Property title deeds are perhaps the most numerous sources of historical evidence but also one of the most neglected. While the information any one deed contains can often be reduced to a few lines, it can be of critical importance for family and local historians. Nat Alcock's handbook aims to help the growing army of enthusiastic researchers to use the evidence of these documents, without burying them in legal technicalities. It also reveals how fascinating and rewarding they can be once their history, language and purpose are understood. A sequence of concise, accessible chapters explains why they are so useful, where they can be found and how the evidence they provide can be extracted and applied. Family historians will find they reveal family, social and financial relationships and local historians can discover from them so much about land ownership, field and place names, the history of buildings and the expansion of towns and cities. They also bring our ancestors into view in the fullness of life, not just at birth, marriage and death, and provide more rounded pictures of the members of a family tree.
We offer free standard UK delivery on all orders over £50.
Orders up to £30 are charged a flat fee of £4.95
Orders between £30.01 and £50 are charged a flat fee of £6.95.
Usual UK delivery timescale (excluding custom prints) is between 5 and 7 working days from the date of dispatch. Please allow up to 14 working days for delivery. For custom print delivery pricing and timescales see below. These timescales may vary especially when we have online sales and in the weeks before Christmas.
Delivery Worldwide
We can also ship most items worldwide.
For full details, including prices, click here.
Custom Prints
Your prints and frames will be handmade by King & McGaw at their Sussex workshop.
Unframed orders are shipped within 5 working days (normally shipped next day).
Framed orders are shipped within 20 working days.
Further information on delivery timescales for custom prints can be found here.
If you are not completely satisfied with your item you may return it within 28 days for a refund.
For further details on returns click here.
Unfortunately we cannot offer a refund on custom prints unless they are faulty or we have made a mistake. Custom prints are exempt as they are made to order.
Are you a subscriber to The National Archives mailing list? Sign up now to get our latest news -- and code crackers!
To mark the publication of Spydle, until the end of the year our e-newsletter will contain monthly taster puzzles – written exclusively for subscribers, with the solution published here.
Solution - Puzzle #1: Treason and plot
The words can be unjumbled as follows:
BLENHEIM + G
WESTMINSTER + U
WINDSOR + Y
RICHMOND + F
BUCKINGHAM + A
LAMBETH + W
KEW + K
HAMPTON COURT + E
ST JAMES’S + S
The name spelled out is GUY FAWKES, a figure involved in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 – which, if successful, would have blown up the Palace of Westminster.
Solution - Puzzle #2: Continental conundrum
The European cities are as follows:
MILAN
ANTWERP
TOULOUSE
ATHENS
HAMBURG
AMSTERDAM
ROME
ISTANBUL
The name hidden in the first letters of each city is Mata Hari, who was convicted of spying for Germany during the First World War.
Manufacturer/Publisher: Pen & Sword
Binding: Paperback
Author: Nat Alcock
SKU: 9781526703453
Property title deeds are perhaps the most numerous sources of historical evidence but also one of the most neglected. While the information any one deed contains can often be reduced to a few lines, it can be of critical importance for family and local historians. Nat Alcock's handbook aims to help the growing army of enthusiastic researchers to use the evidence of these documents, without burying them in legal technicalities. It also reveals how fascinating and rewarding they can be once their history, language and purpose are understood. A sequence of concise, accessible chapters explains why they are so useful, where they can be found and how the evidence they provide can be extracted and applied. Family historians will find they reveal family, social and financial relationships and local historians can discover from them so much about land ownership, field and place names, the history of buildings and the expansion of towns and cities. They also bring our ancestors into view in the fullness of life, not just at birth, marriage and death, and provide more rounded pictures of the members of a family tree.
We offer free standard UK delivery on all orders over £50.
Orders up to £30 are charged a flat fee of £4.95
Orders between £30.01 and £50 are charged a flat fee of £6.95.
Usual UK delivery timescale (excluding custom prints) is between 5 and 7 working days from the date of dispatch. Please allow up to 14 working days for delivery. For custom print delivery pricing and timescales see below. These timescales may vary especially when we have online sales and in the weeks before Christmas.
Delivery Worldwide
We can also ship most items worldwide.
For full details, including prices, click here.
Custom Prints
Your prints and frames will be handmade by King & McGaw at their Sussex workshop.
Unframed orders are shipped within 5 working days (normally shipped next day).
Framed orders are shipped within 20 working days.
Further information on delivery timescales for custom prints can be found here.
If you are not completely satisfied with your item you may return it within 28 days for a refund.
For further details on returns click here.
Unfortunately we cannot offer a refund on custom prints unless they are faulty or we have made a mistake. Custom prints are exempt as they are made to order.
Are you a subscriber to The National Archives mailing list? Sign up now to get our latest news -- and code crackers!
To mark the publication of Spydle, until the end of the year our e-newsletter will contain monthly taster puzzles – written exclusively for subscribers, with the solution published here.
Solution - Puzzle #1: Treason and plot
The words can be unjumbled as follows:
BLENHEIM + G
WESTMINSTER + U
WINDSOR + Y
RICHMOND + F
BUCKINGHAM + A
LAMBETH + W
KEW + K
HAMPTON COURT + E
ST JAMES’S + S
The name spelled out is GUY FAWKES, a figure involved in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 – which, if successful, would have blown up the Palace of Westminster.
Solution - Puzzle #2: Continental conundrum
The European cities are as follows:
MILAN
ANTWERP
TOULOUSE
ATHENS
HAMBURG
AMSTERDAM
ROME
ISTANBUL
The name hidden in the first letters of each city is Mata Hari, who was convicted of spying for Germany during the First World War.