Recently there has been exposure in the news about an
American actor who had found something in his past that was undesirable and he
sought to cover up the past. Covering up the past deeds of an ancestor is not
actually uncommon nor is it isolated to one period in time. When someone
researches the past within their family tree they will bump into the unexpected
or actually find the unexpected they have been looking for especially if they
are Australian.
People fear the past and what could happen if it has been
uncovered while other people think it could be dangerous to research a family
member. People have stopped researching their family tree once they have found
convicts who have been sent to Australia. One person once told me he binned all
the work and walked away. A family member once told me to stop researching an
ancestor as they had supposed mafia links or other organised crime. I later
found this not to be the case as his occupation was even more extraordinary
instead though I don’t know if the links are really links or something to do
with him being a lawyer. Though you would have to sort fact from fiction unless
you have a family member tell you they already knew the information after you
had done the research.
The fears of what people would find in their family tree are
well founded though today we all celebrate having a convict in their family
tree. In the past people including the convicts themselves have tried to cover
their tracks by listing the wrong boat they arrived on or even using different aliases.
The state governments have been known to destroy records to hide the fact they
had convicts or thinking no one would be interested in the records. For example
in 1863 the governor of New South Wales had ordered the destruction of Four and
a half tons of records. Some people had admitted to saving some of the
Tasmanian convict records. It wasn’t until around the 1970s attitudes did
change though there would still be the older generations who did not want
people to do the research. By around the 1980s people were proud to say they
had convicts in the family, which was a huge change from archives stonewalling
people who wanted to research that sort of stuff.
The problem with people trying to cover up their ancestors
past deeds or where they came from would be incredibly tough when we have
technology at our disposal especially when the information can be one click
away on a website that will explain what has happened at that particular time.
It can be used to piece together events like the wars people may have been in.
I recently did hear a story from a family member who has a friend who looked up
an event a grandparent had been involved in during the Second World War and it
had upset the grandparent as they did not want that person to look up what had
occurred. You never know what you can uncover in your research when you look
deep enough. I do not have the answers about some of the sensitive events that
had occurred like a murder or something else like a soldier who was in a war on
the side that lost such as World War 2. Personally I think it would be
interesting to find things in history that could be a little touchy for some
people. In another example I did read of a family in my family tree that were
soldiers who were involved during the Taranaki War though I only read one entry
where no one had been shot during a report about a raid. I need to do some more
research especially about the locations of family in New Zealand to see the
bigger picture and wider events. Sometimes you may have to seek others opinions to see what their thoughts are before sharing with others.
Sources
Ben
Affleck is ‘embarrassed’ by his ancestors and regrets trying to cover up their
dark past
Barry Andrew 'More Sinned Against
than Sinning : A Note on the Convict Legend', An introduction to Australian
literature, Brisbane, Wiley, 1982, pp. 166-182.
Babette Smith, Australia’s Birthstain, Crows Nest,
Allen and Unwin, 2008.
Tony Bennett, 'Convict Chic'
Australian Left Review. Vol. 106, 1988, pp. 40-41
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