📖 Overview
Adams' Banbury Families documents the genealogical history and connections between prominent families in Banbury, Oxfordshire during the 17th and 18th centuries. The work compiles parish records, wills, property deeds, and other primary sources to reconstruct family trees and social networks.
G.E. Cokayne and his co-authors trace the lineages of major merchant and tradesman families who shaped Banbury's development as a market town. The text includes biographical details, marriage alliances, property ownership, and business activities of the Adams family and their associates across multiple generations.
The book serves as both a scholarly reference work and a window into social mobility and economic life in provincial England. Through its detailed examination of family relationships and inheritance patterns, it reveals how kinship networks influenced local commerce and community structure in pre-industrial English society.
👀 Reviews
There are not enough internet reviews to create a summary of this book. Instead, here is a summary of reviews of G. E. Cokayne et al.'s overall work:
Genealogists and historians reference The Complete Peerage as a foundational research source for British noble families. Academic reviewers consistently note the exhaustive level of detail and extensive primary source citations.
Readers appreciate:
- Comprehensive documentation and cross-references
- Inclusion of both major and minor noble families
- Clear explanations of succession and inheritance
- Detailed footnotes with source materials
Common criticisms:
- Dense, technical writing style makes casual reading difficult
- Cost and limited availability of complete set
- Some outdated social attitudes in early volumes
- Lack of family trees or visual genealogical charts
The Complete Peerage does not have consumer ratings on mainstream review sites due to its specialized academic nature. Academic library reviews and citations in scholarly works affirm its position as the primary reference for British peerage research. The Institute of Historical Research notes its status as "the standard reference work on the subject" while acknowledging its intimidating level of detail for non-specialists.
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Essex Landed Gentry by John Walter Traces the family connections and property holdings of Essex nobility through primary source materials spanning four centuries.
Medieval Kinship in Warwickshire by Christopher Dyer Maps the relationships between Warwickshire's noble families through marriage records, land transfers, and legal documents from 1300-1500.
Yorkshire Family Histories by Margaret Thompson Documents the interconnected lineages of prominent Yorkshire families from 1500-1800 through church records and estate papers.
The Bristol Burgess Books by Peter Fleming Presents transcribed records of Bristol's merchant families with detailed genealogical information from 1400-1700.
Essex Landed Gentry by John Walter Traces the family connections and property holdings of Essex nobility through primary source materials spanning four centuries.
Medieval Kinship in Warwickshire by Christopher Dyer Maps the relationships between Warwickshire's noble families through marriage records, land transfers, and legal documents from 1300-1500.
🤔 Interesting facts
📚 The book meticulously documents genealogical records of families from Banbury, Oxfordshire, spanning several centuries
🏰 Banbury was a significant market town during the medieval period, and many of the families covered in the book were influential wool merchants and traders
✍️ G.E. Cokayne was also the author of "The Complete Peerage," which remains one of the most authoritative works on British nobility
🗂️ The book includes transcriptions of original parish registers, wills, and other primary source documents that might otherwise have been lost to history
👥 Several families documented in the book played important roles during the English Civil War, with Banbury being a strategic location between Royalist Oxford and Parliamentary London