Do you know the difference between genealogy and family history?
When you are a beginning genealogist; When taking those first steps in researching your ancestry, it can be difficult to tell the difference between them.
The terms genealogy and family history refer to two separate but equally significant approaches to exploring your roots. The fundamental difference between the two methods lies in the sources of information used to carry out the research. These sources consist of primary, secondary, and tertiary information.
The study of genealogy refers to fact-based research on your ancestry. It is the concrete process of searching for your genetic origins by collecting and documenting the names, dates, and locations of your predecessors. Genealogy requires complying with accurate information presented in the public record to provide irrefutable evidence of your lineage.
The tools of a genealogist are source materials, such as statutory index records for marriages, births, deaths, and baptisms, although family Bibles and census records can sometimes be primary sources. To properly conduct genealogy research, you will want to use only the information from the main source, which means using any record that shows a first-hand account of an event and contains the signature of a witness.
Family history refers to the study of unique details and personal events in the lives of your ancestors; it is your story told by you, your descendant. Family history research embodies the full story that brings life and character to your family tree by including the private details of your past generations; These are the subtleties of lives lived that are not only found in public records. A family historian can use secondary and even tertiary information, such as old photographs, diaries, letters, and family traditions.
That is not to say that you cannot use primary sources for family history research. The study of family history often requires the need to read between the lines of public documents and dig a little deeper to find the history that is hidden within. Some truly wonderful opportunities for family history stories are hidden in genealogical data.
Using a fantastic clue found on an Old Parish Register, I’ll show you how the two of you can work together.
Genealogical data + the family historian = a great story
OPR excerpt:
Carstairs Parish, Lanark County. Dated May 2. 1790
“May 2, this day Alexander Gibson in Longflush and Christian Weir had a daughter {Begot in Fornication}. Baptized, named Janet Gibson.”
The family history element
This 1790 Scottish baptismal record tells us that the child who was baptized was “begotten by fornication.” Even so, both father and mother were listed on the parish register.
Sensing a good family history, I investigated what the term “Begotten in fornication” would have meant to the lives of these people in Scotland in the 1700s.
What I found was that the community was very narrow-minded in those days, quick to bring in offenders before sessions. In this case, the boy’s father came forward and admitted his responsibilities. Because of this, he was listed in the registry even though he did not marry the mother. The boy’s parents, who were from “good church-going families,” would have been publicly accused and reprimanded for their sin, this over a period of three Sundays in normal services. After being considered publicly humiliated, they would, as it were, be returned to the fold and the child baptized.
The short and sweet answer to the question; Do you know that the difference between genealogy and family history is …
You are a genealogist when: You are searching for and documenting primary source records and your concern is with factual and verified accounts of births, baptisms, marriages, and deaths.
You are a family historian when: you are using those facts in addition to reported events that, although probable, may not be supported first-hand in available records; for the purpose of telling the story of your family’s unique and very personal past.
No matter what your method is, don’t be surprised if by rediscovering their lives you gain a better understanding of yours.
