Paupers and Palaeography

Local records

Whittington Shropshire Parish Registers (S&N, £9.95) was originally privately printed in 1910 for the Shropshire Parish Record Society. According to the contents, the book also included registers of the parish of Halston but these do not seem to be included on the disc. In addition to transcripts of the registers between 1591 and 1812, there are indexes to names, places and miscellaneous references, like the burial of a highwayman in 1748.

The compilers of the registers sometimes noted additional information about parishioners or events of interest, from the price of goods in the local market to the progress of wars overseas. In November 1774 there was a General Election, apparently the first time the poll had been contested in the county. It led to legal proceedings, which are described in detail.

Those with sea-faring ancestors may find that the Royal Navy at Sea and in Ports Abroad 1901 (S&N, £24.95) will help pinpoint their ancestor's whereabouts in 1901. The disc contains copies of census entries covering Royal Navy ships, arranged by vessel. A list of ships, grouped by piece comes up and the returns can then be accessed by clicking on the piece number covering the ships.

Wills proved locally

Until 1858 diocesan courts proved the wills of those with property in that particular diocese. S&N has issued copies of indexes and calendars from books long out of print which cover wills in various diocesan courts. All are indexed. Lichfield Wills 1516-1652 (S&N, £17.45) is a copy of Phillimore's volume of 1892 covering the diocese of Lichfield. This included the city of Coventry. The peculiars of Birmingham and Derby are listed separately.

Bristol Wills 1572-1792 and Great Orphan Book Wills 1379-1674 (S&N, £17.45) was originally published by the British Record Society in 1892. It contains indexes to wills proved in Bristol and administrations from 1770. The church courts took responsibility for orphans under the age of 21 and the section containing the Great Orphan Book Wills includes the occupations of testators.

Lancashire and Cheshire Wills 1660-1680 (S&N, £17.45) is an index to the wills and inventories in the court of Chester, originally published in 1887. The wills for 1670 were either destroyed or damaged, and others between 1670 and 1680 are in a very poor state, so this may be the only record that remains of some items. The names, place of habitation and, in some cases, occupation are given. There is a separate list of wills which involved less than £40, a useful indicator of the testator's social level.

Below the diocesan courts came the archdeaconry courts for those with property in a single archdeaconry. Surrey Wills 1595-1608 (S&N, £17.95), originally published in 1920, is a calendar of testators in the archdeaconry court of Surrey which as well as names and dates, also includes a digest of the wills' contents. A comprehensive index covers all those mentioned, like witnesses and beneficiaries, as well as places. Another lists subjects, like tools and bequests.

The upper classes

The Visitation of Cornwall 1620 (S&N, £17.95) was first published in 1874. The editors used the original draft made by the College of Heralds in 1620 supplemented by their own research in parish and other records. Like so many educated Victorians, they did not translate the original, often abbreviated Latin and passages in medieval French, but the pedigrees are in English.

The trees are probably as much as the family historian needs. In the introduction, the editors quote the observation that "all Cornish gentlemen are cousins" so those with well-to-do ancestors in the county may well find evidence that will enable them to push their own pedigrees back to the Middle Ages.

Not quite a standard trade directory, Kelly's Handbook to the Titles, Landed and Official Classes 1895 (S&N, £19.95) could be seen as a sort of national directory of the ruling and landed classes. It contains standard sections on the royal family (orders of precedence and the like), but the bulk of the publication is taken up with brief biographical summaries of people from the aristocracy to those who occupied important positions in the local and national government at the end of the 19th Century.

Webster's London Royal Red Book & Boyle's Court Guide 1928 (S&N, £17.95) and Kelly's Royal Blue Book January 1913 (S&N, £17.95) contain similar information.

Just folk

Most official records concentrate on occupations so it's easy to forget that our ancestors had social lives. Who's Who in Sport 1935 (S&N, £17.95) contains brief sporting biographies of individuals and any official positions they held in their chosen sport, which will point the researcher to further sources of information.

Usefully, their addresses are included. A separate section includes obituaries of those who had died in 1934. There is also a list of sports and their rules which includes lists of previous champions.