Beginner session

Saturday saw the annual three hour BIFHSGO/OGS Ottawa Branch beginner genealogy session held at Library and Archives Canada. About 35 people, not all beginners, registered.


Following introductory remarks by Mary Ann Sharpe for BIFHSGO and Mike More for Ottawa Branch I spoke on the 7 golden rules of beginning genealogy, based on those published in Your Family Tree Magazine. Alison Hare followed with a talk on civil registration records focusing on Ontario and English records.

After a short break Glenn Wright presented on Canadian census records following his own ancestors through the various years, pointing out where the information included changed, and inconsistencies in the records.

The final presentation was by Lesley Anderson who spoke on local resources in the Ottawa area.

Not surprisingly more than half the attendees had watched one or more of the US WDYTYA episodes. However, none were attending the session as a result of having seen the program.