The luck of the genealogist

52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks | Week 11 - Lucky

#52ancestors

Inside cover

All the magazine articles and ‘how to’ books stress to family historians the importance of thorough, logical research, checking and re-checking facts, and not making assumptions. But sometimes the breakthroughs or greatest moments come through plain and simple good luck. 

As a heritage librarian, it’s not uncommon for me to receive calls from individuals wanting to know if I am interested in their family heirlooms. However, it was somewhat different recently when the call was from someone wishing to return an heirloom from our own family.

Recipe page

A recipe book belonging to my great-great-aunt Eva Dow had been purchased by the caller in an op shop in Tweed Heads. After trying out a few of the recipes, she decided it should be reunited with family members and set about to see if she could locate a descendant. A quick bit of googling led her to me via an article I wrote some years ago about Eva and helped her track me to my workplace.

Eva Dow, who I’ve written about before, was born in1886 and, until her death in 1969, was a much-loved central figure in the extended Dow family. She never married, having lost a beau in World War I, and had no children, but played an active role in the lives of her siblings, cousins, and nieces and nephews as well as being involved in community life in her home town of Maryborough.

Eva Dow ca 1960s

I was naturally very excited to learn of this family treasure but not overly surprised having had similar serendipitous ‘finds’ previously. But this does not make each and every such lucky happenstance any less special. My focus, of course, was on getting the book into my hands. Fortunately, the purchaser only lived a few hours’ drive away and I set off the next day to meet up with her.

The recipe book is not a published work but rather a blank notebook in which to write (or paste) favourite recipes. Sure enough Eva’s name was clearly written inside the front cover as well as the details of who gave it to her and when. It is filled with recipes handwritten by Eva, which include not only the ingredients but the name of the person from whom she got the recipe and a rating of how good it is. The book is in very fragile condition, with some of the pages brown and crumbling, but the recipes can be clearly read. There is also the occasional handy hint for things like how to kill rats and the etiquette of serving Yorkshire puddings.

We had no idea this book existed or that it had survived so we certainly weren’t looking for it. Where it’s been since Eva’s death in 1969 or how it got to the op shop in 2018 is not known. In a bittersweet twist, the purchaser told us that there were actually two books but she could only afford to buy one. We have a public call out currently hoping to hear from anyone who has more information or who might have purchased the other book.

In family history, thorough research is a necessity but sometimes nothing other than sheer good luck will reveal a hidden gem, particularly if there were no clues to its existence in the first place. But you can improve the chances of luck finding you by getting your family history stories out there (such as by blogging) where they can be found by other researchers who might contact you.