Who is Annie Payne, Personal Historian?

My name is Annie Payne and my personal history business is called History from the Heart.

I work with people who want more than a family tree, by helping them to organise, collect and write their personal or family histories. I do this through individual projects, workshops and with allied products.

Typically, the clients I work with are:

• Adults, with elderly parents, who are unsure about how much time their parents have before the life stories are lost forever;
• Busy, time poor people, who are struggling to capture their family history;
• Elderly people, who need help to write their own memories.

I have many years experience and skill at encouraging people to reveal their long forgotten memories and to convert these into a readable, personal, interesting document to leave as a family legacy.

In other words, I add buds, flowers and foliage to your family tree.

Do you, or someone you know, need a service like this?

One liners:

• I save lives, one story at a time.
• I span generations by gathering stories for the future.
• I help memories live forever.

Remember - time passes, memories fade ...........and we take our stories with us when we go!

10 Ways to Uncover Your Forgotten Memories

Do you want to make a start on writing your personal or family history but have difficulty in remembering events or people from your past?

Here are 10 practical tips to get you started:

1. Draw up a timeline - a note book is good, with a new page for each year. Fill in the events/people you remember under each year's heading.
2. Carry a notebook with you to jot down the thoughts that percolate up into your consciousness, once you start your project. Write them down and add them to the timeline book.
3. Dig out old photographs and ask yourself the who, where, when, what type questions as you look at the picture. Write your conclusions down, in pencil, on the back of the photo.
4. Select a family object (the family teapot, Gran's lace fan) and hold it in your hands, trying to recall the first time you saw it; who was holding it, what were they saying about it, where did it come from; how many other people have owned it? Write your answers down.
5. When trying to recall a certain era, why not play some music from those days? Put on the music, close your eyes and let the music release the memories of where you were, who you were with and all other associated memories.
6. How about using your sense of smell to uncover old memories? Open a bottle of Vanilla essence and remember Nan's baking days; or perhaps the smell of Dettol reminds you of when you broke your leg and went to hospital.
7. Think about the first time you tasted something, maybe eating an ice cream. Was it in a cone or a dish? Did mum make it, what flavour was it? Did you buy it at a shop? How much did it cost?
8. Do you remember the texture and feel of some things from your past - Dad's scratchy face in the morning, the swish of Mum's taffeta evening dress, the snuggly wamth of your eiderdown?
9. Think about some of the personal things you associate with certain people: Dad's gold watch, Nana's apron, Mum's black handbag and then remember special times associated with each object.
10. Family memorabilia - cards, letters, post cards from holidays past, passports, luggage labels, school reports or books - all of these have a story to tell to add interest, texture and depth to the fascinating story of your life.
    

Grab and Go File

In view of recent natural disasters world wide, I began thinking about what I would grab if such an emergency hit my home. These thoughts led me to develope a 'Grab and Go' File, which I have put together and have stored in the bookcase near my front door. My file, a poly-urethane file case, includes the following:

• Copies of our wills, Bank details (numbers, branches, and other account details), copies of our passports, mortgage details and copies of other legal documents.
• Copies of our degrees and other professional documents, marriage certificates and other personal documents for both my husband and myself.
• A small photo album of each child and some significant photos of us as a couple, some family documents of our families eg family tree, diaries, letters and other similar papers.
• Photographs of any family heirlooms including furniture, jewellery etc.

All of these documents are sealed in the airtight file box and I will check them each year. All family members have been notified of both the box location and the documents inside. By thinking about this situation in advance, and being prepared for it, I hope that it never occurs. However, if disaster falls, we are prepared and can grab the file and flee, knowing that all of the important papers and documents are intact, even if we have nothing else.