Canadian genealogist, author Althea Douglas passes away

If you’ve been researching your Canadian family history for a few years, chances are you’ve come across at least one of the books and numerous articles on genealogy and Canadian local history written by Althea Douglas, who passed away last week in Ottawa. She was in her 91st year.

Her obituary was published yesterday in the Ottawa Citizen and Globe and Mail. As perhaps many genealogists have been tempted to do, and even done, Ms. Douglas wrote the first paragraphs in the notice. According to family, her motto was: “On the principle that if you want it done right, do it yourself!”

Ms. Douglas collaborated with her husband of 58 years, the late J. Creighton Douglas, on Canadian Railway Records: A Guide for Genealogists, published by the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS)  in 1994.

After becoming a professional genealogist, she wrote the books, Finding Your Ancestors in English Quebec, Finding Your Ancestors in New Brunswick, and Research at the Library and Archives Canada.

Ms. Douglas’ last book, Time Traveller’s Handbook: A Guide to the Past, has sat on my bookshelf — and been read — since it was published by Dundurn/OGS in 2011. It helped me gain a better understanding of how my ancestors may have lived.

In the book, she transports genealogists to a time when their ancestors would have travelled any significant distance by waterway. She answers the question, “What is the average speed of a man on horseback?” with a reference from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice: “Fifty miles over good roads would have taken ‘little more than half a day’s journey.'”

Despite there being many details about Ms. Douglas’ life and achievements in the obituary, there is one small item missing. It is a critical detail every genealogist wants when researching their family history: the full date of her birth. Ms. Douglas provided only the year.

Ms. Douglas passed away on October 21, 2018.