A-Z April Blogging Challenge - My Theme Revealed

It is some years since I last took part in the  April Blogging Challenge, because we started going away on holiday with family in April.  However here I am in enforced isolation, and it seemed a good time to give myself a new activity.   

My Theme:  
Family History Meets Local History - 
Sources & Stories from England & Scotland   

Family History is so much more that the collection of names and dates.  But what do you do when you hit the proverbial brick wall?    I am a great believer in discovering the background to our ancestors' lives - and much of this  can be found in local history resources. For example

• Where  did your ancestor live and what kind of community was it?  Rural, industrial,, coastal, mountainous, isolated?

•  Who were their neighbours?  Were they all in the same occuaption e.g. miners, millworkers?  Were other family members close by?
• What work did they do? 
• Where did they go to school?

• How did they travel?  e.g. they might have witnessed  the exciting innovation of the railway reaching their town.

• How might they have spent their limited leisure time?

• What key events took place locally in their lifetime? e.g. Bonnie Prince Charlie's army marching through the Scottish Borders on the way to England.

• Where did your ancestors worship?

Just some of the directions I shall be exploring in this challenge.   You might not find specific references in the resource   to your ancestors,  but you  will gather a wealth of background information  to enhance your blogging. 

 Some time ago,  I came across a reference to  Women Writing On Family: Tips on Writing, Teaching and Publishing. It’s edited by Carol Smallwood and Suzann Holland and published by The Key Publishing House, Inc. of Toronto, Canada (www.thekeypublish.com).  

                                A  key quote in the book struck a chord with me.
                                          "The best family histories are rich in detail" 


     Researching local history along with family history can help provide this detail.
                                        So do join me in this A-Z Challenge.