Review of the Complete Peerage
My opinions on this huge British history resource
This 14-book set contains history and family tree information on every Earl and Baron from Britain, Scotland and the UK. A great resource for anyone with noble ancestry.
My latest genealogy investment hasn't been exactly what I'd hoped for, but I'm having a great time digging through it. I've gained several new generations of ancestors already.
The Complete Peerage is a 14-volume work by G.E. Cokayne, and edited by Hon. Vicary Gibbs. The full title is "The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant & Extinct or Dormant." The set contains the history for all the Earls and Barons through the history of Britain. The years included range from the 1100s up to more current references in the 1900s.
As with my earlier CD of French-Canadian genealogy (Tanguay's Dictionnaire), this CD-ROM is a compilation of scanned pages from the original books. There are no search features, but each volume is alphabetical which makes searching fairly simple. Though the entries are ordered by the name of the Earldom or Barony rather than the family names of the peers. Now, I freely admit that my historical knowledge of the peerage system is weak at best. I apologize if I am not representing the concept or using the terminology accurately.
I had expected (for some reason) that this was a genealogical text like Tanguay's, and that the information would be presented in such a manner. But it is actually a more of a political and legal collection of references for those who have held various peerages throughout the history of Britain and Scotland. So connections are made between heirs to the position, which can be confusing to follow when it is inherited between brothers, or other relations.
Though most of each entry is politically-oriented, there are birth and death dates, burial places and dates as well as marriage references. Sometimes the parentage of spouses are included too. It just takes a good bit of digging to get out what I need.
Here is an excerpt from the Earldom of Hereford:
"IV 1143 2. Roger (of Gloucester or FitzMiles), Earl of Hereford, Constable of England and lord of Abergavenny, s. and h., succeeded his father in the Earldom without question, (b) and witnessed charters as such (c). He made a treaty of alliance with William, Earl of Gloucester, as his father had made with Robert, Earl of Gloucester.(d) He founded the Abbey of Flazley, co. Gloucester.(e) [.....] He m., in or before May 1138, Cecily, da. of Payn FitzJohn, of Ewyas, co. Hereford, sheriff of Hereford and Salop (a)......
It can be hard to read due to the frequent use of abbreviations and old English "legal-speak". There are extensive footnotes, with some pages containing only a couple of lines of text and the rest all notes. Don't overlook the notes though. I have found several important facts tucked away in there.
If you have branches of your family tree that extend into the noble families of Britain, then this is a great resource. It's not cheap (59.50 GBP from ABC Publications, in the UK which is about $112 USD ).
