Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors - first review!

The first review is in for Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors!

"Some of my maternal ancestors hail from Northern Ireland, and although I can conduct basic research on that area of the world, my skill set is woefully inadequate. This author is a fantastic writer. He’s clear, to the point, and engaging.

"Paton takes readers and researchers by the hand, beginning with the first chapter, which is a superb condensed history of Belfast from the ancient times until the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Then author then reveals how the various peoples of Belfast (Irish, Scottish, and English) were administered throughout time. This was so important to me because as an American, I am utterly unfamiliar with the laws of that region. For someone doing research on foreign-born relatives, this is something that I, and other readers and researchers, definitely need because in order to conduct research, one has to know where to look to find those documents. Chapter 4: Online Repositories was an especially helpful chapter, particularly for those of us who are unable to travel abroad.

"What I really appreciate about Paton is the fact that he did not limit his book to research on ancestors in the Church of Ireland, but included resources for research into other Protestants, Roman Catholics, and even Jewish congregations. He included cemeteries found in Belfast, further reading, and numerous website addresses, along with a discussion of companies who specialize in online records (e.g., ancestry.com, findmypast.com, and etc.).

"This is the type of book that one needs to keep on hand at all times. Many times, libraries will purchase one copy of a book, which is usually not a problem. But with Paton’s book, the purchase of just one book will likely drive patron’s mad because people will keep checking the same book out over and over again in order to reference it, preventing other people from getting a hold of this book. I recommend that people should buy a copy of this book and keep it in their personal libraries, particularly if they have ancestors from Belfast, and that libraries should get at least TWO copies—one digital and one hard copy—so that patrons will get a chance to reference this book while conducting research.

"Paton is a great author and knowledgeable regarding genealogical research in Belfast. He has written several other books, and I cannot wait to read them." NetGalley, Matal Baker

Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors is available to buy at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Belfast-Ancestors-Paperback/p/23194 in the UK (this is also the source page for the review), and at https://www.penandswordbooks.com/9781526780331/tracing-your-belfast-ancestors/ in the USA.

Chris

Pre-order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors 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. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.