Building a Family Tree You Can Trust - Part III - The Importance of Local History (1)

No man is an island,

Entire of itself;

Every man is a piece of the continent,

A part of the main. 

- John Donne

When researching our ancestors, especially as amateurs, it can be easy to focus on records that pertain to our family alone - birth, marriage, and death certificates; censuses; parish registers; wills, and so forth. These documents are the backbone of genealogy, and that process of finding records directly concerning our ancestors can often feel the most productive and rewarding. However, we may be overlooking a goldmine of genealogical insight if we neglect to study local and social history! This first part of the article will discuss why we should be interested in local history, the second part will discuss where we can look for sources of local history.

Why Local History Matters

Without understanding the world as a whole, and the localities our ancestors inhabited, especially as we go further back to pre-census and -statutory times, we can only ever have part of their story. In addition, we need to branch out with our sources to meet the Genealogical Proof Standard in our research. This is where the importance of local history really starts to become evident, as finding that history and context may actually be the only way to push our family trees further back, and have anything more than a list of names and dates to present.

No matter how rural or humble, every ancestor existed within a community, shaped by geography, economy, religion, social customs, even weather. Understanding local history and these wider aspects of their area and living allows you to interpret genealogical records in context and perhaps even ascertain why your ancestors made the choices they did. In fact, only through analysing records in the context of which they were created can we meet the GPS.

For instance, if you find a family suddenly and/or frequently moving parishes, especially those with common names, you could be struck with a brick wall. But delving into local and social history could reveal a failed harvest, a mine opening nearby, or a change in estate ownership that displaced tenants. Knowing these details transforms what could have been a confusing anomaly into a more fleshed out and accurate picture of their lives.

Breaking Through Brick Walls

Local history can also help break down genealogical brick walls. When a record trail seems to end, or there are too many "potentials", local knowledge often points the way forward. Perhaps a neighbouring parish was historically part of the same poor law union, or a nearby estate kept records that have survived in an archive. Understanding old boundaries - parishes, counties, or even manorial jurisdictions - can lead you to overlooked sources and unexpected connections.

Equally, local naming patterns, occupations, and dialect spellings can help distinguish between individuals of the same name. A “John Smith” might be a common name in the indexes, but if you know your John Smith was a flax dresser in a primarily linen-weaving village, you can narrow your focus dramatically. You may even find a local history book that may mention your John Smith.

This principle has proven invaluable in my own research - examining local and social context allowed me to solve a brick wall regarding my 4x great-grandparents, David Kerr (c.1831 - 1892) and Ann King (c.1835 - 1921). David was a coalminer from Shettleston, at the time a village close to Glasgow. Knowing the local and social context of his coalmining allowed me to more easily track the family's movements in Lanarkshire and Midlothian, and explore more of the records created around coalmining.

Finding the Right Sources

Although the amount of genealogical information online is ever-increasing, the vast majority still sits untapped in archives, waiting for the researcher to discover it. A common mistake is that of relying solely on online indexes and transcripts of records, as opposed to seeing them and analysing them yourself. However useful the indexes may be, reading the original records is what really gives us an idea of what a record can tell us. If you've discovered an article in the NRS catalogue for example, why not go the whole way and order it in to view! Or, if you cannot make it to the NRS, why not hire a professional researcher like myself to go view and analyse it for you?

Local history resources are often scattered across archives, libraries, and local societies. Parish histories, estate papers, maps, and even old newspapers are invaluable. County archives frequently hold collections of family papers or manorial records that have never made their way into online databases. Engaging with local historians or societies can be rewarding in another sense; they often have first-hand knowledge of the area’s families and traditions that you won’t find anywhere else.

If you’re researching from afar, local studies libraries, family history societies, and regional record offices are your allies. Many now offer digital catalogues and will respond to email inquiries. A well-phrased, concise, and polite email to the local archive, with the references to the documents you wish, can open doors that hours of online searching cannot.

Bringing Your Ancestors to Life

Understanding local history doesn’t just strengthen your proofs - it enriches your research. Instead of a list of dates and names, you’ll find yourself reconstructing the actual lives they lived, and even get glimpses, or full looks, at your ancestors' personalities: how your ancestors worked, what they believed, and what shaped their communities. You’ll begin to see them as part of a living landscape rather than entries in a register.

Another interesting aspect of genealogy that you become aware of through studies in local history is just how much information, and people, that parish records miss out. In my own research again, finding and transcribing a large number of wills and deeds pertaining to a Gutteridge family in 16th to 17th Century Leicester showed just how many members of the family, and people in general, were missed out entirely by the (relatively complete!) Leicester parish registers. Especially for families with common names, it can be too easy to just ascribe a baptism entry, for example, to one of your ancestors. But how can you be sure that it is really them? Or even be sure that any of the entries in the registers are them? Again, local history will help you narrow down your focus and find proofs.

Moving Forwards...

Building a trustworthy family tree isn’t just about collecting documents; it’s about interpreting those documents within their historical and local context. When you study the towns, villages, and parishes your ancestors called home, you begin to see patterns of movement, marriage, and livelihood, that make your research both more accurate and more meaningful.

If you’d like help incorporating local history into your family research, or verifying the connections you’ve already made, I can help. As a professional genealogist with experience in Scottish and British records, as well as a strong passion for history, I specialise in building family trees and writing reports grounded in sound evidence and rich historical context.

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Luke Gibson is a professional genealogist in Scotland, and a member of the Association for Professional Genealogists, and the Scottish Genealogy Network.