In a message dated 07/07/2004 17:33:54 GMT Daylight Time, irene.marlborough@syngenta.com writes: If you feel so guilty about someone else researching your family for you, . . There's no need to feel guilty about that! Everyone could do with help from time to time, and indeed I would say that anyone working from a distance really NEEDS someone "on the spot" who is familiar with the region and with its records and families on a day-to-day basis. True, Lists such as this can be a great help - and all subscribers fall into the category of those who use them, but - let's not kid ourselves - when a complete stranger, whose motivation and honesty I have no idea about, tells me something without necessarily quoting their sources, or when they tell me something and quote sources I know to be suspect, ie secondary, then I know how much value to place upon it - very little, I'm afraid. Professional Genealogists may not be everyone's cup of tea but I have yet to discover any better way of conducting research from somewhere well outside the region in question. . >why don't you buy the CD of the 1851 census for Co. Durham. I have and it >means I can do my own research. Sure, it would be easier to use an overall >index if one was available but until then it must be done the hard way. I >believe Stepping Stones and/or S&N Genealogy have done 1841 and 1851 between >them. I have them both but I'm not at home so don't remember which was >which. Archive CD Books has done 1861 and is promising 1871 this year >although I haven't seen hide nor hair of it yet. . . I have the 1871 CD of Co Durham (and the Northumberland one). I have a feeling it has been advertised for some time but I bought my copy from S&N (British Data Archive) a couple of weeks ago at the annual York Family History Fair. I have the 1841, 71 and 91 facsimiles for the whole of both Northumberland and Co Durham, as well as all the 1851 census indexes yet published for the two counties, the Cleveland FHS "ENOCH" program for accessing details of the 1891 census of their district and various indexes to parts of the 1861 census for both counties, both published and my own extracts. It's amazing what one can build up over many years of collecting! . . Geoff Nicholson . 57 Manor Park, Concord, WASHINGTON, Tyne & Wear NE37 2BU Long-established Professional Genealogist: ask for details of NBL/DUR family history research by THE local expert, working for YOU.

I just have to say that of course it is more rewarding to be able to access records and find your own family that way but it is just not possible for everyone. Some people (myself included) live in isolated areas a very long way from LDS centres, records offices etc. And some people find the cost of all the various discs available to be prohibitive especially if you only need to look up a small handful of people from a particular set., especially when all the vital paperwork (BMD certs etc) is already costing an arm and a leg! I am very grateful to those people who offer look ups from census and other records from time to time. I think people that do this are invaluable to my research. In return I offer look ups in areas in which I am able, as often as I can....and am more than happy to do so. It is just as rewarding to me as my own research is, when someone emails me to say that because of a look up that I have done they have finally broken through their own brick wall. Just my point of view of course :-) And with thanks to everyone who has ever volunteered to do a look up for anyone else! Liz ----- Original Message ----- From: <GNicresearch@aol.com> To: <ENG-DURHAM-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, July 07, 2004 6:24 PM Subject: Re: [ENG-DUR] 1851 Durham census > > In a message dated 07/07/2004 17:33:54 GMT Daylight Time, > irene.marlborough@syngenta.com writes: > > If you feel so guilty about someone else researching your family for you, > . > . There's no need to feel guilty about that! Everyone could do with help > from time to time, and indeed I would say that anyone working from a > distance really NEEDS someone "on the spot" who is familiar with the region and with > its records and families on a day-to-day basis. True, Lists such as this > can be a great help - and all subscribers fall into the category of those who > use them, but - let's not kid ourselves - when a complete stranger, whose > motivation and honesty I have no idea about, tells me something without > necessarily quoting their sources, or when they tell me something and quote sources I > know to be suspect, ie secondary, then I know how much value to place upon it > - very little, I'm afraid. Professional Genealogists may not be everyone's > cup of tea but I have yet to discover any better way of conducting research > from somewhere well outside the region in question. > . > > > > >why don't you buy the CD of the 1851 census for Co. Durham. I have and it > >means I can do my own research. Sure, it would be easier to use an overall > >index if one was available but until then it must be done the hard way. I > >believe Stepping Stones and/or S&N Genealogy have done 1841 and 1851 between > >them. I have them both but I'm not at home so don't remember which was > >which. Archive CD Books has done 1861 and is promising 1871 this year > >although I haven't seen hide nor hair of it yet. > . > . I have the 1871 CD of Co Durham (and the Northumberland one). I have a > feeling it has been advertised for some time but I bought my copy from S&N > (British Data Archive) a couple of weeks ago at the annual York Family History > Fair. I have the 1841, 71 and 91 facsimiles for the whole of both > Northumberland and Co Durham, as well as all the 1851 census indexes yet published for > the two counties, the Cleveland FHS "ENOCH" program for accessing details of > the 1891 census of their district and various indexes to parts of the 1861 > census for both counties, both published and my own extracts. It's amazing > what one can build up over many years of collecting! > . > . Geoff Nicholson > . > > > 57 Manor Park, Concord, WASHINGTON, Tyne & Wear NE37 2BU > Long-established Professional Genealogist: ask for details of > NBL/DUR family history research by THE local expert, working for YOU. > > > > > ==== ENG-DURHAM Mailing List ==== > Browse the ENG-DURHAM archives http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/eng-durham > >

>In return I offer look ups in areas in which I am able, as often > as I can....and am more than happy to do so. It is just as rewarding to me > as my own research is, when someone emails me to say that because of a look > up that I have done they have finally broken through their own brick wall. > > Just my point of view of course :-) My point of view too! I do obit lookups for a city near where I live and it is wonderful to help someone else break down a brick wall. More rewarding, I think, than finding my own! I started all these volunteer projects because of kind volunteers that have helped me break down my own walls. I do pay for research when I need to, and I make a fairly decent living, but the costs do get prohibitive, even to me. (I'm not wealthy, just comfortable) I know that not everyone can just afford to buy a CD or, as it is 'across the pond' (I am in the USA), a set of CD's to find one or two people. I also pay for yearly subscriptions to Ancestry.com and Genealogy.com and have a membership with a historical society that gives me free access to Heritage Quest. To me these are all bargains, but to many, the nearly $200 yearly fee each ($35 for the historical society) is way beyond their means, so when I can, I use what I can afford to pay for, to help others who can't and in turn, when I need research done, I start with volunteers. I think I have "earned" a few free lookups, so I never feel guilty to ask for free help, but the great thing is that those who helped me before I started volunteering, didn't care if I helped anyone before or not. I never had to earn anything! So, I personally, not only do not charge to help, I refuse to take any money even when it is offered, and just tell them to help someone else when they can, and if they really want to give their money away, donate it to a genealogy society, library or some place that can help lots of people and put your money to better use than I would! No, I don't ever check up on them to see if they have, it is their reward when they get that email... 'You are a gem... you just broke down a 20 year brick wall for me' they will be glad they did! I do understand that some people make a living doing genealogy research and there is nothing wrong with that either. I just don't think that anyone should be made to feel like they should pay for something if they can't afford it. Giving the information that it is available for a price is great, because they can choose to buy it, if they can. Also, don't feel guilty about someone doing 'all that research' for you free. Most people who volunteer love doing it. That's why they do it, and if the search is beyond what they can do, they will tell you. I do anyhow! Renee O'Neal

Hi Liz :) "It is just as rewarding to me as my own research is, when someone emails me to say that because of a look up that I have done they have finally broken through their own brick wall." I agree with you! I've had more traffic to my site lately and as a result have had more requests for lookups than I have since I began my site. I've received email a lot in the past few weeks thanking me for my help in knocking down walls, and it always leaves me feeling good knowing I've helped someone! :D When they ask how they can repay me, I tell them to pay it forward!! ;D Take care, Rob.