Professional Research Fees

[KathyM]

What do you want to know ?  Maybe some-one here can help you.

[Jackienock]

Thank you for the offer. I rather doubt if anyone can help without going to Kew though.

It concerns a soldier who was discharged from the Army in 1845 due to ill health.

I know that he received a pension,

Item details: WO 97/558/89
 SAMUEL TIMMINS Born SHADDSLEY, Worcestershire Served in 39th Foot Regiment Discharged aged 40

1822-1845

That should be spelt Chaddesley Corbett, nr Kidderminster

All I required to know was WHERE the pension was paid to and when did it cease

In other words where did he live after discharge and when did he die.

I already have his full service history and even a letter written by him in 1837 from Madras but nothing after his final discharge.

Oh! Another point, he does not appear on the 1851 Census as far as I can discover, so the chances are that he may have died between 1845 and 1851. There are a number of Samuel Timmins appearing during that period in the deaths, so that it is difficult to check them all. What's more they all seem to be in the West Midlands area.

[Ruth]

It's a while since I looked at a WO 97 record, but as I recall it mentions the place where the discharge to pension happened and possibly the area in which the pension was paid, but it doesn't give a subsequent address for the pensioner and certainly doesn't indicate when he died.  The researcher would probably have to consult WO 120 as well to find out further information and possibly other sources - together with typing up the findings I would have thought it could take 1-2 hours, not including travelling time to Kew.

On the subject of reasonable rates for research, if you take for example the person willing to charge £5 an hour, they would only earn £10,400 per year - barely a living wage - and that would depend upon them finding 40 hours of fee-paid work a week (highly unlikely) and taking no holidays or sick leave.  And still having to pay a pension fund and the tax man.  I don't think we should be surprised when people charge significantly more for an hourly rate than that.  I do however agree that costs should be fully agreed before a professional researcher undertakes work.

[D ap D]

I'd also like to add my two pennorth.

If you have had a quote for a significant amount (say, over 50 GBP) then I would also ask for more details of exactly what is entailed in the search, where will be searched and how the results will be presented.

I have a lot of dealings with contracts at work and I know how much effort and hassle it can be if things are only agreed verbally. Its amazing how opinions can differ in the space of a couple of weeks.

You might get a funny look or a daft comment, but if the offer is serious, then the researcher won't mind putting together an approximate scope of what he/she will do. It is however entirely up to him HOW he/she will do it and how long he/she needs to do it.

I also run my own translation business, aside of my main job. Every single job I am asked to do, before I start, I send a short note confirming my rates, the time I expect to need, the format of the translation and a final estimate, with the
note that the final cost can be plus or minus 10% of my estimate, to include VAT. I also confirm the date of delivery.

Doesn't take 2 minutes, as I have the pro forma saved in Word. It saves a hell of a lot of hassle when I send my invoice though.

To put it in other terms, you wouldn't buy a PC without knowing exactly what it can do?!?

[Jackienock]

Oh dear.

Sounds as if I have been 'shot down' a bit at my complaint about search fees.

Point is as I stated earlier, my reason for finding out the information was more out of curiosity than necessity and as a pensioner on even less than £10,000 a year, £63 is an awful lot of money just to satisfy my curiosity.

Samuel Timmins is my 2nd Great Grand Uncle, so although I have first hand knowledge of his existence, ie a letter, it isn't entirely necessary to know of his demise.

Thank you for all your replies

Robert

[teddybear1843]

I do research in Norfolk at £7.50 per hour while I am in the Record Office or wherever and I do photos etc.  No travel charges etc.

I think that I offer a reasonable service for a reasonable fee and as I only do it as a paid hobby I don't have to make a living from it.

I would love to be able to but it is not very likely is it?

Teddy

[Kimi]

This is an interesting subject.  There are lots of researchers out there and it's difficult to find the right one.  I was very lucky when I found mine.  She charged £5 per hour plus photocopies which were only about 10p.  She provided me with regular reports which I still refer to on occassion.  I found her very helpful and fair and it was clear to me that she actually enjoyed what she was doing.  She specialised in Maritime research, which was handy as one of my ancestors was a Mariner.  She gave me info which I couldn't possibly have got myself as I no longer live in London.  And although she ended up doing quite a lot of work for me, I think it was money well spent.

Kimi

[tabitha]

Just thought I'd add my bit too!

I have discovered a local history society in an area that I research. They are a registered charity and some of their volunteers are retired professional genealogists. They will research in their area (with full reports & copy documents) for a reasonable donation to their charity to keep them up and running. They publish a price list for copy documents & photos and give written estimates of time required so a suitable fee can be agreed prior to them starting work.

It's always worth shopping around!

Claire