Tracing Your British Ancestors

What would appear to be just another guide to tracing ancestors, Colin Chapman's Tracing Your British Ancestors is, in fact, a readable, informative, and surprisingly original book. While it covers the conventional methods and sources employed in British genealogical research--parish records, probate records, civil and ecclesiastical records, vital records, county records, heraldry, and so forth--it touches imaginatively on areas only lightly covered or totally ignored in similar guidebooks. There are discussions of research techniques in the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, for instance, and whole chapters on the old and new Poor Laws and on land records--topics usually reserved for larger, more academic studies. And, as with Mr. Chapman's other cameo publications, there is a list of useful addresses and suggestions for further reading.