Re: American's and their trees (Was Re: Ghost of

"I think it's a gross misstatement to say that Americans have a plethora
of
immigrant and gateway ancestors to hunt with while poor Brits are
reduced to skulking about amid scullery (spelling?) maids and horse
groomers."

Interesting point (though did I miss someone suggesting this was so?).
I think American connections to ancient genealogy are often aided by the
reality that it is easier to trace from the present straight back to the
17th century *in America* than it is to do so in England. There is I
think a parallel, though, that many of us Americans have large
roadblocks (though less insurmountable than their counterparts in
Britain) in the early 19th century, but fortunately persistence, savvy,
and possibly greater numbers and varieties of evidence here often
provide solutions in America research. But, in Britain I think the
Industrial Revolution was a much more formidable genealogical obstacle;
one that has in many cases pretty successfully seemed to efface
connections back into the 18th and 17th centuries, from whence I think
connections to the medieval era are much more readily discovered.

Renia...

English genealogy has become so much easier thanks to Ancestry.com
putting all the censuses online (1841 to come this year, I believe).

However, the Industrial Revolution found many people leaving their
villages for the towns and cities and for those who died before their
name being recorded for ever on a census, it is very difficult to find
where they came from. Most English genealogies stop at this point, as
Tony suggested. But if you do manage to surmount the Industrial
Revolution of the late 18th century, you have the interregnum of the
17th to do battle with. Many parish registers (but not all) stopped for
20 years or more during the period around the English Civil war.
Sometimes, there is just no answer.

Anthony Hoskins
History, Genealogy and Archives Librarian
History and Genealogy Library
Sonoma County Library
3rd and E Streets
Santa Rosa, California 95404

707/545-0831, ext. 562