FAMILY HISTORY
Writer | Presenter | Interviewer | Researcher | Storykeeper
ABOUT ME
I am drawn to family stories. At 12 years old I found a diary written by my great-grandfather, Peter Russell Inkster. Reading his journal opened my eyes to his childhood in 1880s Shetland Islands located in the north of Scotland. Life was harsh – there was little money, everyone was in debt to the landlord, and their livelihood relied on the fishing they could catch from the North Sea. Many times even the fishing was poor:
July 1948
“In retrospect, I still see Father coming home from the fishing, and us youngsters running to meet him, eager to know, “what luck?” Too often the answer would be in the negative, and everybody would feel more or less gloomy and downcast, but, not having time to bemoan our troubles, we just had to wait for the next low tide, get down among the rocks to pick more limpets and mussels, carry them home, bait the set lines with hundreds and hundreds of hooks and then start out all over again.”
Reading those words, I imagined the worry that Peter’s father felt at being unable to provide for his family of ten children. I envisioned the family working together at the sea shore collecting the bait for his next fishing attempt.
As a result of poverty and lack of opportunity, Peter found work away from home when he was 12 years old, leaving his native land, and his parents, for the coal mines of Vancouver Island when he was just 19.
These stories connect me to my ancestors. I understand their sorrows and feel gratitude for the hard work that has placed me where I am.
I believe that family history is not just seeking out names and dates, but discovering, recording and sharing our own stories and those of our ancestors.
My passion is to both preserve the stories of my own family history and help others do the same.
BIOGRAPHY
Karen Inkster Vance, MA, is an educator, family storyteller, researcher and writer who has enjoyed documenting her family history for over 30 years. She is the author of Voices from the Past: A History of North Roe (2006), a social history of the village in Shetland, Scotland where her great-grandfather was born. She conducted over 150 oral history interviews as part of the Ex-Cadet Oral History Project at Royal Roads University and oversaw the writing and production of two documentary films, Coming Full Circle: Remembrances of Royal Roads Ex-Cadets (2009) and Ingrained in Us: Remembering Royal Roads (2013), both of which aired on local television.
Karen has discovered that true joy comes not from just filling in the names and dates on her family tree but from piecing together the lives that her ancestors led. Gathering social history clues, analyzing photos and oral history interviewing are just a few of the creative approaches Karen uses to bring her ancestors to life. She is on a mission to write down and share her ancestors’ stories and help other family historians do the same.
Karen resides in Surrey, BC, Canada. For further information about Karen and her current projects, visit: www.KarenInksterVance.com
I am drawn to family stories. At 12 years old I found a diary written by my great-grandfather, Peter Russell Inkster. Reading his journal opened my eyes to his childhood in 1880s Shetland Islands located in the north of Scotland. Life was harsh – there was little money, everyone was in debt to the landlord, and their livelihood relied on the fishing they could catch from the North Sea. Many times even the fishing was poor:
July 1948
“In retrospect, I still see Father coming home from the fishing, and us youngsters running to meet him, eager to know, “what luck?” Too often the answer would be in the negative, and everybody would feel more or less gloomy and downcast, but, not having time to bemoan our troubles, we just had to wait for the next low tide, get down among the rocks to pick more limpets and mussels, carry them home, bait the set lines with hundreds and hundreds of hooks and then start out all over again.”
Reading those words, I imagined the worry that Peter’s father felt at being unable to provide for his family of ten children. I envisioned the family working together at the sea shore collecting the bait for his next fishing attempt.
As a result of poverty and lack of opportunity, Peter found work away from home when he was 12 years old, leaving his native land, and his parents, for the coal mines of Vancouver Island when he was just 19.
These stories connect me to my ancestors. I understand their sorrows and feel gratitude for the hard work that has placed me where I am.
I believe that family history is not just seeking out names and dates, but discovering, recording and sharing our own stories and those of our ancestors.
My passion is to both preserve the stories of my own family history and help others do the same.
BIOGRAPHY
Karen Inkster Vance, MA, is an educator, family storyteller, researcher and writer who has enjoyed documenting her family history for over 30 years. She is the author of Voices from the Past: A History of North Roe (2006), a social history of the village in Shetland, Scotland where her great-grandfather was born. She conducted over 150 oral history interviews as part of the Ex-Cadet Oral History Project at Royal Roads University and oversaw the writing and production of two documentary films, Coming Full Circle: Remembrances of Royal Roads Ex-Cadets (2009) and Ingrained in Us: Remembering Royal Roads (2013), both of which aired on local television.
Karen has discovered that true joy comes not from just filling in the names and dates on her family tree but from piecing together the lives that her ancestors led. Gathering social history clues, analyzing photos and oral history interviewing are just a few of the creative approaches Karen uses to bring her ancestors to life. She is on a mission to write down and share her ancestors’ stories and help other family historians do the same.
Karen resides in Surrey, BC, Canada. For further information about Karen and her current projects, visit: www.KarenInksterVance.com