Whether you conduct your research in person or by mail, this celebrated manual will guide you in finding your ancestors in Britain or Ireland. Noted genealogist Angus Baxter provides detailed instructions for locating records abroad and shows how easy it is to do it by mail--or on a vacation trip! He begins with step-by-step instructions on drawing up a family tree, and explains how to use sources close at hand. The search continues by correspondence with family history societies, record offices, and other organizations listed here, before concluding with a possible--but not essential--trip to the source, Britain or Ireland. The new Fourth Edition of this classic work includes discussions of the following topics: * The transfer of important genealogical records from Chancery Lane and St. Catherine's House to the new Family Records Centre in London--most notably, civil registration records, census returns, and records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury * The 1986, 1996, and 1998 reorganization of counties in England and Wales and the latest information on where to find local records. Where available, URLs are given for county record offices (CROs), as well as for major repositories. Phone and fax numbers, if available, are also given for CROs and other archives * The British Library transfer of many of its collections from the Great Russell Street location (inside the British Museum) to a new facility at St. Pancras, London * The establishment of the Irish Genealogical Project * The 1998 amalgamation of the Public Record Office and State Paper Office into the National Archives of Ireland In the end, Baxter demonstrates how the threads of fact can be woven into a rich and detailed family history, the ultimate goal of every searcher determined to find his family roots.