The Biography Project is an attempt to move from genealogy -- a collection of facts about our ancestors lives -- towards a family history that honors the unique lives of our relatives and their place in history. The goal is to build a set of biographies of Mavers that are written by the people who knew them best and make them available to the future generations of our family.
Submitting a Biography
You are invited to submit a biography for any member of any Maver, Mavor, Mawer, etc. family. There are just a few requirements:
- Your name will be published as the author of the biography. This ensures that you get credit for your work. The attribution should also explain how you are related to the person you are writing about.
- The biography must use the Creative Commons "Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike" license. This means that the biography will always be attributed to you, but allows it to be shared on this web site as well as copied and shared among future relatives and descendants. It ensures that any biographies you write can not be used commercially.
- Biographies should not include private information. Ensure that you have the consent of any living relatives mentioned in the biography.
There is no length requirement; use as many words as you feel are necessary to tell the story of your ancestor or relative. When you are ready to submit a biography to this web site, use the contact form to get in touch with me and we'll determine the best way to share your work.
Creating a Biography
I anticipate that most of the biographies will be written, but I encourage the inclusion of photos, videos or audio recordings. However, you are welcome to consider alternatives to a written biography:
- Use Voice Threads to create a narrated slide show using photos of your relative.
- Create a YouTube video incorporating home videos and interviews with people who know the person you are creating a biography about.
- If you're biography is of a living person, record a video or audio interview with that person. You might use Sound Cloud for this.
- Consider including photos or videos of objects associated with your relative: the family home, a painting they created, a building they built or a family heirloom they passed on.
- More ideas for putting together a biography from The Armchair Genealogist, Family Search Wiki, and Archives.com.