When adding depth to the world of an ancestor or ancestral family, I often turn to books about the history of an area or event. Because my family's past takes in so many places, that is a double edged sword as I often (probably too often) buy books about areas where they lived. That's especially the case when on research trips in places where they lived. Books can take up lots of space in a suitcase and on ever expanding bookshelves.
Books and online searches aren't the only way to add context to past lives. If one is lucky, it's possible to find the buildings which featured in their lives still standing. That happened when on the trail of my 4 x great grandfather, Reverend Thomas Strange. He was the first Congregational minister to preside in that religion's church in Kilsby, Northampton. It was a thrill picturing where he would have stood preaching to the congregation. He was even buried in an aisle which meant that I walked on his commemoration stone.
Taking my research further, I visited Dr. William's Library when I was in London. They have lots of information about the nonconformist religions. Among their records, I found some of Reverend Strange's sermons. Each sermon covered multiple pages in a notebook. Remembering the hardness of the pew in that Kilsby church when I sat on it and considering the length of the sermon in the books really brought home the experience of being one of the congregants in the church.
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