Family History on the Move

Family history can be relatively straightforward as long as one’s ancestors did not move around too much or change locality. However, with the mass migrations and empire building during the 19th and 20th centuries, most family trees will eventually get to those hard-to-pin-down men and women whose lives took often radical departures – and who settled in new countries or regions of the British Isles, or arrived in Britain for the first time. This book describes those movements into, within, and out of the UK from the sixteenth century to the present day, and shows readers which records to consult to track down their mobile ancestors. The chapters are interwoven with practical features on issues that could crop up during research and case studies to illustrate the sources.

Reviews:
'... a great little book, good value and well put together' - Your Family Tree

Contents:
• Records of arrival
• Settling in the community
• Aliens in wartime
• Refugee communities
• Becoming British
• Moving around Britain
• Records of departure
• Crossing the pond
• Down under
• Further afield
• Child migration
• A matter of life and death

Authors:
Roger Kershaw is Head of Operations (Reader Information Services), and Mark Pearsall is Family History Specialist, at The National Archives. They wrote Immigrants and Aliens: A guide to sources on UK immigration and citizenship together (2004, 2nd edition). Roger also published Emigrants and Expats: A guide to source on UK emigration and residents overseas in 2002, and both Roger and Mark are regular contributor to Ancestors magazine.