Just what does all this genealogy mean? Over the last 25 days or so I have written about various lines of my ancestry. Along that writing journey I have pondered upon other considerations and questions and like with all genealogy with each answer that we establish we create more questions.
Both my Mum's parents had family deep within the infrastructure of the South East of England, all within the Counties of Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire. Quite literally where the boundaries of those three Counties meet. I always knew that, from the early days of my research. I also knew that several family members married their Cousins and I accepted the fact that rural communities would of mean that men and women from those communities would perhaps meet through a family connection and subsequently marry. Given that so much of ancestry is contained within a small geographical area I was not surprised to see some surnames appearing more than once on my family tree.
What has surprised me is just how much name repetition has occurred. In some cases there has been a proven connection between the genealogical lines and not in others. Also the amount of family relations marrying has surprised. None so than that of my own Grandparents. A fact that I am fairly sure they did not know in their lifetime and how I wish I could ask them now just what they think of it.
After 20 odd years of researching I still feel real amazement and a buzz at what I can unearth and just what data has survived the test of time. I am also astounded at the twists and turns of my ancestry, the migration from parts of the South East to the colonials - Canada and Australia.
All these names that appear in my ancestry are more than that. They are the foundations of my history each with a set of dates as a basic framework with the added details that bring those ancestors to life. Each of those individuals would have experienced every emotion that we experience. The families that migrated would have experienced a grief of missing a relative, migrated to a better life with virtually no hope of returning home. A new life that was hopefully a better life, away from all that was familiar and reassuring to a life of chance, unfamiliar and potentially dangerous.
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