This book has taken shape over many years and has benefited in different ways from conversations with numerous people, including Stephen Cretney, Judith Masson, Anne Barlow, Brian Dempsey, Steve Hindle, John Snape, and Gary Watt. Gren Hatton provided invaluable context on Kilsby, while Gwen Wilkins kindly let me consult her Warwickshire marriage index. My wonderful mother-in-law Rachel Brown was always willing to provide accommodation in London when I needed to use the libraries there, and made sure that I was well fed. Emma Watt provided both the first reference in the book and, indirectly, the last, and Ruth Foster-Smith provided encouragement throughout.

The research for this book has also entailed visiting numerous archives and libraries, and I would like to thank all the helpful staff at Denbighshire Record Office, Northamptonshire Record Office, Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service, Warwickshire County Record Office, the Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland, Carlisle Record Office, Wiltshire and Swindon Record Office, Somerset Record Office, Gloucestershire Record Office, Canterbury Cathedral Library, the Borthwick Institute at York University, Lambeth Palace Library, the City of Westminster Archives Centre, the Family Records Centre, the London Metropolitan Archives, the Guildhall Library, the Quaker Library, Dr Williams's Library, the Society of Genealogists' Library, the Institute for Historical Research, the University of London Library, the Wellcome Library, the Bodleian Library, the British Library, and Rothesay Library on the Isle of Bute.