An Ancestor in Crime: Digitisation and the Discovery of Family Deviance

This study examines the literature relating to grassroots interactions with the raw material of history, archival records. Family history is the primary method through which the public engage with the past. With the advent of digitisation, the public are more easily able to engage with complex sources. One of these source types are the records of the historical criminal justice system. Through digitisation, records never intended for public consumption are available at the click of a button and bring to light unlooked-for knowledge dealing with ancestors' criminality.

This work explores how family historians accommodate criminal ancestors in their family narrative and identity. The present work examines if genealogical enquiries are narrowly focused or lead amateur historians to further historical research. This work also reveals whether their personal connection facilitates empathy or clouds their judgment of historical events. The work looks at the acquisition and transmission of historical knowledge by family historians.

With evidence derived from over 500 survey responses, 25 interviews, and an analysis of published narratives and social media engagement, this thesis explores the impact of the discovery of a criminal ancestor has on a family and asks whether the discovery of a deviant ancestor can lead to a transformative learning moment.