Before the parish registers started in 1538, births, marriages and deaths were not officially recorded, although notes may have been kept by the priest. However, many other series of records of use for family history start well before 1538, and continue long after. In general they contain information about the wealthier members of society, and most ordinary people were very sparsely documented. Information about such people's lives does exist, but it occurs in records created for quite other purposes.
Medieval records are generally much more difficult to use than those from the sixteenth century and later. They are usually in a highly abbreviated form of Latin. English starts to become more common in informal documents in the late fifteenth century, but Latin was used in formal records until 1733 (except during the Interregnum). The handwriting and letter-forms are very different from those of the present day alphabet. The use of surnames was general by about 1300, but there was no consistency in spelling. Surnames were not always used, nor always passed from parent to child. Different surnames could be used in different contexts. Even a fairly distinctive surname may be difficult to trace.
This book consists of statements by the best authorities as to those who were actually present at the Battle of Hastings are followed by a new index to the many versions, ancient and modern, of the Battle of Abbey Roll (another alternative medieval record).
Contents:
Introduction
The Falaise Celebrations, 1931
The Companions of the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings, Discussion Meeting, 13th February 1932
Companions of the Conqueror, Lecture to Society of Genealogists on 10th May 1944 by Geoffrey H. White
The Battle Abbey Roll
