Find Ancestors

Does anyone know of a method of finding information on ancestors before 1764

Parish records, you may get lucky and find early ones online, or in archives locally.

I've not found any of mine before around that date, only the side of the tree that was a lifetime's work for one man who went round all the churches, records etc and compiled it. I don't have the 50 years needed to do that lol.

if you have someone 'notable' in your tree you are more likely to find the line documented , eg the peerage.

If you'd like to post some details someone may be able to be more specific with advice of where to look?

What resources have you used to get back to 1764?

From my 'crib sheet' records that you may need to look at for this period...

Deeds (from 11c)
Feet of Fines (from late 12c to early 19c)
Manor Court Rolls (from 13c)
Inquisition Post Mortem (from early 13c to early 17c)
Lay Subsidies (from early 13c to end of 17c)
Quarter Sessions (from mid/late 14c)
Probates (from mid/late 14c)
Chancery Proceedings (from late 14c to late 19c)
Visitations (from 16c to early 17c)
Apprentices and Freemen (from 16c)
School and University Registers (from 16c)
Marriage Licences (from 16c)
Parish Registers (from early/mid 16c)
Bishops Transcripts (from late 16c to mid/late 19c)
Non Conformist Records (from 17c)
Jewish Records (from 17c)
Quaker Records (from mid 17c)
Poor Law (from mid 17c to early/mid 19c)
Roman Catholic Records (from mid/late 17c)
Commercial Directories (from late 17c)
Monumental Inscriptions (from 18c)
Customs and Excise (from 18c)
Poll Books (from 18c)
Newspapers (from 18c)
Military Records (from early/mid 18c to early 20c) Missing records in late 18c
Naval Records (from early/mid 18c to early 20c) Missing records in late 18c

Some may not apply to your research but I just copy and pasted the relevant period!

You may also find various NA podcasts interesting and informative as to areas to research.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/podcasts

Good luck
Chris

OnLine Parish Clerks (opc) ................. volunteer efforts to get all parush records digitised. Some counties are excellent, eg Lancashire and Cronwall, others hardly off the ground

https://www.ukbmd.org.uk/online_parish_clerk

http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/Search/indexp.html

FreeReg ..... another volunteer effort to get records online. Some areas much better covered than others

https://www.freereg.org.uk/

Dusty Docs can be helpful ......

http://www.dustydocs.com/


Plus of course, the Mormon site FamilySearch, as long as you only look at Records. Ignore submitted or family collections. You now have to register with them, but it is free and seems to be safe .......

https://www.familysearch.org/

https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/list

Subscription sites such as ancestry and FindMyPast (FMP) now have a lot of records



As a footnote ............. I've got one of my lines back to ca 1550 by using the Parish Records collection on FamilySearch, and now confirmed on other sites.

Google! it can be surprising what turns up from small local history pages or books which mention the surname in a particular location.