Family History or Local History?

Last week as I dropped off some leaflets at the morning coffee meeting of the Leamington History Group I was greeted with the sally “Nigel was talking about your house last week”.  I had meant to be at Nigel Briggs’ talk for the Sydenham History Group “A stroll down Clapham Terrace and Square” but had missed it.  A virtual stroll I might add.  I had wanted to hear about the rest of my street and what he had found out – after all I had lent him my deeds to photograph.

I actually started my interest in family history with the release of the 1901 census online but because we had the old house deeds my initial interest was in who lived in my house in 1901.  It was only later that it dawned on me that you could use the census for family history.

Family history is not just about your family but about the locality in which they lived.  Similarly local history is also about local people and their families.  Some people make artificial distinctions between them but really it is all part of one big story.  The national “big picture” history is all part of it too.

There is no one way to research.  What you research is dependent on what your family did and experienced.  If you have soldiers you need to research soldiers, if nonconformists (chapel people) you research nonconformism in your area.  So every family history researcher gains expertise in different areas.  Some researchers set goals to find as many relatives as they can.  Some follow up individuals and tell their story.  Most of us fall somewhere in between promising ourselves to write up our research soon but then being lured away by the thrill of the chase.

Local history can be a little more accessible to those not so computer savvy and this may be why it seems to be experiencing a renaissance locally.  Those photos and memories so often lost within individual families are being collected and enjoyed by a wider public.  It may be that the answer to some of our more recent family history puzzles lies somewhere in a local history group’s files.

So don’t just stick to your family history last, go out and embrace the local history of your ancestors’ areas.  Learn new skills and viewpoints and look again at your ancestors with fresh eyes.