The latest and genealogy, plus apps, books on history podcasts and websites
Tracing Your Family History With The Whole Family
A Family Research Adventure For All Ages
Robin C McConnell Pen & Sword, 168 pages, £14.99
Having been involved in encouraging young people to take an interest in family history for decades, I wondered if there was anything new to be said about the subject. It turns out that there is, and Robin McConnell provides a fresh perspective.
This book contains suggestions for making family history research an activity that can be done by the whole family. The emphasis is on working as a team and making the process an exciting adventure. McConnell stresses the value of family history for young people and the value of using stories as a hook to draw them in, as well as building on their interests. There are sections on how to prepare for a research project, how to interview older relatives and how to involve teenagers.
The author also underlines the importance of young people telling their own stories, thereby creating family history for the future. McConnell discusses bridging the gap between home and school, suggesting ways of linking research with the broader curriculum, not just the history syllabus. Finally the author explores methods of recording family history creatively and looks at where to go next. The book concludes with a bibliography, index and appendix of resources, and a description of a case study.
Most publications that advocate encouraging young people to participate in family history do so with the expectation that those young people will be working on activities in a largely independent way. McConnell’s different approach, with its emphasis on family history as a shared activity, is refreshing. This is a must-read for anyone hoping to engage young people in a quest for their heritage.
Janet Few is a writer and researcher, and the president of the Family History Federation (familyhistoryfederation.com)
The Searchers
The Quest For The Lost Of The First World War
Robert Sackville-West Bloomsbury, 368 pages, £25
When the guns fell silent at the end of the First World War, the whereabouts of more than half a million British troops were unknown.
Most would be presumed dead, their remains swallowed up by the carnage of the Western Front. For the families of those missing, important questions went unanswered. Had their sons and husbands survived, and if not, what had happened to them?
In the years since the end of hostilities, extraordinary efforts to determine the fate of the lost were made by the staff of the Wounded and Missing Enquiry Department of the Red Cross, and later by the War Graves Commission. Initially, many of these ‘searchers’ would be female volunteers, who battled tirelessly against overwhelming odds. Later, the searchers became paid professionals who increasingly turned to the latest scientific methods to identify and honour the fallen. Over a century on the search continues, with DNA profiling greatly assisting the process.
Here Robert Sackville-West compassionately examines the work of the searchers and their quest to bring closure. It is a moving account of an often-overlooked aspect of the war, which will prove of great importance to historians and family researchers alike.
READER REVIEW: YOUR CHANCE TO ASSESS THE LATEST HISTORY AND GENEALOGY BOOKS
Keeping The Home Fires Burning
Entertaining The Troops At Home And Abroad During The Great War
PHIL CARRADICE Pen & Sword, 224 pages, £20
Keeping the Home Fires Burning tells the story of how the troops and the general public were kept happy and content during the First World War, with activities ranging from poetry to cinema, from musichall singers and artists to the creation of battlefield heroes. It was the first time that a concerted e ort to raise and sustain morale was ever made by any British government, and was a combination of government-sponsored ideas and lucky happenstance. It was all picked up and used by the new War Propaganda Bureau.
I learnt about many interesting characters. Rev Studdert Kennedy, AKA ‘Woodbine Willie’, preached in the open air and packed cigarettes into his rucksack to distribute to troops.
Cartoonist Captain Charles Bruce Bairnsfather created the popular character of ‘Old Bill’, a pipesmoking British tommy with a walrus moustache. He drew cartoons for the Bystander magazine for £4 a week, while Louis Raemaekers produced war cartoons for the Daily Mail.
I particularly liked the many photos and poems featured in this book.
This month’s reader review comes from MARGARET WATSON, MELROSE
Margaret has researched her family for over 20 years, and has been awarded a a postgradute qualifiction in genealogy by the University of Strathclyde.
JOIN US… Send us an email if you’d like to join our reviewing panel wdytyaeditorial@ourmedia.co.uk
This Mortal Coil
A History Of Death
Andrew Doig Bloomsbury,384 pages, £25
Our family trees are filled with dead ancestors, but why did they die and how were the causes of death in the past different from today? Here Andrew Doig attempts to answer these questions, and turns a rather sombre subject into a fascinating one. He examines a number of specific causes of death in detail such as plague, smallpox, cholera, scurvy and death after childbirth, and explains how society responded.
Readers of this magazine will perhaps be particularly drawn to the chapter focusing on life expectancy over the centuries.
It was in the 30s in the Middle Ages, whereas today it is about 80 in the UK. Doig explores how this dramatic change has occurred, and why we are so much more fortunate than our forebears.
Infections killed most of our ancestors before the 20th century, so it was not until we acquired an understanding of hygiene and the role of micro-organisms in causing disease that there could be much improvement.
From the Black Death to the Hillsborough disaster, this book is a thought-provoking account of everyone’s ultimate fate.
Dr Simon Wills is a genealogist and the author of How Our Ancestors Died (Pen & Sword, 2013)
MEET THE AUTHOR
In her book What Happened to Uncle Norman? family historian SUE CAVILL reveals how she traced a mysterious great uncle
How did you come to write the book?
My interest in family history began in the early 2000s. We’d been to a family party and my daughter said, “How do we know those people, Mummy?” When I tried to draw a little tree for her, I had no clue. Fast forward a few years and I was thinking “I’m going to tidy this up”, and I noticed that my grandfather had a brother that I had no recollection of. So when I next visited my parents I asked Mum, “What happened to Uncle Norman?” She replied, “Oh dear. He deserted during the Second World War and went to Canada, leaving a wife and six children.”
So I started researching him, and over the years I’ve accumulated quite a lot of information.
I jokingly said one day “I think I should put this in a book”, but left it. Then I stumbled across a writing challenge on Facebook and I thought, “You know what, let’s just do this.” Once I got started it was very hard not to finish the project.
What made you want to write about Norman?
Mostly because what happened to him was such a surprise. I’d got to the point where I was searching in Canada, and I couldn’t find anything. I thought, “If he’s changed his name, I’m never going to find him.” Then one day a hint popped up on Ancestry (ancestry.co.uk) that he was in Australia. I did a quick Google search, but didn’t get anywhere. Later I decided to Google an alternative name for him and I came across a website for the WA Brass, a brass band in Western Australia, which mentioned that he was a cornet player who played for the Black Dyke Band and won the Champion of Champions at the Albert Hall. I thought, “No, this can’t be my Uncle Norman.” The next thing I know I’ve got his army record from Australia, and it is indeed the same guy. I was constantly hopping between Australia and England to get all of this information together about his life. I spoke to the son of the lady that Norman lived with towards the end of his life and he sent me a mass of information, including the picture that’s in the book, which completely had me floored.
What did you find out about Norman?
It seems that when he was in England he was a bit of a git, for want of a better word, but by the time he got to Australia he was this brilliant guy who helped loads and loads of people. He won the British Empire Medal, and he did loads of work for children’s charities. He’s almost like two halves of the same person.
You Can Buy A Signed Copy Of What Happened To Uncle Norman? From Suecavill.com. It Costs £11.99 Including UK P&P, And £1 From Each Purchase Is Donated To The Commonwealth War Graves Foundation
DIGITAL PICKS
Rosemary Collins highlights three digital resources that caught our eye this month
WEBSITE
Family Research 2016
irishgenealogy.ie/en/2016-family-history/welcome
Free
Created by the National Archives of Ireland, this free online course is an excellent resource if you have Irish roots and are looking for a challenge. The modules will guide you through Irish research with helpful information and exercises to do at home.
WATCH
BYU Family History Library
tinyurl.com/yt-byu-fam
Free
Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, USA, offers a programme of family history webinars, which are now available on YouTube. There are a lot of topics to explore, including general introductions to the subject; tips for such websites as Ancestry (ancestry.co.uk), FamilySearch (familysearch.org) and Findmypast (findmypast.co.uk); and a round-up from RootsTech 2022.
PODCAST
Blast From My Past
shows.acast.com/blast-from-my-past
Free
Family history site MyHeritage (myheritage.com) has launched its own podcast, exploring true stories of people whose lives have been changed by discoveries about their family’s past. The first episode sees author Yvette Corporon reveal how she found out the truth about the Greek island community where her grandmother grew up under Nazi occupation.