Part 1 The history of the family 1538-1914: historical background - the early modern period, industrialization; the English family - marriage in the early modern period, marriage in the age of industrialization, children in the early modern period, children in the industrial age, solitaries, the widowed and the aged - the early modern period, solitaries, the widowed and the aged - the industrial age. Part 2 the exploitation of source material: lists; listings; censuses and community reconstitution; aggregative analysis - marriage, an excursion into mobility, birth and baptism, death and burial family and total reconstitution. Part 3 A family history research agenda: organization; what to investigate; making it public.