The new series of Who Do You Think You Are? Has started on BBC and follows celebrities finding out parts of their family history. Has this inspired you to research your own family. If it has then I can help with this as you never know what you will find. Do you know what your great-grandfather did for a living for example? My great-grandfather worked on the Great Western Railway and put on the trims to all the windows of the carriages that ran on that line. He then ran his own business as a carpenter in Notting Hill before moving out to the country.
You too could find things out about your own family. Having just watched Melanie Chisholm’s episode her ancestors also came from Limerick as did mine and her family’s experiences were very similar to mine. My Great Great Grandfather and mother came over from Limerick to London for a better life away from the potato famine and the crushing poverty in Ireland at the time. Just like Paddy McGuiness did with his family moving to Bolton for a new life and the challenges they faced.
Do you know if your ancestors always lived in the same place or did they move around. Melanie found her 4 x great grandfather came from Devon. My ancestors came from all over the British Isles, Ireland and one branch came from Europe. This has been the inspiration for my talk Migration throughout the UK as when I first started my journey into family history, I thought they may come from London and Lancashire and little did I know I would be researching in archives throughout the country and emailing people overseas. I now have an appreciation of how tough some our ancestors’ lives were and the challenges they had to face and overcome.
My other talk is called More than just names on a page. This came from my journey to not only find out who these people were but also what they did for a living what their working conditions were like, who their neighbours were and other resources to find out about their lives. This is one of the joys of family history, there is sadness along the way but the discovery is what I enjoy the most.
I have found triumphs and hardship, joy and sadness in researching the lives of people in the past. The truth is until you start that search you never know where it is going to take you. There are family myths that may be true or just a story handed down that has got twisted along the way but whatever the outcome the lives of the people who went before us are the most fascinating. Do you inherit traits from your ancestors or a profession. As Melanie Chisholm discovered she came from a long line of strong and determined women.
Have you ever thought about discovering this for yourself and what could you discover?
