Canadian genealogists will be saddened to learn of the death last Friday, October 24, in Scotland of Paul James McGrath, the result of a heart attack. Paul, born in 1959, was best known as staff genealogist for the family history television show “Ancestors in the Attic.” He was in Scotland shooting a segment for the program.Paul was a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, principal of OntarioRoots.com specializing in exploring early Ontario and Toronto roots. He was Chair of the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society and a Director of the Friends of the Archives of Ontario.
A popular speaker he was editor of OGS Toronto Branch publications "The great contest for responsible government : the City of Toronto poll book of 1841" published in by in 2004, and "Toronto in the 1850s : a transcription of the 1853 tax assessment rolls and guide to family history research" published in 2005. He had a particular interest in the history of Toronto and was author of the article "The Lost Village of Norway" in the September 2005 issue of the Toronto Branch publication Toronto Tree.
We all have our hero characters on our favourite tv programs - Paul was my most fav! I got hooked on geneology several years ago, when I figured I could do my two family trees in a 2 week ancestry free trial subscription. Experience and Paul taught me there more to it than names and dates - he found personality in the most mundane places - and taught me where those mundane places were! You watch Paul and you forget its about 'dead' people, and see very alive and active people, sneaky, good, bad, thief, butcher, baker, whatever all fully embodied individuals sharing space, if not time with us today.
ReplyDeletePaul's personality came thru in his segments on Ancestors In the Attic - someone I would have loved to have counted among my personal friends - I silently did anyway. I always will - he's still with us!
Love and prayers
Lesley Cluff