From Book to Blog - Writing Up Research

What do you do with all the information you gather on your family history?  Magazines are full of articles on research advice, archive sources and new websites, but it is far more difficult finding guidelines on writing up your research.   The challenge, of course, is when to stop researching and start writing - it is always a case of "I'll wait until I have found out that vital missing bit of information". 

My inspiration came from a book I came across some time ago "William and Christina:  One Woman's Search For Her Ancestors" by Hilary Wallace Forrester.  I was immediately attracted by its format of linking local and family history and giving an emphasis to sources. The author traces the story of her great grandparents - their ancestors and descendants, the background to their lives and the places (Scottish and English Border country) and the times in which they lived.   My own story of "James and Maria - A Fylde Story of their Ancestors and Descendants" owes much to her style.

Progress is slow and I have only completed Part 1- The Rawliffe Story, based around my great grandmother Maria, wife of James Danson. There is something special about seeing my work in a printed and bound format, rather than loose-leaf in a file.

One feature I introduced  in each chapter was a timeline text box  to show what was happening in the  lifetime of my ancestors on the local, national and internationlal scene,  whether it was the opening of the railway, the invention of the sewing machine, the Irish Potato Famine,  or the Crimean War. People seem to like this and I have used it a lot when writing up family histories for friends. 

Now I have become a blogging enthusiast, my "magnum opus" has come to a halt and my deadline for a Christmas finish for "Part 2 - The Danson Story"  looks increasingly unlikely.  Compiling short articles for the blog and using my collection of family photographs has taken over and is giving me huge pleasure.  It is a great, quick and satisfying way of writing up research! 

Look out for my next two articles to commemorate Remembrance Day:
The Danson Family at War
William Danson - Postcards from Flanders.