Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Even as someone who has been compiling their family tree for a while now I seem to find something of use in every new publication. I have a Romany line in my tree, which can get very confusing with travelling to different locations etc. I also have Roman Catholics, and people who have been in mental institutions, so this book has given me ideas in dealing with my research for them.
A very interesting and informative read.

NetGalley, Alison Bevington

"[A] must-read for anyone interested in uncovering the hidden stories within their family history. Janet Few’s passion for genealogy and her dedication to amplifying marginalised voices make this an informative book which I highly recommend."

Family History Society of Cheshire - April 2024

"This is a thoroughly useful book, the ownership of which will benefit all family historians purchasing their own personal copy. It has encouraged me to revisit a number of my own ancestral misfits, malingerers, rogues and rascals with a completely new array of tools in the box. Another new journey begins."

East Yorkshire Family History Society - April 2024

Janet Few provides the reader with a glimpse of the historical and social background which informed various prejudices, anxieties and discriminatory behaviours that the people she writes about experienced. As she points out, the book is not intended to be a complete guide to researching every individual topic, but seeks instead to provide context and to offer extensive further reading and research possibilities.

The Local Historian

4 out of 5

Overall a well written interesting book from an accomplished and informed story teller.

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Army Rumour Service (ARRSE)

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Another informative guide by Janet Few, this time helping you to find resources and ideas for ancestors who were on the outskirts of society. Lots of information, links and ways to research.

NetGalley, Jessica Bishop

"...(the book) is important to help us understand our ancestors and their experiences in a non-judgmental way within the context of the society of their times."

The Journal - Bristol & Avon Family History Society - June 2024

"All in all, this is an invaluable guide and an excellent starting point for bringing your overlooked ancestors back from the margins and shining a light on their hidden and often tragic lives."

WDYTYA? Magazine - June 2024

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Another great guide for family history fans. This has great resource ideas, tips, tricks, and so much more for finding those missing ancestors.

NetGalley, Aubrey Kerr

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

This book is especially written for readers who are researching their family history, and especially those branches of family who were not mainstream and who were often less well documented due to substance abuse, crimes (many of which are no longer considered crimes, such as bankruptcy), mental illness, and very often simply ethnicity.

There are numerous resources and links to reference materials and libraries included here. The appendices include an alphabetical glossary, links lists (slanted toward sources in the UK), a bibliography as well as links to modern day resources to visit.

This would be an excellent choice for public library acquisition, for gift giving to amateur historians/family archivists, and for the home reference library.

NetGalley, Annie Buchanan

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Absolutely accurate and valuable for anyone conducting genealogical research lacking a thorough view of the archival reality that could be accessed (e.g., prison archives, care homes, asylums; archival records scattered around national archives that one might not have considered). Each chapter concludes with a real-life example: true stories of people "like many others," albeit more unfortunate, whose histories the archives can reveal to us. An excellent encouragement to delve deeper: in some cases, our marginalized ancestors can tell us much more than those who were fortunate enough to lead such ordinary lives that they disappear into the oblivion of the centuries.

NetGalley, Lucia Graziano

Many TV shows and books about geneology tend to focus on the people whose ancestors were royalty or landed gentry. They pose no challenge at all to research.

Far more interesting to many of us is this book about marginalised ancestors. These were people who were poor, sick, illegitimate; lawbreakers, or just discriminated against.

I was particularly interested to read it because in my family tree I have a few marginalised ancestors who were illiterate, ended up in workhouses or alms houses, or had unmarked graves because they were poor. I was interested to read Janet Few's tips on how to find their stories.

It's a fascinating book. Each chapter ends with the story of a marginalised person. I now have more reference sources to flesh out the notes in my family tree on some of my long forgotten ancestors.

NetGalley, Gail Hanlon

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

This book is well-researched and is a great addition to genealogy research and I highly recommend it.

NetGalley, Lynda Peach

A Great genealogy book on finding your hard to find ancestors who weren't part of the main stream so to speak. Great edition to any genealogy library.

NetGalley, Carissa Miller

This was a truly fascinating look back through history via our ancestors who were not princes or doctors or knights. The book was organized into different sections based on different reasons some groups were marginalized, such as because they were poor, disabled, or of the wrong ethnicity. Every section has a wealth of information about the history and conditions related to each subject.
What makes this book really interesting is that the sections ended with basically a case study where a particular person's history is traced and readers can learn what kind of sources make that possible. This would be really helpful for someone learning to do genealogy, especially because most of our ancestors probably didn't stand out much.

NetGalley, Lisa Davidson

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I needed this!
My great great* grandmother left her husband in England and stole away to America with her parents and other mormon converts. She tole his two children by making the boy dress like a girl.
Once she got here she pretended she was a widow. But he was still alive and living. Apparently he was an alcoholic. The story could be way off though. Maybe he just didn't want to convert to mormonism.
Essentially the family forgot about him.
I needed to know more and this book helped!

NetGalley, Jamie Carter Park