Every fact is cited
Each report quotes the original record, translates it in full, and cites the archive file it came from. You receive digital copies of every document found.
Handwriting others cannot read
Parish registers in German Kurrent script and, from the 1890s, in Russian. What decides the quality of a piece of research is whether that handwriting has been read fully and correctly. Finding the records is one half of the work; reading them is the other.
A starting point, checked before you pay
Research unfolds as it goes: which records matter becomes clear only once the first ones have been read. What I can establish in advance is whether there is a thread worth pulling — whether the registers for your place survive, and whether what you know is enough to identify the family. That check costs nothing.
How the research works
1
Tell me what you know
A name, roughly when the person lived, and a place in Latvia — however uncertain the spelling. That is enough to begin.
2
I check whether there is a thread to follow
I look at what has survived for the place you name, and whether your information is enough to identify the family with any confidence. What I cannot promise in advance is which documents the research will end up needing — that emerges only as the records are read. What I can tell you is whether there is a viable starting point. If there is not, I will say so, and you will not have paid for the answer.
3
One step at a time
Each step answers one or two specific questions and ends with a written report. Because each answer tends to raise the next question, families are researched across several steps rather than in one large commission — you pay for what the research actually turns out to need, and you decide after every step whether to go on.
Prices
Research Step —
EUR 395
One family traced through the parish registers, or the work of establishing where your family came from.
Extended Research Step — EUR 745
Several questions or more than one family line in a single step.
My work is in the Lutheran parish registers of Vidzeme, Kurzeme and Zemgale. I do not take on Latgale or Jewish family history — those records follow their own conventions and call for a different specialist, and you will be better served by one.
Testimonials
“We are all very happy with the report you have provided and all the documentation you have supplied. It is very detailed and very informative for future searches. We believe that you have given us our monies worth and more!"
- Ingrid, Australia
“Thanks so much for your excellent, thorough and highly professional work. I shall certainly recommend you to anyone I encounter who would like to do similar research in Latvia.”
- John, USA
“That is a great report. My Russian is terrible so I’m very happy to have the explanations."
- Roland, Australia
“Thank you all for your help. It has truly opened up a new world.”
- Erica, USA