From: Don Johnson <johnsondr@yahoo.com> > Can anyone kindly recommend any online resources for Yorkshire > visitations PRIOR to the Visitation by Flower in 1563/1564 and AFTER > the Visitation of the North by Flower in 1575 > > I am seeking Visitation pedigree, heraldry and parish record online > sources for the ranges of 1066-1564 and 1575-1700. > > I am attempting to research and document the Gyrlyngton / Girlington > family back to pre-William the Conqueror. Being in the states makes > it a tad more difficult.> There were no Visitations before 1530, the earliest known. The College of Arms was established by Richard III in 1483 or 1484. Arms are thought to have been introduced into England by King Stephen (1135-54), the Conqueror's grandson. There are no parish registers before 1538, when they were introduced by Thomas Cromwell, chief minister to Henry VIII. Before that date parish records are sparse and relate principally only to the rich and mighty. What you have are manorial records, wills etc, again relating almost entirely to a few great and powerful families, but these rarely go back beyond the Middle Ages. The Domesday Book (1086) has been published for every county, as far as I know, and I believe it's all online. Your chances of getting back beyond William the Conqueror are remote, since William took the lands and manors from their previous Anglo- Saxon owners and redistributed them amongst his supporters, the Norman lords and barons who came over with him. But why is it so important? It's only Americans who seem concerned with getting back to the Conqueror. Most of us are happy just to get back to the English Civil War! -- Roy Stockdill Editor, Journal of One-Name Studies Guild of One-Name Studies website: www.one-name.org Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History: www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." OSCAR WILDE