So what will you be leaving for the future family historians and genealogist ?

This was the question that reignited my passion for finding out more about my family and it's ancestors, it was a question that was asked by Maria Northcote, the host and writer of the podcast and website Genies down Under . 

James Maguire 

It has made me realise how lucky I have been with my family, I had the opportunity to meet a great great grand mother, lose my last great grand parent at the age of 18 and spend time with all but one of my grand parents. I have also been fortunate enough to have a family who has taken and kept photos, school books, certificates and other family heirlooms, of which  I have been trusted with by others to have guardianship of or the time to copy or photograph them. 

It also got  me thinking, what  stories, memories and material objects will my generation and the generation of my children be leaving, as now  we are in a world of photos, music , video recording mainly exist in the digital world and letters have been replaced by  emails, text messages, snap chat and Facebook. Not to mention that news  is now something that is watched more than read and if not, it needs to fit in to a sound bite or 144 characters and newspapers now tend to have more advertising than news or moved to an on line global format.

This is not to say that I am anti internet or anti digital. It just means that we need to think more about what, where and how we are going to leave our trace and help to continue to pass on the stories of our ancestors and write our own. You may ask "so what have you done to try to make sure that you leave something for the future family historian to find and work with? " 

William Henry Bathurst Snr & Jr during the WA gold rush at Westonia 

Currently 

I have a public family tree on ancestry.com.au and I publish and share all my copies of photos and documents in the galleries once I am sure they match my tree member.

I have started a face book group with family members where others and myself can ask questions or share new discoveries found during family history research. (If you are a member of this family tree and want to join then all you need do is click on the above link and click join and tell me where you fit in the branches)

Also on Facebook group I have encouraged the taking of photos of heirlooms and posting them with the story and memories that go with the object. this can include things like : who had the item before your, where did the item live before you got it, what are your memories of the item ect. 

This blog is also to help with the sharing of the history of the family of which I belong, here I intend to publish stories of ancestors lives, sound recordings of interviews of living or recently gone family members, photos and newspaper articles found or copied during research, as well as a place for someone who is searching the internet for associated surnames to find and connect with. 

Future

I would like to make some small youtube videos that tell the story using photos and documents of past ancestors. 

I also welcome you to post in the comments any other ideas you may have. 

Jason