This is a copious family history of one of Maryland's oldest families, that of Richard Talbott, planter, whose family lay claim to Poplar Knowle, a plantation on West River in Anne Arundel County, in December 1656. Although Mrs. Shirk was unable to prove Richard Talbott's English ancestry, the family may be connected to the English family of Talbott which predates the Norman Conquest. In all, the vast index to the book refers to some 20,000 Talbott progeny, from 1656 to 1907.