Beginning Genealogy

Genealogy on the Internet

Jumpstart Your Genealogy

For more information see:
http://www.east-tennessee-history.org/

First, how to decipher individual characters, because alphabets evolve constantly. Second, how to interpret the many abbreviations that scribes often used, partly to save space and also to speed up the writing process.

Deciphering ancient documents is a useful skill for a genealogist because knowledge about individual letter-forms, ligatures, punctuation, and abbreviations, enables the palaeographer to read the text as the scribe intended it to be read.

Many old documents can look illegible to the modern reader but if you work through this tutorial you should quickly get the hang of it.

For more information see:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/palaeography/

As well as a number of free online tutorials there’s also a coaching manual which you can use for free. There are plenty of resources on offer so it’s well worth a visit.

For more information see:
http://www.scottishhandwriting.com/

Once you get away from the home page it starts to look very good indeed. Have a look!

For more information see:
http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/ceres/ehoc/

The course consists of a Saturday morning lecture and a practical element where everyone is given a copy of a will to decipher.

For more information see:
Hertford Regional College website: Practical Palaeography for Family Historians

It attracts some 60 to 70 students each year from all parts of the UK, and also from North America and elsewhere.

For more information see:
http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/hi/adults/latin.htm

Many people shy away from research prior to 1750 due to an inability to read and interpret the documentation. This day seminar is designed to introduce the student to the documents and handwriting encountered in local and family history research. Practical examples will illustrate the methodology of “learning to read” old documents.

For more information see:
http://www.ihgs.ac.uk/courses/day_and_residential_08_reading_old_documents.php

There are beginner’s courses, courses about using the Internet for genealogy, and many specialised courses covering subjects such as how to search for information depending on what your ancestor was – a civil servant, a bigamist, a bastard?

All the courses seem to be very reasonably priced and some are free. The courses are all held at Goswell Road, London, EC1M 7BA unless stated otherwise.

For more information see:
http://www.sog.org.uk/events/calendar.shtml

The beginner’s course goes back to 1837 and the intermediate course covers research before 1837.

At £25 for two days both courses are inexpensive and affordable. According to their website subjects covered may include:

Beginners

How to begin

Surnames

Civil Registration from 1837

Researching on the Internet

Using computers

Census 1841-1901

Intermediate

Brief re-cap on Beginners Course

Parish Registers

Parish Chest

Wills & Probate

Local Repositories

Looking at your problem areas

For more information see:
http://www.dorsetfhs.org.uk/courses.htm