How did you get into researching?

[starcat]

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.

[Mart 'n' Al]

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

[pharmaT]

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.

[Guy Etchells]

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

[Erato]

"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.

[pharmaT]

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.

[HeatherLynne]

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! 

[Erato]

"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.

[Gadget]

"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