Black Oak Genealogical Services

26/12/2025

Proof that we're not the only obsessed ones out there 😁

Wealth of datasets compiled as private passions are now a goldmine for those hunting for their ancestors

25/12/2025

To celebrate Christmas Day, here are some distant cousins (or partners) of my own, each with a connection to the festive season.

31/12/2024

We were over the moon when we were asked a month ago to provide a special Christmas present for an old school friend of our administrator's father.
Black Oak Genealogical Services set to work on the customer's paternal side of this close-knit family, presenting its findings in a fact-filled book, complete with documents and photos, plus an A3 family tree.
Our client's father was delighted with the surprise gift and it has resulted in him wanting more in-depth research carried out in 2025, which makes us very happy.
Here's her review 👇
If any of you are making 2025 the year you find out where you came from, pop us a message.
Happy New Year all. 🎉🍾🥂

28/11/2024

As our cousins across the pond celebrate Thanksgiving today, have you thought about how many founding fathers or presidents you might be related to?
Black Oak's chief researcher, Darren Cameron, lists no fewer than four of the original seven founding fathers in his tree, including the daddy of them all, George Washington, the first president of the United States.
Darren also counts second president John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison among his distant cousins, and actually has a whopping 20 presidents and vice-presidents overall in his impressive tree!
The founding fathers united the thirteen colonies and oversaw the War of Independence against Great Britain in the late 18th century and went on to sign the Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution.
If you're not keen on being independent when it comes to tracing your ancestors (see what I did there?!😝) why not see how Black Oak Genealogical Services can help you in your quest.

18/11/2024

The struggle is very real...

09/11/2024

The first of our case studies, literally!

Case #1
Our first case landed on our desk back in 2009, when Mrs A reached out, hoping to find her father.
She knew his name and had a single fond memory of him from when she was about 4 years old but, following her parents’ divorce, hadn’t heard from him in more than 40 years. When her mother remarried, she changed Mrs A’s surname (though not legally – she told us the name was just added to her birth certificate!) to match her stepfather’s.
Could we track her father down?
The first step was to get a copy of Mrs A’s original birth certificate. This gave us her father’s full name and his occupation. A quick search of the UK death index didn’t return any results, so it was possible that he was still alive. We couldn’t find any concrete leads in the electoral register, so we used the newly discovered middle name to pick his birth information from a selection of possible candidates we had lined up. This lead back to his parents. From here it was easy to search for siblings.
Investigating each sibling thoroughly gave us the names of their children – one of which had an unusual name we were able to find in the phone book. I wrote a letter to the gentleman and sat back to wait for a reply…
A week later I received a phone call from a woman I didn’t recognise – it was the gentleman’s wife. She informed me that her husband was aware of the existence of Mrs. A and that they even had photographs of the wedding of her parents, which he had attended. Furthermore, he was keen to meet her!
We arranged a meeting between the parties involved and there were tears all round on that warm summer evening in 2010 as stories were told and hugs were exchanged.
Mrs A discovered that she had 5 half-siblings and 14 new nieces and nephews!
Sadly, her half-siblings didn’t think it a good idea for her to meet her father due to ill health and he passed away shortly after, having never seen his eldest daughter again.

Don't leave it too late. Contact us now for help finding your loved ones.

08/11/2024

I'm currently watching This Morning and consumer expert Alice Beer is talking about this being the perfect time to start researching your family tree because of it being Remembrance Day on Monday.
Genealogy companies want to help you discover relatives who served in the armed forces, so have special offers on.
Firstly, Findmypast is offering free access to all records, including the 1921 census, this weekend (membership usually costs about £200 a year).
And Ancestry is currently offering a week of free unlimited searches of global military records (membership is usually £20 per month), ending on Wednesday.
Free BMD is one way to start researching, if you want to give it a go yourself and the National Archive, based in Kew, or online, is another great resource for military records.
To find out more, or for advice on finding your ancestors, don't hesitate to contact us.

05/11/2024

Like many Brits this evening, we here at Black Oak Genealogy commemorated Guy Fawkes' Gunpowder Plot - the failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament and assassinate King James I on November 5, 1605 - by watching a local organised firework display.
What you may not know, however, is that James I of England and Ireland was also James VI of Scotland AND is a distant cousin of our very own founder, Darren Cameron!
The plot was in retaliation of the king's persecution of Catholics and refusal to grant religious tolerance.
If you're curious to find out if you're also related to the king, or, indeed, any of the plotters, drop us a call or message and we'll get straight on it.
Enjoy the celebrations!

02/11/2024

We're exceptionally proud to have been a part of this pivotal moment in Weston's rich history.
Yes, Black Oak is the researcher mentioned here and is continuing to assist the town council in finding information on the Smyth-Pigotts.
If you're trying to find out something about your family history, reach out and let's see how we can help you.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/m2onWNEnNGGuUhG7/

06/05/2023

Let’s face it, most of us have dreamed we’re descended from royalty, whenever we wonder who our ancestors are, and we here at Black Oak Genealogy are no exception. Sadly, we have not yet found a direct royal line in our tree, but a distant cousin, discovered a few years ago, can trace his family back to Edward III, no less!

To celebrate the coronation of our new monarch this weekend, My Heritage is offering DNA testing kits for £35. So why not order yourself one and find out if you have blue blood in your veins, or at the very least, discover living relatives you can connect with?

Create your family tree. Take a MyHeritage DNA test for ancestry and genetic testing. Access 19.4 billion historical records for genealogy research.

06/05/2023

To celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, I will be spending the weekend working on the Royal Family tree.

Those interested can see a completed tree here:
www.britroyals.com/royaltree.asp

British Royal family tree from Alfred the Great to Charles III (849 - present)

07/04/2023

Whether you want to dig into your past, find distant cousins, or discover if that family rumour is true or not, we can help. Using the latest online resources and software, DNA testing, social media, newspapers and even the good old-fashioned phone book, we will leave no stone unturned in our quest to bring you the information you require. Please contact us to discuss your needs.