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Of the dozen or so books included on this Family Archive CD, the majority deal with wills and administrations of people who either died in America leaving property in England or who are mentioned in a will that was proved in an English court--often the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC), which had jurisdiction in most matters affecting the personal estates of English subjects dying overseas. During the colonial period, in particular, thousands of Englishmen who had emigrated to America died while still in possession of assets in England. While several other books included on this CD deal with church records, ships' passenger lists, and other source records, those books treating wills and administrations showing American connections are paramount in English genealogical research, as they establish proof of family connections between England and America, closing the gap between generations and continents.

Authors of the books included on this CD, in particular Henry F. Waters (Genealogical Gleanings in England), Lothrop Withington (Virginia Gleanings in England), and Peter Coldham (American Wills and Administrations in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, English Estates of American Colonists, etc.), are known to be among the most meticulous researchers in all of American genealogy, renowned for the thoroughness of their documentation and the accuracy of their facts. In the preparation of their various books, entries from the PCC were abstracted only when it was possible to establish unambiguously that the deceased or his relatives had some connection with mainland America. In general, the books detailing the results of their research in English court and probate records establish some or all of the following facts:

-Name of deceased
-Names of his heirs and issue
-Names and relationships of other family members
-Marital status
-Facts pertaining to emigration from England
-Place of residence; place of death
-Date of probate or administration
-Names of executors, administrators, and witnesses

The following books are included on this CD:

*American Wills Proved in London, 1611-1775
*American Wills and Administrations in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 1610-1857
*English Estates of American Colonists, 1610-1699
*English Estates of American Colonists, 1700-1799
*English Estates of American Settlers, 1800-1858
*Genealogical Gleanings in England (2 vols.)
*Virginia Gleanings in England
*American Colonists in English Records
*English Origins of American Colonists from The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record
*Topographical Dictionary of 2,885 English Emigrants to New England
*Result of Some Researches Among the British Archives . . . Relative to . . .New England

System Requirements: You must have a CD-ROM drive, and in order to read the CD you must use either the Family Archive Viewer (version 4.0 or higher), which is available as a free download at http://www.genealogical.com/content/dlfav6.html, or Family Tree Maker for Windows, version 4.0 or higher (Family Tree Maker software can be ordered from www.FamilyTreeMaker.com).

To access information on our Family Archive CDs using the Family Archive Viewer:

1. Install the Family Archive Viewer CD or download it from http://www.genealogy.com/dlfav6.html.
2. Start the Viewer if it is not already running
3. Insert the CD you wish to view into the CD-ROM drive. If you have 2 or more CD-ROM drives, the CD must be placed in the first one.
4. The CD should open automatically, but users of later versions of the Family Archive Viewer must click the CD/magnifying glass icon in the top toolbar (above the template in some versions) to read the CD.
5. When the screen entitled "About this Family Archive" appears, click OK where prompted.

To access information on our Family Archive CDs using Family Tree Maker:

1. Start your Family Tree Maker and open a Family File. (If the program is already running, skip to Step 2.)
2. Insert the CD in your computer's CD-ROM drive. (If you have 2 or more CD-ROM drives, the CD must be placed in the first one.)
3. From the View menu, select Family Finder, or select the Family Finder icon from the toolbar.
4. For FTM 2005, FTM 2006, or Version 16, you must go to the View menu, select Data CD, then View CD. For FTM 2008 or higher, you must download the Family Archive Viewer.

To search the CD for names, select the Search Expert button in the top right of your screen, then select "Search this archive for someone NOT from your Family File." You can also search for names by using the Index.

Note: If a window opens that contains a list of files on the CD, simply close it.