Tracking Down Your Ancestors

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.

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.

In this easy-to-use reference guide, family historian Grace DuMelle provides the means to trace Chicago connections like a pro. She shows not just what to research, but how to research. Without wading through preliminaries, readers choose any of the self-contained chapters that focus on the questions beginners most want answered. Other chapters cover the nuts and bolts of the mechanics that are the key to making a family's past come alive, with highlights summarizing important points. In finding Chicago ancestors, readers will better understand not only their family's history, but also their involvement in the history of a great American city. Midwest Independent Publishers Association Book Award - 1st Place - Hobby/How- To Illinois Woman's Press Association Book Award - 1st Place - Instructional Nonfiction National Federation of Press Women Book Award - 3rd Place - Instructional Nonfiction The Chicago Roots of Your Family Tree For almost 175 years, a great metropolis on the shores of a freshwater sea has sent a siren call to immigrants internal and external, giving most Americans some kind of link to the City of Big Shoulders. Whether your people came west from New England in the early days of settlement, or north from Mississippi in the Great Migration; whether they sailed from Sweden and Sicily, or flew from Budapest and Prague; whether they settled here permanently or temporarily, this easy-to-use reference guide will help you document them. Family historian Grace DuMelle provides the means to trace your Chicago connections like a pro. She shows you not just what to research, but how to research. Without wading through lots of preliminaries, choose any of the self-contained chapters that focus on the questions beginners most want answered and jump right in! Where do I start? When and where was my ancestor born? When did my ancestor come to America? What did my ancestor do for a living? Where did my ancestor live? Where is my ancestor buried? Other chapters cover the nuts and bolts of the mechanics that are the key to making your family's past come alive, with highlights summarizing important points: Examples of documents such as death certificates, church registers and U.S. census entries. Chicago-area research facilities: what they have and how to access it. Researching using newspapers, machines and catalogs. Sources for specific ethnic research. Sources for long-distance research. In finding your Chicago ancestors, you will not only better understand your and your family's history, but also your and your family's involvement in the history of a great American city.

Navigate your way through your family’s past Interested in family history? Keen to discover who your ancestors really were? Want to find out more from the comfort of your own home? If so, this book is for you. Walking you through the process of researching, organising and presenting your family tree online, this expert guide makes it simple. So what are you waiting for? Get plugged in and start tracking down your ancestors today! Lay the groundwork – take the first steps on your genealogical journey and start searching for evidence Find out about your ancestors – discover who your predecessors were and where they came from Get to grips with research tools – find the best online and offline archives and dig deeper into your family’s past Present your results effectively – compile your findings into a family tree and create a place to host your material online Praise for the 1st Edition of this book: ‘Easy to read yet filled with facts and information, this is a solid reference guide with everything for the beginner – and perhaps something for the more experienced too.’ – Family History Monthly ‘There is a lot of good advice in this book for those starting out.’ – Ancestors Open the book and find: What clues you can get from photos, letters, diaries and your relatives The best genealogy websites in the UK and around the world How to get the most out of archives and documents Techniques for creating family history charts on your computer The advantages of coordinating your hunt with other researchers Ways to share research online Tips and tricks for building a family history web page

If you want to find out about the life of an ancestor who was active in the labor movement or was a union member, this handbook will be a fascinating introduction to the subject. Mark Crail provides a graphic and authoritative account of the history of the labor movement in Britain from the early nineteenth century to the modern day. He gives a vivid insight into the key stages in the development of labor relations - the battles fought by labor movement pioneers, the formation of the first unions, the influence of Chartism and the early socialist societies, the rise of the Labor Party and other left-wing groups, and the impact of organized labor on workers lives as ordinary people gradually won the right to vote over the course of 200 years. At the same time he describes in detail the various books, museums, archives, websites and other resources that researchers can use to explore labor history for themselves and to uncover the careers and experience of their ancestors. A mass of information is available relating to individuals and to labor history in general, and this handbook is an invaluable guide to it. 'Tracing Your Labor Movement Ancestors' should be essential reading for anyone who wishes to learn about the origins and development of the labor movement and the role of individuals within it.

Of all family history sources, death records are probably the least used by researchers. They are, however, frequently the most revealing of records, giving a far greater insight into our ancestors' lives and personalities than those records created during their lifetime.Celia Heritage leads readers through the various types of death records, showing how they can be found, read and interpreted and how to glean as much information as possible from them. In many cases, they can be used as a starting point for developing your family history research into other equally rewarding areas.This highly readable handbook is packed with useful information and helpful research advice. In addition, a thought-provoking final chapter looks into the repercussions of death its effects on the surviving members of the family and the fact that a premature death could sometimes affect the family for generations to come.