How To Write About Your Own Life

Whilst researching your family history is in itself an absorbing and interesting hobby, most people also hope that they information that they have collated will be passed on down through the generations.

It can be easy to forget about your own personal story or feel that you have nothing to contribute. Don't forget though that as you are interested in your ancestors' lives, descendants will be interested in your own story.  Although we might record the big events in life and find them easy to document, it is often the small things that you find out that make your ancestors' stories really come to life.

So how do you start to do this in a meaningful way? What to write about and what to leave out?  What if you don't feel confident in writing about your own life?

A great way to start is by thinking about one of your ancestors who you did not get a chance to meet and think about what you would have liked to ask them if you had been given a chance.  

Write down a list of questions - it doesn't matter if it's a long or a short list. Sometimes it can be difficult to think of questions but usually once you get started, it gets easier as ideas start to flow.  You can try to write your list all in one go or over a period of time. If you like to write electronically then write your questions using this format and if you prefer pen and paper then use those.  The thing is to feel as comfortable as possible with the format.

After this and in your own time, start to answer these questions but for yourself.  If you can't think of something to write about a specific question then leave it.  Most of us can write down a few words at least about places where we have lived or worked.  It doesn't need to be a long piece of writing if you don't like writing much.  Anything that you write will be precious to your descendants.

It can also be good for inspiration to think about how things have changed in your lifetime.  The rate at which technology is changing our lives for example, is surprising and any observations that you make about changes that you have seen would be interesting to future family historians.

Radio Times listing

So what kind of observations might you make? 

It could be something as simple as tv schedules.  It is not long since everyone relied on a weekly magazine or magazines to check out what their next week's viewing would be for example.

Now with television guides available on your television set, catch up television and guides and news accessed online in a variety of ways, it would be interesting for future generations to know how much these magazines were a part of every day life. 

Your descendants will treasure your thoughts and memories even if they are simply a few notes on a scrap of paper.  However, it is also possible to expand on this by writing it up or by getting it written up into a fuller piece. Even if you don't have personal photos etc to add to this, a little research can easily be done to add some images.

At Kin Tree we are experts in writing up family stories so even if you are only looking for some advice or guidance, please get in touch for a chat.

For more information on researching  and writing about your family tree:

Contact us at:

kintree@ymail.com

Click on the links below to find us on 

facebook                    twitter

Bringing Your Family History To Life

Tracing your family tree is an absorbing past time. Often it starts with a desire to find out how far back you can trace your family but along the way you will also start to root out other interesting information about your ancestors. You soon realise that they are more than a date in history.

There comes a point when you will want to gather all the information together and write it down.  However, then thoughts generally turn into how to make it more interesting than simply a set of dates.

Look at this example of a fictitious person called William MacDonald.

We could have an entry that said simply -

William MacDONALD was born on 7 November 1897 at 23 Example Street, Govan. He was the son of James MacDONALD and Mary RANKIN.  He married Janet FRASER on 22 June 1922 in Parish Kirk, Glasgow. He died on 17 August 1971 at the Royal Infirmary, Glasgow.  His home address then was 154 Sample Street, Glasgow.

However by adding in more detail on these bare details, we can build up the picture of William's life. 

We could write about his birth - 

William was the fifth of seven children born to James MacDONALD and Mary RANKIN.  He was born at the family home, 23 Example Street, Govan on 7 November 1897. 

Then by adding in some more details that we have from poor relief records, we can add in -

William was the fifth of seven children born to James MacDONALD and Mary RANKIN. He was born at the family home, 23 Example Street, Govan on 7 November 1897. The family lived in a tenement flat and were on the second floor in the left hand side flat.  

So we now have facts about William from his birth certificate, the 1901 census and poor relief records (from a later date) which described their flat. The next step that we can take is to add details about his life through putting the family into the historical context of the time. This can be done in a number of ways, for example by researching the area in which William lived and the wider social context of the times.

Mixing all these elements together we have -

William was the fifth of seven children born to James MacDONALD and Mary RANKIN. He was born at the family home, 23 Example Street, Govan on 7 November 1897. The family lived in a tenement flat and were on the second floor in the left hand side flat. 

For William and the rest of his family, the kitchen was the centre of activity in old tenement flats. William's family had two rooms. Beds, sink, coal bunker, cupboards, pulley, fireplace and cooking range would all be crammed into them. The cast iron kitchen range was standard in tenement buildings used both as a heating and a cooking tool. 

A large cast iron kettle normally stood on the hob keeping the water warm. Every effort was made to keep the fire alight over night, especially in winter. This was done by saving old tea-leaves and potato peelings, mixed with dross (coal dust) and cinders and placing them on the fire before going to bed.

Outside toilets were a common feature of Govan tenements until the late 19th century. Subsequently tenements were built with a toilet or renovated to include a shared water closet on each stair landing. Often too, the only running water was an outside tap that was used by all the residents.

By adding in these details, we are already bring William's world to life.  We can imagine how it would be to live in his home.  It can be quite daunting to build up these details however they do make the difference between a simple list of facts and an exciting and interesting book about our ancestors' lives.  

At Kin Tree we are not only experienced and qualified in genealogy but also in history so we have a wide knowledge base to build a picture of your family's past.  We have the experience and knowledge to draw together the genealogical facts and present them in a way that brings your family's story to life.  We are also experienced at printing family history books so we can present your book to a professional standard.

 If you have any questions on bring your family's story to life or on printing a family history book then please get in touch for a no obligation chat at:

kintree@ymail.com

Click on the links below to find us on 

facebook                    twitter

Successfully Tracing And Contacting Relations

Kin Tree is often asked if we can search for descendants as well as ancestors. The answer is yes! 

The research itself is similar to looking for ancestors because what is important is to carry it out in a systematic way and have the knowledge to know where to access the information.

It  is  not  only direct  descendants  that people are interested  in finding but also  2nd, 3rd, 4th cousins  etc. People look for these relations for a variety of reasons. Occasionally it is for medical reasons but mostly it is simply to widen their family circle and find out what happened to other branches of the family.

What sometimes worries people is what reaction they will get to the initial contact that is made.  Most people are welcoming and interested themselves and the worst that is going to happen is that someone says they are not interested or doesn't reply.

The way in which you contact someone is very important.  The best way to get in touch is by mail.  This gives the person the time to think about what you are saying and how they want to respond.  If you phone them then they may be suspicious that you are trying to scam them and could brush you off. 

The important things to remember

• Be specific about why you are getting in touch
• Explain how you obtained their contact details
• Give them multiple ways of contacting you so they can pick the one with which they are comfortable
• Offer to share information with them
• Be patient! Some people don't answer for a while

After you successfully contact and get a response from your relation then it can provide new information for you.  It is often one person in the family who inherits the old photos and documents and they are likely to be a rich source of information.  All great for filling in some blanks in your family tree!

If you would like help to search then please contact us for a no obligation free chat.

Contact us by email: kintree@ymail.com  

or click below to 

  Find us on Facebook       Follow us on twitter

++Competition Result +Competition Result +Competition Result ++

Thank you to all who entered our competition!  The winner of the competition is 

Mr David Fraser of Lanarkshire  

David was a little camera shy so did not want his photo on our page however he was happy for us to share the details of his prize with everyone.

David is looking for information on some specific ancestors and so we will be spending the day check information in two archives for him.

Remember, you can contact Kin Tree with any queries you have on specific ancestors, not only to have a whole tree researched!

Contact us:  kintree@ymail.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/kintree       

Twitter:  www.twitter.com/kin_tree   @kin_tree

How Reliable Are Family Stories?

In every family, there are stories of ancestors lives.  Some of these are stories that are interesting or fun to know but which don't change our family's story even if they are embellished over the decades! An example might be an ancestor meeting someone famous.  The ancestor could easily have told the story of the occasion in a straightforward way but it is not to say others who heard it didn't interpret it in their own way but present it to others as fact. Over the years, this could mean the story becomes more "details" that it originally contained however no harm is really done as it does not change the story of your ancestor's life!

However, sometimes stories evolve through a simple mistake and it can give a false impression.  A case in mind was one where we were asked to investigate an ancestor who had reportedly played football for Scotland in the early part of the 20th century. It was part of a bigger family tree that we were tracing but naturally, there was interest in seeing if we could find out more about this footballer's career.   

We had identified that the player had indeed played for a senior team.  He had a full time day job and played football at the weekend. For anyone who knows about Scottish football, the bible of facts and figures is "The Wee Red Book" and his name did appear as a Scotland internationalist.  When we looked further into his career we quickly realised that the Scotland player was actually another person with the same name!

We discussed this with the client and they were surprised as they knew the Scotland player had come from the same small town as their ancestor. We were able to tell them that their ancestor didn't come from the same town but why the mix up? Had someone assumed that it was the same person and passed on the story in the family with the birthplace of the internationalist given without any proof?

The truth was probably more complicated.  It turn our that whilst their ancestor who was on their father's side of the family, had not come from that town, the client's mother's family had originated from the internationalist's home town.  the likelihood is someone mixed the two facts - footballer's name and town - in all innocence.

 Family stories can be a great sources of information but it is important to check them out where they involve facts like the footballer's story.  Family members  pass on this information with a genuine belief that the stories are true so it is important to handle any new information sensitively. Although there might be initial surprise at this change of direction in the family's story, most people are keen to know the new details and are pleased to have an accurate family history.

Kin Tree have the skills and resources to investigate your family stories. Most turn out to be true and we can often add details and images to word of mouth stories so please contact us for for a no obligation chat on how we can help you bring your family's story to life at 

kintree@ymail.com

Why not enter our competition to win some free research.  It's a great way to find out if a professional researcher can help you!

Entries close on 30 June 2013

Click here to enter the competition