As an earth scientist I have dealt with maps for most of my life, even created many. Using them in family history research was natural to me.
There is probably no type of map that I have not seen or
used, among them:
·
geographical, topographical and bathymetric maps
·
town and street maps
·
geologic, weather and mineral resource maps
·
maps showing areas where natural events like
earthquakes or hurricanes have occurred; .
·
air photos and in recent decades, satellite images,
forms of maps that are especially useful in looking at changes to landforms
·
socio-economic maps showing the distribution of
things like population, incomes, election results and tithe apportionment
boundaries
·
Google maps, a prime starting point to look at local,
regional, national and continental views
All types of maps have their uses in reviewing and imagining the homes of our ancestors, particularly the older ones.
Incorporating maps into a family narrative is one of the
most useful tools a family historian can employ. Knowing where your ancestors
lived or originated may be just as important as the era in which they lived and
died.
I am a mongrel, having descended from many family lines from
many countries and from many regions in those many countries. I have searched
out maps for each of the locations in which my ancestors lived – hundreds in
total. Regional maps showed me the broad geography of where my ancestors lived
and worked. Local county or parish maps allowed me to focus on neighbourhoods
or small communities. Property maps produced through the years demonstrated for
me how family residences or homesteads changed or developed as families grew.
I have written several posts on this blog about using maps:
where to find them, how to use them, what information about areas you can glean
from them, and, of course, where people lived and worked. I have written posts
about using maps of various kinds (Using
Old Maps - 22 July 2014; More
About Using Old Maps – 12 August 2014; Even
More About Using Old Maps – 26 August 2014. I have pointed out the value of
local map sources such as Tithe
Apportionment Maps (23 September 2014) and War
Diaries and Trench Maps from WWI (14 Apr 2020). I noted looking at the
locations of some of the homes we had lived in as shown on Old
City Maps & Aerial Photos (1 Mar 2023).
In a series of blog posts about Old Homes and Homesteads
(18 February to 22 April 2014) I detailed the homes of many of my ancestors
from the British Isles, the USA and Canada, most accompanied by maps of the
areas: in Devon, England (Corntown,
East
Rooke, Lutton,
Plympton
St. Mary, Torquay);
Virginia;
Kansas
to Alberta; an Alberta
homestead; family
farms in Alberta; Alberta
and British Columbia.
In another series about Moving (14 July to 5 July
2016) I tracked the routes families took between their various homes across the
USA and in Canada: the McDaniels,
the Keiths,
the Mayfields,
the Andersons
in Ontario and North Dakota, the McDaniels
going west, the Millers
going west, the Thompsons
in Ontario and North Dakota.
In the many posts and articles, I have published about
natural event and their impact on families, I have included maps showing where
they occurred. In a more recent piece, I used a map of London, England to show
where two of my ancestral lines likely lived and how they possibly got together
(Marriage & Maps, Family Tree magazine, June 2024).
In one session of a recent course I have been taking (Research
Skills Studio by Dr. Sophie Kay and hosted by Family Tree magazine),
there was an emphasis on using maps to learn more about the daily lives of
families. Sophie took participants through an ancestral walk in a village to get
better acquainted with the areas in which their past families lived and the
lives they led. “By stepping into your ancestor’s shoes, you’ll notice details
about their location which had never occurred to you before.”
No dates have as yet been announced for a repeat of Sophie’s
course but readers may find out more in future issues of the Family Tree newsletter.
I have previously listed some websites that are great for maps
in the past, but here are a few as reminders or that may be new to readers
(some are commercial organizations): National
Library of Scotland, Bienecke
Labrary, David Rumsey Map Collection,
Family Search, Old Maps Online, My Old Maps, Historic Map Works, Old Maps, Norman
B Leventhal Map & Education Centre, edmaps, Library of Congress, USGS, University of
Calgary, University
of Victoria, Historical Topographic Map Digitization
Project (Ontario, Canada), Arcanum
Maps,
