Ten
ways to find out more about the day of your ancestor's birth
Click here for more on books by Ruth A. Symes
[This article was first published in the now obsolete Discover My Past England 2010]
Alice
Fletcher, my great-great aunt was born in Wigan, Lancashire on December 31st
1864. It was New Year’s Eve, so I can imagine straight away something of the
atmosphere of that day. But to really understand your ancestor’s life, you
should aim to find out much more about the world at the exact time at which he or
she was born. With the aid of the internet, you can now do just that without
moving from your chair.
1.
Date of Conception
Some
sites can tell you the likely date at which your ancestor was conceived. In the
case of Alice Fletcher, the likely date of conception was 9th April 1864 – a Saturday. (See,
for example, http://www.paulsadowski.org/BirthDay.asp).
2.
The Birth Itself
To
find out more about the way in which your ancestor is likely to have been born
visit http://www.elenagreene.com/childbirth.html.
This site discusses shows how the whole business of childbirth changed from
century to century including such matters as who might have been present at the
birth, the methods of delivery, types of pain relief available, the length of
the lying –in period etc.
3.
The Day of the Birth
Check
out the archive of the Times newspaper
http://archive.timesonline.co.uk/tol/archive/for details of events around Britain
on the day that your ancestor was born. For local news contact your local
library or record office where you are likely to find microfiches of the local
papers. Bear in mind that there may have been many of these. Local websites
such as http://www.wiganworld.co.uk/
can provide information on contemporary events.
3.
Festivals
It
may be of interest to you to know at what times of year, Easter, or other
religious holidays fell in the year that your ancestor was born. Visit http://www.smart.net/~mmontes/ec-cal.html.
In 1864, Easter Sunday had fallen on March 27th, so Alice Fletcher was not the
result of some overenthusiastic holidaymaking!
4. Prime Ministers and Monarchs
You
can find out who was Prime Minister on the day your ancestor was born at http://www.listof.org.uk/list-of-british-prime-ministers/.
On the day of Alice’s birth the Prime Minister was Viscount Palmerston of the
Liberal Party. For a list of English monarchs see http://wapedia.mobi/en/List_of_English_monarchs.
Alice’s monarch was Queen Victoria born on 24th May 1819. She came to the throne in
1837 and by 1864 was 45 years old and had been monarch for 27 years.
5.
Famous Contemporaries.
You
can check online to see if anyone famous was born on the same day, or in the
same year. This can help you to place your ancestor historically. The site www.history.co.uk/this-day-in-history/
will give you the names of famous people who were born and who died on this
date in this year (and in other years).
6. Compare dates
with those of other famous people
It’s always
useful to compare your ancestor’s dates with those of a very well known person.
Other famous people whose lives may usefully be compared alongside your Victorian
ancestor are Charles Dickens (1812-1870), Charles Darwin (1809-1882) and
Florence Nightingale (1820-1910).
7.
Great Events
Check
to see what famous events, both in Britain and around the world, took place in
the year your ancestor was born. See http://www.historyorb.com/ or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1864.
The year of Alice Fletcher’s birth, 1864, saw a flood in Sheffield causing a
reservoir to burst and resulting in 250 deaths.
8.
Cultural Advances
The
Library history timeline at http://www.bl.uk/timeline
allows you to see the key events in various categories ( Politics, Power and
Rebellion, Literature Music and Entertainment; Everyday Life; Sacred Texts;
Medicine Science and Technology) in each decade since the mediaeval period.
This can help you to understand conditions at the time of your ancestor’s
birth.
9. What Money Could Buy
Find out how much currency was worth at the time of your
ancestor’s birth at http://www.measuringworth.com/ppoweruk/ which gives you the
purchasing power of British pounds from 1264 to the present.
10. Other Useful Timelines
There are a number of other histories such as those of women’s
rights, education or medicine that may be of interest to you as you start to
understand your ancestor’s life paths. The history of women’s rights, for example,
can be viewed at
http://www.wrc.org.uk/includes/documents/cm_docs/2008/t/timeline.pdf
A timeline of the history of education is at http://www.educationengland.org.uk/history/timeline.html
For women's history and social history books - competitive prices and a great service - visit:
Keywords: European ancestors, Europe, ancestry, family history, genealogy, oral history, England, English, language, immigrants, immigration, regions, regional, British Isles, UK, England, English
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