A practical handbook for family historians looking to verify dates and add historical context to their British ancestry. Ancestral research can often lead to a foggy realm of the distant past where dates and details become muddled. For those interested in shedding light on their British family lineage, this volume offers a wealth of genealogical resources. Here you will discover what records are available and how far back they go. It also presents a handy timeline to historical events from 1066 to the present. Created with the family historian in mind, each page presents historical facts of genealogical relevance alongside significant socio-cultural events. The timeline focuses on subjects such as migration, extreme weather, epidemics, famine, taxation, transport, the armed services, organized labor, political unrest, and scientific advances. Entries cover all four countries of the UK plus Ireland and the Channel Islands, as well as significant historical events in the wider world. Genealogically, it includes information on changes to BMD certificates and the associated register entries, as well as to censuses and the facts they collected, plus much more.

The new edition of the essential family history title: the only exhaustive guide to The National Archives holdings.

Tracing 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.

An 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.

This book is ideal for anyone who reaserching their Caribbean family history The National Archives and beyond. The National Archives holds records for many people who lived in British West Indian colonies such as emigrants, plantation owners, slaves, soldiers, sailors and transported criminals. The Archives also hold the colonial office records for the British West Indies. This includes state correspondence to and from the colonies and passenger lists. Tracing Your Caribbean Ancestors also shows readers how to use family history sources and genealogy websites and indexes beyond The National Archives. Fully updated and revised, this new edition covers recent developments in Caribbean archives, including details of newly released information and archives that are now available online. This book outlines the primary research sources for those tracing their Caribbean ancestry and describes details of access to archives, further reading, useful websites and how to find and accurately search family history sources. As Britain does not hold locally created records of its dependencies such as church records, this book doubles as a gateway to the local history sources throughout the Caribbean that remain in each country's archives and register office. This book will be of use to anyone researching family history in British Caribbean countries of Anguilla, Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos Islands as well as Guyana, Belize and Bermuda.

A simple guide to tracing British family tree before the onset of civil registration in 1837 and back to the Middle Ages. The trail that an ancestor leaves through the Victorian period and the twentieth century is relatively easy to follow—the records are plentiful, accessible, and commonly used. But how do you go back further, into the centuries before the central registration of births, marriages, and deaths was introduced in 1837, before the first detailed census records of 1841? How can you trace a family line back through the early modern period and perhaps into the Middle Ages? Jonathan Oates’s clearly written new handbook gives you all the background knowledge needed in order to go into this engrossing area of family history research. He starts by describing the administrative, religious, and social structures in the medieval and early modern period and shows how these relate to the family historian. Then in a sequence of accessible chapters, he describes the variety of sources the researcher can turn to. Church and parish records, the records of the professions and the courts, manorial and property records, tax records, early censuses, lists of loyalty, militia lists, charity records—all these can be consulted. He even includes a short guide to the best methods of reading medieval and early modern script. Oates’s handbook is an essential introduction for anyone who is keen to take their family history research back into the more distant past. “A pleasure to read and one that you are likely to return to time and again as you delve deeper into your family’s past.” —Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine (UK)

Whether you conduct your research in person or by mail, this celebrated manual - now in its fourth edition - will guide you in finding your ancestors in Britain or Ireland. Angus Baxter provides detailed instructions for locating records abroad and shows how easy it is to do by mail - or on a vacation trip! He begins with step-by-step instructions on drawing up a family tree, and explains how to use sources close at hand. The search continues by correspondence with family history societies, record offices, and other organizations, before concluding with a possible - but not essential - trip to the source, Britain or Ireland. The new Fourth Edition of this classic work includes discussions of the following topics: -The transfer of important genealogical records from Chancery Lane and St. Catherine's House to the new Family Records Centre in London - most notably, civil registration records, census returns, and records of the prerogative Court of Canterbury. -The 1986, 1996, and 1998 reorganization of counties in England and Wales and the latest information on where to find local records. Where available, URLs are given for country record offices (CROs), as well as for major repositories. Phone and fax numbers, if available, are also given for CROs and other archives. -The British Library transfer of many of its collections from the Great Russel Street location (inside the British Museum) to a new facility at St. Pancras, London -The establishment of the Irish Genealogical Project -The 1998 amalgamation of the Public Record Office and State Paper Office into the National Archives of Ireland. Finally, Baxter demonstrates how the threads of fact can be woven into a rich and detailed family history, the ultimate goal of all searchers determined to find their family roots.