My new book Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors is now officially published

Although it has been available as a pre-order for a few weeks, my new book Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors is now officially published at long last, and available to buy from Pen and Sword in the UK at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Belfast-Ancestors-Paperback/p/23194, for the offer price of £10.49 +p&p. (In the USA, it will be available in June, but can be pre-ordered at https://www.penandswordbooks.com/9781526780331/tracing-your-belfast-ancestors/ for US $26.95.) I'm not sure how long the introductory offer price will last, so if interested, it may be best to pick up a copy sooner than later, as it will go up to £14.99 at some point.

Here's the blurb, and details of what to expect within:

Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians, by Chris Paton

Straddling parts of Counties Antrim and Down, the city of Belfast has seen its fair share of history across the centuries. From its humble beginnings as a ford based settlement between two tributaries of the River Lagan, it grew following its grant of a charter in 1613 to become a corporation town, and expanded dramatically when later made a city in 1888. Along the way it has experienced the darkest of times, including the Belfast Blitz and the recent Troubles, to some of the most enlightened developments across Ireland and the UK.

In Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, genealogist and best-selling author Chris Paton returns home to provide a research gateway for those wishing to trace their ancestors from the Northern Irish capital. With a concise summary of the city's history, a tour of some of the city's most amazing archives, libraries and museums, and a detailed overview of the records generated by those who came before, he expertly steers the reader towards centuries of ancestral exploration, both through online resources and within the city of Belfast itself – and with a wee bit of craic along the way!

The following is a breakdown of the contents:

Introduction

1) A Wee History of Belfast
    Béal Feirste
    The charter town
    Rebellion and union
    The Famine   
    Industrial Belfast
    A divided city
    The twentieth century
    The northern capital
    The Second World War
    The Troubles and beyond

2) Out for a Dander
    Administrative boundaries
    Language / Teanga / Leid
        - English
        - Ulster Scots (Ullans)
        - Irish (Gaeilge)

3) Belfast’s Guardians and Gatekeepers
    General Register Office of Northern Ireland (GRONI)
    Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI)
        - The PRONI Website
    National Archives of Ireland / An Chartlann Náisiúnta
        - Virtual Record Treasury
    North of Ireland Family History Society
        - Research Centre
    Ulster Historical Foundation
    Belfast Family History Centre (LDS)
    Belfast Central Library
    Linen Hall Library
    Clifton House
    Queen’s University – The McClay Library and Archive
    Ulster University Library Services
    Historical societies
    Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland (PHSI)
    Methodist Historical Society of Ireland
    Land and Property Services
    Museums
        - Ulster Museum
        - Titanic Belfast / SS Nomadic
        - Northern Ireland War Memorial Museum
        - Royal Ulster Rifles Regimental Museum
        - Police Museum
        - HMS Caroline
        - Museum of Orange Heritage
        - Eileen Hickey Irish Republican History Museum
        - Ulster Transport Museum

4) Online Repositories
    Ancestry
    Findmypast
    MyHeritage
    British Newspaper Archive
    Irish Newspaper Archive
    Eddie’s Extracts
    FamilySearch
    RootsIreland
    Emerald Ancestors
    The Belfast History Project
    Discussion forums
        - Belfast Forum
        - Roostchat
        - The Great War Forum

5) From the Cradle to the Grave
    Civil Registration
        - Births
        - Marriages
        - Deaths
        Accessing the civil registration  records
    Church Records
        - Church of Ireland
        - Presbyterians
        - Roman Catholics
        - Methodists
        - Baptists
        - Moravians (‘United Brethen’)
        - Quakers
        - Belfast’s Jewish community
        - Online church records
    Burials and Cremation
        - Belfast City Council – online burials resources
            -- Belfast City Cemetery
            -- Dundonald Cemetery
            -- Roselawn Cemetery
            -- Accessing the records
        - Belfast City Council’s Other Maintained Grounds
            -- Shankill Graveyard
            -- Balmoral Cemetery
            -- Clifton Street Cemetery
            -- Friar’s Bush Graveyard
            -- Knock Burial Ground
        - Other Burial Grounds
            -- Milltown Cemetery
            -- St George’s Graveyard
            -- St Mary’s, Greencastle
            -- Ballymacarrett Methodist Graveyard
            -- Abingdon Street Burial Ground
            -- Malone Presbyterian Church Graveyard
            -- Carnmoney Cemetery
            -- City of Belfast Crematorium
        - Other finding aids

6) A Sense of Place and Value
    The decennial censuses
    Census extracts for Old Age Pension applications
    Ulster Covenant and Declaration of Loyalty
    1939 National Identity Register
    Street directories
    Electoral records
    Dissenters’ petitions
    Maps
    Valuation records
    Valuation revision books
    The Registry of Deeds
    The Land Registry
    Irish Land Commission
    Probate records

7) Daily Life
    Gettin’ learned – Education
    Workhouses and the Poor Law
    Hospitals and asylums    
    Court records
    Sport
        - Football
        - Gaelic football and hurling
        - Rugby
        - Cricket
        - Hockey
    Theatres

8) Occupations
    Businesses
    The linen trade
    Shipbuilding
    Trade unions
    Law and order
    The British military
        - The British Army
        - The Royal Navy
        - The Royal Air Force
    The Irish Army
    The Merchant Navy
    Coastguards
    Postal workers
    Railway workers
    Architects
    Artists
    Solicitors
    Teachers
    Medical professions
    The Churches

9) Other Resources
    Newspapers
        - Libraries and archives
        - Online platforms
    The moving image
    DNA

Further Reading
Index

I've tried to pack as much in as possible, and hope I have done a proper service to the good folk of Belfast and all those with connections to Northern Ireland's capital, and to the island of Ireland's most wonderful city (I'm biased, let me have this one!).

A wee video is also available plugging the book on YouTube at https://youtu.be/W8h7pC-jHHE, and presented below for convenience!

The first review is also in, see https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2023/03/tracing-your-belfast-ancestors-first.html.

As ever, I hope it helps with your research!

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.