Filling in the Background

Like a painting, a written family history is far more interesting if the background is filled in, not just the subjects of the work. Stark details of births, occupations, names of ships, etc are interesting but may not keep the reader engaged for long.

You may be wondering why your German forbears made the journey to New Zealand or Australia in the 19th century. Why did they leave their culture, their language, their families and their lands behind to come to a strange place? As you write your story, you plumb the depths of your own knowledge, often finding gaps in your understanding. This is where research into, for example, social conditions in Germany at the time, the changes to people's situations caused by the industrial revolution, etc, becomes so valuable. You may not know for sure what particular circumstances caused your ancestors to make the momentous decision to leave, but you can guess at some of the possibilities and hypothesise some likely scenarios.

A site that you may find interesting if you have British forbears is Vision of Britain. You simply enter your village or area name to view historical descriptions and statistics, maps, geographical and social information about that specific locality. The information available is for the period 1801 to 2001. This is useful when writing about why the family members left Britain when they did.

Because my Maxwell family history is so closely related to the New Zealand kauri timber trade, it has become more and more obvious that I needed to learn more about that industry. What exactly is a pit sawyer? What is a timber jack used for? Where did bushmen come from, etc. While writing my story, I hope to make it much more readable by fleshing out the less riveting aspects with stories and facts about the harvesting and milling of kauri.

There are many resources available online and in libraries to use to fill in your backgrounds. Take the time to record the sources of your information and attribute them in your writing. Then your work will be complete - subject and background nicely filled in!