Genealogy à la carte

The next meeting of the Ontario Genealogical Society’s Toronto Branch will be on Monday, April 27, starting at 7:30 p.m. Eastern time. As they did in March, this meeting will be entirely online due to COVID-19 restrictions — and open to all.

The meeting features Lynn Palermo, also known as The Armchair Genealogist, who will talk about Habits of a Highly Organized Genealogist and how to set up a file system.

If, like many genealogists, you find it a challenge to keep your family history organized, this talk is for you. Lynn will show how to control the clutter, keep consistent records, and avoid repeating research you’ve already done.

Also on the agenda is a short presentation by Janice Nickerson, entitled Daily Life 100 Years Ago, as told in a mother’s letters to her son.

You must register to attend the webinar. After registering, you’ll receive an email message with a link to join the webinar. This link will be unique to your registration. Join early to grab your virtual seat.

The Bruce County Genealogical Society will host the free webinar, Breaking Through Brick Walls in Scottish Research, presented by Christine Woodcock, tonight, Monday, April 20, at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time.

Ms. Woodcock will teach strategies for moving your research forward.

The webinar is open to all.

To register, send an email early today to lolly.fullerton@gmail.com.

The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society will host the free webinar, Identifying and Examining DNA Outliers, presented by Blaine Bettinger, today, Monday, April 20, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time.

The amount of DNA shared by two people with a specific genealogical connection can vary considerably. The Shared cM Project attempts to identify these ranges by collecting information from thousands of example relationships. However, sometimes we find shared DNA amounts that don’t fit the expected relationship. Does this mean the expected relationship is incorrect, or that it is truly an outlier? Together we will examine the methodologies used to examine possible outlier situations.

Register here.

Ancestry Extra continues this week with two new webinars on Ancestry Canada’s Facebook page.

Tuesday, April 21, 1:00 p.m. Eastern time
Finding Susan: Exploring Chinese Genealogy with Ancestry presented by Linda Yip

Looking to begin your Chinese family history research, and not sure where to start? Ancestry Canada Advisory Board member and genealogist Linda Yip will be sharing her tips and tricks for uncovering your Chinese genealogy on Ancestry, as well as introducing you to the surprising insights you may be missing in travel and immigration records for Canadian Chinese. Don’t worry – you don’t need to be able to speak or read Chinese to start diving through our collections. 

Ms. Yip also writes an excellent blog on Past Presence.

Thursday, April 23, Noon Eastern time
Ancestry Answered with ProGenealogy

Not quite sure how to make the most of those Ancestry Hints? Having trouble tracking down an ancestor in the immigration records? We’ve got you covered. Join us for a live Q&A with a member of the Ancestry ProGenealogists team, as they discuss all things family history, and answer your burning genealogy questions.

Make sure to come prepared with questions, and we will do our best to answer as many as we can.

This week’s webinars and previous ones can be found on Ancestry Canada’s Facebook page. The live webinar should appear on the screen when you visit the page. If not, click on the Videos tab in the left margin where you’ll find it, along with all the other webinars.

Some branches of Ontario Ancestors, now unable to hold in-person meetings, are offering free webinars, via Zoom, and inviting members and the public to attend.

Ontario Ancestors will also hold its monthly webinar.

Here are four upcoming webinars:

Ottawa Branch
General Society of Mayflower Descendants: History, Resources and Applications
Presented by (The Revd. Dr.) W. Becket Soule, O.P
Applications to the Society of Mayflower Descendants have exploded in the last few years in preparation for the 400th anniversary of the landing of the Mayflower in 1620. After a brief introduction about the mission and history of the society, the presentation will review the resources published by and available from the publishing arm of the Mayflower Society (known colloquially as the “Silver Books”) and the application form and process for the recognition of lineage.
Saturday, April 25, 1:00 p.m. Eastern time
Registration and info here.

Halton-Peel
Research Methods for Ancestry and FamilySearch
Presented by Elder Mark Mitchell
Mark Mitchell, who worked for nine years as a testing manager with Ancestry, will talk about how to get the most from your research on Ancestry and FamilySearch.
Sunday, April 26, 2:00 p.m. Eastern time
Register here.

Durham
Making English Connections
Presented by Bob Dawes
This presentation will demonstrate how to use the many free and paid websites to make connections with your English ancestors. Bob Dawes has traveled throughout the UK doing his family history and is experienced in using their many genealogical research sources.
Tuesday, May 5, 7:30 p.m. Eastern time
Register here. Handout.

Ontario Ancestors
Using Ontario’s Township Papers
Presented by Beverly MacCulloch
Genealogists today have a wonderful problem — access to more information than they will ever have time to investigate. If you have Ontario ancestors, you may have heard of Township Papers, and have them on your mental list of “records I should look at someday.” Learn how the Township Papers are organized, so you can use them efficiently.
Learn who is most likely to be found in the Township Papers, so you can decide where to prioritize these records on your “someday” list.
Thursday, May 7, 7:00 p.m. Eastern time
Register here.

After registering for a meeting, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

The Family Tree virtually Live event will be held on April 17 and 18 with a range of free video tutorials and a goody bag that includes worksheets and special offers.

Since the Family Tree Live 2020 conference scheduled to be held this weekend in London had to be cancelled, the organizers are bringing elements of the show to their website.

The videos will be freely available to watch until April 24. After that, they will only be available to Family Tree magazine subscribers. 

Friday’s video tutorials include:

• Weddings, Work and Welfare with Dr Gill Draper
• Planning Your Irish Trip
• Turning Your Family History into a Book

Saturday’s video tutorials include:

• A Statistical Tool for Genealogy with Vincenzo Alfano
• Researching Your Northamptonshire Ancestors with Angela Malin
• Living the Poor Life with Dr Gill Draper

Details about the virtual conference are available on the Family Tree website.

The DNA lectures delivered at Family Tree Live 2019 are available on YouTube.