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.


This course combines online study with a weekly 1-hour live webinar led by your tutor. Find out more about how our short online courses are taught.


Programme details

This course begins on the 14 Apr 2026 which is when course materials are made available to students. Students should study these materials in advance of the first live meeting which will be held on 21 Apr 2026, 11:00am-12:noon (UK time).

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 

Coursework is an integral part of all online courses and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework. All those enrolled on an online course are registered for credit and will be awarded CATS points for completing work at the required standard.

See more information on CATS points

Digital credentials

All students who pass their final assignment 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 £360.00

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 Parsonson-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.

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

This course takes place over 10 weeks, with a weekly learning schedule and weekly live webinar held on Microsoft Teams. Shortly before a course commences, students are provided with access to an online virtual learning environment, which houses the course content, including video lectures, complemented by readings or other study materials. Any standard web browser can be used to access these materials, but we recommend Google Chrome. Working through these materials over the course of the week will prepare students for a weekly 1-hour live webinar you will share with your expert tutor and fellow students. All courses are structured to amount to 100 study hours, so that on average, you should set aside 10 hours a week for study. Although the course finishes after 10 weeks, all learning materials remain available to all students for 12 months after the course has finished.

All courses are led by an expert tutor. Tutors guide students through the course materials as part of the live interactions during the weekly webinars. Tutors will also provide individualised feedback on your assignments. All online courses are taught in small student cohorts so that you and your peers will form a mutually supportive and vibrant learning community for the duration of the course. You will learn from your fellow students as well as from your tutor, and they will learn from you.

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

You will be set two pieces of work for the course. The first of 500 words is due halfway through your course. This does not count towards your final outcome but preparing for it, and the feedback you are given, will help you prepare for your assessed piece of work of 1,500 words due at the end of the course. The assessed work is marked pass or fail.

 

Application

Please use the 'Book now' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an enrolment form.

 

Level and demands

This course is open to all and no prior knowledge is required.

 

This course is offered at FHEQ Level 4 (i.e. first year undergraduate level), and you will be expected to engage in independent study in preparation for your assignments and for the weekly webinar. 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. Our 10-week Short Online Courses come with an expected total commitment of 100 study hours, including those spent in live webinars.

English Language Requirements

We do not insist that applicants hold an English language certification, but warn that they may be at a disadvantage if their language skills are not of a comparable level to those qualifications listed on our website. If you are confident in your proficiency, please feel free to enrol. For more information regarding English language requirements please follow this link: https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/about/english-language-requirements

 

IT requirements

Any standard web browser can be used to access course materials on our virtual learning environment, but we recommend Google Chrome. We also recommend that students join the live webinars on Microsoft Teams using a laptop or desktop computer rather than a phone or tablet due to the limited functionality of the app on these devices.