RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: Mercia118 on Saturday 27 July 19 17:30 BST (UK)
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Just being nosy 8)
I started to try and solve the family legend of a coat of arms, and then started veering wildly down random tree branches.. and I still haven't solved the mystery!
So how did you all come to start researching?
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I started with the question: was my late father literally (as well as metaphorically) a b*st*rd. :o :o
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I had always been fascinated by the name Sedcole, which I found, on my Grandmother's memorial plaque. It was the middle name of her late husband. Many years later, as an adult, about 4 years ago, I attended a reunion of my partner's family, and saw this amazing 120 ft long family tree. It gave me the inspiration to finally find out about Sedcole, which led to me finding that he was actually my great grandfather and not my grandfather, because they had lied to my father about who his mother was. Then I just got addicted to trying to find things out about people that their families didn't know about. Apart from the fascination with the name, as a child I showed no interest in my ancestors, and I realise that this is fairly normal. We only become interested when it is too late to ask the questions.
Martin
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I started when I was 14, many, many moons ago. My granny who came from a little village in Essex where half the population was related to the other half, would come to stay occasionally and talk non-stop about all these relatives in her village.
I got so fed up with hearing that I decided to find out who they all were and to try and draw a tree!
Pheno
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I had to do a project at college covering education through the ages and link it to my family tree. My dad gave me photos of all my great grandparents and the rest as the say is history. I was hooked. Thirty years and a bit later I still have the very first family tree I drew for the project.
Regards Panda
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I went to my ancestral villages show one summer, about 15 years ago. My mum dragged me into the village hall because “there’s a man there who knows all about us.” He sent me the gedcom which formed the basis of my tree.
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The impetus was the release of the 1901 census, and my mum's desire to find out whether the stories she had been told as a child were true.
She was told that her Marsh ancestors were descendants of George Marsh, born at Deane outside Bolton, and who was burned at the stake in 1555, becoming St. George the Martyr..
There was supposedly a George in each generation in his honour. I have found only three so far.
Records for the first half of the 16th century are few and far between, so I have not managed to trace a link to any of his children.
Needless to say, that has not stopped others speculating. Ancestry has trees with children born at random places round the UK, such as "Somerset, Cornwall, England". One online tree has George dying in Suffolk rather than just outside Chester. His 'brother' William apparently married, aged 71, in 1591 to a time-travelling woman who, born in 1520, had already given birth to George in 1515, and, despite having died in 1552, went on to have children as late as 1858. :o :o
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Just being nosy 8)
I started to try and solve the family legend of a coat of arms, and then started veering wildly down random tree branches.. and I still haven't solved the mystery!
So how did you all come to start researching?
Short version:-
I was born.
Longer Version:-
I was given my mother's maiden name as my only Christian name ; I helped wash family gravestones during holidays, I learnt to write by tracing parish registers, I was given a pedigree to amuse myself with when bored as an infant.
All in all I did not really start researching family history, research was simply part of my daily life like eating or drinking and it still is nearly 70 years later.
Cheers
Guy
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When my father in law died in 2002 we found a number of old certificates including a baptism from 1820 and we didn't know who all these people were so that was when I started.
It is so addictive and I love the research and some really fascinating things about both sets of families have come about and as more records are now online more things come about, and has meant I have started on other family members it never stops ::)
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Isnt it interesting that out of 9 replies so far not one of us has started researching for the same reason. I hadn't realised that there were so many different motivations for us all to do the same thing.
Pheno
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I wanted to find out what made me me :)
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The seed was sown when I was a teenager - my paternal grandmother often told family anecdotes and I was the only one of her many grandchildren who actually used to listen. My maiden name was Grist and our family were the only ones with that name living in Ipswich - wondered why and finally got round to start doing research in 1981 and quickly 'hooked'. Still at it but no longer just my own family - besides helping on here when I can I also do research for extended family, friends, friends of friends, and colleagues when I was working (now retired). Not for any monetary gain I hasten to add - be it my own or someone else's family just enjoy the 'thrill of the chase' as it were.
Annette
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So how did you all come to start researching?
I could write an essay on that question alone as I have multiple reasons although this always bugged me, how could I prove it?!
When I was at primary school we were given a project, a family tree, I was laughed at & felt humiliated in front of a whole class being told this was impossible (paternal line)!!! ...
Annie
1961
Father 1915
G/f 1888 1882 G/m
G/gf 1866 1864 G/gm
You decide whether it's possible/impossible?
Annie (with all the certs.) ;D
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Much of my career I was working at the leading edge of computer technology. The work I have done in the last 3 or 4 years has been far more interesting and challenging than anything I did in the pursuit of money.
I probably had a hundred interesting days in my career, and yet I've had 1000 in the last 3 or 4 years.
Martin
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When I was at primary school we were given a project, a family tree, I was laughed at & felt humiliated in front of a whole class being told this was impossible (paternal line)!!! ...
Annie
1961
Father 1915
G/f 1888 1882 G/m
G/gf 1866 1864 G/gm
You decide whether it's possible/impossible?
Annie (with all the certs.) ;D
I can imagine you you felt. Here's mine, if it is any consolation:
me, 1948
mother, 1914
grandfather, 1874
gr-grandfather, 1821
And my brother is considerably younger than I am.
As to the question of the thread, which ties in to the diagram. It didn't hurt my interest in family history that my mother made her children memorize the Irish townlands of her parents. Or that, on rainy days, she would suggest we get out our gr-gr grandparents family Bible (on my father's side) and see if we could 'figure out who those people are.'
But what got me going was an email from my sister saying "did you know we are related to Clark Gable?" [as in the American actor, Gone with the Wind, etc.] Well we aren't, but I did find my ancestors in Ireland and I now know who 'those people were' in the family Bible.
edited to add: and my father was considerably older than my mother :)
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Joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Then became a Boat Person and landed in Florida. Well actually it was the late SS Canberra on the second leg of its Round the World Cruise. Southampton to Madeira then Madeira to Florida.
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I used to think it was being shown photos of my Scottish grandparents that got me started but now I think about it, it was actually the release by the LDS of the 1881 census on DVD in 2001 that got me going. I was attending a conference and one of the participants had just bought a set. When she found my gg grandparents in Dundee, I was hooked!
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As a curious child I listened to the family stories from 3 of my grandparents who had migrated to OZ from the UK and who had accents different from mine. Many years later a Family history Society opened where I was living. I fronted up and on my first foray I was kindly advised to search for the relative who had the most unusual name on their newly purchased microfiche. I duly placed my great grandfather's name and there he was with most of his forebears in Yorkshire. I became the centre of attention and some envy as the members crowded around me. I was hooked.
But the forebears of my OZ born great grand mother were proving difficult. On my last day of work after being made redundant from a job I enjoyed, I got a brainwave that perhaps her grandfather was a convict. I could barely wait for 5pm to arrive so I could scoot across to the public Library before it closed at 5.30pm. Yep, he was a convict and I have been occupied for the past 30 years fleshing out the story, the hardships putting my redundancy to the back of my mind.
And special thanks to the wonderful people I have met along this journey. Gazania
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I was lucky. I started out with a rough tree of my paternal side drawn up by my father and going back about four generations. I also had a 60 page account by my paternal grandfather of his boyhood in rural Wisconsin from about 1875-1900 with notes on his forebears. From my paternal grandmother I had a 30 page detailed account of her family going back several generations. And on the maternal side I had a sketchy tree of my mother's paternal side going back about six generations which had been produced by a distant relative. All of these materials turned out to be mostly accurate - there were a few minor errors and many omissions but nothing seriously off track.
I decided to compile all of these documents into a single family tree and document it. I'm still at it.
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I watched Alex Haley's Roots on television when I was a teenager. It got me asking my mother about our family. She didn't know a lot, but my maternal grandmother and paternal aunt did. And tha's how it started....
Still hooked today, and the thrill of the chase, and the new finds after digging around make it all worthwhile. As does the camaraderie of Rootschat.
And just for the record,
Me 1965
Father 1922
G/father 1876
GG/father 1843
GGG/father 1809
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So how did you all come to start researching?
I could write an essay on that question alone as I have multiple reasons although this always bugged me, how could I prove it?!
When I was at primary school we were given a project, a family tree, I was laughed at & felt humiliated in front of a whole class being told this was impossible (paternal line)!!! ...
Annie
1961
Father 1915
G/f 1888 1882 G/m
G/gf 1866 1864 G/gm
You decide whether it's possible/impossible?
Annie (with all the certs.) ;D
What you have written is impossible for one simple reason convention.
By convention a tree has the eldest generations at the top their children below, dropping down to the youngest at the bottom.
Your tree is inverted.
Having said that you have added the dates of the people so it makes perfect sense and is of course perfectly possible.
Cheers
Guy
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Both of my grandfathers died before I was born, so I was curious ;D:
So I started researching, and haven't stopped since.
For the record:
Me 1953
Dad 1928
Grandfather 1876
Great Grandfather 1843
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My father-in-law died 20 years ago and I realised at his funeral that my husband didn’t know how people he called Aunt/Uncle were related or if they were ‘curtesy’ titles. My father-in-law was predeceased by my mother-in-law. It was a case of starting with birth certificates and working backwards.
My tree is still a work in progress with one branch having hit a wall over 10 years ago but I’m sure it will tumble eventually.
Nic
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My mother gave me an old wallet handed down from her grandmother containing my gg grandfather's letters to his wife, merchant navy discharges and a handful of funeral cards for various people, not all family.
That prompted me to try and work out who was who, a time consuming business in pre computer days. The whole thing came to a halt when my own family came along. I was prompted to restart when one of my, now grown up, daughters discovered a tree online which included my Scottish paternal line, which I hadn't previously investigated for logistical reasons.
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After my mother died I found little bits of information she had gathered and lots of unnamed photos. A couple of years later Ancestry started promoting themselves so I decided to have a sticky. Fortunately I found a cousin very early and we shared information, questioned each other and checked stories. From there I was hooked.
Me 1952
Dad 1921
Grandfather? That’s why I took a DNA test.
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I'm loving how different reasons brought us all into 'the hunt'! ;D
I could write an essay on that question alone as I have multiple reasons although this always bugged me, how could I prove it?!
When I was at primary school we were given a project, a family tree, I was laughed at & felt humiliated in front of a whole class being told this was impossible (paternal line)!!! ...
Annie
1961
Father 1915
G/f 1888 1882 G/m
G/gf 1866 1864 G/gm
You decide whether it's possible/impossible?
Annie (with all the certs.) ;D
I got laughed at school once when we were given a family tree project and I couldn't fill out anything on my mum's father's line- the teacher was convinced that everyone must know their grandparents.. Got quite a shock when my mum marched in and announced herself to be a b*stard!!
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I took over from my mother.
Both sides of my family were ex-pats, living their whole lives in the Indian sub-continent. The Europeans lived, married and died within their own community. This was not a problem till India got her independence. Then there was a mad scramble for the precious blue passport.
Birth certificates did not exist. If you wanted to prove that your 10 year old child actually existed, you would have to get them baptised - then there would be a parish record of their birth.
Anyway, it fell to my mother to gather all the information needed for herself, mother, her brothers and her sisters.
That was the start of the family tree. Dozens and dozens of A4 sheets of paper, all cross referenced to each other.
Later, Mum asked me to put it all on my newly built computer. I used a program called Simple Family Tree (I believe). Now Ancestry and Family Tree Maker.
And the addiction started. I am like the man who collects £5 notes - I am not going to stop till I have them all.
Regards
Chas
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Hello all,
My mum died when I was 7yo, brought up by my older dad, very straightlaced. No information at all, but tucked away after dad's death was a leather tooled folder and in it a trove of information.
I found historical documents, beautiful pics of my actress gmother, and even a painted scene from a play in my ded's pow camp where he did the scenery.
It took a long time for me to get going, but I'm now a family tree tragic!
Cracked a brick wall yesterday, discovered my english family's emigration to oz! Only took 12 years!
Yay!!!!!!
Love your work! Chris ×××
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I started my search originally to find information on my Great Grandfather Thomas Smith born 1876. At my Grandmother's funeral chatting to various members of the family, not one knew where he came from & I still can't find him, but now have a Family Tree of over 1,820 & live in hope that one day I will find his birth family.
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After both my Parents died I became the custodian of paperwork and some of the photos which I stored in a folder. I then began researching Family History. That was around 20 years ago.
Carol
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My father showed me a tree that his own father had written / drawn out about WW2 time, and gave me a copy of it. Later I got a slightly amended copy that a cousin of my father had done, modifying the original.... so far so good, interesting.....
Coming upon the trees many years later, after my own father's death, I noticed anomalies between them, and started trying to work out which was more accurate ( it was my grandfathers, his nephew had not been as good at researching as he thought he was, and had made some basic errors), and then I was helped by another cousin of my father, and she had done a much more accurate and well-documented job, recording church records, tithe roles etc., and then the husband of a friend of mine, who introduced me to using computers on it, and Ancestry, and tracked down a lot more of my paternal side, back to 1500s, as they'd been kind enough to be born, baptised, matched and buried in a small area, (with a not very usual surname) , and mostly at the same church. I'd got the idea it was quite easy to trace ancestors.
My maternal side proved far harder, the Scots were great, but indeed I've completely given up on the elusive Irish, not even certain if they really came from Northern or Southern Ireland, to be honest. Frustration. I may never know.
Then ... I got my own Ancestry account as a Christmas present from my OH, ... and then I got hooked on trying to do his side, where I started with only his grandmother's first name, and that she shared my own birthday, and had died very young, as idle comments to me by OH's mother. A couple of years later I'd got his line back to 1700s and found an interesting connection of his skills with the descendant of another line of his, who he had known, but not ever known that he was related to!
I've found some links to interesting people on the way, and gained a lot of interesting information - well, interesting to me, at least. It keeps me busy when I should be doing other things, and I'm really glad that my idle curiosity looking at two slightly different versions of hand drawn trees led me into finding out as much as I could.....
... and the road goes on.
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As a child I remember being driven past a rather long wall. Behind that, I was told, was the house that belonged to my grandmothers family in years gone by. A few years later my father gave me a copy of a document that dated from the mid 1600s to 1825.
The document bore no resemblance to the family I knew, but was able finally (in the mid 1970s) to go to Somerset House in London to start researching.
I made the link between the generations, still can't prove if I am entitled to the house (!) but this got me onto family research.
FS
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As a child I was fascinated with history in general. Also as a child I was regularly told I wasn't welcome, an interlouper. So I, once I got older decided to investigate where I came from to see if I belonged anywhere. The rest as they say is history.
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When I was at primary school we were given a project, a family tree, I was laughed at & felt humiliated in front of a whole class being told this was impossible (paternal line)!!! ...
Annie
1961
Father 1915
G/f 1888 1882 G/m
G/gf 1866 1864 G/gm
You decide whether it's possible/impossible?
Annie (with all the certs.) ;D
I can't see anything impossible about that?? What was the teacher's problem? She certainly wouldn't have believed mine:
Me - 1958
Dad - 1920
G/f - 1876
G/gf - 1815
I became interested because of the stories from my Mam's side...and lack of info on my Dad's side.
Frostyknight
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After my grandmother passed in 2005 we discovered a carrier bag full of old family photos, among them a wedding photo which was clearly very old. I felt then that such things should be preserved for future generations and so started my journey. What a fascinating & emotional journey it has been :)
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I'm loving how different reasons brought us all into 'the hunt'! ;D
Ditto, each one different & just as fascinating as doing the research.
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I got laughed at school once when we were given a family tree project and I couldn't fill out anything on my mum's father's line- the teacher was convinced that everyone must know their grandparents.. Got quite a shock when my mum marched in and announced herself to be a b*stard!!
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Nothing like being upfront/truthful when your child has just been humiliated for being truthful :D
To add to my own humiliation, around the same time as doing our family trees, the class were to watch a programme on tv (in class) & to my amazement a family featured were my paternal g/mother's neighbours who I'd chummed around with only the previous year whilst living with my g/m for a year, on a remote island in the Outer Hebrides (Scotland)!
When I mentioned I knew the family etc. I was met by frowns & other facial expressions which were evident I wasn't taken seriously.
The feeling from both events has left a mark on me all my life, wondering why I wasn't believed nor questioned about either to explain anything which would have proved I was telling the truth on both occasions.
The funny thing about it though, my father & g/m (as an islander) were very family history orientated i.e. I knew a huge amount of my paternal family history prior to my classroom tree, I just didn't have all the certs. to prove it sadly!
Annie
Add...FK, got alert when posting...
"I can't see anything impossible about that?? What was the teacher's problem?"
I wish I knew but I was never questioned on the dates i.e. I had no opportunity to explain anything but it seems Teachers were always right even if they were wrong ::)
Add...the above was early 1970s, long, long before I started doing serious research although all the date info. I had was correct from my g/mother with much, much more than was needed for that little direct line info...all now verified by certs. ;)
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Being Australian, I had a friend ask if I had any convict ancestors... I had no idea but it intrigued me enough to start digging.
I’m still learning where to look, what sources to trust, how to calculate probabilities to certainties, etc. but I have at least 4 generations back in each branch with many more yet to discover. Thankfully Australia kept good arrival and BDM records. It is one of my many hobbies that I will become engrossed in, then put away for a while and come back to again with fresh eyes.
I did find a couple of convict ancestors, some who got gold fever and followed the Victorian gold rush, as well as an absconding ship hand. I’m sure they would have had some exciting stories to share!
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For a school project in the early 90's my son was required to build a family tree,shouldn't have been to hard,but i only knew my parents names!!
I knew a cousin had done some research and asked to let me have some information for the project.Son completed the project (wonder if he scored well) and i became addicted.
Me 1948
Dad 1903
Grandfather 1859
Great Grandfather 1822
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When I think back over my research of just 3 or 4 years, and how much I have learned, it makes me think this would be a good subject to be fully taught in schools. As well as finding out about my ancestors, I have learnt more about geography, life in Victorian times, details of wars, details of housing styles, learning more about maps etc. This would be a wonderful way of making the things that you learn at school seem very relevant.
However I do worry that the tedious political correctness of today would be a problem.
Martin
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I agree Martin, that this would be a great subject to be taught in school. Children would learn so much besides family or local history too - english, maths, map reading, research skills etc.
I agree that there would no doubt be hinderances due to political correctness. However, perhaps there might be ways to get around this. Perhaps, the children could be offered the choice to research their own family, or just a particular branch of their family or perhaps a famous person or some other unrelated person e.g. someone who fought in WW1. This would no doubt be very useful/helpful for a local war group society or lical history group. In the run up to the Armistice Centenary some of our local children did this.
I think in view of political correctness a form giving consent would likely have to be signed by parents. I can understand this as some parents might naturally be wary of family secrets coming out if the children were given free rein.
I think I would have loved to have studied family history at school. Instead, in my teenage years we were taught, very dryly about the industrial revolution. I think the way it was delivered it may have put some of my peers off history for life . I remember that at the time the industrial revolution meant nothing to me - I could not see the significance of it. I have always liked history but in a way that this relates directly to people - particularly in the way of individual stories.
I agree too Martin, that we often leave it too late to ask questions. I now think back agog to the memories I have of being told family stories but then just accepting what I was given without asking for more information.
For instance, I was told about my illegitimate Grandmother's birth when young but never, through the years thought to ask if it was known who her Father may have been. Also, my much older sister, 22 years between us now deceased - went with my Mother to stay with my Dad's Grandmother during the war when Dad was overseas. Now sister is deceased I realise I should have asked her lots of questions about our Great Grandmother when I had the chance. :-\
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Or each child could research a passenger on the titanic, or names from the local war memorial etc. I'm sure there are events like this that could be used for starters.
Pheno
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When I was at primary school we were given a project, a family tree, I was laughed at & felt humiliated in front of a whole class being told this was impossible (paternal line)!!! ...
Annie
1961
Father 1915
G/f 1888 1882 G/m
G/gf 1866 1864 G/gm
You decide whether it's possible/impossible?
Annie (with all the certs.) ;D
I can't see anything impossible about that?? What was the teacher's problem? She certainly wouldn't have believed mine:
Me - 1958
Dad - 1920
G/f - 1876
G/gf - 1815
I became interested because of the stories from my Mam's side...and lack of info on my Dad's side.
Frostyknight
She wouldn't have liked mine either. Me 1977, Dad 1926, grandfather 1893, great grandfather 1849, Grt Grt Grandfather 1806. I am the youngest of the youngest of the youngest. And yes I'm sure, all certificates, census entries, relevant PR entries, family Bible etc.
My Daughter had a project a few years ago were she had to research someone from her family who had experience of WW2. She chose her Grandfather, my Dad as he had experienced being sent to the country to stay with family friends , return in time for Clydebank Blitz at which point despite his young age was working as an Orderly in the hospital then served as a Royal Marine out East at the end of the war. A wide range of war experience. The day they had to present she came out crying because the teacher had given her a zero for "stating the wrong relationship" he couldn't possibly be her grandfather and had embarrassed her in front of the class. I challenged her and was told I didn't understand the assignment or research. So I returned with: my daughter's birth certificate, my marriage certificate, my birth certificate, my parents marriage certificate, dad's birth certificate, forces ID, family letters, employment references from through the years (he'd kept them and I have my Gran's too) and explained how they linked together. Neither of us got an apology, I was not happy.
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Accounts of such disapproval from teachers so unfortunate and sadly with long lasting effect!
I remember helping my children with their relatively basic family tree homework but didn't have that in the syllabus in my schooling. Quite a wide range of years between generations for some of my family, along with older mothers though also a very young mother, not questioned or thought impossible.
Suggestions of alternative family research options possibly necessary now if they still have that sort of project :-\
I know even at kindergarten level it has been a bit of a PC issue when it comes to making cards for Mothers Day/Fathers Day etc
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Pharma
I had a similar experience to your daughter. I was told I was lying at school in the early 60s when I said one of my uncles fought in WW1. He was the eldest child of my grandfather's first marriage and my mother was the youngest of his second marriage and there was 28 years between them.
I was born in 1948, my mother in 1924, her father in 1870, his father in 1836. ( I have all the certificates)
Carolyn
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Mum was particularly good with oral family history, I did pay attention but do wish more was documented back in the day, she was the 3rd of 5 girls and dad an only child. #1 sis acquired most items of interest when our parents died, though I did have some photos, fortunately her eldest daughter was interested in research and we've helped each other along and tree shared with family. Before computers, an older cousin visited record offices in NZ and UK and gave the foundation for my mother's line, plenty of gaps for Irish side.
Lost our only brother in 2005 and contacted by family researcher of dad's side because of shared uncommon surname, which led me to RC really and making a lot more notes and looking up.
Mother-in-law died the following year, so set to bringing up to date the material gathered for a tree compiled by one of her cousins for a family reunion 20 years earlier. Husband is the eldest of the eldest with both his parents, his memory isn't great in regards to who is who ... felt it was my responsibility to keep up with records to pass on :)
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My paternal grandmother died in 1932 & it was in the early 2000's that I read her inquest papers & the articles in the newspaper about her death,the inquest papers mentioned she had a brother id never heard of, I started trying to find out about him & I did, it took many years, he fought in WW1 with the Connaught Rangers, but after the war was over & he came home he spent most of the rest of his life in a mental hospital, he was suffering shellshock. I've never stopped researching since.
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I have disproved a couple of family legends as part of my research. I can remember my mother telling me that her father-in-law went on the 1936 Jarrow March. A list of the walkers has since been published and his name does not appear on it. As he lived in Jarrow at the time it does seem unlikely that he would have joined the march elsewhere.
My grandmother used to tell me that to get her age you should take one year off the old century and add it on to the new century, meaning that in 1965 she would have been 66 etc. I have since found out that rather than being born in 1899, she was born in 1898, just a (very) few months after her parents were married. This makes me wonder if they lied to her about her age throughout her life.
Further to what I said about political correctness, if family history was a subject at school, I can just imagine there would be so many stories of children with siblings from different fathers, adoptions, temporary fathers, unknown fathers, two fathers, two mothers etc and some people would just totally put a stop to the idea. I know many of these things have happened throughout history, but they have become almost normal these days. I really am amazed at how many different areas my research has touched to.
I do wonder if the concepts of DNA were taught in school whether it might deter potential young villains from a life of crime.
Martin
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Pharma
I had a similar experience to your daughter. I was told I was lying at school in the early 60s when I said one of my uncles fought in WW1. He was the eldest child of my grandfather's first marriage and my mother was the youngest of his second marriage and there was 28 years between them.
I was born in 1948, my mother in 1924, her father in 1870, his father in 1836. ( I have all the certificates)
Carolyn
I wouldn't have thought it was that unusual for someone born in 1948 to have had an uncle fight in WW1. I'm sure there were a few people who's parents were in their 30s when they were born or even 40s (especially Dads) and many of these parents would have had older siblings.
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When I think back over my research of just 3 or 4 years, and how much I have learned, it makes me think this would be a good subject to be fully taught in schools. As well as finding out about my ancestors, I have learnt more about geography, life in Victorian times, details of wars, details of housing styles, learning more about maps etc. This would be a wonderful way of making the things that you learn at school seem very relevant.
However I do worry that the tedious political correctness of today would be a problem.
Martin
I totally agree Martin in addition to your list we could add languages French & Latin, Maths., there is also social history (including the class system) agriculture, slavery both at home & abroad and with the advent of DNA racial integration plus a myriad of other subjects.
Family History is so all encompassing one could almost do away with the current curriculum and just concentrate on Family History for the children to have a rounded eduction.
Cheers
Guy
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"Family History is so all encompassing one could almost do away with the current curriculum and just concentrate on Family History for the children to have a rounded eduction."
Sure, if you're prepared to write off math, physics, chemistry, geology, biology and whatnot.
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When I think back over my research of just 3 or 4 years, and how much I have learned, it makes me think this would be a good subject to be fully taught in schools. As well as finding out about my ancestors, I have learnt more about geography, life in Victorian times, details of wars, details of housing styles, learning more about maps etc. This would be a wonderful way of making the things that you learn at school seem very relevant.
However I do worry that the tedious political correctness of today would be a problem.
Martin
I totally agree Martin in addition to your list we could add languages French & Latin, Maths., there is also social history (including the class system) agriculture, slavery both at home & abroad and with the advent of DNA racial integration plus a myriad of other subjects.
Family History is so all encompassing one could almost do away with the current curriculum and just concentrate on Family History for the children to have a rounded eduction.
Cheers
Guy
It's not tedious political correctness, it's to avoid children getting grief for not knowing who one or both their parents are. It's to protect children from research leading to accidental contact with relatives who may be a danger to them. We as adults can weigh up these risks and can handle discovering 'scandals' in our history. Children do not have the emotional maturity to deal with thisespecially in front of their classmates. Family history can also be expensive so such an excercise could be discrimnatory to poorer pupils.
I love the idea of children researching the names on the local war memorial, try and discover what their lives were like before they went to war etc. It could not be the sole topic of education either if a fully rounded education is desired. Genealogy may touch on many subjects but most of them not in depth. Geography is about more than map reading and understanding locations, biology is about more than DNA etc.
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One day in the summer holidays in the 1970s, a man in a suit knocked at our door and asked my Mum whether it was the right address for my Dad. She replied yes, but he's at work, I'm his wife can I help? He said no, he had to speak with my father and would call back when he got home from work. He wouldn't say what it was about. Later it transpired he was from an Heir hunter company but he couldn't say much more until other members of the family had also signed documents from the company.
The estate was of my grandfather's 1st cousin, a lady we had never heard of and her legacy was not very much money as there were many beneficiaries. But worth far more than the money was the interest her passing spawned.
In the 1980s my mother and I went to family history evening classes to find out how to research. We went to St. Catherine's house and Somerset house in London a couple of times but then research was put on hold while I raised the next generation.
Then once my girls were grown I added research online which helped enormously.
My main project now is to organise properly everything I've collected and write up my family history ... it may take a while! ;)
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"if the concepts of DNA were taught in school"
I'm sure they are. Good grief, I took high school biology in 1963 and even then the concepts of DNA [as they were understood at that time] were taught in my public high school.
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"if the concepts of DNA were taught in school"
I'm sure they are. Good grief, I took high school biology in 1963 and even then the concepts of DNA [as they were understood at that time] were taught in my public high school.
Agree - even in Wales we knew something of the principles via Mendel's peas! I did Biology O level in 1961 and A level in 1963.
PS - and a Kinship paper in my finals in 1967 ;D
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"if the concepts of DNA were taught in school"
I'm sure they are. Good grief, I took high school biology in 1963 and even then the concepts of DNA [as they were understood at that time] were taught in my public high school.
Agree - even in Wales we knew something of the principles via Mendel's peas! I did Biology O level in 1961 and A level in 1963.
PS - and a Kinship paper in my finals in 1967 ;D
Ah, the peas! I'm having flashbacks to high school science.
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Reply #15...too much to quote/edit...
I agree with FH being a great way of learning many aspects.
I know more about Geography/History/Sociology etc. through my interest in Genealogy than I ever learned at school.
PharmaT...Children could be given the choice of researching a Family Member, Popstar/Filmstar, Inventor etc. i.e. it would not affect any personal issues.
I found History/Geography vey boring & uninteresting as I couldn't relate to either the people or the places (much I didn't believe) whereas when doing my Family Tree, I was able to associate names/places/occupations etc. i.e. it's far easier to learn by association as I have found although there are of course the people who had/have an interest in History/Geography by default ;)
Annie
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"Family History is so all encompassing one could almost do away with the current curriculum and just concentrate on Family History for the children to have a rounded eduction."
Sure, if you're prepared to write off math, physics, chemistry, geology, biology and whatnot.
If you can write off such things and research your family history I would be amazed, all of the above are required to pursue the hobby.
For example geology affects the stones we commemorate our ancestors with, (why that sandstone has eroded but the slate or gritsone next to it has survived). It also may have affected who they met and married (geography/geology).
Even physics and chemistry determine our research, think about it and you may understand. Why do certain records still exist whilst others have perished (physics and chemistry)?
Family History may/does require a more demanding range of subjects than the current secondary eduction curriculum.
It seems some people do not understand the true depth of life and the world around us family history taps.
Cheers
Guy
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I wanted to find out if some family stories were true, like Grandfather was one of seventeen children. No there were fourteen children born according to 1911 census. An older cousin could also confirm. Baptism and birth regs were further proof.
Another to prove/disprove was that a grandaunt's husband had been violently killed. No he had died from an illness.
Still have a few more to work on ....
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I have a ww1 medal that was issued to my grandad. ( I don't know what happened to the other medals he had) . we were always told that gt grandma had 17 children, all of whom except for 5, died, including one she was having. when she died. This would have meant one a year from getting married to dying! Turns out that she actually had 7 children, 5 survived into adulthood!
Then I discovered I wasn't quite the Lancashire lad I thought I was!
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"Even physics and chemistry determine our research, think about it and you may understand. Why do certain records still exist whilst others have perished (physics and chemistry)? It seems some people do not understand the true depth of life and the world around us family history taps."
ROFL.
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"Even physics and chemistry determine our research, think about it and you may understand. Why do certain records still exist whilst others have perished (physics and chemistry)? It seems some people do not understand the true depth of life and the world around us family history taps."
ROFL.
;)
Cheers
Guy
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Reply #15...too much to quote/edit...
I agree with FH being a great way of learning many aspects.
I know more about Geography/History/Sociology etc. through my interest in Genealogy than I ever learned at school.
PharmaT...Children could be given the choice of researching a Family Member, Popstar/Filmstar, Inventor etc. i.e. it would not affect any personal issues.
I found History/Geography vey boring & uninteresting as I couldn't relate to either the people or the places (much I didn't believe) whereas when doing my Family Tree, I was able to associate names/places/occupations etc. i.e. it's far easier to learn by association as I have found although there are of course the people who had/have an interest in History/Geography by default ;)
Annie
To avoid singling children out and avoid accidental damage eg my daughter would want to research her family but if she contacted her grandfather that would put her in danger. She is still too young to fully understand why it would be dangerous. I think the best compromise would be getting all the children to chose someone famous or renowned to research. It also does not cover the expense of research. My kids would be OK as I can give them piles of documents that I have saved up but what about others who are only starting out?
I very much understand the depth of life and the world around us and how much of that can be explored as part of family history research but I am also aware of the depth and variety in all the different subjects. Family history is wonderful (wouldn't have it as a hobby otherwise), you can learn a lot about a lot of things but in no way should it be the entire curriculum. Maybe a term project. Whilst family history can bring things alive for students by allowing them to relate to their own family, focusing education solely on this holds the risk of narrowing education to only what that individuals family has experienced. Remember some people will descend from a long line that has settled in a small area limiting the places studied by them. Our ancestors may have shaped us but their experience should not constrain us.
The current curriculum is rather broad, in Scotland at least as I cannot comment on elsewhere as I have insufficient experience of their curricula. My older daughter is only 13 but so far her education has included: how voting systems operate (the mechanics and laws), laws surrounding refugees and wrote an in depth analysis of the Rohingya Crisis, UN Convention on human rights, Chinese one child policy, CPC, debate on death penalty, tectonic plates, natural disasters (inc hurricanes, earthquakes, eruptions), sea levels, erosion, cell structure and differentiation, DNA structure, chi square analysis of probability of inheriting aa trait, DNA extraction techniques, PCR (not in depth yet), inherited illnesses and mutations (in trisomies and translocations), Scottish wars of independence, holocaust, assassination of JFK, periodic table, a 10K word project on the structure of the universe and solar system and "is there life elsewhere" which included studying measurement and analysis techniques, chemical reactions and how to represent as formulae, algebra, trigonometry, probability, statistics (eg sample size selection), a wide range of literature and poetry from Shakespeare to present day, anatomy and physiology (in dissection), cookery, food hygiene, insight into all religions. This is not a comprehensive list, she has covered so much more ad still has 4 more years at school.
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I agree that family history research is very educational, and good if you can to involve children.
Whilst I'm conscious of the difficulties that may arise in certain families, depending on circumstances, what is great - and what got me started on investigating myself - is for parents/carers/relatives of any and every kind, to tell stories and jokes and anecdotes about their own experiences.
My mum and dad always told us lots of stories about the war
eg
my dad was in the ARP (Air Raid Precautions) and my mum used to go and see him when he was posted to Eastbourne - she lived in London - and because she forgot her identity card, every time she saw a policeman she crossed the road to avoid being asked to show it.
my dad was cycling off to work when he heard a bomb fall behind him so he turned round and cycled back as quickly as he could and found a bomb had dropped very close by, and the shock wave had left my grandma in the kitchen with an empty saucepan and porridge all over the ceiling.
But they were otherwise unhurt.
and when my mum was pregnant with my brother, she was just sweeping the floor by the bed when a bomb dropped and the wardrobe fell over, but luckily landed on the bed over the top of her.
Nothing is better than a few family stories.
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"I very much understand the depth of life and the world around us and how much of that can be explored as part of family history research but I am also aware of the depth and variety in all the different subjects. Family history is wonderful (wouldn't have it as a hobby otherwise), you can learn a lot about a lot of things but in no way should it be the entire curriculum. Maybe a term project."
Apologies PharmaT as I was not implying FH should be anything other than a project to help pupils learn/understand about different cultures/aspects of life e.g. occupations/living conditions/travel etc. as there's so much info. & knowledge can be gleaned from such research, making learning so much more enjoyable & easier to grasp through association e.g. family member/favourite celebrity etc.
"To avoid singling children out and avoid accidental damage eg my daughter would want to research her family but if she contacted her grandfather that would put her in danger"
Why would your dau need to contact anyone as the project would be about tracing people beyond ourselves/parents/grandparents...i.e. it would be of no benefit in terms of your dau doing her own research/learning to be in touch with said g/parent or you providing your info. beyond the info. on your marriage, defeats the purpose of the project?
What I'm trying to portray is the exercise would surely mean your dau doing her own research rather than it being handed on a plate regardless of how far back you are...i.e. her taking notes from all her searches/finds then researching occupations/areas etc. using different methods e.g. familysearch/censuses/maps etc.
Annie
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My grandsons, born 1989 and 1991, were both required to do a simple three generation family tree for a primary school project, aged about nine.
My primary school curriculum in the 1940s relating to family was incorporated into our first lesson on the subject of graphs. We pupils had to ask our mothers how old she was when we were born. I was a sponge where learning new skills were concerned but after collating the information for that graph I learned to my absolute horror that my mother was ANCIENT when she had me - she was all of twenty-one whereas all my little pals mothers had them aged eighteen (all except one girl whose mother was aged 42 - but to my mind at that time, she didn't count - of course lol).
I must have been a late teen when my mother mentioned that my 21 year old cousin Brian was researching his family and was I thinking of doing mine?
It had never crossed my mind - through the years I'd cross examined older family members about their lives, where they were born and knew where in the pecking order that all our living Jims, Toms, Herbert, Cyril, Edies, Ednas, Elsies, etc., and I even knew their long term friends.
Three years later, same age as me, cousin Terence had started researching his family and came across an upper crust family hall - one aunt was extremely excited about the family she'd married into.
My Destiny was to start researching my family after I'd retired. My retirement plans were to learn to play the piano and have other hobbies - those plans were ditched after my daughter made an appointment with a lady who viewed past lives in a teacup. The sceptic in me didn't believe she'd seen a chap in a soldier's uniform saying "His Pals called him Harry but he preferred his real name Henry"- he died WWI.
After an old aunt vaguely remembered she'd once had an Uncle Henry is when I started researching my family's histories. My grandmother's oldest brother, W. Henry Fleming of the Hull Pals died 28th August 1918 aged 41.
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We are very lucky in Australia as all our WW1 records have survived and are online.
When my granddaughters were in year 9 they were required to research an ANZAC. They could do a family member or choose someone from a list. Older granddaughter chose a name, but second one researched a New Zealand cousin. By reading the records it gave them some idea of what they had been through.
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"I very much understand the depth of life and the world around us and how much of that can be explored as part of family history research but I am also aware of the depth and variety in all the different subjects. Family history is wonderful (wouldn't have it as a hobby otherwise), you can learn a lot about a lot of things but in no way should it be the entire curriculum. Maybe a term project."
Apologies PharmaT as I was not implying FH should be anything other than a project to help pupils learn/understand about different cultures/aspects of life e.g. occupations/living conditions/travel etc. as there's so much info. & knowledge can be gleaned from such research, making learning so much more enjoyable & easier to grasp through association e.g. family member/favourite celebrity etc.
"To avoid singling children out and avoid accidental damage eg my daughter would want to research her family but if she contacted her grandfather that would put her in danger"
Why would your dau need to contact anyone as the project would be about tracing people beyond ourselves/parents/grandparents...i.e. it would be of no benefit in terms of your dau doing her own research/learning to be in touch with said g/parent or you providing your info. beyond the info. on your marriage, defeats the purpose of the project?
What I'm trying to portray is the exercise would surely mean your dau doing her own research rather than it being handed on a plate regardless of how far back you are...i.e. her taking notes from all her searches/finds then researching occupations/areas etc. using different methods e.g. familysearch/censuses/maps etc.
Annie
I wasn't suggesting they would be told to contact people but that if left to their own devices it may lead to accidental contact.
Neither was I suggesting that I didn't want her to do her own research but, there is no free way to access Scottish census images. BDM indecies have very limited information and certificates cost money, it all adds up. I would at least have the advantages of already having paid for these. I could not afford to pay for them twice. I'd love to take her to a SP centre and teach her how to search, cross reference and decide on next step in searching. However that would be £15 each to be there for a day or part day, £14 to get there transport wise for the 2 of us. That's £44. That may not seem like a lot to proper people but its a lot to me and people don't really approve of people like me spending money. And please don't accuse me of not caring about my daughter's education it's just the basic fact that no body, not even proper people can spend money that they don't have.
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PharmaT, I'm not suggesting any of what you've written but once your dau has done her own research & learned how to find the documents (the process) then I'm sure giving her the docs. you have (images) already paid for is fine in step-by-step order once she's found the references/transcriptions etc. to what she needs to progress.
I think you're looking too much into things here & seeing/reading things way beyond ;)
Annie
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"people don't really approve of people like me spending money"
This schtick is getting VERY old.
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Our older son had to take a family tree to school, as much or as little as he could. I helped him draw up a chart with all of the direct ancestors I knew of at the time. Teacher was very impressed, and asked him who was interested in family history. It is interesting to note that some kids from different cultural backgrounds also provided extensive trees, all from oral history.