I've signed up to findmypast.co.uk for a year. Too late to change, but there are other, more interactive sites out there where you can communicate with other genealogy aficionados and share knowledge - you can't on this one. However, I have access to a lot of records now which I didn't before, so I'm making the most of it, although this easy access has caused my concentration to dissipate, so I'm all over the place.
I've been looking at my husband's side of the family and found some interesting stories - a combination of legal records and family stories sometimes throw up inconsistencies and more questions than answers, eg why is it recorded in the divorce record that there were no children, when there clearly was a child?! This will require more digging, which I'm happy about as I like a mystery.
It being the season of Christmas and New Year, it's been rather quiet at work, so I have aided a couple of my colleagues in their family history search, which has been very satisfying, throwing light on the offhand mentions by relatives. For example, a father sent his daughter away to live with relatives, while keeping her younger siblings at home; it turns out the child was the daughter of another man - the first husband. This story was particularly poignant for my colleague, the child in question being her mother, who had all her life wondered why she was not wanted, but unfortunately had died the previous month.
A lot of time is taken up by learning history! So much more can be added to genealogy by knowing the context of the lives being studied. I've learned about the Cisplatine War (1825-1828), especially relevant to Hugh Wright's life as an agent, stuck in Montevideo between the warring Argentina and Brazil (hopping across the River Plate when trade was more profitable on the other side). I've learned about the importance of the deep waters of the port of Montevideo as opposed to the shallow Buenos Aires, the treacherous sand banks in the River Plate which played havoc with trade vessels laden with cargo from Europe. Imagine crossing the Atlantic Ocean, north to south, only to get stranded on a sandbank a mile or so from your destination!
Also, I've learned about the precariousness of life in the early C19 and the provision of charity (or lack thereof) among family members from those who have "made it" to those who find themselves in difficult situations. I don't know how much charity was socially accepted to ask for or receive, but at a time that conferred so much importance to appearance, it must have been difficult to swallow one's pride and ask. As illustration I will transcribe a letter from Bruce Wright at 23 Baker's Hill, Sheffield, to Duncan Wright (of Wright, Parlane &Co) in Manchester dated Sept 1842:
Dear Cousin,
Not having heard from you in answer to my former letter I presume it's not your intention to make any reply. I beg you will allow me to say a few words. I would not write did not a bruised body call loudly for some assistance. I have now been confined to bed for two months - and many more must elapse before I can earn a shilling. Under these circumstances any help will be of greatest consequence - may I hope a farthing from you will not be withheld.
I am
your cousin
Yours affectionately
Bruce Wright
Having read a few of the letters in the "Old Letters" bundle, it seems quite a few of them are from relatives asking for help or money. Some are letters of introduction/recommendation but very few are of the family conversation type, which makes me think that they have been carefully selected to be kept together as evidence, to be used if needed. Who selected them and for what purpose, who knows?
