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Family History Research

Family stories abound but discovering which parts are true and which are false is a problem. The answer is to use first-hand accounts as the foundation of your investigations.

There is usually some truth in any family tradition but, if not in all of it, which bit? The skill you need to develop is identifying the hard facts from the flights of fancy. What would you make of the example below?

'An Irish cousin told me that my Great-aunt Christina, an expert lacemaker, made the wedding veil for Queen Victoria's daughter, and came to London from Limerick in Ireland to deliver it.'

History surrounds us all: it's all of our 'yesterdays', our everyday memories and experiences. Every day, people tell each other 'stories' of what's been happening to them or what they have 'been up to'. This kind of history - the type that each and every one of us collects throughout life - is called oral history. Some people have been involved in momentous historical events, like world wars, or attended an Olympic games, but many others haven't. However, regardless of age or importance, we all have interesting and exciting experiences to share, stories to tell.

More importantly, historical documents and books cannot always tell us everything about our past. Often they concentrate on famous people and major events and tend to miss out the story of 'everyday folk', often neglecting the multicultural aspect of modern society. Oral history fills in the gaps, but because memories die when people do, history can be easily lost - how many of us have photographs that include unknown faces at an event long forgotten in the mists of time? So it is important that our memories be preserved for all time as a permanent record of how we used to live, work and feel.

All memories are a mixture of facts and opinions, and both are important. The way in which people make sense of their lives is valuable historical evidence in itself. Few of us are good at remembering dates - we tend to 'telescope' two similar events into a single memory or confuse dates and places or even generations. So, when we talk to people while investigating our history, it is important to get them to tell us about direct personal experiences - eyewitness testimony - rather than things that might have been heard second-hand.

The story of the wedding veil is a glowing example of what happens when a memory is passed down over several generations. With a little basic investigation, I discovered that my Great-aunt Christina was only 4 years old when Queen Victoria's fifth and youngest daughter was married in 1885, so was too young to have worked on her wedding veil. However, in 1905 a granddaughter of Queen Victoria married into the Swedish Royal family wearing a veil made from Limerick lace, so there may be a little bit of truth in the story.

Most of us have lives full of hustle and bustle, but hopefully can still find the time to get together with other family members, even if it's only at Christmas and other high days and holidays. All family reunions should be seen as an ideal opportunity to catch up, to chat and to reminisce about things that happened long ago, or perhaps not so long ago. This type of gathering can also be a great time to collect and share family stories. Certainly one of the most cherished gifts one can give or receive is a family heirloom, along with the story of the people whose lives surrounded it. Such exchanges leave everyone inspired to find out more.

Do remember, though, that all information is open to question if it's second-hand. Everything needs to be properly checked for accuracy and confirmed wherever possible.


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