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Tracing Your Ancestors in County Records: A Guide for Family & Local Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Stuart A. RaymondA detailed handbook to the English and Welsh Quarter Sessions records, their background, and how they can be used by genealogists and historians.For over 500 years, between the fourteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Justices of the Peace were the embodiment of government for most of our ancestors. The records they and other county officials kept are invaluable sources for local and family historians, and Stuart Raymond's handbook is the first in-depth guide to them. He shows how and why they were created, what information they contain, and how they can be accessed and used.Justices of the Peace met regularly in Quarter Sessions, judging minor criminal matters, licensing alehouses, paying pensions to maimed soldiers, overseeing roads and bridges, and running gaols and hospitals. They supervised the work of parish constables, highway surveyors, poor law overseers, and other officers. And they kept extensive records of their work, which are invaluable to researchers today.As Stuart Raymond explains, the lord lieutenant, the sheriff, the assize judges, the clerk of the peace, and the coroner, together with a variety of subordinate officials, also played important roles in county government. Most of them left records that give us detailed insights into our ancestors’ lives.The wide range of surviving county records deserve to be better known and more widely used, and Stuart Raymond’s book is a fascinating introduction to them.Praise for Tracing Your Ancestors in County Records“This is invaluable stuff: while other books may mention the records, this volume provides a useful understanding of the processes and public philosophies that led to them in the first place. There are plenty of references for further reading, too. . . . An excellent textbook exploring the mechanics of local record-keeping.” —Your Family History (UK)“This great introduction to county records will soon have you chomping at the bit to head to your nearest archive to begin exploring beyond the records available online. Well-known family and local historian (and Family Tree contributor) Stuart A. Raymond provides a concise and easy guide to the rich seam of records you can expect to find (and those you can't), going back 500 years to when Justices of the Peace were the embodiment of local government for our ancestors. There’s a wealth of information to get your teeth into.” —Family Tree (UK)
Tracing Your Ancestors in Lunatic Asylums: A Guide for Family Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Michelle HiggsA concise handbook for genealogical research into patients of British mental institutions from the 18th to the early 20th centuries.An expert in British Victorian history, Michelle Higgs helps readers uncover information about relatives whose lives are too often forgotten. Higgs concentrates on the period from the eighteenth century to 1948 when the National Health Service was founded. Using original records, contemporary accounts, photographs, illustrations and case studies of real individuals, Higgs brings the story of the asylums and their patients to life.Different types of institution are covered, including private madhouses, county lunatic asylums, facilities for idiots and imbeciles, and military mental hospitals. Chapters look at the admission procedures and daily routine of patients, plus different kinds of mental illness and how they were treated. Separate sections discuss the systems in Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales. Information is provided on all the relevant sources, from wills and the census to casebooks and admission and discharge registers.
Tracing Your Ancestors in Lunatic Asylums: A Guide for Family Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Michelle HiggsA concise handbook for genealogical research into patients of British mental institutions from the 18th to the early 20th centuries.An expert in British Victorian history, Michelle Higgs helps readers uncover information about relatives whose lives are too often forgotten. Higgs concentrates on the period from the eighteenth century to 1948 when the National Health Service was founded. Using original records, contemporary accounts, photographs, illustrations and case studies of real individuals, Higgs brings the story of the asylums and their patients to life.Different types of institution are covered, including private madhouses, county lunatic asylums, facilities for idiots and imbeciles, and military mental hospitals. Chapters look at the admission procedures and daily routine of patients, plus different kinds of mental illness and how they were treated. Separate sections discuss the systems in Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales. Information is provided on all the relevant sources, from wills and the census to casebooks and admission and discharge registers.
Tracing Your Ancestors' Childhood: A Guide for Family Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Sue WilkesEvery family historian has child ancestors, and childhood experiences and records are an essential aspect of research into a past life. That is why Sue Wilkes's detailed and accessible handbook is such a useful guide for anyone who is trying to find out about the early years of their forbears. In Tracing Your Ancestors' Childhood she explores the history of childhood and education and brings together information about relevant records and archives into one handy reference guide. She outlines ancestors' childhood experiences at home, school, work and in institutions, especially during Victorian times. In the opening chapter she reviews basic family history sources, then she discusses records of childhood in detail. Specialist archives, published sources, recommended reading and other resources and documents are covered. She focuses primarily on England and Wales and covers the years 1750–1950. The second part of her book is a directory of archives and specialist repositories. Databases of children's societies, useful genealogy websites, and places to visit which bring the social history of childhood to life are all included.
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: A Guide For Family Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Gill BlanchardGill Blanchard's 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 an 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 the diversity of this part of England but also focuses on its common features and strong sense of identity. It introduces a wide array of research resources that will be revealing for readers who want to find out about their ancestors who lived here.
Tracing Your Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Simon FowlerThis accessible, well-organized, easy-to-use beginners guide to the world of family history is essential reading for anyone who wants to find their way into this fascinating subject. In a series of short, practical chapters Simon Fowler takes readers through all the first steps that will reveal the lives of their ancestors and the world they lived in. He looks at every aspect of research, from finding family papers and interviewing relatives, through exploring websites, archives, newspapers and directories, to all the other sources that can throw a light into the past. In a clear, straightforward way he explains how vital records of births, marriages and deaths can be used as the starting point in a sequence of eye-opening family detective work. Simon Fowlers introduction, which is founded on a career of genealogical research and writing, is an indispensable basic book for anyone entering in the field.
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.
Tracing Your Family History on the Internet, Second Edition: A Guide for Family Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors Ser.)
by Chris PatonThis fully revised second edition of Chris Paton's best-selling guide is essential reading if you want to make effective use of the internet in your family history research. Every day new records and resources are placed online and new methods of sharing research and communicating across cyberspace become available, and his handbook is the perfect introduction to them. He has checked and updated all the links and other sources, added new ones, written a new introduction and substantially expanded the social networking section. Never before has it been so easy to research family history using the internet, but he demonstrates that researchers need to take a cautious approach to the information they gain from it. They need to ask, where did the original material come from and has it been accurately reproduced, why was it put online, what has been left out and what is still to come? As he leads the researcher through the multitude of resources that are now accessible online, he helps to answer these questions. He shows what the internet can and cannot do, and he warns against the various traps researchers can fall into along the way.As seen in Your Family Tree Magazine.
Tracing Your Family History on the Internet: A Guide For Family Historians (Tracing Your Ancestors)
by Chris PatonA genealogist&’s practical guide to researching family history online while avoiding inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading information. The internet has revolutionized family history research—every day new records and resources are placed online and new methods of sharing research and communicating become available. Never before has it been so easy to research family history and to gain a better understanding of who we are and where we came from. But, as British genealogist Chris Paton demonstrates in this straightforward, practical guide, while the internet is an enormous asset, it is also something to be wary of. Researchers need to take a cautious approach to the information they acquire on the web. Where did the original material come from? Has it been accurately reproduced? Why was it put online? What has been left out and what is still to come? As he leads researchers through the multitude of resources that are now accessible online with an emphasis on UK and Ireland sites, Chris Paton helps to answer these questions. He shows what the internet can and cannot do—and he warns against the various traps researchers can fall into along the way.