Dr Tanya Byron is on a new mission – to get us taking to each other. And now you can share on a much bigger scale, through a new national project called Storyvault.
My paternal great grandparents died in a concentration camp; my maternal great grandparents built and worked on the railways in India. I hear the stories about my family past and see the occasional faded photograph but sometimes, like a child, I imagine myself alongside them, talking to them, understanding their experiences – wanting to trace myself, and my children, through the fabric of their lives.
The value of sharing
Five years ago, my interest in my family history became even more acute when my father died suddenly. He was a complex and wonderful man who was very dear to me but even though I thought I knew him, after his unexpected and early death there were suddenly so many conversations that I needed to have with him again – stories I wanted him to retell.
Opening up can be a huge release for you, and mean so much to the person you are talking to. Some women find that pregnancy or landmark children’s birthdays brings out stories of their own childhood from their mums – a way of passing on wisdom, experience and to say “I’m here for you” without crashing in with “Mum knows best”. Happy times like this in our lives provide a great opportunity to share, just as sad occasions like funerals can be a chance to soothe each other with a fond exchange of memories.
Now, as I marvel at the way my children use technology to creatively record their thoughts, their feelings and their stories, I realise that at last we have a generation for whom history can live way beyond it’s happening. Today, technology allows us all to create archives that will be precious recordings for future generations of loved ones.
Telling all our stories through Storyvault
If, like me, you want to find ways of capturing those you love recounting key experiences of their lives or perhaps even record stories of your own, visit www.storyvault.com. At Storyvault, anyone can easily film and upload personal stories and memories in a totally simple and enjoyable way. Memories are simply recorded, respectfully preserved and completely accessible for everyone, anywhere in the world to enjoy. Families who live apart can come together to create an online archive that reaches across all branches of their expansive family tree.
Once we relied on archive photographs, film and TV footage to inform us of days gone past and events that shaped our future. Now we can create that footage ourselves and in so doing leave a gift for future generations – a historical digital archive that spans all ages, all races, all people for all time.
At Storyvault, we can enable our children to profoundly experience real historical moments described by those who lived them at the time. Our up coming generation can listen to courageous old soldiers re-living shattering wartime experiences; hear descriptions of concerts, galleries, theatre from days gone by; listen to eyewitness accounts of key historical events and, in addition, see and feel the emotion that accompanies such memories as they are recounted.
Get in touch with your past
There are other useful websites that can help you begin to piece together your own family tree and find out more about your recent and distant relatives.
• Linked to the popular TV series ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’, there is a really useful section on the BBC website all about building your family history. It includes advice on what you can search for free, and when to get professional advice.
• There is also useful information on the website for Directgov where you can find out more about the register of births, marriages, adoptions and deaths. Some access has to be paid for but other material can be tracked down via free access websites via these pages.
• The 1911 Census is now searchable online for free. It’s an amazing place to browse to get a feel for how your family’s past links together even if you don’t want to embark on a major project.
© Professor Tanya Byron – January 2010