BIFHSGO June meeting

The happenings this Saturday 11 June for the BIFHSGO meeting at Ben Franklin Place in Ottawa are:

9:00 a.m.
Annual General Meeting

10:00 a.m.
Great Moments in Genealogy

Stories Behind Glass Plate Photographs of The Great War
In August 2014, Brian Glenn assisted the Archivist of the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa and created a photographic record of the memorials, stained glass windows and other liturgical elements of All Saints Sandy Hill as it was being closed as an Anglican place of worship. One of the items they came across was a small wooden box holding 60 glass plate photographs taken during the First World War, each about 3”x4”. Brian set about making a digitized copy of the glass plate images for the Archives and in doing so became interested in the stories behind some of the photographs in the box – most of which were taken in April and May 1917 during and after the Battle of Vimy Ridge.

Preachers and Politicians
Growing up in Prince Edward Island, Leanne Cooper knew about her Prowse ancestors, who had been prominent Island politicians. But when she started researching her great-grandparents, she discovered that her great-grandmother Minnie (Kirkland) Prowse had just as many interesting people and stories on her side of the family.


Who's Your Great-Great Granddaddy?
When Ian McKelvie’s father, Nelson McKelvie, passed away in 2007 he left Ian stacks of genealogical paperwork and a mystery he thought would never be solved. His Grandfather, John McKelvie was born illegitimate at Girvan, Ayrshire in ?? John's Mother, Elizabeth, returned home with her newborn baby to live with her parents. To add to the mystery even more, the 1881 Census indicated she was now blind. By combining traditional research with DNA results Ian believes he knows who his Great-Great Grandfather is.

Blame It on My Husband
Janet Dowdall will speak on how she came to research her husband's family history.  Janet’s husband knew very little about his family history and much of what he was told wasn't accurate so Janet had an interesting time.  She will be focusing on the resources she used to flesh out his family tree and how she came to discover his War of 1812 ancestor. Janet has also had a couple of new developments that give more information on this ancestor.

Discovery Tables are: Ottawa Stake Family History Centre and Global Genealogy.

The meetings are free and open to all. See www.bifhsgo.ca for more details.