Schedule & Classes

What are those tabs? Where do they lead? What do they mean? We will explore the various tabs of Family Search to help make it more accessible for beginners, who have already added names to the site, but are not clear about what everything means and how best to use it. This presentation will be done live, using the internet. there may be time for questions.

England Research which contains Quick Research Links in England; The Army Children records; Seamen Records; Poor/Workhouses in England; British East India Co. Records.

Using Wiki, Catalogue, Land records and Church records.

In this class you will learn step by step instruction on:

1. How to locate your ancestors in Quebec.

2. How to understand Quebec Catholic Records.

3. How to use the French Letter Writing Guide.

4. How to use Family Search and Wiki.

5. Learn about several websites you can use free to add your family tree.

6. Learn about the Drouin Collection.

7. Learn about the Fille de Roi (The King’s Daughters).

A handout will be available.

An overview of records that are available in Family Search and other websites. The class will mainly focus on the Flemish (Dutch) speaking provinces of East and West Flanders, though the strategies will also work for the French speaking areas of the country. (Many of these approaches will also work for research in the Netherlands, Luxembourg and to a degree France.) I will give an overview of what records are available between 1650 and 1920.

I will spend time on language helps -Latin, French and Flemish (Dutch).

May also look at crossing over the Atlantic from North America back to Belgium - where to connect your ancestor to "The Old Country."

Things to consider when writing your family history.

How do I add a source to Family Search? Not just the easy ones where a hint has been provided, but the ones that have not been indexed yet? This class will cover how to add documents and photos to Memories as well as how to use the Source Box to add new sources to Family Search.  Some computer knowledge necessary, but otherwise good for any skill level. This is a live class using the internet. There will be an opportunity to ask questions.

There is so much available for Scottish Family History research that is free on the net.  We will begin with FamilySearch and how to find your collection; then let’s look at what is free on Scotland’s People and what you will find on a paid record.  We will also look at navigating Scotland’s People to the best advantage including accessing Kirk Session Records and Highland Emigration Records. And Find my Past.  Then we will take a look at the Scottish and Irish connection and heat maps; and look at a wonderful source in our own Family Search Centre. A handout will be provided with hyperlinks to the sites that will be helpful to you in your research.

A Nation of Immigrants - Where do I start, and what kind of records for immigrants are there? These questions, plus more, like where to find immigration records and how to use them to discover where your family member came from originally will be covered. Most of us are descendants of immigrants who built this wonderful nation of Canada.

The "Danube Swabians" is the name of the youngest Germanic tribe. The 1938 census lists the tribe as 5 million living in 6 different former Austro-Hungarian areas. In communist Yugoslavia they were persecuted and at least 45,000 children were abducted by Tito's communists.

This presentation will cover the main areas of the website that will be of interest for the family history researcher. It will also go into some additional details of researching and obtaining military records.

Curious about DNA testing for genealogy? This beginner-friendly session explores how different types of DNA — autosomal, Y-DNA, and mitochondrial DNA — can help confirm family connections, add new branches to your tree, and break through brick walls. Throughout the session, real case studies will illustrate how the presenter has used DNA to uncover family stories. Ethical considerations and privacy concerns will also be discussed.

You need to use the Genealogical Proof Standard – Let's face it, memories grow sketchy, family members embellish family stories to make things better, others alter facts for the same reason, and stories through the generations have the "broken telephone" effect. The hunt to determine which family story is fact and which is fiction (or a bit of this and a bit of that) is what makes genealogy so addictive. So how do we figure it all out? It doesn't help that genealogy sites are rife with misinformation.

This seminar will introduce the Genealogical Proof Standard to test the validity of your family tree, confirm "facts" and question others, sort through same-name problems, and suggest alternate sources for missing records. it is the method professional genealogists always use, and so should you.

Using Emigration and Immigration, Dr. Barnardo’s Home Children, Loyalists and Black Canadians.

Unlock the secrets of your Spanish ancestry with this engaging and hands-on training! Learn how to pinpoint your family’s hometown using the "FamilySearch Catalog", decode "Spanish civil and church records", and navigate the "FamilySearch Wiki" like a pro. We’ll also explore "free online resources" to help you uncover hidden family connections. With expert tips and real-world practice, you’ll gain the skills to confidently trace your Spanish heritage. A handout with essential links will be provided—don’t miss this opportunity to bring your family’s past to life!

Female ancestors are the hardest to find in many localities. There are several reasons why! Many times if you can't find the marriage records you are out of luck to find the maiden names of the wife or mother of your relative. In this class we will explore some different techniques to possibly solve the issue of how to find who she really was. (Beginner level)

This class will examine what you can discover on the Canadian Census records from 1851- 1921. Some comparisons will be made to the US and English census records for the same period. Various census samples will be shown, to see what questions were asked on each one, along with where to find them.

Canals and how they affected migration in England; Early Railway records; Historic Counties of England; University of Leicester special collections.

He Who Looks Can Find – This presentation will help you get started to find your Eastern European Ancestors by first searching different North America Sources. It will then show you the best places to find information about your relatives from Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, etc. Some easy tricks for using websites in languages you don't know will be discussed.

Explore the Free Family History Websites at the Nanaimo Family Search Center.