Special Presentation - Speaker Kirsty Gray

Special Presentation

Speaker: Kirsty Gray

Sunday, November 2, 2p.m. – 5p.m.

Woodroffe United Church, Banquet Hall (207 Woodroffe Ave.)

UK Rockstar Genealogist Kirsty Gray will give two lectures in Ottawa on Sunday November 2nd.  The lectures, sponsored by the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society and the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO), will be:

1. Searching for Names: Challenges, Pitfalls and the Downright Ridiculous

2. Solving Problems Through Family Reconstruction

This event will be held at the Woodroffe United Church Banquet Hall (207 Woodroffe Ave) from 2-5pm.  Admission is $10 per person at the door.  A break with light refreshments will be held between the two lectures.  Signed copies of Kirsty's book will be available.

Kirsty's first involvement in family history came at the tender age of seven years with her maternal grandfather’s tree in hand.  Obsessed with her great-grandmother’s maiden name of Sillifant, Kirsty began a one-name study on the name in 1999, publishing tri-annual journals on the surname for more than ten years.  Kirsty took up genealogy professionally while training to be a teacher in 2002.  Running Family Wise Limited, Kirsty ‘finds people’ and has conducted research for private individuals, solicitors, academics and companies worldwide.  As an author, Kirsty has written for many international publications on various topics for beginners to more advanced levels and her first book, Tracing Your West Country Ancestors, was published in March 2013 by Pen and Sword with her second, Tracing Your Industrial Ancestors, due out in early 2015.  A sought-after lecturer, her knowledge and her energetic and infectious personality wows audiences around the world.  Appointed as Director of English Studies with the National Institute for Genealogical Studies (University of Toronto, Canada) in 2011, Kirsty has more recently been awarded Superstar Genealogist (Gold Medallist in the Rockstar Genealogist Awards 2013) for the UK/Ireland by fellow family history professionals: Rockstar genealogists are those who give “must attend” presentations.