Hi. If you’re reading this you must be interested a little in my services. I have been studying Family History for many years and have helped many families find out about their ancestors. I find people are interested in two aspects.

First is the bare genealogy level. This is often quite simple (although not always). It’s relatively easy to find names and dates – the only question is time and energy in looking for them. Of course the scarcity of the name one is researching is a big factor. In my family tree most names are rare, and one name is unique. All people called Gunschmann or Gunsman are related to me! However when looking for “Smith” or “Jones”, its not as easy and can be a lot more time consuming. However its not impossible, especially if you happen to have a rare first name.

The second level to study is the stories about the name. These can come from military records, accessing first World War medal rolls for example, from references in newspapers or from obituaries, or just from census information which shows the profession of the person concerned. I find this most fascinating and have spent MANY hours in my own tree looking for the people behind the names. In a lot of cases I have identified the character of the person. This has become one of my specialities – finding information about people beyond the bare date details. And this is one thing people often omit. in a race to get the tree back to 1800, 1700 or before, the stories are often missed.

I am based in Amsterdam and do most of my work through the Internet. I have a great number of sites which I subscribe to and know the advantages and limitations of many sites. However sometimes a personal visit to an archive is needed and I work with specialists who can undertake this work in London or other towns when this is needed. All the organisation comes through  me so you do not have to worry about picking overpriced or unreliable contacts. I have tried and tested my helpers and know they are good people.

My main skills are persistence and not letting something go. For example, when looking for my own great grandfather in the 1901 census, I found him listed as “Scoger” and not “Singer”. This lead to a lot of searching, but eventually the right entries were found and so I could move on. The surname “Hilcken” can be spelled “Hilken”, “Hilkin”, Hiskin”, and even in one case just listed by the ancestors first name with no surname. Finally on one census I found the family with the name “Herman the German”. But I have found them all.

I have access to all websites and message boards. If in my research I find that it would be helpful to post questions about your family. I would always ask you first rather than make any information public without your consent. In these days and times one can not be too careful.

If you want to know anything please ask. Simply use the contact form.

I hope I can help you.

Guy