This booklet was written by the famous English genealogist, W.P.W Phillimore, as an introduction to the beginner embarking on their family history. It is full of very sensible advice and cautionary tales. He warns against the errors that exist in the pedigrees that had already been compiled, and makes the important point that this is rarely because of fabrication, but because of "inability to appreciate the rules of evidence". In other words those who are not trained in the work are inevitably going to make mistakes, and his aim in this little book is to help students identify and understand the nature of the evidence they use. "Verify your references" is a repeated maxim, as true then as it is today.

But the booklet has so much more, from how to layout and print your pedigree, to the principal sources and the problems attached to each. He looks in detail at English sources, while also addressing Scottish and Irish. Those familiar with Irish genealogy will be struck by his description of sources and options no longer available, his comment "Ireland is fortunate in preserving more of her census returns than England" reminds us how much has changed since 1914.

All in all, this is a great introduction to family history as well as the historical methods of the genealogist.

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