Every Picture Tells a Story

Tracing family history is not just about making up a family tree to see who you're connected to, according to Margaret Oliver who is a member of the East Yorkshire Family History Society. Research often throws up so much more than the bare facts about who was married to whom. Margaret says family history research offers us an insight into the history of what life was like in the past for ordinary men, women and children going about their day to day business.

She says often people assume that little is known about 'ordinary folk' of a particular time frame because they wouldn't have enough written about them to note their passage through time. This she says is quite wrong because the poorest people in society were the ones in relatively most debt and therefore the moneylenders and those offering credit would keep meticulous records of what was owed by whom.

Margaret's interest in history is more than a passing one. She teaches a session on part-time degree courses in local and regional history at university. Margaret's early career was as a librarian when she was young woman and later trained as a teacher. She's returned to the work of a librarian and is now a college librarian and is also involved in some ongoing post-graduate research.

Of her photograph, she says, it's of the graveyard where her ancestors are buried at Docking in Norfolk. She visited along with her sister, the gravestones of her family as a sort of personal pilgrimage. Gravestones are very important to the work of family historians.

In summer on every other Saturday, Margaret along with other members of the East Yorkshire Family History Society are involved with 'Monumental Inscription' recording. The information on gravestones is extremely useful but as graveyards fall into decay, and fall victim to vandalism, not to mention the exposure to the elements, a lot of information is crumbling away and could be lost forever.

The East Yorkshire Family History Society provides a wealth of support for its members, many of whom don't even live in the UK. People from abroad often join on a temporary basis to find out the information they need before moving on to other areas of research. Many members are also involved with other groups with specific interests. Margaret during her interview explains her connection to the 'Buntings'.

The society charges a modest annual fee for its services, but grants access to many resources both off and online to its members and also produces a regular newsletter, 'The Banyan Tree'. The society holds regular meetings, talks and gathers together for social events. Margaret says the social element of the group is very important to its members and contributes to making the search all the more worthwhile and enjoyable.