(from personal collection)
For me family history is a totally absorbing pastime. When I first started looking at my family history over twenty years ago I would never have believed where this road would lead me.
At first, I was only interested in finding people, in getting names and dates on my tree, but as I was doing this I would think about the people concerned. Where did they live? What did they look like? What were they wearing? I would see a name in a parish record and picture the scene of the baptism or wedding with everyone wearing the clothes (or what I imagined them to be) of the era. Over time this side of my research has grown beyond imagining the scene to thinking about the what, the why, the where and the who of each individual. Why did they move? What was their job? Where did they go? Who did they meet? I wanted to find out the details of their lives, their families and the communities in which they lived.
To find this amount of detail has led me beyond family reminiscences, parish records and the IGI. As more and more information has come online it has provided me with a good finding aid, a pointer in the right (or sometimes wrong!) direction. I have visited record offices, churches, museums and libraries in search of that detail which makes the story of an individual come alive. Many weekends and some holidays have been spent in areas where my family lived to give me the feel of the place and its geographical location. It has proved an interesting and fascinating journey which I hope to share in my blog.
I may have been doing family history for some time but blogging is a new venture for me. Since retiring from teaching I have been involved with my local u3a helping to run a couple of family history groups and attending a local history society The knowledge base for both family and history research overlap and I have learnt much from attending talks and workshops on local and family history. There is always something new to learn. Years ago my partner suggested I leave researching my family tree until I retired or else I would have nothing left to research. Family history has no end – there is always another family to research and a question answered is often followed by another question.
My father was born in Cheshire and my mother is from South Wales. Do I consider myself more English or more Welsh? Going back through the generations my English side has north Wales connections while my Welsh side has connections with Bristol, Somerset, London and Yorkshire. So far, I have not found any Irish or Scottish ancestors nor any direct ancestors who have emigrated. Which is a pity as travel is another favourite pastime and to combine travel overseas and family history would be brilliant.
As I have been collecting ‘family stories’ for some time I am hoping to share these along with more recent research. Often I revisit a family or individual as more records or ideas come forward. If, by a remote chance, anyone recognizes someone from their own family tree, I would love to hear from you. If any ‘stories’ strike a chord with you let me know by making a comment.
So into the world of blogging!