This practical handbook guides amateur genealogists through step-by-step pedigree research, advising on gathering family information, consulting parish registers and tombstones, and making efficient use of wills and published sources. It explains locating and interpreting manuscript records, deciphering old documents, constructing family trees, and regional approaches for London, Ireland, Scotland, and the provinces. Chapters list useful publications, methods to reduce expense, and procedural tips for will-searching and special-library use. The tone is instructional and concise, emphasizing how to work from known facts to unknown links and how to organize searches to yield reliable ancestral information.