For the fifth time in ten years I have made a research trip to England in November. I recommend it. There are few tourists, airfare is cheaper, hotel and car hire rates are lower, research facilities are less busy, and it is just possible that archivists and librarians view me more seriously because of the time of year. One other important detail--on three of the trips, this one included, I never used my umbrella. Not much blue sky, I was just lucky dodging the showers.

There are difficulties, the principal one being that some archives and libraries choose this month for their annual inventory. The closure may be for one or two weeks. Never go without being sure the places you intend to visit will be open. This is easy to do either following links at http://www.genuki.org.uk or through the principal access points for archives (http://www.hmc.gov.uk/ -- the home of ARCHON, a directory of UK archives), and http://www.earl.org.uk/familia/ for libraries.

If you plan to do some sightseeing related to your research, or even for a welcome change from sitting, many attractions will have reduced their hours or closed altogether for the winter months. For example, the last boat from Greenwich to Tower Pier was at 4:10pm, as the service does not operate after dark. Again, check in advance, using the sites mentioned in the next paragraph. A pleasant surprise was to find the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square open in the evenings, and on Wednesdays the café downstairs remains open until 8:30PM. This is a perfect place to fill in some time before the theatre.

I book in advance for any stay in one place of three or more nights, or if it is important to be sure of a place, such as the last night before returning home. The Internet is one way of looking for accommodations that range from bed and breakfast to hotel, and at almost any price range. Start your search at http://www.visitbritain.com. Another option is to search for the local council authority that is likely to include access to tourist information (e.g. http://www.essexcc.gov.uk). It is easy to find local authority sites through Yahoo, selecting the UK, and from there, the Regional heading.

It is all very well to carefully plan accommodation, visits to archives and historic sites, and entertainment, but it is essential that research objectives be outlined in advance. You also need to be able to make clear requests to staff and to be prepared to put questions in context--What records have been consulted to bring research to this point? What facts are you starting from? What records have been identified as possibly useful? This is equally true whether you take along a laptop computer or carry an armload of files. There will be more time for research, and further savings will come from knowing something of the collections held by the libraries and archives you intend to visit.

My first stop on this visit, with no more sleep than perhaps a two-hour nap on the airplane, was to the Corporation of London Record Office (CLRO). It draws me back regularly because of the wide range of interesting material. The CLRO is the archives of the City of London, meaning the heart of the City, or what is sometimes called "the square mile." It is an unassuming place, just a small search room with no more than eight seats on the second floor of the City offices behind the Guildhall Library. There are a number of important resources here, and these reflect not only the administrative business of the City since the thirteenth century, but also its special responsibilities in other parts of Britain. The City has been a landowner of estates in most counties of England, five in Wales, and in Ulster, where twelve City livery companies played a part in the Plantation of Ulster.

Resources frequently consulted by genealogists are the City of London freedom archives up to 1940, and the sworn brokers' archives. These are indexed. The CLRO produces two excellent booklets describing these records: "City Freedom Archives," and "Sworn Brokers Archives." Both are by Vivienne Aldous, author of "My Ancestors Were Freemen of the City of London," recently published by the Society of Genealogists (http://www.sog.org.uk). Up until well into the 1800s it was necessary for many traders, retailers, brokers, and journeymen to be "made free." The sworn brokers' archives list those who were licensed to act as agents or middlemen between merchants and traders.

Do not confuse the City freedom archives with the records of the London livery companies, which are held by the Guildhall Library (a good selection of published company histories and records is also in the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and can be found listed in the Family History Library Catalog TM by looking under England, London - Occupations).

Anyone consulting "The Complete Book of Emigrants" (by Peter Coldham, published by GPC, 1992 and on CD-ROM) is, among other things, actually searching for references to entries in three classes of records held by the CLRO. These classes are the "Lord Mayor's Waiting Books, Volumes 13 to 15, 1682-1696/7," the "Register of Indentured Servants, 1718-1733," and the "Mayor's Court Depositions, 1641 - 1736," all of which are indexed in Coldham's books. There is an informative booklet about this collection: "An Introductory Guide to the Corporation of London Record Office," by Hugo Deadman and Elizabeth Scudder, published by the Corporation in 1994. It is, unfortunately, out of print, but you may find a copy in a genealogical library, or for sale, used. Genealogists absorbed in London research would also be wise to consult "My Ancestors Were Londoners" by Cliff Webb (published by the Society of Genealogists) and "Lists of Londoners," by J.S.W. Gibson (published by the Federation of Family History Societies). One is a concise review of essential background information, and the other is an annotated guide to useful indexes and finding aids.

Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA(Scot) has been researching her British ancestry for twenty-five years. She began lecturing in 1984, and has operated Interlink Bookshop and Genealogical Services (http://www.pacificcoast.net/~ibgs/) since 1988. She is the author of "Your Scottish Ancestry: A Guide for North Americans"
(http://shop.myfamily.com/ancestrycatalog/product.asp?pf%5
Fid=14046&dept%5Fid=10103003--today's product special) and "Your English Ancestry: A Guide for North Americans"
(http://shop.myfamily.com/ancestrycatalog/product.asp?pf%5
Fid=13946&dept%5Fid=10203001).