Tips for learning social history The value of researching the backdrop to our ancestors’ lives

n last month’s Family Tree Academy we looked at the importance of setting your ancestors’ lives in their local context. But we also need to consider the impact of the wider world; the social, economic and political landscapes which shaped the lives of everyone, from the poorest families living in urban squalor in London and the industrial towns and cities of South Wales, the Midlands and the north of England, to the wealthy landowning aristocrats who were beginning to feel the effects of a rapidly changing