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Archiver > GENBRIT > 2001-06 > 0991524801


From: "Jonathan Frayne" <>
Subject: Re: Genealogy - Just a family thing?
Date: Sun, 3 Jun 2001 00:33:21 +0100
References: <vavR6.27$1H4.160053@newsr2.u-net.net>, <wy6fruAZQ4F7Ew4M@tdrake.demon.co.uk>


Ok. That's an enormous snip, but . . .

Surely all that any of us can do is trace a name(s)? The only connection
between genealogy and genetics is the first four letters of the titles.
Hence my problem with the idea of genealogy. I am much more comfortable with
Family History as a family is a much more amorphous idea and contain quite
happily people who have been adopted, at one extreme, and named children of
mothers at the other. What makes the whole subject fascinating to me is the
growth of networks of people who shared the same name and how they
interracted with what was going on on the wider arena.

I think I can detect a linkage between Family Historian and Local Historian
which is espousing something quite positive. On the other hand I also see a
link developing between genealogist and antiquarian which is to see
genealogists as people trying to link genetics and history and ignoring the
realities of life such as the likely 'bastardy' which occurs so often in
trees and therefore interrupts the genetic record! Surely antiquarians
merely accumulated 'facts' without interpretation or judgement of the
sources. In this context they were mere 'ancestor baggers', albeit that they
had a powerful political motivation at the time (i.e. the mid to late 19th
century).

I see family myths, symbols and heirlooms as really important to us as the
latest generation in that they give a message from the past (whether it is
the one intended or not!). Soi disant genetic inheritances are just that-soi
disant!

Jon

> >Now for the final question, how much will your ancestors be able to
> >find out about you, and will they have enough to make a fair judgement
> >on what you say you are like?
> Which is exactly why you should start your family history by writing
> your autobiography and family reminiscences.
> --
> Barney Tyrwhitt-Drake


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