Since its first publication, twenty years ago, Track Down Your Ancestors has helped thousands of readers to take the first steps on their journey into their family's past. Now totally revised and updated in 2010, to include the latest on-line resources on the Internet, the 1911 Census and changes at the National Archives. Delving into the past and discovering who your ancestors were, where they lived and what their occupations were is a fascinating hobby that more and more people are choosing to take up. Over the years Track Down Your Ancestors has built up a fine reputation as the perfect place to get started - now this new, fully rewritten edition includes updated advice on using birth, death and marriage certificates, probate records, census returns, parish registers, old newspapers, The National Archives and many other sources to build up a picture of your family's past. The Internet has revolutionised family history research. Estelle now also includes comprehensive new advice on getting the most from online resources and the best way to keep all your information organised. Praise for the previous edition: 'A handy book at a very friendly price that will start new family historians off on the right track.' Practical Family History 'A comprehensive beginner's guide to family history research - cheap too!' Your Family Tree magazine

Lavishly illustrated with images and stunning photographs from private collections and spanning three generations, delve into the history of Thomas Clark and his family... Rising from obscure beginnings to become a gentleman in the Victorian age dominated by the class system, as a merchant, Thomas was importing exotic produce from around the globe into the City of London. The diaries of his daughter Matilda throw open a window onto the stresses and strains of family life, showing a stereotypical Victorian father (including the bad temper). Follow his eldest son through his artistic endeavours as a lecturer, writer, poet and artist. There is a shift of perspective on his authoritarian father; here is a devoted family man who adored his wife and spent time with his family. A man dedicated to both science and religion in a world in which he found some new teachings objectionable as an evangelical non-conformist Protestant. Finally, the life stories of his children unfold, including the author's grandfather; they were born into privilege but transcended the modern world which saw social change. Moving recollections of lives lived up to the 1950s from children, grandchildren and local residents are revealed. Read these fascinating tales, including that of the great-uncle who appears to have made an important invention, which played a significant role in winning the Great War - but perhaps someone else ended up claiming the credit? A fascinating and readable saga of the highest order. John Titford MA FSA

C.M. Matthews traces the development of the surname over the centuries, from its conception, to its unquestioned acceptance. This development was subject to historical events and social change, occurrences which shaped the lives of our ancestors as they advanced toward a more complex society and ordered civilisation. The first surnames were used purely to distinguish two people with the same Christian name. Many were simply a suffix to a name, a description which would specify a particular person. This usually fell to their occupation, some of the earliest surnames being Smith or Baker, a simple way to delineate one man from another. However, occupation was not the only influence. Description, such as 'Armstrong', parentage, such as 'Johnson', or locality, also played a role. As time progressed, these names no longer referred to one person, but were attributed to other family members, or were passed down from one generation to another. Whether or not the son had the same occupation as the father, he retained the name. As the author explains, this was not a conscious decision, but rather an organic process, which developed out of convenience. Surnames often changed from one generation to another, until finally one was adopted by the whole family, mainly after the Norman Conquest. By the 1400s, surnames had become permanently established in Britain. Matthews reappraises the extraordinary beginnings of this subject, which is taken so much for granted today.

It was a dynasty with more wealth, passion, and power than the houses of Windsor, Kennedy, and Rockefeller combined. It shaped all of Europe and controlled politics, scientists, artists, and even popes, for three hundred years. It was the house of Medici, patrons of Botticelli, Michelangelo and Galileo, benefactors who turned Florence into a global power center, and then lost it all.

The House of Medici picks up where Barbara Tuchman's Hibbert delves into the lives of the Medici family, whose legacy of increasing self-indulgence and sexual dalliance eventually led to its self-destruction. With twenty-four pages of black-and-white illustrations, this timeless saga is one of Quill's strongest-selling paperbacks.

The Haldanes have been in Scotland for over 800 years, and their story illustrates many of the defining themes of Scotland's history. Haldanes played significant roles in the Bruce war of independence, the political upheavals which accompanied the establishment of the Stewart dynasty, the religious struggles of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Darien Scheme and the Act of Union, the Jacobite rebellions, the development of the East India Company, and in the theological controversies of the nineteenth century. In the twentieth century, Haldanes are still to be found in the public eye with some influence on matters of national significance. In this book, Neil Stacy follows the fortunes of the family, highlighting the extraordinary contribution they have made in so many areas as well as uncovering some of the more colourful episodes in the family's history, such as long-buried secrets of romance in the teeth of parental opposition, a military career threatened by a youthful liaison with a blackmailing barmaid, and an attempt to run a temperance hotel in the western Highlands which ended in high farce.

Record Your Family History! From the editors of Family Tree Magazine, this workbook makes it easy to record and organize your family history. Family Tree Memory Keeper helps you keep track of basic genealogy information and special family memories, including traditions, heirloom histories, family records, newsworthy moments, family migrations and immigrations, old recipes, important dates, and much more. This book features: Dozens of fill-in pages to record all your essential family information. Convenient paperback format for writing and photocopying pages. Space for mounting photographs. Maps to mark your family's migration routes. Tips for researching your family history. A comprehensive list of additional resources. Use Family Tree Memory Keeper to log your genealogy research. Bring it to family get-togethers to gather and share information. Create an invaluable record of your ancestry for future generations.

The editing is done with great skill . . . this is a masterly treatment of the subject. ENGLISH HISTORICAL REVIEW Aspilogia' means materials of heraldry, and this first volume in the series on heraldry published by the Society of Antiquaries is a comprehensive listing of the known medieval rolls of arms of English origin. The rolls vary fromvery grand and luxurious painted manuscripts to simple records made by heralds using descriptive code, and this book is the best guide to them. It includes details of all known copies and variants, and includes rolls which are only known to us through later transcripts.

"Crown and Nobility" traces the development of the relationship between kings and nobles in late medieval England. It shows how the differing abilities and personalities of the late medieval English kings powerfully affected their relationship with the nobility. The author examines the contrast between the dominant style of Edward I and both the weakness of Edward II and the chivalric reputation of Edward III, and reveals how the ineptitude of Henry VI did much to provoke the political crisis of the mid-fifteenth century, which led to the downfall of the House of Lancaster.

Much of the political history of late medieval England was played out against a background of war, and Anthony Tuck vividly describes the Welsh and Scottish wars, the great victories in France, and the final debacle under Henry VI. He shows how success and setback in war crucially affected the relationship between the king and his nobles.

For this new edition the author has revised the original text to take account of recent scholarship. The book now includes a new epilog discussing historiographical developments since the book was first published. There is also an enlarged and updated bibliography.

"Crown and Nobility" traces the development of the relationship between kings and nobles in late medieval England. It shows how the differing abilities and personalities of the late medieval English kings powerfully affected their relationship with the nobility. The author examines the contrast between the dominant style of Edward I and both the weakness of Edward II and the chivalric reputation of Edward III, and reveals how the ineptitude of Henry VI did much to provoke the political crisis of the mid-fifteenth century, which led to the downfall of the House of Lancaster.

Much of the political history of late medieval England was played out against a background of war, and Anthony Tuck vividly describes the Welsh and Scottish wars, the great victories in France, and the final debacle under Henry VI. He shows how success and setback in war crucially affected the relationship between the king and his nobles.

For this new edition the author has revised the original text to take account of recent scholarship. The book now includes a new epilog discussing historiographical developments since the book was first published. There is also an enlarged and updated bibliography.

This book provides a political narrative of the rise and fall of the Tudor monarchy - key to understanding the history of the years 1450 to 1660. The theme is the relationship between the Crown and the aristocracy and how a partnership was created partly by the actions of the Crown and partly by the changing composition and attitudes of the political nation. It begins with the chaos of factional quarrels which was the political life of England under Henry VI in the 1450s and then examines the rebuilding of the strength of royal government under Edward IV, Henry VII and Henry VIII. That government was tested in various ways under Edward VI and Mary, reached its peak under Elizabeth, and declined under James I. The partnership finally broke down in the civil war of the 1640s and the Tudor monarchy collapsed. This is the life cycle of a political system created out of necessity and fashioned by a mixture of vision and circumstance. After its collapse the Republic failed to create a viable alternative, but the resurrection of the old system after 1660 was more apparent than real.

The Genealogical Science analyzes the scientific work and social implications of the flourishing field of genetic history. A biological discipline that relies on genetic data in order to reconstruct the geographic origins of contemporary populations - their histories of migration and genealogical connections to other present-day groups - this historical science is garnering ever more credibility and social reach, in large part due to a growing industry in ancestry testing. In this book, Nadia Abu El-Haj examines genetic history's working assumptions about culture and nature, identity and biology, and the individual and the collective. Through the example of the study of Jewish origins, she explores novel cultural and political practices that are emerging as genetic history's claims and "facts" circulate in the public domain and illustrates how this historical science is intrinsically entangled with cultural imaginations and political commitments. Chronicling late nineteenth- to mid-twentieth-century understandings of race, nature, and culture, she identifies continuities and shifts in scientific claims, institutional contexts, and political worlds in order to show how the meanings of biological difference have changed over time. Through her focus on Jewish origins, she also analyzes genetic history as the latest iteration of a cultural and political practice now over a century old.

Epitaphs of the Great War Passchendaele is an edited collection of headstone inscriptions from the graves of those killed during the Third Battle of Ypres - Passchendaele. Limited by the Imperial War Graves Commission to sixty-six characters - far more restrictive than Twitter's 140-character rule - these inscriptions are masterpieces of compact emotion. But, as Sarah Wearne says, their enforced brevity means that many inscriptions rely on the reader being able to pick up on the references and allusions, or recognise the quotations - and many twenty-first-century readers don't. Consequently she has selected one hundred inscriptions from the battlefield cemeteries and by expanding the context - religious, literary or personal - she has been able to give full voice to the bereaved. This collection, the second in a short series, will be published to coincide with the centenary of the opening of the Passchendaele offensive on 31 July 1917. Together with Epitaphs of the Great War The Somme, published on 1 July 2016, these books cover the epitaphs of the ordinary and the famous, the privileged and the poor, the generals and the privates and, after a hundred years, give us an insight into what contemporaries believed they had been fighting for and how they viewed the loss of the men they had loved.

This fascinating new biography tells the story of one of the most influential figures of the twelfth century, Eleanor of Aquitaine, successively queen of France and of England. In tracing her life story Professor Owen reassesses her political importance during the reigns of her husband Henry II and her sons, Richard the Lionheart and John, and aims to separate the true historical Eleanor from the Eleanor of legend.

Marks of Excellence (first published in 1997) offers a rigorous exploration of the trademark: its history, development, style, classification and relevance in today's world. The book includes extensive discussion of its origins in heraldry, monograms, owner's marks and certificates of origins, and also contains a comprehensive taxonomy of trademarks and an alphabetical index of trademark themes. The text covers every aspect of the trademark, its history, development, style, classification and relevance in today's world. A brief history is given of the origins of the trademark in heraldry, monograms, owner's marks and certificates of origin. The proceeding chapters explore corporate identity and communication design with an emphasis on sign theory. The core of the book is a comprehensive classification of trademarks covering name marks, abbreviations and all kinds of picture marks. This is followed by an alphabetical index of trademark themes from animals to word puzzles. The index is illustrated by a selection of the world's best trademarks - the marks of excellence from which this book takes its name. The final section of the book covers the development of trademarks over time and across the boundaries of language and space. An invaluable reference tool for design students and graphic designers, the original book is packed with nearly 600 illustrations of both rare and instantly recognizable trademarks, logos, signs, advertisements, and the images that inspired them. This revised and expanded edition will include at least 500 new images and 80 pages of new material, bringing this successful title right up to date. Whilst keeping much in common with the original book, this edition will, in appearance and substance add so much that it will appeal to content owners of the old book. A monumental volume with respect to the sphere of graphic design, this book is just as absorbing for anyone interested in any aspect of visual communication.

A panoramic new history of modern Britain, as told through the story of one extraordinary family, and one groundbreaking company.

This is the story of how a family transformed themselves from penniless immigrants to build a company that revolutionised the way we eat, drink and are entertained. For over a century, Lyons was everywhere. Its restaurants and corner houses were on every high street, its coffee and tea in every cup, its products in every home. But it was a victory that was not easily won.

Told through the lives of five generations, Legacy is at once intimate and sweeping, charting the tragedy and unimaginable success of one of Britain's most famous families. It is also an illuminating new exploration of Britain and its place in the world, from the bestselling author of Hanns and Rudolf and The House by the Lake.

'Captivating, intimate, dazzling epic and revelatory' SIMON SEBAG-MONTEFIORE The story of the family who rose from the Frankfurt ghetto to become synonymous with wealth and power has been much mythologized. Yet half the Rothschilds, the women, remain virtually unknown. From the East End of London to the Eastern seaboard of the United States, from Spitalfields to Scottish castles, from Bletchley Park to Buchenwald, and from the Vatican to Palestine, Natalie Livingstone follows the extraordinary lives of the English branch of the Rothschild women from the dawn of the nineteenth century to the early years of the twenty first. As Jews in a Christian society and women in a deeply patriarchal family, they were outsiders. Determined to challenge and subvert expectations, they supported each other, building on the legacies of their mothers and aunts. They became influential hostesses and talented diplomats, choreographing electoral campaigns, advising prime ministers, advocating for social reform and trading on the stock exchange. Misfits and conformists, conservatives and idealists, performers and introverts, they mixed with Rossini and Mendelssohn, Disraeli, Gladstone and Chaim Weizmann, amphetamine-dealers, temperance campaigners, Queen Victoria, and Albert Einstein. They broke code, played a pioneering role in the environmental movement, scandalised the world of women's tennis by introducing the overarm serve and drag-raced with Miles Davies in Manhattan. Absorbing and compulsive THE WOMEN OF ROTHSCHILD gives voice to the complicated, privileged and gifted women whose vision and tenacity shaped history.

This psychologically penetrating revisionist account of the life and rule of Rusia's 18th-century Tsar-reformer develops an important theme - that is, what happens when the drive for "progress" is linked to an autocratic, expansionist impulse rather than to a larger goal of human emancipation? And, what has been the price of power - both for Peter and for Russia?

This volume continues the major project of creating a reliable means of identifying British medieval coats of arms, which began in 1940; it will be of interest not only to heralds, but also to aid historians, archaeologists, genealogists, and antiquaries. This book continues the Dictionary of British Medieval Arms, a major work which is designed to enable those with a working knowledge of heraldry to identify medieval British coats of arms. The Dictionary is the result of a bequest to the Society of Antiquaries in 1926 for the production of a new edition of Papworth's Ordinary which has remained, since its publication in 1874, the principal tool for the identification of British coats of arms. An Ordinary, in this context, is a collection of arms arranged alphabetically according to their designs, as opposed to an armory which is arranged alphabetically by surname. The indices of the four volumes act as an armory. The Dictionary covers the period before the beginning of the heraldic visitations in 1530. Its publication will mean that the wide range of people interested in medieval arms - historians, antiquaries, archaeologists, genealogist and those dealing in and collecting medieval objects - will be able to identify accurately the arms that occur in a medieval context. Even those without a knowledge of the subject will be able, by means of the index, todiscover the blazon of arms recorded under particular surnames in the Middle Ages.

With the Almanach de Gotha's return in 1998, after a hiatus of more than 50 years, Sir Stephen Runciman wrote in the Spectator "In this present age, which we are often told sees the twilight of royalty, it is comforting to be able to welcome the reappearance of the most distinguished of genealogical almanacs." The 250th Anniversary 2013 edition follows the successful format of previous editions with family listings including births, marriages and deaths of all living members. Volume II lists the non-sovereign Princely and Ducal Houses of Europe and has been fully updated to include additional families and to note those houses that are now extinct. A number of houses are included for the first time. This is the official and authorised publication. The most comprehensive listing of its kind, with an impeccable pedigree, the book remains an essential reference for genealogists, libraries and scholars. There is and never has been a comparable source, a book once described as "the second most important ever published."