Jonathan Scott - A Dictionary of Family History: The Genealogists ABC

A D ICTIONARY OF F AMILY H ISTORY

FAMILY HISTORY FROM PEN & SWORD BOOKS

Tracing Secret Service Ancestors

Tracing Your Air Force Ancestors

Tracing Your Ancestors

Tracing Your Ancestors from 1066 to 1837

Tracing Your Ancestors through Death Records

Tracing Your Ancestors through Family Photographs

Tracing Your Ancestors Using the Census

Tracing Your Ancestors Childhood

Tracing Your Ancestors Parish Records

Tracing Your Aristocratic Ancestors

Tracing Your Army Ancestors 2nd Edition

Tracing Your Birmingham Ancestors

Tracing Your Black Country Ancestors

Tracing Your British Indian Ancestors

Tracing Your Canal Ancestors

Tracing Your Channel Islands Ancestors

Tracing Your Coalmining Ancestors

Tracing Your Criminal Ancestors

Tracing Your East Anglian Ancestors

Tracing Your East End Ancestors

Tracing Your Edinburgh Ancestors

Tracing Your First World War Ancestors

Tracing Your Great War Ancestors: The Gallipoli Campaign

Tracing Your Great War Ancestors:

The Somme Tracing Your Great War Ancestors: Ypres

Tracing Your Huguenot Ancestors

Tracing Your Jewish Ancestors

Tracing Your Labour Movement Ancestors

Tracing Your Lancashire Ancestors

Tracing Your Leeds Ancestors

Tracing Your Legal Ancestors

Tracing Your Liverpool Ancestors

Tracing Your London Ancestors

Tracing Your Medical Ancestors

Tracing Your Merchant Navy Ancestors

Tracing Your Naval Ancestors

Tracing Your Northern Ancestors

Tracing Your Pauper Ancestors

Tracing Your Police Ancestors

Tracing Your Prisoner of War Ancestors: The First World War

Tracing Your Railway Ancestors

Tracing Your Royal Marine Ancestors

Tracing Your Rural Ancestors

Tracing Your Scottish Ancestors

Tracing Your Second World War Ancestors

Tracing Your Servant Ancestors

Tracing Your Service Women Ancestors

Tracing Your Shipbuilding Ancestors

Tracing Your Tank Ancestors

Tracing Your Textile Ancestors

Tracing Your Trade and Craftsmen Ancestors

Tracing Your Welsh Ancestors

Tracing Your West Country Ancestors

For more details see www.pen-and-sword.co.uk .

The Genealogists ABC

JONATHAN SCOTT

Well, frankly children, this is beyond me. For Genevieve

First published in Great Britain in 2017 by

Pen & Sword Family History

an imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Ltd

47 Church Street

Barnsley

South Yorkshire

S70 2AS

Copyright Jonathan Scott 2017

ISBN 978 1 47389 252 1

eISBN 978 1 47389 254 5

Mobi ISBN 978 1 47389 253 8

The right of Jonathan Scott to be identified as the Author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the Publisher in writing.

Pen & Sword Books Ltd incorporates the imprints of Pen & Sword Archaeology, Atlas, Aviation, Battleground, Discovery, Family History, History, Maritime, Military, Naval, Politics, Railways, Select, Social History, Transport, True Crime, Claymore Press, Frontline Books, Leo Cooper, Praetorian Press, Remember When, Seaforth Publishing and Wharncliffe.

For a complete list of Pen & Sword titles please contact

PEN & SWORD BOOKS LIMITED

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Website: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk

BL British Library

BMD Birth, marriage and death certificates

CWGC Commonwealth War Graves Commission

FHS Family History Society

GRO General Record Office

IGI International Genealogical Index

IWM Imperial War Museums

LDS Church Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

LMA London Metropolitan Archives

MI Monumental Inscription

MiD Mentioned in Dispatches

MoD Ministry of Defence

NAI National Archives of Ireland

NAM National Army Museum

NAS National Archives of Scotland

NLI National Library of Ireland

NLS National Library of Scotland

NLW National Library of Wales

NRS National Records of Scotland

OPR Old Parish Registers

PCC Prerogative Court of Canterbury

PRONI Public Record Office of Northern Ireland

RAF Royal Air Force

RBS Royal Bank of Scotland

RFC Royal Flying Corps

RN Royal Navy

RNAS Royal Naval Air Service

SoG Society of Genealogists

TNA The National Archives

UCL University College London

WRAF Womens Royal Air Force

This book is part encyclopedia, part dictionary, part almanac, part directory.

The idea was to create a work of reference where definitions of obsolete terms rubbed shoulders with facts, dates, tips, advice, websites and littleknown sources.

I set out to include useful guidance relating to the likes of the census, civil registration, parish registers, probate material and more, and to explain how such sources were created how the systems functioned and changed over time, and draw attention to genealogical peculiarities that can trip up the unwary.

Websites have become the institutions of our hobby. Alongside archives, libraries and museums there are also hundreds of websites relating to different subjects. Sometimes these websites appear beneath a parent subject, others are important enough to warrant their own entry.

My approach may seem random at times. You will find, for example, some entries relating to specific army regiments, but not every army regiment. This is because some of the regiments and regimental museums in question have produced very useful websites, with catalogues and searchable databases aimed squarely at family historians. Similarly I have included lots of obscure and interesting-sounding occupations but I cant claim to have included every occupation.

In general I adhered to the rule that if I found it interesting or useful, hopefully someone else would too. Ive tried to cover as much ground as possible, but if you have any suggestions just let me know (@thejonoscott).

In short: this is A Dictionary of Family History. I wouldnt presume to call it the dictionary of family history.

Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives ( aberdeencity.gov.uk/archives ) Holds Aberdeen Burgh records (the finest and most complete medieval and early modern burgh records in Scotland), burial registers and rent rolls dating from 1795. Theres an online catalogue available for both city and county collections. One unique source is the return on prostitution which records the names and declared ages of all persons engaged in prostitution known to the Police Commissioners in January 1855.

Aberdeen & NE Scotland FHS ( anesfhs.org.uk )

Able Seaman : RN rank of sailor above ordinary seaman, below leading seaman.

Abney Park Cemetery : One of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries in London located within the London Borough of Hackney. It was opened in 1842. The others are: Brompton (1840), Highgate (1839), Kensal Green (1832), Nunhead (1840), Tower Hamlets (1841) and West Norwood (1836).