or even those family secrets and hardships that our ancestors sought to hide from us. Furthermore, each section incorporates an overview of the social history behind the topic and surviving records that you’ll need to consult to track down your ancestors. Every chapter is illustrated with case studies from celebrities in the show, who have unearthed some amazing stories during their investigations. There are also two reference sections that offer practical research tips for the most common lines of enquiry; the meaning behind the top surnames and occupations you are likely to encounter; and detailed guides to the main archives in the UK and Ireland that you will have to visit to dig for information.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have been involved with Who Do You Think You Are? from the start, as consultant genealogist for the first four series and appearing at the end of each episode in series 1 to help explain some of the research that underpinned the programme. However, I came to genealogy via a background in academic history – my PhD is in medieval history and I first joined The National Archives as a research advisor in 1996, although I’ve worked in the field of personal heritage for over ten years, ever since I became involved in the BBC’s House Detectives. In 2000 I started my own research agency, Sticks Research Agency, to provide historical research and consultancy for the media.
The fascination with one’s past still creeps into battle-hardened professionals, and even though I deal with other people’s family history research most of the time, I still get drawn back to the mysteries in my own background. My mother’s maternal lineage is completely unknown, thanks to my mysterious grandmother who has taken her secrets to the grave with her. All we are left with are some photographs, tantalizing stories of being spirited out of Europe on the eve of the First World War, and a connection with the American financier Arthur Chase. Nevertheless, it is still possible to make a surprising breakthrough, even when you think there’s nothing left to find. One recent discovery has revealed a paternal great uncle who was caught spying for the Soviet Union in the 1920s, which only came to light via a random trawl of The National Archives’ catalogue. His name appeared in some newly released intelligence files, and on inspection they contained a dossier over 100 pages long chronicling his activities, including photographs of him as a young man; his First World War service papers; surveillance notes and phone intercepts; and an account of a sting operation that was meant to incriminate him. The material also answered a long unsolved mystery surrounding his death, as it revealed that he had committed suicide at the point when he realized that he was about to be unmasked as a spy.
As you will find when you start work on your own family, each question that you answer will lead to a whole raft of new questions – one of the main reasons why seasoned genealogists have been working away for decades. At the end of the day, the history of your ancestors is your story to tell – so enjoy the detective process, the thrill of the chase, and happy hunting!
‘The history of your ancestors is your story to tell – so enjoy the detective process.’
The Who Do You Think You Are? Encyclopedia of Genealogy is the definitive, comprehensive guide to tracing your roots, and putting them into the correct historical context so that you fully understand not just who your ancestors were, but also the way they used to live. This book is split into five sections.
SECTION ONE
Section One concerns the preparatory stages you need to do before you even start logging on or heading to the nearest library, record office or archive – the sort of work you can do at home and with your family to hand. It includes gathering initial information from your family; organizing it into a family tree; setting your research goals; and working out which archives you’ll need to visit first. These are crucial steps to take, and are often skipped over by enthusiasts straining at the leash – often with disastrous consequences later on. Remember, perfect planning prevents poor performance!
SECTION TWO
Section Two introduces you to the key resources you’ll need to build and expand your family tree, in particular civil registration certificates of births, marriages and deaths; census returns; wills and probate documents; and parish registers. These will provide sufficient clues to bring your relatives back to life as real people who lived interesting lives. Many of these are now available online, and should be used as building blocks to construct a secure foundation for your research.
SECTION THREE
Section Three is where it all gets personal. By this stage you will have built your family tree, and this section provides more detailed information about the ways you can investigate the historical context surrounding the names you have uncovered. There are several subsections, each reflecting a major theme of British social history over the last few centuries, many of which are likely to have directly affected your ancestors. The main topics covered include military history, as it would be a great surprise if at least one ancestor wasn’t involved in the forces at some point; occupations over the ages; migration into and out of Britain; family secrets, since we all have a skeleton or two lurking undiscovered in the closet; and wider aspects of social history, such as working further back in time and looking for blue-blooded ancestors. What makes the book unique is that there is a history of each theme as well as a description of the records you’ll need to consult, where to find them and how to use them.
SECTIONS FOUR & FIVE
Sections Four and Five provide supplementary practical advice and support to help structure your work as it progresses. Section Four contains troubleshooting guides which take you along some of the most common lines of research step by step, such as searching for military ancestors, or those who entered or left Britain over the last few centuries; whilst Section Five provides profiles and meanings of some of the most frequently occurring surnames and occupations that you are likely to encounter during your research; information on genetic genealogy, where you trace distant relatives through your DNA; and information about the key archives, institutions and websites that you will visit or use during your work.
So, if you are a novice family historian and you want to get the best out of this book, don’t skip over Sections One or Two. More experienced researchers might want to focus on Section Three. And if you get stuck, head for Sections Four and Five to kick-start your research in another direction.
The aim of this section is to encourage you to take those initial steps! Family history can be daunting and many people are put off because they simply don’t know where to start. The chapters in this section will take you through the key preparatory stages, from talking to your family to building your family tree, setting your research goals (so that they are realistic!) and locating the best place to start your research.
Every journey starts with a
