History in the making

I often forget, while tracing earlier generations of my family, that they were part of history. Not perhaps the history of the history books, but the kind of history that makes up most of our newspaper reading, a kind of social history.

What I mean is that while I try my best to trace my ancestors in available records, they were part of another kind of record, history of contemporary events (as of course we are ourselves). The records we have access to for genealogical information give a peculiar slant to ancestors’ lives. Anyone who has ever filled in a government form will know how that information sometimes doesn’t reflect the dimensions of their lives adequately. So while we learn where each ancestor was born, we don’t know how they felt about local government there, or employment opportunities, or even what the neighbours were like. We know where they lived according to a census form, but not how adequate the furniture was, or what they liked to eat. We know they were a beloved husband or wife, or a good parent, from the undertakers’ funeral notices, but nothing about family politics. This might seem an obvious fact. Most of what would illuminate the lives of earlier generations has not survived, unless by some chance a cache of letters, or a diary, has been found. But too often this limitation is taken as all there is. I am against the mere collection of dates and relationships in family history, and for the attempt to imagine people’s lives.

So this is what I sometimes do. I take a timeline, one that includes a good bit of social history, and not one that just gives details of what wars were fought or when monarchs reigned, and try to imagine my ancestor relating to this information. Here is an example.

My great great great grandfather was a London watchmaker called James Knowles. He lived between 1779 and 1862. I consulted a timeline on the internet that gave me information about this period (it can be found at http://timelines.ws/sitemap.html). Then I juxtaposed the information with what I knew of James’ life. The full essay is on my BestQuest blog at http://phillipkay.wordpress.com/2013/08/04/a-story-of-time/.

“James was eight (1786) when the USA became a nation and drew up its Constitution. In England William Wilberforce began his campaign against slavery (but England transported 38,000 slaves that year regardless). The following year The Times commenced its significant publication history; in the Great South Land Captain Philips arrived with the First Fleet of convicts (1788), a strange experiment in sending prisoners to an unexplored and unknown land with no provisions. In 1789 when James was 10 the French Revolution began its bloody course. A strange poet called William Blake published his Songs of Innocence. When James was 12 Boswell’s Life of Johnson was published and much discussed, and that same year the Magic Flute was performed in Vienna, the famous composer Wolfgang Mozart dying only months later. When James was 14, about the time he left Nayland in Suffolk for London,  Louis XVI was executed in Paris, the decision made with a majority of one vote. The Reign of Terror began, and Marie Antoinette was beheaded as well. Did news of these events filter into Nayland? Or did James wonder what people were talking of when he heard mention of them later?

“When James arrived in London he surely heard about the great Admiral Nelson, whom that year lost an eye during a siege in Corsica. Thomas Paine, a great figure of the European Age of Enlightenment, was writing The Age of Reason in a Paris jail. The following year Warren Hastings was impeached (and exonerated) for his administration in India, a matter which divided people passionately. When James was 17 he may have heard that the famous explorer Mungo Park had reached the Niger in Africa. The equally famous “Friend of Liberty” John Wilkes died in Grosvenor Square; Wilkes had once been administrator of the affairs of St Lukes in Old Street (near James’ shop). When James was 19 the Irish rose in rebellion against the English occupation, and were slaughtered. When he was 20 General Napoleon Bonaparte declared himself Dictator of France. The question of liberty and freedom was much debated. When James reached the age of 21, although he didn’t know it, London’s population reached one million (and the world’s population one billion). In London mad King George III survived a second assassination attempt. These were matters everybody was talking about.

“As a married man with his own business James surely grumbled when Parliament introduced income tax in 1801, a temporary expedient to fund the war now raging with France. When he was 26 the Battle of Trafalgar was fought; when he was 30 there was rioting at Covent Garden over a steep rise in the cost of tickets that lasted four months. The electric light was invented by Humphrey Davy that same year. When James was 32 there was rioting at Nottingham led by Edward Ludd which destroyed machinery thought to be a threat to labour. The following year Napoleon retreated from Moscow, and the year after that William Charles Wells first suggested the idea of natural selection to the Royal Society. When James was 36 the Battle of Waterloo saw the end of Napoleon (almost). The following year Lord Byron scandalised London and rumours circulated about his possible incest with his half sister. When James was 39, in 1818, left and right shoes were introduced for the first time. Two years later George III died after a long period of insanity and there were rumours of poisoning by arsenic.The Cato Street Conspiracy, in which Arthur Thistlewood attempted to murder the entire British Cabinet, was foiled. That was the year of James’ second marriage. When James was 43 Charles Babbage invented the calculator. Two years later Tom Spring defeated Jack Langan after an epic 2.5 hour boxing match. Supporters of both men argued for days afterwards. When James was 49 Sir Robert Peel reformed the London Police Force and the streets began to be patrolled by ‘Bobbies’ or ‘Peelers’. When he was 51 he would have heard of the first passenger trains, and also of more agricultural riots, the Swing Riots which destroyed threshing machines. At age 52, in 1831, a cholera epidemic swept London.

“When James was 57, Charles Dickens published his first books and was instantly among the most popular authors of the day. The following year Thomas Crapper introduced the water closet, and Queen Victoria began her reign. In 1838 Charles Darwin presented his theory of evolution. In France Louis Daguerre invented the first viable commercial photographic process, the daguerrotype, a positive image only. Did James rush to have his and his family’s photos taken? When James was 61 the postage stamp was introduced, expediting the flow of the mails. When James was 62 Punch magazine was founded. James participated in a census of the British population. Two years later the Thames Tunnel was opened, an engineering marvel of the time. The following year there was an enormous development in railways, and railway lines covered the country, while people travelled faster than ever before. The next year the potato blight suddenly appeared and destroyed 40% of the crop in Ireland, where it was crucial for the people’s survival. When James was 69 the great Californian gold rush broke out. In London there was another cholera epidemic, and the Government passed the Public Health Act (too little too late).

“When James was 72 he would have been able to visit the Great Council Exhibition, and see the famous Crystal Palace. He would have certainly been interested in the installation of Big Ben on the tower of Parliament House. That year he participated in another Census. When he was 73 he could have visited the newly opened Victoria and Albert Museum. The following year he would have seen people smoking the cigarette first introduced that year by Philip Morris. He would certainly have heard about the disastrous charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimea. The following year he would likely have been gossiping about the Great Bullion Robbery of a mail train. At age 80, if he were interested, he would have seen Florence Nightingale become a best selling author, on the subject of public health. In 1861 James participated in yet another census. He died the following year, on 23 July, at Smith Terrace”.

There were many more events that intrigued and interested people in the years 1779-1862. But my selection from the timeline was made to emphasise those I thought James might have had a view about. He would have felt strongly about some events, discussed others with friends and neighbours. I just don’t know which ones. What I am trying to do is put him in context of his own life and times, and take him away from the kind of perspective a family tree gives. After all, he was once a living being like me. There’s more than a touch of the historical novelist in my genealogical researches.

©2014 Original material copyright Phillip Kay. Images and other material courtesy Creative Commons. Please inform post author of any violation.