance of finding all your ancestors living during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837 - 1901). To go back further, parish registers have to be consulted.
A few Parish Registers survive from the mid 1500s, and If you are very lucky, an ancestor might be found that far back. The older ones vary in quality: from almost completely black pages where the ink has run, to perfectly preserved pages with beautifully legible handwriting. Some parish registers have been extracted and their information appears online. This is helpful for finding clues about your ancestors, but the original parish register should be consulted for the complete christening or marriage entry, and for verification. Many can be viewed on microfilm. For genealogists, parish registers are very valuable, even after the introduction of Civil Registration of Births Deaths and Marriages in 1837: up to one-third of early births were not registered, and so it might possible to find your ancestor's christening instead of his birth. If your ancestors lived for generations in one place and attended to same church, it is sometimes cheaper to look at the parish register than purchase various certificates.
What information is available about my ancestors?
As a general rule, the more recent the ancestor, the more information there is. For people living in the mid 1800s, you can usually find out the dates of birth, names of parents and siblings, occupation, addresses, date of marriage, and death, and whether they were literate. The parish registers record less information the older they are, to the point where you find such helpful entries as "Mr Smith had a son christened this year"!
Can you give me a quote?
As every family is different, it is difficult to predict how long research will take. Unfortunately, this is the nature of genealogical research. I prefer to undertake research in stages. It is best to agree on a set amount in advance, and once that limit has been reached, the research can be evaluated to see what further steps might be taken. At the beginning of every project, I will make sure that there are enough records, but if we unexpectedly come to a dead end, then I will gladly refund a portion of the fee. You will only be charged for my actual time spent.
How long does genealogical research take?
For ancestors living after 1800, a complete tree can take a few months, but most often the research can be completed a lot earlier, sometimes, even in a week. Before that, it really depends on how often they moved, and how many parish registers need to be consulted. It also depends on the surnames: A common surname can be challenging, and unusual surname is often easier - until you come across multiple spellings! I view genealogical research as a work in progress. Even after looking at censuses and certificates and parish registers, there is always something new that crops up: One of my ancestors was a mariner who, in his later years, was working as a porter for a merchant's office in London - just an old salt with a less demanding job at the end of his working life. I knew that for 20 years, and then I was amazed to discover that he worked for Rothschilds, and that one of his sons, one of his grandsons, and one of his great-grandsons all became bankers there!
What if I order a research package and it is not possible to trace my ancestors back 5 generations?
Should this rare event happen, I will offer to trace another line, or give you a pro-rata refund.
What is your privacy policy?
All information about your family submitted by you, and discovered by me, will not be sent to anyone other than you.
You live in Australia - How can you find my English ancestors if you are not living in England?
No worries mate, as they say here. I have done all of my research over the last 35 years without setting foot in England, as a huge amount of information is available on the internet and from the Family History Libraries. You are getting the benefit of my expertise and experience, and I look forward to helping you.
Do you undertake research in other countries other than the United Kingdom?
Yes, in addition to Australia, New Zealand, I am also experienced in German genealogy. My mother was German. | |
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