Every surname has its own story to tell, and a surname study is a natural complement to family history research. The study of surnames has been revolutionised in the last decade with the increasing availability of online resources, and it is now easier than ever before to explore the history, evolution, distribution and meaning of your family name. The Surnames Handbook provides a comprehensive guide to researching your surname using genealogical methods in conjun...

The first decade of the new millennium has been an exciting time for the family historian. The increasing availability of online resources has transformed the genealogical research process. DNA testing and the new generation of social networking websites have developed in parallel and are becoming increasingly useful tools. DNA testing can now be used to prove or disprove genealogical connections and will put you in touch with your genetic cousins around the world. It can ...

"A thorough and informative guide . . . with as many references to websites for Northern Irish genealogy as for the Republic of Ireland." —Who Do You Think You Are MagazineIreland has experienced considerably more tragedy when it comes to the preservation of resources for family historians than its close neighbor Britain. Many of the nation's primary records were lost during the civil war in 1922 and through other equally tragic means. But in this new book Chris Pat...

Family history is one of Britain's most popular pastimes. Around six million people in Britain are researching their family trees, and genealogy is one of the top categories for online searches. The opening up of public records, the growth of family history societies and the introduction of computers and the internet have made the subject accessible to everyone. Yet, while there is no shortage of books on how to do family history, few writers have attempted to put the field itself into a h...

An accessible, well-organized, easy-to-use beginners guide to the world of family history.In a series of short, practical chapters Simon Fowler's Tracing Your Ancestors takes readers through all the first steps that will reveal the lives of their ancestors and the world they lived in. He looks at every aspect of research, from finding family papers and interviewing relatives, through exploring websites, archives, newspapers and directories, to all the othe...

A simple guide to tracing British family tree before the onset of civil registration in 1837 and back to the Middle Ages.The trail that an ancestor leaves through the Victorian period and the twentieth century is relatively easy to follow—the records are plentiful, accessible, and commonly used. But how do you go back further, into the centuries before the central registration of births, marriages, and deaths was introduced in 1837, before the first detailed census ...

This book will help all those, no matter where they live, who are searching for ancestors in Ireland. David R. Elliott has taken eight research trips to Ireland on behalf of his clients and has worked in most archival repositories in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Dr. Elliott gives clues to finding your ancestral county, then the parish and townland within the county. He explains how Irish archival centres work and describes how you can flesh out your ancestors lives and wha...

The United Kingdom; Great Britain; the British Isles; the Home Nations: such a wealth of different names implies uncertainty and contention - and an ability to invent and adjust. In a year that sees a Scottish referendum on independence, Linda Colley analyses some of the forces that have unified Britain in the past.She examines the mythology of Britishness, and how far - and why - it has faded. She discusses the Acts of Union with Wales, Scotland and Ireland, and their limitations,...

An accessible, user-friendly handbook for all amateur genealogists seeking their Scottish roots.With an emphasis firmly on the practical, this handy little book is designed to be used as a reference guide while actually working in record offices and other repositories of genealogical information. It provides detailed guidance on the variety of religious, governmental and other records available and is packed with hands-on advice on navigating the different types of records and on p...

An exciting new addition to any family historian's library, Family History: Digging Deeper will take your research to the next level. Joined by a team of expert genealogists, Simon Fowler covers a range of topics and provides clear advice for the intermediate genealogist. Helping you push back the barriers, this book details how to utilise the internet in your research and suggests some unusual archives and records which might just transform your research. It will...

"The most definitive guide yet in print of researching Ulster based Ancestry" from the Irish genealogy expert and author (Discover My Past, England and Scotland).Tracing Your Northern Irish Ancestors is an expert introduction for the family historian to the wealth of material available to researchers in archives throughout Northern Ireland. Many records, like the early twentieth-century census returns and school registers, will be familiar to researchers, b...

This booklet is designed to be an introduction to the sources available for researching Belfast ancestors and where they can be found. It is aimed at those starting out in their quest to find out more about their local family history and the history of their local community.