Tracing Your Pre-Victorian Ancestors is the ideal handbook for family
historians whose research has reached back to the early nineteenth
century and are finding it difficult to go further. John Wintrip guides
readers through all the steps they can take in order to delve even more
deeply into the past.
Carrying research through to earlier periods is more challenging because
church registers recorded less information than civil registration
records and little census data is available. Researchers often encounter
obstacles they don't know how to overcome. But, as this book
demonstrates, greater understanding of the sources and the specific
records within them, along with a wider knowledge of the historical
context, often allows progress to be made.
Most important, John Wintrip concentrates on how to do the research - on
the practical steps that can be taken in order to break through these
barriers. He looks at online services, archives and their catalogues,
factors that can influence the outcome of research, wider family
relationships, missing ancestors and mistaken identity.
Throughout the book he emphasizes the process of research and the
variety of resources and search tools that can be used.