Family History

In today’s world are “genealogy” and “family history” used interchangeably.

 Half Merk - “Noble” (6.57 gm Silver)

Some however consider that both ‘genealogy’ and ‘history’, are but two side of the same coin. Thereby in order to fully understand the “whole” object and  to provide a fair treatment of our view of it, that we need to consider both side independently and yet holistically at the same time.

While is common for people to use the terms ‘genealogy’ and ‘family history’ interchangeably, they actually have a subtle but different meaning. Genealogy, the study of ancestry and descent, refers more to the actual search for ancestors, while family history, the narrative of the events in your ancestors’ lives, denotes the telling of  Clan Forsyth family’s story.

Clan Forsyth Queensland now has over 35 years of experience in researching both sides of this coin and we can assure you that the better your understanding of your own family history, the more your study of its genealogy will come alive for you.


PLACE YOURSELF IN THE WORLD OF AN ANCESTOR.

To experience the difference between genealogy and family history, place yourself in the world of an ancestor.

For the best experience, select one for which you only have a few dull, dry facts such as birth date, hometown, marriage, children and burial location. Then try to learn the circumstances of his/her life – what he did to put food on the table, how he spent his leisure time, his position in the town or community, the cost of living in effect at the time, the types of food he ate, the clothes he wore, diseases which were prevalent for the time period, the traditions he followed…

In your quest to learn more about where you came from, don’t limit yourself to the ‘genealogy’ searches alone. Flesh out the lives of your ancestors, tell the stories of your living family members, and bring your family history to life. After all that is what be a member of a Clan Forsyth Queensland, is really all about.

 


 

Family History Turns “Lifeless” Genealogy Facts into Family History

Have you ever looked at your family heritage information and wondered, “what’s the missing story?” What happened that caused your ancestors to choose a certain set of actions? Or what events brought them to a particular situation? Unfortunately, your ancestors are not around to fill in these “missing stories.” You don’t really know why an ancestor immigrated, for example. Or what happened that caused great-great grandpa to change occupations.

Although there may be no way of knowing or verifying why something happened, a little deduction can re-create the likely “missing stories” of your ancestors’ lives.


 What’s Your Missing Story ?

Although the researcher doesn’t know if these proposed missing stories are what actually happened, the facts support the possibility… and it does make an interesting ancestor soap-opera!

How to fill in the missing stories in your family history:

You may also be able to infer reasons for ancestors’ actions based on history. Perhaps the potato famine in Ireland caused your ancestors to migrate. Or was a family breakup caused by political events?

For example, it was not unknown for brothers who fought during the Great War.

Mounted Infantry

Maybe you can deduce sibling bonds. Our great grandfather and one of his brothers enlisted together and served in the same unit during the Great War. Whereas a third brother enlisted separately and served in a different unit. This might indicate that the brothers who enlisted together had a close bond and wanted to stay together during the fighting.

There are probably a myriad of deductions you can make based on your family history facts. If you include them though, be sure to state that they are only opinions based on facts, and are not verified.

So think beyond the facts!

Deduce what you can about what happened in your ancestors’ lives and turn your heritage facts into heritage stories.


LINKS TO CLAN FORSYTH QUEENSLAND – HISTORY PAGES

 (CLICK on the links listed below to visit the page.)

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