Who Did You Think They Were? - Genealogy and the Family Secret

"It's like opening Pandora's Box!" Those were the words used by actress Jane Horrocks in an episode of Who Do You Think You Are?  when talking of the journey she had just made through her family history.  "Betrayed and let down" were the words used by her aunt when she found out about her family's hidden past. These are words which strike a chord with many family historians.

Over the last decade one of the fastest growing pastimes has been genealogy and family history. Genealogy has become big business.  But for those researching their family history there is a personal element many may fail to take account off... family secrets!

Researching your family history can sometimes be like living in your own detective novel - following the clues to dig out the truth. But for the family historian the truth may not be what they think and there is a need to be prepared for what may be uncovered.

Indeed, Dr Anne-Marie Kramer of Warwick University who analysed responses to questions about family history research put to people taking part in the Mass Observation Project, based at the University of Sussex, said of family history, "It can reopen old wounds and shatter illusions about a family's 'respectable' history.  Illegitimate children, hidden affairs, troubled finances and deceit all await those determined to piece together their family's past. In investigating their family history, researchers could open up a Pandora’s Box of secrets and skeletons, such as finding there are family issues around paternity, illegitimacy or marriage close to birth of children, criminality, health and mental health and previously unknown humble origins."

Who Do You Think You Are? is a long running TV series produced for the BBC in which celebrities trace their family tree. The show, sometimes slated by the genealogical purists for its glossing over the much of the background research, focuses on the trials and tribulations of one or two particular ancestors and many consider the best scenes those in which the celebrity is confronted by the family secret.

Kim Catrall, whose grandfather disappeared when her mother was 8 years-old, discovered that he had remarried and had another family, Vic Reeves discovered his grandfather had been a bigamist and left a family behind, Bill Oddie learnt of his mothers mental issues and Griff Rhys Jones learned that his grandmother had been adopted following the death of her parents in a train crash and why the the tragedy had been kept secret for so many years.

Family historians need to be prepared for uncovering stories like these and deal with them sensitively especially if any of those involved are still alive - sometimes a little discretion can go a long way.  Of course, there are some people for whom having an ancestor who was "a bad boy" (or girl :) is a positive bonus - almost as good as having royalty in the family line.

Today having a child out of wedlock would be seen as no big deal but only a couple of generations ago it was another world.  It was considered scandalous and brought shame upon a family and many were hidden away with children being adopted out or placed in children's homes. 

Our ancestors were not all saints and it would be foolish to believe they were, but for me the programme also had other memorable moments which showed that not all family secrets are necessarily negative.

Moments such as Jeremy Paxman being almost in tears on learning of his maternal great-grandmother's life bringing up 11 children in a one-room Glasgow tenement, the story of how Rory Bremner learned of his fathers heroics in Holland during WWII or Rick Stein's travels to China to learn of the deprivations and personal tragedy of his great-grandfather Henry Parkes, a 19th century Methodist missionary to China.

It is not the tales of fame and fortune which tell the story of our forebears for those are few and far between, but it is stories like these and many others which tell a truer tale, for those secrets when uncovered tell tales of tragedy, hardship, perseverance and triumph. Of the struggles to make ends meet and to survive in conditions which today would be considered barbaric. Living through times of famine and pestilence or in the cramped filthy housing conditions endured by those working in the mills and factories of the Industrial revolution.

Who Do You Think You Are? may be entertainment built on the fame of its celebrity participants but take that celebrity away and what you find are the stories that lie behind us all.

Vuvuzelas and the 12th

I went down to see the Orange Order parade in Newtownards today.

The highlight of the parade for me though was not the spectacle.

It wasn't the music with great performances from the Ballywalter and Ballykeel Flute bands, Kircubbin and Ballyfrenis Accordion or listening to the Symington Silver Band.

It wasn't the guys in period costume leading the parade on horseback, the Lambegs, or even the elephant in a pink tutu!

No! It was when the guys came round before the parade selling the usual flags, toy drums and fluffy snakes on sticks... for, no doubt inspired by the vuvuzelas at the World Cup, among the items for sale were toy horns.

The highlight was two minutes after giving them to the kids and getting the pictures the mums realising just what a mistake they made and trying for the rest of the day to shut them up...

The Gulf Oil spill is a Lot of Gas

In the latest edition of the Discovery podcast from the BBC World Service Jon Stewart travels to where scientists on board the research vessel Cape Hatteras are studying the underwater plume of oil and gas leaking from the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico.

It discusses how around 40 per cent of the plume from the Deepwater Horizon blowout is actually methane gas and how study of this natural gas will help scientists to estimate the true extent of the oil leak and its potential impact.

Methane is also thought to be the main culprit in the blowout that started the leak, and ice crystals formed by the gas sabotaged efforts to put a containment dome over the leak a few weeks ago.

Of greater import however is how the methane poses a longer-term threat to the ecosystem of the Gulf than the oil as the oxidation of methane by microorganisms in the water can lead to oxygen-depleted dead zones where fish and plant life cannot survive.
 
Other links

http://www.helium.com/items/1864136-how-the-ultimate-bp-gulf-disaster-could-kill-millions
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=deepwater-methane-study

Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland on the move

The Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland (PHSI) has announced it is to move to new premises at 26 College Green, Belfast, which is adjacent to Union Theological College and Queens University. The Society, which has been based in Church House the headquarters of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland since its inception in 1907, hopes the move will be completed by the autumn and that disruption to the services of the Library will be kept to a minimum. If you were thinking of paying a visit to the Library it may be best to call ahead. You can reach contact the Librarian at (028) 9032 2284 or librarian@presbyterianhistoryireland.com

The move will involve a substantial expense on the limited funds of the Society however, and an appeal has been set up help offset the cost and help with the refurbishment of the new rooms. Many of the Society's members have already responded to the appeal but any donations from members of the Churches connected with the Society or interested members of the public would be greatly appreciated. Donations can be sent direct to the Treasurer, Presbyterian Historical Society of Ireland, Church House, Belfast BT1 6DW.

The Society was formed in 1907 by members of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland and the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland with the aim of promoting the knowledge of, and education in, the history of the churches of the Presbyterian order in Ireland, and to collect and preserve historical materials and records of those churches.

While the Society's main concern is with historical material relating to these Churches, the collections are of wider ecclesiastical, social and political interest and are consulted by a wide variety of students.

The Society collects items of Presbyterian interest and their library contains a large number of books, pamphlets and artefacts relating to Presbyterianism including some original manuscript material, diaries, letters, speeches and sermons. Among newspapers and journals, one of the Society's main holdings is The Witness, which ran 1874 to 1941. This valuable source of information is also available on microfilm.

The Society recent appointed Miss Valerie Adams, formerly of the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland, to the post of Librarian.

A History of the World in 100 Objects Returns for Second Series

Today has started with some great news as A History of the World in 100 Objects has returned for its second installment. I first came across this podcast in January when in it was going into its second week and I was hooked.

This BBC podcast is part of a collaboration with the British Museum and aims to recount the history of humanity using 100 object's from the Museum's collection's. 

The series, which is narrated by the Director of the British Museum Neil MacGregor, is brodcast on Radio 4 each weekday with each episode being approx 15 minutes long and the complete series being aired in three sections with the second beginning today. The first part of the series was brocast in January-February and is still available to listen to online or download

"In these programmes, I'm travelling back in time, and across the globe, to see how we humans over 2 million years have shaped our world and been shaped by it, and I'm going to tell this story exclusively through the things that humans have made: all sorts of things, carefully designed, and then either admired and preserved, or used, broken and thrown away. I've chosen just a hundred objects from different points on our journey, from a cooking pot to a golden galleon, from a Stone Age tool to a credit card." says Neil MacGregor

"Telling history through things, whether it's an Egyptian mummy or a credit card, is what museums are for, and because the British Museum has collected things from all over the globe, it's not a bad place to try to tell a world history. Of course, it can only be 'a' history of the world, not 'the' history. When people come to the museum they choose their own objects and make their own journey round the world and through time, but I think what they will find is that their own histories quickly intersect with everybody elses, and when that happens, you no longer have a history of a particular people or nation, but a story of endless connections."

The BBC blog reports "A difference between this and the first part of the series is that you will have more time to explore the world in a particular slice in time. Across the next eight weeks the objects will often reflect on larger, broader themes and issues that run across this history. These include how political leaders should rule and represent their power; how religions visualise their deities and ideals; and the potency of even apparently mundane objects to unlock secrets of the past."

Along with the brodcast the BBC have set up a website A History of the World where images of the objects can be viewed in close up and you can watch short videos of many of the objects.

The site also highlights Museums from around the country which have chosen objects from their own collections that reflect world history from each area's perspective. Over three hundred and fifty museums are already registered on the site and even Schools and individuals have also joined in the project uploading images.

If you have an interest in History or even if you don't this is a podcast worth having a look at.

What will you do when the oil runs out?

Just when will oil supplies run out and what will you do when it does? It's a question I've asked myself many times but I've never been able to find a clear answer anywhere. Of course if you feel like being pedantic the oil will never actually run out but that is only because the cost of exploration and production will become prohibitive forcing the use of alternative forms of energy.

Since the 1970s there have been warnings that oil supplies are running out and although there are those who reply that there is plenty of oil left the overwhelming opinion seems to be that it could be sooner rather than later.

The issue has become clouded by claims that many countries are grossly over estimating their reserves either for political or economic reasons. Add in other factors like the giant Ghawar field in Saudi Arabia which is now apparently producing water rather than oil (although it still produces about 5m barrels a day) or that Iraq is producing only two-thirds what it did and that Iran is producing well below potential. This reduction in production though is far overshadowed by the increasing demands made on the oil supplies by the growing economies of developing countries like China and India.

The latest estimates I've found put it at about 30-40 years worth but this is a balance between the known reserves which have peaked, improvements in technology which means being able to bring more up and the new fields which are being opened. 

But therein lies a major problem. Most of these new fields which were previously uneconomic and have now become viable because of rising demand and increased prices are in places were there is increased risk to the environment.

One just has to look the Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico and the subsequent oil leak which currently threatens unprecedented environmental damage and destruction of an ecosystem from Louisiana to Florida on which the livelyhoods of thousands depend. Predictably opponents have come out saying this was a disaster waiting to happen and, because of the conditions and risk, drilling should not have been allowed there in the first place but new fields need to be tapped and with drill sites like Deepwater Horizon now feasible... well...

In the push for new sources of oil Canada has permitted the exploitation of its tar sands which is not only devastating the local environment but the extraction of the tar oil is creating more carbon emissions than Belgium and it has been estimated that jet fuel refined from the bitumen creates a carbon footprint over 200 per cent greater than equivalent crude.

It is not only for reasons of climate change that alternative sources of energy need to be explored and brought on line soon.

Oil is a finite resource. The cost of finding new sources is hitting the pockets of everyone. Increased oil prices mean increases in transport costs and production costs. It means that food prices go up... heating costs go up... etc. Many areas of farming have become highly mechanised in order to produce foodstuffs at affordable prices but what happens when farmers can't afford to buy the diesel to run the farm machinery?

Next time you fill up your tank don't just think of the taxes government are taking but think about what its costing the environment to bring it to the forecourt and what you would do if it wasn't there.

LDS post New Irish Genealogy records on Familysearch

The LDS have added three new record sets to their Irish genealogy record Collection

          Ireland Births and Baptisms 1620 - 1881

          Ireland Deaths 1864 - 1870

          Ireland Marriages 1619 - 1898


They can be found on the FamilySearch pilot site at
 
http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#r=1&p=allCollections