Reasons to Love Family History

 

“Genealogy offers a gateway into an extended family, linked vertically through time rather than horizontally in the present.  In a world of confused and multiple identities, it promises a deeper sense of who we are” Graeme Davison - Lost Relations: fortunes of my family in Australia’s Golden Age (2015)

There has never been a better time to research your family history. Supported by a billion-dollar industry, in 2017 alone, Ancestry.com generated a revenue of $1billion, partly contributed to by its DNA product.

There is a myriad of reasons why people “do” their family history.  To record and preserve for all time the history of the family, to verify family stories – to determine if family stories about ancestors are true, to research an historical event of where an ancestor was connected. It might be to find birth parents or a proof of paternity – To determine the birth parents of an adopted child. Alternatively, to find children given up for adoption.  To document a community history by understanding the families that founded and influenced the community. To preserve the knowledge of ancestors who contributed to family traditions and to preserve Family Culture of their ‘old country’. Or, it might be to reconnect with Family.

Through your research, you might discover an awesome story, the highs and lows of human life.  It might be to gain a better understanding of the lives of your pioneering ancestors and to know where they came from.  It might be to connect with long lost cousins, learn more about the old letters that you inherited, explore names in the family bible and to put stories to the faces in your heritage photos.

For some people. the fun of researching family history lies in the ease of accessing records online, or of being able to research in your pyjamas, 24/7.  It is the thrill of the research journey and solving the jigsaw!

 National Family History Month 

This August is National Family History Month.

Yarra Plenty Regional Library is hosting the following events:

Genelaogy Group: "Ivanhoe Genies"

Libraries After Dark: Immigration Stories

Family History Digital Photo Restoration

The Wrens and the Wireless War (online event)

Introduction to Genetic Genealogy: Using DNA for Family History Research

Ancestry Library Edition continues to be available for access at home.  Please log in to the website first.

Have a specific query? Send it to us via our Ask a Librarian service.