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Tracing Your Ancestors' Lives: A Guide to Social History for Family Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Barbara J. StarmansTracing Your Ancestors Lives is not a comprehensive study of social history but instead an exploration of the various aspects of social history of particular interest to the family historian. It has been written to help researchers to go beyond the names, dates and places in their pedigree back to the time when their ancestors lived. Through the research advice, resources and case studies in the book, researchers can learn about their ancestors, their families and the society they lived in and record their stories for generations to come. Each chapter highlights an important general area of study. Topics covered include the family and society; domestic life; birth life and death; work, wages and economy; community, religion and government. Barbara J. Starmanss handbook encourages family historians to immerse themselves more deeply in their ancestors time and place. Her work will give researchers a fascinating insight into what their ancestors lives were like.
Tracing Your Ancestors' Parish Records: A Guide for Family and Local Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Stuart RaymondParish records are essential sources for family and local historians, and Stuart Raymond's handbook is an invaluable guide to them. He explores and explains the fascinating and varied historical and personal information they contain. His is the first thoroughgoing survey of these resources to be published for over three decades. In a concise, easy-to-follow text he describes where these important records can be found and demonstrates how they can be used. Records relating to the poor laws, apprentices, the church, tithes, enclosures and charities are all covered. The emphasis throughout is on understanding their original purpose and on revealing how relevant they are for researchers today. Compelling insights into individual lives and communities in the past can be gleaned from them, and they are especially useful when they are combined with other major sources, such as the census.Your Ancestors' Parish Records is an excellent introduction to this key area of family and local history research it is a book that all family and local historians should have on their shelf.
Tracing Your Ancestors Through Death Records: A Guide for Family Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Celia HeritageOf all family history sources, death records are probably the least used by researchers. They are, however, frequently the most revealing of records, giving a far greater insight into our ancestors' lives and personalities than those records created during their lifetime.Celia Heritage leads readers through the various types of death records, showing how they can be found, read and interpreted and how to glean as much information as possible from them. In many cases, they can be used as a starting point for developing your family history research into other equally rewarding areas.This highly readable handbook is packed with useful information and helpful research advice. In addition, a thought-provoking final chapter looks into the repercussions of death its effects on the surviving members of the family and the fact that a premature death could sometimes affect the family for generations to come.
Tracing Your Ancestors Through Family Photographs: A Complete Guide for Family and Local Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Jayne ShrimptonJayne Shrimpton's complete guide to dating, analysing and understanding family photographs is essential reading and reference for anyone undertaking genealogical and local history research. Using over 150 old photographs as examples, she shows how such images can give a direct insight into the past and into the lives of the individuals who are portrayed in them. Almost every family and local historian works with photographs, but often the fascinating historical and personal information that can be gained from them is not fully understood. They are one of the most vivid and memorable ways into the past.This concise but comprehensive guide describes the various types of photograph and explains how they can be dated. It analyses what the clothes and style of dress can tell us about the people in the photographs, their circumstances and background.Sections look at photographs of special occasions baptisms, weddings, funerals - and at photographs taken in wartime, on holiday and at work. There is advice on how to identify the individuals shown and how to find more family photographs through personal connections, archives and the internet - and how to preserve them for future generations.Jayne Shrimpton's handbook is an authoritative, accessible guide to old photographs that no family or local historian can be without.As featured in The Argus.
Tracing Your Ancestors Through Letters & Personal Writings: A Guide for Family Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Ruth A. SymesCould your ancestors write their own names or did they mark official documents with a cross? Why did great-grandfather write so cryptically on a postcard home during the First World War? Why did great-grandmother copy all the letters she wrote into letter-books? How unusual was it that great-uncle sat down and wrote a poem, or a memoir?Researching Family History Through Ancestors' Personal Writings looks at the kinds of (mainly unpublished) writing that could turn up amongst family papers from the Victorian period onwards - a time during which writing became crucial for holding families together and managing their collective affairs.With industrialization, improved education, and far more geographical mobility, British people of all classes were writing for new purposes, with new implements, in new styles, using new modes of expression and new methods of communication (e.g. telegrams and postcards). Our ancestors had an itch for scribbling from the most basic marks (initials, signatures and graffiti on objects as varied as trees, rafters and window ledges), through more emotionally charged kinds of writing such as letters and diaries, to more creative works such as poetry and even fiction.This book shows family historians how to get the most out of documents written by their ancestors and, therefore, how better to understand the people behind the words.
Tracing Your Ancestors Through Local History Records: A Guide for Family Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Jonathan OatesFamily history should reveal more than facts and dates, lists of names and places it should bring ancestors alive in the context of their times and the surroundings they knew and research into local history records is one of the most rewarding ways of gaining this kind of insight into their world. That is why Jonathan Oatess detailed introduction to these records is such a useful tool for anyone who is trying to piece together a portrait of family members from the past. In a series of concise and informative chapters he looks at the origins and importance of local history from the sixteenth century onwards and at the principal archives national and local, those kept by government, councils, boroughs, museums, parishes, schools and clubs. He also explains how books, photographs and other illustrations, newspapers, maps, directories, and a range of other resources can be accessed and interpreted and how they can help to fill a gap in your knowledge. As well as describing how these records were compiled, he highlights their limitations and the possible pitfalls of using them, and he suggests how they can be combined to build up a picture of an individual, a family and the place and time in which they lived.
Tracing Your Ancestors Through the Equity Courts: A Guide for Family and Local Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Susan T. MooreThe records of the Courts of Equity, which dealt with cases of fairness rather than law, are among the most detailed, extensive and revealing of all the legal documents historians can consult, yet they are often neglected. Susan Moore's expert introduction to them opens up this fascinating source to researchers who may not be familiar with them and dont know how to take advantage of them. As she traces the purpose, history and organization of the Courts of Equity from around 1500 to 1876, she demonstrates how varied their role was and how valuable their archives are for us today. She covers the Courts of Chancery, Exchequer, Star Chamber, Requests, Palatinates and Duchy of Lancaster in clear detail. Her work shows researchers why their records are worth searching, how to search them and how many jewels of information can be found in them. This introduction will be appreciated by local, social and family historians who are coming to these records for the first time and by those who already know of the records but have found them daunting.
Tracing Your Ancestors Using DNA: A Guide for Family Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors Ser.)
by Graham S. HoltonAn easy-to-use, straightforward guide for British family historians looking to trace their ancestry using DNA testing. DNA research is one of the most rapidly advancing areas in modern science, and the practical use of DNA testing in genealogy is one of its most exciting applications. Yet there is no recent British publication in this field. That is why this accessible, wide-ranging introduction is so valuable. It offers a clear, practical way into the subject, explaining the scientific discoveries and techniques and illustrating with case studies how it can be used by genealogists to gain an insight into their ancestry. The subject is complex and perhaps difficult for traditional genealogists to understand but, with the aid of this book, novices who are keen to take advantage of it will be able to interpret test results and use them to help answer genealogical questions which cannot be answered by documentary evidence alone. It will also appeal to those with some experience in the field because it places the practical application of genetic genealogy within a wider context, highlighting its role as a genealogical tool and suggesting how it can be made more effective.
Tracing Your Ancestors Using the Census: A Guide for Family Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Emma JollyThe Pen & Sword guide to the census is detailed, accessible and authoritative, and it is one of the most comprehensive on the market. It has been written with the family historian in mind, and it is packed with advice on how to explore and get the most from the census records. As well as describing the modern censuses, it provides information on the less-known censuses dating from before 1841, and it covers the records of all the constituent parts of the British Isles. It is an essential introduction and tool for anyone who is researching the life and times of an ancestor. Emma Jolly describes how and why census records came to be created, then looks in detail at how to search the main censuses from 1841 to 1911. Each chapter covers the relevant historical context, compares online and other sources, identifies problems like lost or damaged records, and shows how the specific information in the census concerned can be interpreted effectively. While the censuses of England and Wales, Scotland, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are all examined, the main focus is on the English and Welsh census, with differences noted for other areas. An extensive appendix and bibliography, which, for ease of access, gathers together all the key resources in one place, is also provided.
Tracing your Ancestors using the UK Historical Timeline: A Guide for Family Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Angela Smith Neil BertramThis handy book is a timeline guide to genealogical resources - what records are available and when they started - as well as an aide-memoire to significant historical events from 1066 to present; helping to put family ancestors into an historical context. Each page in this book has a main column with facts of genealogical relevance in the broadest sense; a side column makes mention of events of socio-cultural significance and events relating to the monarchy, the State and the Church. Entries cover historical and genealogical aspects of all four countries of the UK plus Ireland and the Channel Islands, as well as significant historical events in the wider world that had an impact here. The timeline is especially strong on the contribution of migration, extreme weather, disasters, epidemics, wars, nonconformist religions, taxation, transport, the armed services, famine, empire, organized labor, social writers, mapmakers, political unrest and scientific advances. Genealogically, there is information on changes to BMD certificates and the associated register entries, as well as to censuses and the facts they collected, plus much more. There are also references to earlier records that generated name indexes such as muster rolls and poll taxes, how complete they are and where they can be found. By being reasonably balanced across the centuries, the authors have resisted the temptation to include excessive detail on recent history. This book will help the family historian to construct a timeline for their ancestors, providing a fairly full set of historical events, developments and records likely to have had an impact on them, their family and community. It is a handy reference guide to a myriad of dates but is also a useful book to study when writing a family history as it offers plenty of contextual information. It should also prompt readers to search out new resources in tracing their ancestors.
Tracing Your Aristocratic Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Anthony AdolphDo you believe you are descended from the aristocracy, or even from royalty? Or do you have a line of descent from a blue-blooded family, but want to know more? How far back do noble and royal lines go? How do coats of arms work, and how can heraldic records tell you more? How can genetics help you find your aristocratic origins?In Tracing Your Aristocratic Ancestors leading British genealogist, Anthony Adolph explains how to decode family stories, to find the truth and prove your descent from blue-blooded forebears. His book shows you how to expand your aristocratic pedigree sideways and backwards, incorporating heraldic records and printed pedigrees such as those in Burkes Peerage. In a series of concise, fact-filled chapters he explains how to find out about and prove aristocratic ancestry, defines who is blue-blooded, and describes all the sources that researchers can use to explore this fascinating subject. Under Adolphs guidance, you will travel back into the distant past, using cutting-edge DNA technology and arcane genealogies, back to the evolution of the human race, and the point where real ancestors fade into mythical ones Adam and Eve, the heroes of old and, ultimately, the very gods themselves.
Tracing Your Army Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Simon FowlerThis well-known author has produced yet another excellent guide for researching ancestors who have served in the Army. The book is an ideal text for reference when investigating army personnel. Military Archive Research.comA splendid publication with a great deal of valuable information. Michael Brooker, Guild of Battlefield GuidesWhether you are interested in the career of an individual officer, researching medals awarded to a soldier, or just want to know more about a particular battle or campaign, this book will point you in the right direction. Assuming the reader has no prior knowledge of the British Army, its history or organization, Simon Fowler explains what records survive, where they are to be found and how they can help you in your research. He shows how to make the best use of the increasing number of related resources to be found online, and he pays particular attention to explaining the records and the reasons behind their creation, as this information can be very important in understanding how these documents can help your research.
Tracing Your Army Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Simon FowlerThis well-known author has produced yet another excellent guide for researching ancestors who have served in the Army. The book is an ideal text for reference when investigating army personnel. Military Archive Research.comA splendid publication with a great deal of valuable information. Michael Brooker, Guild of Battlefield GuidesWhether you are interested in the career of an individual officer, researching medals awarded to a soldier, or just want to know more about a particular battle or campaign, this book will point you in the right direction. Assuming the reader has no prior knowledge of the British Army, its history or organization, Simon Fowler explains what records survive, where they are to be found and how they can help you in your research. He shows how to make the best use of the increasing number of related resources to be found online, and he pays particular attention to explaining the records and the reasons behind their creation, as this information can be very important in understanding how these documents can help your research.
Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors Ser.)
by Chris PatonAn indispensable genealogy guide to the Northern Irish capital’s rich history and ancestral records.The city of Belfast has seen its fair share of history across the centuries. From its humble beginnings as a medieval settlement on the River Lagan, it grew into a corporation town in the seventeenth century and expanded dramatically when it became a city in 1888. Along the way it has experienced the darkest of times, including the Belfast Blitz and the recent Troubles, as well as some of the most enlightened developments across Ireland and the UK. In Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, genealogist and author Chris Paton returns to the city of his own birth, delving into its history and genealogical resources. Paton covers the city's most extensive archives, libraries and museums, and offers a detailed overview of the records generated by those who came before. He expertly steers the reader towards centuries of ancestral exploration, both through online resources and within the city of Belfast itself – and with a wee bit of craic along the way!
Tracing Your Birmingham Ancestors: A Guide for Family & Local Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Michael SharpeBirmingham, the cradle of the industrial revolution and the world's first manufacturing town, is an important focus for many family historians who will find that their trail leads through it. Rural migrants, Quakers, Jews, Irish, Italians, and more recently people from the Caribbean, South-Asia and China have all made Birmingham their home. This vibrant history is reflected in the city's rich collections of records, and Michael Sharpe's handbook is the ideal guide to them. He introduces readers to the wealth of information available, providing an essential guide for anyone researching the history of the city or the life of an individual ancestor. His work addresses novices and experienced researchers alike and offers a compendium of sources from legal and ecclesiastical archives, to the records of local government, employers, institutions, clubs, societies and schools. Accessible, informative and extensively referenced, it is the perfect companion for research in Britain's second city.
Tracing Your Black Country Ancestors: A Guide For Family Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Michael PearsonThe Black Country in the West Midlands is an important site for family historians. Many researchers, seeking to trace their ancestry back through the generations, will find their trail leads through it. And yet, despite the burgeoning interest in genealogy and the importance of the region in so many life stories, no previous book has provided a guide to the Black Country's history and to the documents and records that family historians can use in their research. In this accessible and informative introduction to the subject, Michael Pearson looks at the history and heritage of the region and gives a graphic insight into the world in which our ancestors lived. He concentrates on the role the Black Country played during the industrial revolution when the development of mining, industry and transport transformed the economic and social life of the area. This was a period when living and working conditions were poor, families were large, children worked from an early age, often in the mines, and life expectancy was less than 20. And it was the era in which the Black Country took on the distinctive identity by which it is known today. As well as retelling the fascinating story of the development of the Black Country, the author introduces the reader to the variety of records that are available for genealogical research, from legal and ecclesiastical archives, birth and death certificates to the records of local government, employers, institutions, clubs, societies and schools.
Tracing Your British Indian Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Emma JollyTracing Your British Indian Ancestors gives a fascinating insight into the history of the subcontinent under British rule and into the lives the British led there. It also introduces the reader to the range of historical records that can be consulted in order to throw light on the experience of individuals who were connected to India over the centuries of British involvement in the country.Emma Jolly looks at every aspect of British Indian history and at all the relevant resources. She explains the information held in the British Library India Office Records and The National Archives. She also covers the records of the armed forces, the civil service and the railways, as well as religious and probate records, and other sources available for researchers. At the same time, she provides a concise and vivid social history of the British in India: from the early days of the East India Company, through the Mutiny and the imposition of direct British rule in the mid-nineteenth century, to the independence movement and the last days of the Raj. Her book will help family historians put their research into an historical perspective, giving them a better understanding of the part their ancestors played in India in the past.
Tracing Your Canal Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Sue WilkesBritains industrial revolution depended on canals for the cheap movement of materials and goods until the coming of the railways. Canal companies struggled to compete and went into a long decline, but much of the canal network is still with us today, and interest in the history and heritage of canals - and those who worked on them - is strong. That is why Sue Wilkess well researched and highly readable handbook on the subject is so valuable.She concentrates on the people who lived and worked on the waterways the canal boatmen, their families and their way of life - and those who depended on the canal trade for a living the lock-keepers, toll collectors, and canal company clerks. She provides a thorough, practical guide to the sources the archives, books, websites, societies available for researchers if they are studying our inland waterways, or trying to find out about an ancestor who worked on the canals or was connected with them.Her book is essential reading for anyone interested in this aspect of the industrial past.
Tracing Your Channel Islands Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Marie-Louise BackhurstTracing Your Channel Islands Ancestors is an expert introduction for the family historian to the wealth of material available to researchers in libraries and archives in Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney and Sark. Full information is given on how to access the civil birth, marriage and death records which are only available in the islands and differ in format from those in England and Wales. Marie-Louise Backhurst covers the census, church records, nonconformist registers, rating lists, newspapers, wills and inheritance, official records, and the variety of other sources that can illuminate a past life and make family history research so rewarding. Migration has played a large part in the history of the islands and details of the records are fully explained.This authoritative and easy-to-use guide to these collections, and the authors advice on how to use them and get the most out of them, will be invaluable to anyone who is trying to find out about the life and experience of an ancestor who lived in the Channel Islands or was connected with them. This book will equally be essential reading and reference for anyone who wants to explore the history of the Channel Islands.
Tracing Your Church of England Ancestors: A Guide for Family & Local Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Stuart A. RaymondIn his latest handbook on the records of the major Christian religions, Stuart Raymond focuses on the Church of England. He identifies the available sources, comments on their strengths and weaknesses and explains how to make the best use of them. The history of the Church of England is covered, from the Reformation in the mid-sixteenth century until the present day. Anyone who has a family connection with the Church of England or a special interest in the local history of the church will find his book to be a mine of practical information and an essential aid for their research. A sequence of short, accessible chapters gives an insight into the relevant records and demonstrates how much fascinating genealogical information can be gleaned from them. After providing a brief history of the Church of England, and a description of its organization, Stuart Raymond explores the wide range of records that researchers can consult. Among them are parish registers, bishops transcripts, marriage licenses, churchwardens accounts, vestry minutes, church magazines, tithe records and the records of the ecclesiastical courts and Anglican charities and missions. A wealth of research material is available and this book is the perfect introduction to it.
Tracing Your Coalmining Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Brian Elliott&“A meticulous mixture of social and family history . . . Whether or not you have mining connections, this is an interesting socio-economic read.&” —Your Family Tree In the 1920s there were over a million coalminers working in over 3000 collieries across Great Britain, and the industry was one of the most important and powerful in British history. It dominated the lives of generations of individuals, their families, and communities, and its legacy is still with us today—many of us have a coalmining ancestor. Yet family historians often have problems in researching their mining forebears. Locating the relevant records, finding the sites of the pits, and understanding the work involved and its historical background can be perplexing. That is why Brian Elliott&’s concise, authoritative and practical handbook will be so useful, for it guides researchers through these obstacles and opens up the broad range of sources they can go to in order to get a vivid insight into the lives and experiences of coalminers in the past. His overview of the coalmining history—and the case studies and research tips he provides—will make his book rewarding reading for anyone looking for a general introduction to this major aspect of Britain&’s industrial heritage. His directory of regional and national sources and his commentary on them will make this guide an essential tool for family historians searching for an ancestor who worked in coalmining underground, on the pit top or just lived in a mining community. As featured in Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine and the Barnsley Chronicle.
Tracing Your Criminal Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Stephen WadeDid you have a criminal in the family, an ancestor who was caught on the wrong side of the law? If you have ever had any suspicions about the illicit activities of your relatives, or are fascinated by the history of crime and punishment, this is the book for you. Stephen Wades useful introduction to this fascinating subject will help you discover and investigate the life stories of individuals who had a criminal past. The crimes they committed, the conditions in which they lived, the policing and justice system that dealt with them all these aspects of criminal history are covered as are the many types of crime they were guilty of murder, robbery, fraud, sexual offenses, poaching, protest and public disorder. Graphic case studies featuring each type of crime are included, dating from the Georgian period up until the present day. All of these cases are reconstructed using information gleaned from the many sources available to researchers libraries, archives, books and the internet among them. 'Tracing Your Criminal Ancestors' is essential reading for anyone who wishes to explore the criminal past and seeks to trace an ancestor who had a criminal record.
Tracing Your East Anglian Ancestors: A Guide For Family Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Gill BlanchardGill Blanchards practical and informative handbook will help you to trace your ancestors in the traditional counties of East Anglia - Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex and it will give you a fascinating insight into their lives.As well as guiding the researcher to historical records held in all the relevant archives, she explores the wealth of other resources that add the 'flesh to the bones' of our ancestors' lives. She describes how fascinating information can be discovered about the places they lived in and the important historical events they lived through, and she traces the life stories of notable people from all backgrounds who shaped the regions development over the centuries.Her account highlights East Anglias diversity but also focuses on its common features and its strong sense of identity. She starts with a general introduction to its history and geography, then goes on to focus on different aspects of its rich past. In the process she illustrates a wide array of additional research resources that will be revealing for readers who want to find out more about all aspects of life in this area of England.
Tracing Your East End Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Jane CoxEast Enders are a very special breed and tracing your East End ancestry is going to be tremendous fun. Everyone has got some East End ancestors - and if they havent they invent them, rollicking chaps, larky and resourceful, talking a funny language to keep them guessing, eating at eel and pie shops, shouting out their wares in clattering, colorful markets. Their wives and masters ( er in doors) are brazen lassies, smart as paint, tough as their men folk, presiding over an undoubted matriarchal society where Mum rules OK? The good tales are of bright little kids, unshod and streetwise, rising above their origins and making a mint. The bad ones are of indescribable horror - children dying in diseased heaps, infant sex for sale and gangs of armed bandits terrorizing the neighborhood.As author Jane Cox writes in the preface, the East End of our great grandparents days was another world, and her fascinating and accessible guide to East End ancestry will help you find out about it. She takes readers through the maze of courts and alleys that was the home of their ancestors, bringing to life that vibrant, polyglot society, and describing the many sources researchers can consult archives, records, books, the internet in order to discover the lives of individuals who lived in the area or passed through it.
Tracing Your Edinburgh Ancestors: A Guide for Family & Local Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Alan StewartEdinburgh has been the capital of Scotland for the last 500 years and more. The 'Athens of the North' is the centre of Scottish banking, medicine, architecture, law and publishing. It is the home of Scotland's national museums and the location of the Queen's official residence in Scotland and of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. It is also the site of the Edinburgh Festival and Royal Military Tattoo, and the seat of the devolved Scottish government. The city is steeped in national, local and family history, and Alan Stewart's handbook is the perfect guide to it. He takes readers through the story of Edinburgh from the earliest times up to the present day, showing how its colourful history has affected the lives of their ancestors. The many genealogical records of Edinburgh are described in detail, and appendices cover genealogy websites, family history societies, and Edinburgh's many archives, museums, art galleries, castles and palaces.