Genealogy Chat

I am interested in what other people think about this.

My grandmother's family is from Malta. With the fact that none of her siblings were probably known by their given names, that I don't even have rough dates for most of them, and I don't know which areas they were born in, finding information is going to be a wee bit tricky. Even if I could fund a trip out there, not knowing dates and areas is a huge stumbling block. So...I am seriously considering paying someone to do it. I have found a company who claim to have indexes of parish data, who say it's fine for me to set an upper limit fnancially so they don't run up a huge bill without me knowing, and they seem OK. But in truth I don't know anything about them, and I will have no way of verifying the data they provide to me. What would you do? I would appreciate your thoughts. Sharon

Sharon Well, how much are you prepared to lose? In your situation, I think I would set them one task to begin with, with a modest upper limit, and see what they come up with. Hope you have a successful outcome. Olde Crone

Hubby's dad is from Barcelona. We had a researcher working out there on our behalf. He was a local with good English. he was fairly cheap we think - certainly less than half what you might spend per hour over here!! However, he was a person working on his own, not a company. I would suggest you begin with giving just one task for them to do. See what happens. If it's anything at all like Spain they have to plead with a Catholic priest, who only calls at the church one afternoon a fortnight, to ask to see the PR's which are all at the church with no copies. Sounds like you will have fun with this!!! MMM

Oh, it's been just one long giggle so far! <g> You know, the usual tales of woe of relatives born in India, relatives apparently not born at all, '2 uncles' going to Australia without a trace, and the surname 'Smith' thrown in for good measure! But doesn't it feel g-o-o-d when it all comes together! :-)

Hi Sharon if you put Malta Genealogy in to google you will find lots of good sites hope you have some luck allen

Actually Allen, there isn't that much useful information out there. There are the usual message boards, and an online certificate ordering service (only good if you know the people, places and dates!), but no online data, if you know what I mean. Hence why I think I'm going to shell out. Sharon

I managed to order some certificates from Malta online with some very sketchy information and they came very quickly and cheaply with loads more info on than our certs. Civil Reg only started in Malta in 1863 and if you want info before that date you have to go round to every parish which isn't going to help much if you don't know where they come from. My in-laws who had been looking (while living in Malta) for several years according to them found nothing where I got 2 generations back! With the info I gave them when they went to Malta they didn't get any further and they had a Maltese helper going through the Parish records with them. They have vowed to carry on looking but at this rate I will have to get myself a tent and a row boat to get it sorted myself. You might be surprised what information you can get together from this country using the census as I did to get someone's age to order her birth cert. It was 2 years out but they got it and I thought her mother's name was Sarah and began with an X - they got the right one! Her name was Serafina Scicluna - hoping that I am related to the Scicluna family who started the Bank of Malta and there are some missing millions! Pippa

Hi Pippa. What censuses do you mean and where are they available? I have a Scicluna in my tree by marriage! Sharon

Sorry I have been doing some housework! I used the English census to get possible year of birth and then sent off for my cert online and they came back! There is however a census available on familysearch for Malta. It didn't help me but it might help you! Do you think we have missing millions then? Pippa PS Scicluna means Donkey Moon and originates in Sciliy (Sciclone - Sophia Loren's real surname). I keep taking the michael out of my husband that he is related to the mafia!

Hi Pippa. As far as I am aware there are no Maltese censuses available on Family Search, only some ancestral file and IGI records. Unfortunately they are too far back to be of any use to me at this time. Donkey moon, eh? Hmm... Nice! Makes you wonder how the name first got used. Somehow, knowing my family, I doubt there is any money anywhere! We are, and always seem to have been broke! :-) Thanks anyway, Sharon