Brian Gilchrist, Ontario genealogist, passes away

It is with a heavy heart that I read this morning that Brian Gilchrist has passed away. His passing leaves a big void in Ontario genealogy.

He was the Reference Archivist at PAMA (Peel Art Gallery, Museum & Archives), and a founding member of Halton-Peel Branch, OGS.

I first met Brian in the early 1990s when I was starting out in genealogy, and he brought an energy and interest to the subject that I had to admire. I always went to his lectures, and always came away recommitted to the world of genealogy.

The last conversation I had with Brian was about a month ago when I was asking him about a family in Peel County, and he said that he had been sick, but things were looking up, and that he had returned to work. So the news this morning really caught me off guard.

His knowledge, and understanding on Ontario genealogy will be missed.

His funeral will be held at St. James Church in Toronto next week.   

The news is on Gail Dever’s Facebook page at Genealogy à la carte at http://genealogyalacarte.wordpress.com/2014/05/01/canadian-genealogist-j-brian-gilchrist-passes-away and on the Halton-Peel Branch of the OGS Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/HaltonPeelBranchOGS

British Columbia, Canada, Estate Files, 1859-1949

 Another case of the partnership between Ancestry and FamilySearch. 

Ancestry has the browsable images on their site, and you can browse by Judicial District/Locality, whereas FamilySearch has the background information that could help you to search estate files in British Columbia. plus browsable images.

So how is this system working? It brings the holdings of the FamilySearch site to a different audience, but Ancestry isn’t adding any new records by doing this. Are you satisfied with this change?

At one time apparently, Ancestry would only put on indexed records, now it appears that they have moved to include browsable images.

You can search the site at Ancestry http://search.ancestry.ca/search/db.aspx?dbid=9806

You can read the information at FamilySearch at https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/British_Columbia_Estate_Files_(FamilySearch_Historical_Records)

The images are at FamilySearch at https://familysearch.org/search/collection/2014768