The importance of context in genealogy research
Context, context, context.
When researching our family’s genealogy, we encounter events that are familiar to us today—like births, marriages, and deaths—and other events that are different from the past yet whose context we understand.
For instance, divorce and illegitimacy are no longer regarded with the same disapproval as yesteryear. We cannot imagine what the pressure of those situations was like for our ancestors, yet we do at least recognise the social stigma was intense.
We may also stumble on other nuggets of information whose meaning we’re simply unable to decode at this remove in time. In these situations, context is everything.
What is context?
Wikipedia defines context as “a frame that surrounds the event and provides resources for its appropriate interpretation.” [1]
Context is relative to the event it surrounds, defining its meaning in both space and time. Context includes historical, geographical, and cultural information that allows an event to be understood—and which cannot be fully understood without it, particularly its emotional significance or impact.
What this means for genealogy research is that past events happened in a world that no longer exists, and whose exact meanings are not generally known.
Recovering the context of an event can significantly change our understanding of it. Here are three examples from my own journey.
Looking for my father
Shortly before she passed away, my mother told me that my father only ever mentioned his own father—who walked out on the family—once. They drove past a Salvation Army band playing Christmas carols and he angrily blurted out, “They should be out looking for my father.”
This made no sense until I learned that the Salvation Army were—and to some extent still are—a de facto missing persons bureau. While visiting pubs collecting donations they were quietly scouting for people reported missing.
Without this context, very telling single sentence would exist without meaning.
The premature child
During my research I discovered that my mother had a brother, born three months prematurely in 1921, who died after 25 hours. This child was never spoken of. Yet my mother must’ve heard of him at some point, as later in her life she tried (but failed) to verify his existence.
Having found the death certificate, I wanted to establish whether there was a grave. This is where I lacked context. What was the procedure for dealing with premature deaths in 1921? We read horror stories of unmarked dumping grounds in orphanages. Surely the presence of a death certificate meant a ‘Christian burial’ had taken place?
Indeed, it had. I fortuitously met a man at a family history society meeting who helped people find graves—and who knew the context. The child was buried in an unmarked communal grave with two other infants, apparently a common practice at the time.
I have since arranged a grave marker for all three children, bringing closure to this sad chapter.
The bravery nomination
Some years ago, I appeared on Britain’s popular Antiques Roadshow TV programme, as I describe in Living with ghosts – confronting generational trauma.
While waiting to be filmed, I watched the show’s military expert provide context to a family who had a photograph of a soldier with a medal on each side.
“What can you tell me about this,” the expert asked. The family said it was an ancestor who was in the British Army in World War I. He was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM, a bravery award) as well as a Russian medal. They had zero knowledge of any connection with Russia and were at a loss as to why their relative was awarded it.
The expert explained that during the war the Allies used a system where if a nomination for a high bravery award was declined (as many were), the soldier would receive a lower award plus a medal from another country. A British soldier might receive a Russian medal; a French soldier might receive a Belgian medal, and so on.
This is what makes context critical. The only award higher than the DCM is the Victoria Cross, Britain’s equivalent of the US Medal of Honor. An ancestor bizarrely awarded a Russian medal is one narrative; an ancestor nominated for their country’s highest award is entirely another—and a great example of ancestral strength and resilience discovered through research.
If you have genealogical data without context, try doing some research, or contact family history societies or historical special interest groups. Many historical areas have Facebook groups that will provide you with all the information than you could wish for.
Learning the “frame” that surrounds a past event truly brings it to life.
Next steps
For further resources on generational trauma, both free and paid, please click on this image.
Photo by Adolfo Félix on Unsplash
References
[1] Goodwin, Charles; Duranti, Alessandro, eds; Rethinking Context: An Introduction (1992)