While Peter Coldham's "American Wills and Administrations in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury" succeeded in its objective of providing a complete listing of the hundreds of PCC wills and administrations with American connections, it does not provide all the information per will or administration that can be found in the following less comprehensive works: Henry Waters' "Genealogical Gleanings in England," Lothrop Withington's "Virginia Gleanings in England," and George Sherwood's "American Colonists in English Records." (Information such as the names of close relations, legatees and witnesses, and references to ownership of property.) To redress this imbalance Mr. Coldham has issued this present work containing complete summaries of all those wills not included in the works of Waters, Withington, or Sherwood, providing the researcher with an accessible compendium of American wills proved in London to complement and stand comparison with the other three, closing the circle on a priceless body of data.

"In England, until 1858, the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) had jurisdiction over all wills submitted for probate on behalf of English citizens who were temporary or permanent inhabitants of North America. Altogether there are over 2,000 such wills among the one million wills registered in the PCC, and their existence has ensured that all persons mentioned in the wills have not only found a permanent place in historical records but have a provable link to English ancestry. Until now the establishment of such a link was usually possible, if at all, only by an arduous examination of the unindexed probate records or by a review of the records published in such books as Mr. Coldham?s own American Wills & Administrations in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 1610-1857, published in 1989. Recently, however, The National Archives (TNA) in London published digitized copies of all PCC wills on their website, in theory making all previously hard-to-find information accessible at the touch of a button." --

This study reconstructs the lives of urban business families during England's emergence as a world economic power.

East 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.

Researching your family history can be an absorbing hobby, or a one-off project that your whole family will value and build on. This book is packed with ideas about the different aspects of genealogy and the main free or low cost resources available to help you in your quest. CONTENTS: Getting started - online family searching - harnessing internet sources - tearless transcribing - organised support - vital public records - interpreting old records - getting to know your ancestors About the author Dr Harry Alder is a prolific writer and long-time researcher. Here he passes on his passion for genealogy, his first-hand experience, lots of practical tips and key websites to support your research.