Genealogy (the tracing of one’s ancestors and their history) is one of the world’s most popular hobbies and the reasons for this are many and varied.

Every person is a genetic product of their parents, and they of their parents, and so on. Our physical features and, sometimes, aspects of our personalities, are inherited from our ancestors. Finding out who they were and how they lived gives us a whole new perspective on our own identity.

Researching our family histories opens our eyes to so many related topics. Most obviously, it introduces us to the social history of the eras in which our ancestors lives, such as the types of houses and living conditions. We see how major events such as wars and revolutions, along with domestic and international politics affected individual families.

If we’re lucky enough to be able to trace our Jewish ancestors back to their country of origin, we may be faced with documents in a variety of different languages, such as Yiddish, Hebrew, Polish, Russian and German.

Apart from the logical reasons for looking into our family’s past, there are others. The whole process is incredibly exciting! There’s a lot of detective work, trying to find evidence to confirm or deny family legend or using different documents to solve mini-mysteries. You also have the chance to create something for future generations.

Today, children are taught about what life was like 50, 100 or 200 years ago. In 50, 100 or even 200 years’ time, children will be taught about what life is like today. An accurate record of who their ancestors were and what sort of lives they led is a wonderful and ongoing gift for our generation to give to those which follow.

There are several reasons to employ a professional genealogist. Some of our clients have ancestry in Liverpool but live abroad, so they ask us to check local or community records for their ancestors.

Other clients work full-time and don’t have a chance to indulge their interest in their roots, so they ask us to do it for them. Some clients are experienced amateur genealogists who have hit a brick wall in their research and would like advice on how to proceed. Others are novices and want to know how to start.

Some are interested but don’t want to do the work themselves and would prefer to be told about their family, as opposed to asking the questions. Others simply want their own research to be displayed in a smart family tree.

We are happy to work with anyone in any of these positions so get in touch now!