Author Archives: Pauline Williams

Joan Reese Memorial Short Story Competition 2015

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I have previously encouraged GSQ Writing Group members, and anyone else who will listen, to start writing their family history. As my previous post about Christmas memories demonstrated, many images and thoughts come to your mind when you decide to write on a specific topic. Some of my other (unpublished) thoughts about Christmasses past highlight for me the value of writing my own story. What life was like when I was a child could be as alien to grandchildren, as … Continue reading

Christmas memories

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It used to be that the Christmas season started in December, but now it seems to start anytime from September onwards. This is a shame really: our happy memories of Christmas past can potentially be lost in the marketing hype which seems to go on for ever. By the time we get to Christmas Day we’re exhausted and often ‘over it’. I’ve been thinking of Christmasses when I was young. I was born and grew up in England, so cold, … Continue reading

Preserving the fruits of your labour

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Helen’s post about back-up and disaster recovery highlighted the wisdom of securing the future of your research, whether this be in print, online, in the cloud, or in any other format. One of the most satisfying ways of preserving the fruits of your labour is to publish a family history.   When writing a record of your family, you can do a chronological history, delving back into the earliest records you have found; or you can focus on a specific … Continue reading

Writing your way to a family history

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I have recently been transcribing some old documents – when I say ‘old’, I mean really old: some date to the 1600s. If your research has taken you back to pre-civil registration times, then it is likely you will have come across many and varied church and parish records and possibly also wills, apprenticeship indentures, land records, and so on. These early records are widespread in the UK, Scotland and Ireland, as well as in Europe. The study of old … Continue reading

Context is important in family histories

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A family history consisting only of facts, such as names, dates and places, can be a fairly dull read – family members may look to see that their information is correct, but get lost and bored in the detail and put the book aside. One way in which you can bring your family history to life is to add some context to your ancestors’ lives. Context helps you to understand the community from which your family came, the links between … Continue reading