What motivates someone to embark on tracing one's fore-bears? Is it something, a curiosity perhaps, that arises as one reaches a certain time in one's own life? Is a yearning that comes with being part of those generations of people who populate countries which owe their development, indeed their evolved existence, to the massive worldwide migrations that have occurred over the past hundreds of years?
My personal view is that all these are valid but the greatest motivating factor is the desire to unlock the mystery of family origins in order to pass on accumulated family knowledge to future generations. After all, as time passes, much of the personal narrative is lost unless recorded in some way. In a country such as Australia, all who are not indigenous inhabitants, have familial connections to other places even those who are Australian born of four or more generations.
By chance, a goldmine of information in the form of a compiled record of the Storer family, mainly listing births, deaths and marriages with some random narratives, was sent by a distant relative. Compiled by his late mother, who was obviously a meticulous and dedicated researcher, the file helped to clarify some of the bits and pieces of family history hitherto known within my immediate family but which were muddled and confused.
It revealed that Thomas, Jacob, Joseph and Moses were common recurring male names right across the generations of the Storer line. These names had been a constant source of confusion in family discussions where written records were limited. Initially, immediate interest was not in the people so much as in the places to which the Storer family descendants had dispersed. A recent encounter with a couple bearing the family surname, re-ignited interest in tracing the people. Common forebears in England were established between us, along with the point at which our family histories parted. It was this personal searching and personal connection which re-ignited interest once again.Also, as new searches are undertaken, sometimes earlier dates and names may be challenged.
Descendants of Thomas Storer - the Beginning.
Many of the Storer clan saw fit to emigrate from England to Australia and elsewhere, at various times, during the 19th century for reasons not stated. The first recorded fore-father in England - one Thomas Storer married a lady called Elizabeth Weston. No details were available except that there was a single child recorded, a boy named Thomas Storer, who was born in 1776.
Thomas Storer married a lady called Mary Nurse who was born about 1787, in Sutton Cheney, Leicestershire, England, on 9th February, 1808. My family line follows that of one of their ten children, Joseph, who was born in Sutton Cheney, Leicestershire. It seems that all but one of the children of Thomas and Mary emigrated along with fellow villagers and relatives. This is evident in the record of names intertwined with the Storer family members across the generations.
What emerged in the record, is the fanning out of the Storer off-spring across continental Australia. Some also ventured to New Zealand. These movements probably approximated major settlement, gold diggings and other events of the time. The Storer family members were free settlers and not convicts. They were a mixed bunch - entrepreneurial with sufficient funds to purchase land or able to avail themselves of the opportunity to select land, farmers, small business men and women, civic minded individuals and others who were semi and unskilled labourers.
It was remarkable, too, to see that a generational journey from a single forebear could span vast oceans, a continent and beyond. Thomas and Elizabeth Storer could not have known that their marriage and single recorded off-spring would lead to such interest in succeeding generations a whole world away from their humble Leicestershire village. They would be delighted and humbled to know how their many descendants have contributed to this land, Australia.
Today it is fashionable to locate a convict hidden away in the family tree. Alas, none was found - just seemingly honest, hard-working folk whose descendants have an English heritage and for this descendant a strong and patriotic love of the country of birth. History chronicles the hardships facing England during the 19th century. These early Storers though must have had a truly adventurous spirit and strength of character to set out on ships so long ago to make their lives in a strange and unfamiliar country.
What is certain is that they endured many hardships establishing their families and their lives in the goldfields, logging camps, farms and towns that were emerging across Australia. Many had very hard lives managing to eke out a living in difficult circumstances. These are the narratives that must be pursued to make more personal the family journey of the various branches of the family for following generations - those oral histories and stories which need to be recorded so precious anecdotes and events are not lost forever. That and a curiosity to see if links can be made to earlier times, through the increasing number of search tools available.Above all this is a challenging endeavour.
So what motivates family searches? Nostalgia? Personal connections? Curiosity? The desire to pass on a history to future generations? All of these and more: not least of which is the increasing availability of access to official records through the internet and various dedicated search sites which have been written about so well by other Suite writers.
Julie Dawn Wee - I enjoy writing and research with eclectic interests in travel, the environment, culture and education. My interests and experiences in ...
