The Single Family History
In the narrower sense of the term, a family history is a biography of a single family over several generations, based on a tested genealogy and fleshed out with the fuller story of the family's place in society, the dramas of its achievements or failures and its acquisition or loss of wealth and rank.
Such a study mainly draws on oral history for the recent period and archival records for the period beyond living memory. Where an individual's own story is unknown, much can be inferred from other literature. For example, a single soldier's experiences can be inferred from the history of his military unit, or a migrant's journey can be described from the shipboard diary of a fellow traveler.
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Famous quotes containing the words single, family and/or history:
“A single monk carries his own bucket of water; two monks carry their bucket of water together; but when there are three monks, there is no water at all.”
—Chinese proverb.
“Nor does the family even move about together,
But every son would have his motor cycle,
And daughters ride away on casual pillions.”
—T.S. (Thomas Stearns)
“I believe my ardour for invention springs from his loins. I can’t say that the brassiere will ever take as great a place in history as the steamboat, but I did invent it.”
—Caresse Crosby (1892–1970)