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Anthony J. Camp

British genealogist

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 30, 2026
Entity authorityQ44382656 ↗
Source-derived summary

Anthony John Camp (born November 1937) is a British genealogist and former director of the Society of Genealogists.

Early life and education

Camp was born at Walkern, near Stevenage, Hertfordshire. His father was an agricultural carpenter and builder, particularly of corn-drying silos for farmers, and his mother worked at Walkern Hall; the family lived at the estate lodge, where Camp remained until his mother's death in 1973, at which time he moved to London.

Camp was educated at Alleyne's Grammar School in Stevenage, and at University College London, where he took a BA with honours in Ancient and Medieval History.

Career

Camp has described genealogy as "a very exact science that makes a clear distinction between the facts that have been proved and those that have not", claiming that the distinction between the two can be confirmed by "one's expertise and knowledge of sources".

Having started work at the Society of Genealogists under Sir Anthony Wagner as a research assistant in 1957, Camp became Director of Research there in 1962, and Director (and Company Secretary) of the Society in 1979. He oversaw the first weekend course in genealogy in 1965, and played a major role in development of regular publishing and a bookshop at the Society.

Camp has written numerous books on genealogy, the first being Tracing Your Ancestors (1964). His "Diary of a Genealogist" appeared in Family Tree Magazine from 1984 to 1998. He has lectured in Britain as well as overseas, including in the United States and Australia.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Anthony J. Camp” as british genealogist. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1937, 1973, 1957, 1962—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1937-01-01. The account is most persuasive where Anthony, Camp and British can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as british genealogist. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q44382656. VIAF identifies the subject as 275454209. The Library of Congress control number is n50031557. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1937, 1973, 1957 and 1962.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Anthony J. Camp”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Anthony J. Camp primary sources, Anthony J. Camp archive and Anthony research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Anthony J. Camp” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.