Recently, I was given the task of editing and reformatting a family history that someone had put together in Word and frankly looked a mess. This encouraged me to dig out a box of old family photos of my own and to begin to make some sense out of the jumble of images that go back as far as 1914. Nearly a century of snatched instants of time and I realised that most of it is and will remain a mystery to me. There are people that are my ancestors that I cannot even identify, and so putting the story together and the pieces in the jigsaw will be a major undertaking. I have decided to have a go at it, if only so that future generations may have a clearer picture of where they have come from; maybe then they will have a better sense of where they are going
I know that I have done some of the groundwork in this blog - it originally set out to become a record of my own experiences, but I was unable to maintain focus and it has become a vehicle for ranting and venting, knowing that my audience is small and distant.
Family histories seem to be in vogue these days. With the internet, searches for information have been made simpler and access to a whole range of information technology makes presenting findings and ideas so much easier than ever before. Perhaps people are beginning to realise, like myself, that they have become detached from their families. Previous generations had extended families that rarely travelled and so all lived in the locality and were aware of each other's existence. I do remember as a child having a large number of aunts, uncles and cousins that we actually met on a regular basis and everyone knew everyone else's business. It has been said that the biggest contributor to outbreeding was the invention of the bicycle. Then of course, and I am talking of the 1950s and 60s, the frequency of cars and other means of transport began it's steady increase and so escaping from one's locality became a simpler process. The expansion of the education service gave people greater opportunities and families began to spread out. MIne certainly did, though there is still a nucleus that never left the area.
I find it sad really, that I know so little of my parents past. Both were very cagey about talking of their family histories and only recently am I finding out some of the reasons why. I always knew that my mother was very young when I was born. She was in fact sixteen and a half. It doesn't require a lot of maths to work out her age at my conception. It would appear that my father and she ran away together and the fact that she was underage meant that he risked a prison sentence had they been caught. It seems that the family closed ranks and he was protected. No doubt I was on the way when they were taken into the custody of my grandmother.
I will keep digging. There are relatives that are still compos mentis and are a source of memories that I have never before had interest in or access to. I still want to know why my mother and her twin were given away as very young children and what effect that had on them both. I want to know about what went on in my family in the six years that I was in hospital and what difference it made when I came home. I guess there will always be unanswered questions and perhaps in some ways that is a good thing.
I know that I have done some of the groundwork in this blog - it originally set out to become a record of my own experiences, but I was unable to maintain focus and it has become a vehicle for ranting and venting, knowing that my audience is small and distant.
Family histories seem to be in vogue these days. With the internet, searches for information have been made simpler and access to a whole range of information technology makes presenting findings and ideas so much easier than ever before. Perhaps people are beginning to realise, like myself, that they have become detached from their families. Previous generations had extended families that rarely travelled and so all lived in the locality and were aware of each other's existence. I do remember as a child having a large number of aunts, uncles and cousins that we actually met on a regular basis and everyone knew everyone else's business. It has been said that the biggest contributor to outbreeding was the invention of the bicycle. Then of course, and I am talking of the 1950s and 60s, the frequency of cars and other means of transport began it's steady increase and so escaping from one's locality became a simpler process. The expansion of the education service gave people greater opportunities and families began to spread out. MIne certainly did, though there is still a nucleus that never left the area.
I find it sad really, that I know so little of my parents past. Both were very cagey about talking of their family histories and only recently am I finding out some of the reasons why. I always knew that my mother was very young when I was born. She was in fact sixteen and a half. It doesn't require a lot of maths to work out her age at my conception. It would appear that my father and she ran away together and the fact that she was underage meant that he risked a prison sentence had they been caught. It seems that the family closed ranks and he was protected. No doubt I was on the way when they were taken into the custody of my grandmother.
I will keep digging. There are relatives that are still compos mentis and are a source of memories that I have never before had interest in or access to. I still want to know why my mother and her twin were given away as very young children and what effect that had on them both. I want to know about what went on in my family in the six years that I was in hospital and what difference it made when I came home. I guess there will always be unanswered questions and perhaps in some ways that is a good thing.
2 comments:
Good luck with your research! I find the past fascinating, and even more so when it one's own past. My mother's baby sister was given to relatives to raise after my grandmother died in childbirth. The relatives didn't think it appropriate for my grandfather to have custody of a baby girl. My mother was raised by her father, and she and my aunt didn't get to know each other until they were practially grown when he re-married. It certainly shaped my mother's perception of self and family. She always believed that she was left behind because her baby sister was deemed to be more important and that no one really cared what happened to her. She grew into a person who cherished her nuclear and extended family, and many, many friends. She always took the time to make others feel valued and included. A loving legacy from a sad beginning.
Thank you for your kind and supportive comments.
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