American Wills Administrations In The Prerogative Court Of Canterbury 1610 1857

A collection of many abstracts and listings of wills from England and Wales regarding persons who emigrated to the American colonies.

"In England, until 1858, the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) had jurisdiction over all wills submitted for probate on behalf of English citizens who were temporary or permanent inhabitants of North America. Altogether there are over 2,000 such wills among the one million wills registered in the PCC, and their existence has ensured that all persons mentioned in the wills have not only found a permanent place in historical records but have a provable link to English ancestry. Until now the establishment of such a link was usually possible, if at all, only by an arduous examination of the unindexed probate records or by a review of the records published in such books as Mr. Coldham?s own American Wills & Administrations in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 1610-1857, published in 1989. Recently, however, The National Archives (TNA) in London published digitized copies of all PCC wills on their website, in theory making all previously hard-to-find information accessible at the touch of a button." --

Although aimed primarily at the beginner, this book opens up to researchers of all levels the wealth of material from the PCC held in the Public Record Office. Coverage begins in the 19th century and works backwards, enabling readers to develop expertise before tackling more complex topics. Topics dealt with include: how and where to find wills; using the indexes available; finding an administration; using the Probate Act books to supplement information; and how to decipher PCC script. Fully illustrated with examples of original wills, probate inventories and death duty records, the book also demonstrates a family tree based on wills.

While Peter Coldham's "American Wills and Administrations in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury" succeeded in its objective of providing a complete listing of the hundreds of PCC wills and administrations with American connections, it does not provide all the information per will or administration that can be found in the following less comprehensive works: Henry Waters' "Genealogical Gleanings in England," Lothrop Withington's "Virginia Gleanings in England," and George Sherwood's "American Colonists in English Records." (Information such as the names of close relations, legatees and witnesses, and references to ownership of property.) To redress this imbalance Mr. Coldham has issued this present work containing complete summaries of all those wills not included in the works of Waters, Withington, or Sherwood, providing the researcher with an accessible compendium of American wills proved in London to complement and stand comparison with the other three, closing the circle on a priceless body of data.

No scholarly reference library is complete without a copy of Ancestry's Red Book. In it, you will find both general and specific information essential to researchers of American records. This revised 3rd edition provides updated county and town listings within the same overall state-by-state organization. Whether you are looking for your ancestors in the northeastern states, the South, the West, or somewhere in the middle, ""Ancestry's Red Book has information on records and holdings for every county in the United States, as well as excellent maps from renowned mapmaker William Dollarhide. In short, the ""Red Book is simply the book that no genealogist can afford not to have. The availability of census records such as federal, state, and territorial census reports is covered in detail. Unlike the federal census, state and territorial census were taken at different times and different questions were asked. Vital records are also discussed, including when and where they were kept and how""

Welsh genealogy is usually included with its English cousin, but there are significant differences between the two, and anyone wishing to trace their Welsh ancestry will encounter peculiarities that are not covered by books on English family history. There is a separate system of archives and repositories for Wales, there are differences in civil registration and censuses, Nonconformist registers are dissimilar to those of other Churches and Welsh surnames and place names are very different to English ones. Welsh Genealogy covers all of this as well as the basic Welsh needed by family historians; estate, maritime, inheritance, education and parish records; peculiarities of law; the Courts of Great Sessions and particular patterns of migration. Written by Dr Bruce Durie, the highly respected genealogist, lecturer and author of the acclaimed Scottish Genealogy, this is the ideal book for local and family historians setting out on a journey to discover their Welsh ancestry.

Researching your family history can be an absorbing hobby, or a one-off project that your whole family will value and build on. This book is packed with ideas about the different aspects of genealogy and the main free or low cost resources available to help you in your quest. CONTENTS: Getting started - online family searching - harnessing internet sources - tearless transcribing - organised support - vital public records - interpreting old records - getting to know your ancestors About the author Dr Harry Alder is a prolific writer and long-time researcher. Here he passes on his passion for genealogy, his first-hand experience, lots of practical tips and key websites to support your research.