People moved around early modern England (c.1500-1780) more than we might think. Tracing ancestors through this period does not necessarily mean researching each line back through one place. England in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was a place that people moved to, from, and within for a variety of religious and economic reasons.
Emigration From Early Modern England
This talk will highlight the different forms of emigration that we might expect to find in our family history in this period including those driven by religious conscience such as persecuted Catholics and Protestant dissenters, settlers on the Irish plantations and those who left temporarily or permanently to benefit from expanding trading links, including those involved colonial projects beyond the British Isles. It will consider some overarching themes on why migrants left England in this period as well as case studies and some of the sources you might use to find them.
Immigration To Early Modern England
This talk will highlight the different forms of immigration that we might expect to find in our family history in this period including religious refugees from the continent such as Huguenots, Walloons and Palatines as well as those brought for economic reasons such as the Scots, Welsh, Germans, Jews, Africans and Indians. It will consider some overarching themes on why immigrants came to England in this period as well as case studies and some of the sources you might use to find them.
Migration Within Early Modern England
This talk will highlight the different forms of internal migration that we might expect to find in our family history in this period including trade, apprenticeship, servitude, displacement from enclosure, generational turnover within parishes and lastly the growth of travel for leisure in the eighteenth century. It will consider some overarching themes on why people moved within England in this period as well as case studies and some of the sources you might use to find them.
- 20% Discount for all Society of Genealogists Members
- Recordings available until 10 December for everyone who pre-books
Click here for information about our events. Contact events@sog.org.uk if you have any questions.
Programme details
| Emigration From Early Modern England | Online | 27/10/2026 | 14:00 - 15:00 | |
| Immigration Into Early Modern England | Online | 03/11/2026 | 14:00 - 15:00 | |
| Migration Within Early Modern England | Online | 10/11/2026 | 14:00 - 15:00 |
About the Speaker
Joe Saunders
Joe Saunders is a freelance researcher based in the north of England, focussing primarily on the early modern period (c.1500-1780). He is also working on a PhD at the University of York researching a social history of the print trade in seventeenth century England. He teaches undergraduates at York, at the University’s Centre for Lifelong Learning, and courses on local history for Pharos Tutors. He is a Trustee and Outreach Team member of the British Association for Local History, an Associate of the Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives, and an Associate Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
