A recent riddle in regard the Y-DNA results and family connections has created a need to examine in detail the ancestors in our project's family trees. The trees are not linked at present yet the Y-DNA would indicate family ties. Seeking guidance on the period before 1837 and in particular 17th, 16th, 15th and 14th century lead me to Jonathon Oates book 'Tracing your ancestors from 1066 to 1837', published by Pen and Sword.
It starts with an introduction to the history of the period in Chapter 1. It then deals with different types of records in the following 11 chapters. Chapter 13 lists 'places to visit'. Lots of thoughts how we can start to track down records that may help our search. I'll keep you informed of any progress we make.
North West Kent FHS library has a number of reference books that will help you to transcribing old documents and there are volunteers who can guide you. We are fortunate to have such a resource. It looks like I will be spending a lot more time at the Library.
Interesting search through Manorial records has allowed us to form a number of family lines but there are still gaps that further work requires us to look at contiguous parishes and manors. Some of the documents are difficult to read and made harder by not being in English. Being in standard forms there are a number of reference books that help understand what was being discussed. If you need help then the volunteers in the Library can help by pointing you to the books that will aid your reading and translating documents
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