Research Services
Every research project starts with a question. You may want to trace your family back through several generations, uncover the story of one person’s life, or investigate a mystery that has resisted answers for years.
Kin Tracer offers focused research services designed around the kind of question you want to solve. Each project is approached carefully, with attention to the available evidence, the likely research scope and the clearest way to present what is found.
Follow the trail. Find your answers.
Trace Three Generations
Ideal if you want to follow one branch of your family back through three generations from a known starting person, often someone born in the late 19th or early 20th century.
I trace the line carefully through available records, identifying parents, grandparents and great-grandparents where the evidence allows, and add supporting detail about the people, places and records found along the way. Where surviving photographs or other personal records can be found, these can help bring the people and their stories to life.
Your finished research includes:
a professionally presented family tree
a written research report bringing together the people, records and discoveries
copies of key records and supporting evidence
source references so you can see where the information came from
Your finished research is supplied as professionally presented digital PDF files, ready to save, share or print. Professionally printed copies can also be arranged for an additional cost.
£189
Shine a Light: One Life Rediscovered
Sometimes one person deserves a closer look. This service focuses on reconstructing the life of a single individual in as much detail as the surviving evidence allows. The subject does not have to be an ancestor – it might be a relative, a serviceman, someone connected to a medal or document, or another historical person whose story you want to understand more fully.
I trace that person through the available records and build a chronological picture of their life, looking at family connections, addresses, occupations, military service, newspapers, official records and other relevant sources. Where useful, I also research the wider historical context so the final account explains not just what happened, but the world they lived in.
The finished research is designed to read more like a biography than a family-tree entry: a clear, evidence-based account of one life brought back into focus.
Your finished research includes:
• a professionally presented biographical research report
• copies of key records and supporting evidence
• source references so you can see where the information came from
Your finished research is supplied as professionally presented digital PDF files, ready to save, share or print. Professionally printed copies can also be arranged for an additional cost.
As every life and surviving record trail is different, the scope and final price will be agreed with you before research begins.
From £225
Investigate a Family Mystery
Some family-history questions need more than a family tree. Perhaps someone disappears from the records, a long-held family story has never been proved, or two pieces of evidence seem to contradict each other.
This service focuses on one specific research problem. I start with what is already known, identify the strongest leads and compare the available records carefully. Depending on the question, that may include civil registration, census returns, parish records, newspapers, military records, workhouse material, directories, probate or local archives.
Not every mystery can be solved completely. Where the evidence supports a conclusion, I’ll explain why; where several possibilities remain, I’ll set them out clearly. The aim is to establish what can be proved, what is most likely, and what questions still remain.
Your finished research includes:
• a professionally presented research report setting out the question, evidence and findings
• copies of key records and supporting evidence
• source references so you can see where the information came from
Your finished research is supplied as professionally presented digital PDF files, ready to save, share or print. Professionally printed copies can also be arranged for an additional cost.
As every research question and surviving record trail is different, the scope and final price will be agreed with you before research begins.
From £225
Kin Tracer Gift Vouchers
Give the gift of discovery.
A Kin Tracer gift voucher makes a thoughtful gift for birthdays, anniversaries, Christmas, retirement or anyone curious about their family story.
£100 Gift Voucher
Flexible credit towards any agreed Kin Tracer family-history research service.
£189 Three Generations Gift Voucher
Give a complete Trace Three Generations research package, tracing one family line back through three generations from a known starting person.
“Katie’s attention to detail and commitment to the research really stood out. The findings were clearly explained, carefully evidenced and presented in a way that made the family story easy to understand and share. We’ve already recommended Kin Tracer to others.”
Gillian, Kent, 2026