Chapter II: Preface

I have endeavoured in this little book to give the amateur pedigree-hunter the benefit of what I have personally found to be the most valuable documents to search, and full instructions as to where he can consult them, also the various steps to be taken in tracing a pedigree, without unduly crowding his attention with names and classes of documents which he may need to consult.

I have, however, added most of these in a later part of the book, so that sufficient information should be obtainable within its pages to meet the requirements of the average genealogical searcher in the British Isles.

H. A. C.

CONTENTS

CHAP. PAGE

INTRODUCTORY 1

I. FIRST STEPS IN PEDIGREE-HUNTING 3

II. WILL-SEARCHING 8

III. PUBLISHED SOURCES OF INFORMATION 13

IV. MISCELLANEOUS MS. DOCUMENTS OF VALUE TO THE SEARCHER 19

V. HOW TO MAKE A FAMILY TREE 24

VI. ADDITIONAL NOTES ON PEDIGREE-HUNTING IN LONDON 27

VII. THE PEDIGREE-HUNTER IN IRELAND 33

VIII. THE PEDIGREE-HUNTER IN SCOTLAND AND THE PROVINCES 38

IX. THE WILL-SEARCHER IN ENGLAND 45

X. AN ADDITIONAL LIST OF PUBLICATIONS WHICH MAY BE USEFUL WHEN
TRACING A PEDIGREE 48

XI. THE PAINS AND PLEASURES OF PEDIGREE-HUNTING 52

XII. HOW TO SAVE EXPENSE IN PEDIGREE-HUNTING 56

XIII. LAST WORDS 59

INDEX 65

HOW TO TRACE A PEDIGREE

INTRODUCTORY

Various authorities have derived the word “pedigree” very differently, and it is impossible to say anything definite as to its origin. One of the most picturesque and possibly the most probable derivation is from _pied de grue_--crane’s foot. Evidently this was intended as a word-picture, the claws dividing from a bird’s foot being suggestive of the different branches issuing from the parent stem in a pedigree. When speaking of stems and branches, our thoughts are naturally directed to trees--hence, of course, the expression a “family tree.”

Many nations have preserved the records of family genealogy in their national archives; indeed, all have done this more or less, and all honour to those who have been keenest in the matter, for a nation is composed of families, and family or individual history or biography helps to make the history of that nation, while heredity perhaps more than environment tends to explain the complex character with which each individual member of it is endowed.

The study of genealogy, therefore, is a useful one; but, apart from such considerations, there are many who are personally interested in their own ancestry, and would like to be able to trace pedigrees and learn more of their family history; but the probability is that they have not the slightest idea how to set about the work. Others may think (however interested they might be in _results_) that the details they would have to master must be necessarily dry as dust, and that the search itself would run away with a great deal of money.

Well, though it is quite possible to expend large sums in pedigree-hunting, it is by no means necessary to do so; and, though some dry records may have to be plodded through, searches are in general replete with interest. The reader may possibly be reassured on both these points before laying down this little book, the especial aim of which will be to show the amateur how he may become a successful pedigree-hunter.