12 June 2014

BIFHSGO June meeting and AGM

In lieu of the regular "before BIFHSGO" presentation next Saturday the society will hold it's annual general meeting starting at 9am. That's followed at 10am by a

Great Moments in Genealogy session where you can learn how four members made a great discovery.

Grandma Ruth’s New Fur Jacket
By Susan Davis
In her 1956 diary, Ruth Robinson records the fact that she received her lovely fur jacket October 31st. In a later entry, she records feeling somewhat uncomfortable wearing it to the church for the first time. Today, the mink jacket lives on in the form of two furry teddy bears and Ruth’s life lives on in the words she wrote in her diaries from 1944 to 1964. After receiving three of her diaries in 2012, Susan happily became the caretaker of the collection in 2013.

About the Speaker
As an adolescent, Susan Davis volunteered at her local library. When returning books to their shelves, her two favourite sections were biographies and mysteries. Family history research provides her with lots of life stories to read and puzzles to solve. As the daughter of an army cook, Susan grew up loving her parents’ Eastern Townships of Quebec roots. She and her mother spend many happy hours discussing these family stories.

A Tale of Illegitimacy, Music, Mistresses and the Windham-Guises
By Gillian Leitch
In search for her Cutler ancestors, Gillian Leitch stumbled upon a fascinating group of people.  The deeper she dug into the family tree, the more interesting they became. Gillian found clerics, musicians and mistresses, all leading to the amazing story of Elizabeth Windham Guise. This has definitely been one of the great moments in her genealogical research. This is an update on Gillian’s article in the fall 2013 issue of Anglo-Celtic Roots.

About the Speaker
Gillian Leitch is a professional historian who works at CDCI Research in Ottawa. Besides her keen interest in genealogy, she is a specialist in nineteenth century Canadian history, and recently edited a book on Doctor Who.

John Armstrong Fielder – Is This All There Is to Him?
By Judy Thamas
This WOW moment is a result of following inspiration after Judy thought that she had gathered all the facts that she could from public sources. The inspiration was that she should Google her grandfather’s brother’s name. A website that she had not particularly noted came up with a piece of unexpected information. This lead to a letter to Who Do You Think You Are? magazine, and back to the website to correspond with the webmasters until contact was made with the person who posted the information and a surprising result.

About the Speaker
Judy Thamas grew up in southern Ontario and has spent a good majority of her adult life either as a wife of a member of the Canadian Forces or as a reservist in the Primary Reserve or a combination of both. Thanks to the military, she has lived on both coasts of Canada, in Ottawa, and in Germany. She has worked for the private sector as a bookkeeper, factory worker, and in administration.  Judy retired from the Reserves in September of 2010 after 24 years as a musician, a cook and a clerk. She first started working on her family history in 1976.  Since her retirement, she fills her days with family history.

Finding My Great Great Grandmother in London, England
By Brian Chamberlain
Brian will speak on his great-great-grandmother, Maria Matilda Snooks. The talk will look at research done to find her here in Canada and where she came from in England, using various techniques, sources and Ancestry.com.

About the Speaker
Brian Chamberlain was born into a military family in Barrie, Ontario. In 1967, he moved to Ottawa in 1967 and has lived here ever since. He graduated from Algonquin College twice, first in Business and later in Records Management. His genealogy research began when he inherited a family genealogy for the McKenzie family. Brian is now working on writing his family history.

The location is Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario. Visitors are welcome. Free admission.

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