Understanding Documents For Genealogy And Local History

Once genealogists and local historians have learned everything they can from internet sources, the next step is reading and understanding older documents. The author details how to find and comprehend documents in England, Wales and Scotland from 1560 to 1860. These can be hard to find, are often written in challenging handwriting and use Latin, antiquated English or Scots.

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

Presents a detailed list of meanings for abbreviations, alphabetic symbols, initials, contractions, and shortenings of words found in both original records and printed sources used in genealogy. Listings are arranged alphabetically, appear just as they would in the original documents, and include a brief explanation or description. Useful as a reference for genealogists, historians, and reference librarians. Sperry teaches family history at Brigham Young University. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

For anyone looking to create a useful, lasting history of your family: This is a book that should adorn the library or bookshelves of all genealogists! Whether you're an amateur or professional, chances are the ultimate goal of your research is to produce a quality family history. Producing A Quality Family History, by Patricia Law Hatcher, guides you through the steps required to create an attractive-and functional--family history report. Learn how to organize your work, how to write the narrative, choose type faces, grammar styles, and punctuation. You'll also see how to create useful bibliographies and discover ways to incorporate photos and illustrations effectively plus much, much more!

Property title deeds are perhaps the most numerous sources of historical evidence but also one of the most neglected. While the information any one deed contains can often be reduced to a few lines, it can be of critical importance for family and local historians. Nat Alcock's handbook aims to help the growing army of enthusiastic researchers to use the evidence of these documents, without burying them in legal technicalities. It also reveals how fascinating and rewarding they can be once their history, language and purpose are understood. A sequence of concise, accessible chapters explains why they are so useful, where they can be found and how the evidence they provide can be extracted and applied. Family historians will find they reveal family, social and financial relationships and local historians can discover from them so much about land ownership, field and place names, the history of buildings and the expansion of towns and cities. They also bring our ancestors into view in the fullness of life, not just at birth, marriage and death, and provide more rounded pictures of the members of a family tree.

This book contains the papers delivered at sessions organised by the Genealogy and Local History Section at the annual conferences of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) between 2001 and 2005; many of these are updated versions of the original presentations. A wide range of significant issues and trends in historical and family research is covered. The authors, all experts in their own fields, address those engaged in delivering genealogy and local history services in libraries, archives and museums across the world. Moreover, they focus on the growing army of enthusiasts directly engaged in tracing their own ancestral and local history. Several papers give useful hints on how various resources can be used to further personal research. These include the exciting opportunities offered by the digitisation of primary resources and by the impact of the powerful new technology, among other things now on offer through DNA profiling.

A recent Maritz Poll reported that 60% of Americans are interested in their family history. And with good reason. Through genealogy, you can go back into history to meet people who have had more influence on your life than any others -- your ancestors. And the better you get to know your ancestors, the better you will get to know yourself: the who's and what's and why's of you. Barbara Renick, a nationally-known lecturer on genealogy, tells the uninitiated researcher the steps needed to find out who their ancestors really were, and brings together for even the more experienced genealogical researchers the important principles and practices. She covers such topics as the importance of staying organized and how to go about it; where and how to look for information in libraries, historical societies, and on the internet; recognizing that just because something is in print doesn't mean it's right; and how to prepare to visit the home where your ancestors lived. Genealogy 101 is the first book to read when you want to discover who your ancestors were, where they lived, and what they did.