If you are researching your family history and in particular your English and Welsh ancestors, then a useful new resource is now available online: the England and Wales National Probate Calendars for the 19th and 20th centuries. These Calendars were previously only available for inspection by making a personal visit to a Probate Registry in [more...]
Land ownership maps are an important resource for researching your ancestors in the United States. The most useful ones for researching your family history were created between 1860 and 1918 when America was being opened up to settlers and the railroads. As the name suggests, the majority of maps were drawn up to show land [more...]
If you are researching your family history, you may be somewhat surprised and perplexed when you come across a parish register, death certificate or coroner’s report which states the cause of death as ‘Visitation of God’ (ex visitacone dei). What does this mean? For centuries, doctors struggled in the darkness over the causes of disease [more...]
The next UK census is to be conducted on 27 March 2011. Already there are many people complaining of the intrusive nature of the questions and indicating they may refuse to provide the information. In the last census of 2001 there were 38 prosecutions for non-compliance, and there were at least 6,000 cases where some [more...]
When researching your family history you may come across references in a parish register to an ancestor being ‘buried in wool’ or ‘woollen burial’. What did this mean? For centuries the woollen trade had been important to the wealth and prosperity of England, but with the introduction of new materials and foreign imports, some people [more...]
While researching your family history or local history you may come across in census returns and other archived documents, references to the job of a Nightman. The work of a Nightman was perhaps one of the worst jobs imaginable: emptying a cesspit containing human excreta, or to be vulgar, shit and urine. Before the introduction [more...]
When researching your family history you may come across references in the UK census returns, directories and other archive material to your ancestor living a Model Lodging House. These were clearly lodging houses, but why use of the word Model? During the 19th century, Britain was undergoing tremendous social change caused by the industrial revolution, [more...]
Ancestry.com is the 600-pound gorilla in the family history field… it simply can’t be ignored, and is, in fact, the richest, deepest source of genealogical information available online. It also costs money! In the neighborhood of $150 for an annual subscription for US ancestor research, and close to $300 for full access to world records. [more...]
Burial Clubs were to be found in 19th century Britain. This was a time of high death rates especially among children, and poor working-class families were fearful that they would be unable to pay for a decent funeral for their loved ones and would have to rely on the local Poor Union to provide a [more...]
You got your musical chops somewhere. But in which branch of the great family tree of your ancestors did the musical talent first make itself known? There are a number of very good sources for searching back several generations or more to find musically talented folk who were part of your family’s heritage. The [more...]
Anyone can research their ancestors going back a generation or two. Just ask grandma! But how about going back, say, six or seven centuries. A new genealogical database will let you do just that, particularly if your family has roots in England, and even more particularly, if one of your ancestors was a medieval soldier. A [more...]
When researching your family tree you may come across a reference in the Victorian census returns, commercial directories or newspapers, to the occupation of beerhouse keeper. Sometimes it is also written as beer house. The Government of the 1820s and 1830s were keen to promote beer drinking instead of spirits, especially gin. Widespread drunkenness through [more...]
Researching your family tree is an interesting hobby, and for some it turns into an obsession with a determination to go back as far as they can. Some people move onto conducting a one-name study on their surname or family name and its variants. In other words, researching people who share the same surname. One-name [more...]
Family history researchers must be always ready to be shocked when they find a ‘skeleton in the cupboard’ while researching their family tree. Thieves, arsonists, bigamists and even murderers can be revealed. In the UK, types of records relating to their criminal past can be many and varied, and found in many different archives including [more...]
There are a few of us who have made mistakes in our life and have seen ourselves appear in newspapers. Perhaps for court appearance, a criminal conviction, or a scandal involving our private life. Until a few years ago it was possible to go on with your life knowing that after 20 or 30 years [more...]
Tithe Maps were drawn up in England and Wales following the passing of the Tithe Commutation Act, 1836. The Act changed the ancient method of paying tithes in kind to a rent-charge levied on landowners according to the value of their land. Tithe maps and the accompanying tithe apportionment document can help you research your [more...]
As its name suggests, it was a tax on each hearth in a home in England and Wales. The records of the Hearth Tax are now stored in the National Archives and some County Record Offices in England and Wales, or they are available on micro media. The records are of great use to both [more...]
Gateway ancestor is a term used in genealogy. It means that when researching a family tree you discover that one of your ancestors is descended from royalty or the aristocracy. Fortunately this part of the family tree will have been previously investigated and well documented, not only saving you tremendous time and expense, but will [more...]