My aunt has done a lot of work researching the family tree on my dad’s side. When I got married she gave me a framed print out of my direct lineage which went all the way back to the 16th/17th century. (Apparently, my mother’s family tree goes all the way back to the 13th century but I’ve never actually seen it.) It’s kind of interesting in an irrelevant way and I keep thinking that I should find out more about it all but it does seem like a whole lot of work and can turn into an obssession.
Also, most people aren’t interested. My wife couldn’t care less about her background and when I discovered that her father and uncle had entries on Genes Reunited that had not been put in by a direct member of the family, I contacted the person who had put them in who turned out to be my wife’s first cousin 10 times removed (i.e., they shared the same great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather). I confess, my interest is only really passing as well. A random Google search for a couple of keywords (my surname and the town where a lot of my family originated from) threw up someone on Flickr who shares my name but lives in that area. There is, I suppose, a faint possibility that we’re somehow related, however distantly.
I’m not going to introduce myself though.
Anyone out there done any family research or interested in genealogy? Any interesting discoveries?
04/03/2009 at 11:19 pm Permalink
I’d love to do it, but it’s proven next to impossible. Too many Andersons in my hometown, for one thing!
Amazing that your mother’s family tree can be traced so far back.
05/03/2009 at 2:45 am Permalink
I would probably qualify as “obsessed” with genealogy but it’s really mainly because I love history and it’s one more facet of delving into the past. As for interesting discoveries, I’d say the highlight has been seeing that my family’s roots go back in Canadian history through several hundred years and it’s been fun to look into all that history. On the other hand the only complete surprise I had was that I had some ancestors from the Jersey, Channel Islands – and then finding the Channel Islands on a map!
Evelyn in Montreal
08/06/2009 at 1:56 pm Permalink
I’m not exactly sure how I feel about genealogy: I’m interested in history so quite like the who, when, where, what did they do stuff of genealogy but on the other hand I don’t feel more interested in my family tree than in others.
For example, in the course of doing research into an artist I did a bit of digging about in her family tree to get a sense of family size, addresses, movement, employment etc and from that I could get a better sense of her class background, personal circumstances etc. I probably enjoyed that just as much as digging around the Chapman family (my maternal gg grandparents). Besides, I’m not entirely convinced by the ‘kennel club’ mentality of some genealogists.
I’ve also had some unfortunate encounters with genealogists who can get a bit keen on you being the right sort for their society.
I think it can be fascinating to put some real people onto the bones of generic history – but it can be something people lose a lifetime in and I’m not always sure what they’re getting out of it. Besides, pre-19th century records will often involve a fair degree of supposition, especially where names are relatively common. The level of certainty about who you are tracing can get very wobbly indeed so unless you’ve got especially prominent family heritage or who had a well recorded status in their area I’m a little wary of anything heading back to the 16th century or earlier…
Enjoy it, but think about what you are getting from it (a time focused activity? something to bond you to real historical people and places? a sense of self/family?) and is that what you are after.