Like many, I have been glued to 'Who Do You Think You Are', the popular TV family history show, which, in my opinion, just gets better with each new series. Over the years of watching the programme it has struck me just how many celebrities appear to find, during the course of their investigation, that their ancestors include members who have worked in the same or similar profession to themselves.
Take, for instance, the last episode of the series, where Sophie Raworth finds to her delight that some of her ancestors were involved in horticulture. It turns out that Sophie and her parents are passionate about gardening. I find this fascinating and it is a pattern I find on occasion with commissions for clients and indeed my own family.
Is it Nurture or Nature? It's a question often asked of why we are who we are today and is frequently a driving force for why people set out on the quest to discover their ancestors. Surely, one might suppose, it is not without reason to assume that what your family predecessors did or what paths their lives took, can have an impact on what contributes to shaping a life in the present? But, if so, how? Is it genetics or is it simply the passing of information, verbally, visually or environment, from one generation to the next which affects our behaviours in the present-day?
It is far beyond the competency of this genealogist to provide answers to such deep questions; however, there are some general observations from my work which I feel I can make. Clearly there are the obvious influencers such as wealth and status which, without doubt can confer a similar position on the present day descendant. If you are the successor to a family fortune and/or title earned by your ancestors, then it is obvious that this birth-right will dictate to a large extent what circles you move in and what opportunities may lie ahead for you. Conversely, if your ancestors were of poor means, it may be that this perpetuates through to the present and today's direct descendants live a life of limited resources. These are plainly extreme stereo-typical observations to make, yet they do serve to highlight the fact that what ancestors did and who they were can and does, to some degree, dictate what might become of their present day inheritors.
Without doubt, the issue is far more complex than simple hereditary factors of wealth and privilege and indeed this is not set in stone. Whereever a person finds themselves, there are many instances of rags to riches stories and the reverse, where vast fortunes have been lost, reducing a once powerful family to limited means and status. Both routes are by no means an exception; that a person can change their circumstances at will. Proving that whatever the set of parameters gifted to us by our predecessors, by our own decisions we are able to change them for better or worse. Clearly, external factors pay a part in this, but chains of events are normally set in motion by individual decisions and right along the chain, individual decisions are made based on the events being experienced. It is therefore safe to assume that whether it be nurture or nature which gives us our base line start, we are not governed completely by these considerations.
During the course of my work, I am privileged to look across many family histories and generations and it is noticeable that, on occasion, patterns start to emerge. A particular area for this is the military; when I work for a client who is or was in or something to do with the armed forces, I often find their ancestors were also involved in the services. Could this be due to the camaraderie and loyalty to a Regiment, Squadron or Ship, which children of servicemen and women experience in their formative years? I find similar patters with the Police, Merchant Navy and to a degree sporting legacies. I feel that nurture is probably the driving force at play in these circumstances, with young members of a family being exposed to the tales and the passions of earlier generations involved in professions which engendered an ethos of loyalty and dedication. That said, however, could there be a case for Nature and Genetics , as in the case of Sophie Raworth and her great ancestors whom she'd never met and knew nothing of?