Many families have traditions in their families that they do year on year. They can range from things they do to presents they give. This year things may be different for all of us but that doesn’t mean that all the traditions have to stop.
A lot of family’s probably have similar traditions. I always
got a little orange and a bag of chocolate money (except Father Christmas
forgot my chocolate money last year!) and a pillow case with my presents in. My
parents always got a new pair of slippers. Some may always have visited the
same people on the same day. For us my grandparents always came for Christmas
day Other traditions for us include a real Christmas tree every year and Lilly
the fairy going on top of the tree. Lilly was made by my Great Grandma Weeds in
the early 1950. She’s had a refurbishment this year and a bath but she is still
the same girl just tidied up.
But how many of these traditions stem from necessity. Yes it
was great that your ancestor’s got a new pair of slippers every Christmas, but
if you think about it they probably needed them, so they got what they needed
as a present. I can remember getting a new winter coat which makes a great
present and is something I needed.
The further back you go through your ancestor’s the more
this probably happened. Children probably just got the new clothes they needed
and little else, or if they did they were most likely homemade and it would
have been rare that the adults got a present, unless they were from a wealthy
family that could afford to buy them.
Another form the traditions may take could relate to
Christmas food. Tradition today for Christmas dinner is a full roast with
turkey. In the Victorian era and before it would more likely have been goose.
I’ve had a variety of strange foods for Christmas dinner. I’ve had a BBQ, a fry
up and even pizza. Just because it’s Christmas day doesn’t mean it has to be
turkey and Christmas pudding. Going back through your ancestor’s it may be that
the family scrimped and saved just to have a small piece of meat for Christmas
Day (think of the Cratchit’s in a Christmas Carol). If they were farmers like
many of my ancestors were they may have had a better dinner as they had the
land to grow their own veg and raise animals just for themselves.
Traditions could be things the family did. Pre WW1 it’s most
likely that your ancestors would have attended church on Christmas morning
before going home for the day. Many a time the man of the house may have gone
to the pub after church before going home for lunch. Other traditions could be
that on Boxing Day the family went for a long walk or went carolling in the
days coming up to Christmas Day.
We need to remember though that the further you go back
through your ancestors the less likely it would be that that had any kind of
Christmas. Tradition for them could have been that Christmas was a non-event as
any kind of celebration would have been beyond their means. Those in the
workhouse could have had a better day as even they got a little more food on
Christmas day.
Each new generation probably has a new a new set of
traditions. Some may combine the traditions of their parents along with new
traditions. Each generation will have access to new ideas, beliefs and material
things which will mean they can have new traditions that your ancestor’s could
never have imagined. Can you imagine your Georgian ancestor’s ever thinking
that you can put electric lights on a tree in your house or even covering their
houses in them?
So why not start a new Christmas tradition this year so that
in the future your descendants can wonder where the Christmas traditions they
do come from.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all from Family History Research England.
