What do you want from your family history?
I've been thinking lately about the different reasons people come to a genealogist.
Often the initial request sounds quite straightforward: I'd like you to research my family tree.
But I've learnt that "family tree" can mean very different things to different people.
Some people really do want a tree – something they can see and display. I've recently been working with a designer, Annie, who creates beautiful family tree artworks (Acorn Family Trees), and it has made me think more about the difference between the research and what we eventually do with it.
Family Tree © Acorn Family Trees
A genealogical chart might show the generations, relationships, dates and places.
A family tree artwork can take that same research and turn it into something quite different – an artefact for the family, perhaps to hang on a wall or pass on to the next generation.
But not everyone wants either.
Some people want to trace their direct line back as far as they can. Others want all the siblings as well – and sometimes all their descendants. Some aren't particularly interested in going further back at all. They want to know more about the people they have already found. Where did they live? What did they do? Why did they migrate? What might their lives have been like?
And sometimes there is one particular question that needs answering. A missing ancestor. A family story that may or may not be true. An unexpected DNA match. An unknown biological parent. Those projects can take us in quite different directions.
It means that one of the questions I find myself asking at the beginning of a project is not just who do you want me to research? It's what do you want to know – and what would you like to have at the end?
You don't always need to know the answer. Sometimes that's part of the conversation.
Over the next little while, I'm going to explore some of these different kinds of family history projects – charts and trees, direct ancestors and wider families, family stories, mysteries, DNA and perhaps a few others I haven't thought of yet.