Essential Reading

'I have been a family historian for more than 40 years, and a professional historian for over 30, but as I read it, I was constantly encountering new ways of looking at my family history....Essential reading I would say!' Alan Crosby, WDYTYA Magazine

Tuesday 6 December 2016

How to Trace Ancestors Through Letters and Personal Writings - On Family Tree Magazine UK Blog


See my 'how-to' article on how to trace ancestors through letters and other personal writings on the blog of :

Family Tree Magazine UK


Read the magazine blog article here



 Learn more about my new book and buy it by clicking here

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For women's history and social history books - competitive prices and a great service - visit:

Tracing Ancestors Through Letters and Personal Writings OUT NOW AND AVAILABLE TO BUY

Tracing Ancestors Through Letters and Personal Writings, by Ruth A. Symes (Pen and Sword Books, 2016)


JUST OUT

Buy book by clicking here




Could your ancestors write their own names or did they mark official documents with a cross? Why did great-grandfather write so cryptically on a postcard home during the First World War? Why did great-grandmother copy all the letters she wrote into letter-books? How unusual was it that great-uncle sat down and wrote a poem, or a memoir?

Tracing Ancestors Through Letters and Personal Writings looks at the kinds of (mainly unpublished) writing that could turn up amongst family papers from the Victorian period onwards - a time during which writing became crucial for holding families together and managing their collective affairs.

With industrialisation, improved education, and far more geographical mobility, British people of all classes were writing for new purposes, with new implements, in new styles, using new modes of expression and new methods of communication (e.g. telegrams and postcards). Our ancestors had an itch for scribbling from the most basic marks (initials, signatures and graffiti on objects as varied as trees, rafters and window ledges), through more emotionally-charged kinds of writing such as letters and diaries, to more creative works such as poetry and even fiction.

This book shows family historians how to get the most out of documents written by their ancestors and, therefore, how better to understand the people behind the words.





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Search My Ancestry: Search My Ancestry: Competition Time! - Win a Copy...: Competition Time Win a copy of my new book: Tracing Ancestors Through Letters and Personal Writings   (Pen and Sword, 2016)  Write a te..

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