Shropshire Routes to Roots

5. Ideas for research

Introduction

Hopefully the Shropshire Routes to Roots website has sparked or renewed an interest in history. You want to get involved in this fascinating subject, and find out more about Shropshire and the heritage on your doorstep. But what will you do? There are a number of subjects you could look at for your own research. Here are just four ideas.

1. Family History

It can provide a real sense of achievement to be able to trace your ancestors back through the generations. You may even come across some one who did something of national historical importance, for example, fighting as an officer in the Civil War. One theme looking at a family's history during World War One is:

• World Wars: A Family at War

2. Place History

Wherever you are, the area in which you live will have changed dramatically over the years. You may want to go as far back as the geological time scale, to find out whether dinosaurs roamed your part of the world. You could focus on how the nearest town has changed, or how the fields of your surrounding have altered. Or you may want to be more specific, and just look at the history of the building in which you live. For inspiration, there is an complete package of themes looking at the history of place:

• Changes in people and landscape

3. Transport History

Although the history of transport closely relates to the history of place, there is enough in this vast topic to make it worthy of study in its own right. You could look at how the roads, railways and canals have changed in your area, and how they impacted upon the locality. The themes within the Transport and communication package look briefly at all aspects of transport in the County:

• Transport and communication

4. Unusual Stories

In the course of developing the themes for the Shropshire Routes to Roots website, the project has uncovered many forgotten or unusual sources and stories. We have not been time to look at all these new and interesting lines in great detail - but you might. Some of the questions that remain unanswered as a result of our researches, and those of other historians, include:

• The story of writing: The Civil War. Did Oliver Cromwell write the letter carried by James Smith?
• Victorian crime and detection: Murderous Mapp. What else can you find out about the case of John Mapp, tried for the 1868 Longden Murder?
• The story of writing: Wroxeter writing. Did the letter-cutter who carved the inscription on Wroxeter forum really come all the way from Rome?

A Recipe for Research

Although everybody has different methods of working, here is one way of setting about your study:

• Your first task should probably be to narrow the scope of your research. It is very easy to get overwhelmed by the amount of things there are to learn and sources to examine, so choose initially to look at a single family member, a small geographical area, or focus on a short period in time. Even the Shropshire Routes to Roots project had to go through this process, choosing small themes on specific aspects of Shropshire's history, rather than aiming to cover everything!
• Do some secondary reading about the general background to the period or area you have chosen. You could use the 'Further information' pages of most of the themes to help choose relevant books and websites.
• Go to the archives, or other collections of primary evidence.
• Now interpret the sources, with the help of relevant secondary evidence.
• Finally, write up your findings, and publish them how you want - online, in a book, or simply to friends and family.

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