Research Services

Consultations and Problem Solving

Graham and Emma Maxwell are experienced Scottish genealogists who visit the National Records of Scotland and other archives around Scotland on a regular basis. Find out more about the Scottish Indexes team here.

As well as indexing records and running conferences we conduct family history research on behalf of clients. If you have been researching your own family history but are struggling with a certain aspect we may be able to help. We can offer consultation services where we point you in the right direction or we can use our skills to solve problems and get you back on track.

As well as the standard sources our areas of expertise are criminal genealogy, health records, property records and deeds. We charge £30 an hour for resear

If you are interested in using our services please email us and we will let you know if we are able to take your research on right now. When we are fully booked we will provide a list of other research providers.

Record Retrieval/Quick Look-up

Record retrieval is useful to clients who are unable to visit an archive in person but know exactly what they want. We can easily access the records, locate the relevant document and organise a copy to be made or a transcription. Record retrieval is offered at the same rate with a minimum of 30 minutes for which we charge £15.

This service is appropriate for you if you have an archive reference but also if you have details from a newspaper or another source. For example, if you have discovered from a prison register or a newspaper that your ancestor was before a court and would like the court records, email the details to us and in most cases we can locate the records, if they have survived. If a will mentions a ‘Trust Disposition & Settlements’ registered in the ‘Books of Council and Session’ or in the books of a Sheriff Court just give us the details and we can access the deed for you. Have you found an entry in printed indexes to the Register of Sasines or Register of Deeds, or an item in the National Records of Scotland catalogue? Again, it is likely that we can locate and retrieve the record you need.

Register of Deeds

Registers of Sasines

Court of Session Records Index

Scotland's Criminal Database

Register of Deeds

Registers of Sasines

Court of Session Records Index

Scotland's Criminal Database

Public Speaking

Both Graham and Emma Maxwell have pre-prepared presentations of roughly 45 minutes in length covering subjects such as Scottish Deeds, Property records, Census records, problem-solving and High Court records. An up-to-date list is available on request. We charge a modest speaker fee and from time to time we offer a discount to charities such as Scottish Family History Societies.

Other topics are available on request so please email us to discuss arrangements.

Media Consultancy

We are experts in many areas of Scottish research and our team can offer consultations for TV, films, magazines and books. Please contact us to discuss your specific request.

Transcription Service

It can be very frustrating to finally locate an item relating to your family, such as a will from ScotlandsPeople, only to struggle to read it. We offer a transcription service to help you out. We can transcribe most Scottish documents. If you email us the document you would like transcribed we will confirm if we can transcribe it for you and give you a price for the transcription. There is no obligation to proceed with the transcription if the price is more than your budget.