BIFHSGO Conference - Panel Discussion

On Sunday afternoon, at the closing of the BIFHSGO conference, a spirited panel discussion entitled, "Future Trends in Family History and Genealogical Research", was chaired by Glenn Wright.

L to R: Glenn Wright, Moderator, with panelists John D. Reid, Colleen Fitzpatrick, and Bryan D. Cook

Colleen brought up two points - you can't stop technology, and that the people who don't get with the program (newer technology) will eventually die out because this is where it is all heading.

Bryan said he see changes in four areas of genealogy -

He thinks that data will continue to go online as free and pay-per-view, that fee-based services will continue to increase and the market expand, that DNA testing will pick-up even more, and that people will go on telling the stories of their ancestors, but worries about who, or what service, will be available to safeguard the stories for the telling.

John said that he sees the next big thing on the horizon as the machine-read digitization of newspapers.

"If civil registration and census online was wonderful progress, digitized newspapers are, or will be, a revolution," he said.

You can read the full text of his remarks on his blog, <http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com/2009/09/future-of-family-history.html>.

He noted that none of the local newspapers have been digitized - those held by the Library and Archives Canada - but there is always hope!

There were about 150 attendees taking part, and when question time came, there were lots of questions.

The audience seemed generally affected by the discussion, and were concerned by the not being able to attract new members to the societies, and what they would do with their work of family histories after they had finished with them.

2009 - Year of the Home Child

Did you know that 2009 is the Year of the Home Child?

I found out about it by reading the "Ottawa Branch News", which arrived in the mail recently. It was a short notice included under "Interesting Web Sites".

There is a British website <http://www.britishhomechildren.org/> dedicated to the Descendants of the British Home Children (BHC). They have appeared to have declared 2009 as the Year of the Home Child.

Between 1869 and 1948, over 100,000 children were sent to Canada from the UK.

They have had quite a few events (some of them are listed for Canada), but I was more interested in links they had to other organizations, of which one caught my attention because it is in Canada. They also have "Images From Our Past", which provides photos of Home Children.

Locally, there is the BIFHSGO Home Children Index at <www.bifhsgo.ca/home_children.htm>.

Dave and Kay Lorente—BIFHSGO Hall of Fame members—started researching Home Children in 1991, and later signed a memorandum of understanding with BIFHSGO to let them take over the researching for Home Children.

Today, when you go to the website, you will see their work in a free, searchable database.

So far, they have put on children who immigrated to Canada between 1869 and 1948, and the indexing of the Middlemore Home Children who arrived between 1873 and 1933.

Fellow Hall of Famer (2009) and blogger, John D. Reid, has written a book entitled, Researching Canada's Home Children, published in association with BIFHSGO.

These are great resources for one's Home Children research.

BIFHSGO - Session on Writing

At this year's BIFHSGO conference—starting tomorrow on Friday, September 18th—there is going to be "The Next Steps in Genealogy" course, at which BIFHSGO will give a session on "How do I Start Writing?".

They will follow this up with an all-day session on Saturday, November 28th in Room 156 at the Library and Archives Canada Building, 365 Wellington Street, Ottawa.

They will discuss what to write about, turning records into an interesting narrative with an historical context, and working with diaries and letters.

It will cost $10.00 for BIFHSGO members, and $15.00 for non-members.

If you are interested, visit <www.bifhsgo.ca> or contact Margaret Burwell at <burwellm@rogers.com>.

There will also be another "The Next First Steps in Genealogy" course on Saturday, March 20th, 2010, again at the LAC.

Ottawa Branch, OGS - September Meeting

The next meeting of the Ottawa Branch, OGS will be held on Tuesday, September 15th at 7:30 p.m. in Room 156 of the Library and Archives Canada building at 395 Wellington Street.

Coreen Atkins-Sheldrick will speak on her new book, "In Our Defence: The Veterans & Military Heritage of Historic Osgoode Township", about the military history of Osgoode Township, Carleton County.

She is going to talk about the stories she learned while working on this book.

I see where she has another book called, "The Yorke Families of Historic Osgoode Township, Carleton County", written in 2003.

For more information, please visit <www.ogsottawa.on.ca>.

Other Genealogy Writings

In addition to this blog, I write articles for various newsletters, magazines, and websites, and am also the editor of the Ontario Genealogical Society's newsletter, NewsLeaf, and its sister email newsletter, e-NewsLeaf. It makes for a very busy genealogical life!

In addition to what is listed below, I have a number of other articles in the works for this coming fall and winter.

This summer, I have had a number of articles published that you may wish to take a look at -

Irish Connections Canada is a new magazine in Canada, published by Eammon O'Loghlin from Toronto, and is of particular interest to the Irish in Canada and Ireland.

In the Summer 2009 issue of the magazine, I wrote "Discovering your Irish-Canadian Roots". It is also on the magazine's website at <www.irishcanadamag.com>.

Besides my article, I was amazed at what I found in this 98-page publication, and Eammon is certainly to be praised for starting a publication in such hard economic times.

I have had three articles published in my online Canadian Connections column on the GenealogyToday.com website <www.GenealogyToday.com/ca/connect>, and they are -

"Census of Canadian Prairie Provinces - 1916", "Canadian Genealogy by the Book", and "Researching Canadian First World War Files".

Discovering Family History (July/Aug 2009) has just published two of my articles, "Exploring Newfoundland and Labrador Genealogy", and "Oh Canada! Canadian Immigration Records" <www.discoveringfamilyhistory.com>.

As their International Director/Director-at-Large, I am a regular contributor to Columns, the newsletter of ISFHWE, the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors. Please visit the website at <www.isfhwe.org>.

And I mustn't let it go by without saying a few words about the OGS' NewsLeaf.

I took over the editorship in November 2006, so this year marks the third anniversary for me, and I must say that I have enjoyed it very much, and continue to do so.

With the last issue, and in future issues, you will see a lot more genealogical news about Ontario, and starting in November, a feature story will appear on the front page for the first time in the print version of NewsLeaf.

As for the e-NewsLeaf, it continues to chug along with eight issues a year - and holds the news that the print NewsLeaf cannot possibly handle.

Visit the OGS website at <www.ogs.on.ca>.

Fall Meeting of BIFHSGO - 2009

The fall genealogy season is here, with the first meeting of BIFHSGO being held this coming Saturday morning at Library and Archives Canada!

The British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa is in its 15th year, and it will start off its fall programme at 10:30 a.m. with a lecture by Brian Glenn, "Circling the Wagons Around Jack Fraser".

His talk will be an update on his maternal grandfather - a topic he first spoke on in a Great Moments talk in 2004.

If you get there at 9:30, there will be the usual Discovery Tables on England, Ireland, and Scotland, hosted by knowledgeable volunteers ready to answer your questions.

Later this week, I will give a rundown of the BIFHSGO conference to be held from September 18th to the 20th.

Visit their website at <www.bifhsgo.ca>.

Halifax Public Library

I lived in Halifax, Nova Scotia from 1970 until the summer of 1988, when I came to Ottawa.

There are two things that I miss about Halifax - the Atlantic Ocean and the genealogy of the province, neither of which are available in Ottawa. However, the Ottawa River substitutes for the ocean, and the Canadian Genealogy Center is great for the wandering genealogist to spend a few hours a week researching one's East Coast roots.

However, putting that aside, I see where the Halifax Public Library is again offering their ever-popular course, Genealogy 101.

If you aren't in Halifax, you should go to their site <http://www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca/research/topics/local-history-genealogy.html> and see all the wonderful genealogical stuff they have on their webpage, "Roots to the Past: Local History & Genealogy".

They have "Suggested Reading Lists", "Digital Collections", "Helpful Hints", and a part entitled, "Getting Started".

I went to the "Getting Started" page, and clicked on "Donations". They have over twenty things you can donate to the library - including biographies, Halifax County magazines and newspapers, 19th and 20th century maps of Halifax and Nova Scotia, and songbooks.

Have you sent your published Nova Scotia genealogy there? I must admit that I haven't got mine printed - but it is one of the things I have promised myself to do over the Christmas holidays.

Right now, it is in a number of boxes in my office (horrors!), but this will be the year that it is finally published (online and off).

In case you ask, I am researching both sides of the family, all United Empire Loyalists, who founded Shelburne (Port Roseway back then), and surrounding areas within the South Shore. Names include Barclay, Blades, Bingay, and Noah Webster (he of dictionary fame).