Saturday 1 February 2014

The 'Big Picture' on Family Research

Where are we?
When enthusiasts talk about research into their family tree it is often about "mobile apps"; new "records online"; the "cloud" they are using; and those somewhat perplexing and annoying, sometimes foreign things called "ipads". I  prefer people to slow down and define some of the words they are throwing around. I must admit, it does return frustrated looks at times. I have qualifications in computer programming. But I like to ask probing questions about the big picture.

People rarely explain the 'big picture'; and these days it is getting worse. We want the short answer, and fast. When I became the senior planner for a local authority, I walked into a political firestorm and knew nothing of it. No-one thought to explain to me (perhaps because  I didn't ask the right question) that the council was split down the middle into factions. That is why they appointed their first town planner; yours truly. I was meant to take the subjectivity out of the argument.

In I quietly walked, Mr Polite and Charming; like a lamb to the slaughter. It took me few weeks to realise that there was a reporter at every meeting. The story I got was that the engineer-planner had become 'too busy', and had to "hand off planning". My reports were quoted at least once a week for the next five and a half years. At one time my comments were in both lead stories, left and right, on the front page of the newspaper. There was a string of false accusations about planning decisions over the whole of my term. It wasn't until years later that I read the full background to my appointment in a book!

Looking back, in those 5 and half years I would have benefited from knowing their antagonism was directed not so much at town planning, but more at the philosophy of the opposing faction; and was born in that tug of war for dominance.

What is Genealogy Research? 
One of the terms you come across is "Genealogy". It is officially defined as:
"An account or history of the descent of a person or family from an ancestor; enumeration [i.e. listing] of ancestors and their [immediate] children in the natural order of succession; a pedigree."
(Websters 1913 Dictionary)
You will find that in some websites the meaning above is paramount. For example, in FamilySearch Family Tree it has a very significant meaning in relation to the end game for a lot of its users; and it is the dictionary meaning. In other web sites, the users are not particularly affected.  

Family History
In my experience, the term "family history" in popular use has become interchangeable with "genealogy", erroneously. By family history most people mean a "family-narrative".  

"Word Origin
C15: from Latin historia, from Greek: enquiry, from historein to narrate, from histōr judge" Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
"history
n. late 14c., "relation of incidents" (true or false), from Old French estoire, estorie "chronicle, history, story" (12c., Modern French histoire), from Latin historia "narrative of past events, account, tale, story," from Greek historia "a learning or knowing by inquiry; an account of one's inquiries, history, record, narrative," from historein "inquire," from histor "wise man, judge," from PIE *wid-tor-, from root *weid- "to know," literally "to see" ." "history."
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. HarperCollins Publishers. 17 Feb. 2015. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/history>.
The product of genealogy research is, on the other hand, a 'bare-bones' family structure; principally the 'pedigree', including, as a "SIDE-SLIDE", the immediate children of the folk in the pedigree; all the direct children. The whole thing is now popularly called -- the "Family Lineage" (of the starting person listed in the pedigree). So, pedigree is now another one of those 'summary' words we all use! Just as "dictionary" is not just for 'meanings':
"Diction is the way you talk, that is, the way you enunciate or pronounce your words"(http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/diction)
How many times do you use the 'dictionary' just to find the pronunciation? The thing is, we actually use a lot of code when talking to one another; the full meaning is not always conveyed. 

So, whenever someone talks to you about family research, here's a tip: ask them what they mean by certain terms. 

For example, what does a person mean by : "I want to find my first four generations of ancestors". Does he include the children of all those 4 generations? Where is the starting generation? His generation? Because, for example, if you are helping a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the host of FamilySearch Family Tree), the Church teaches an obligation in relation to your 'pedigree', for at least four generations (introductory 'Family Chart'; starting with yourself) which, as we have just seen, also includes the immediate children of ancestors on the direct line. That is why the LDS Church is supplying the free site.

If you are a professional researcher, today, and say: "Here is your family history", a pedigree chart, most people would want their money back; because there is no historical scaffolding. Do you get emotional about a chart? Because that is not what we 'see with our ears', for example, on the immensely popular "Who Do You Think You Are?" TV program. It's about the family stories. Do people watch the program to see charts?

The tag 'Family history' has been grafted onto the concept of "genealogy" because a pedigree contains names with dates; and a sequence. Partly to gain public support. Its a "lineage" sort of history. I have seen enough people so unmoved by this form of history to know, however, that this is not what the ordinary person is looking for, unless he thinks he might be an heir to a fortune, or a title. The thing is, however, you cannot compile a "family-narrative" unless you know how to do genealogical research.

And here's another thing. In my experience, you can't do effective genealogy without the scaffolding of a family narrative.

Be sure, in your research you will confront an informational gap between the living family and the records seen online, coming from civil records. Privacy laws stop the publication of possibly sensitive details. The disconnect between generations today (evidence from the "Who Do You Think You Are?" TV series) means there is less knowledge of the 'vital data' ("BDM") for grandparents, and great-grandparents, than say, between the World Wars.

You will probably need to bridge this gap by resort to family traditions; or stories. If you are lucky, someone may have already talked to the living family and after checking the vital details, compiled a family history; or there may be a Family Bible, something which tends to belong to an earlier time. Newspapers will have more information in their Family Notices, but only up to a privacy 'cut-off' date. See post below for a Case Study on this information gap.

"The Informational Gap in Civil and Parish Record Systems" 

What is Pedigree?  
Ok; so perhaps you are somewhat prepared to re-visit:"What is the pedigree; really"? In somewhat blunt terms, a pedigree is your genetic background. So it is fairly easy to imagine the answer to the question: "Does it include both parents?" Well, where did your genes come from? "Ummm..OK". There is your answer.

Relationships in a pedigree are shown as a series of lines. Parents are connected by a horizontal line (--) and a vertical line ( | ) leads to their offspring. Technically (if you are interested in technical; there is another divide), there are numerous symbols used in "official" pedigrees.
"A Pedigree results in the presentation of family information in the form of an easily readable chart. Pedigrees use a standardized set of symbols, [for example] squares represent males and circles represent females...[etc, etc]" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedigree_chart)
 Some pedigrees use number systems:
"An ahnentafel..or ahnenreihe ("ancestor series"; German) is a genealogical numbering system for listing a person's direct ancestors in a fixed sequence of ascent. The subject ( progenitor) of the ahnentafel is always listed as No. 1, the subject's father as No. 2 and the mother as No. 3, the paternal grandparents as No. 4 and No. 5 and the maternal grandparents as No. 6 and No. 7, and so on, back through the generations. Apart from No. 1, who can be male or female, all even-numbered persons are male, and all odd-numbered persons are female. In this schema, the number of any person's father is double the person's number, and a person's mother is double the person's number plus one [because the male is listed first]." (op cit)
For instance, if the number of John Smith is 10, his father is 20, and his mother is 21. Light bulb moment.

 Taken a step further, the first 15 numbers, identifying individual names in 4 generations, are as follows (quote):
"(First Generation)
 1  Subject

(Second Generation)
 2  Father
 3  Mother

(Third Generation)
 4  Father's father
 5  Father's mother
 6  Mother's father
 7  Mother's mother

(Fourth Generation)
 8  Father's father's father
 9  Father's father's mother
10  Father's mother's father
11  Father's mother's mother
12  Mother's father's father
13  Mother's father's mother
14  Mother's mother's father
15  Mother's mother's mother
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genealogical_numbering_systems)
So genealogy is interested in the pedigree; and some limited side information.  But it should be noted that pedigrees are shown in different ways, dependent upon personal preference or the amount of space available. Lets go back to the 'bare' basics.

"The word pedigree is a corruption of the French "pied de grue" or crane's foot, because the typical lines and split lines (each split leading to different offspring of the one parent line) resemble the thin leg and foot of a crane." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedigree_chart)
Crane Leg with Split Foot
You probably won't get that concept if you happen to visualise a crane flying! So let's grab a crane. Here is a pic of 'cranie' which gives sense to the quote. Aha! Staying with our captured cranie for a moment (I will hold him firmly for a minute), and we will see how pedigrees are shown in different ways.

Family Tree Version
Sometimes the poor old cranie is stood on his head (you have to be careful of his beak), with the feet split at the top (called "family tree"). In this form you are at the bottom (watch out) and the branches contain your ancestors. This, for example, is called the "portrait view" in FamilySearch Family Tree. "Aha", you say. I get it!

Sometimes the pedigree is shown as merely the direct-paternal-line; a half pedigree. Very macho. Probably Italian.

Some pedigrees are drawn literally as a tree; probably American. This has led to a "romantic" concept, the oak tree, to which the masses can easily relate. 

This form is very popular in American literature; and the picture of a dignified tree is used as the logo for the TV series: "Who Do You Think You Are?". "Where is the biggest audience for this series?" Well, "Where are the most family researchers?" USA of course! "Who Do You Think.." is a very good general education; just remember a team of genealogists work flat out for months doing the research. I have to tell you; it is not as easy as they make it look! Refer to another post, this Blog.
 
Traditional Version
In another version, cranie is lying down with head on the left and a split foot (or feet) at the right. No, it is not called the "dead duck" version. This is called the "traditional view" in FamilySearch Tree. "Sweet". No; it is less "romantic", but allows better extension over several pages, and this is where a numbering system is very useful.

Human Biology Version
The 'inheritance studies' version commonly uses the crane foot 'as it stands' (excuse the pun): split feet at the bottom, head at the top.  Possibly because it reflects the concept of biological characteristics being inherited. Things like a very long nose (or beak), from a single set of parents, by successive generations coming afterwards. It reflects an interest in "the appearance of an organism resulting from the interaction of the genotype and the environment" (i.e. 'genes'; http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/phenotypes?s=t).Got a biologist in the family? He will easily spend a couple of hours explaining this to you.

Descendancy Version
The same crane-foot-'as-it-stands' concept is used by genealogists and family history researchers, but not for biological study in its purist form. It is called a "descendancy chart". Professional genealogists use this form to decide wealth inheritance and conferral of nobility from a great noble one. That got your attention? Check out your earthly nobility at College-of-Arms.Gov.UK. Just remember, coats of arms are for specific individuals or families; not all persons with that surname, which is not told to you by some dealers in ancient coats of arms. Light bulb moment. Ever walked into a home and seen an ancient coat of arms and crest displayed? Now you will know the big picture, and the home owner will wonder why you have a bit of a raised eye brow. Shush.

The Bigger Picture
You should ask for a "descendancy chart". It depicts all the descendants of an individual and is, therefore, narrowest at the top, where the beak is, if I can just hold cranie long enough... Such form has been used to track the generations from Confucius. FamilySearch Family Tree offers this form as a "Descendancy View". There you go; coming together?

Well, I can let him go now. There he is; the big picture. There's a lot more to cranie than we imagined, hey?

What is Family History?
What people usually mean by "Family History" is a more comprehensive, warm and fuzzy  concept:: namely genealogy extended to include the style, personality and accomplishments of their ancestors -- their personal circumstances, challenges and stories; together with  their extended families and the descendants of the ancestors (see descendancy inset). Nice isn't it? Just remember it is a "family history"; and not meant to be done by just one person. You have a life too!

'Bare Bones' Pedigree and Comprehensive, Family History
Family History & Genealogy Inform Each Other
The point to be made now that terms have been defined,  is that genealogy and family history inform each other. To pursue this concept, please go to the Post shown below.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)