Tracing Your Ancestors Through the Equity Courts: A Guide for Family and Local Historians

Susan T Moore • £14.99
Pen & Sword

The records of the Courts of Equity, which dealt with cases of fairness rather than law, are among the most detailed, extensive and revealing of all the legal documents historians can consult, yet they are often neglected. Susan Moore’s expert introduction to them opens up this fascinating source to researchers who may not be familiar with them and don’t know how to take advantage of them. As she traces the purpose, history and organization of the Courts of Equity from around 1500 to 1876, she demonstrates how varied their role was and how valuable their archives are for us today. She covers the Courts of Chancery, Exchequer, Star Chamber, Requests, Palatinates and Duchy of Lancaster in clear detail. Her work shows researchers why their records are worth searching, how to search them and how many jewels of information can be found in them. This introduction will be appreciated by local, social and family historians who are coming to these records for the first time and by those who already know of the records but have found them daunting.

The Workhouse System 1834-1929: The History of an English Social Institution

M A Crowther • £28.99
Routledge

Crowther traces the history of the workhouse system from the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 to the Local Government Act of 1929. At their outset the large residential institutions were seen by the Poor Law Commissioners as a cure for nearly all social ills. In fact these formidable, impersonal, prison-like buildings – housing all paupers under one roof – became institutionalised: places where routine came to be an end in itself. In the early 20th century some of the workhouses became hospitals or homes for the old or handicapped but many continued to form a residual service for those who needed long-term care. Crowther pays attention not only to the administrators but also to the inmates and their daily life. She illustrates that the workhouse system was not simply a 19th century phenomenon but a forerunner of many of today’s social institutions.

The Hidden Lives of Tudor Women: A Social History

Elizabeth Norton • £22.99
W W Norton

The Tudor century was dominated by powerful and dynamic women in a way that no era had been before. Historian and Discover Your Ancestors contributor Elizabeth Norton explores the life cycle of the Tudor woman, from childhood to old age, through the diverging examples of women such as Elizabeth Tudor, Henry VIII’s sister; Cecily Burbage, Elizabeth’s wet nurse; Mary Howard, widowed but influential at court; Elizabeth Boleyn, mother of a controversial queen; and Elizabeth Barton, a peasant girl who would be lauded as a prophetess. Their stories are interwoven with studies of topics ranging from Tudor toys to contraception to witchcraft, painting a portrait of the lives of queens and serving maids, nuns and harlots, widows and chaperones. Norton brings this vibrant period to colourful life in an evocative and insightful social history.

A History of Birds

Simon Wills • £16.99
White Owl

While we acknowledge that you’re unlikely to trace your family history so far back that you find birds nesting in your family tree, there’s much in this book by DYA writer Simon Wills which will be of interest to all history enthusiasts. The book focuses on 30 different species of bird, from Blackbird to Woodpecker. Almost all of them are familiar sights in Britain. In each case, Wills gives us some description and information about the bird and its habitat, plus his own beautiful photographs; but this book primarily offers a cornucopia of folklore and indeed social history. Who knew, for example that around 1860, more than 130,000 goldfinches were captured in the Worthing area to become pets?

How to be a Victorian: A Dawn-to- Dusk Guide to Victorian Life

Ruth Goodman • £22.33
W W Norton

Ruth Goodman believes in getting her hands dirty. Drawing on her own adventures living in recreated Victorian conditions, Goodman serves as our bustling and fanciful guide to 19th century life. Proceeding from daybreak to bedtime, this charming, illustrative work celebrates the ordinary lives of the most perennially fascinating era of British history. From waking up to the rapping of a ‘knocker-upper man’ on the window pane to lacing into a corset after a round of callisthenics, from slipping opium to the little ones to finally retiring to the bedroom, the weird, wonderful, and somewhat gruesome intricacies of Victorian life are vividly rendered here. How to Be a Victorian is an enchanting manual for the insatiably curious.