ABSTRACT
Discovering family roots, or genealogy, has become a favourite international pastime for many of us, veering towards obsession in some cases. The sheer volume of available ‘how to’ books bears witness to this. Genealogy fascinates, well it does me at least, because knowledge of family background and history provides some understanding of our ancestors’ day-to-day experiences, life chances and expectations. But why do we care? And why might many of us care so much? Why has the exploration of our family origins become so engaging in recent years? And, particularly intriguing for me, are there psychological dimensions to this enterprise?
