December is a quieter month for us at Pharos, as we allow time for students and tutors to take a break. However, we have lot to talk about for January, some last minute Christmas gift ideas perhaps?

Coming up in January:

Introduction to Medieval Genealogy

Tutor: Gillian Waters
Start date: 5th January 2021
Course length: 5 weeks (4 teaching weeks and a reading week)

* COURSE OF THE MONTH *

Don’t stop tracing your family once you have exhausted the parish registers. It is possible to trace lines back beyond the 1500s, and this course outlines some of the ways that you can break into medieval genealogy. It will help you create the foundations for researching medieval records, describe the nature of medieval records, on-line locations and finding guides that can improve your chances of finding direct or probable relations. It will also help you understand the geographical and political landscapes of medieval England, including general histories and the key events which generated records.

The lesson headings are:

Week 1: Starting out on Medieval Research – identifying families to track
Week 2: Planning the move to Medieval Records – getting to grips with medieval pedigrees
Week 3: Records of the Landed Classes- the structure of medieval society and the meanings of terminology
Week 4: Reading week- a chance to do some background research
Week 5: Medieval Church records, Military records and Taxation

Advanced Military Research – 20th Century Conflict

Tutor: Simon Fowler
Start date: 4th January 2021
Course length: 3 weeks

This course follows on from our Your Military Ancestors course with a focus on the 20th Century (you do not need need to have taken the Your Military Ancestors course first).

It covers the two world wars, the Boer War, the Korean War and other post-war conflicts, including for men who undertook National Service.

As well as considering the records themselves, the course looks at their context, the purposes for which they were created and how different records relate to each other. We also consider non-military records at The National Archives and elsewhere that can help researchers. Although few records survive for civilians or those who served in the auxiliary services, such as the Merchant Navy and Home Guard, we will consider the records which are available.

Apprenticeship Records

Tutor: Stuart Raymond
Start date: 6th January 2021
Course length: 4 weeks
* FULLY BOOKED *

Researching Online for Advanced Genealogists

Tutor: Peter Christian
Start date: 6th January 2021
Course length: 4 weeks

The internet is now an essential research environment for family history: many indexes to genealogical records are now available only online, and the internet provides access to a wealth of information and contacts for family historians. This course examines the main types of internet resource which are useful in carrying out research in English and Welsh family history and aims to improve your search skills so that you can be more confident with your search results.

Employment Records

Tutor: Alec Tritton
Start date: 7th January 2021
Course length: 5 weeks

Records of employment can do two things; reveal important facts for furthering the genealogical information about a family and provide vivid details of the way your ancestors lived. This 5 week course examines what is likely to be found in official and unofficial sources and where and how the information can be used as further insights into the lives and times of our ancestors.

Lesson Headings:
Week 1: The Professions
Week 2: Merchant Seamen and Coastguard
Week 3: Government employees
Week 4: Town folk
Week 5: Country folk

Migration in the British Isles

Tutor: Karen Cummings
Start date: 18th January 2021
Course length: 3 weeks
* FULLY BOOKED *

Discovering Your British Family and Local Community in the early 20th Century

Tutor: Janet Few
Start date: 26th January 2021
Course length: 5 weeks

Family historians often neglect the twentieth century as being not really history but there is plenty to be discovered about individuals and the communities in which they lived between 1900 and 1945. Twentieth century research brings with it the difficulties of larger and more mobile populations as well as records that are closed to view. This course sets out to provide advice for finding out about our more recent ancestors and the places in which they lived.