Genealogy in London, in Toronto

The early registration deadline is approaching for the Toronto Branch of OGS workshop GENEALOGY IN LONDON.

Most English people have ancestors or relatives who lived at least some of their life in London; and there are certainly records of your English ancestors in London wherever they lived. This is a not-to-be-missed opportunity if you live within striking distance of Toronto. You save $5 if you register before October 3. Be sure to reserve a spot before the registration reaches its limit.

The lead-off speaker is Else Churchill, Genealogy Officer of the Society of Genealogists in London, with a plenary presentation on London’s World of Genealogy. We chose Else as the keynote speaker for the BIFHSGO conference some years ago. I wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to hear her again.

After that you have to make a choice, mostly a difficult choice, between two sessions. The information on the presentations and speakers is here, along with registration details.

You may notice a presentation Bereft of Life, They Rest in Peace. But Where? by some guy named John D Reid, about finding burials in London. Do you recognize the allusion to popular culture in the title? Click here and listen carefully around 2:30.

I'm especially keen to attend Alison Hare's presentation The Time of Cholera. Alison gave a fascinating short talk about London’s cholera epidemic of 1854, and her ancestor who was a victim, some years ago for BIFHSGO. This will be her first presentation on her much more extensive, and trademark careful research on the epidemic and victims previously only identified by initials. It's one I wouldn't miss, even if I do have to go to Toronto to hear from an Ottawa-based colleague and miss out on a presentation by Phillip Dunn, Senior Consultant at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, in the parallel session.

The workshop is on Saturday, November 8, 2008 at the North York Central Library Auditorium, 5120 Yonge Street, Toronto, by the North York Centre subway station.