· If you can let me have as much detail as you have about your ancestor or family, which is relevant to the line
of enquiry. It is helpful to have all details be they of the factual, legend, or even mythological sort.
· If you have carried out research already can you let me know what you have found, even if the results seem negative.
Each may locate a line of enquiry.
· I assume that all enquiries are purely in connection with simple family interests and for domestic use.
If there is any legal nature to work please let me know. This may give me an extra legal liability, which I need to know
about.
· Your work is treated with confidence, but if there is a special confidential nature please let me know and I will
accommodate you.
· I will carry out your instructions as soon as I am able. If there is any urgency to your work though please let me know.
· If you are planning a visit to the battlefields, please plan well ahead. The information I supply you with will need reading
and may produce more enquires for you. I may need to seek out appropriate books, to cover a particular aspect or area. I aim to
equip you to make the most of your time on the ground, by pre planning.
· Please will you let me know how you wish me to communicate with you? I have found that E-mail is often the most
convenient for speed and to cope with time differences.
Some honest points about my research.
· One caveat I must give you is that my experience has been that some lines of enquiry lead to dead ends.
Predicted or expected records can be found to have been destroyed. Bureaucratic mistakes, errors in record keeping,
plain spelling mistakes, or sheer mysteries snag trails. In the extreme these effects can even, sadly, make our ancestors
disappear.
· This can be frustrating, but in a sense and from a positive point of view, may at least settle queries and
possibilities on the often, winding road of genealogical discovery.
· I will report the facts to you as I have found them.