Ruth Alexandra Symes's Books

Tracing Your Ancestors Through Letters and Personal Writings

By: Ruth Alexandra Symes

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Tracing Your Ancestors Through Letters and Personal Writings

By: Ruth Alexandra Symes

Could your ancestors write their own names or did they mark official documents with a cross? Why did great-grandfather write so cryptically on a postcard home during the First World War? Why did great-grandmother copy all the letters she wrote into letter-books? How unusual was it that great-uncle sat down and wrote a poem, or a memoir? Researching Family History Through Ancestors' Personal Writings looks at the kinds of (mainly unpublished) writing that could turn up amongst family papers from the Victorian period onwards - a time during which writing became crucial for holding families together and managing their collective affairs. With industrialization, improved education, and far more geographical mobility, British people of all classes were writing for new purposes, with new implements, in new styles, using new modes of expression and new methods of communication (e.g. telegrams and postcards). Our ancestors had an itch for scribbling from the most basic marks (initials, signatures and graffiti on objects as varied as trees, rafters and window ledges), through more emotionally charged kinds of writing such as letters and diaries, to more creative works such as poetry and even fiction. This book shows family historians how to get the most out of documents written by their ancestors and, therefore, how better to understand the people behind the words.

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Page Count

281

Publisher

Pen and Sword

Published Date

ISBN 10

1473855438

ISBN 13

9781473855434

Family First

Tracing Relationships in the Past

By: Ruth Alexandra Symes

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Family First

Tracing Relationships in the Past

By: Ruth Alexandra Symes

This book is a blend of social history and family history covering the years 1800-1950. It is structured around the relationships which fascinate those interested in finding out more about their ancestors, fathers, mothers, babies, children, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and the elderly, friends and neighbours. The book will examine how readers might find out more specifically about how their own ancestors functioned in these relationships when and in what circumstances did my ancestor become a father? What records can tell us more about his role as a father? Each chapter starts with a guide on how to interpret the most common and direct of family history sources (photographs, BMD certificates and censuses). The book then goes on to examine each relationship in its changing historical contexts how, for example, did the role of a father differ in the Victorian period from earlier periods? What similarities and differences were there in behaviour and roles between fathers of different social classes? How did fatherhood change in the context of the two world wars?

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Page Count

257

Publisher

Pen and Sword

Published Date

ISBN 10

1473833884

ISBN 13

9781473833883

Family First

Tracing Relationships in the Past

By: Ruth A. Symes

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Family First

Tracing Relationships in the Past

By: Ruth A. Symes

Discover the history of family roles and relationships—and how to learn more about your own ancestors. A blend of social history and family history, Family First looks at relationships and our attitudes and experiences surrounding them—fathers, mothers, babies, children, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents and the elderly, friends and neighbors. This book examines how readers might learn more about how their own ancestors functioned in these relationships, and what records might tell us more. Each chapter starts with a guide on how to interpret the most common and direct of family history sources, then goes on to examine each relationship in its changing historical contexts—how, for example, did the role of a father differ in the Victorian period from earlier periods? What similarities and differences were there in behavior and roles between fathers of different social classes? How did fatherhood change in the context of the two world wars? How has family size changed? How have opinions shifted about marriage between cousins? Explore these questions and more in this intriguing book.

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Age

Page Count

215

Publisher

Pen and Sword

Published Date

ISBN 10

1473874041

ISBN 13

9781473874046

Book's by Ruth Alexandra Symes

Tracing Your Ancestors Through Letters and Personal Writings

Tracing Your Ancestors Through Letters and Personal Writings

Family First

Family First

Family First

Family First

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