Member Login | My Account | Guest Registry

Getting Started | Learning Center | Reference | Publications | Articles & Columns

Shaking Your Family Tree

September 17, 1998
	NEW GUIDES FOR BRITISH SOURCES by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, C.G.
If the trails of your British ancestors have grown cold, examine some or all of the 16 research guides by Jeremy Gibson. You may find just the clues to locate records that will enable you to track down those elusive progenitors. Four brand-new guides in this series include: -- Coroners' Records in England and Wales (item 2196, 48 pp., $8.50). It has been the duty of coroners in Britain since 1194 to investigate the circumstances of unnatural, sudden or suspicious deaths, and of deaths in prison. This booklet itemizes all of these records now in public repositories. Within each county, listed in order of their pre-1974 boundary changes, the records are arranged in three groups: Medieval (generally pre-16th century), 16th to 19th centuries, and Modern (generally 20th century). Within these groups, the records are listed by repository. Also included is a glossary of terms and a bibliography. -- List of Londoners (item 2193, 39 pp., $7.50) is a guide to manuscript lists and indexes of people who lived or worked in London during various time periods. Entries typically include the title of the index, a rough estimate of the total number of names therein and the abbreviated name of the compiler or holding institution — a magnificent aid for researching London ancestors. -- The Protestation Returns, 1641-1642 and Other Contemporary Listings (item 2194, 83 pp., $10) is the nearest there is until 1841 to a widespread census of adults males. The "Protestation'' was a form of oath of loyalty and was used to determine the number of Roman Catholics in England. Additionally, other contemporary records itemized in the guide include: Collection in Aid of Distressed Protestants in Ireland, Covenants and Petitions to Parliament, and Taxation Records. -- Specialist Indexes for Family Historians (item 2195, 65 pp., $8. 50) is a guide to just about every other class of records that might be of use to the genealogist, excepting census and marriage records. Included are guides to indexes for apprenticeships, tithe lists, tax rolls, debtors' lists, foundlings, and vagrants. For example, under Hampshire, Southampton Civic Record Office, one discovers there was a tax on births, burials, marriages, bachelors, and widowers, 1695-6, and the lists also include children, servants, and lodgers in households. Other records are the inoculation committee minutes (1774- 83) and records simply labeled "Southampton Quakers, 1650-99.'' Other invaluable and frequently overlooked records are the militia lists. How to find them and what exists can be found in Militia Lists and Musters, 1757-1876 (3rd edition, item 2189, 48 pp., $8.50). Since militias were generally raised on a county basis, most of these voluminous records can be found today in the various county record offices. These booklets, which run from 39 to 83 pages, are packed with information about specific British records and where they can be found. The complete list of guidebooks can be obtained and booklets purchased from Genealogical Publishing Co., 1001 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, MD 21202; (800) 296-6687. Postage and handling for one item is $1.50; each additional item 75 cents. Maryland residents should add 5 percent sales tax and Michigan residents should add 6 percent sales tax. (c) 1998, Los Angeles Times Syndicate Myra Vanderpool Gormley and Julie Case are co-editors of Missing Links, a free weekly genealogy e-zine. To subscribe, send your request to: Missing Links Newsletter Return to Myra Vanderpool Gormley Main Page Return to Columns Main Page
Copyright 1998, 1999, Ancestry.com Inc. and its subsidiaries. Terms and Conditions | Privacy Statement