My great aunt, Peggy, was the first person to research my family's history, her branch of it anyway. That was back when research was done by mail and it took ages to find information. I often wonder what she was able to find. Very little of what she uncovered has been passed down. An old picture of the hotel at Bridgend on Islay, brought forth the information that she had gone to that Scottish island to find out more about her family line. It was only a nugget of knowledge but one that prompted me to follow in her footsteps. I stayed in that hotel. The family line on Islay was also the one I started my research with.
Strangely, the information about that old picture came from my father. He was her nephew-in-law, if there is such a designation. But that is the power of story. He remembered some of what he had heard her talk about or maybe a story that someone had told about her trip. It was enough to create a memory so that he told me about her hobby and her trip when he saw the picture.
Sometimes the stories passed down are only the top of an iceberg. According to family lore, my maternal grandfather immigrated to Canada because he saw a poster advertising Canadian immigration in a railway station. It was a family fact I let sit for a long time. Further research brought forth a story which added so much to those bare facts. The information passed down had been stripped of the underlying impetus for his move; that all of his family had died one by one. Also not mentioned was the fact that he worked for the railway and probably saw that poster day after day.
It took me a while to dig for my grandfather's story, but at least I had a clue to give me a head start. It's the stories that are lost to time. The ones that weren't passed down, perhaps forgotten, likely hushed up in some cases; those are the hard tales to get a hold of. But if scandalous enough, there may be clues in the public record. That's what I found when I came across the tale of the two Thomas Arments, father and son. Their criminal records brought forth reams of information about their trial, both on the Old Bailey site and in the newspapers. The records also led me to a clue about where the elder Thomas had come from before ending up in London. So, besides finding an interesting story, the search led me further back on this family line.
My hope is that, if I look deep enough, I'll find hidden stories on other family lines if I delve into the social history of where they were living. Finding out more about events of the times may turn up their names, if I'm lucky. If not, then I'll have a better idea of the town or village where they lived to add social context to their lives.
I always wish I had asked more questions while there were more among the living who could have shared stories with me. So now it is detective work - always looking for a potential clue.
ReplyDeleteIt would have been great to have asked questions when they were still around but then again, sometimes that information is questionable too.
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