Parish Registers
This is where the bulk of family history comes from prior to 1841. I can usually decipher the old style scripts and latin that are often found in the older parish registers.
Census Returns
The census returns in England are a fabulous resource. They generally start in 1841, and continue every 10 years with the most recent edition (1921) recently published. They give a wealth of information, family groupings, professions, migration around the UK, and immigration into England.
Wills
For the wealthier sections of society, wills can give a lot of extra information. They don’t all survive, sometimes they are images of the originals, sometimes they are transcripts in central diocesan archives. Sometimes they are hard to understand. Sometimes they clarify relationships, sometimes they confuse by providing evidence of people not found in any other documents.
Old maps
I have a particular fascination with old maps, and will happily spends hours pouring over old maps.
A fabulous resource for old maps.
Examples of my own genealogical research