Every January, people talk about resolutions — new habits, new goals, new ways of working.
But in my genealogical practice, the new year isn’t a moment to reinvent anything.
It’s a moment to reaffirm the habits that matter.
For me, that means continuing to look deeper.
Genealogy is often imagined as a hobby of collecting names and dates, but the real craft lies in how we think. Every record has an origin, a purpose, a bias, a silence. Every document is shaped by the hand that created it — a parish clerk, a registrar, a census enumerator, a newspaper reporter, a grieving relative, a coroner, an employer. Understanding that is where the work begins.
This year, I will continue to:
🔍 Examine provenance
Where did this source come from?
Who created it?
Under what circumstances?
A burial register tells one story.
A newspaper inquest tells another.
A census return tells a third — and sometimes contradicts the first two.
Provenance isn’t an academic exercise. It’s the foundation of trustworthy research. When we understand the origin of a source, we understand its strengths, its limits, and its blind spots.
📚 Read contextually
Records don’t exist in isolation. They sit inside:
- social norms
- religious tensions
- economic pressures
- local geography
- legal frameworks
- the lived experience of ordinary people
A Methodist local preacher buried in an Anglican churchyard isn’t a contradiction — it’s a window into the Burial Laws Amendment Act, the realities of nonconformist life, and the pragmatism of rural communities.
Context turns data into history.
🧭 Question assumptions
Reflective practice means asking:
- What am I taking for granted?
- What might I be missing?
- What alternatives fit the evidence?
- What does silence tell me?
Sometimes the most revealing detail is the one that isn’t there — the missing child, the unrecorded occupation, the sudden change of address, the absence of a headstone.
Critical thinking keeps us honest.
🧵 Honour the lives behind the records
Every document represents a moment in someone’s life — often a moment of transition, crisis, or change.
Looking deeper isn’t just about accuracy.
It’s about empathy.
It’s about recognising that the people we research lived full, complicated, textured lives.
They moved, worked, struggled, hoped, adapted, and made choices within the limits of their world.
Reflective practice helps us tell their stories with care.
🌿 Continuing the work
So as 2026 begins, I’m not resolving to do something new.
I’m committing to continue what matters:
- thinking critically
- reading generously
- questioning confidently
- and looking beneath the surface of every source
Because genealogy isn’t just about discovering the past.
It’s about understanding it.
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