Follow
Kibworth provides what may be a nearly unique opportunity to reconstruct family trees of peasant families going back to the thirteenth century. It requires collaborators living near Oxford, England.
Michael Wood ("The Story of England", 2000) gives a detailed history of the village. He notes that transcripts of the Hundred Rolls of 1279 exist in the Bodleian Library, giving the names of the inhabitants. At roughly the same time it passed into the ownership of Merton College, Oxford, with a very detailed inquiry into the inhabitants. Merton College holds rolls from Kibworth from the 1270s to the early 1700s; rentals from the same time to 1527; and bailiffs' accounts from 1283 to 1682, as well as lease books, tithing lists, etc etc etc. Some of the earliest surnames recorded in the village were still found there in the 19th century.