The study of genealogy, therefore, is a useful one; but, apart from such considerations, there are many who are personally interested in their own ancestry, and would like to be able to trace pedigrees and learn more of their family history; but the probability is that they have not the slightest idea how to set about the work. Others may think (however interested they might be in _results_) that the details they would have to master must be necessarily dry as dust, and that the search itself would run away with a great deal of money. Well, though it is quite possible to expend large sums in pedigree-hunting, it is by no means necessary to do so; and, though some dry records may have to be plodded through, searches are in general replete with interest. The reader may possibly be reassured on both these points before laying down this little book, the especial aim of which will be to show the amateur how he may become a successful pedigree-hunter. CHAPTER I FIRST STEPS IN PEDIGREE-HUNTING The reader being anxious to trace his own or a friend’s pedigree, or to look for some missing link in an ancestry--how should he set about the work? To do this more efficiently, and to save unnecessary expense, he should first ascertain and set down whatever _is already known_ on the subject or can be discovered, before proceeding to record-searching. We will suppose that he is interested in ascertaining the ancestry of a certain man, whose father’s name is known and, perhaps, his grandfather’s; but he cannot trace the pedigree farther back. Also, presumably, he may know where this individual and, possibly, his father and grandfather lived. From such data, however slight they may be, his future knowledge is to spring--for he must work from the known to the unknown. This is necessary in all genealogical searches. Friends of the family can give him some little particulars--all of which should be carefully noted down--and a visit to the place where he locates the earliest known member of it, if practicable, might be very advantageous. If this is not possible at the moment, he should write to the vicar of the parish, who, from the parochial entries, would supply information at a moderate cost. There might also be tombstones, with names and dates on them, which would help materially. Some parish registers have been printed. The searcher should ascertain whether the parish in which he is interested is among the number, and, if so, whether the published entries have been brought down to the date he requires, as in that event he might obtain the necessary information in some large library free of cost. But he is scarcely likely to be so exceptionally fortunate at the start, so will probably have to make the requisite inquiries.