London born and bred, I have been researching my own family history for over 30 years. I have traced my family back from Southwark, through 150 years of London history, into Dorset, Wiltshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Middlesex, encountering members of the established Church, Catholics and Independent Congregationalists along the way. In doing so, I have discovered branches of my family spread across the world.
Genealogy is a wonderful hobby. It is absorbing and fascinating, full of surprises and every discovery provides a fresh lead to investigate.
Over the years I have built up a sound knowledge of the records available in the London repositories. For anyone with ancestors in London, particularly in the 18th and 19th century, they can be a rich source of information. Travel to London can be time-consuming and expensive and is often not an option for those overseas. I have been researching professionally since 2005 and visit all major and most local record offices in London.
I can assist with your research in the London parishes (including those areas historically in Surrey and Kent) and Middlesex. Please see LONDON for an overview of sources available or e-mail details of your enquiry.
Searches also undertaken in the counties of Surrey and Sussex with regular visits to Surrey History Centre, Croydon Local Studies Library, West Sussex Record Office and East Sussex Record Office. If you are tracing Sussex ancestry, please click on the Sussex tab for further information.
If you are researching ancestors in London (including the Metropolitan areas of Surrey, Kent and Middlesex prior to the late 19th Century) or the counties of Surrey or Sussex, then you may have seen a reference to a baptism, marriage or burial, in e.g. the IGI, NBI or Vital Records Index. I offer low-priced single entryPARISH REGISTER TRANSCRIPTIONSproviding the event is post-1780, the register is CofE and it has been deposited in one of the archives I visit - this is a simple way to find out whether the entry you have found has any connection with your family by checking whether the original record includes any further details, such as occupation or residence. A few registers remain in the care of the parish (unfortunately the Single Entry Transcription Service does not apply to such registers). It is not possible to offer this service for Nonconfirmist registers although you can search various indexes on-line at:
For events after 1837, the cheapest way to order birth, marriage and death certificates is direct from the General Record Office via this link www.gro.gov.uk - on-line, by telephone or by post. Certificates cost £9.25 when ordered on-line via this link - why pay more?
Coming to England to find your roots? See my OVERSEAS VISITORS SERVICE which can help you get the most from your visit, use your time efficiently and ensure you visit the correct archive for the records you need.
Please contact me for a free initial assessment of your requirements:
Please provide in your e-mail any information you feel is relevant. I regret that I cannot provide a free initial assessment if I'm asked to visit a website to locate information from your published family tree.
By post (for a free initial assessment please provide a return e-mail address or s.a.e.):-
Patricia O'Neill, 6 Mansergh Road, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 6YN
I regret that I am unable to respond to enquiries for general information.
The 1911 census is available as an on-line pay-per-view or subscription version at:
Due to the size of the 1911 census, there is no microfiche or microfilm version. Many local record offices have taken out subscriptions to sites providing access to this and other censuses: try contacting your local library for advice.
Can't find your family in a census? Please e-mail details of the family, with any known locations, so that I can advise whether I may be able to assist. Other sources may provide an address. For instance, obtaining the birth certificate of a sibling born in or close to a census year may give you a more precise location.
Can't find your family in other censuses? I have found numerous transcription errors in the on-line versions. There is no substitute for a manual search of the microfilmed version of the relevant pages. For an assessment of your difficulty and whether a manual search might be worthwhile, please e-mail details of the census of interest and the family you are seeking, with any known locations. Whether I am able to assist will depend on whether I can access the relevant census district on microfilm at a local record office.
Unfortunately the 1861 census does not survive for certain streets in London.
