Alison Dennison - Family Story Maven

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Alison Dennison - Family Story Maven

Capturing, researching, and sharing the stories of your family.

14/06/2023

Visiting archives adds so much depth to your family stories.

There’s certainly a wealth of information now available online, but really special gems can often be found by visiting the archives where your family lived.

At Glasgow City Archives I was able to see my great-grandfather’s meticulous keeping of swimming race handicap details in the club’s official ‘Handicap Book’ from the 1920s. And I was thrilled to see races recorded where my grandfather and great-grandfather swam against each other - something that repeated itself many years later when I would swim against my Dad in our club’s annual parent-child relay race.

24/04/2023

Every family has been touched by the impact of wars. On this Anzac Day, take a moment to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. Ensure that those stories are never forgotten.
Lest we forget.

11/03/2023

Are you interested in capturing some of those family stories that are often told around the dinner table and sharing them with the rest of the family? I’ll be facilitating a workshop on family stories at Malvern Library on 22 March. Come join me! Booking link is in my profile.

The session is part of the fabulous ‘History Matters’ series hosted by Stonnington History Centre

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01/03/2023

In my own family story research I’ve encountered a couple of ‘myths’ where the told and retold story doesn’t exactly match with the archival evidence.

I find these occurrences fascinating. How did the myth get started? And why?

❓ Do you have myths in your family story?

08/01/2023

If you’re taking some time off over the (southern hemisphere) summer, it could be a good chance to start jotting down some of your family stories.
Getting them recorded is more important than writing them down perfectly. So, even if you’re just scribbling on a napkin, jot down some points to come back to later.
There’s no time like the present.

01/01/2023

Happy New Year! I hope 2023 is a great year for everyone.
Our personal NYE traditions are generally low-key…often not even staying awake until midnight!
However, being of Scottish ancestry, I’m aware of the rich traditions of Hogmanay. Cleaning the house and removing the ashes, bells at midnight, black bun, street parties, fireworks and first-footing. I think it would be fun to spend a NYE in Scotland.
How did you celebrate the New Year?

28/12/2022

Sometimes in the pursuit of family history we come across things that are inappropriate or offensive to our values today.
At those times, I try to keep this quote in mind.
When I visit another country, I expect things to be different from our own ways; and I take the time to learn about those differences and try to understand the context and background to them.
The same approach can be used with the past. Take the time to understand how and why ‘they did things differently’ and you’ll end up with much more nuanced family stories.

24/12/2022

Over the years, I’ve found lots of vital details for ancestors on the FindaGrave.com website. It’s a great website to look for burial and/or memorial details for your family.
The site also encourages folks all over the world to work together to share information.
I’ve appreciated it so much when volunteers have photographed headstones for ancestors I’ve been looking for, so I have signed up as a volunteer for nearby St Kilda Cemetery and I recently fulfilled my first photo volunteer request. In a bizarre twist of fate, I found the requested headstone almost immediately! It was very satisfying to know that I was helping someone half a world away put together the details of their family tree.
What goes around comes around, and this is just one small way I can contribute to helping others discover their family stories.

22/12/2022

Discovering and celebrating family stories.
For over 20 years, I’ve been gathering details about my family history. I split my efforts across three areas:
CAPTURE - Recording the wealth of unique stories for them to be shared both now and into the future.
RESEARCH - Trawling the treasure trove of records, collections, newspapers and archives where I can find the colour to add to the family narrative.
SHARE - Telling the stories to the family and more broadly. It's great to do the research and to capture the yarns, but we need to make sure they don't stay locked away in computer files or boxes. The key is choosing the right medium for various audiences.

21/12/2022

🎄Christmas traditions 🎄
Advent calendars have been a family tradition for us over many decades.
As a child I looked forward to peeling open a cardboard door each day of December to reveal a picture behind it. Once we had a very fancy-schmancy one which had small plastic trinkets behind each door.
My daughters always looked forward to their chocolate advent calenders, until I went sugar-free and swapped over to making my own envelopes for them to open - each day containing a festive activity such as ‘watch a Christmas movie’, ‘go to see the Myer windows’ or ‘take gifts to the charity tree’.
More recently we’ve had a calendar with a different teabag behind each door.
And this year I was given a advent book box…24 individually packaged books to unwrap each day. It’s such a fun way to continue the tradition. 📚
In our case, the advent calendar tradition has morphed over time, but the heart of it (the anticipation of Christmas Day) has remained true.
Long live the advent calendar!

Address

Mitchell Library, 201 North Street
Glasgow
G3 7DN

Website

http://www.alisondennison.com/

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