Customer Reviews

British Roots of Maryland Families

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I picked up this book originally because I have several families in early Maryland -- but none of them were indexed. Then I read the "Introduction" and found that the author had chosen the 500 or so families he includes because "there was some reason to believe their home parish (or at least their home county) had been identified," at least tentatively, because these families had descendants in the New World, and because most had arrived before 1800. Fair enough. Although this means that the reader won't find any new breakthrough information here, it's nevertheless useful to have previously published data all in one place. In fact -- in addition to Weis's _Ancestral Roots_ and other commonly available titles, the seventeen-page bibliography includes many sources most researchers probably will never have the opportunity to see, such as _Alumni Cantabrigensis_ [graduates of Cambridge University], _The Cockersand Chartulary,_ Berry?s _Pedigrees of the Families in the County of Kent_ (published in 1830), the publications of the various British Parish Register Societies, the entire series of Victoria Histories of the Counties of England, and a large number of 19th century family histories. Entries are alphabetical by family name and each lays out a number of generations, summarizing all the key data known about each. Textual citations to the bibliography are very detailed, allowing the reader to go to the author's sources and make personal judgments of their trustworthiness. Blazons of heraldic arms are included where available, and a glossary explains the terminology. There's also a seven-page "Bibliography of Royal Descents," revised since its original publication in the _Maryland Genealogical Society Bulletin._