The Psychology of Family History

Exploring Our Genealogy

Susan Moore, Doreen Rosenthal, Rebecca Robinson

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9781000196429
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: History & Theory in Psychology
• Index: History

This important book examines the motives that drive family historians and explores whether those who research their ancestral pedigrees have distinct personalities, demographics or family characteristics. It describes genealogists' experiences as they chart their family trees including their insights, dilemmas and the fascinating, sometimes disturbing and often surprising, outcomes of their searches.

Drawing on theory and research from psychology and other humanities disciplines, as well as from the authors' extensive survey data collected from over 800 amateur genealogists, the authors present the experiences of family historians, including personal insights, relationship changes, mental health benefits and ethical dilemmas. The book emphasises the motivation behind this exploration, including the need to acknowledge and tell ancestral stories, the spiritual and health-related aspects of genealogical research, the addictiveness of the detective work, the lifelong learning opportunities and the passionate desire to find lost relatives.

With its focus on the role of family history in shaping personal identity and contemporary culture, this is fascinating reading for anyone studying genealogy and family history, professional genealogists and those researching their own history.

Chapter 1

Family history

Passion and popularity

Family historians are passionate about their hobby. Millions worldwide are researching their ancestral past, many seriously enough to purchase DNA tests and memberships of commercial family history companies or genealogical societies. In May 2019, the world’s largest genealogy company Ancestry.com announced that there were 100 million family trees and 11 billion ancestor profiles on its database, 15 million people had taken DNA tests with the company and many millions were researching family histories through their sites (Ancestry.com, 2019). These figures are increasing exponentially, year by year. The US, UK, Canada and Australia are the top four countries in which people subscribe to Ancestry and other genealogy companies, but significant interest comes from other nations as well, particularly as more records become digitised and available online.

It is said that, after shopping and watching pornography, family history is the most popular online activity. What motivates these amateur genealogists? Why the worldwide interest in tracing family trees? Not surprisingly, people have a range of motives or reasons for their interest. For some there may be practical reasons such as tracing an inheritance, checking if a family story is true or satisfying curiosity about a family portrait or a particularly interesting relative. For many, the quest to document one’s ancestors appears to go beyond idle curiosity and answers to ‘one-off’ questions. Our research suggests that many of the estimated 25–30 million who spend significant time on their family history hobby harbour an intense and passionate commitment to discover and tell the stories of ancestors.

It’s a growing industry, with private and government organisations selling access to databases of birth, death, marriage, immigration, newspaper, crime and military records, to name just some of what is available. Family history and genealogy conferences are becoming more numerous, family history tours and cruises are popular, people are buying DNA tests for themselves and as presents for family members. Among dedicated amateur and professional genealogists, money is spent on photographic restoration, scanners, software packages, purpose-built filing systems, creative writing courses, self-publishing – the list goes on.

Can we determine the source of fascination in family history and ascertain what drives its proponents to spend so much time – and money – on this pursuit? One aim of this book is to attempt just that – to examine what drives amateur family historians and to explore their motivations. We also aim to document the outcomes and feelings that amateur genealogists experience as they chart their family trees, describing the kinds of insights and dilemmas they face and the key positive, negative or surprising results of their searches. To do this we draw on theory and research from psychology and other disciplines, as well as from our own extensive case material and survey data collected from nearly 800 Australian amateur genealogists. Here are some of their comments:

I feel like a light has gone on for me in the last two years, suddenly feeling this urge to understand where I have come from and the joy in learning about it.

It is an all-consuming passion that is hard to walk away from as there are always more mysteries to solve.

It’s addictive, challenging, frustrating, joyful, sad …

Let’s begin by presenting some background to this endeavour, with comments on the differences between genealogy and family history, the history of these activities, the processes they employ, and the tensions between academic historians and ‘amateurs’, including family historians. The chapter concludes with an introduction to our own research on family historians, data from which illustrate many of the subsequent chapters.

Genealogy vs. family history

Strictly speaking, genealogy and family history are defined differently, even although they overlap markedly in content and methodology. According to familytree.com, genealogy refers to the documentation of family lineage – collecting birth, marriage and death data and producing pedigree charts of ancestors. Family historians do this also but may focus more on stories, biographies, descriptions of events and family achievements or even the disease/illness/health events of ancestors and living family members, as in medical family histories. Wikipedia distinguishes between the two terms, suggesting that, while they are often used interchangeably, genealogy is more likely to relate to tracing a deceased individual’s descendants and family history traces a living individual’s ancestors. In this book our intention is to use the terms synonymously unless specifically indicated.

A brief history of family history

In ancient times, oral or written genealogies were produced to argue that the lineages of important people could be traced back to gods, kings or prophets. Genealogical research has been used in the past (and the present) to validate claims to the throne, to the wealth and power of the nobility or to inheritances of those who die intestate or whose wills are contested. Also important is the age-old oral tradition of passing down family stories, a practice that helps to consolidate a sense of belonging to a family, tribe or community.

A famous genealogy is Debrett’s Peerage and Baronetage, a reference guide to the United Kingdom’s titled families, listing the hereditary peers, life peers and peeresses, baronets and their descendants (Debrett’s Ltd., 2019). The peerage originated as far back as feudal times and James I of England created the baronetage in 1611.

An example of an extensive written family tree is that of Confucius. It has been maintained for over 2,500 years, and in 2006 had around 1.5 million members (males only!) covering more than 80 generations (India Times, 2000). From 2006, female descendants were to be listed for the first time. Another example is found in Iceland, where the genealogy of the entire population has been recorded, in most cases back as far as ad 874 (Harness, 2012).

John Farmer (1789–1839) is considered the founder of systematic genealogy in America, his work transforming the activity from an elite pastime for the upper classes to a more popular leisure pursuit (Weil, 2007). After Farmer’s death, his work led to the foundation of the New England Historic Genealogical Society in 1845, probably the first genealogical society in the world. In the late 19th century, similar groups began in Scotland (Little, 2007). Demonstrating the danger of making predictions, in 1853 William Whiting gave an address to the New England Historic Genealogical Society in which he stated, ‘It must be admitted that the study of genealogy will never become a popular pursuit’ (Whiting, 1853).

The Genealogical Society of Utah was founded in 1894 by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) to assist in the tracing of family lineages in order to fulfil religious purposes (discussed further in the next chapter). Its large (and free) online database has assisted many family historians to get started and helped to promote the activity.

Modern-day popularisation of family history was probably spurred on by television programs and other entertainment media. One well-known example is Roots, a 1977 mini-series about a young Gambian warrior captured by American slave traders (based on a novel by Alex Haley, 1976). The story of his family in America, told across more than two centuries, was one of the most watched mini-series ever shown in the United States. Film, fiction and non-fiction that dramatises family sagas has also stimulated interest in the history of ‘ordinary’ people rather than kings and queens. Examples are Winston Graham’s Poldark series, set in Cornwall and London between 1783 and 1820 and Elizabeth Jane Howard’s chronicles of the Cazalets, a fictional English family followed across five generations as they cope with two world wars and beyond (e.g. Graham, 1945, 2015; Howard, 1990).

Attitude change is important too. Bishop (2005) argues that Americans did not always want to know too much about their ancestors because of the possibility that they behaved badly. However, mind-sets have changed. First, people have come to recognise that criminal or antisocial behaviour is more likely to be socially conditioned than innate. For example, in Australia, having a convict ancestor was once considered shameful and to be hidden at all costs (because criminality might ‘run in the family’), whereas today many Australians view it as a badge of honour, nominating their convict ancestors as ‘Australian royalty’. There is more understanding of the extreme poverty or social injustice that drove many to crime, and a growing recognition that these transported felons helped build the nation.

Second, what communities want to keep secret changes over time. By way of illustration, illegitimacy and divorce were once considered shameful but this attitude is far less common today. From the other perspective, some activities not judged harshly in the past are nowadays viewed as heinous. For example, descendants of early white settlers in Australia are uncovering the possibility that their forebears were implicated in violence against the indigenous peoples (e.g. Barnwell, 2018; Grenville, 2006). What we discover about our ancestors is not always comfortable; there are villains as well as heroes. Whether the collective guilt associated with these events will discourage people from exploring their family histories further is yet to be seen. The popularity of television documentary series such as Every family has a secret, and Who do you think you are? suggests this is unlikely.

Finally, the availability of so much data online has made ancestor research readily accessible to the masses, and much of it can be conducted at home. Not only can documents and records be downloaded or purchased from your laptop, many old newspapers are digitised and searchable. Various individuals and family history societies have set up information-rich websites to be explored. And of course, DNA testing opens up new lines of investigation to pursue, new puzzles to consider and another tool for what family historians call the breaking down of brick walls.

The process of family history

From an early age we notice our family members and talk about how we are related to one another. It becomes clear even to very young children who their parents, sisters and brothers are and, if they are lucky, their grandparents. If only some of their grandparents are alive, they might ask about the ‘missing’ ones and begin to think about their father’s and mother’s parents and grandparents. In close families, uncles, aunties and cousins often feature in family gatherings; in families separated by physical or emotional distance, these relationships might only be experienced through pictures, birthday cards or discussions with parents. It is these early interactions that give us the feeling of ‘clan’, that group of individuals who are so important to us and evoke such strong emotions – love, security, belongingness and sometimes irritation, anger or grief. Curiosity about our clan arises from the pivotal role that family plays in our lives. It is hardly surprising that we want to know more, especially at life’s turning points such as when we have children or grandchildren of our own, when a parent dies or when we come face to face with our own ageing and mortality.

So studying family history usually begins with us talking to our nearest relatives, listening to their stories, piecing together the relationships, achievements, tragedies, triumphs and scandals that characterise our kin. But as we get serious about tracing our lineage, we want to know more. We collect birth, death and marriage certificates, military service and census records, newspaper articles and photos, even heirlooms such as family Bibles. Although these documents and artefacts can help us to draw up ‘trees’, they often raise more questions than they answer. Why can’t I find a birth certificate for my paternal grandmother? Who was the woman my father called ‘cousin’ but never explained who her parents were? Why are there anomalies in an ancestor’s birth, marriage and death certificates? What happened to the child born to my maternal great grandmother with her first husband?

Such questions can motivate more directed and formalised talking and listening. Family historians collect oral histories, usually from older family members. The techniques of sensitive and creative interviewing need to be employed to tease out secrets, aid memories and allow interviewees to relax and tell their stories. Ethical issues arise as to how much or how deeply to question a relative. Surely we own our own life story and have the right to share or not share it, or to present it with a little gloss if we so desire. How do we as family historians get at the ‘facts’ from the web of accurate and inaccurate memories, available and missing records, mistakes, self-delusions and sometimes outright lies that greet us in our searches?

Standards of proof are important, and the dedicated genealogical researcher looks to ‘triangulate’ data, especially when there are ambiguities or inconsistencies in information collected. Most genealogical societies provide guidelines for standards of proof to assist the dedicated family historian to decide on the reliability of any new finding. The more that records coincide to support a particular relationship, date or event, the more we can trust the accuracy of our findings.

As well as records and oral testimonies, research into the times in which our ancestors lived enriches their stories and can help to support a particular ‘family legend’ or make it seem less likely. We gain more insight into the past through understanding context such as the role of wars, famines, discrimination, poverty and politics on emigration, crime, marriage and work options. Why did so many young single women leave their homes and families of origin in the mid-19th century to come to Australia and marry convicts? How did England’s corn laws or Scotland’s Highland Clearances affect the populations of Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada? Our ancestral stories make more sense embedded in the web of world, national and local events. General historical research often becomes part of the family historian’s approach.

A more detailed discussion of information seeking by family historians is provided in a paper by Darby and Clough (2013), in which they outline a stage model of the processes and activities that family historians undertake. Stages increase in depth and difficulty, beginning with a trigger event and continuing through data collection, managing complexities and ambiguities, then drawing conclusions in steps that may be repeated for each ancestral line. The paper reveals the extent of new learning that this hobby involves, and firmly classifies family history research as a serious pursuit rather than a trivial time-filler.

No doubt because their paper was written before the popularisation of DNA testing, Darby and Clough (2013) do not include discussion of this resource in their model of information seeking. This more recent genealogical tool is now readily available and leading to many breakthroughs, although it often raises as many questions as it answers. Finding your DNA ‘matches’ with others who have been tested gives more clues as to possible ancestry because a match (of reasonable size) with someone else means that you have a common ancestor. Working out who that common ancestor might be is not always easy, but the process can help extend the family tree, provide supporting proof for particular relationships or indicate errors in your research so far. For example, if you and someone you believe to be a first cousin do not share any DNA, then one of you is likely to be mistaken about who your biological grandparents were. As we see in Chapter 4, this has led to instances of individuals finding out that they are not who they thought they were, a situation that can raise intense positive or negative emotions as those involved come to question the very foundations of their identity.

Except in unusual cases, family historians and genealogists are not able to test the DNA of already departed ancestors, only that of living relatives (but see Box 1.1 for an example of using DNA to identify a very famous body). There is talk of extracting DNA from old letters but at the po...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Boxes
• Acknowledgements
• Chapter 1 Family history: Passion and popularity
• Chapter 2 Spiritual and religious underpinnings of genealogy
• Chapter 3 Identity: Who do I think I am?
• Chapter 4 Biological realities: Who am I genetically?
• Chapter 5 Beyond the self: Altruistic and intergenerational motives
• Chapter 6 Family history as therapy
• Chapter 7 The genealogical detective: Cognitive motives for family history research
• Chapter 8 Health: What are my inherited health risks?
• Chapter 9 Ethical dilemmas: What should I do now?
• Chapter 10 Conclusion: Family historians and their future challenges
• References
• Index