The Writing and Marketing Show

The How and Why of Historical Research

March 10, 2021 Wendy H. Jones Episode 60
The Writing and Marketing Show
The How and Why of Historical Research
Show Notes Transcript

Today on the show I do an episode myself on what I have found out about undertaking historical research and why each piece of documentary evidence is important. It takes thing deeper and I share what I have found out about the process. I share lots of tips and ways you can do this research for yourself, applying it to your own topic. 

Wendy Jones:

Hi, and welcome to the writing and Marketing Show brought to you by author Wendy H. Jones. This show does exactly what it says on the tin. It's jam packed with interviews, advice, hints, tips and news to help you with the business of writing. It's all wrapped up in one lively podcast, so it's time to get on with the show. And welcome to Episode 60 of the writing and Marketing Show with author entrepreneur, Wendy h. Jones, I can't believe we've reached 60 episodes, but we have. So what's been happening in my life? Well, as I'm still indoors, I've been doing a lot of research for a book that I am writing. And I thought today, I would take the opportunity to tell you more about it. It's about the life of a gentleman from the 19th century called Thomas Graham. And you're probably thinking why should we be interested in Thomas Graham? Well, I'm going to tell you a little bit about him. And then a bit about how I'm doing my research. Because the I had had not envisage despite the fact I thought I knew about research, I had not envisaged the depth and breadth of research that you would do for one person's life. And it's been fascinating, and I'm loving it. And I just thought I would share the sorts of things that I'm researching. Before we do that, I would like to say it's an absolute honour to bring you the show every week. But it does take time out of my writing life. If you would like to support this time, you can do it but for just $3 a month, and you can do it@patreon.com forward slash Wendy h Jones, that's pa t ar e o n.com. forward slash Wendy h Jones. And that you can do it for the price of a tea or coffee per month, which is $3. And I would be very grateful. And it means that I can continue doing the show. So what of Thomas Graham? Well, Thomas Graham was Scottish, hence the reason that I'm actually writing about him. But I heard about him from a gentleman in Australia who was looking for someone to write the story of Thomas's life. He's spent his life researching Thomas and has a great love and passion for him and wanted to see his story written. When I heard that Thomas was a naval surgeon. I knew that I had to write it because I'm both Scottish and I was in the Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval nursing service as a nurse, so we have a connection. And many of the things he talks about, I would know about anyway, although a couple of hundred years later, I'm not as old as that. So I said I would do it. And I ended up with several boxes of research, which are no pet research papers, which are now on my dining room table. I have done a little bit of online research myself, but the bulk of it is currently taking up my dining room table. So I better get on and write this book and read the research. Because I need my dining room table back at some point if I want to entertain when we're allowed when we're out of lockdown, and we're allowed to have people around the house again. That would be amazing. But what of Thomas? So, Thomas, he was from Scotland, he was from a little village called Ecclefeccan, which is on the west coast of Scotland. And he was born in 1818. And he was one of 10 children, all of whom seem to have survived, which was unusual in those days. And he joined the Royal Navy as a surgeon having trained in Edinburgh. So when I'm allowed to get out and about I am going to go to surgeons Hall and I'll tell you a little bit about that, as well. So, he was born in, as I say in Ecclefeccan but he died in Whampua in China, in 1850. He died on board HMS Phelygon if that's how you pronounce it, I apologise if it's not, that's P H E L Y G O N and it sounds about right. And he was buried in China in an island off Whampua in a graveyard for Western Christians. And apparently there's a there was a graveyard nearby for for Western Muslims as well or Muslims. So he was very well taken care of. And as I say he was a naval surgeon. So my discussion today isn't going to be about Thomas himself because I'm busy reading all these papers and it's been absolutely fascinating. What a man and what a life he died at age 31 of your sons are any good and age 31 he did so much in his life before he died. I'm in awe really of what this man did, he served all over the world, he served on ships. And apparently he was credited with discovering the cure for cholera. So, my discussion today is actually going to be about the research that I'm doing and the types of papers I'm looking at. And the reason I'm doing this is to help you think about what you need to do if you're writing anything historical, or even research, contemporary research, although it's a little easier if it's contemporary, because you know, a lot of the information already.But the sorts of things that I'm looking at, and I'll tell you the sorts of things I'm looking for in them as well. First of all, we're going to start with photographs. I am very fortunate that I have two photographs of Thomas himself. Now this tells me one that he was young, even though I knew that, but you see just how young he was. But its also tells you what life was like for gentlemen in those days, the clothes they wear, he's in his naval surgeons as uniform, or his naval officers uniform. And it shows you just how we're exactly what they were like in that day. Now, I've worn a naval uniform, but it was nothing like the one that he had to wear. And so the first thing it does is gives you a flavour of what life was like for him as a naval officer. It gives me a flavour of what the Royal Navy was like in that day and age. And I'm just going to have a very quick slurp of tea because my voice is going slightly here. There we are, I'm back with you now, apologies for the slight gap while I took while I wet my whistle as they say, at least I wasn't doing it with what was called pussers rum, which was the rum charts that they were given for nothing in the Navy. And he is it a little aside, I was actually entitled to a tot of alcohol, rum or any alcohol I wanted. If the Queen spliced the main brace. And I was very fortunate that happened two or three times while I was in. So that was quite nice. You got three free drinks. Anyway, I digress. The photographs are fascinating. And just looking at the detail in them, tells you exactly what it was like for a naval officer. And I don't know how he could wear the uniform that he did. Because the the collars were so high, they pretty much stretched your neck. And that's the sort of thing you don't think of you know how uncomfortable they might be. They weren't running around in scrubs, like we like we do now. So it was a lot more formal. I've also got his birth certificate. No birth certificates, you can get fairly easily online, you have to pay for them. But they do tell you a lot of other things. They tell you who his parents were, they tell you who who has sisters and brothers were, funnily enough if you get them online, so you can get a lot of family detail from the online birth certificates. And you can get, you know a lot of information from that. So it's well worth trying to get hold of a birth certificate of anybody you're looking at. But even if you're not looking at a specific individual, it might be worth getting some birth certificates. Because if you're writing historically, it might give you a flavour of what family life might be like in the days that you are actually talking about. I've also got some adverts for boarding school. Now our Thomas went to boarding school, and there are adverts for boarding school. So again, it shows you what life is like in those times. And it also shows you how much the parents had to pay for him to go to boarding school. And they weren't a wealthy family, but they could afford to send their children to good schools. And he went to a boarding school and I have all the information about the school what they taught. You know how what life was like at boarding school in those days what they could expect what his parents could expect if they divvied up the money for Thomas to go to boarding school. Now this is fascinating, especially for me as a nurse, and for any anybody who's a nurse, or a doctor or anything to do with medicine. I have literally got copies of his medical school notebooks. And that really is fascinating because it tells you the sorts of things that were being covered. But it tells me other things as well. For example in it he covered anatomy, philosophy and chemistry. Now I know from this what his handwriting was like, and I also know that he was a very accomplished artist. Because he's done sketches for the anatomy lecturers - lecturers - lectures, and chemistry lectures, and they're very detailed. It also tells me what, where medical knowledge was at that time, because obviously, medical knowledge comes on in leaps and bounds every year. So it tells me exactly where they were at at that time. And I won't be going off half cocked, saying that things were happening, that are actually modern inventions. So I know exactly what they thought in terms of anatomy in the early 1800s. I know exactly what the philosophers were talking about in the 1800s. I know where chemistry had got to in the 1800s. And this gives me a very broad base to work from, because I can be detailed in my work. And I also have Thomas's diaries, he was a writer. And his diaries are amazing. His diaries are absolutely outstanding. He even writes about what it was like on a ship. I've got details about, you know, what the ships were made of. And he was a very accomplished writer, he wrote all the time. And alongside the diaries, I also have letters to his sister, it would appear that he wrote to his sister a lot. And I mean, a lot. When I was abroad. When I was in the army, I was in the army as well. And the Navy, I wrote home, trust me, I wrote home, but this man really wrote home. And, again, he would tell his sister exactly what the ship was like, what wood they were using to build it, what the whole looked like. He is so detailed, and I have all this in the in his letters. I also know that nothing has changed from the days of the early 1800s, when he was a student to nowadays because he was sending letters along with his shirts, saying to his sister, I would be very grateful if you could mend the three holes in my shirts. Nothing has changed. Boys are boys and students are students. And still they send their things home for mom or sister to sort things out for them. They don't do it themselves, although they might throw things away a bit more now. But they still do take the washing home to mum. So not much has changed. But from these letters, I get an absolutely phenomenal look at what life was like for Thomas Graham. I've also got letters back from his sister. Now, the letters his sister sent back give you an idea of what life was like in Ecclefeccan in the early 1800s. So I know what life was like, which is amazing. I also have newspaper clippings from the time now, these are newspaper clippings about ships, they're newspaper clippings about him being appointed as an officer about him becoming a doctor, I have so many newspaper clippings. One it tells me what the writing was like at that time. And it tells me what life was like at that time. Now the newspaper clippings have more than just that they have things random. And you'd be amazed at what you can learn from newspaper clippings and from adverts in the newspapers. Because adverts in newspapers actually reflect what life was like what people were thinking about at the time, what people wanted at the time, what people needed at the time. And it's absolutely fascinating to look through newspapers. Now I am going to go to the online newspaper archives. And look at even more newspapers from that time not just about his life, but about life then, because it's important that to know that so that you can actually set your character in a realistic setting, you can place him in a realistic setting. So I need to know what life was like in Ecclefeccan. I need to know what life was like in Edinburgh. I need to know what life was like in Ireland because he was sent to Ireland and the potato famine was on then and I know this because I have books about the potato famine, I have clippings about the potato famine. And I also know what life was like for in America when he went out to America. He spent time in America, his ship went out there. He spent time in the Caribbean. And and that is important. You can get all that from newspaper clippings. Now I'm going to talk about the Caribbean a bit here because there is another way that you can actually go and you can find things out you can visit. Now. I appreciate that at the moment I cannot visit anywhere. I can't even leave my unless I'm going to the supermarket because there's nowhere to go and I'm not allowed to go anywhere. But that doesn't matter because I'm living vicariously, I'm going to take another sip of tea. There we are, I'm living vicariously, and I'm living his life through the articles. But if I ever when we get out of lockdown, and we're allowed to travel again, if and when we're allowed to travel abroad, I would like to go out to Nelson's dockyard in Antigua. And the reason I would like to do that is because he spent time there and Nelson's dockyard, I have been once just very briefly, when I was on a cruise ship, I went ashore and we got to go to Nelson's dockyard for about an hour, I would actually like to spend time there because they have a museum and they have archives, and they have documents that you can look at. And I can find out what life was like for an officer at Nelson's dockyard in Antigua, in the 1800s. And I would love to do that because I can actually immerse myself in it, I can spend time with, with him really, with him there. And I can get to know what it's like I can see pictures of what it was like then. And I can actually get a feeling but you get a feeling of the heat, the smell, what was would it smell like down by the sea? What would it what would the heat be like when they were working in it's like, hotter than they've ever been? How would they feel in those heavy, thick uniforms. These are the sorts of things you get from visiting. I'm also going to visit Surgeons Hall in Edinburgh, which is the old medical school, and that's where he would have trained. And I am going to, you know, again, they've got the original theatre there, the anatomy theatre where he would have sat, and he would have been looking at people dissecting bodies. And that would be his anatomy lectures. And that's what he was doing his drawings from. But again, I can get a better feeling by going there sitting there seeing what it's like, looking through the archives, looking through the museum, you know, there's a museum an anatomy Museum there, looking through the anatomy museum and seeing the sorts of disorders, the sorts of conditions he would have been coming across as a doctor in those days, and you get a much better idea of it than just looking at it in papers. But at the moment, we're stuck with papers. So what else am I looking at? Well, I actually have the ship's logs. And that is amazing to have ships logs from the time when he was on the ship, and was actually working on there. And you can see what they were doing. What were they thinking about? What was the weather conditions like? Would he have been seasick would other people on the board? The board had been seasick. What were they looking out for? Did they come across any other ships? The ships logs are fascinating. And I've also got newspaper articles on the ships voyages, the newspapers reported on all the ships voyages. So I have newspaper articles that deal with the voyages of his ships. And it would again, it gives you a flavour of what people were interested in at the time. Why were they looking at ships, you know, voyages was it of interest to the ordinary man, was it just naval magazines? Was it every newspaper? Was it just the newspapers in Portsmouth or Chatham or Plymouth? Where they would have they would have ships go out from sail from? Or was it the all of Britain that was interested in this. So again, it gives you a flavour of what life was like at the time. And I also have maritime maps, I have the maps from the ships that he was on the shipping maps. And again, I have no clue how to look at a shipping map. But someone will know how to look at a shipping map. And when I'm able to get out and about, I will speak to people I will see if I can meet up with people who can talk me through the maps and what they're telling me why they are important. So it's all fascinating. And I have magazine articles from the time. Again, it tells you what it was like it tells you what was like the Navy, it tells you what it was like for the ordinary person. All of these things give you a flavour of life at the time. The other thing I have is a dissertation I have someone's dissertation about the life of Thomas Graham and that's an amazing resource because it brings everything together. So if you are looking for for information about any specific person or a topic, do not dismiss out of hand, dissertations, dissertations, people have done so much research For you already. RTeading through a dissertation can give you a brilliant overview of your topic, or the person you're looking at, or whatever it is you're researching. So dissertations are a good one. I've also got a table of doctors fees in Scotland, how much a doctor would charge if he went out to visit someone, or if you went to visit his surgery in the early 1800s. And again, that tells you a lot. I mean, because the fees were quite expensive, even though they're in shillings, which isn't much, now, they were a lot, then. And your ordinary man in the street probably wouldn't be able to afford this. So this may be why health was so poor, because they couldn't afford the doctor's fees. And anybody who had money could afford the doctors fees, and would be able to access medicine. So it tells you about life at the time again, I've also got books of his poetry. Not only was our our Thomas, a very accomplished surgeon, an accomplished writer, an accomplished artist, he was also an accomplished poet, and I have all his poems. And what an amazing, amazing man. I mean, we I just how do you marry this up? How do you marry up someone who can be a surgeon on a ship, which was not pretty in those days, it's not romantic, like it is now, you could be in the midst of a battle chopping someone's leg off with no anaesthetic. And yet he was such an accomplished beautiful poet. So it tells me a lot about him. And the poems themselves, tell me what he was thinking about, going to have another little drink here. So poetry is an absolutely superb way of seeing what a person is like, and seeing what he was thinking about. During that time. I also have copies of naval songs from the era. Now, things like that may never be used. But again, it gives you background, it lets you know what the ordinary man was singing about, they usually sang about things that were important to them, important to them on board the ship. And that was, you know, important as well, because it again, it lets you know what your or your ordinary matelot, they say your ordinary sailor was thinking about and what they did to pass the time. So it gives you an impression of flavour, a deep feeling of what it was like on the ships at those times. So look at the songs of your era. I will also look at songs from the era where the Scottish songs what Scottish songs were people focusing on? What were they thinking about, you get a flavour of the times, you get an idea of what it was like for people at that time, which gives such a richness to your narrative, and to the book that you're writing. I've also got some Ecclefeccan historical record history, historic records of tripping over my tongue here. And again, it tells me what that would be like for him to grow up. What was it like for him in Ecclefeccan, and when he was growing up in the 1800s? What were they thinking about? What was important in actual fact, and then because if you've got historic records, that was what was important to them. Nobody does historic records if it's not important. And also, I've got his burial grave record, and that is translated from Chinese. And it's a very, very detailed record. And he even tells me what his grave is like, now. Now, I would love to visit that grave, but I can't and, you know, justify flying to China just to see a grave. And yes, I would get an idea of Whampua, but Whampuais totally different. No. And, but maybe I could, if you feel it's important. That's the sort of things you would do. But I'm just stunned by how detailed the burial and grave record is for him. I also have his medical qualification records. I have a record of what he what he did in order to qualify and what he qualified as. And I also have a record of his thesis what his thesis was on. So again, that tells me what was important to Thomas Graham. I have articles on diseases of the Royal Navy. Now these are absolutely outstanding records for someone like me who's looking at life on board a ship who's looking at medical life on board a ship in the 18th century to actually have the articles on the diseases of the Royal Navy is fascinating. As part of that, and I've also got letters discussing the rank of an assistant surgeon. And it's a discussion between people as to whether they should be allowed assistant surgeon should be allowed into the mess room or not into the officers mess, even though they're officers. And there was a feeling that no, that wouldn't be quite the thing. However, there's a very long involved discussion as to why that it was important that they weren't admitted to the officers mess. Now, having been an officer in the army it absolutely fascinates me that these discussions were ongoing and why they should be taking place and also the changes that have happened now. I have a guide to the collections of the naval maritime libraries and collection groups and that tells me where I can go for more information and the sort of information that they would hold. And that includes the hospitals that he would have served at Royal Naval Hospital Hassler where I served at the hospital at Chatham in Kent, where Graham served Thomas Graham, sorry, served, he served at hazard on the hospital at Chatham, and it lets me, I can get more historical detail about them. I've got records and articles about life during the time, I'm avidly reading those because it's fascinating anyway and it gives me background, it makes me it makes it so that my book is correct. And I'm not talking it has to be factually correct. But I'm not talking about just factually correct, I'm talking about setting it correctly, so that it comes across as authentic, authentic to as life at that time. And I'm not doing it from a contemporary knowledge base. I've got a knowledge base based on life at that time. And I have price lists from the time, I have the price list for the cost of attending university, met again, I'm going to look into this further because although I've got the cost of attending university at the time, and he keeps saying to his father, I need more money because they want four shillings and sixpence for me to sit an exam or four pounds, six shillings and six months to to move on to the next module. Nothing's changed has it really students are still writing home to the parents saying I want more money. But he was saying that he needed more money in order to progress. But also i'm going to look at the costs of that time. For example, you know, what was the cost of if he was staying in accommodation? And he needed to buy food? What was the cost of a loaf of bread? And what was the cost of his accommodation? What was the cost of milk? What was the cost of a newspaper at the time? What was the cost of a notebook for him to write in? All those things provide background, and you know, he may be writing home going, I can't afford to buy a notebook and a pen. What was the cost of a pen? Did he use a fountain pen? Did he have an expensive fountain pen? Those sorts of things? What would they have cost? I also have records of his contemporaries. And the person who was teaching him anatomy, I have detailed records of those. So I know who his contemporaries were, I know who his friends were, I know who was teaching him at the university. And I can add them in for authentic detail in the book, the people will be factually correct. Now it is going to be a novel based on his life. So I'm going to use imaginary people as well. But having the real people in there, gives it more authenticity, and gives it realism. And that's what I'm looking for. And I also have hospital records from the time again, for me as a nurse, they're absolutely fascinating, especially as a naval nurse. So I am loving all of this. I'm reading a biography of a Scottish doctor who went to China and set up the first Western hospital. And that was just after Thomas Graham died, he moved there. So I'm looking at that. Now the reason I'm reading that is because it gives me a real insight into what life would have been like in China in those days, because it really does talk about the ordinary people. It talks about the politics, it talks about the medicine, it talks about the distrust of Western medicine, and he was in China. So that's important. I'm also reading a biography of a Dundee doctor in Crimea. And again, it's at the same time and this is letting me know, again, what the medicine was like. The medicine would have been a lot the same whether it's the Crimea or whether it's whether it's the Navy, so I get a broader base, I get a wider scope of what was going on. And obviously the Crimea, they would have may have different things, but a lot of the diseases would have been the same. And a lot of the injuries would have been the same - gunshot wounds, gunshot wounds would have happened, whether in the Crimea or on board a boat, you know, gunshot wounds would have happened from bandits and things when they were abroad when they were ashore. You know, there were there's a lot of things that would be similar. So this gives me richer detail. Absolutely richer detail. Now, I'm going to finish with my final thing, because this is absolutely 100% the most fascinating thing I know. I also have details of his uncle, and his uncle, served on board HMS Victory with Admiral Nelson, Admiral Lord Nelson. And that is amazing. He comes from a line of naval surgeons, and it was a family thing. And he was carrying on from his uncle. And he must have been his family must have been so proud when he joined up and carried on the tradition. And these are the sorts of things that you learn when you're doing history, ther's so much that you can actua ly look up and can look into ow I'm sure you're thinking, Oh, my goodness, this is so much. nd it is a lot. But there is e en more that you can look up. nd I'm going to go into t at another day, because I'm st ll exploring it myself. But I an tell you, it may be a lot. ut it is absolutely 10%. Interesting, fascinating, nd worth it. I hope this has hel ed you today, I really wanted to be able to help you with someth ng that would move you forwa d, that would help you and wo ld mean that you can would m an that you can start your wn research yourself if you re interested in it. And it does't matter what era you re researching. You can get i's important that you do this. nd what I've told you today an help you. So I really h pe you've enjoyed it. I know i's just been me today. But I as enjoying this so much. I wan ed to bring you an overview of t. And I hope it has helped y u. And I hope I will see you n xt week when I will have m re guests again. So thank you or joining me today. That brings us to the end of another show. It was really good to have you on the show with me today. I'm Wendy h Jones. And you can find me at Wendy H jones.com. You can also find me on Patreon where you can support me for as little as $3 a month which is less than the price of a tea or coffee. You go to patreon.com forward slash when the H Jones. I'm also when to h Jones on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Thank you for joining me today and I hope you found it both useful and interesting. Join me next week when I will have another cracking guest for you. Until then, have a good week and keep writing. 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