The Correspondence Course in Genealogy
This course is now available online as downloadable PDFs.
The Correspondence Course in Genealogy was launched in 1961 and has
been growing in popularity ever since. Students tell us that they find
the course to be great value for money, being significantly less
expensive than other distance learning courses with comparable
academic content. The lecture material is excellent and the individual
tutorial guidance is first-rate. Unlike other courses that have come
and gone during the last four decades, the Correspondence Course in
Genealogy encourages the student to apply the subject material to his
or her own personal research. Our students also speak of the fun and
enjoyment of following the course and how it has helped them to get
over apparently insurmountable research problems.
The course is continually assessed with all assignments graded. Those students wishing to take the Higher Certificate in Genealogy examination may opt to have their grades for assignments put forward instead of taking the second paper.
The course, which is suitable both for beginners and for reasonably
experienced genealogists, is also designed to prepare students for
professional genealogical practice. As such it covers the full range
of genealogically useful sources to considerable depth. This also
makes it the best available course for those simply tracing their own
families as a hobby, ensuring that they have the best knowledge base
so that their research is as good as it can be. The Correspondence
Course is both challenging and demanding, but the principal
qualifications for embarking on it are enthusiasm and dedication.
Aims of the course
- To provide the opportunity for students from a range of backgrounds to gain the necessary resources and skills to develop and write-up their own research interests in selected aspects of family and community history in a systematic and contextualised form.
- To develop students' interests onwards from individual-based, ideographic or antiquarian study towards an appreciation of social scientific and historical debates, resources, skills and insights.
- To encourage students to extend, and reflect critically on, the research skills and aims they have been developing in their project work.
- To facilitate the above by some introduction to substantive study relevant to research in the areas of family and community history and related contextual topics, such as migration, demography, family structures, occupations, religious and cultural affiliation.
- To act both as a terminal course in its own right and as preparation for related post-graduate research in the same area.
- Where appropriate, to encourage co-operative work and/or collaboration with relevant external organisations.
Comments from Past Students
“…. most surprising was the amount I gained from lectures dealing with topics I had thought I knew well already!” Mr J Collins of Hampshire
"The course has made me aware of records that I would never have looked at; having Ag Lab ancestors I only thought as far as the Workhouse! It also made me visit repositories that I would not have thought of." Miss P. Dagwell of Kent
“…. The comments of my tutor are always constructive and informative”. Mr A. Foreman of Kent
“…. The course has been of inestimable value.” Mrs. A. Baker of Surrey.
“… I have found the course stimulating and interesting….” Mrs. H. Jennings of Australia.
“…. The knowledge I have gained… is almost immeasurable.” Mrs. S. Mendel of Lincolnshire
“…. Every lecture has been a challenge in some way…. Each acts as a catalyst for the student who wishes to know more” Mr G. Strachan of Northamptonshire.
“… each subject has been dealt with expertly…..I would certainly recommend the course to anyone. I eagerly look forward to the next lecture..” Mr B. Myers of Co Durham.
“I would just like to say that I enjoyed the course immensely - it took me into dark and mysterious areas of family history research and enabled me to uncover my ancestors back to the 17th century. Sadly I did not discover a lord, baron or famous general. My lot worked the fields, sailed the canals and marched in the ranks.” Mr L. Mitchinson of Hampshire.
Course Structure
The Course comprises 24 lecture modules, which may be delivered either as paper copies, or downloaded from our dedicated website as Adobe Acrobat PDF files. These lecture modules will enable the student to cover in full the syllabus required for the Institute's Higher Certificate in Genealogy. The Syllabus is available here in PDF format, or a brief outline is available here.
The Lectures
Each lecture module contains, along with the lecture itself, copies of relevant documents, an introductory sheet summarising the topic to be covered and the reasoning behind the set assignments, and a select bibliography, around which a programme of supplementary reading can be built. We do not recommend that the student should buy or even attempt to read every book listed, but we would encourage each student to read around the subject as much as possible.
Because genealogy is essentially a practical endeavour, each lecture is accompanied by two or more assignments designed to give the student knowledge and experience of record sources and repositories. It will be appropriate for some assignments to be submitted in the form of an essay, whilst others may suit a tabular presentation.
Completed assignments should be returned to The Tutorial Supervisor either by post or by email. Receipt of assignments should trigger the despatch of the next module. You will be allocated a personal tutor, who should normally assess your assignments and return them to you within four weeks.
Course Content
- Introduction
- The objects and value of family history research. The literature of genealogy: students' aids, calendars and classified catalogues of printed and manuscript pedigrees and genealogies, indexes, directories, records and collections, laying out a pedigree.
- Family Records
- Preliminary steps, home sources, writing to relatives, oral and written history. Analysis of problems and evidence.
- General Register Office
- The registration of births, deaths and marriages.
- Census
- Census returns as a link between civil & parochial records.
- Parish Registers
- Parish registers, banns and bishops' transcripts.
- Parish Chest
- The records of parish administration, the vestry.
- Wills & Probate
- wills, administrations, inventories, inheritance, settlements and trusts.
- Palæogaphy
- Reading and deciphering documents, writing, dating, formulæ, Latin.
- Armed Services
- Military and naval and air-force personnel.
- Education & Occupations
- records of schools, universities and apprenticeships, professional men, artisans and labourers, guilds, livery companies and trade unions.
- Nonconformity
- Nonconformist records and archives.
- Names
- The history, meaning and distribution of surnames, naming patterns and aliases.
- Emigration/Immigration
- Town, village, country migration, immigration and emigration, social and economic mobility.
- Census Substitutes
- poll books, taxation assessments and subsidy lists, protestation returns etc.
- Miscellany
- newspapers and magazines. Demography: family origins, social framework, class distinction, family and community studies. Monumental inscriptions, cemeteries and churchyards.
- Quarter Sessions
- criminal records, justices of the peace and magistrates, licensing.
- Manorial Records
- manorial courts and their records.
- Title Deeds
- title deeds, leases, mortgages, recoveries etc.
- Maps and Associated Records
- estate maps, tithes, land surveys, ordnance survey
- Heraldry
- language, armories and ordinaries, the College of Arms, Heralds' Visitations, value in genealogy.
- Scottish and Welsh Records
- comparison with English records.
- Irish and other British Records
- including Channel Islands; comparison with English records.
- Legal Records at The National Archives
- local and central government, taxes, legal records, the courts of equity, records of chancery and exchequer.
- Ecclesiastical Records
- ecclesiastical archives, courts, and visitations, marriage licences, bonds and allegations.
Enrolment
Students may enrol by completing the enclosed Enrolment Form and paying the full fee or first instalment as set out in the accompanying Schedule of Fees form. Correspondence Course students enjoy the benefits of a popular web-based Student Forum, which allows them to discuss the course and also to contact their Tutors. A number of relevant textbooks are also supplied free at particular stages of the course. All students receive a complimentary 2-year subscription to the Institute's in-house academic journal Family History and are entitled to reduced fees for attending Institute courses and seminars. Students are encouraged to attend the regular Tutorial Days and residential Tutorial weekends.
Course Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, students will:
- Have acquired an appropriate range of investigative, historical and social science skills and understanding so as to develop and write up aspects of their own research interests in selected aspects of community and family history in a systematic and contextualised form.
- Have built on their own research interests in personal life histories and/or their own family or community, to put these in context through understanding and investigating some of the wider patterns and comparative studies with which these personal instances are linked.
- Have made effective use of appropriate documentary & oral, material and field-based sources to conduct enquiries into selected social scientific and historical questions related to their own research interests.
- Have gained some general understanding of relevant findings, theories, debates and methods in selected areas, together with the ability to use these critically and constructively and relate them to their own research.
- Be aware of the social and ethical implications of their research.
- Be equipped to give informed assistance to others undertaking similar
- Have worked at a level appropriate to an Honours Degree, not just in terms of acquiring the relevant factual and descriptive knowledge, but also of practising the critical analysis of sources and theories, successfully carrying through substantial independent work, relating this to wider debates and presenting a unique synthesis of this work.
Timescale
The pace of instruction will be determined by the time available to the individual student. There is no set time limit, but it is perceived that the student is unlikely to gain full benefit from the course if it is completed in less than three years. It is recommended, however, that every student sets aside at least two hours every week for work on the course.
Withdrawal
A student may withdraw from the course before submitting any assignments, in which case a refund of fees paid will be made, less the Registration Fee. Once the first assignments have been submitted, the student is deemed to have commenced the course and no refunds can be made in the case of withdrawal from the course.
Qualifications
The Correspondence Course in Genealogy prepares candidates for examination at the level of Higher Certificate in Genealogy; students who wish to proceed to professional qualifications must first obtain the Higher Certificate in Genealogy. Progress through practical assignments and academic study leads to the Diploma in Genealogy which is an internationally recognised professional qualification. Further practical experience and the submission of a thesis or dissertation can lead to the Licentiateship of the Institute.
Copyright
Cecil R Humphery-Smith and The Trustees of the Institute reserve strict copyright in the material supplied and the content of the lectures.
Further details of the course can be found on our Frequently Asked Questions page.
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