Tracing Your London Ancestors

Product Description

London is a key site for family historians. Many researchers, seeking to trace their ancestry back through the generations, will find their trail leads to London or through it. Yet, despite the burgeoning interest in genealogy & the importance of London in so many life stories, few previous books have explored the city`s history or provided guidance on the research resources family historians can use to discover the life of a London ancestor. This is the purpose of Jonathan Oates`s invaluable handbook. In a series of short, information-packed chapters he describes the principal record offices, archives, libraries & other sources researchers can go to, & shows how Londoners can be tracked through censuses, registers & directories over the last 500 years. Then he explores key aspects of London`s history from a family historian`s point of view. Crime, religion & education
- & the body of evidence associated with them
- are covered, as is the historical trail left by taxation, health, welfare, work & business. He looks also at the military & wartime records available in the city, & at the records of immigrant communities who have had such a notable impact on the development of the capital. Each section introduces the reader to the relevant sources, indicates where they can be found, & offers essential advice on how this information can be used to piece together the lives of distant & not-so-distant relatives.