Ask Chris allows you to ask ONE question about some aspect of your research which is causing you difficulties, and I will suggests ways in which you can move forward - or explain why you have been unsuccessful so far. In many cases I may be able to supply some of the information you are seeking and suggest further research avenues, and sometimes I will add supplementary information on sources you had not considered using. Have a look at some of the recent answers I have given to other people to get some ideas about the help I can sometimes give.

Before drafting your question check the site to see if the information you need is already online: The site contains many help and information facilities and you should look at these before deciding what question to ask. Do you really want to waste your ONE question when you could have looked up the answer to your question yourself in a few minutes by using the techniques demonstrated in the Tutorial.

Plan your question with care: If I am to help you it is important that you spend some time working out what question you want to ask, and what information you have which will help me to help you. Most people will find it easiest to prepare a text on a word processor. Once you have included the appropriate support information and source data, and checked it for accuracy, you can cut and paste the text on the question page and sent it to me.

Select a single named individual: Your question should be about an individual and could relate to a birth/baptism, marriage, the house where he lived, or any single event they were involved in. There must be a definite link with a named place within Hertfordshire and you should give at least an approximate date for the event, which should be in the period from about 1700 up to the First World War. See The Policy on Questions relating to Living People.

Decide on the question you want to ask: This could relate to your inability to find information about the event - or to the interpretation of information you have already found. The advice I give is to help you to carry out your own research - and not to do your research for you. Questions of the type "Tell me all you know" or which asks for links between people who are not immediate family are unacceptable.

Provide background information on the individual and/or event. For instance, if you are asking about a "missing" birth/baptism (to get the names of the parents) it can help to know about the individual's marriage (including the names of witnesses), his occupation, the names he gave his children and religious or social information. These matters are covered in more detail in My Ancestor emigrated from Hertfordshire - much of which is also relevant to difficult cases where your ancestor never left the county.

Identify sources: In order to make my reply as reliable as possible I need to know where you have got your information from - and also any sources you have checked with negative results. PLEASE READ Sources and Reliability if you have not already done so.

For more information see Frequently Asked Questions

Page updated January 2008