Our Village Ancestors

A Genealogist's Guide to Understanding the English Rural Past

Helen Osborn

• Publisher: The Crowood Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9780719814167
• eBook ISBN: 9780719831485

This book will be a source of help for anybody researching their farming and countryside ancestors in England. Looked at through the lens of rural life, and specifically the English village, it provides advice and inspiration on placing rural people into their geographic and historical context. It covers the time from the start of parish registers in the Tudor world, when most of our ancestors worked on the land, until the beginning of the twentieth century, when many had moved to the towns. Helen Osborn demonstrates how genealogical records are integral to their place of origin and can be illuminated using local newspaper reports, and the work of local historians. She explores the stories of people who lived in the countryside in the past, as told by the documents that record them, both rich and poor. The book will be particularly valuable to anyone who is looking for a deeper understanding of their family history, rather than simply collecting names on the tree.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• 1 The Rural Past
• 2 Parish and Family
• 3 The Land and the Farmer
• 4 The Church and the Tithe
• 5 Supporting the Poor
• 6 Work and School in the Countryside
• 7 The Whole Community: Lists of Villagers and the Victorian Census
• 8 Leaving the Village
• Appendix – Dates of Interest
• Sources
• Notes and References
• Index