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Whether you conduct your research in person or by mail, this celebrated manual--now in its Fourth Edition--will guide you in finding your ancestors in Britain or Ireland. Noted genealogist Angus Baxter provides detailed instructions for locating records abroad and shows how easy it is to do it by mail--or on a vacation trip!

He begins with step-by-step instructions on drawing up a family tree, and explains how to use sources close at hand. The search continues by correspondence with family history societies, record offices, and other organizations listed here, before concluding with a possible--but not essential--trip to the source, Britain or Ireland.

The Fourth Edition of this classic work includes discussions of the following topics:

* The transfer of important genealogical records from Chancery Lane and St. Catherine's House to the new Family Records Centre in London--most notably, civil registration records, census returns, and records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury

* The 1986, 1996, and 1998 reorganization of counties in England and Wales and the latest information on where to find local records. Where available, URLs are given for county record offices (CROs), as well as for major repositories. Phone and fax numbers, if available, are also given for CROs and other archives

* The British Library transfer of many of its collections from the Great Russell Street location (inside the British Museum) to a new facility at St. Pancras, London

* The establishment of the Irish Genealogical Project

* The 1998 amalgamation of the Public Record Office and State Paper Office into the National Archives of Ireland

In the end, Baxter demonstrates how the threads of fact can be woven into a rich and detailed family history, the ultimate goal of every searcher determined to find his family roots.

OTHER BOOKS BY ANGUS BAXTER
In Search of Your Canadian Roots
In Search of Your European Roots
In Search of Your German Roots

RELATED BRITISH BOOKS
Ancestral Trails. The Complete Guide to British Genealogy and Family History
The A-Z Guide to Tracing Ancestors in Britain
Beginning Your Family History in Great Britain


EDITORIAL REVIEWS

"The advice Baxter gives to the beginner on family history research is practical and easy to follow. He offers useful tips...His advice on how best to interview elderly relations, his explanation of the Gregorian and Julian calendars, and his guide to old handwriting are first class. The chapters dealing with Britain contain useful information in a readable style." --ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL GENEALOGISTS QUARTERLY, Vol. 10, No. 4 (December 1995), pp. 128-129.

"...a good general guide..."--THE NEW YORK GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD, Vol. 121, No. 2 (April 1990)

"...[Baxter] has written in a form of the English language that will be understood by the American readers for whom he is writing. He has written clearly and often wittily...this book must now be recommended most highly even to those of us who have long been acquainted with the problems met with in dealing with British ancestry."--THE AMERICAN GENEALOGIST, Vol. 62, No. 3 (January/April 1986).

"Anyone with genealogical interests in the British Isles (including Northern Ireland and Eire) would do well to get this book for up-to-date information."--NATIONAL GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY, Vol. 74, No. 1 (March 1986).

"...the best, and most readable, of its genre..."--THE PENNSYLVANIA GENEALOGICAL MAGAZINE, Vol. 34, No. 3 (1986), p. 269.