Every Ancestor Is Worth Finding

As usual, when I start to write, I have little idea of what I will eventually say. I often start with a question that I try to answer, or a scenario that develops into something more, often unexpected. That is exactly the approach I took with my latest book, my memoir Where Stories Lie Buried. I began with the what-ifs and wrote about what I did, what I discovered and what I learnt along the way.

What If You Find an Ancestor You Do Not Like?

Every family historian dreams of a hero. A pioneer, a poet, perhaps a duke or two. Someone to admire and feel proud of. Then the records arrive.

There is always the risk that you will find an ancestor you do not like. Someone who was cruel. Someone who ended up in jail. Someone who abandoned a spouse and children and never looked back. You will not be so proud of them, but you can’t change history.

And royalty? You will rarely find a link to it, despite the family myths. I was told that the Welsh carry Spanish blood, through the sailors who fled after the Armada. History does not back that up, so I remain Welsh, with probably a lot of English thrown in. Go back far enough and who knows? I haven’t done my DNA, but those who have find it fascinating.

So who do we find?

In thirty years of searching, I did not discover a single famous person. My ancestors were more like you and me: ordinary people who lived extraordinary lives, simply by surviving the hardships of their time.

Whoever they were, they lived through history. They were there when events happened, the good and the bad. They crossed oceans, survived pandemics, and raised children through wars and depressions. They did it without complaint, because they had no choice. We have lived through history too, in different ways, but are we as compliant, I wonder?

Whatever the case, I found myself drawn to the women: the stalwarts, the backbone, the quiet achievers. The ones history overlooked. Women who defied conventions, built a business, or left a legacy, just as they do today.

Then there’s the gap between the facts

The records tell us what happened. They rarely tell us why. That gap between the facts is where the real story lives, and it is what keeps me researching and writing their stories.

Your ancestors may not be people of importance, but you will not know until you seek them out. Even the ones you would rather not meet have a story, and someone has to find it.

My memoir, Where Stories Lie Buried A Memoir of a Genealogist Turned Author, answers the questions I am asked most. I share the moments of despair, the failed searches and the joys of discovery, along with the background to my ten novels, and offer hints and tips to help you pull your story together.

Which ancestor surprised you most, for better or worse? Tell me in the comments on Facebook or LinkedIn where I share this post, because every story is worth telling.

Where Stories Lie Buried A Memoir of a Genealogist Turned Author is available from Amazon, Paper Plus Browns Bay, and direct from here.