The British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa’s (BIFHSGO) virtual conference this year will be held October 18 and 19, and yesterday they announced that the theme will be Researching the Disadvantaged of England and Wales.
Throughout history, societies have included unfortunates who grappled with poverty, mental illness, or plain bad luck. These disadvantages might well worsen in times of wars, epidemics, changing social policies or other conditions. Your English and Welsh ancestors could have been among the disadvantaged people facing such challenges.
Conference sessions will cover topics related to the theme: early poor relief methods, the Poor Law, mental institutions and the Workhouse, showing how affected individuals and their society faced these predicaments.
While BIFHSGO has yet to release the program schedule on the conference web page, they did announce that the speakers will include Mark Carroll, Nathan Dylan Goodwin, Peter Higginbotham, Judith Hill, Clare O’Grady, Gloria Tubman, and Sara Wise.
The conference registration fee is CDN$35 for members and CDN$50 for non-members. It includes the presentations, the Expert Connect session, and access to the presentation videos and handouts until November 30.
During Expert Connect, several of the speakers will be available for attendees to discuss British Isles genealogy and ask questions.
Registration will open September 1.
