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.

90 schools now in Toronto war memorials database

Volunteers with the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society have added about 3,000 new names since the fall of 2013 to For King and Country – the growing online Branch database of school memorials commemorating Toronto students and staff who volunteered for active service in the two World Wars and other military conflicts. This searchable collection now contains 90 schools and more than 35,000 names, with transcriptions and photographs of school war memorials, along with historical background and links to other useful school and community websites. The newest schools in the database are Oakridge Public School and Danforth Technical School. Danforth Tech holds the distinction of being the alma mater of a staggering 2,235 volunteers—students, graduates, teachers and other staff—more than any other school in the British Commonwealth—and it maintains an impressive archive of records, housed in its War Memorial Library. Explore For King and Country now at www.torontofamilyhistory.org/kingandcountry/, and contact co-ordinator Martha Jackson at kingandcountry@torontofamilyhistory.org if you would like to get involved with this project.

Gwyneth Pearce

Secretary – Toronto Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society

publicity@torontofamilyhistory.org

Now on Facebook and Twitter @TOFamilyHistory

Ottawa Branch Meeting - Saturday, September 14, 2013

Ottawa Branch Meeting

Saturday, September 14, 2013
13:00 – 15:15
Free refreshments and networking

City of Ottawa Archives, 100 Tallwood Drive, Room 115

Speaker: Shirley-Ann Pyefinch

Topic: FamilySearch for Now and Into the Future

In this presentation, Shirley-Ann Pyefinch will detail the features of the FamilySearch website, explain how to use the tools and information resources available in order to be able to create and leave a legacy for future generations.

Shirley-Ann Pyefinch has served since 2005 as the Director for the Ottawa Ontario Stake Family History Centre of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She has lectured at various societies, and conferences. She teaches family history classes, preservation workshops, and hosts annual family history conferences at the centre.

This meeting will be simulcast for members who can't join us in person.
To join the meeting, go to: http://genealogicalstudies.adobeconnect.com/ottawaogs/

If you have never attended an Adobe Connect meeting before:
Test your connection: http://genealogicalstudies.adobeconnect.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm
Get a quick overview: http://www.adobe.com/products/adobeconnect.html

You Don’t Need to Know What You’re Looking For But You Do Need to Know What You’ve Found

Are you new to family history research? If you are doing the work to produce a family history, you will want it to be useful to your descendants and other relatives. Where do you learn the best methods?  When do you use abbreviations? How do you record a place? How do you record a married woman? What if they don’t spell their name like we do? How do you cite your sources? What other information can you find on-line? Where can you find more information on your family? Where do you find out about computer programs? How do you handle old photographs? And much much more.

WE CAN HELP YOU!

Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society has been bringing together people who share a common interest in genealogy for more than forty years.  Learn how to make use of the information that you find on line and in other research facilities. The Society has 3500 members. Ottawa Branch holds our own monthly meetings as well as an annual conference where speakers share their knowledge and experience on a wide variety of genealogical subjects. We produce quarterly journals with valuable tips and idea. Our reference library of useful information is housed in the City of Ottawa Central Archives.

There are also special interest groups in Ottawa Branch for Irish Research and Computers.

Ottawa Branch OGS:

ogsottawa.on.ca

ogs.on.ca

Colonel By Day, Ottawa, Ontario. August 5, 2013

Colonel By Day, Ottawa, Ontario. August 5, 2013

The day turned out to be a great day for this celebration. The weather cooperated with no rain. It was sunny mostly with a little breeze coming off the Ottawa River and funneling up the Rideau Canal entrance locks in Ottawa.

 Elizabeth and I along with Kyla and Mike looked after the Ottawa Branch Ontario Genealogical Society table for the day. We talked to a number of people during the day. There were a lot of people passing by but the traffic in the Exhibition tent seemed to be lighter than usual.

Three of us, Elizabeth, Edward and Kyla dressed up in costumes representing different time periods. I know that I did attract a little attention, as a number of people asked to take my photograph. Kyla had a demonstration of book binding and even made it on the CTV news that evening for about 5 to 10 seconds.

 The one group that did attract attention was the 78^th Fraser Highlanders Fort Glen Garrison. This is a re-enactment group staffed by students. They had a great drum and fife band and presented mini concerts throughout the day. There were many people dressed in costume wandering around during the day. There was the annual celebration at the Irish Workers Memorial cross beside the canal.

To find out more about Colonel John By do a goggle search and look at the Wikipedia article.

Also have a look at Council of Heritage Organizations of Ottawa (CHOO)website under events. www.choocopo.ca/english/.

Goulbourn Museum’s bid brings war medals home

The Goulbourn Museum yesterday had the winning bid in the purchase of the medals belonging to Clarence Rielly, a former Richmond resident who served in both the First and Second World Wars. And Ottawa Branch was pleased to contribute to the funds raised for the purchase. You can read more about the acquisition in the Ottawa Citizen at http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Goulbourn+Museum+brings+medals+home/8795028/story.html. Congratulations.

OGS By-law Vote

All members should soon have received their notice of the proposed By-law changes and the ballot. I encourage all to register your vote on this very important issue. Follow the instructions enclosed with the ballot and proposed by-laws.

National Volunteer Week

There has been little heard on the media but this is National Volunteer Week. According to Volunteer Canada, there are 12.5 million of us across the county "on all fronts: community health care, sports and recreation, heritage and arts, environmental protection & advocacy, disaster relief, international development, and volunteer firefighting – the list is endless. The work of volunteers is essential to maintaining resilient communities at home and around the world."

If you would like to thank a volunteer, you can use the website at http://volunteer.ca/nvw to send an e-Card.

Better still, why don't you become a volunteer? We would be more than glad to share the load of running our organizations and sharing our hobby. After all, there are still over 22 million who are not volunteering. You can make a difference and you will feel better for helping others move ahead in the hobby. Every little bit helps.

OGS Conference 2012

OGS Conference 2012:  Borders & Bridges: 1812 - 2012, will be held 1-3 June 2012 at St. Lawrence College, 100 Portsmouth Avenue, Kingston, Ontario.

The War of 1812 was a border dispute between England and the United States. Issues such as borders; land settlement and pension records (on both sides of the border) of participants in the war of 1812 and other wars; immigration and migration; and genealogical resources in areas bordering eastern Ontario as well as in Ontario will be among the topics covered by speakers at the Conference. Other sessions will cover 21^st century topics such as DNA, Google and other technology relevant to genealogical research.

Of particular interest to people curious about family history may be the pre-conference workshop “Starting Out in Genealogy”, offered Friday, June 1, 9:30 am – noon. People can register for this or any other Friday workshop without registering for the entire conference. 

Registration is now open at http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference2012/registration.

Organizations that would like to exhibit in the Vendor area can find information at http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference2012/marketplace.

Genealogy Day and Region VIII OGS AGM

Region VIII Ontario Genealogical Society

AGM and Genealogy Day

hosted by Ottawa Branch OGS

Saturday, April 21, 2012

City of Ottawa Central Archives

100 Tallwood Drive, Ottawa, Ontario

Cost: $15 at the door (does not include lunch)

All Registrants will be eligible for a draw for $50 off the cost of registration at OGS Conference 2012

 9:30-10:00       Check-in.  Coffee and tea will be available on arrival.

Speakers include Robert Serré, Rick Roberts and Paul Henry, City Archivist. Lunch is included in the price of admission when you pre-register. Deadline for pre-registration is 10 April

More details  and registration form at

http://ogsottawa.on.ca/region-viii-agm-and-genealogy-day/

Marketplace will feature Global Genealogy, Archive CD Books Canada as well as the member organizations of Region VIII and some of the local heritage organizations.

Ontario Genealogical Society Conference 2012

OGS Conference 2012:  Borders & Bridges: 1812 - 2012, will be held 1-3 June 2012 at St. Lawrence College, 100 Portsmouth Avenue, Kingston, Ontario.

The War of 1812 was a border dispute between England and the United States. Issues such as borders; land settlement and pension records (on both sides of the border) of participants in the war of 1812 and other wars; immigration and migration; and genealogical resources in areas bordering eastern Ontario as well as in Ontario will be among the topics covered by speakers at the Conference. Other sessions will cover 21^st century topics such as DNA, Google and other technology relevant to genealogical research.

Of particular interest to people curious about family history may be the pre-conference workshop “Starting Out in Genealogy”, offered Friday, June 1, 9:30 am – noon. People can register for this or any other Friday workshop without registering for the entire conference. 

Registration is now open at http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference2012/registration and the early bird rate ends on 31 March.

Organizations that would like to exhibit in the Vendor area can find information at http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference2012/marketplace.

Volunteering Outside the Box

As members of the Ontario Genealogical Society should be aware, the lack of volunteers to run the Society and the branches is reaching a critical stage. Three of the ten Directors positions on the OGS Board are vacant and two positions are filled by Past Presidents. In Ottawa Branch, the Chair, Treasurer, Secretary and Program Coordinator positions are empty and many of the other directors have served for long times. I was Chair for almost eight years because we could not find anyone willing to take on the role (and still cannot). Most other branches are in similar situations.

Despite these opportunities, many of the four thousand members of the Society seem to be willing to sit back and hope somebody else will do the job. I am sure that some of them are involved in other organizations and others have done their time with the Society. But groups like OGS need volunteers to operate. There are a few paid staff at the Provincial Office but we cannot afford to have all the work done by them. As a result, tasks are falling through the cracks and the remaining volunteers are getting tired of doing extra work.

I am not a great one for looking outside the box but perhaps there are other ways to handle some of these jobs. In Ottawa, we have one volunteer who lives in Hamilton and handles our publicity for us. We are hoping to hold at least some of our Board meetings on line, so that some of the volunteers would not have to live in the area. OGS has already done this with Executive meetings to save on travel costs.

I know that some branches have two or more people handling one task. At least one branch has co-chairs, so that they need only do part of the work. Another has a snowbird for a Chair, and others fill in when she is away for the winter. Others have committees so that they can share the work of producing the newsletter or arranging the meetings. There are probably other ideas for handling the work that needs to be done.

I have talked to some branches about sharing their workload but have yet to see this put into practice. Could one person do the same task for a couple of branches? With the use of e-mail and on-line meetings, I don’t see why not? It would mean more work for that person but not necessarily twice the workload, as there should be some overlap.

Consider what will happen to you if the Branch disappears? Or even the Society? What will you lose? What will you miss? How will it impact on your research and your enjoyment of the hobby? Will you do anything to prevent this? Do you have any ideas to help out? Let me know at pastchair@ogsottawa.on.ca

The Ontario Name Index (TONI)

Indexes, particularly name indexes, are the most valuable thing a genealogical society can produce. When I started working on my family tree in the mid 80s, The Ontario Genealogical Society's (OGS) Cemetery Project had been going for some time and there were numerous cemetery transcriptions available from the Branches. As I could not afford to buy every likely resting place of my ancestors, I would spend time at each conference browsing the various transcriptions looking for likely family members. No, I didn't stand at the table writing down the information; I bought what I could afford. But I also thought that it would have been much easier with a central index to all the transcriptions, so I could figure out which to buy. Eventually the Ontario Cemetery Finding Aid (OCFA) started to do that, followed later by the OGS Ontario Cemetery Ancestor Index (OCAI). The Ontario Name Index (TONI) will provide the same facility but on a larger scale.

TONI was begun by OGS in 2010, as one of the 50^th anniversary projects. At the Annual General Meeting at Conference 2011 in Hamilton, TONI was officially launched on the OGS website (http://www.ogs.on.ca/home/TONI.php). Earlier this month, TONI reached 177,948 entries.

TONI provides a single index of Ontario names, indicating where information about that person can be found. It is not limited to cemetery transcriptions but will include anything that includes an Ontario name. TONI will aim researchers in the right direction to locate information about their person of interest in Ontario.  The location may be a Branch document, a web site, a microfilm, a family history, an archive, etc.  The index is available on the public part of the OGS website so that anyone can access it. TONI should make OGS and Branch resources more visible.

What do we want to include in TONI? Any source that contains a name in Ontario.

TONI includes:

o       converting and importing existing electronic indices at Branch and Society level, i.e. Ontario Cemetery Ancestor Index or Ottawa Branch Name Index (http://ogsottawa.on.ca/nameindex/index.php);

o       digitizing  and importing existing hard copy indices;

o       indexing existing electronic and hard-copy documents and importing them, including family histories, Tweedsmuir histories, items in the e-library, etc. Branch publications such as cemeteries, census, newspapers and other transcriptions; and

o       indexes to digitized documents produced for other organizations as part of the scanning project could be included with permission of the owner.

The information already in the Ontario Cemetery Ancestor Index is being moved into TONI by the Provincial Office, cemetery by cemetery. The names in the Ontario Genealogical Society Provincial Index (OGSPI) will also be included in TONI, which will refer a researcher to OGSPI and then back to the original source.

All Branches and SIGS have been requested to appoint a Branch TONI coordinator to liaise with the Provincial Coordinator. The Branch coordinator will seek and assist volunteers to input data into files that will be loaded into TONI. These coordinators will have copies of the TONI Indexing Instructions that provide the information needed by volunteers to begin working. Branch/SIG Coordinators have the following roles in the project:

1.      encouraging and assisting volunteers to index the Branch holdings, both hard copy and electronic; 

2.      assigning the file names for TONI that the volunteers will use; and

3.      ensuring that the files are completed as per the instructions.

If you would like to participate in TONI, contact your local TONI Coordinator or the Provincial Coordinator at director08@ogs.on.ca

TONI is an indexing program and NOT a digitization program. TONI will comply with any OGS Privacy Policy. TONI will not intentionally include information on living individuals and will focus on those with birth dates earlier than one hundred years ago or deaths earlier than 50 years ago.

Any questions can be directed to me at director08@ogs.on.ca