Some are Faster, Some are Slower

 

When it comes to measuring progress on research goals, some seem to be achieved faster—and others seem slower. This month, so far, seems to be in the "slower" category.

Reaching back in time far enough to enter the realm of foreign research seems to put the brakes on progress for me. Despite having subscriptions to online genealogical services described as "international," I find that accessing records can be tempered by several variables. In the case of accessing documents for countries such as Canada or Ireland, privacy laws and other statutes limit public access to specific sets of records. Whereas the United States, for instance, deems privacy concerns to be protected with a seventy two year limit, some other countries have a trailing limit of a century mark.

This weekend, as I was working on some DNA matches linked to my father-in-law's Irish and Canadian relatives, I realized another research dilemma: information included in obituaries may follow different traditions or customs in other countries. I noticed this in particular as I read obituaries published in Canadian newspapers, which seemed reticent to even mention specific names of adult children of a deceased parent.

This puts me in a difficult position as I try to piece together the line of my father-in-law's great-grandmother Johanna Falvey Kelly. Her Irish-born Kelly descendants, having grown up in the United States, gave me ample opportunities to locate them throughout their lifetime here in the States. But tracing the lines of Johanna's siblings, some of whom were said to have migrated to New Zealand, became more challenging because of this same dilemma with public records accessibility. Likewise even for those remaining back at home in Ireland.

It's no surprise, then, to see my research pace slowed in the past two weeks on my in-laws' family tree. In the past biweekly period, I added 204 additional documented relatives to that tree—a decent pace, but far from the progress I had made in past months. The Falvey line has been yet another Irish puzzle for me, though I keep hoping for a records—or even DNA—breakthrough.

Still, that family tree has grown to include 41,263 individuals, an effort reaching back for more than a decade. And even though work on my own family tree has temporarily taken a break until next October, when I return to work on my own father's side of the family, that tree also has topped forty thousand individuals—40,259 names, to be specific.

The main point is to remember the value of steady, consistent work towards a research goal. For some research goals, we may speed onward to the finish line, while other goals seem doomed with roadblocks from the start. There are so many variables impacting progress, not only whether we can find that magical way around that stubborn brick wall ancestor, but even details like accessibility of records from the right place during the right time period. In the case of reaching back to Ireland to trace Johanna's roots—or stretching halfway around the world to inquire of records about migrating collateral lines in New Zealand or Australia—a lot can go into whether we find those answers, or not.