“Who We Are, and Why We Do It”: A Demographic Overview and the Cited Motivations of Australia’s Family Historians

Abstract

The multibillion-dollar family history industry is booming in popularity as millions of people around the world are seeking to connect with their ancestral pasts. This article presents some of the findings of a recent Australian study that explored the research practices and historical thinking of family historians. The data presented and discussed here are drawn from 1,406 survey responses and present a demographic and social overview of the survey respondents. It categorizes the cited motivations of family historians in Australia for commencing their familial research, which are much more intrinsic and personal than other studies in this field suggest.