how to send me an enquiry

Tom Tulloch-Marshall
Military Genealogy & Operational Records Of The Great War

COSTS & HOW TO SEND ME AN ENQUIRY
things I need to know / dont need to know / how to contact me

Firstly - How much will it cost ?

Well, you tell me what the question is and I'll work out a fixed price quotation, - most research projects can be priced on this basis as I can estimate pretty precisely how long any given search(es) will take. The only additional costs will be copy and p&p costs, as will be explained in the quote. I do not issue "price lists", - that is an entirely unrealistic approach as there are generally so many variables involved. Every enquiry is individually assessed and costed.

It is unlikely that my quotation will be the lowest which you receive. This is probably one of the reasons why > "Hi Tom. Thank you so much for all the info. Years ago I had asked a professional to obtain a copy of my Grandfather, Albert F-------’s war records and been told that they had all been destroyed. So thank you for the miracle! ..... (etc) ..... Regards Beryl W-----" (New South Wales, Aust., May 2004. Not only was Albert F's WW1 army service record found, but I also found the service record for his brother Walter during the same searches).

If cost is your major consideration, and you are being offered WW1 British Army service record searches (etc) for a fee which would hardly buy a small round of drinks in the pub, - and you find that attractive (and think the searches are going to be properly carried out), - then read no further. I'll hear from you again when you really want the job doing properly. Otherwise, please read on .........

Please read the notes below before you send me an enquiry, - it can greatly simplify things if we start off with a clear understanding of what is required, what is already known, and what is likely to be achieved. Once I have had the opportunity to look at your requirements I shall make recommendations as to which search paths I believe to be most appropriate. In (fairly rare) cases where the likely time involvement cannot reasonably be predicted I shall give you an hourly rate for the work and an approximation of the time which may be involved, - an upper limit can then be set.

Secure on-line credit card transactions can easily be arranged, regardless of your location.

If you click on the image above it will take you to a simple on-line form which you can use to send me an enquiry - you dont have to use it if you dont want to - just e-mail me direct. The Link is repeated at the bottom of this page, together with all my other contact details.

# If your enquiry involves a man or woman who served in the forces then the first thing which I need to know is their full christian and surnames, or, if you are working "blind" (ie to medals only, for example) their surname and initials as given. If you are working to even less information than that, then let me know what you do have and what you are trying to achieve and I'll let you know what may be done.

# Before reading the next bits, dont worry too much if you have little more than a name and say "served in the Army during WWI" to go on, - there are often ways out of that problem. Let me know what you do have, and I'll tell you what may be achievable.

# But, - if you have any of the following information then please let me know up-front; it's far from the case that this is all crucial, but the more that's known at the outset the better:-

When did they serve ? - WWI, WWII, even approximations such as "about 1880 - 1900" are better than nothing at all.
Did they serve in the Ranks or as an Officer ?
Is the discharge year known, even approximately ?
What was their Army number ?
What Regiment or Corps did they serve in ?
Did they die in service ?

# For service record searches, especially where the Army number or unit attachment cannot be established from medal records (or any other source) the following information may be extremely useful:-

Date of birth ? - even an approximation may be helpful.
Place of birth ?
Name and relationship of next of kin about the time of enlistment ?
Detail of any wife; maiden name, year of marriage, etc ?
Details of any children born before the end of service career ?
Any known addresses before or during service, or at time of discharge ?

# For searches involving units I need you to give me the full unit title as you understand it - please do not launch straight into abbreviations as this can cause untold confusion !

"RIR", - do you mean Royal Irish Regiment or Royal Irish Rifles ?
"Cams", - Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) or Camerons (Queens Own, - Highlanders) ?
"RIF", - Royal Irish Fusiliers or Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers ?
Etc.
Dont even dream about telling me that someone was in the "King's" or the "Queen's" !
Same applies to ranks, awards, decorations, honours, sub-unit titles, trades, etc., etc., etc. - On first use always spell out what you mean in full please.

Things I dont need to know

Some of the following may seem to be quite daft, but please bear with me and take it in the spirit in which it is intended - remember that the aim is that we should have a clear understanding at the outset. The following "problems" crop up time and time again, and the one thing they do not engender is "a clear understanding" !

# I definitely do not need to be told a man's life history, the life history of all his relations, his dog's name, the name of the postman he held a lifelong grudge against, the type of motorcycle that his brother owned, who his mother was in domestic service with, - when the question is, "what was his medal entitlement" ?

# The "he, she, they and it" enquiry ! - "I'd like to find out about grandad Fred who was in the Essex Regiment during WW1 and his brother Nigel who was in the Lancashire Fusiliers and their cousin Dennis who we think was in the Welsh Guards but may have been in the same regiment as his cousin ... anyway, my granny said when he came home on leave he said that he's bumped into the other one in France but I dont think she'd seen him for a while and when I wrote to the regiment they said they had no record of him but the other one's regiment said that they were not in France that week so it could'nt have been him anyway and it must have been the other one. His army number was 12345 so that might help you to find him, and aunty Doris says her uncle's number was 67890 so that will help with him, and ....." - Please - if your enquiry involves more than one person or subject do not muddle them together - set each case out separately from the other(s) and dont use "he, she, it, they" etc, please always spell out who or what you are talking about.

# The "secret service" enquiry ! - despite the fact that I keep stressing that I need to know the name of the man or woman to be researched up-front I continually get enquiries which dont give this basic information, - and without it I cannot provide a sensible fixed price quotation for searches of service records and the like (the search time for a John Michael Blenkinsop will be considerably less than for a John Smith, for example). Occasionally I even get enquiries from people who refuse to divulge this information when I query it because they "dont think it's necessary" ! - I'm afraid that in cases like that I'm unable to be of assistance and the enquiry should probably be redirected to MI5 !

Clear, concise, and relevant information up-front is to our mutual benefit - lets aim for that.

contact me by e-mail at ~ FamousRaider@btinternet.com
	Or - if you prefer, or if you have any paperwork, photographs etc to send me, then snail-mail me at:- 12 Oakhill Close Ashtead Surrey KT21 2JQ England
Or click on the image above for my on-line enquiry form - it's easy and fast provided your enquiry is reasonably straightforward.

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