Almost all of us have a tradesman or craftsman Ð a butcher, baker or candlestick maker Ð somewhere in our ancestry, and Adle Emm's handbook is the perfect guide to finding out about them Ð about their lives, their work and the world they lived in. She introduces the many trades and crafts, looks at their practices and long traditions, and identifies and explains the many sources you can go to in order to discover more about them and their families. ?Chapters cover the guilds, the merchants, shopkeepers, builders, smiths and metalworkers, cordwainers and shoemakers, tailors and dressmakers, coopers, wheelwrights and carriage-makers, and a long list of other trades and crafts. The training and apprenticeships of individuals who worked in these trades and crafts are described, as are their skills and working conditions and the genealogical resources that preserve their history and give an insight into their lives. A chapter covers the general sources that researchers can turn to Ð the National Archives, the census, newspapers, wills, and websites Ð and gives advice on how to use them. ?Adle Emm's introduction will be fascinating reading for anyone who is researching the social or family history of trades and crafts.

A simple, easy-to-use guide for British family historians wishing to trace their female ancestry. Everyone has a mother and a line of female ancestors, and often their paths through life are hard to trace. That is why this detailed, accessible handbook is of such value, for it explores the lives of female ancestors from the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 to the beginning of the First World War. In 1815, a woman was the chattel of her husband; by 1914, when the menfolk were embarking on one of the most disastrous wars ever known, the women at home were taking on jobs and responsibilities never before imagined. Adèle Emm’s work is the ideal introduction to the role of women during this period of dramatic social change. Chapters cover the quintessential experiences of birth, marriage, and death; a woman’s working and daily life, both middle and working class; through to crime and punishment, the acquisition of an education and the fight for equality. Each chapter gives advice on where further resources, archives, wills, newspapers, and websites can be found, with plentiful common-sense advice on how to use them. “A unique and information packed instructional reference and guide, Tracing Your Female Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians is an extraordinary and thoroughly user friendly manual that is unreservedly recommended for both community and academic library Genealogy collections and supplemental studies lists.” —Midwest Book Review

Few previous publications have focused on Welsh family history, and none have provided a comprehensive guide to the genealogical information available and where to find it. That is why the publication of Beryl Evans's new Welsh family history handbook is such a significant event in the field. Her detailed, accessible, authoritative guide will be essential reading and reference for anyone who is eager to research ancestors from Wales. ?She describes the key archival sources and shows how the development of new technology, the internet in particular, has made them so much easier to explore. Drawing on her long experience of family history work, she gives clear practical advice on how to start a research project, and she sketches in the outlines of Welsh history, Welsh surnames and place-names and the Welsh language. ?But the main body of her book is devoted to identifying the variety of sources researchers can consult Ð the archive repositories, including The National Library of Wales, civil records of all kinds, the census, parish registers, wills, the records of churches, chapels, schools, businesses, tax offices and courts, and the wide range of printed records. ?Beryl Evans's handbook will be a basic text for researchers of Welsh descent and for anyone who is keen to learn about Welsh history

Birmingham, 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.

The recent past is so often neglected when people research their family history, yet it can be one of the most rewarding periods to explore, and so much fascinating evidence is available. The rush of events over the last century and the rapid changes that have taken place in every aspect of life have been dramatic, and the lives of family members of only a generation or two ago may already appear remote. That is why Karen Bali’s informative and accessible guide to investigating your immediate ancestors is essential reading, and a handy reference for anyone who is trying to trace them or discover the background to their lives. In a sequence of concise, fact-filled chapters she looks back over the key events of the twentieth century and identifies the sources that can give researchers an insight into the personal stories of individuals who lived through it. She explains census and civil records, particularly those of the early twentieth century, and advises readers on the best way to get relevant information from directories and registers as well as wills and other personal documents. Chapters also cover newspapers – which often provide personal details and offer a vivid impression of the world of the time – professional and property records and records of migration and naturalization. This practical handbook is rounded off with sections on tracing living relatives and likely future developments in the field.

The Boer War took place between 1899 and 1902, just 15 years before the start of the First World War. Some 180,00 Britons , mainly volunteers , traveled 6,000 miles to fight and die in boiling conditions on the veld and atop ‘kopjes’. Of the over 20,000 who died more than half suffered enteric, an illness consequent on insanitary water. This book will act as an informative research guide for those seeking to discover and uncover the stories of the men who fought and the families they left behind. It will look in particular at the kind of support the men received if they were war injured and that offered to the families of the bereaved. Some pensions were available to regular soldiers and the Patriotic Fund, a charitable organization , had been resurrected at the beginning of the conflict. However for those who did not fit these categories the Poor Law was the only support available at the time. The book will explore a variety of research materials such as: contemporary national and local newspapers; military records via websites and directly through regimental archives; census, electoral, marriage and death records; records at the National Archives including the Book of Wounds from the Boer War, the Transvaal Widows’ Fund and others.

Jonathan Scott is a freelance writer specializing in family history. He is a former deputy editor of Family History Monthly and has penned the ‘Best Websites’ column for Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine since 2007. He also writes the magazine’s monthly ‘Around Britain’ feature and compiles the end-of-year look-ahead at developments online. In addition to his work in family history, he has compiled Collecting Children’s Books and Rare Book Price Guide