Results 1 to 8 of 8
  1. #1
    Starting to feel at home
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Wiltshire
    Posts
    97

    Cool Where to even begin

    Hi guys,

    So I know so much now about my family, and about the main events in their lives. I would love to write up a family history, Ive had a great idea of a 'Diary' that would be kind of passed through each generation as if it had been handed down and carried on by the next relative. I want to write it out so all the major events are included but to fill them out as stories, and to add world events in too, such as WW1 etc to make it seem like a real diary and to avoid big gaps between events.

    But i dont know where to start, Im not really great at writing this out so far, I have this amazing idea in my head and no book!

    Is there any advice or anyone out there who would like to help me write it or parts. Im unsure what to do with it if it gets done, obviously to share with family. But I dont know if other people would be interested in a familys story through the years?

    ADVICE

    :-)

    Ryan

  2. #2
    Reputation beyond repute
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Kent
    Posts
    16,792

    Default

    Best to stick to the facts.

    Just my opinion.

  3. #3
    Kiltpin
    Guest

    Default

    Hi Ryan,

    I would advise two things.

    Firstly - a time line. I use Office Excel. Each line starts on the left with the Date (Year:Month:day, each in a separate cell), then Who, then their Age on that date, then What Happened. Mistakes in the tree are then so easy to spot. It will also be easier for you to write about as you will have the skeleton of the story to start with.

    Secondly - It was very popular at one time to write a story as a diary. Something of this fashion -

    81 London Road,
    Brandon,
    Suffolk
    1st January 1900


    Dear Diary,
    I am so filled with excitement, I hardly know where to begin. My beloved Mary has just given birth to a son! Our first born and a boy as well. I am so filled with pride and I must tell you that tears of joy are running down my cheeks as I write. The midwife says that he is healthy and neither he nor the mother is giving any cause for concern. What a row he made. I know his lungs are healthy!
    We have decided to call him William after Mary's father and John after me.
    I must stop now, Diary, as I was sent down to make a pot of tea for the ladies.
    Yours truly
    John Wiffler (and Mary)
    Proud parents of William.
    At some point, Mary takes over, or it is John and Mary together, but finally it will be William who is making the entries. And so the cycle carries on. Different events could have more than one entry. A wedding could have the vicar writing -
    I announced the banns today of George XXX and Mildred YYY, both of this Parish.
    A wedding photograph gives huge scope for writing about the dresses and the suits - height of fashion or hand-me-downs.

    The beauty of writing this way is that each event is a chapter in itself and can be written in any order and only collated when most of it is done.

    I think that it is a great exercise and would be pleased to read it.

    Regards

    Kiltpin

  4. #4
    thewideeyedowl
    Guest

    Default

    Hi Ryan

    Facts come first. I'm going to assume that you are using/have access to some sort of 'family tree' program, e.g. Family Historian, Legacy, Roots Magic etc, and that you have recorded all sources in such a way that (i) makes sense to you and (ii) and would be easily understood by any other researcher. So I suggest that you print out an Individual Summary Report for each main person in the tree. I use FH and can make Notes on each person as well as add Facts. The ISReport that can be generated and printed then includes all this info and all the sources will be listed at the end. These reports give you something to work from.

    You can then do a Timeline for each 'significant' individual. (Use Wikipedia to check on exact dates, e.g. my father was born in 1922 before the change of government, so David Lloyd George was still Prime Minister.)

    You have already spotted the main problem with writing: 'Who is going to read it?' This is the key thing when writing anything, so first work out who your readers will be and then write in an appropriate way for them. You could try to create a bit of interest amongst the uninterested by writing a 'story' from an artefact, e.g. a trinket, vase, picture that has been passed down. Lots of possibilities there, because the younger generation will be familiar with the object itself and may be intrigued as to why it is significant/has been kept. (My family has a battered old metal photo frame that has been kept because it is a love story - a bullet ricocheted off the frame, which a soldier was carrying in his breast pocket at El Alamein. And in the frame was a photo of his sweetheart, so the soldier always said that she had saved his life.)

    I'm sure lots of other things will be suggested too. Just keep it simple.

    Off to roost.

    Owl

  5. #5
    Wilkes_ml
    Guest

    Default

    Also remember to search newspapers as much as you can. If you are lucky to find ancestors or their siblings in articles, you can get extra interesting stories to add. I found an ancestor involved in a voting scandal, another's brother-in-law had a neighbour arrive at his door confessing to the murder of his mother. Another ancestor's brother-in-law beaten by police after being suspected of stealing cigarettes and matches from a cigarette machine. Another ancestor's brother a wife-beater. Some stories I've come across are so awful I wouldn't want to include them, but most are very interesting (to me anyway!)

  6. #6

    Default

    And don't forget the history of the place they were living (but be careful, that's how my One Place Study got started).
    Things went on that would have coloured the lives of the community - for example, the first hot air balloon over Scotland landed in one of my ancestral villages, it must have been exciting for everyone especially the kids. Very wet springs would have caused hardship, as would outbreaks of disease (human or animal). Did a local major employer close (or start up). Were the young men of the village heading off to one of the wars of the 19th century (even if your own folk didn't join)? It would have affected the others.

    To make a book more interesting for those outside the family, you need more than a "begatterey" by using the family as a thread that connects the history of their area you contribute to the history of the community. It's also very interesting as it tells you how they lived and it's the lives of the "ordinary people" that frequently lack detail.

  7. #7
    Loves to help with queries
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Perth, Australia
    Posts
    132

    Default

    I agree with the timeline suggestion, but would go beyond individual timelines. A timeline like kiltpin suggested that includes everyone's details in order for a particular period can be very informative, and reveal information and links that you wouldn't otherwise notice. For instance, there may have been a lot of childhood deaths in the family in a short space of time (how did that affect everyone? Was there a reason such as an epidemic?) It also acts as a framework for the story ( "In 1882, not long after John's father died, the family moved to London. "..."Alice, the youngest child, was born in the same year that the oldest child Alfred joined the army" etc) You can add other historical events and see how the family story relates to them. ("The First World War had just begun when Fred and Ivy were married").
    If the wider family don't all live in the same place, you'll have to work out how much they would have known about each other - not forgetting how long it took for a letter to arrive in the days without telephones and email. But once you get going, I'm sure you'll find it's actually an enjoyable exercise that will give you a much deeper sense of your family's history.

  8. #8
    Starting to feel at home
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    London, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    77

    Default

    I took an online course a year or so ago with Gil Blanchard at Pharos Tutors, and found it very useful. We actually did a few pieces of writing while we were in the course, which I've saved to incorporate in a book for my family. We also talked about research, organization of the book, and writing up stories to highlight particular ancestors, places, occupations, etc. I just checked Pharos and Gil doesn't seem to be doing it any more, but there is a similar course called Are You Sitting Comfortably. Writing and Telling Your Family History, tutored by Janet Few at: https://www.pharostutors.com/details....ursenumber=216
    Gil Blanchard also has a book out called Writing Your Family History, which looks like it might be useful.

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Select a file: