A: Professional researchers will get results more quickly because they know what records to look at and where to find them. They will possess the skills and experience to read old records that may be faded, stained or damaged. The handwriting of old documents, from the 19th century backwards, can be difficult. In the 17th century and earlier, considerable skill and experience is necessary to decipher what is written.

Q: How long does it take?

A: Experienced researchers will be able to combine speed with accuracy, but it has to be admitted that family history research is labour-intensive. Some keen amateurs spend years investigating their own families. Customers can keep control over things by allocating a budget (in £ or hours) and can decide whether to continue when they receive the initial report.

Q: How far back can you go?

A: The main source of information used is parish registers, which contain details of baptisms, marriages and burials. The earliest parish registers stated in 1538. There are also Worcestershire wills from the early 1500s onwards. Even earlier, there may be manorial records, but not all of these are held locally. It is rarely possible to get back this far, though, because of defects in the records themselves. There are also problems when families moved around.

Q: Can't the work all be done on the Internet?

A: No. The Internet may help you to get access to indexes, and you may make contact with other people who have researched the same family. But there is no real substitute for the original records. Most indexes - the International Genealogical Index, for example, contain errors and omissions. They are very useful as finding aids, but they have serious limitations.

Q: What about skeletons in the closet?

A: Parish registers might reveal that an ancestor was illegitimate, or (rarely) that he did not die of natural causes - but nothing worse. To find information about criminal ancestors, it is normally necessary to examine Quarter Sessions records. I would give advance warning if I found anything that might be considered distressing.