Tracing Your Criminal Ancestors

Tracing Your Criminal Ancestors
Author: Stephen Wade
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2010-03-10
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 1844686809

Did you have a criminal in the family, an ancestor who was caught on the wrong side of the law? If you have ever had any suspicions about the illicit activities of your relatives, or are fascinated by the history of crime and punishment, this is the book for you. Stephen Wades useful introduction to this fascinating subject will help you discover and investigate the life stories of individuals who had a criminal past. The crimes they committed, the conditions in which they lived, the policing and justice system that dealt with them all these aspects of criminal history are covered as are the many types of crime they were guilty of murder, robbery, fraud, sexual offenses, poaching, protest and public disorder. Graphic case studies featuring each type of crime are included, dating from the Georgian period up until the present day. All of these cases are reconstructed using information gleaned from the many sources available to researchers libraries, archives, books and the internet among them. 'Tracing Your Criminal Ancestors' is essential reading for anyone who wishes to explore the criminal past and seeks to trace an ancestor who had a criminal record.

Tracing Your Prisoner Ancestors

Tracing Your Prisoner Ancestors
Author: Stephen Wade
Publisher: Pen and Sword Family History
Total Pages: 259
Release: 2020-12-02
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 152677853X

An “excellent book . . . a great introduction to legal terms, offences, procedures, sentences, and much more besides” trom the author of Writing True Crime (Ripperologist). The history of the British prison system only had systematic records from the middle of the nineteenth century. Before that, material on prisoners in local jails and houses of correction was patchy and minimal. In more recent times, many prison records have been destroyed. In Tracing Your Prisoner Ancestors, crime historian Stephen Wade attempts to provide information and guidance to family and social history researchers in this difficult area of criminal records. His book covers the span of time from medieval to modern, and includes some Scottish and Irish sources. The sources explained range broadly from central calendars of prisoners, court records and jail returns, through to memoirs and periodicals. The chapters also include case studies and short biographies of some individuals who experienced our prisons and left some records. “All in all, it is a fascinating read, even if you don’t have prisoner ancestors! Wade has managed to explain the complexities of the criminal system, its records and how they affected our ancestors with his well-researched and illuminating guide.” —Family and Community Historical Research Society Newsletter “Overall, it provides an excellent starting point for family historians to investigate their relations who ended up behind bars.” —WDYTYA? Magazine

Tracing Your Huguenot Ancestors

Tracing Your Huguenot Ancestors
Author: Kathy Chater
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
Total Pages: 138
Release: 2012-04-19
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 1781597596

“A well researched, informative and helpful book for the many family historians whose Protestant ancestors lived in Northern Europe.” —Federation of Family History Societies Between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, many thousands of Protestants fled religious persecution in France and the Low Countries. They became one of the most influential immigrant communities in the countries where they settled, and many families in modern-day Britain will find a Huguenot connection in their past. Kathy Chater’s authoritative handbook offers an accessible introduction to Huguenot history and to the many sources that researchers can use to uncover the Huguenot ancestry they may not have realized they had. She traces the history of the Huguenots; their experience of persecution, and their flight to Britain, North America, the West Indies and South Africa, concentrating on the Huguenot communities that settled in England, Ireland, Scotland and the Channel Islands. Her work is also an invaluable guide to the various sources researchers can turn to in order to track their Huguenot ancestors, for she describes the wide range of records that is available in local, regional and national archives, as well as through the internet and overseas. Her expert overview is essential reading for anyone studying their Huguenot ancestry or immigrant history in Britain. “This is a useful, up to date, practical guide for anyone who has, or thinks they have, Huguenot ancestors in the British Isles. It provides social and contextual assistance along with guidance on what records have survived, where to find them and how to use them.” —Milner Genealogy

Tracing Your Ancestors Through Letters and Personal Writings

Tracing Your Ancestors Through Letters and Personal Writings
Author: Ruth Alexandra Symes
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Total Pages: 281
Release: 2016-11-30
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 1473855438

Could your ancestors write their own names or did they mark official documents with a cross? Why did great-grandfather write so cryptically on a postcard home during the First World War? Why did great-grandmother copy all the letters she wrote into letter-books? How unusual was it that great-uncle sat down and wrote a poem, or a memoir? Researching Family History Through Ancestors' Personal Writings looks at the kinds of (mainly unpublished) writing that could turn up amongst family papers from the Victorian period onwards - a time during which writing became crucial for holding families together and managing their collective affairs. With industrialization, improved education, and far more geographical mobility, British people of all classes were writing for new purposes, with new implements, in new styles, using new modes of expression and new methods of communication (e.g. telegrams and postcards). Our ancestors had an itch for scribbling from the most basic marks (initials, signatures and graffiti on objects as varied as trees, rafters and window ledges), through more emotionally charged kinds of writing such as letters and diaries, to more creative works such as poetry and even fiction. This book shows family historians how to get the most out of documents written by their ancestors and, therefore, how better to understand the people behind the words.

Tracing Your Trade & Craftsman Ancestors

Tracing Your Trade & Craftsman Ancestors
Author: Adele Emm
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Total Pages: 226
Release: 2015-04-30
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 1473823625

Almost all of us have a tradesman or craftsman Ð a butcher, baker or candlestick maker Ð somewhere in our ancestry, and Adle Emm's handbook is the perfect guide to finding out about them Ð about their lives, their work and the world they lived in. She introduces the many trades and crafts, looks at their practices and long traditions, and identifies and explains the many sources you can go to in order to discover more about them and their families. ?Chapters cover the guilds, the merchants, shopkeepers, builders, smiths and metalworkers, cordwainers and shoemakers, tailors and dressmakers, coopers, wheelwrights and carriage-makers, and a long list of other trades and crafts. The training and apprenticeships of individuals who worked in these trades and crafts are described, as are their skills and working conditions and the genealogical resources that preserve their history and give an insight into their lives. A chapter covers the general sources that researchers can turn to Ð the National Archives, the census, newspapers, wills, and websites Ð and gives advice on how to use them. ?Adle Emm's introduction will be fascinating reading for anyone who is researching the social or family history of trades and crafts.

Tracing Your Coalmining Ancestors

Tracing Your Coalmining Ancestors
Author: Brian Elliott
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2014-02-11
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 1848842392

In the 1920s there were over a million coalminers working in over 3000 collieries across Great Britain, and the industry was one of the most important and powerful in British history. It dominated the lives of generations of individuals, their families and communities, and its legacy is still with us today _ many of us have a coalmining ancestor. ??Yet family historians often have problems in researching their mining forebears. Locating the relevant records, finding the sites of the pits, and understanding the work involved and its historical background can be perplexing. That is why Brian Elliott's concise, authoritative and practical handbook will be so useful, for it guides researchers through these obstacles and opens up the broad range of sources they can go to in order to get a vivid insight into the lives and experiences of coalminers in the past. ??His overview of the coalmining history _ and the case studies and research tips he provides _ will make his book rewarding reading for anyone looking for a general introduction to this major aspect of Britain's industrial heritage. His directory of regional and national sources and his commentary on them will make this guide an essential tool for family historians searching for an ancestor who worked in coalmining underground, on the pit top or just lived in a mining community.??As featured in Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine and the Barnsley Chronicle.

Tracing Your Theatrical Ancestors

Tracing Your Theatrical Ancestors
Author: Katharine M Cockin
Publisher: Pen and Sword Family History
Total Pages: 194
Release: 2023-07-31
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 1526732084

How can you find out about the lives of ancestors who were involved in the world of theater: on stage and on film, in the music halls and traveling 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 theater 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.

Criminal Ancestors

Criminal Ancestors
Author: David T. Hawkings
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2009
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780750950572

When a family historian discovers a criminal way back in the family tree, he or she needs to know how to trace that person. David Hawkings here offers practical in-depth guidelines for researching these criminal ancestors, many of whom were "obliged" to steal for mere survival and suffered imprisonment for the most trivial offenses. His pioneering study includes surveys of material held by all County and Borough Record Offices, police archives, and other repositories, as well as numerous example cases and illustrations, appendices with source material, and a case history to show the extent to which one individual criminal can be researched. This unique and richly illustrated book provides the essential research and reference tool which no genealogist or family historian should be without.

Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors

Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors
Author: Chris Paton
Publisher: Pen and Sword Family History
Total Pages: 233
Release: 2023-05-04
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 1526780348

Straddling 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!

Tracing Your Ancestors

Tracing Your Ancestors
Author: Simon Fowler
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
Total Pages: 190
Release: 2011-07-12
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 1844686744

This accessible, well-organized, easy-to-use beginners guide to the world of family history is essential reading for anyone who wants to find their way into this fascinating subject. In a series of short, practical chapters Simon Fowler 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 other sources that can throw a light into the past. In a clear, straightforward way he explains how vital records of births, marriages and deaths can be used as the starting point in a sequence of eye-opening family detective work. Simon Fowlers introduction, which is founded on a career of genealogical research and writing, is an indispensable basic book for anyone entering in the field.