McLaughlin Guides

The McLaughlin Guides are a series of family history guides written by the world renowned family historian, and secretary of the BGS, Eve McLaughlin

Surnames and their origins - how they arose; locative, occupational, patronymic and nickname origins: over 3500 individually indexed, others grouped, many surprises - £5 (excl. p & p)

Parish Registers Origins and development of parish registers from 1538; Commonwealth; Hardwicke Marriage Act; 1813 + registers; dissenters; location; fees; Bishops' transcripts, marriage licences; alternative access - £5 (excl. p & p)

Annals of the Poor Documenting the poor C16 - C19. Overseers' accounts, settlement certificates, removal orders, examinations, apprenticeships. Quarter Session references. Historical background to 1834. (England and Wales) - £2 (excl. p & p)

The Poor Are Always With Us New Poor Law 1834; workhouses, new settlement rules; migration and emigration; job opportunities for the minimally skilled; charity soup kitchens etc; social surveys; Old Age Pensions, Health Insurance; covers c1830s-1930s - £3 (excl. p & p)

Nonconformist Ancestors History; civil + ecclesiastical penalties; recusant rolls; chapel registers etc; Quakers + Methodists; Dr Williams Registry; IGI; other sources, property records, newspapers etc; missionaries; denomination archives; repositories; finding aids - £3 (excl. p & p)

Illegitimacy In parish registers. Bastardy Bonds; other parish chest papers. Assize rolls. Checking family traditions; official/unofficial attitudes, the Victorian problem. Tracing natural parents, fathers - £3 (excl. p & p)

Simple Latin for Family Historians Christian names, relationships, occupations, descriptions, phrases for birth, marriage & death; time and number; regnal years; reading a Latin will probate - £3 (excl. p & p)

Reading Old Handwriting Practical manual of writing as it really was; from Elizabethan scribes to Victorian vicars. 3 full alphabets + detailed notes on 100s of variants of troublesome letters - £3 (excl. p & p)

Quarter Sessions Not just criminals, but the whole fabric of life; poor relief, planning matters, religion, nuisances, officials, tradesmen, all information found in quarter sessions, petty sessions and assize records - £2 (excl. p & p)

Manorial Records Tracing the transfer of copyhold land; courts leet and courts baron; Homage, customs of the manor, fines, heriots, coping with the Latin. Glossary of terms - £2 (excl. p & p)

Censuses 1841 - 91 Use and interpretation; Background, details asked, variations obtained; personal + official errors; examples and interpretation 1841, 1851 etc. Using London Family Records Centre. Local copies; Mormon FH centre location. Scotland + Ireland - £3 (excl. p & p)

Civil Registration GRO indexes and certificates; Family Records Centre; problems: getting certs. Scotland & Ireland; locations of public access index copies/LDS Family History Centres UK - £2 (excl. p & p)

Twentieth Century Research For those who were adopted, seeking birth parents; for those with no or limited family information; for those seeking to flesh out details of the background without the aid of censuses etc - £2 (excl. p & p)

No Time for Family History 101 things to do now from home or in two hour bursts locally, for people with home or work ties. Evenings and the occasional weekend trip. What you can do by letter, phone, the internet; using microfiches; libraries, books, magazines; provincial locations for national indexes (GRO, wills etc). Using local Mormon Family History Centres - £2 (excl. p & p)

Making the Most of the IGI Background; use, problems, surname banding, scope, accuracy. Trawling; using CD-ROM and online versions. Detailed list of Mormon Family History Centres in UK - £3 (excl. p & p)

Professionals and Gentlemen Tracing gentry, lawyers, doctors, teachers, army and navy officers, East India Company officials etc - £2 (excl. p & p)

Craftsmen and Tradesmen Tracing skilled workers; Livery Company records, apprenticeships, area directories, books, trade directories, mentions in local records, newspapers, photos etc - £3 (excl. p & p)

Interviewing Elderly Relatives All you need to know to quiz any relatives and access their replies. Making contact with unknown cousins; Preparing the ground; what to ask; recording; sticky starts; tact, family traditions - £2.50 (excl. p & p)

Family History From Newspapers Background; what is available at different periods; layout of Victorian newspapers; type of local information available; family details; location - the Newspaper Library + local copies - £2 (excl. p & p)

Starting Your Family Tree Absolute beginners. Basic information. Using GRO indexes, getting certificates, using the Family Records Centre, first visit to County Records Office. Get you over the first difficult hurdles - £2.50 (excl. p & p)

Modern Wills From 1858 (mainly England, Wales, few Scots, Irish colonies). Information in indexes and wills. Making an abstract. Intestacy. Administrations. Married Women Property Acts. Death Duty Registers. Location of index copies + original wills - £2 (excl. p & p)

Wills Before 1858 Probate Jurisdiction, locating wills. Technical terms and phrases. Intestacy. Inventories. Glossary. Basic locations list by county. Death Duty Registers. Rough location - £2 (excl. p & p)

Old Occupations and Descriptions Alphabetical list of old, obsolete and mediaeval terms for occupations and unusual descriptions of people found in researches. Latin versions included - £3 (excl. p & p)

These publications are also available for purchase online via the Buckinghamshire Genealogical Society's section of the GENfair web site.

For further information regarding these publications email Mrs Eve McLaughlin at eve@varneys.org.uk

 

 

This page was last updated 1st March 2019