Tracing your British Ancestors in Local History Sources: 1538-2024



Overview

'To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?' Cicero.

Not all branches of a family tree are easily traced back to the 16th century, and brick walls are extremely common. Even the most experienced genealogists will have a family tree full of mysteries they haven’t been able to solve, and ancestors they can’t trace further. However, this course will introduce students to the range of sources available to theoretically trace their British ancestry back to 1538, when parish registers were first introduced in England and Wales.

Starting from the present day, we will move back in time during each week of the course. Students will be introduced to a wide range of genealogical and local history sources which can be used to trace ancestors. The primary focus will be information readily available online to ensure that students from all over the world are able to access the relevant material, but the course will also highlight physical collections in archives which could be used to develop research further. Digital resources usually behind a paywall will be made available to the students for the duration of the course, after which time they will be required to take out their own subscriptions if they want to continue with their research.

Students will be expected to actively work on their family trees in their own time, and this research will form the basis of their assessments.

Programme details

Courses starts: 23 April 2025

Week 1: How to Get Started

  • What you will need
  • What resources are available online
  • Introduction to archives
  • Recording your research
  • Overview of course assessments

Week 2: Civil Registration and 20th century sources

  • Birth, marriage, and death indexes
  • Electoral registers
  • 1939 register

Week 3: Military Service Records

  • First World War
  • Second World War
  • Post-war records

Week 4: Census Records

  • Guide to the 1841 to 1921 censuses

Week 5: The 19th Century

  • Parish registers
  • Workhouse and prison records
  • Tracing occupations

Week 6: The 18th Century

  • Parish registers
  • Manorial court rolls

Week 7: 18th and 19th Century Newspapers

  • British Newspaper Archive
  • Times Digital Archive
  • British Library newspapers

Week 8: The 17th Century

  • Exchequer surveys
  • Civil War Petitions project
  • State Papers Online

Week 9: The 16th Century

  • Taxation records
  • The introduction of parish registers

Week 10: Pre-1538 and Course Conclusion: Next steps

  • Manorial court rolls
  • Inquisitions Post Mortem
  • College of Arms
  • How to preserve and share your research

Certification

Credit Application Transfer Scheme (CATS) points 

To earn credit (CATS points) for your course you will need to register and pay an additional £30 fee for each course you enrol on. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online. If you do not register when you enrol, you have up until the course start date to register and pay the £30 fee. 

See more information on CATS point

Coursework is an integral part of all online courses and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework, but only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work at the required standard. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education, you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee. 

 

Digital credentials

All students who pass their final assignment, whether registered for credit or not, will be eligible for a digital Certificate of Completion. Upon successful completion, you will receive a link to download a University of Oxford digital certificate. Information on how to access this digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course you attended. You will be able to download your certificate or share it on social media if you choose to do so. 

Please note that assignments are not graded but are marked either pass or fail. 

Fees

Description Costs
Course Fee £285.00
Take this course for CATS points £30.00

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:

Concessionary fees for short courses

Tutor

Dr Charlotte Young

Dr Charlotte Young has a PhD in English Civil War sequestration from Royal Holloway, University of London. She has worked as a genealogist and social historian at Sticks Research Agency for over a decade, where she has worked on programmes such as 'Who Do You Think You Are?' and 'Tracing Your Roots'. She is an Honorary Visiting Fellow in English Local History at the University of Leicester, an Adjunct Professor for the University of Oregon's London-based study abroad programme, and was a research assistant attached to the AHRC-funded Civil War Petitions project at Oxford University.

Course aims

By the end of the course students will be able to make progress with researching their British ancestry.

Course objectives:

This course will enable students to:

  • develop their understanding of the range of written records available for researching family history;
  • explore new record sets they may not have encountered before;
  • build their own family tree based on their research.

Teaching methods

The teaching methods for this course will primarily be lectures followed by an online discussion. Students may be given written or visual sources to analyse ahead of the online discussions.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will be expected to:

  • understand how to use software to create a family tree;
  • have knowledge of the range of digital and archival sources available to conduct family history research;
  • have made progress in their own research.

Assessment methods

Students will be asked to submit two pieces of written work for assessment.

The first will be a c.500 word piece of coursework due at Week 6. This will be marked but does not count towards the final grade. Drawing upon the 19th and 20th century sources explored in the previous weeks, students will be expected to write a short commentary about the life of an ancestor of their choosing.

The second assessment will be a longer piece of writing of c.1,500 words. This will count towards the final grade. Students will be given a range of options to choose from, including;

• Writing two c.750 word answers to pre-set questions about the course content.

• A reflective essay on the student’s experience of researching their family history.

• Drawing upon the experience of their first assessment, a more in-depth study of a person or branch of their family tree.

Coursework is an integral part of all weekly classes and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework in order to benefit fully from the course. Only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work the required standard.

Students must submit a completed Declaration of Authorship form at the end of term when submitting your final piece of work. CATS points cannot be awarded without the aforementioned form - Declaration of Authorship form

 

Application

We will close for enrolments 14 days prior to the start date to allow us to complete the course set up. We will email you at that time (14 days before the course begins) with further information and joining instructions. As always, students will want to check spam and junk folders during this period to ensure that these emails are received.

To earn credit (CATS points) for your course you will need to register and pay an additional £30 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.

Please use the 'Book' or 'Apply' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an Enrolment Form (Word) or Enrolment Form (Pdf)

Level and demands

The Department's Weekly Classes are taught at FHEQ Level 4, i.e. first year undergraduate level, and you will be expected to engage in a significant amount of private study in preparation for the classes. This may take the form, for instance, of reading and analysing set texts, responding to questions or tasks, or preparing work to present in class.

Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS)

To earn credit (CATS points) you will need to register and pay an additional £30 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online. Students who register for CATS points will receive a Record of CATS points on successful completion of their course assessment.

Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process can either register for CATS points prior to the start of their course or retrospectively from the January 1st after the current full academic year has been completed. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support