Delving into your family history is fascinating but, as people already hooked on genealogy realize, progress is uneven and some problems bring research to a halt. How do you know there is a way around the problem or there really is a lack of information? There are so many records, so many places to search and so much information appearing online it is difficult to know where to begin planning effective searches. Fortunately, help is at hand.
Sherry Irvine, a Canadian and past President of the Association of Professional Genealogists, and Helen Osborn, of English Researchers, Helen Osborn Research Ltd, have teamed up to launch Pharos Teaching & Tutoring. Pharos is the first British company to provide online classes aimed specifically at helping researchers with British ancestry. Students can register and pay on the website at http://www.pharostutors.com The arrangements for courses are simple and flexible making it easy to get started, study in your own time without having to travel, get help from experienced teachers, and chat about family history with other students. Courses are aimed at beginners and experienced researchers alike.
Emphasis is on online resources, both indexes and images, what you can achieve on the Internet and how to work effectively with what is online and what must be found on site in libraries and archives. The historical, social and geographical context in which our ancestors lived and in which the records were created is an important part of every program. All Pharos tutors are full-time genealogists and experienced teachers with many years experience searching in British records.
Managing Director, Helen Osborn already runs a successful genealogy and historical research agency from her London home, and was previously an archivist. She is one of the independent researchers at the National Archives, Kew and has clients from all over the world. Helen has lectured and written on aspects of local and family history for over 10 years.
Course Director, Sherry Irvine has been teaching family history for over 20 years. In the classroom she has taught at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR), Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama and at the British Institute, Salt Lake City, a program of the International Society for British Genealogy and Family History. Since 1996 she has led study tours to England and Scotland for IGHR.
Sherry is the author of Your English Ancestry (2nd ed. 1998) and Scottish Ancestry: Research Methods for Family Historians (2003) both published by Ancestry. In 2005 the Association of Professional Genealogists presented her with the Smallwood Award of Merit for services to the organization and to genealogy.
Sherry says, “we are creating great courses at Pharos because we have definite ideas about good teaching, we enjoy helping others get the most out of family history and we want to give that help at a personal level”.
Special Offer for Legacy users
Meet the instructors and receive a special offer from Pharos. Sherry Irvine and Helen Osborn will hold a free chat session on Monday March 20th at 7PM GMT (London time) which is 2PM EST (New York time). Bring along a British genealogy question. To get your invitation and details of how to take part please send a request to info@pharostutors.com. Space is limited.
For more information on courses at Pharos, email – info@pharostutors.com
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