Where next?

[Chainsaw]

Sorry if this is an old question, but as an irregular reader I would not know if it has been asked before.

So, you have exhausted all the available censuses, purchased dozens of microfiche of parish records, ( avoiding third party transcripts, and the inevitable 'human error'), and for a while life was easy, but now they too are exhausted as a source of data.

But where to go for earlier information, or must I get stuck in the same rut as many members of my local FHS, banging on and on, and on about WW1/WW2, as if the human race did not exist before then.

I have tried manor records, land ownership, various tax records, wills and probate,
muster rolls.

Where next, Please ??

[coombs]

Hi

Poor law records, tithes, court records, nobility and gentry.

Ben

[willow154]

Hi,
What sort of date are we talking about?
Don't want to suggest anything that doesn't apply.
And, which part of the country?
Paulene

[Chainsaw]

Sorry for not being more explicit, my family traces back to Walton, in Somerset.
The earliest date I have is a birth/bapt in 1695. This is as far as I could get with
parish registers. Manor records from Longleat were able to confirm some individuals.
Land Tax records provide further documentary confirmation, but nothing 'new'.

It's so frustrating, I'm sure more information is sitting moldering away in some
academic's collection, but how to get to it. I confess I am very much against the
private ownership of data that by any sense of morals should be in the public domain.

A bit like the censuses, paid for by our taxes, then we have to pay again to see them.

[willow154]

The earliest date I have is a birth/bapt in 1695.

You lucky thing!
No, seriously, this is a bit of a long-shot, but you'll be surprised what can be found on googlebooks - just put in some basic information and see what comes up.
Will think again tomorrow about other sources + hopefully others will contribute, too.
Goodnight,
Paulene

[Chainsaw]

Thanks Paulene, I did try that. Unfortunately, there does seem to be rather a lot of

folk on the net who tend to rely upon imagination and artistic license, rather than on

verifiable documentary evidence. ( That's me at my most polite and tactful best. )

That is why I find myself on this forum, hoping to find people such as yourself who

treat genealogy with respect.

I do hope that there further sources of data out there. I have even searched the

Somerset Records Society publication, 'Somerset Wills 2' Vol 94, but to no avail.

[willow154]

Hi again,
I wondered if details of the visitations, etc might be on googlebooks - sometimes there are surprising things in there.  I found my ancestor had registered a patent I knew nothing about.
I suspect you've tried hearth and poll taxes, but what about apprenticeship records - do you know what they did for a living?
Paulene

[willow154]

And, while I think of it, this is useful for later:

http://www.medievalgenealogy.org.uk/index.html

[Chainsaw]

Hi Pauline,

My family were farmers - in SOMERSET - so why this thread has been moved to

Wiltshire is beyond me, it makes no sense at all.

Perhaps someone much smarter than I could explain, Please.

As they were farmers in SOMERSET, I suspect that they were not apprenticed.