Ancestral Trails The Complete Guide To British Genealogy And Family History

Description

Untitled Document
Ancestral Trails
2nd Edition
Softbound  Volume  totaling
873
pages in new condition. Per the publisher;
This is the second edition of the      book that has been called the Bible of British genealogy. Originally      published in 1997 in association with the Society of Genealogists (London),      and now revised and updated to reflect the latest developments in the field,
Ancestral Trails
enables the researcher to form a coherent picture of      past generations by describing virtually every class of record in every      repository and library in Britain. As the subtitle says, it is the
complete
guide to British genealogy and family history. To begin with,      the book guides the researcher through the voluminous British archives and      provides a detailed view of the records and published sources available,      analyzing each record and guiding the searcher to finding-aids and indexes.      The early chapters help beginners take their first steps by dealing with      such matters as obtaining information from living relatives, drawing family      trees, and starting research in the records of birth, marriage, and death,      or in census records. Later chapters guide researchers to the records that      are more difficult to find and use, such as wills, parish records, civil and      ecclesiastical court records, poll books, and property records. So the book      is ideal for the beginner and the experienced researcher alike, and will      enable those who are persistent enough to trace their ancestry back to the      Middle Ages.
One of the aims of the      book--entirely unique to it--is to link sources together to ensure that      researchers can use material found in one source to assist a search in other      sources. Another aim, somewhat more modest but equally essential, is to      bring the reader up-to-date with the many important changes that have      recently taken place in British genealogy.
Writing in the Foreword to the new edition, John      Titford remarks that "a book like this doesn't maintain its pre-eminence in      the field by resting on its laurels. The subject with which it deals has      become more of a moving target in recent years that it ever was before, and      the author's sure aim and steady hand have been much in evidence as he has      meticulously updated and expanded his original work. An increasing amount of      material of relevance to family historians is being made available in print,      on microform, on CD-ROM, and on the Internet; fresh finding aids appear and      older ones become redundant; record repositories, libraries, family history      societies and other interest groups appear afresh on the scene. . . . None      of this has escaped the notice of the author of
Ancestral Trails
, and      this welcome new edition, to which the phrase 'bigger and Better' hardly      does justice, is testimony to the continuing careful attention to detail      which characterised the first edition."
The scope of Herber's work is so thorough that it's      worth listing the table of contents, where chapter headings alone tell the      tale:
An introduction to genealogical research
Personal recollections and memorabilia
Organization of your research material
Problems encountered by researchers
Civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths
Census returns
Parish registers
Churchyards and cemeteries
Directories
Combining sources of information
Archives, libraries, and family history societies
Wills and administrations
Catholic, Non-Conformist, and Jewish records
Marriage and divorce
Maps, land registration, and property records
Local and social history
Newspapers and elections
Parish and town records
Education
Records of the Army, Royal Marines, and Royal Air        Force
Records of shipping and seamen
Records of trades, professions, and business
Oaths, taxation, and insurance records
Records of the civil and ecclesiastical courts
Records of the criminal courts and criminals
Peerages, the gentry, famous people, and heraldry
Tracing migrants and living relatives
Scotland, Wales, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Channel        Islands
Immigration, emigration, and investigation abroad
National Archives' information leaflets
County record offices and other archives
Wills and administrations in the Prerogative Court        of Canterbury
Web sites for family historians
"No other publication gives such comprehensive and      up-to-date guidance on tracing British ancestry and researching family      history. Illustrated throughout with more than ninety examples of the major      record types, and with detailed lists of further reading, Ancestral Trails      will be the essential companion and guide for all family historians."
--Anthony      Camp, former Director, Society of Genealogists