Learning Latin for Local and Family History

If you have traced your family (or your home or community) back to before 1733, you will discover that some of the most fascinating evidence is tantalizingly difficult to access.  Not only are many legal documents before that date in difficult handwriting; they may also be in Latin.  Before the seventeenth century almost all surviving documentation is in Latin, often abbreviated and formulaic. 

Latin was the language of government, education and the church throughout Europe during the middle ages.  Its influence can still be seen in our own English language, particularly in scientific, technical and bureaucratic vocabulary.   

You can learn sufficient Latin for many historical and genealogical sources by going to evening classes or by teaching yourself from a book such as Eileen Gooder’s Latin for Local History.  You could have a go at the National Archives online course, or try the Cambridge Latin Course. 

If you live in Nottinghamshire or Leicestershire and would like one-to-one tuition, contact Peter Foden at Ancestrography to discuss your needs. 

Classical and Mediaeval Latin Tuition

Latin tuition is also available for students of all ages in South Nottinghamshire whose schools do not offer this valuable and enriching subject. Learning Latin will enhance your appreciation of other languages and may even improve your written English grammar and spelling. Visual learners may find that they can pick up other languages more effectively after experiencing the orderly and schematic approach inherent in Latin grammar.

Peter Foden of Ancestrography is qualified through both academic background and professional use of Latin as an Archivist and HE Tutor over the past twenty years. For an excellent start in Latin, he would recommend the Oxford Latin Course for youngsters aged eleven to fourteen; for older students, and for those wishing to study Latin texts from Mediaeval and Early Modern as well as Classical contexts, Reading Latin (CUP) is by far the best course available.

Ancestrography Translation Service

If in the course of your research you have come across Latin documents which you would like to have explained or translated, Ancestrography can also provide this service for you.  E-mail enquiries@ancestrography.co.uk  to ask for an estimate of the cost.

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