Media: BOOK - paperback, 224 pages
Author: S. Wilkes
Year: 2012
ISBN: 9781848847446
Other: b&w photos, bibliography, index
Publisher: Pen & Sword

If you want to find out about Lancashire’s history, and particularly if you have family links to the area and your ancestors lived or worked in the county, then this is the ideal book for you. As well as helping you to trace when and where your ancestors were born, married and died, it gives you an insight into the world they knew and a chance to explore their lives at work and at home.

Sue Wilkes’ accessible and informative handbook outlines Lancashire's history and describes the origins of its major industries - cotton, coal, transport, engineering, shipbuilding and others. She looks at the stories of important Lancashire families such as the Stanleys, Peels and Egertons, and famous entrepreneurs such as Richard Arkwright, in order to illustrate aspects of Lancashire life and to show how the many sources available for family and local history research can be used.

Relevant documents, specialist archives and libraries, background reading and other sources are recommended throughout this practical book. Also included is a directory of Lancashire archives, libraries and academic repositories, as well as databases of family history societies, useful genealogy websites, and places to visit which bring Lancashire’s past to life.

Contents:
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations
List of Illustrations

Part 1: The Story of Lancashire and Its People
1. Origins
- The Birth of the County
- Medieval Records
- Land Records
- Manorial Records
- Heralds' Visitations
2. A Matter of Religion
- After the Reformation
- A Divided County
- Parish Registers
- Bishop's Transcripts
- Marriage Bonds and Allegations
- Other Church Records
3. Rags to Riches
- Records for Agricultural Areas
- Equity Suits
- The Bernau Index
- The Birth of the Textile Industries
- Textile-related Records
4. Speed Kings: Transport and Industry
- Turnpike Roads
- Coal Mining
- Canals, Docks and Shipping
- Railways
- Transport Records
- A Hive of Industry
- Industry Records
5. Struggle for Survival
- Boroughs and Corporations
- A Radical County
- Chartism
- Burgess Rolls, Electoral Registers, Poll Books
- The Poor
- Education
- Law and Order
6. Sacrificed
- Censuses
- The World Wars
- The End of an Era
- Mining Records
7. Beginning Your Search
- Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates and Indexes
- Locating Parish Registers
- National Burial Index
- Nonconformists
- Lancashire Online Parish Clerks
- John Owen Manuscripts
- Where There's a Will
- When is a County not a County?
- Useful Sources in Print
- Online Censuses, Parish Registers and More

Part 2: Research Guide
A. Archives and Repositories
B. Local Archives and Local Studies Libraries
C. Useful Addresses
D. Free Online Resources
E. Subscription and 'Pay per View' Websites
F. Useful Websites
G. Military Resources
H. Places to Visit
Select Bibliography
Index