Research commissioned as a gift
A family-history gift with their own story inside it.
For a significant birthday, retirement or anniversary, commission a professional investigation into a person, mystery or story from their family’s past.
£695 total · sourced PDF report by email · £347.50 to commission · no VAT
01 / Why it works as a gift
Personal, because the question is theirs.
The best starting point is often already familiar: a grandparent who rarely spoke about the war, a relative who left the country, an old photograph, or a story that nobody quite knows how to verify.
We turn that starting point into professional research and a clearly written PDF report delivered by email. It can be opened and shared on the occasion, then returned to whenever the family wants to understand the evidence behind the story. A printed or bound product is not included.
- A sourced PDF report
- One agreed family question
- Designed to read and share
- A delivery date agreed before payment
A gift commission is research first. The presentation matters because the findings are worth presenting well.
02 / How gift commissions work
You supply the beginning. We handle the investigation.
- 01
Choose a family question
Tell us who the gift is for and what the family already knows. If you only have a person, photograph or loose story, we help shape a realistic question.
- 02
Agree the discreet approach
We decide whether the recipient can be consulted, whether the research must remain a surprise, and which relatives may safely help with starting information.
- 03
Commission a fixed scope
We explain the likely records, what the agreed investigation should try to establish, the research risk and a fixed price before work begins.
- 04
Present the findings
You receive a sourced PDF report by email, designed to make sense to somebody who has not followed the research process themselves.
03 / A fitting occasion
For a milestone that deserves more than another object.
70th or 80th birthdayA question the family has known for years
RetirementTime to look back at the lives that led here
Wedding anniversaryOne question that connects two family histories
Family Christmas giftA commission siblings can arrange together
04 / Scope and price
A clear commission, agreed before research begins.
Family Story Investigation£695 total
One focused question, a sourced report and a one-page family summary, with the records, research boundaries, early-update date and delivery date agreed before research begins.
Pay £347.50 to commission the work and £347.50 when the report is ready, before it is released. No VAT or mandatory extra is added. If relatives share the cost, one person acts as the customer and contact.
Initial question assessment
Who would you like to commission this for?
Tell us the occasion, the family starting point and whether the research needs to remain a surprise. We will help you shape a workable commission.
The records most likely to bear on the question
Where the evidence may be weak or unavailable
A clear £695 total proposal, only where the starting information suggests a worthwhile research route
One agreed question or ancestral line, with no VAT or mandatory extras
Two staged payments of £347.50, with the second due when the report is ready and before it is released
Included: sourced report, one-page family summary, diagram or timeline where useful, early progress update and one findings follow-up. Scope and dates agreed before payment.