FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH IN MANY GUISES!
By Glynn Burrows
ON BIG BLEND RADIO: Glynn Burrows has a Family History discussion with genealogist Aryn Youngless, author Elaine A. Powers, and travel writer Jo Clark. Watch here in the YouTube player or download the podcast on Podbean.
As most of you know, I do a lot of research into family and local history, but research is a massive part of so many other professions! We are all doing research for much of our day, many of us never realising just how much importance it plays in everyday life.
According to the dictionary, (yes, that is a great research tool): Research is a detailed study of a subject, especially in order to discover information or reach a deeper understanding.
Some great synonyms to be found in the Thesaurus, (another research tool), include: analysis, exploration, inquiry, investigation, delving, and scrutiny.
We carry out research for many different reasons and there are many different ways to find information, but I have found that once I put on my “research head”, I am able to increase my knowledge of a subject quite simply.
Let’s look at a few examples:
One of my guests was researching for a book she was writing and needed to find out how people lived in Medieval England. She had read a lot of books and been to museums, now needing to visit actual sites and buildings. I was able to take her to several amazing Medieval Monasteries and Abbies and we also went to a couple of Castles and lots of Churches, but, after our few days together, she told me that the most amazing part of the trip for her was when I had arranged a trip on a small wooden sailing boat, in awful weather and on a very cold day, as that gave her and experience which enabled her to get a deep and personal insight into how people travelled in Medieval times. She knew rivers were major thoroughfares before we had better road systems, but her personal experience was the best research into what life was like for the main characters in her book.
One group of visitors was from a major London museum, and they were looking to put on an exhibition of Ecclesiastical Art. I arranged visits to seven local Churches to look at the items of interest and to see if they would fit in with their intended places in the exhibition. Again, as with my writer, these visitors had carried out all the research they could from London. They had seen photographs, had measurements, and read up all about the history of each item, but the only way they could actually see if the exhibits would “fit,” was to see them “in person”.
Sometimes, research must go totally off track, to find information about a subject! My next example shows that when looking at family history, if details about a person are not being found, it may require an investigation into someone else’s history, to find out about the one I am looking for. I have been looking for my 3X great-grandmother for years and she was proving extremely elusive. Her surname was Chesney, but there are so many spellings, including Chestney, Chastney, Chasteney, Chestnut, etc, etc, that I couldn’t find her after 1851, when she was living with her brother. I had put her to one side for several years and then, one day, I decided to bring her out of the folder and make a concerted effort to find out what happened to her. I knew that she had had two illegitimate daughters, one, my 2X great-grandmother, Mary Ann, was born in 1843 and brought up by her grandparents, and the other, Maria, was born in 1851, and, like her mother, disappeared. Using the census search and looking for a Maria, born in 1851 in Mileham, there were several options, but only one with a mother called Mary. This was Maria Youngs and searching for the marriage of a Mary and a Youngs, I found Robert Youngs and Mary Chasney had married in 1852. There was my 3X great-grandmother and her family.
I have many examples when I have used this method, (looking at someone who I knew was connected to the family), to attempt to locate people and it always adds to my knowledge, even if I don’t actually find what I am looking for!
With local history, going off track to find information can be especially exciting, but it does mean that, for someone like me, I do end up going down tunnels and alleyways which keep me away from what I am supposed to be doing!
One time, I was looking at a really amazing source of information, contained in a little publication written in the 1850’s, for a Parliamentary Report on the condition of water and sewerage in one of my local towns. It went into amazing detail and, looking into this report, I discovered that there were several others from the same series, covering other local towns and even one village, in my area.
Looking through one of them, I discovered that there was a prison in one of the towns and I had never heard about it before. Going down that rabbit hole turned out to be a very entertaining and informative escapade. I discovered that not only did this prison have a treadwheel, it was one of the first ones in the country and, as the Prison Treadwheel was designed by a Norfolk Millwright, it was yet another hole I could find myself disappearing down.
The interesting thing, for this researcher, was the story of one prisoner who, whilst taking a break and talking to another prisoner on the wheel, which was strictly forbidden, was accidentally drawn into the mechanism and killed.
All of that local history came out of my going off on a little journey, like Alice in Wonderland!
Glynn provides customized, private tours and helps his clients trace their English family history. Past guests have visited and experienced stately houses and gardens, castles and churches, ruins and villages, birding and wildlife, World War II airfields, and general area taster tours too. Accommodations can be in all types of establishments, from character buildings such as windmills, thatched cottages and castles, self-catering or five star luxury – just say what you want and it can be arranged. Nothing is too much trouble for Glynn! Visit www.Norfolk-Tours.co.uk
