Every Voice Matters

[chiddicks]

As family historians and family story tellers, it’s our job to make sure that every voice matters, even the smallest of voices 

https://chiddicksfamilytree.com/2021/07/04/every-voice-matters/

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[frostyknight]

I agree chiddicks. There are certain ancestors I identify with and others not so much. But one of the things I enjoy about my research is finding the people, especially the children,  whose existence had been forgotten due to the passage of time.

When I started researching in the early 80s, I discovered my grandmother had been one of eight children, 5 of whom were still alive in the 1911 census. I found 2 of the 3 deceased in parish records (died as teenagers) but was still missing the final child. I had no idea if I was looking for a boy or girl or when the child was born. Finally, when the older civil records (Ireland) were made available, free, on irishgenealogy.ie, I found her, a girl who had lived only for a couple of minutes. It only took 30+years!  She's now on my tree on Anc., no longer forgotten. I've a particularly soft spot for baby Agnes.

[chiddicks]

I agree chiddicks. There are certain ancestors I identify with and others not so much. But one of the things I enjoy about my research is finding the people, especially the children,  whose existence had been forgotten due to the passage of time.

When I started researching in the early 80s, I discovered my grandmother had been one of eight children, 5 of whom were still alive in the 1911 census. I found 2 of the 3 deceased in parish records (died as teenagers) but was still missing the final child. I had no idea if I was looking for a boy or girl or when the child was born. Finally, when the older civil records (Ireland) were made available, free, on irishgenealogy.ie, I found her, a girl who had lived only for a couple of minutes. It only took 30+years!  She's now on my tree on Anc., no longer forgotten. I've a particularly soft spot for baby Agnes.

Thanks frosty knight, Agnes will never be forgotten now thanks to your tenacity and determination to fund her after all these years.

Sadly we sometimes lose the stories of those children that died between the Census years and it’s to easy to forget them. I hope our experience will help to inspire others with their research.

[Erato]

The sad fact is that a birth record and a death record make up virtually 100% of the "voice" for children who only lived a day or two.  I'm more concerned with the "voices" of people who lived long lives but left no discernible footprint - mostly women who didn't work outside of the home, who never made it into the newspapers and did not even get a detailed obituary.  I have hundreds of such people who must have been at least a little bit interesting but who are reduced to just a handful of dates.

[Viktoria]

Yes, late one night, immersed in finding my mother’s many sisters and brothers, suddenly a name came up ,age and just Born——
                                                                         Died——- 
Nothing about a bonny  girl who died aged sixteen from Pernicious Anaemia -,no details of her stoicism  when prescribed eating raw liver in an attempt to get some Vitamin  B12 into her system.
Her thick auburn hair and how painful it was when brushed by her father who did his all his  daughters ‘s hair every evening,a hundred strokes .
Blanche got a gentle few as she got frailer.There were seven girls ,then another was born just before Blanche died.
That baby died aged a few weeks old ,with twins - the baby boys of Blanche’s oldest sister Selene .
I speak of 1883 to 1910 .
So four funerals in as many weeks , how did my grandmother cope with  that??
Well she adopted four children of a neighbour ,husband deserted that family and mother dying from TB .
I know these things from my mother who told us so many stories , but for future FH searchers ,who won’t have access to my notes ,that side of my family history will be lost.
My children are not interested at all, had I had them in hospital I would think they were not really mine!
Viktoria.

[coombs]

Some ancestors have caught my imagination more than others, especially the ones who travelled a lot. I just visited Kings Lynn where my ancestor was mayor in the early 1590s and actually bought the St Mary Magdalen old almshouse/hospital in the town in 1594.

My paternal gran's mother from Oxford spent some of her early teens in North London then moved to Sussex by 15 then to Essex.

Plus I have many more ancestors who travelled.

[chiddicks]

The sad fact is that a birth record and a death record make up virtually 100% of the "voice" for children who only lived a day or two.  I'm more concerned with the "voices" of people who lived long lives but left no discernible footprint - mostly women who didn't work outside of the home, who never made it into the newspapers and did not even get a detailed obituary.  I have hundreds of such people who must have been at least a little bit interesting but who are reduced to just a handful of dates.

Sometimes we can only get extra context from looking at the lives of friends and extended family members. Using the FAN idea you can at least gain a better understanding of what a typical life would have been like.

[chiddicks]

Yes, late one night, immersed in finding my mother’s many sisters and brothers, suddenly a name came up ,age and just Born——
                                                                         Died——- 
Nothing about a bonny  girl who died aged sixteen from Pernicious Anaemia -,no details of her stoicism  when prescribed eating raw liver in an attempt to get some Vitamin  B12 into her system.
Her thick auburn hair and how painful it was when brushed by her father who did his all his  daughters ‘s hair every evening,a hundred strokes .
Blanche got a gentle few as she got frailer.There were seven girls ,then another was born just before Blanche died.
That baby died aged a few weeks old ,with twins - the baby boys of Blanche’s oldest sister Selene .
I speak of 1883 to 1910 .
So four funerals in as many weeks , how did my grandmother cope with  that??
Well she adopted four children of a neighbour ,husband deserted that family and mother dying from TB .
I know these things from my mother who told us so many stories , but for future FH searchers ,who won’t have access to my notes ,that side of my family history will be lost.
My children are not interested at all, had I had them in hospital I would think they were not really mine!
Viktoria.

Such a sad and painful story to tell but all that detail paints a really clear picture. I can just see her father brushing her hair and the wincing from the pain that’s such a vivid memory. You don’t get these stories from just BMD’s it shows the importance of talking to your older relatives. Have you written these stories Viktoria?

[chiddicks]

Some ancestors have caught my imagination more than others, especially the ones who travelled a lot. I just visited Kings Lynn where my ancestor was mayor in the early 1590s and actually bought the St Mary Magdalen old almshouse/hospital in the town in 1594.

My paternal gran's mother from Oxford spent some of her early teens in North London then moved to Sussex by 15 then to Essex.

Plus I have many more ancestors who travelled.

We all have those ancestors that capture our imagination more than others and there’s nothing wrong with that. Over the years I have been strangely drawn to some ancestors more than others, it’s hard to describe, but you are just drawn for some unknown reason. Is it ancestral memory? Who knows