Latin is the language of a vast quantity of untouched source material. Despite the widespread popular interest in research into local and family history there has been no recent textbook to help the beginner to cope with the great barrier preventing access to that wealth of information--medieval Latin. This book remedies the omission. It embodies the author's experience as a university teacher of Latin and local history over 20 years, deriving from the notes and material developed for the Latin examination in the local history certificate courses which he organized. After dealing with the basic grammar of Latin, this very practical book examines the structure and vocabulary of the records use in local and family research, including Episcopal visitation, church court records, sepulchral inscriptions, wills, manorial court rolls, charters, and deeds. A final chapter explains the abbreviations used in medieval Latin. The book is complete in itself and contains al the necessary tables of declensions and conjugations plus a glossary of more than 800 words. The book is uniquely user-friendly, as the pace of instruction is never rushed, and the passages for translation are carefully graded for grammar and vocabulary and selected both for their intrinsic interest and for their representative character. The reader who works systematically through the book will be equipped to handle the Latin of the documents encountered by the do-it-yourself local or family historian.

Latin is the language of a vast quantity of untouched source material. Despite the widespread popular interest in research into local and family history there has been no recent textbook to help the beginner to cope with the great barrier preventing access to that wealth of information--medieval Latin. This book remedies the omission. It embodies the author's experience as a university teacher of Latin and local history over 20 years, deriving from the notes and material developed for the Latin examination in the local history certificate courses which he organized. After dealing with the basic grammar of Latin, this very practical book examines the structure and vocabulary of the records use in local and family research, including Episcopal visitation, church court records, sepulchral inscriptions, wills, manorial court rolls, charters, and deeds. A final chapter explains the abbreviations used in medieval Latin. The book is complete in itself and contains al the necessary tables of declensions and conjugations plus a glossary of more than 800 words. The book is uniquely user-friendly, as the pace of instruction is never rushed, and the passages for translation are carefully graded for grammar and vocabulary and selected both for their intrinsic interest and for their representative character. The reader who works systematically through the book will be equipped to handle the Latin of the documents encountered by the do-it-yourself local or family historian.

A practical and comprehensive work on reading and translating old handwriting and abbreviations,particularly medieval and Latin writing, with examples and commentary.

This book is the ideal companion for anybody researching their family tree. It provides advice and inspiration on methods and problem-solving and helps the amateur family historian understand what successful professionals do to get results, and why we should copy them. Over ten chapters, it examines the various themes that affect the success or failure of all genealogy research. This begins with an overview of common challenges genealogists encounter and continues with an examination of how to both search effectively and find the right documentary sources. Using examples from her own family history as well as client work, teacher and professional genealogist Helen Osborn demonstrates how to get the most from documents, analyse problems and build research plans. These subjects lead on to recording results, how to ensure relationships are correctly proved, organizing information and presenting your findings. This book will be particularly valuable to anyone who is stuck with their research, in addition to those who are keen to learn about advanced skills and methods used by genealogists.

An exciting new addition to any family historian's library, Family History: Digging Deeper will take your research to the next level. Joined by a team of expert genealogists, Simon Fowler covers a range of topics and provides clear advice for the intermediate genealogist. Helping you push back the barriers, this book details how to utilise the internet in your research and suggests some unusual archives and records which might just transform your research. It will teach you about genealogical traditions, variants of family history around the world and even the abuse of genealogy by the Nazis. It will help you understand current developments in DNA testing, new resources and digitised online material. Problem-solving sections are also included to help tackle common difficulties and provide answers to the brick walls often reached when researching one's ancestors. If you want to dig deeper into your family tree and the huge array of records available, then this book is for you.

How has the place we live in changed, developed, and grown over the centuries? That is the basic question local historians seek to answer. The answer is to be found in the sources of information that previous generations have left us. The records of parish, county, and diocesan administration, of the courts, of the national government, and of private estates, all have something to tell us about the history of the locality we are interested in. So do old newspapers and other publications. All of these sources are readily available, but many have been little used. Local historians come from a wide diversity of backgrounds. But whether you are a student researching a dissertation, a family historian interested in the wider background history of your family, a teacher, a librarian, an archivist, an academic, or are merely interested in the history of your own area, this book is for you. If you want to research local history, you need a detailed account of the myriad sources readily available. This book provides a comprehensive overview of those sources, and its guidance will enable you to explore and exploit their vast range. It poses the questions which local historians ask, and identifies the specific sources likely to answer those questions.

This is a comprehensive, illustrated guide to tracing British ancestry, equally suitable for beginners and those who have already started the search for their roots. The book guides the researcher for their roots. The book guides the researcher through the substantial British archives with a detailed finding aids or indexes. the early chapters include advice on obtaining information from relatives, drawing on family trees and starting research in the records of births, marriages and deaths, or in census records; later chapters guide researchers to the records that are ore that are more difficult to find and use, such as legal and property records.