Introduction to the Donnan Family

THE DONNAN FAMILY REGISTER

       THE PAST CAN TALK; WE JUST NEED TO LEARN HOW TO LISTEN

     Compiling a family history can be a challenge.  Family lore can change with the telling, sometimes to improve the story, sometimes details are forgotten in the retelling.  Whatever the reason there has often been more fiction than fact in information passed on to me.  Facts are facts, or are they…and we still have to interpret what that fact means.  Just because it is in a historical record does not mean it is accurate. 

     Does a Mr. & Mrs. in a census record mean that they are married or that they just said so for conventions sake. If a marriage record can’t be found, does that mean they weren’t married? Places of birth can change depending on the document, and who supplied the information.  The informant can change the country and/or year if it makes it more politically correct.  Sometimes it can be as simple as referring to a larger or smaller description of the same place.  For example – I live in Beach Grove, in Tsawwassen in South Delta, which is part of Delta.  But if I am speaking to someone outside of BC, I might say I live in Vancouver as that is a more recognized city.  There are many reasons the informant could have for giving incorrect information. 

     The “Donnan Family Register” (a hand written record of births, deaths and marriages in Hugh's family) was given to me by my great Aunt Teddy (Stella Dawson) when she was in a nursing home.  I have treasured the gift and it was the basis of my research.  Without it I would have had a much more difficult time tracing the Donnan moves across Canada and to California.  I would also have been hard pressed to trace information about the children that did not survive.

     I have tried to be accurate with the material I have collected and where possible find more than one source to confirm a date or a place, but this has not always been feasible.