The British Isles Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO) kicks off its meeting on Saturday, December 10 with a show and tell and then it follows with three Great Moments in Genealogy presentations.
You may attend in person or join online. The meeting is free and open to all.
9:00 – 10:00 a.m.
Christmas Social and Show & Tell
We will begin the day with our annual Christmas Social, a time for conversation and exchanges of information with our fellow genealogists. This is the first time we have been able to enjoy our Social in person since 2019, so we are looking forward to this with excitement.
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- Show & Tell. Do you have a holiday story to share? Perhaps you have an ornament, tradition, or holiday heirloom that has been passed down to you by an ancestor. Or, have you found a way to gift your family history stories to others? This will be an open forum session with opportunity for people both in the room and online to participate… and of course there will be Christmas treats to share.
10:00 – 11:30 a.m.
Great Moments
Maggie McConkey – what became of you? – Presenter: John McConkey
Born in 1883, Maggie was the illegitimate daughter of John’s great granduncle, George. As a young child she lived with her mother in London. Meanwhile, George returned to his birthplace in Ireland. By the 1911 census, Maggie is living with George in Bangor, Co. Down. She is still in Bangor when George dies in 1917 and is the main beneficiary of his estate. Then the trail goes cold: Did Maggie return to England, or remain in Ireland? Did she re-establish contact with her mother? Did she marry and have children? John describes how these puzzles were solved.
The Wright Way – Presenter: Duncan Monkhouse
Upon starting family history, there are always brick walls. One of Duncan’s brick walls that he inherited from his mother was John Charles Wright. Duncan will explain what the brick wall was and how it was finally broken down.
Ella’s Story, The Final Piece: Time and Place – Presenter: Marianne Rasmus
This instalment follows-up on Marianne’s May 2019 presentation about the discovery of the birth mother of Ella Moreland Kerr Rasmus, a Scottish warbride and the paternal grandmother of Marianne’s husband. She will describe how COVID, the DNA tool WATO (What are the Odds), and the concepts of Time and Place helped identify Ella’s biological father, and – despite several unexpected twists – unlocked the final branch of Ella’s family tree.
Registration is required to attend the meeting online.
Learn more about the location of the in-person meeting on BIFHSGO’s website.
