Tracing Villains & Their Victims - Family Tree book review

Most family historians will no doubt find black sheep in their family trees at some point – and what an exciting discovery it can be, pointing you in a new direction of sources.

If you’re in this boat, but don’t know how to go about finding out more, Pen & Sword’s latest family history handbook, Tracing Villains & Their Victims, will give you some juicy key clues. With chapters on criminal courts of England, other courts of Britain, police records, newspapers, books and even insight into the range of punishments your criminal ancestors may have received, this is an interesting as well as a useful read. Of course, your relative may have been a victim rather than a perpetrator of crime, and, with this in mind, there is a helpful focus on the types of records generated by criminal activities in the past that could also help you to shed light on their lives.

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With two case studies and lists of useful addresses, books and websites, this is an enlightening and easy-to-read handbook. Whether your criminal ancestor was punished in the village stocks, transported to Van Dieman’s Land or hanged for murder, you may be amazed at the records available to help you research their lives – and add plenty of colour to your tree.

• ISBN: 9781473892569. RRP £14.99, paperback. Pen & Sword Family History.