Tracing Your Ancestors In The Public Record Office

Researching family history has become increasingly popular in recent years. The documents held at the Public Record Office and the Family Records Centre span over 1,000 years and contain a wealth of information for family historians. This revised and expanded sixth edition of the publication provides a guide to using the national archives of England, Wales and the UK. It contains guidance on: using basic family history records, such as the census, wills and records for birth, marriage, death; tracing records regarding migration; researching the background of people from a wide range of professional, religious, social and regional groups; using military and legal records; and using the Public Record Office online catalogue.

"This is the fifth edition of a handbook originally written in 1981 by Mrs J Cox and Mr T Padfield...In this, the fifth edition, it has been revised and enlarged again by Dr Bevan, to take into account the closure of the Public Record Office's Chancery Lane site, the opening of the Family Records Centre, and the development of Kew, as well as the natural increase in the number of records available to the public -- in particular, the service records of the First World War. Other chapters too have been added or considerably expanded."--Preface.

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

This accessible, well-organized, easy-to-use beginners guide to the world of family history is essential reading for anyone who wants to find their way into this fascinating subject. In a series of short, practical chapters Simon Fowler takes readers through all the first steps that will reveal the lives of their ancestors and the world they lived in. He looks at every aspect of research, from finding family papers and interviewing relatives, through exploring websites, archives, newspapers and directories, to all the other sources that can throw a light into the past. In a clear, straightforward way he explains how vital records of births, marriages and deaths can be used as the starting point in a sequence of eye-opening family detective work. Simon Fowlers introduction, which is founded on a career of genealogical research and writing, is an indispensable basic book for anyone entering in the field.