Genealogy Chat

has anyone ever written up there family history?

how did you go about it? i would like to do it but i don't want to just put names and dates----any hints & tips?

Chris.

Hi Chris, I have spent the last year researching and writing up one line of my Fam. His which dates back to 1200. I started with my grandmother and began to work backwards, including photos, census info etc. but I found it very difficult to write "backwards" in time. So finally I decided to start with the earliest one I had in 1200 and work forward from there. Obviously no photos or anything like that, but I have written this with the view of it being an interesting, informative read for my children and grandchildren, therefore I have tried to make it amusing by including clip art and adding some historical facts e.g. whilst my ancestor was pinching fish from the King´s fisheries Shakespeare was "knitting up the ravelled sleeve of care" etc. (smiley fish clip art). Two friars stole land belonging to my ancestor (insert dodgy fat and thin monk) etc. I found it impossible (well at least for me) to write a family history without including the political, religious and social aspects of the times as they affect why they threw the unmarried pregnant daughter out of the house, or why g.granda was a bigamist or why so and so was transported for stealing etc. So much can be added to the basics facts to make a really interesting and fascinating history. If your history just goes back to census coverage you can do the same, talk about a family of 10 living in 2 rooms, or what a "trimmer" did as an occupation etc. It will all just come pouring in once you get started Chris, just make your cover page "The Chris......Family History" and away you go. Good luck.

Hi Chris

I'm writing up mine. Doing it in bits.

I pick on one person at a time - usually a direct ancestor - and record how I found them if they were difficult to find - so that anyone else wanting to check my research can check what I did. I also make notes of what I've found out about them and add relevant research notes. I make a note of what I think might have happened - I make it very clear that it's what I think. This is useful as it sometimes gives me a new avenue to research.

So for instance - my gr grandfather Titus White. I knew from my mother that he had committed suicide when my grandmother was 8. I also knew that he had a brother named Timothy or Thomas who lived in Luton. That was my starting point. It took me a while to find him on FreeBMD as his name was Edmund Titus White and on two of his records he was mistranscribed. (This was a few years ago now when FreeBMD was fairly new and I was new to this hobby but all three of his records were there!). I assumed Titus was a Londoner (we were all Londoners) and only when I started wondering why his brother moved to Luton did the penny drop. I found Titus and parents/sibs in 1881 in Luton. I was not sure if suicide would show as cause of death but it did. Spirits of salts. Family story had it that he "found out his wife was playing around and had bought some stuff to kill the wife and children but he changed his mind and took it himself". I've got notes on spirits of salts, brass foundries (he was a brass founder). I've checked local newspapers from the time, I've got an old book about Guys Hospital (where he died), I've tracked down what happened to his widow (my gr grandmother bless her) who had a child by another man - one year to the week that Titus had died.

I even worked out (with a lot of help from Suzy from Bucks) that Titus and his wife had been second cousins. That was because I was wondering why he would have moved from Luton to Southwark. If he was looking for work then logically he would have found work in North or East London and not come south of the river. As it was he was cousin to his wife's mother. There was a similarity in names of his mother and his cousin (Nash and Moscrop Nash - both born in Aylesbury, Bucks).

So, ask yourself questions - how did they meet? why did they move from one area to another? did the son's follow the father's occupation or not? If not, why not? Were there gaps between children? If so, could there be an earlier marriage - or was this due to stillbirths, early deaths of children - or even husband away at war, in prison etc? If you can answer your own questions about your family you will have more to add to your narrative - even if it is what you think may have happened (but make it clear it's what you think rather than what you know for sure).

It's time-consuming but fascinating stuff. I've learnt a lot more about social history in the last few years than I ever learnt at school.

Sorry to have rambled but I love the narrative side of it all!

Have fun!!

Jill

lesley,daisychain & jill,
thank you for your replys, i am really thinking on it now! you've givin me the incentive.

Chris.

Hi Lesley,
just tried to go on www.tribunalpages.com and can't get into it. Have I spelt it correctly,
Linda

Hi Chris

I havent written up my family research yet as I still have a lot to do but i have found that writing a time line will be very useful when I come to do it. Not sure that what I have written makes sense so let me try and explain.

My time line is divided into 3 columns I have the year down the middle and down one side I have what is going on historically both throughtout England and in the area my ancesters were living. I included things like wars, new laws introduced, when street lighting or electricity was introduced to the area they were living, maybe smallpox epidemics, information on the industrial revolution etc.

Then down the thrid column I put in dates of birth, marriages and the usual genealogy info. When I compared both columns I could often see why my relations did what they did, the problems that they would have had to overcome. What sort of life they led eg their wages, living conditions, health problems etc. It makes interesting reading

Hopefully armed with all this information I will find it easier to write up my family history.

Hope this helps

Jane

Ooh Jane

Hadn't thought of that one - good idea - thank you.

Jill

I find that by writing up your family history in projects means that you do not have to wait until your family history is "complete" because your family history will never be complete! You can often complete a small part of the Family History and then write this up.

So far I have completed an "Evacuaton Second W War" project and 2 Ireland to America emigration projects.

I am currently working on the Crimea War and subsequent Army Career of my Great G father and touching on his total army career and his country roots. I also have other soldier members of the family that will be another project and two further projects on a Swedish Scientist and an Irish relative who wrote prolific letters to the Irish Newspapers.

I find that by breaking your family history down into projects makes the material not only more interesting but also more manageable. If I were to write one book on all my family history it would be far too long and unmanageable and I would not know where to start. I always illustrate projects with pictures, events of the times, family stories as well as census returns and BMD.

I have several more projects in the pipeline to complete when I get more time!!

Janet

How interesting and helpful

many thanks, noting for later

christine

Absolutely fascinating ideas! will certainly take them on board when doing my own.

So far I have asked living relatives to give me their "memoires" of past family members so that I can build up a character for each individual. Family members are very slow in getting their memoires to me as they often do not know what I am looking for, but once I give them a few examples it gets them thinking. Some prefer to tell me and I note it down, then I write it up and let them see it before I use it.

This idea came to me as I wanted to find out more about my grandfather, everyone who knew him said what a lovely man he was, all the kids in the village loved him and I have a very found memory of him and my gran. I was 6 when he passed away so can only remember a little, I remember him holding my hand at one side and my twin sister's hand at the other side and each morning going to the chicken pen to pick our own egg for breakfast. Then he insisted on pouching it for us, my gran was ushered out of the kitchen!

All the tips on this thread will be useful to make a more interesting read as I do wonder if after I have done all this work, whether any of my descendants will be interested in the work I have done?

Dee

Dee, it is all these memories which bring our ancestors to life. and yes your descendants will be eternally grateful to you. It is really important to talk to the "older" members of the family where possible. , just today my daughter was telling me she has been talking to her husband´s grandma and she started telling her about how during the Spanish Civil War they had to gag the mouths of their children as they hid in a cellar from Franco´s militia. Priceless information to pass on to our descendants. I always feel filled with gratitude when I hear such stories, and it is not only the dramatic ones but the everyday things like collecting the eggs that stir our souls. Get writing everyone, or talking to a tape or whatever, but Do IT!

For the newbies!

Hi Chris, I have just had my book published, seach the newspapers is my tip. My husbands g grandfather was in politics for a number of years which gave a lot of info. Because the family came from England to NZ in 1842 and times were very bad back then that gave me a good starting point. Good luck if I could do it anyone can. Pat

Nudge to put in "my threads" Very interesting thread thanks