Review: Tracing Your Poor Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians by Stuart A. Raymond

Tracing Your Poor Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians by Stuart A. Raymond, Pen & Sword, 2020, 196 p.; indexes, notes, illustrations, photographs.

If you are a genealogist, you have probably identified several ancestors in your tree who were poor. In this guide, Stuart Raymond sets out to help genealogists and local historians locate information about their poorer ancestors who lived in England or Wales. He begins by providing a general history of the poor in that geographic area and introduces the reader to the institutions and systems created to address the issues of poverty, such as Poor Law, Prisons, Charities, and later, the formation of the Welfare State. 

The discussion around charities is extensive and comprehensive. The author looks at the many specific types of charity, including almshouses, apprenticeships, education, orphanages and children’s homes, hospitals, and other places of refuge. Wherever online databases exist for the records of these institutions, Raymond provides the URL along with pertinent details about the database. 

An entire chapter is devoted to the documentation of paupers during the time of Elizabethan Poor Laws, and another for the period after 1834 when the New Poor Law was adopted. The management of the poor during each of these eras left behind many records, including settlement certificates and examinations, removal orders, pauper apprenticeships indenture records, overseer accounts, vestry minutes, pauper lists, inventories and letters, workhouse documents, relief lists, bastardy records, vaccination records, school lists and more. 

Other chapters contain specifics about the lives of vagrants, criminals, and debtors and provide information about the types of records available for research. Each chapter includes a bibliography for further reading. 

This information-rich guidebook is just the thing to help genealogists understand the rules and societal expectations that the working poor, the unemployed and destitute were forced to live under in England. It also describes the many types of records that were created to keep track of the poor, and where these documents may be found today. Many are online, but the author makes a point of encouraging readers to do their in-person, on-site research, as well. This book will be extremely beneficial to the genealogist who wants to better understand their less-advantaged ancestors and the challenges faced in their day-to-day lives. Highly recommended.

Review: Out-of-Style: An Illustrated Guide to Vintage Fashions: 19th- 21st Centuries by Betty Kreisel Shubert

Out-of-Style: An Illustrated Guide to Vintage Fashions: 19^th -21^st Centuries by Betty Kreisel Shubert, 2^nd Edition, Dover Publications, 2018, 352 p.; index, illustrations, photographs.

Clothes and costume designer Betty Kreisel Shubert was inspired to write this comprehensive book after being asked to speak at a genealogy society meeting about changes in fashion. Shubert soon recognized the need for a guidebook that would assist genealogists with dating photographic images through fashion. Many such guides discuss the costume details to look for when dating images, but unfortunately, not many provide adequate photographs and illustrations of specific fashion features. Most books, sadly, do not provide enough details.

When I received Out-of-Style in the mail, without having been able to browse the contents beforehand, I was surprised to see that most of the illustrations were just that, hand-rendered illustrations, rather than photographic examples. I thought this might be a disadvantage, but as I used the book while writing my Family Photo Reunion blog posts, I came to appreciate Shubert’s illustrative methods. The drawings amplify the specific fashion differences the author wants to point out, often showing the progression of a silhouette or shift in costume design.

The narrative style is chatty and informal. Not only does the author present facts about changes in style, she also provides the “why” of some surprising fashion trends in an entertaining manner, such as in Chapter Two, “Why Hoop Skirts Were Born.” The book is divided into two main parts:  the 19^th century and the 20^th century. While much of the book pertains to women’s fashions, there are also helpful sections about men’s and children’s fashions. The first chapter provides an overview of the primary silhouettes in women’s fashion from 1830-1900 and an entire chapter is devoted to the nine sequential phases of the bustle --before I read this, I thought there were only two! Shubert also discusses the garments that are not visible in photographs but shape the sitter’s silhouette and give clues to the fashion period. Yes, I’m talking about the fascinating history of corsets, brassieres, and stockings. Special occasion clothing is also discussed in detail, including reform dress, wedding attire, maternity clothes, mourning dress, and bathing suit fashion.

I frequently use Shubert’s book alongside other reference books, such as Joan Severa's Dressed for the Photographer, to assist me with dating the fashions I find in photographs. The author has included a comprehensive index, as well as a lengthy bibliography, arranged by subject, which directs to further reading material should the reader like to delve deeper into any clothing-related topic. Highly recommended.

Review: The Family Tree Toolkit: A Comprehensive Guide to Uncovering Your Ancestry and Researching Genealogy by Kenyatta D. Berry

The Family Tree Toolkit:  A Comprehensive Guide to Uncovering Your Ancestry and Researching Genealogy. By Kenyatta D. Berry, Skyhorse Publishing, 2018, 267 p. 

Genealogy Roadshow host, Kenyatta D. Berry has written a new guidebook focussing primarily on American genealogy for the beginner. Berry has divided the guide into the following chapters:

1) Starting Your Family History

2) United States Records Research
3) Other Records
4) Immigration and Naturalization
5) US Military Research
6) Ethnic Ancestry
7) European Research
8) Adoption Research
9) DNA

Each American state is featured on its own page with a chart detailing state birth, marriage, and death registrations, their beginnings and availability, and which online databases currently have those documents in digitized form. The book does a good job describing the contents of state records and how these records might benefit the genealogist.

Some of the topics in this book are examined briefly. The eight-page chapter on European research skims the surface of this area of study, mentioning only select countries and would benefit the researcher who has just discovered they are of English, Irish, German, Italian or Jewish heritage. The chapter on DNA is also short, only six pages long, and presents a general overview of the benefits of DNA testing for genealogists.

The chapters on US military research and Ethnic Ancestry, which covers African American and Native American research, are more detailed and provide timelines of key events, as well as tips for researching in these specialized subject areas.

The text is simply written, and is presented in large font, which may be of benefit to individuals who have difficulty reading small print. The author focusses almost exclusively on online records such as those available through Familysearch.org, Ancestry.com, Fold3.com and on other online databases, with very little discussion about in-person research at archives and local history repositories. It is likely this guide will require regular updating to keep it current because of its focus on digital records.

The Family Tree Toolkit provides researchers with a quick tool to determine which U.S. records are available online and where. For the genealogist looking for a more comprehensive guide to US records, Alice Eicholz’s classic The Red Book: American State, County, and Town Sources, or The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy, edited by Loretto Dennis Szucs and Sandra Hargreaves Luebking will provide greater detail about in-person research in archives and other repositories.

Review: Tracing Your Pre-Victorian Ancestors: A Guide to Research Methods for Family Historians by John Wintrip

Tracing Your Pre-Victorian Ancestors:  A Guide to Research Methods for Family Historians.

By John Wintrip, Pen & Sword, 2017, 214 p. 

For genealogists researching British ancestors, 1837 was a pivotal year. It was the year of Queen Victoria’s accession to the throne, which coincided with the beginning of civil registration in England. Civil registration introduced a mandatory standard of reporting for births, marriages and deaths, making these records invaluable for post-1837 genealogical research. Censuses that recorded all members of the household did not come about until 1841. John Wintrip effectively argues that research in the Pre-Victorian era is far more complex and challenging than is required for post-Victorian British research, and that family historian needs to apply more skill and acquire more knowledge when researching in this period. It is important to note that the information in this book can also be applied to research in Wales.

The author divides his book, not by source materials as most guides tend to do, but by topics that best help the researcher decide which records might be available for their particular ancestor, as well as by topics related to research methodology. The guide begins with a discussion around the unique challenges of researching in the pre-Victorian period, and how it differs from the post period.  The author then sets out his view that there are four major competencies required of a genealogist:  1) knowledge of sources 2) searching skills 3) analytical and problem-solving skills and 4) external knowledge. Examples of external knowledge include generic knowledge such as types of land tenure and the manorial system, and specific external knowledge, such as the history of a specific geographical region.

Chapter Three, “Sources,” is an excellent primer centring on the definitions of original and derivative sources and the differences between primary and secondary information. These concepts allow genealogists to assess the usefulness of the records and information they find, enabling them to adhere to the Genealogical Proof Standard. The concepts surrounding evidence and proof are addressed in a later chapter.

Wintrip stresses the importance of historical context to determine the best research strategy. He clearly shows how an ancestor’s social standing, religion, occupation and their relocations can point to useful sources and be used to differentiate your ancestors from others with similar names. Detailed case studies regarding mistaken identities in research help show research pitfalls and how to avoid them in your own research. An entire chapter is devoted to the subject of names (both Christian and surnames) and the importance of naming patterns in genealogy. The discussion on naming practices and the evolution of surnames is fascinating and informative.

Intended for the advanced genealogist, this book focusses on the methodology required to conduct proper research in pre-Victorian England and will be of interest to anyone who has had difficulty taking their research back to pre-civil registration times. Even though the author clearly states that this book is intended for those with British ancestry, it has much to offer anyone with an interest in learning about sound genealogical research practices and methodology.