Adventures in Genealogy
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Adventures in Genealogy *
school days!
As parents (and grandparents) breathe a sigh of relief, children are going back to school in this part of the world. Excitement, anticipation and not a few nerves being experienced by all. Can you remember how you felt each year on the first day back? Were you going to try harder this year? Was it all about catching up with friends you hadn’t seen for the last month or so?
I always felt each year I would make more of an effort than previously and was excited to start. I never felt nervous even starting high school I was looking forward to the challenge and change. It was always depressing to come up against a teacher who didn’t want to be there anymore, and I came up against a few of those! Thankfully my education history is populated with some exceptional teachers, and Mr Bell from Darnum Primary School was one of those. A teacher who believed everyone could succeed at something and that we all learnt at different speeds and in different ways. Our primary school went from trash to treasure in a few short months of Mr Bell starting.
I remember almost immediately after the start of the school year; we launched straight into sports competitions. Athletics and swimming championships being scheduled and training taking place. Darnum Primary School we wore the red and green bibs that were our colours complete with bloomer undies! The athletics competition seemed to always take place on the hottest day of the summer, relief coming through a quick melting “Sunny Boy” frozen ice treat.
Swimming on the other hand was held on the chilliest day of the summer and rain would inevitably be forecast. Training was always cut short due to inclement weather and while we should have considered ourselves lucky to have access to not just a 50-metre pool but also a diving pool in excellent condition, these were outside open to the weather.
What can you remember about your school days and have you looked at any of your school photos lately? Do you still have friends from your school days that you are still in touch with?
I wonder if Pauline, homemaker and farmer, thought that someone would be poring over the documents of her life 172 years after her birth?
Perhaps she gave no thought to the future, trying to eke out an existence day after day. Did she consider the past or was it full of painful memories?
Regardless her Great granddaughter is trying to rebuild her life from documents, photos and even DNA.
But what happens to this information when I’m gone? Eight Great Grandparents have produced voluminous quantities of documents and paraphernalia as I investigate their lives and those who came before them.
As any family historian will tell you “Don’t throw it out!” An example is my late mother’s photographic slides from the 1970’s. “I can’t throw those out – they’re memories! – Well, I’ll scan them first”. The majority of these slides are scenic beach shots taken on the annual holiday, which beach is anyone’s guess! They aren’t any use to anyone, albeit lovely shots most of them but not necessary for the family story bar one to illustrate our holiday choices each year. And of course, being 1970’s slides are now starting to turn orange!
My mother kept all the postcards ever sent to her from places that perhaps she wanted to visit one day. My first instinct was to send them to a local historical society for that particular area. However, as a past society member I can attest to the lack of space or storage some societies have. If I just send these postcards off, am I handballing my problem to someone else? Before you send any ephemera, photos or documents off to societies and museums, contact them first. They may have little space or suitable storage for your items. Also, what is fundamental to your family history may have little relevance to anyone else.
It is common practice for most family historians to scan important documents and ephemera and store originals some where out of the light and dust. But do you have a plan for the originals after you become someone’s memory? As important as you think these items are to your research, the person coming through cleaning up your space after the funeral may think it’s a load of useful recycling and compost material!
While you are busy doing the fun stuff (researching, checking DNA, visiting locations), take some time to factor in succession planning. Look for the niece, nephew, cousin, grandchild or even DNA match who shares this interest. Make sure they know it’s coming and more importantly that they know what to do with it.
This includes your digital files. Are they kept on a single portable hard drive or a bunch of memory sticks. Plan what to do with these – including what to do when the technology is superseded – as it will be! But that is another article all together.
