Author Topic: The Family in History  (Read 1515 times)

Offline 2mi3museum

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The Family in History
« on: Wednesday 20 November 19 08:48 GMT (UK) »
Have you ever checked the Chronology and analyzed the effects of historical events on your family?
Some stories in family has been told like a fairy tale, but noone knows the reasons behind.

Here in this article, i tried to analyze the history and my family. Compared the told stories with chronology... The natural disasters, politcal decisions, wars that effected their lives...From 1880s to 1950s...

https://www.2mi3museum.com/ourfamilyinhistory
Vafiadis, Sanzoni, Daravanoglu, Koskeri, Akasi, Koulurgioti

Offline Kiltpin

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Re: The Family in History
« Reply #1 on: Wednesday 20 November 19 13:34 GMT (UK) »
I use an Excel spreadsheet for each of my family groups.  The master sheet has all the world, national and local events pre-entered. It is usually easy to see, at a glance, why people were doing what they were doing.   

Two examples - 

By having a time-line, I worked out that it was not the 60+ year old widowed grandmother who was having the illegitimate children, but rather the 16+ year old feeble-minded daughter. 

For the longest time, I could not work out why about 100 people left Hull, never to return, all in the space of about 1 month. When I added in the Hull dock bombings all became clear - No homes and no jobs. 

Brexit has already caused job losses locally. I expect genealogist in the future will point to this time as a pivotal time in our history. 

Regards 

Chas
Whannell - Eaton - Jackson
India - Scotland - Australia

Offline Maiden Stone

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Re: The Family in History
« Reply #2 on: Wednesday 20 November 19 23:55 GMT (UK) »
A famine in Mayo, Ireland in 1879 (the "Forgotten Famine") was pivotal for my paternal line. Earlier famines and economic distress in Ireland for one of my maternal lines. A long-term effect of the famines was to decrease marriage prospects for those who remained.
The Industrial Revolution in Britain, particularly "King Cotton" in Lancashire. Canals. 
Founding of one of the world's oldest building societies in Longridge, Lancashire to build houses and workshops for handloom weavers & related trades such as nailers (bringing my nailer 5xGGF from south of the county), and expansion of the stone industry in the village attracting my stonemason 5xGGF from the north.
Railways, specifically rail link between Longridge and the town of Preston to transport stone. The growth of Preston, drawing in people from surrounding areas.
Going back a few hundred years earlier, the Reformation. Some of my English ancestors and the Irish ones stuck to the old religion. English ones declined to take Protestation oaths. Their choice of spouse was mainly limited to their co-religionists.  By 1800 the head of the Anglican branch of one family was worth 3 times the Catholic one.
 A new stagecoach route in late 18thC, coincided with growth of popularity in sea-bathing, changed a quiet inn,  located in a small coastal town, to a busy & profitable coaching-inn for my ancestors who had been landlords for generations . Gradual relaxation of laws against Catholics, allowing those innkeepers and their relatives to become equal citizens, particularly regarding tax, property, inheritance and education. Decision of the lord of the manor to redesign the town-centre and demolish the inn, whereby my innkeeper family departed for the smoke of Preston and the metropolis of Manchester to run other inns and businesses. The younger son, (my 3xGGF) married in Manchester.
Radicalism in politics and trades unions in Preston during first half of 19thC. Strikes and trials.  Chartism; demonstrations; shooting of demonstrators (outside the house of sister of a 3xGGF; another 3xGGF may have been taking part in the demonstration). Great Preston Strike & Lockout 1853-4 and ensuing trials.  Peoples' Parliament in Manchester at the same time. My Preston-based, Scottish-born ancestor was involved in many of those events.
Lancashire Cotton Famine, a consequence of American Civil War.
I already knew about historical events. I'm pleased that some of my ancestors were participants, especially in the struggle for democratic reform and fair wages.
Cowban

Offline 2mi3museum

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Re: The Family in History
« Reply #3 on: Thursday 21 November 19 07:17 GMT (UK) »
It's really perfect to hear that there are people like me who interests in history and compare the effects on their family :) I'm not alone:)
Vafiadis, Sanzoni, Daravanoglu, Koskeri, Akasi, Koulurgioti


Offline pharmaT

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Re: The Family in History
« Reply #4 on: Thursday 21 November 19 08:53 GMT (UK) »
I regularly check the exact dates of historical events to check what, if any impact they may have had on the people I am researching. 

So far in my tree I have: poor law reform campaigners, Covenanters (standard bearer at Battle of Drumclog), people displaced by both the potato famine and Highland Clearances, people whose movements around the country matched the new railways being opened.
Campbell, Dunn, Dickson, Fell, Forest, Norie, Pratt, Somerville, Thompson, Tyler among others

Offline Gadget

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Re: The Family in History
« Reply #5 on: Thursday 21 November 19 10:10 GMT (UK) »
There are a few threads on this aspect of family history here:

https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=163836.0

More works have been written since though!


Gadget

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Offline Lola5

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Re: The Family in History
« Reply #6 on: Thursday 21 November 19 11:53 GMT (UK) »
I too have been interested in the history of the time of my folk.
Kiltpin....re Hull.
Born in Hull before Ww2 we left when I was one?
The reason my mother ,at the start of the bombing , upped sticks and moved South was  to be near her family while her husband was to be  away at sea. The night after she left the house in  Hull it had a direct hit but furniture etc had  been loaded and was on its way. Lucky?
Common sense/ sixth sense  on her part was the reason for the move.

Why did agricultural workers from Suffolk end up in industrial cities  as mill workers,living in crowded tenaments?
Because of the  advent of machinery on farms which had once employed several men and horses and now needed fewer workers and starving families took up the offer of free train fares to employment rather than face the workhouse.
How did my farming Irish folk survive the famines and stay put ? Because they had a good landlord possibly?
History is entwined  with genealogy.
Family history is not about collecting lists of names but who the people were,  how they lived or even what they wore to a wedding in 1792?,
How did some , agricultural workers or gardeners have ten surviving children while others  of wealth had two and lost both?
How does  a certain special ability come down so many generations?

The movement of people across the country or across countries is mainly about survival or betterment whether it is  necessitated  by war,, famine , plague or fear.




Offline Maiden Stone

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Re: The Family in History
« Reply #7 on: Thursday 21 November 19 20:16 GMT (UK) »
Gadget reply #6. Thanks for drawing attention to those resources.
I've been reading about a chaplain to Preston House of Correction in 19thC. who contended that parents were allowing their children to die so they could collect money from burial clubs because a dead infant was more cost-effective than a live one. This was refuted by a contemporary writer who pointed out that cholera and other epidemics, poverty, bad housing, inadequate water-supply and sanitation were the real causes of childhood deaths. My Preston ancestors would have had frequent recourse to burial clubs for their children in 1830s and 1840s.
 Nigel Morgan, Preston historian, wrote a book "Deadly Dwellings"
  Preston History website https://prestonhistory.com
A search in Preston newspapers for the names of streets where my ancestors lived was enlightening but not in a good way.
Cowban

Offline Lola5

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Re: The Family in History
« Reply #8 on: Thursday 21 November 19 21:01 GMT (UK) »
What a very unchristian , judgemental remark for a chaplain to make.