BEST WEBSITES
Gentry, Royalty And Aristocracy
Finding nobility in your family tree is always welcome, writes Jonathan Scott – provided there’s not too much of it
One of the first rules of thumb told to me when I caught the genealogy bug was that the richer your ancestors were, the more extensive the potential paper trail.
I also learnt that many Victorian researchers were primarily concerned with establishing connections with titles and nobility, and this driving factor could mean a certain disregard for proper evidence. And the echoes of sketchy connections still ring down the ages, surviving in the family legends we tell each other.
Of course we class-ridden Britons tend to send confusing signals when it comes to nobility, and the average family historian is likely to be significantly more proud of roots in the fields and on the factory floor than they are with a link to some landed to.
A sprinkling of both is by far the most interesting option, and thankfully there are several free and subscription-based resources that can help you find out more about the kinds of sources that come in handy when researching aristocracy.
BURKE’S PEERAGE
This is the online home of the definitive guide to the genealogy and heraldry of the peerage, baronetage and landed gentry, established by John Burke in 1826. Much of the material is only accessible by subscription, but free sections give you an idea of what’s on offer. These include detailed pedigrees of prominent royal families of Europe. Subscribers can search for details of the peerage – those with the titles of duke, marquis, earl, viscount or baron – and the baronetage. Entries usually contain biographical information, including lineage and the coat of arms. This is not a cheap resource, so do see if the data is available elsewhere. Via peerageandgentry.com, for example, you can view free copies of editions containing family trees of the peerage.
COLLEGE OF ARMS
The website of our official heraldic authority tackles commonly held misconceptions concerning the right to bear arms. The main thing to remember is that coats of arms belong to specific individuals and families – there is no such thing as a coat of arms for a family name. The site includes the subject’s 12th-century origins, heraldic artwork, the complete Roll of the Peerage – an official list of all living peers, and digital copies of the college’s newsletter. The ‘About Us’ web page leads to a series of online exhibitions that focus on such topics as Agincourt, Waterloo, the Great Fire of London and the college’s collection of pedigree rolls.
THE PEERAGE
The goal of this website is to capture all members of the interconnected families of the British peerage. Its creator, New Zealand-based researcher Darryl Lundy, first started his work back in 1988. Today the website boasts references to more than 735,000 people, and you can check a simple surname index of names included so far (thepeerage.com/surname_index.htm). There’s still a way to go – Lundy estimates that at his current rate of progress, entering approximately 900,000 people referred to in Cokayne’s Complete Peerage and Complete Baronetage, plus the various editions of Burke’s, he should be done by October 2032!
SOME NOTES ON MEDIEVAL ENGLISH GENEALOGY
While most of us won’t get anywhere near this far back in our family history research, Chris Phillips’ website on (primarily) English medieval genealogy remains a fascinating place to visit. It has information about the kinds of sources that survive from the period, covering land taxes and feudal surveys, pipe rolls and feet of fines, manorial documents and Heralds’ Visitations. In terms of our topic this month, a good starting point is the page medievalgenealogy.org.uk/sources/peerages.shtml, where you’ll find links to all sorts of free-to-view digitised copies of multi-volume works such as The Scots Peerage and Familiae Minorum Gentium.
BRITISH NOBILITY AT WIKIPEDIA
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_nobility
While we all instinctively ‘know’ what is meant when we hear the words gentry, nobility and aristocracy, we may find ourselves stumbling over knowledge gaps. This page and its various offshoots together give you a quick and easily digestible introduction to the whole subject, with a rundown of the foibles and intricacies of British nobility, including summaries of unfamiliar terms, obscure meanings and archaic jargon. So next time you read “all Scottish armigers are ennobled in their grant or matriculation of arms awarded by the Crown or Sovereign through the Court of the Lord Lyon”, you’ll know exactly what it means.
Expert’s Choice
Anthony Adolph is a genealogist, author and broadcaster (anthonyadolph.co.uk)
Many (most?) pedigrees on the internet purporting to trace normal people back to blue-blooded ancestors are wrong. This is mainly because their fabricators simply have no idea of the sources on which accurate lines are based. The basis for our knowledge of the landed gentry, through whose families these connections often run, are the pedigrees in Burke’s Landed Gentry (first published as Commoners) of the 19th and 20th centuries, often based (generally accurately, though not without errors) on gentry family pedigrees in older county histories. Many of these, for England and Wales, are derived ultimately from the pedigrees drawn by the heralds from the College of Arms during their visitations of the shires in the 16th and 17th centuries. Their aim was to determine who was using arms with proper authority, but the result was a rich genealogical corpus that is unsurpassed in most other countries.
The heralds still have their original records, which can be searched for a fee, but copies existed outside the college and many of these were published, with or without scholarly additions and updates, by the Harleian Society (harleian.org.uk).
Runs of these are held by good libraries, such as those of the Society of Genealogists (sog.org.uk) and the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies (ihgs.ac.uk). The most accessible site for English counties is TheGenealogist (thegenealogist.co.uk), filed by county under ‘Peerage & Heritage’ within the site’s ‘Peerage, Gentry & Royalty’ section, along with Burke’s Commoners and Ruvigny’s The Plantagenet Roll of the Blood Royal. It also has other resources that may help prove grand connections, including wills that were proved by the Prerogative Court of Canterbury and Crisp’s Visitations of England and Wales.
Go Further
Eight more websites that you need to visit
ANCESTRY
ancestry.co.uk/search/categories/royal_heritage
Ancestry’s ‘The Royal Collection’ includes material from 50 historical publications with details of almost half a million people.
BRITISH HISTORY ONLINE
british-history.ac.uk
This website provides access to Victoria County History volumes, alongside various name-rich sources useful for researching elite classes.
COURT OF THE LORD LYON
courtofthelordlyon.scot
The Public Register of All Armorial Bearings in Scotland was created by the Scottish Parliament during the reign of Charles II.
INSTITUTE OF HERALDIC AND GENEALOGICAL STUDIES
ihgs.ac.uk
The institute’s library includes collections of British and foreign armorials, peerage and gentry directories, and Heralds’ Visitations.
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF IRELAND
nli.ie/en/heraldry-introduction.aspx
Find our more about the Office of the Chief Herald – part of the Genealogy and Heraldry division at the NLI.
ROYAL BASTARDS
royalbastards.org
This community of genealogists focuses on the descendants of the illegitimate sons and daughters of the kings of Britain.
SOCIETY OF GENEALOGISTS
sog.org.uk
The society is currently mid-move, but here you can learn about its collection of pedigree rolls, a number of which are available online through its new application TreeSearch.
WDYTYA? MAGAZINE
tinyurl.com/wdytya-descended-royalty
Visit our website for a detailed guide to the essential records that can help you find out if you’re descended from royalty.