Family history, tracing ancestors Books

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisDiscover all the details you never knew about your mother’s life with this beautiful keepsake journal filled with over 100 prompts.  A Mother’s Life is organized into chapters covering your mother’s childhood and youth, starting a family, family traditions, reflections and wisdom, and more. Thought-provoking prompts and questions and inspirational quotes about mothers will encourage your mother to reflect and dig deep into her memories and stories. Reveal your mother’s unique story by asking:What were you afraid of when you were a child?When you were in high school, what did you imagine for you future? Describe what it felt like when you became a new mother.  Features:  Beautifully designed imitation leather cover User-friendly rounded corners Compact 6.35 × 8.25 size  A Mother’s Life is a perfect gift

Read more less

Book SynopsisIf you want to learn to read and know about old handwriting, this is the only book you will need.Trade Review“This educational guide will help you master the reading of old handwriting from the 19th Century back to the court hands of the 16th. It covers the terminology used when transcribing, but the main emphasis is on practical learning in order to decipher old documents, on the importance of ‘having a go’ and persisting." * Family Tree magazine *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA major work of economic, social and political history, Niall Ferguson's The House of Rothschild: The World's Banker 1849-1999 is the second volume of the acclaimed, landmark history of the legendary Rothschild banking dynasty.Niall Ferguson's House of Rothschild: Money's Prophets 1798-1848 was hailed as a great biography by Time magazine and named one of the best books of the year by Business Week. Now, with all the depth, clarity and drama with which he traced their ascent, Ferguson - the first historian with access to the long-lost Rothschild family archives - concludes his myth-breaking portrait of once of the most fascinating and power families of all time.From Crimea to World War II, wars repeatedly threatened the stability of the Rothschilds' worldwide empire. Despite these many global upheavals, theirs remained the biggest bank in the world up until the First World War, their interests extending far beyond the realm of finance. Yet the Rothschilds' failure to establish themselves successfully in the United States proved fateful, and as financial power shifted from London to New York after 1914, their power waned.A stupendous achievement, a triumph of historical research and imagination.—Robert Skidelsky, The New York Review of BooksNiall Ferguson's brilliant and altogether enthralling two-volume family saga proves that academic historians can still tell great stories that the rest of us want to read.—The New York Times Book ReviewSuperb ... An impressive ... account of the Rothschilds and their role in history.—Boston GlobeNiall Ferguson's new book The Square and the Tower: Networks and Power, from the Freemasons to Facebook will be published in January 2018. Trade Review"A stupendous achievement, a triumph of historical research and imagination."—Robert Skidelsky, The New York Review of Books"Niall Ferguson's brilliant and altogether enthralling two-volume family saga proves that academic historians can still tell great stories that the rest of us want to read."—The New York Times Book Review"Superb ... An impressive ... account of the Rothschilds and their role in history."—Boston Globe

Read more less

Book SynopsisScotland is a land with a proud and centuries long history that far pre-dates its membership of Great Britain and the United Kingdom. Today in the 21st century it is also a land that has done much to make its historical records accessible, to help those with Caledonian ancestry trace their roots back to earlier times and a world long past. In Tracing Scottish Family History on the Internet, Chris Paton expertly guides the family historian through the many Scottish records offerings available, but also cautions the reader that not every record is online, providing detailed advice on how to use web based finding aids to locate further material across the country and beyond. He also examines social networking and the many DNA platforms that are currently further revolutionising online Scottish research. From the Scottish Government websites offering access to our most important national records, to the holdings of local archives, libraries, family history societies, and online vendors, Chris Paton takes the reader across Scotland, from the Highlands and Islands, through the Central Belt and the Lowlands, and across the diaspora, to explore the various flavours of Scottishness that have bound us together as a nation for so long.

Read more less

Book SynopsisFatherhood is the debut novel from award-winning poet Caleb Klaces, combining prose and poetry in an experimental work of verse fiction. Following the birth of their first child, a couple move out of the capital to the northern countryside, where they believe the narrator’s great-grandfather, a Russian emigrant, was laid to rest. The father dedicates himself to parenting, writing and conversation with his dead ancestor, newly conscious of the ties that bind the present to the past. It is a time of startling intimacies, baby-group small talk, unexpected relationships and tender rhythms, when every clock seems to tell a different time, and the solidity of language is broken. As his daughter begins to speak, the father’s gentleness turns to unexplainable rage. He begins to question who he must protect his child from – the outside world or himself. Their new house, the family discover, is built on a floodplain.Moving between history, memory and autobiography, its shifting form captures a life and language split open by fatherhood. An experiment in rewriting masculinity, it asks how bodies can share both a house and a planet.

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn this acclaimed memoir from the award-winning author of Fragrant Harbour and Capital, John Lanchester pieces together his family''s past and uncovers their extraordinary secrets - from his grandparents'' life in colonial Rhodesia to his mother''s time as a nun - with clear-eyed compassion. A true story of family intrigues, of secrets and lies, as they unfold across three generations.

Read more less

Book Synopsis''An unknown place.'' This was what Michael Frayn''s children called the shadowy landscape of the past from which their family had emerged. Shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards, My Father''s Fortune sets out to rediscover that lost land before all trace of it finally disappears beyond recall. As Frayn tries to see it through the eyes of his parents and the others who shaped his life, he comes to realise how little he ever knew or understood about them.This is above all the story of his father, the quick-witted boy from a poor and struggling family, who overcame disadvantages and shouldered many burdens to make a go of his life; who found happiness, had it snatched away from him, and in the end, after many difficulties, perhaps found it again.Father and son were in some ways incredibly alike, in others ridiculously different; and the journey back down the corridors of time is sometimes comic, sometimes painful, as Michael Frayn comes to see how much he has inh

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhether you're just beginning your genealogical journey or have been tracing your family tree for years, Tracing your Staffordshire Ancestors provides a comprehensive roadmap to uncovering your family history in the heart of England. Delve into a variety of historical records, from the well-known census and parish registers to the less-explored realms of manorial court rolls, tithe apportionments, and records from the potteries. Each chapter focuses on a specific type of record, providing clear instructions on where to find it, how to interpret it, and the unique insights it can offer into your family's past. With vivid examples of real Staffordshire people brought to life through these records, you'll see how each piece of the puzzle can reveal more about your ancestors. Beyond the archives, learn how to enhance your research with visits to local museums, utilise social media and DNA testing, and understand the significance of Staffordshire's surnames and traditional occupations.Tracing Your Staffordshire Ancestors is an invaluable resource for anyone with ties to this historic county. With its practical advice, expert guidance, and real-life examples, it's the perfect companion for bringing your family's history to light.

Read more less

Book SynopsisCombines a guide for family historians of genealogical resources, placing them in context with historical events.

Read more less

Book SynopsisFully revised and updated second edition of highly illustrated handbook for anyone researching Northern Irish history and ancestry.

Read more less

Book SynopsisProperty title deeds are perhaps the most numerous sources of historical evidence but also one of the most neglected. While the information any one deed contains can often be reduced to a few lines, it can be of critical importance for family and local historians. Nat Alcock's handbook aims to help the growing army of enthusiastic researchers to use the evidence of these documents, without burying them in legal technicalities. It also reveals how fascinating and rewarding they can be once their history, language and purpose are understood. A sequence of concise, accessible chapters explains why they are so useful, where they can be found and how the evidence they provide can be extracted and applied. Family historians will find they reveal family, social and financial relationships and local historians can discover from them so much about land ownership, field and place names, the history of buildings and the expansion of towns and cities. They also bring our ancestors into view in the fullness of life, not just at birth, marriage and death, and provide more rounded pictures of the members of a family tree.

Read more less

Book SynopsisStraddling parts of Counties Antrim and Down, the city of Belfast has seen its fair share of history across the centuries. From its humble beginnings as a ford based settlement between two tributaries of the River Lagan, it grew following its grant of a charter in 1613 to become a corporation town, and expanded dramatically when later made a city in 1888\. Along the way it has experienced the darkest of times, including the Belfast Blitz and the recent Troubles, to some of the most enlightened developments across Ireland and the UK. In Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, genealogist and best-selling author Chris Paton returns home to provide a research gateway for those wishing to trace their ancestors from the Northern Irish capital. With a concise summary of the city's history, a tour of some of the city's most amazing archives, libraries and museums, and a detailed overview of the records generated by those who came before, he expertly steers the reader towards centuries of ancestral exploration, both through online resources and within the city of Belfast itself - and with a wee bit of craic along the way!

Read more less

Book SynopsisKate Grenville's The Secret River was one of the most loved novels of 2006. Shortlisted for the Booker Prize and awarded the Commonwealth Writer's Prize, the story of William Thornhill and his journey from London to the other side of the world has moved and exhilarated hundreds of thousands of readers. Searching for the Secret River tells the story of how Grenville came to write this wonderful book. It is in itself an amazing story, beginning with Grenville's great-great-great grandfather. Grenville starts to investigate her ancestor, hoping to understand his life. She pursues him from Sydney to London and back, and slowly she begins to realise she must write about him. Searching for the Secret River maps this creative journey into fiction, and illuminates the importance of family in all our lives.Trade ReviewGrenville's skill is to turn what could have been too obviously a representative moral fable into a rich novel of character. * * Sunday Telegraph * *Grenville, as ever, describes an Australia so overwhelmingly beautiful that readers will lust after its sunbaked soul too. * * Daily Telegraph * *We have had to wait five years for The Secret River but the wait has been worth it... Splendidly paced, passionate and disturbing. * * The Times * *

Read more less

Book SynopsisWhat was a merchant seaman's life like in the past, what experiences would he have had, what were the ships like that he sailed in, and what risks did he run? Was he shipwrecked, rewarded for bravery, or punished? And how can you find out about an ancestor who was a member of the long British maritime tradition? Simon Wills's concise and informative historical guide takes the reader and researcher through the fascinating story of Britain's merchant service, and he shows you how to trace individual men and women and gain an insight into their lives. In a series of short, information-packed chapters he explains the expansion of Britain's global maritime trade and the fleets of merchant ships that sustained it in peace and war. He describes the lives, duties and tribulations of the generations of crews who sailed in these ships, whether as ordinary seamen or as officers, stewards, engineers and a myriad of other roles. And he identifies the websites you can explore, the archives, records and books you can read, and the places you can visit in order to gain an understanding of what your seagoing ancestor did and the world he knew. Simon Wills's practical handbook will be essential reading and reference for anyone who is keen to discover for themselves the secrets of our maritime past and of the crewmembers and ships that were part of it.Trade ReviewWhether you are researching a seaman or a ship, Tracing your Merchant Navy Ancestors is a book that will hold your interest from cover to cover, with a wealth of information contained in a well structured chapters, making it easy to dip into. This is an easy to read informative book that will be an essential reference guide for those with seamen in their families. - North Irish Ancestors, Sandra Ardis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe perfect gift for any mom, this keepsake memory book is a beautiful place to record special moments, stories, and advice that you want to pass down to your children one day. Mom’s Story is a guided journal thoughtfully designed to help moms of all ages write down memories that they want to preserve and share with their children and family. Designed by bestselling artist and author Korie Herold, this keepsake book provides moms with thoughtful writing prompts and plenty of journaling pages to record memories from their childhood, school years, early adulthood, and more. Show mom that you love her and want to grow closer with this timeless gift that’s ideal for Mother's Day, birthdays, or any time of year. Sections and writing prompts include: • Early Childhood: What was your house like growing up? What were your favourite toys or playtime activities? • School Years: What did you think you wanted to be when you grew up? What were you like as a teenager? • Work and Travel: What was your first job? What family vacations do you remember the most? • Love and Family: What's your best relationship advice? How did you feel when you found out you were going to be a mom? • Character and Values: What do you value most in life? What family values do you hope to pass down? • Hypotheticals and Curiosities: What's something you wish you had done differently? What's the best advice you ever received? • Words of Wisdom: Additional space to write letters to your family Special features include: • Elegant linen with gold foil cover • Acid-free and archival paper • Lay flat design allows you to easily write in the book • Carefully developed designs and prompts allow to you reflect and remember

Read more less

Book SynopsisPreserve your life story and pass it down to your family in this beautiful keepsake memory book.Grandma's Story is a guided journal thoughtfully designed to help grandmothers record their special memories and share them with their grandchildren and family. Designed by bestselling artist Korie Herold, this keepsake book offers writing prompts and journaling pages to guide grandmothers along as they record their life’s most precious moments. This book is the perfect gift for Mother's Day, birthdays, or any time of year for your grandmother.Sections and writing prompts include:• Early Childhood: What was your house like growing up? What were your favorite toys or playtime activities?• School Years: What did you think you wanted to be when you grew up? What were you like as a teenager?• Work and Travel: What was your first job? What family vacations do you remember the most?• Love and Family: What’s your best relationship advice? How did you feel when you found out you were going to be a grandfather?• Character and Values: What do you value most in life? What family values do you hope to pass down?• Hypotheticals and Curiosities: What's something you wish you had done differently? What's the best advice you ever received?• Words of Wisdom: Additional space to write letters to your familySpecial features include:• Elegant linen with gold foil cover• Acid-free and archival paper• Layflat design allows you to easily write in the book• Carefully developed designs and prompts allow to you reflect and remember

Read more less

Book Synopsis''Beautiful, like a muddy journey through time . . . a really important book'' RAYNOR WINN, author of The Salt Path Lisa Woollett has spent her life combing beaches and mudlarking, collecting curious fragments of the past: from Roman tiles and Tudor thimbles, to Victorian buttons and plastic soldiers. In a series of walks from the Thames, out to the Kentish estuary and eventually to Cornwall, she traces the history of our rubbish and, through it, reveals the surprising story of our changing consumer culture.Timely and beautifully written, Rag and Bone shows what we can learn from what we''ve thrown away and urges us to think more about what we leave behind.Trade ReviewLisa Woollett's beautifully descriptive language intertwines the stories of the river's history with that of her family, like a muddy journey through time. But it's so much more than that - in recording the waste and the lives we've left behind she's given us a chance to change our ways and possibly head towards a cleaner future -- Raynor WinnWonderful . . . If you loved The Salt Path, you'll love this book. A glorious celebration of where the natural world meets the human (and the messes we make) -- Viv GroskopRag and Bone digs deep into the mud of the Thames estuary, and comes up with something compelling and urgent - history told through rubbish. Lisa Woollett is a genuine mudlark, alert and closely attuned to the ways of the intertidal zone. A fascinating book -- Philip MarsdenA delicious confection of a book, blending history and memoir with thoughts and close observation. I so enjoyed watching shadows of the past flit across Lisa Woollett's watery pages. It is a timely book, too, when, as Woollett writes, "our waste threatens to overwhelm us" -- Sara WheelerTracing the remote and recent past - her own, and ours - through watery debris, Lisa Woollett conjures up, in poetic prose and brilliant stories, the spin cycle of history. In Rag and Bone, she elegantly picks her way through the trash, to reveal something gloriously and richly strange: a portrait of what we were and what we might become -- Philip HoareMudlark and beachcomber Lisa Woollett journeys into her family's past, our collective history and our possible futures. Subtle, dark and funny, with flashes of beauty and wonder, Rag and Bone is a compelling meditation on the consumer culture and its consequences -- Caspar HendersonEntrancing -- Patrick GaleLisa Woollett spins narrative gold out of literal dross in this gorgeous story of our waterways that lulls you like a punt on the Cam before making you seasick at the damage we've wrought on the oceans * Evening Standard, Books to Read This Summer *Absorbing . . . Woollett has a gift for bringing to life the strange borderlands of the foreshore * Observer *Discursive, lyrical and intriguing . . . Woollett writes beautifully * Literary Review *Rag and Bone is more than a history in a hundred objects: it is a meditation on our relationship with objects themselves * Times Literary Supplement *[A] beguiling blend of memoir, nature writing and social history * The Bookseller, Editor's Choice *More than personal memoir, this is a powerful book that has much to say about the present and future state of our world * Countryfile *Woollett weaves the story of her own London family within the wider social history of recycling . . . the book is illustrated with photographs of her finds arranged in ways that often say as much as the words do about the subject matter * Caught by the River, Book of the Month *A constant delight . . . highly recommended * Eden Magazine *Accompanied by the fantastically beautiful photographs of her finds, Woollett . . . traces her own family history in poetic prose * Simple Things *[Woollett's] mudlarking (preferred tool: a butter knife) reveals no end of social history washed up on the shore and awaiting interpretation * Strong Words *Subtle, lyrical and funny * The Lady *

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom grandma to her grandchild with love: this fill-in keepsake journal is perfect for passing on family history. Grandma, what was your life like? This charmingly illustrated book will help grandchildren better know and understand their grandmother. On every page, grandma can collect and write down her thoughts, stories, experiences, and cherished memories. In addition to space for filling in the family tree and posting photos, questions throughout prompt her to discuss her childhood, wedding, honeymoon, birth of her children, and other precious moments. When the book is complete, it will be a record of the past the future generations will treasure forever.

Read more less

Book Synopsis''A triumphant family memoir'' Hallie Rubenhold''Powerfully told...an impressive work'' The Times''Gives a voice to the voiceless'' Australian Book ReviewIn this remarkable book, Carmen Callil discovers the story of her British ancestors, beginning with her great-great grandmother Sary Lacey, born in 1808, an impoverished stocking frame worker. Through detailed research, we follow Sary from slum to tenement and from pregnancy to pregnancy. We also meet George Conquest, a canal worker and the father of one of Sary''s children. George was sentenced - for a minor theft - to seven years'' transportation to Australia, where he faced the extraordinary brutality of convict life.But for George, as for so many disenfranchised British people like him, Australia turned out to be his Happy Day. He survived, prospered and eventually returned to England, where he met Sary again, after nearly thirty years. He brought her out to Australia, and they were never parted again.A miracle of research and fuelled by righteous anger, Oh Happy Day is a story of Empire, migration and the inequality and injustice of nineteenth-century England.''A remarkable tale...drawing chilling parallels to the inequalities of our times'' ObserverTrade Review[A] remarkable tale...drawing chilling parallels to the inequalities of our time... A book that is both a heartfelt outpouring of pity and sorrow and an irate demand for restitution... Oh Happy Day deserves to be called Dickensian. -- Peter Conrad * Observer *Fascinating... [Oh Happy Day] evokes echoes of the present in speaking about the past, as all great works of history do. It's a gripping narrative. -- Erica Wagner * Harper's Bazaar *Oh Happy Day gives a voice to the voiceless and adds another major work to Carmen Callil's formidable achievements. -- Brenda Niall * Australian Book Review *Oh Happy Day is a phenomenal achievement... The book covers great swathes of history... These are intriguing stories. -- Dani Garavelli * Herald Scotland *An absorbing account of empire, migration, the poverty of injustice and enduring love... The book bristles with Callil's righteous anger at the injustices meted out to her forbears, and at the parallels for our own times. -- Caroline Sanderson * The Bookseller *

Read more less

Book SynopsisOne woman’s unrelenting mission to reclaim her ancestors’ history and honor their lineage pits her against one of the country’s most powerful institutions: Harvard UniversityTamara Lanier grew up listening to her mother’s stories about her ancestors. As Black Americans descended from enslaved people brought to America, they knew all too well how fragile the tapestry of a lineage could be. As her mother’s health declined, she pushed her daughter to dig into those stories. Tell them about Papa Renty, she would say. It was her mother’s last wish. Thus begins one woman’s remarkable commitment to document that story. Her discovery of a nineteenth-century daguerreotype at Harvard University’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, one of the first-ever photos of enslaved people from Africa, reveals a dark-skinned man with short-cropped silver hair and chiseled cheekbones. The information read “Renty, Cong

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book is the ideal companion for anybody researching their family tree. It provides advice and inspiration on methods and problem-solving and helps the amateur family historian understand what successful professionals do to get results, and why we should copy them. Over ten chapters, it examines the various themes that affect the success or failure of all genealogy research. This begins with an overview of common challenges genealogists encounter and continues with an examination of how to both search effectively and find the right documentary sources. Using examples from her own family history as well as client work, teacher and professional genealogist Helen Osborn demonstrates how to get the most from documents, analyze problems and build research plans. These subjects lead on to recording results, how to ensure relationships are correctly proved, organizing information and presenting your findings. Although the book deals mainly with research in England and Wales, the skills ta

Read more less

Book SynopsisExplores family history research as in-family research by all ages.

Read more less

Book SynopsisConcise, accessible, authoritative guide to Kent's family and local history sources

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn essential introduction to one of the most rewarding sources for family historians.

Read more less

Book SynopsisEssential handbook for anyone researching the life of an ancestor who lived in Cambridgeshire, Essex, Norfolk or Suffolk.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe East End is one of the most famous parts of London and it has had its own distinctive identity since the district was first settled in medieval times. It is best known for extremes of poverty and deprivation, for strong political and social movements, and for the extraordinary mix of immigrants who have shaped its history. Jonathan Oates's handbook is the ideal guide to its complex, rich and varied story and it is an essential source for anyone who wants to find out about an East End ancestor or carry out their own research into the area. He outlines in vivid detail the development of the neighbourhoods that constitute the East End. In a series of information-filled chapters, he explores East End industries and employment-the docks, warehouses, factories, markets and shops. He looks at its historic poverty and describes how it gained a reputation for criminality, partly because of notorious criminals like Jack the Ripper and the Krays. This dark side to the history contrasts with the liveliness of the East End entertainments and the strong social bonds of the immigrants who made their home there-Huguenots, Jews, Bangladeshis and many others. Throughout the book details are given of the records that researchers can consult in order to delve into the history for themselves-online sites, archives, libraries, books and museums.

Read more less

Book SynopsisHow can you find out about the lives of ancestors who were involved in the world of theatre: on stage and on film, in the music halls and travelling shows, in the circus and in all sorts of other forms of public performance? Katharine Cockin's handbook provides a fascinating introduction for readers searching for information about ancestors who had clearly defined roles in the world of the theatre and performance as well as those who left only a few tantalizing clues behind. The wider history of public performance is outlined, from its earliest origins in church rituals and mystery plays through periods of censorship driven by campaigns on moral and religious grounds up to the modern world of stage and screen. Case studies, which are a special feature of the book, demonstrate how the relevant records and be identified and interpreted, and they prove how much revealing information they contain. Information on relevant archives, books, museums and websites make this an essential guide for anyone who is keen to explore the subject.

Read more less

Book SynopsisHow were criminal children dealt with in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries? Over this hundred-year period, ideas about the way children should behave - and how they should be corrected when they misbehaved - changed dramatically, and Emma Watkins and Barry Godfrey, in this accessible and expert guide, provide a fascinating introduction to this neglected subject. They describe a time in which 'juvenile delinquency' was 'invented', when the problem of youth crime and youth gangs developed, and society began to think about how to stop criminal children from developing into criminal adults. Through a selection of short biographies of child criminals, they give readers a direct view of the experience of children who spent time in prisons, reformatory schools, industrial schools and borstals, and those who were transported to Australia. They also include a section showing how researchers can carry out their own research on child offenders, the records they will need and how to use them, so the book is a rare combination of academic guide and how-to-do-it manual. It offers readers cutting-edge scholarship by experts in the field and explains how they can explore the subject and find out about the lives of offending children.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis is a new edition of the bestselling guide to this increasingly popular pursuit. Scotland has the best-maintained records and facilities of any country in the world for undertaking family research, and now that the National Records of Scotland are available online they can be consulted by anyone from whatever country. Tracing Your Scottish Ancestors is the National Records' official guide and is written in an accessible style from the unique perspective of a custodian of the records. It details all the latest internet developments, including a chapter on family history on the web. It also points to more traditional resources, explaining step by step how to research records of births, marriages and wills.Trade Review'Includes the sort of online sources that have transformed the field since its first publication in 1990, this guide is indispensable for the serious investigator' * The Scotsman *'Excellent help with every phase of genealogical research ... This book will be a valuable finding aid for many people using the Scottish Record Office, and by no means only for the family historian' * Books in Scotland *

Read more less

Book SynopsisJayne Shrimpton's complete guide to dating, analysing and understanding family photographs is essential reading and reference for anyone undertaking genealogical and local history research. Using over 150 old photographs as examples, she shows how such images can give a direct insight into the past and into the lives of the individuals who are portrayed in them. Almost every family and local historian works with photographs, but often the fascinating historical and personal information that can be gained from them is not fully understood. They are one of the most vivid and memorable ways into the past. This concise but comprehensive guide describes the various types of photograph and explains how they can be dated. It analyses what the clothes and style of dress can tell us about the people in the photographs, their circumstances and background. Sections look at photographs of special occasions - baptisms, weddings, funerals - and at photographs taken in wartime, on holiday and at work. There is advice on how to identify the individuals shown and how to find more family photographs through personal connections, archives and the internet - and how to preserve them for future generations. Jayne Shrimpton's handbook is an authoritative, accessible guide to old photographs that no family or local historian can be without.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis fully revised second edition of Chris Paton's best-selling guide is essential reading if you want to make effective use of the internet in your family history research. Every day new records and resources are placed online and new methods of sharing research and communicating across cyberspace become available, and his handbook is the perfect introduction to them. He has checked and updated all the links and other sources, added new ones, written a new introduction and substantially expanded the social networking section. Never before has it been so easy to research family history using the internet, but he demonstrates that researchers need to take a cautious approach to the information they gain from it. They need to ask, where did the original material come from and has it been accurately reproduced, why was it put online, what has been left out and what is still to come? As he leads the researcher through the multitude of resources that are now accessible online, he helps to answer these questions. He shows what the internet can and cannot do, and he warns against the various traps researchers can fall into along the way.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis is the story of one of the thousands of Polish Families who were deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan by the Soviets in 1940. The Glindzicz family had their roots in the Eastern Borderlands of Poland known as Kresy. The family held their lands in this region since before the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth (1569-1648). The Glindzicz men supported all the major Polish uprisings against Czarist Russia. Mieczysław Glindzicz was a local commander in the 1863 Uprising. Despite having fought loyally side by side with Britain throughout the Second World War, when it ended, the Poles of Kresy lost their homes and lands to the Soviet Union. Kresy was the territory Russia took when she was an ally of Germany. The mother of two young boys, Maria Bitner-Glindzicz as a deportee, escaped the hardships of work on the Akmolinsk-Kartaly railway, made her way to Guzar in Uzbekistan, crossed the Caspian Sea to Persia, and via Teheran journeyed to Palestine where she joined the Polish Arm in 1943. When the war ended she was demobbed in England and met up with her sister Helena Litynska. Helena had fought with the Polish Underground forces since 1940 and in August 1944 took a part in the Warsaw ‘Rising. She was wounded during the fighting, captured by the Germans and imprisoned in various POW camps in Germany. Maria’s husband and her father were killed by the Russians sometime in 1940 around the time the family was deported. Their names are on the controversial Belarusian Katyń List. Maria lost her three brothers in the war; Julian the youngest was arrested with his father and was never hear of again, Roman died during the Polish Campaign in 1939, and Stanisław died after joining the Polish Army in Uzbekistan. When the family arrived in England in 1947 no adult male from either side of Maria’s family had survived the war.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisAs a child, all Aatish Taseer ever had of his father was his photograph in a browning silver frame. Raised by his Sikh mother in Delhi, his father, a Pakistani Muslim, remained a distant figure. It was a fractured upbringing which left Aatish with many questions about his own identity. Stranger to History is the story of the journey Aatish made to try to understand what it means to be Muslim in the twenty-first century. Starting from Istanbul, Islam's once greatest city, he travels to Mecca, its most holy, and then home through Iran and Pakistan. Ending in Lahore, at his estranged father's home, on the night Benazir Bhutto was killed, it is also the story of Aatish's own divided family over the past fifty years.Trade ReviewA subtle and poignant work by a young writer to watch. -- V.S. NaipaulTaseer uses this intensely personal prism to spring a narrative that darts deftly between physical journey and childhood memoir. The paternal relationship he never had becomes the backbone of the book, which is all the better for it. Uncomfortable reading for Daddy, certainly, but gripping for the rest of us. * * Literary Review * *Probing, exhilarating and shot through with pinpoint observations of people, places and situations. -- Kenny Hodgart * * Herald * *Stranger to History is remarkable. The souks, the landcapes and the people are described in simple, poetic language . . . Indispensable reading for anyone who wants a wider understanding of the Islamic world, of its history and its politics. -- Emmanuelle Smith * * Financial Times * *A memorable read that engages the mind as well as the heart. -- Tom Adair * * Scotsman * *Engrossing and provocative . . . Part travelogue, part memoir, this honest and revealing book is an attempt to form a better relationship with his father. Throughout, he confronts the concerns of religion and politics head on, unafraid to question the basic principles of faith and the Islamic view of history. -- Duncan Mills * * Traveller Magazine * *A revealing personal odyssey . . . Illuminating. * * The Bookseller * *Stranger to History is remarkable. The souks, the landcapes and the people are described in simple, poetic language . . . Indespensable reading for anyone who wants a wider understanding of the Islamic world, of its history and its politics. * * Financial Times * *

Read more less

Book SynopsisFew previous publications have focused on Welsh family history, and none have provided a comprehensive guide to the genealogical information available and where to find it. That is why the publication of Beryl Evans's new Welsh family history handbook is such a significant event in the field. Her detailed, accessible, authoritative guide will be essential reading and reference for anyone who is eager to research ancestors from Wales. She describes the key archival sources and shows how the development of new technology, the internet in particular, has made them so much easier to explore. Drawing on her long experience of family history work, she gives clear practical advice on how to start a research project, and she sketches in the outlines of Welsh history, Welsh surnames and place-names and the Welsh language. But the main body of her book is devoted to identifying the variety of sources researchers can consult - the archive repositories, including The National Library of Wales, civil records of all kinds, the census, parish registers, wills, the records of churches, chapels, schools, businesses, tax offices and courts, and the wide range of printed records.Beryl Evans's handbook will be a basic text for researchers of Welsh descent and for anyone who is keen to learn about Welsh history.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less