Category Archives: Document Sources

Conjectures, traditions and the search for the truth…

Posted on January 10, 2021 by Lifelines Research

Sir Denner Strutt, Knt., was of Little Warley, of which place he was created a baronet in 1641; he suffered severely from the arbitrary exactions of the parliament in the time of King Charles the First, being compelled to pay … Continue reading →

Posted in Document Sources, Local History, research, Soapbox, Stories | Tagged antiquarians, antiquaries, family history, genealogy, Henry William King, John Wodehouse, Little Warley, Sir Denner Strutt, Thomas Wodehouse | Leave a comment

52 Ancestors – 52 Documents

Posted on December 29, 2020 by Lifelines Research

Throughout 2020 I’ve been tweeting my own take on Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – 52 different types of document relating to 52 different ancestors over 52 weeks. Now I’ve put all 52 tweets together in one … Continue reading →

Posted in Document Sources, research | Tagged Ancestors, ANcestry, documents, family history, genealogy | 1 Comment

Back From The Dead?

Posted on November 26, 2020 by Lifelines Research

This is the second part of the story of Stephen Willis, the Ramsgate hawker, and his parents, Stephen Willis senior and Ellen (née Foley). In the first part, we followed Stephen senior from his birth in Bishopsbourne near Canterbury in … Continue reading →

Posted in Document Sources, Local History, research, Stories, Surnames | Tagged census, Hawkers, newspapers, Ramsgate, the national archives, Willis family | 4 Comments

So, what next?

Posted on September 20, 2020 by Lifelines Research

Two weeks ago today, I sat down and composed a blog post entitled, Where Have All The Registers Gone? I referred to it as a ‘soapbox’ piece and my aim was to highlight what I saw as a serious problem … Continue reading →

Posted in Document Sources, research, Soapbox | Tagged digitisation, family history, genealogy, parish registers, research | 3 Comments

Where have all the registers gone?

Posted on September 6, 2020 by Lifelines Research

Let’s make something clear right from the start. I am a huge fan of digitisation and online access in genealogy. Both as an enthusiastic hobbyist and as a professional genealogist with 37 years’ experience, I have reason, on a daily … Continue reading →

Posted in Document Sources, research | Tagged digitisation, documents, genealogy, online access, research, transcription | 60 Comments

All and every my child and children

Posted on July 18, 2020 by Lifelines Research

Our efforts to reconstruct the lives of our pre-Victorian ancestors are all-too-often thwarted by the lack of available source material. In an era before the decennial censuses and the (virtually) comprehensive civil registration system, our reference points can be severely … Continue reading →

Posted in Document Sources, research, Stories | Tagged biography, chancery, documents, family history, genealogy, Port family, research, tna | 4 Comments

1813 And All That

Posted on July 4, 2020 by Lifelines Research

A comment on Twitter this morning in response to a tweet of mine about George Rose’s Parish Register Act got me thinking. My original tweet suggested that the post-1813 printed burial registers introduced by Rose’s Act were “somewhat lacking in … Continue reading →

Posted in Document Sources, research | Tagged documents, family history, genealogy, George Rose, parish registers, Parochial Registers Act 1812, registration, research | Leave a comment

The Joy of Signatures

Posted on May 30, 2020 by Lifelines Research

As family historians, we should never rely on transcripts. Access to original documents, or at least, to digital images of original documents is an essential part of the process of genealogical research. Even the most thorough and comprehensive transcripts are … Continue reading →

Posted in Document Sources | Tagged documents, family history, genealogy, research, signatures, tna, transcription | Leave a comment

The Joy of Chancery

Posted on March 29, 2020 by Lifelines Research

This is the Court of Chancery … there is not an honourable man among its practitioners who would not give—who does not often give—the warning, “Suffer any wrong that can be done you rather than come here!” Bleak House, Chapter … Continue reading →

Posted in Document Sources | Tagged chancery, Charles Dickens, documents, family history, research, tna, transcription | Leave a comment

The Joy of Tithes

Posted on January 12, 2020 by Lifelines Research

When it comes to the 1841 census, one of the greatest disappointments for family historians is that the addresses given, particularly in rural areas, tend to be frustratingly imprecise. More often than not, we just get the name of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Document Sources | Tagged documents, family history, research, the national archives, tithe maps, tithes, tna | 2 Comments