Thegenealogist releases more than 330,000 will and probate records

Many sailors made wills before departing, knowing that accidents and disease meant there was a significant chance they may not return. However, fraud was common (forged wills were used to claim unpaid

Almost nine million parish records from Suffolk have been added to the family history website Ancestry (ancestry.co.uk). The site has released four sets of records from the Diocese of St Edmundsbury a

L ooking at proceedings from the Chancery Court, which are held by The National Archives at Kew (TNA; nationalarchives. gov.uk), is like shining a torch back into people’s lives in past centuries. No

From the mid-16th century, anyone running an inn or alehouse needed permission from the justices of the peace. Later, landlords were required to pledge not to allow disorderly conduct in their establi

ANTHONY ADOLPH is a professional genealogist and the author of 11 books DAVE ANNAL is a genealogist, author and lecturer KATHERINE COBB is a member of AGRA based in Somerset ROGER KERSHAW is migration

Richmond Palace, 22 March 1603. Elizabeth I – the self-proclaimed Virgin Queen who had ruled England for 44 years, seeing off the Armada, healing religious divisions and creating a court so magnificen