Genealogy Plus! - Bringing History to Life
Dianne T. Golding Frankson
 
I am both a professional and competent Jamaican Genealogist, with more than thirty years experience.
 
Thus allowing me, the unique privilege of having experience with all areas of Jamaican research, and have done volunteer cataloging at the Registrar's General Department of Jamaica in the late eighties and early nineties , which primarily meant working in the documents vault , with the wills, deeds and the old law books etc.

I am well known at the National Archives and the National Library of Jamaica, I have also trolled many cemeteries throughout the island and will do grave stone photography on request.

Based in the capital city , Kingston, I travel regularly to the various repositories in Spanish town , the old capital city of Jamaica.

For thirty odd years I have worked on the genealogies of all ethnic groups , found on the island namely African , East Indian , Amerindian , Chinese , Lebanese , Palestinian heritages with special experience in Jewish and mixed race genealogies in Jamaica.

I am also an Archaeological Consultant and have written several reports for N.E.P.A. My resume of achievements include a published paper in the Caribbean Quarterly , with several unpublished manuscripts on my own family and on the Pre-Colombian inhabitants of the island, whom I have researched in detail for the last 18 years.
 
 
 
PhotoI have researched several celebrity  genealogies as well for the popular BBC series "Who Do You Think You Are?" and the recent PBS series "Faces of America" namely Colin Jackson , British sprint Olympian , Ainsley Harriott ,British celebrity chef .Elizabeth Alexander , US Poet Laureate and Malcolm Gladwell, famous author of the book ,"Outliers". There have been many others however they cannot be named. I've even done work for the National Geographic hit series 'Lockup Abroad'.


 
"Genealogy has been my life and the fulfillment it gives me to see a person finally discover who they are, and where they come from cannot be described or truly put into words. All I know is it feels great. And that's why I do what I do to the very best of my abilities."
 
My Ancestry through one branch back to c.1556
Here below are highlights from the Ainsley Harriott Film shoots
 
Here I am with Ainsley Harriott, British cooking sensation after filming, part of the episode dedicated to his family search on the B.B.C's "Who Do You Think You Are?, which was aired in the UK on September 10th 2008, on BBC1.
 
 
Ainsley , pondering the significance of documents found which proved his paternal ancestors were white slave masters
 
"I think many people are able to relate to your genuine horror at a four year old 'playing shops with Daddy' in the buying and selling of human beings. Your emotional response is important as it engages the hearts of all people; however much some may know or have thought about this terrible period of history, there are far more who would have been hearing this for the first time. I think your reaction was profoundly moving, as was your affectionate demonstration of appreciation for the tact and sensitivity of the curator (researcher) who delicately revealed your ancestor's past."
 
A comment made after the show aired, by a viewer nicknamed hardlyneutral on the 20th of Sept. 2008
© 2008 Wall to Wall Productions
 
 
Ainsley taking a moment to relax between shoots
 
 
A closeup of the incredible stone masonry of the Hopeton Great House. Today the property still functions as a cattle pen as it did in the time of the Harriott's.
 

The Moravian church which is sited on the highest adjacent hill , across from Hopeton Great House. The church can be seen from the house and visa versa. The Moravian's bought a sizable section of land from the original 400 acres estate after emancipation and subdivided the land and distributed it to the plantations former enslaved population , thus creating the town of Hopeton.This meant that the vast majority of the towns
residents today are the descendants of former Harriott slaves.
 
Spanish Town Square, Spanish Town, Jamaica , the home of the Jamaica Archives , which is sited behind the World Famous "Lord Rodney Memorial Statue .
 
 

One of the beautiful old ledgers which Ainsley had immense pleasure looking at.
 
 


Ainsley on the way to Hopeton , even though the journey was long he kept his good humor all the way.



 
 
Wear Pen the home of  Catherine Smith , the enslaved property of the Estates owner John Davy
 


 
 
The St. George's Anglican church built by the Property owners who surrounded Mile Gully , this church was featured in both Colin Jackson's story and Ainsley's as the worshiping place of the slave owners of their respective ancestors.


 
 
The abandoned Hopeton Great House , the former residence of George David Harriott , Ainsley's white slave owning 3rd great-grand father
 
Further Highlights from the 'Faces of America' film shoots

I was filmed for in the Summer of 2009 for a PBS Special , Faces of America , which  was hosted by the eminent Professor  Henry Louis Gates Jr. , and aired nationwide in the United States on the 10th of February 2010 . The four part series featured the Jamaica research I did on the family histories of two of the twelve celebrities which were featured , Malcolm Gladwell , the famous Canadian author of the 'Outliers' and Elizabeth Alexander , famous poet laureate and renown for her poetry reading at the Presidential inauguration ceremony of President Barack Obama.Though in the final cut the Jamaican footage was not included in its entirety only small snippets were used , here included are photos of the unused footage.







I am examining the Deed Registers housed at the Registrar General's Dept.
 












And here I am again out in the fields  of Northampton Pen , St Elizabeth







                                                                 Online Resume
 
Organizational Affiliations :-

  • Jewish Genealogical Society of Jamaica
 
Speeches , Symposium Presentations and Papers:-
  • What is a Consultant Archaeologist, Jamaica National Heritage Trust's Open day, March 2008
  • Jamaican Taino ‘Shellsmithing’ Techniques Explored , The Archaeological Society of Jamaica  2008 Symposium, U.W.I. Mona , April 2008
  • Uneasy lies the Head that wears the Crown: An examination of a Strombus gigas shell artifact found at Booby North Point and it's Meso-American connections , The Archaeological Society of Jamaica  2009 Symposium, U.W.I. Mona , April 2009
  • Jamaican Taino ‘Shellsmithing’ Techniques Explored , Caribbean Quarterly , vol. 55.2 , June 2009 ,U.W.I. Mona
     
     
     
    Me examining shell's found at the Cranbrook , Pre-Columbian site in St Mary, Jamaica at the Gibraltar House Archaeological Lab, U.W.I Mona Campus.
     
     
     
     
    Here I am at the Jamaica National Heritage Trust, showing the resident National Archeologists, a Classic Taino stone carving from Puerto Rico.
     

    About Us

    Genealogy Plus was founded in 2006, to fill the need for Advanced Genealogical and Historical Research services, which before then was not offered by any of the other organizations on the Island of Jamaica. The firms founder and chief Genealogical Researcher is committed to bringing a new holistic approach to the art of Research in General and Genealogy in particular. 
     
     
    Our company is based on the belief that every person has the right to have a truer understanding of why you are the way you are.
     
    We would welcome the opportunity to earn your trust and deliver to you the very best service in the industry.
     
    Location:
    Kingston , Jamaica
     
    Hours:
    Mon - Fri: 10.30 am - 5pm
    Sat: 12pm - 8pm email correspondence only
    Sun: Closed
     
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