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What's your heritage? Map

Featuring: Activity
What's your heritage? Map Creative commons imageCredit: By Mukumbura via Flickr under Creative Commons licence
Introductory Level Duration 15 mins Updated 10 Jul 2009
By The Saving Britain's Past team
David Dimbleby's tour of the country, Seven Ages Of Britain, shows how objects can reveal unexpected stories about the past. We want to hear about...
Launch now: What's your heritage? Map

Debate: The Irish Plantation

Debate: The Irish Plantation Copyrighted imageCredit: Jupiter Images
Introductory Level Duration 5 mins Updated 03 Jan 2009
By The OpenLearn team
Forum member Jimbo wanted to verify some family history
Read more : Debate: The Irish Plantation

Tracing your family history

Tracing your family history Copyrighted imageCredit: Production team
Introductory Level Duration 10 mins Updated 11 Nov 2008
By Dr Nick Barratt
These days, everyone seems to want to know about the origins of their family. Nick Barratt tells you how to start finding out.
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History how-to videos: Books and bibles

Featuring: VideoAudio
History how-to videos: Books and bibles Copyrighted imageCredit: Lion TV
Introductory Level Duration 5 mins Updated 04 Sep 2007
By Neil Oliver
What does the information in the front of books tell us about where they come from?
Watch now: History how-to videos: Books and bibles

Tracing Military Records

Tracing Military Records Copyrighted imageCredit: photos.com
Introductory Level Duration 5 mins Updated 04 Sep 2007
By The History Detectives webteam
The records collected by the armed forces can help untangle a lot of questions about family history.
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History How-to videos: Decoding medals

Featuring: VideoAudio
History How-to videos: Decoding medals Copyrighted imageCredit: Lion TV
Introductory Level Duration 5 mins Updated 04 Sep 2007
By Neil Oliver
Medals don't just rerward bravery - they tell the tale of the battles they were won in.
Watch now: History How-to videos: Decoding medals

Deathly clues to family history

Deathly clues to family history Copyrighted imageCredit: photos.com
Introductory Level Duration 10 mins Updated 04 Sep 2007
By The History Detectives webteam
The traces people leave as they end their life can provide family historians with the perfect starting place.
Read more : Deathly clues to family history

The picture in the attic - and what it reveals

The picture in the attic - and what it reveals Copyrighted imageCredit: photos.com
Introductory Level Duration 5 mins Updated 04 Sep 2007
By The History Detectives webteam
Don't take a painting at face value - there might be a bigger story held in that frame...
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Families re-writing history: A Things We Forgot To Remember podcast

Featuring: Audio
Families re-writing history: A Things We Forgot To Remember podcast Creative commons imageCredit: Valerie Reneé under CC-BY-NC-ND licence
Introductory Level Duration 10 mins Updated 17 Nov 2006
By Dr Chris A. Williams, Dr Daniel Weinbren, Dr Jovan Byford, Professor Clive Emsley
Amongst the other things they hand down to you, your ancestors are shaping your view of the past.
Listen now: Families re-writing history: A Things We Forgot To Remember podcast

The children of slavery: John Kent - Carlisle

The children of slavery: John Kent - Carlisle Creative commons imageCredit: Adam under CC-BY-NC-ND licence
Introductory Level Duration 5 mins Updated 17 Oct 2006
By The Hidden Slave Trade web team
John Kent was Britain's first black policeman - and the child of a former slave.
Read more : The children of slavery: John Kent - Carlisle

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Picturing the family

Free Course
Picturing the family Copyrighted imageCredit: Used with permission
Introductory Level Duration 12 hours Updated 19 May 2013
By The Open University
Besides being simple mementos family photographs can offer insights into the past. This unit looks at some of the ways photographs can reveal, and sometimes...
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