More than just a name: Searching Beyond the Family Tree'

Finding the women ignored by wider historiography.

You’ve unearthed your family tree. You know who married whom, where they lived, perhaps how they died.  But what do you know about the 'texture' of their lives?  One place to start is to look at newspapers both local and national – did they sell puppies? Did they win a prize for the best marmalade?  This allows you to learn the small things, historically unimportant, that make us who we are.  Using examples drawn from my own family history and my research on women in the First World War in Britain, this workshop will introduce a prosoprographical approach to family history, and look at how to provide colour and understanding to your family tree. 

Biography

Jennifer Doyle is from Dublin. She completed her undergraduate degree in Trinity College, Dublin before going on to do an MA and PhD at the Institute of Contemporary British History, King’s College London.

An Eneclann alumni, Jennifer has also worked as a researcher on several political oral histories including Anthony Seldon's "Cameron at 10"; she has contributed to History Today. 

Her research work looked at how periodical media aimed at women could be used to disseminate information from official sources and used reading communities to encourage engagement with and support for the war through the lens of food writing.