List of members.

An easy-to-use guide for British family historians tracing ancestry connected with the insolvency system. Debtors’ prisons are infamous, but very little has been written about the records of those confined within them in London or elsewhere in the country. Even less has been written about the trials of those who were often incarcerated following misfortune or mismanagement rather than criminal intent. That is why Paul Blake’s handbook is so useful for researchers who want to learn about forebears who may have been caught up in the insolvency system. In a series of information-filled chapters, Blake covers the historical background to the handling of debt and debtors, and bankruptcy and bankrupts. In addition, he describes the courts and procedures faced by both creditors and debtors, and the prisons where so many debtors were confined. Throughout the book, details are given of the records that researchers can turn to in order to explore the subject for themselves. Many are held at The National Archives, but others are to be found at local record offices around the country. Paul Blake’s book will be appreciated by local, social and family historians, as well as those with an interest in debtor crime and punishment, and bankrupts in general.

This is the first full-length, modern study of the Diggers or "True Levellers", who were among the most remarkable of the radical groups to emerge during the English Revolution of 1640-60. It was in April 1649 that the Diggers, inspired by the teachings and writings of Gerrard Winstanley, began their occupation of waste land at St. George's Hill in Surrey and called on all poor people to join them or follow their example. Acting at a time of unparalleled political change and heightened millenarian expectation, the Diggers believed that the establishment of an egalitarian, property-less society was imminent. This book should be of interest to all those interested in England's mid-seventeenth-century revolution and in the history of radical movements.

"All aspects of England in the High Middle Ages are covered, including sections on social, economic, religious, military, intellectual and art history, as well as on political and constitutional history."--Publisher description.