Britain, Histories & Reference Guides

These volumes are incredibly useful beyond searching for an ancestor’s name. You can access 62 different volumes relating to British history, heraldry, cultural history, and genealogy. They will provide the contextual information you need to create full profiles of your ancestors and the lives they led. They will add quality to your family history and your overall understanding of British genealogy. Britain, histories and reference guides is a resource you will save and keep coming back to. The subject matter varies greatly in this large collection of publications. Therefore, when you find your ancestor’s name in these records it could be for a variety of reasons. Here are some examples of the titles available and what you can find in each.

• Old English Customs Extant at the Present Time, published in 1896 – Discover the origins of English customs from ancient traditions with pagan origins that have lasted through the centuries to the modern Christmas tree, pantomimes, and May day customs.

• The Northern Genealogist, published 1895 by Alfred Gibbons - This publication includes Newark parish registers, Lincolnshire chantries (endowments), Dymoke family estates, the will of James Bean of Jamaica, Grimsby burgess roll, and many more resources.

• Notes of Cases Heard & Determined by Courts, published in 1913 - In this publication, you will find notes on a range of cases recorded weekly throughout 1913. The cases are from the high court, local courts, and courts of appeal. They cover libel, criminal law, estates, divorce, etc. Full details of the cases presented in court as well as the verdicts passed by judges in other cases are included.

• The Slang Dictionary, published 1865 – Explore the vulgar words, street phrases, and fast expressions of high and low society. The author traces the history of the words and phrases, such as ‘Abraham-men’, which meant people who were mad and admitted to Bethlehem Hospital, and ‘stampers’, which were shoes. There are also sections dedicated to the words used by specific groups of people; for example, actors used the word ‘daddy’ to refer to the stage-manager, ‘ben’ for a benefit, and ‘sal’ for salary.

• Coaching Days and Coaching Ways, published 1893 – The author, W Outram Tristram, captured the social life of those who passed to and from London and the provinces. As he explained, ‘I shall show our ancestors of all ages in all kinds of costumes…busy at the nothings which make travelled life - eating, drinking, flirting, quarrelling, delivering up their purses, grumbling over their bills – a motley crowd of kings, queens, statesmen, highwaymen, generals, poets, wits, fine ladies, conspirators, and coachmen’. Historical detail of each place is given. There are 214 illustrations by Hugh Thomson and Herbert Railton.

A General And True History Of The Lives And Actions Of The Most Famous Highwaymen, Murderers, Street-Robbers, Etc. published 1742

Acta Regia, published 1733

Andrews' Curiosities of the Church, published 1891

Architecture in Relation to Our Parish Churches, published 1886

Aveling's Heraldry Ancient & Modern, including Boutell's Heraldry, published 1892

Bernau's International Genealogical Directory, 2nd edition, published 1909

Blunt's Book of Church Law, published 1899

Burke's Key to the Ancient Parish Registers of England & Wales, published 1908

Burn's History of Parish Registers in England, 2nd edition, published 1862

Coaching Days and Coaching Ways, published 1893

Constitutions of Free and Accepted Masons, published 1888

Cripps's Practical Treatise on The Law Relating to the Church and the Clergy, published 1850

Domesday Book and Beyond: Three Essays in the Early History of England, published 1907

Domesday Book for Middlesex, published 1862

England in Days of Old, published 1897

English Farming Past and Present, published 1922

Fairholt's Costumes in England, published 1896

Fox-Davies' Complete Guide to Heraldry, published 1909

Fox-Davies' Heraldry Explained

Guy's Out Trails & McLean's Health, Strength & Beauty, published 1902

Halliwell's Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, volumes I & II, published 1878

Haydn's Dictionary of Dates, published 1892

Hitching's References to English Surnames in 1601, published 1910

Holdsworth's Handy Book of Parish Law, published 1886

Illustrated Notes on English Church History, 2 volumes, published 1888-93

Lang's Books & Bookmen, 1st edition with unexpurgated chapter on parish registers, published 1887

Long's Personal and Family Names, published 1883

Manuals of the Duties of Poor Law Officers: Master & Matron of the Workhouse, published 1869

Martin's the Record Interpreter, published 1910

Master Wace's Chronicle of the Norman Conquest, published 1837

Mrs Beeton's Cookery & Household Hints, published 1895

Notes of Cases Heard & Determined by Courts, published 1913

Old English Customs Extant at the Present Time, published 1896

Old English Social Life as Told by the Parish Registers, published 1898

Oliver Cromwell's Letters & Speeches with Elucidations, 3 volumes, published 1845

Paupers in Workhouses in England & Wales, published 1861

Peake's The English Village: The Origin & Decay of its Community, published 1922

Pictorial Description of Great Britain & Ireland, published 1846

Railway Year Book, published 1922

Registrar General's 64th Annual Report on Births, Marriages & Deaths in England & Wales, published 1903

Roman Roads in Britain, published 1928

Round's Feudal England, published 1909

Rye's Records and Record Searching: A Guide for the Genealogist & Topographer, published 1897

Saunders' Ancient Handwritings: An Introductory Manual, published 1909

Seebohm's English Village Community, published 1896

Social England Illustrated: A Collection of 17th Century Tracts, published 1903

Social Life in Britain from Conquest to Reformation, published 1918

Something for Everybody, published 1861

Suggestions for Guidance of the Clergy with Reference to Marriage Registration Acts, published 1904

The Ancestor, quarterly journals 1902-1905

The Autocar Handbook: A Guide to the Motor Car, 10th edition, published 1910

The Genealogist's Pocket Library, 8 volumes, published 1908-1910

The Great North Road, published 1922

The History of Work and Wages, published 1894

The Northern Genealogist, quarterly journals 1895-1903

The Slang Dictionary, published 1865

The Universal Pocket Companion, published 1741

Thoyts' How to Decipher and Study Old Documents, published 1903

Turnpike Road Statutes, published 1828

Waters' Parish Registers in England, published 1883

Williams's Principles and Practices of the Baptists, published 1879

Wonderful London

Wright's Court-Hand Restored, or the Student's Assistant in Reading Old Deeds, Charters, Records etc., published 1912

Searching through a PDF (Portable document format) is different from searching through fully transcribed record sets. Here are some tips to keep in mind while you search for your ancestors:

Direct Search

• The search feature uses direct search. It will search for the exact word or phrase you type in the search field. There are no name variants available through this format.
• All search results will bring you to the page on which your search word has been found and not to an individual transcript. You can then read through the page to find your result.

Name searches

• A name search will return results which have the search terms on the same page within the document. This means that searching for John Smith will return pages where the names 'John' and 'Smith' occur. For this reason your search may return the name William Smith or John Brown. By inserting quotations around the full name the search function will locate the terms together; for example, “John Smith.”

• To search for your ancestor by their name, write it as it would appear on the document. For example, if your relative was known as ‘Will’ it is likely that the name used for official records was ‘William.’

• If you are unable to find your relative on your first search you can try different name variations. A number of register books only use abbreviations for first names. For example, if your search is unsuccessful for William Smith, try W Smith or Wm Smith.

Perusing the PDF

• If you wish to read through the whole document you are searching, then order the results by page number. You can start from the beginning of the document and read through to the end using the next button above the image.

• Page numbers often correlate with the individual images of the documents rather than the page numbers used within the publication. Therefore page 1 starts with the cover page.