Disclaimer: Although I received an electronic copy of this book from the publisher, the opinions below are my own.
I'm an amateur genealogist. There's no better way to keep me occupied than to access my account on Ancestry.com. I can spend hours on that site, slowly discovering the branches of the McCombs family tree in the USA going back several generations. Researching my own British heritage, however, has often been a bit trickier. Researching Local History has revealed a wealth of sources I never knew existed.
This is not a boring list of publications. Far from it. I learned a lot about the history of my birth country. The first chapter starts with the basics. "What is Local History?" it asks. The author, Stuart A Raymond, suggests a good knowledge of English history is needed by anyone looking to do research. History is what can tell us why an ancestor moved from one place to another, for example. For Americans, knowing English history can tell you why your English ancestor moved across the Atlantic Ocean. Local history can enhance that understanding. What was it like in the village where your ancestor grew up?
Chapters are short, containing an introductory and explanatory text, followed by the author's chosen list of reading. In chapter two, I discovered an online source with historical descriptions of a couple of churches I knew my ancestors had attended. What surprised me was how many different records still existed, even from as far back as the 1300s. Previously, I'd only been able to get back to the early 1800s. Each section of these chapters contains a wealth of historical detail in the text, covering all aspects of English life from agriculture to industry and the Church to leisure. This book includes an index of the various subjects discussed, helping researchers access the relevant sources quickly.
If there's a downside to this book it's that most of the records prior to the Acts of Union 1707 - when the country of Great Britain came into existence - appear to be from England. I didn't find many sources from Scotland and Wales. For me, with half of my family coming from Scotland, that's problematic.
I read Researching Local History in an electronic format, but I strongly suggest getting a paper copy. The text has references to other pages, and I find it easier to find those pages when handling a print book. I plan on getting a print copy, and I've no doubt it'll become dogeared with plenty of pencil markings in it as I explore the various sources it contains.
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