Some lines I have managed to find vicars, mayors, an alderman and merchants, and it has helped me get back further into the 1500s and before, and I have found some landed gentry. Although I do lots of checking wills online (PCC wills, Essex SEAX etc, wills on |FMP and more) plus exhausting National Archives databases and Google Books and more and even reading individual wills of people with the same surname in the same areas and it has paid dividends, and then checking and checking to confirm I have the right people.
About 80% of my ancestors were humble ag labs, shoemakers, or fishermen whom I cannot get back further than say 1680ish, but with some lines, the other 20%, the further back I go, the richer they seemed to be.
About 80% of my ancestors were humble ag labs, shoemakers, or fishermen whom I cannot get back further than say 1680ish, but with some lines, the other 20%, the further back I go, the richer they seemed to be.
