A fully comprehensive guide to discovering your roots, how to access the relevant archives, searching the internet, to draw up a family tree of your British ancestors.

"Chris Paton explores the history and records of the various churches in Scotland prior to 1855, the year in which civil registration commenced within the country. He describes the theological changes imposed by the Reformation of 1560, the nature of the state's battles with the Kirk, and the Kirk's subsequent battles within itself."--Cover description.

Genealogists can sometimes require obscure resources when in search of information about ancestors. Tracking down records to complete a family tree can become laborious when the researcher doesn't know where to begin looking. Many of the best resources are maintained regionally or even locally, and aren’t widely known. This reference work serves as a guide to both beginning and experienced genealogy researchers. The sourcebook is easily accessible and usable, featuring approximately 270 entries on all aspects of genealogical research and family history compilation. The entries are listed alphabetically and cross-referenced so any researcher can quickly find the information he or she is seeking. Each state and each of the provinces of Canada has its own entry; other countries are listed under appropriate headings. The author also provides more than 700 addresses from all over the world so that the genealogist or general researcher may contact any one of these organizations to obtain specific information about particular births, deaths, marriages, or other life events in order to complete a family tree.

Profiling more than 1400 print and electronic sources, this book helps connect librarians and researchers to the most relevant sources of information in genealogy and biography.