PROVISIONAL SYLLABUS
The aim of this course is to give Students who have had some experience of researching their family histories further knowledge of sources dating back to the 16th Century and before. The students will be given an opportunity to discuss these projects with the class. Students will be shown examples of records that they can expect to use in York City Reference Library and each lecture will include at least one hand-out. A flip-chart will be used to assist in lectures.
For more information about the subjects mentioned in the Syllabus try looking at the twoTable of Contents.
1. Week one will take the form of a lecture about Parish Registers before 1837; vital dates; Hardwicke's Marriage Act; calendar changes and Parish Register Transcripts. The students will be shown how to locate Parish Registers. Photocopies from the library stock will be used as examples. A simple Latin guide will be given out for use with Parish Registers later.
2. Week two will contain a lecture on Wills and Administrations before 1858 their locations and their contents. Students will be shown examples of Wills that they could encounter in their researches.
3. A lecture on Social changes 1700-1837, will explain to the students the effects of land enclosures and reasons for and effects of population growth. Enclosure information can provide a considerable amount of useful evidence of their ancestors.
4. In the fourth session students will be given information on the Quarter Sessions Records, what they are and where to find them. Photocopied Calendars of Criminals from the collection of the lecturer obtained from York Minster Library will be used in the presentation.
5. In the fifth session on Manor Court records students will be given a brief history of the manor as a form of local government and be shown examples of the workings of eighteenth century Manor Courts from copies in the lecturers collection.
6. A lecture on the records of various Nonconformist groups (including Roman Catholics) covering the location of the relevant records. In this session a simple guide to Heraldry will also be given and how Heraldic Visitations in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries can be an aid to the researcher and a fun aspect of family history research.
7. In an important seventh session the students will be given relevant information about the Social history of the British Isles 1600-1700 and some information about the Civil War and its tremendous effect on records, both good and bad.
8. In the eighth session there is a discussion of Parish Chest Records; parish officials etc., I will endeavour to show the students who the parish officials were and the records that they might find in the 'Parish Chest' which might enable them to gain greater information about their ancestors.
9. The older Poor Law Records will be examined in the ninth session. The students will be given a lecture on how the records of the poor help family historians make sense of the ancestral situation from the 16th Century to the early 19th. The students will be directed to seek out poor records for their own researches.
10. Some tips about the reading of old documents will be given to the students this week. More early handwriting will be shown to the students together with Wills and inventories - easy but interesting examples. Students will also be shown examples of other interesting material from the period.
The students will be encouraged to look for further Courses which will develop their knowledge in their own family history interest area, or even another area of learning altogether.
As a result of this Course Students should be able to:
1. Recognise various older sources used in the research of family history and gain the confidence to search for them.
2. Organise their researches so that they can recall people, facts and places easily and accurately.
3. Develop their researches and be able to show their grasp of asking analytical questions.
4. Recall the period before the 1830's with a knowledge of the social and economic changes over the historical period.
5. Evaluate the older sources to determine the most useful and accurate for their own researches and assess the information received from these.
6. Students will be encouraged to contribute to the class with their ideas and experiences allowing for these points to be developed in class.
The students will be encouraged to use books on the Genealogical Research Shelf in the Reference or Lending Departments (Dewey 929) of York City Library. The buying of one cheap book might be useful to the researcher and the tutor would recommend the following:
TRACING YOUR FAMILY TREE, Jean A. Cole and John Titford, Countryside Books, 1997.
Changes are taking place all the time in the availability of records, so resource holders are changing all the time. An extended background reading list will be given to the Students on the second session.
The Workers' Educational Association,
This page is compiled by the teacher who resides in theCity
of York in England.
You can Email Tim Owston at: Mail
Tim Owston's home page is at: Home Page or Home Page
Tim Owston's home page (frames version) is at: Home Page