Plantagenesta – the best genealogists in the West Country!

We believe we offer the only in-store genealogy service in the wonderful West Country if not in the whole country. Plantagenesta is a unique concept in family history – staffed by expert genealogists we offer an ‘open door’ service to anyone interested in Family History.

Call in, have a chat, we only charge £5.00 for 20 minutes. If you wish to chat for longer it is advisable to book an appointment. As you might guess, we get very, very busy. There are instant online ‘look-ups’ where we can show you what your family were doing in the 1800’s, we can show you how your surname was distributed through the country during the 1800’s – often an indicator of origins.

Talking of origins – we can also give you the origin of your surname from our database of almost half a million names. A good buy at only £2.50 for a printed scroll. If all that sounds a bit like ‘techno-speak’ – worry not – our computers are our only concession to the 21st century.

Visit our shop and you will see a range of Victorian gowns, and artefacts, family tree histories, Victorian greetings cards, you can even try on Grannie’s Hats and see how you look. Depending on our mood, you might even find our staff dressed in Victorian costume. So what do we all do here at Plantagenesta?

We can trace a Family Tree from start to finish, and even better, our prices come out at about one third of what the bigger companies charge – and even better than that – you get to set your own budget. How fair can we be?

Do you have an allergy to computers, dislike them, or simply can’t get along with them? But you still want to do your own research, you want to see the documents such as census returns, and work out the intrigues around your family? Well, we can help with that as well. Book an hour or two with our genealogists, pay our hourly rate, and you can climb your own family tree. We will even put together a finished folder for you. Is there no end to our talents?

We will even carry out a Victorian House History for you – mind you, you do need to live in a Victorian house for this one. There is a set fee of £50.00 for this service. You might have guessed, we are not a shy lot here at Plantagenesta.

Do you belong to a social group such as W.I. a luncheon club or similar? In fact, anyone who needs a ‘speaker’. Yes, you’ve guessed, we’ll do that as well. Informal, light hearted talks given on climbing one's family tree. We’ll tell you the things we found, chat about detection techniques, play ‘Ye olde silly name game’ and more. Oh, yes, we will dress up as well. Last but not least. Plantagenesta are now developing an educational aspect to family history. We are putting together ‘Teacher’s Resource’ packs aimed at Key Stage One and Key Stage Two children.

KS1 will cover a ‘Teddy Bear’s Family Tree’ with a link onto ‘Your Family Tree’ when children will learn about Family History from Professor Ostrich Pockinghorn.

DO YOU WANT TO COME AND MEET US AT PLANTAGENESTA? Of course you do. We are in our shop at the Country Stores complex at least six days a week, often seven. If you are travelling to see us, please ring 01626 890011 and make an appointment.

Otherwise, our hours are 9.00am until 5.00pm but 10.00am until 4.00pm on Sundays. Email us on Plantagenesta@fsmail.net