INTRODUCTORY
Various authorities have derived the word “pedigree” very differently, and it is impossible to say anything definite as to its origin. One of the most picturesque and possibly the most probable derivation is from pied de grue—crane’s foot. Evidently this was intended as a word-picture, the claws dividing from a bird’s foot being suggestive of the different branches issuing from the parent stem in a pedigree. When speaking of stems and branches, our thoughts are naturally directed to trees—hence, of course, the expression a “family tree.”
Many nations have preserved the records of family genealogy in their national archives; indeed, all have done this more or less, and all honour to those who have been keenest in the matter, for a nation is composed of families, and family or individual history or biography helps to make the history of that nation, while heredity perhaps more than environment tends to explain the complex character with which each individual member of it is endowed.
The study of genealogy, therefore, is a useful one; but, apart from such considerations, there are many who are personally interested in their own ancestry, and would like to be able to trace pedigrees and learn more of their family history; but the probability is that they have not the slightest idea how to set about the work. Others may think (however interested they might be in results) that the details they would have to master must be necessarily dry as dust, and that the search itself would run away with a great deal of money.
Well, though it is quite possible to expend large sums in pedigree-hunting, it is by no means necessary to do so; and, though some dry records may have to be plodded through, searches are in general replete with interest. The reader may possibly be reassured on both these points before laying down this little book, the especial aim of which will be to show the amateur how he may become a successful pedigree-hunter.
CHAPTER I
FIRST STEPS IN PEDIGREE-HUNTING
The reader being anxious to trace his own or a friend’s pedigree, or to look for some missing link in an ancestry—how should he set about the work?
To do this more efficiently, and to save unnecessary expense, he should first ascertain and set down whatever is already known on the subject or can be discovered, before proceeding to record-searching.
We will suppose that he is interested in ascertaining the ancestry of a certain man, whose father’s name is known and, perhaps, his grandfather’s; but he cannot trace the pedigree farther back.
Also, presumably, he may know where this individual and, possibly, his father and grandfather lived. From such data, however slight they may be, his future knowledge is to spring—for he must work from the known to the unknown. This is necessary in all genealogical searches.
Friends of the family can give him some little particulars—all of which should be carefully noted down—and a visit to the place where he locates the earliest known member of it, if practicable, might be very advantageous.
If this is not possible at the moment, he should write to the vicar of the parish, who, from the parochial entries, would supply information at a moderate cost. There might also be tombstones, with names and dates on them, which would help materially.
Some parish registers have been printed. The searcher should ascertain whether the parish in which he is interested is among the number, and, if so, whether the published entries have been brought down to the date he requires, as in that event he might obtain the necessary information in some large library free of cost. But he is scarcely likely to be so exceptionally fortunate at the start, so will probably have to make the requisite inquiries.
Before doing so, however, our pedigree-hunter should carefully consider the surname of the individual in question. If he boasts of an uncommon one, as say, for instance, Vandeleur, the chances are that all the Vandeleurs mentioned in the same parish books will belong to his family. If, however, he is a Smith—well, the Smiths are not a very small tribe, and several of the name unrelated to each other might appear in the same parish. To obviate the difficulties which this would entail, our pedigree-hunter should be clear as to the district in the parish or name of the house in which his ancestor lived. But, if he does not know this, how is he to ascertain it?
Well, he probably will know it in the case of the latest of his ancestors, say, his father or grandfather, and let him work from that point. Failing this, a study of the family names in each district should reveal the secret.
The surname itself, especially if the searcher has been able to trace the ancestry some way back, should be carefully noted with regard to the different forms in which it may appear, for in early days there was a quite delightful variation in the spelling of names; so a somewhat similar sounding name, if spelt differently, should not be ruled out of court as having necessarily nothing to do with the matter, the odds being generally on the other side.
Even if parochial registers supply no additional details to those which friends have been able to give, their testimony may be of great importance, for the recollections of old friends are more or less traditional, and the golden rule to be most carefully observed by genealogists, is
Verify your Information.
An honest searcher would never appreciate a “faked” pedigree; but it is fatally easy to assume a certain point, and, working from that assumption, to have all future details more or less incorrect.
No time should be considered wasted which is spent on verifying information.
The searchers should not even take it for granted that all Peerages or similar works are always correct; as a matter of fact, this is far from being the case.
Even in the mystic circle of the Baronetage it is said that some sixty claimants have appeared, whose titles, though received for long unchallenged, cannot be fully verified.
Our late king recently ordered an official roll of the Baronetage to be registered and kept.
This does not preclude, however, the pedigree-hunter from consulting Peerages and works of Family History at libraries; indeed, this might well be the next stage in his search. Let him look through his Library Index, under the heading “Genealogy,” and consult works in it which he thinks might bear on the matter in hand.
There are many such in all good libraries, a list of which will be given later on; but, while the search is in its infancy and does not go farther back than two or three generations, probably the Peerages (if the family is of social position), with perhaps certain other printed pedigrees and works on family history, such as Burke’s Commoners and Landed Gentry, should suffice for the present.
But the golden rule in genealogy should always be remembered; and, though the information thus derived may possibly be fairly correct, many details may call for verification later in the search.
CHAPTER II
WILL-SEARCHING
Having proceeded thus far, the great subject of Wills, which form one of the strongest features in pedigree-hunting, should be now approached.
The searcher will presumably now have new ancestors to note; so, before he starts will-hunting, he should have some idea as to how to record them on a family “tree.”
And, as a help towards this, he cannot do better than provide himself with a work by William Whitmore, entitled Ancestral Tablets.[1] These are a collection of Diagrams and Pedigrees, so arranged that eight generations of ancestors can be recorded in a manner which is plain, simple, and easily understood. It is difficult to explain this ingenious system on paper, but a glance at it is almost sufficient to show its method of working.
The merest tyros in genealogy, or those more advanced in the study, will find these tablets invaluable, as they do away with the difficulty of having to draw up a family tree for themselves.
But, whatever kind of “tree” is adopted or worked out, the study of wills should be productive of new ancestors with which to embellish it.
If working in London, Somerset House will be the happy hunting-ground of the will-searcher, and in various parts of England there are District Registries at which old wills are also kept.
Perhaps, in a sense, the searcher in Ireland has most need of all to be grateful to the powers that be with regard to this aspect of his pedigree work, for, practically speaking, all Irish wills can be found in Dublin. The later ones are in the Probate Office, and the earlier, with which searchers will be mainly interested, in the Dublin Record Office, both these offices being situated in the “Four Courts.”
But, wherever he is working, the wills will naturally divide themselves into those proved in the Prerogative and Diocesan Courts.
In England, up to 1858, wills were proved in the Prerogative Courts of Canterbury and York, or were to be found in the various Diocesan Courts. There were also a large number (nearly four hundred) of “peculiar courts,” which were depositories of such documents. Later wills are all kept at Somerset House, and a great number of earlier ones, in ponderously bound volumes of copies, can also be consulted there.
Suitable indexes are everywhere provided, and the searcher should study the contents of these, under the name for which he is looking.
Let us suppose he has traced the ancestry of a family of the name of Grey down to a certain Thomas Grey of Larchfield, Blankshire, who died in 1790.
His next step is to find Thomas Grey’s father, and afterwards he will trace his line farther back.
To do this, he will look through any Prerogative or Diocesan Indexes connected with Blankshire, and then go through all wills of Greys of Larchfield before 1790; and, if he is not acquainted with the names of Thomas’ brothers and sisters (which might probably be needed to fully identify Thomas himself), and he has not full details of his later family history, he will also consult those of succeeding dates. In fact, under any circumstances, he should certainly, at one time or another, look through every will connected with the family in that district.
If he discovers wills of Greys of Larchfield of the required date, one of them will probably reveal Thomas’ parentage. Should he not find such wills, or should they not reveal what he is looking for, he might search for other wills of the name in the County of Blankshire, and afterwards for wills in other countries, for in pedigree-hunting no will which is possibly connected with the family should be ignored.
When all such wills proved in the Prerogative and Diocesan Courts have been looked up, some degree of new information—probably a large amount—will almost certainly have been acquired by the expenditure of more or less time and trouble, as the case may be.
Here again, if the family name is an uncommon one, it would probably take less time to trace the ancestry than if the name was Jones or Smith, and here again the variations in the old spelling should be remembered.
Also, it must not be forgotten that an individual sometimes adopts an entirely different surname. This may not very frequently occur, but the possible contingency should not be ignored.
An old Statute, 4 Edward IV., enacted that all Irishmen who lived within the English pale (Dublin, Kildare, etc.) should adopt an English surname, to be derived from the name of an office, trade, place, or colour.
It may also be noted that a very uncommon Christian name is often a great help to the searcher, as, if he comes across this uncommon name in connection with the required surname, the chances are that he is on the right track, and has discovered a new twig emanating from the family tree.
Having searched through wills of the required surname (unless he has been most singularly unfortunate), the pedigree-hunter, besides having discovered new ancestors, will have come across many relations of the family bearing other surnames. The wills of the most likely of these should be consulted in the same way, as they may reveal much.