Why do I blog?
The answer depends on the website I’m blogging on. On most of my sites, I blog for fun, something to do, and a way to improve my writing skills. But on my Family History site, I blog to preserve information.
I’ve been researching my family history since 2011, but seriously, since I retired in 2016. Like most genealogists, I wish I’d asked more questions when I was young, but then I didn’t appreciate the stories my relatives held within. Some stories would not have been revealed, and those that were told were probably embellished to add adventure or romance.
My Swedish grandfather is the toughest brick wall in my research, mainly because I don’t speak or read Swedish, and most of the relevant documents are written in Swedish. Family stories tell of a fearless young man who left his homeland to sail the seas of the world before settling in Australia. But when did he leave Sweden, and why? If I can find the answers and write them into Grandfather’s story, future generations won’t have to wonder.
Just as the story of my English-born, Australian raised maternal great-grandfather is preserved, to not only enlighten this generation, but to amuse the next. Daniel’s life of misdemeanours made him easy to find on Trove; from committing bigamy in 1902, to copping a hefty fine for the wallaby skin hanging on the shed wall years later. Perhaps my Swedish grandfather’s elusive history is because he was too law-abiding, whereas the law had a lot to say about Daniel, and the newspapers of the time were happy to record it (thank goodness!).
Writing about ancestors is one thing, but proving the connection and information is something else. A DNA test with Ancestry takes care of the genetic connections, and historical records help validate the rest, as long as the documents are accurate.
Not all informants were created equal
Any document is only as good as the informant who provided the information, and not all informants were created equal. Information that is omitted, misspelled, or falsely given makes the work of family historians much harder. Documentation can provide guidelines, but shouldn’t be relied on for accuracy, which makes transcripts of documents of great value for a few dollars. A $20 transcript (in NSW) by an authorised transcriber (this is the one I use) is almost half the cost of a copy of the original document from NSW Births, Deaths, & Marriages, and is delivered to your inbox in pdf format.
When I ordered the transcript for my great-grandmother’s death certificate, I wasn’t prepared for what was recorded on it. Annie, the infamous Daniel’s first wife, had lived most of her adult life with a man named Charles, who died before I was born. Family stories of Charles implied that he was the husband of Annie, and the father of her daughters, but Annie’s death certificate supplied the missing link, to Daniel. Annie’s son-in-law, my maternal grandfather, identified Daniel as Annie’s husband, but noted that Annie was also known as Mrs … (Charles’ surname). There was no indication that she had ever married Charles, which supports my lack of evidence of a marriage between them. My grandfather, as the informant, provided the detail and the validation that Daniel, not Charles, was my grandmother’s father, and my great-grandfather.
My goal is to write the stories of as many ancestors as I can, even if I piece the stories together from family folklore in lieu of documented details. The more research I do, the more stories I have to write.
As for my other websites, they are the fun sites where I hone my writing skills, share travel information, and write general ‘stuff’.
