07/08/2026
DID YOU KNOW:
August is Family History Month, and in 2026 the theme is “Ancestors: Mundane to Magnificent”
Every family has ordinary people whose stories become extraordinary when viewed through history, whose lives have shaped the generations that followed. They may not appear in history books, but they built homes, raised families, served their communities, overcame hardships, and left lasting legacies.
This year’s Family History Month theme, celebrates the remarkable stories hidden within seemingly ordinary lives. From labourers and miners to teachers, nurses, farmers, shopkeepers, soldiers, migrants, and homemakers, every ancestor has a story worth discovering, worth telling.
Family history reminds us that greatness is not measured by fame. It is found in resilience, courage, kindness, sacrifice, and the everyday lives that helped build our communities and our nation.
This month, why not challenge yourself to learn something new about just one ancestor? Every life tells a story. Every story matters.
2026 is also the “International Year of the Woman Farmer”.
Do you have a woman farmer in your family, past or present?
We can celebrate our farmers, by sharing their stories, their photos, their struggles and achievements.
When ‘Farmer” is listed as an occupation on a birth certificate, electoral roll or census record, it can seem like a simple fact. In reality it represents an entire way of life.
Farmers worked, and still work, long hours, in all weather conditions. They have battled droughts, floods, fires, pests and uncertain markets.
They supplied food to growing towns, supported local businesses and built rural communities.
Many lived far from towns, schools and medical care.
Children often helped before and after school, learning practical skills from an early age.
Entire families depended on cooperation, resilience and determination. They persevered, adapted to change, passing down valuable knowledge from generation to generation.
So, who are you going to discover, and share the life of, from your family history? Maybe you could compare family farmers, past and present, discovering and documenting the similarities and changes of farming life between the generations, how modern farming compared to farming life, say 100 or more years ago?
