Why is our history so important?
Far too many adults say they hated history at school, the consensus seeming to be that it focused far too little on anything tangible they could identify with as young people. For many it switched them off history for life - or, at least until, say, a historical book, film or TV show grabbed their attention, and/or they began to delve into their own origins themselves.
Sadly, the history of ordinary folk – i.e. Social History – tends not to be taught in schools. This is, in part at least, because the lives of the lower social orders were barely recorded beyond their births, deaths marriages and censuses. Unless ordinary individuals went on to do extraordinary things that were recorded and reported elsewhere, their lives went pretty much unnoticed by history. In essence, unlike many of their wealthy counterparts, they ceased to exist.
Or so it might seem.
But the fact is, ordinary people are everywhere in history – hidden in plain sight, you could say. They’re the ones who fought and died in those wars; the ones who sailed the ships, or who flew the planes, or who took all the risks at great cost to themselves. They’re the ones who served in palaces and country houses; who grafted in factories and industries; the ones who looked after families; or tended fields – the same fields they were summarily dismissed from and shoved off whenever the fancy took them. They’re the ones who died of starvation and/or disease in the streets; the ones who worked for a pittance ‘til all hours out in the fields to ensure the nation was fed; the ones who sailed the world’s oceans with the great explorers – who rather ungraciously took all the credit for what they’d, in fact, jointly discovered and/or achieved for themselves.
Children are the least likely to be remembered by history. And the least likely of all, the children of the poor. Oh they’re remembered in literature, right enough – I mean, who hasn’t seen or read about the plights of Oliver Twist, The Little Match Girl, Her Benny and the like? In reality, however, poor kids barely even cause a blip on the historical timeline – unless of course, they’re being used to raise awareness about the deeds of some wealthy philanthropist or other who, often at great benefit to himself either here or in the afterlife, eventually deigned to save them from the horrors of the factories, the sewers or the streets. Aside from that, they were the ones scurrying up chimneys, crawling under looms, scampering down mines, polishing boots – invisibly and for little reward - not for their own benefit, you understand, but all too often for the benefit of the families and/friends of these self-same philanthropists.
Similarly overlooked in the history books are women and girls – poor women and girls in particular but, generally, all of them, even the wealthy ones. History is litered with women whose achievements were, at the time, undervalued, overlooked by or even attributed to their male counterparts. Women were the ones who were the least likely to be educated; the least likely to be valued and protected by society or laws that, when they eventually changed, would have been mind-blowing to previous generations.
Researching our family history brings back all of those who were once lost to the annals of time. It gives voice to those who were once voiceless; educates us about those who were once uneducated; and, shines a light on those who were, for all too long, hidden in the shadows. Researching our family history means those who were once marginalised and forgotten are, all at once. remembered and reclaimed for those who follow.
They say that those who can’t remember their past are condemned to repeat it. Well, at Know Your History we believe that goes double for those who never even try get to know their past – even when it’s possible. So if yours is there right in front of you - even from the most recent past, in the sepia portraits, black and white photographs, dusty diaries, books, documents and letters of those you knew or knew of in life - you’re already a giant step ahead of so many who came before. Cherish them and learn about them. Know their history – and after you do, tell your loved ones of them too, so their stories are never lost to time again.