Nick Barratt - Who Do You Think You Are? Encyclopedia of Genealogy - The definitive reference guide to tracing your family history

DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? ™

Cover

Title Page

Dedication

Introduction

How to Use This Book

Section One: Getting Started

1: First Steps

2: Building Your Family Tree

3: Working in Archives

4: Research Tips and Hints

Section Two: Basic Sources

5: Civil Registration

6: Census Returns

7: Parish Records

8: Wills and Probate Documents

Section Three: Areas of Family History

9: Military Ancestors: The British Army

10: Military Ancestors: The Royal Navy

11: Military Ancestors: The Royal Marines

12: Military Ancestors: The Royal Air Force

13: Occupations: The Merchant Navy

14: Occupations: The Sea

15: Occupations: Mining

16: Occupations: Factories, Foundries and Mills

17: Occupations: Travel and Communications

18: Occupations: Farming and Agricultural Labourers

19: Occupations: Professional Classes – Private Sector

20: Occupations: Professional Classes – Public Sector

21: Occupations: Trades and Crafts

22: Migration: Immigration

23: Migration: Emigration

24: Family Secrets: Poverty and Lunacy

25: Family Secrets: Illegitimacy and Adoption

26: Family Secrets: Bigamy and Divorce

27: Family Secrets: Criminal Ancestors

28: Social History: Working Further Back in Time

Section Four: Troubleshooting Guides

Chart 1: Army Service Records, First World War

Chart 2: Army Service Medals, First World War

Chart 3: Early Army Service Records

Chart 4: Naval Service Records

Chart 5: Merchant Seamen Service Records

Chart 6: Royal Marine Service Records

Chart 7: RAF Service Records

Chart 8: Immigration

Chart 9: Emigration

Section Five: Key Resources

Origins and Meanings of Popular Surnames

Definitions of Historic Occupations

Genetic Genealogy

National Archive Profiles

Useful Website Addresses

Index

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Copyright

About the Publisher

Congratulations. By picking up this book, you have just taken your first step on a unique journey into your past, one that will gradually reveal lost generations of your family that you never knew existed; their place in history; and the path that has led you to stand here today, reading this. Thousands of others have started a similar voyage of discovery in recent years, each on a personal mission to reveal who their ancestors were, and what their lives were like.

One of the driving forces behind this phenomenon is the hit BBC TV show Who Do You Think You Are? , where every week a celebrity investigates their ancestral roots. Essentially a social history of Britain and its wider role in the world, the programme has stimulated millions of people to challenge their memories from school that history was a dull, academic subject and explore the past from a fresh perspective – that of their own relatives, rather than the politicians, generals and royals that tend to populate our textbooks. As a result, history becomes real, living and relevant; it’s a personal journey into the past, with your own relatives as the tour guides. Events that you might once have read about in a textbook suddenly take on a new meaning once you realize that your ancestors were there as eye witnesses or even participants. The most exciting thing of all is that everyone can trace their family tree – it’s not the exclusive preserve of those with privileged blood lines or aristocratic roots, but something that each and every one of us can do.

So why start looking into your family’s history? Traditionally the press have given genealogy a rather negative image. Indeed, one commentator was moved to write that family history was ‘self-indulgent navel gazing’. What utter nonsense! There are so many reasons why it is important to look into your family’s background, leaving aside the sheer joy of discovery that makes it such an addictive pastime. Perhaps the most important reason for starting is that you are going to discover more about yourself and your family, and gain a real understanding about where you have come from, who the main people were that shaped the fortunes of your family, and how small decisions in the past have had a knock-on effect over the years. In essence, every one of us is the living embodiment of the strands of personal history woven by our ancestors, all of whom contributed in some way to making us who we are today. In turn, their struggles to survive in a variety of changing conditions allow us to gaze into wider British social history, and ask questions about how we fit in. What was our class or cultural background? How did we fare in some of the great social upheavals in the past, such as the Industrial Revolution? Each generation faced a new challenge, and you can revisit these moments in time through your investigations.

‘ Every one of us is the living embodiment of the strands of personal history woven by our ancestors .’

There is another important reason to set out on this voyage of discovery, namely to preserve these links with the past, which – once broken – are very difficult to repair. This is why, as you will see, you should always talk to your elderly relatives and record their stories, anecdotes and knowledge. It is a sad fact of life that we often take an interest in our past when it is no longer possible to talk to those who played such an important part in shaping it. Yet it is not just about preserving the past; by looking into your family’s background, you will be creating a legacy that can be passed on to future generations – children, grandchildren and those still to come. This is especially important in the digital age, when we are no longer creating the treasured artefacts that we now look for and preserve as keepsakes from years gone by – photographs, letters and postcards. Our means of communication – email, text, mobile phone – are instantly disposable unless we take active steps to preserve them, so it is just as important to record our thoughts and feelings now, or future generations won’t have the material to hand to understand us, or the people that made us who we are.

However, there are several myths about family history that you might have heard, and these need to be explained briefly. One misconception is that it is all about building a family tree as far back as possible. Whilst it is important to name ancestors and place them in history, the family tree is simply a map of your roots, showing you how your ancestors are related to one another. The real purpose of family history is to bring these names back to life by researching where they lived, what jobs they did, how their community changed over time, and the ways in which their lives were touched by local and national events. In many ways, the phrase ‘family history’ has rather outlived its use; instead, we should be thinking of ‘personal heritage’, as you’ll be creating a far richer, brighter and more interesting picture of your ancestors than a list of names on a page.

The second myth that needs dispelling is that family history can be done quickly via the Internet, and that all you have to do to track down your distant ancestors is log on, subscribe to a few websites, and you’ll have a family tree ready within hours. Sadly, this is completely untrue and misses the entire point of starting in the first place! As you will discover, there are certainly plenty of websites that will help you get started – and the datasets and databases that they contain continue to grow almost daily – and you will be able to achieve an amazing amount before you have to consider heading into an archive or museum. By putting the basic sources online, such as indexes to birth, marriage and death records, census returns and some wills, the process of constructing an initial family tree has been revolutionized. However, the Internet only provides a fraction of the resources you’ll need to flesh out the bones of your family tree and – as indicated above – bring your ancestors to life as real people who faced real challenges. This is where this book takes over, and leads you into the world of Britain’s archives, where there are original documents – often dating back centuries – that contain details of your ancestors’ lives, or were even written by them.