Meeting Archives

February 2: Broad Context; How to Find it and Use it! presented by Jill Morelli – no longer available
By understanding the broad context of our geographic area and the era we can interpret the evidence more accurately and thereby understand the decision-making of our ancestors more clearly. We sometimes view context as just the historical events that affected our ancestor. We will broaden that definition and explain the difference between it and social history. Examples clarify meaning and illustrate how this is a project long process and not effort applied at the end.

Bite-size: Guild of One-Name Studies (GOONS), with KDGS member, Marlene Crane

January 5: Prison & Court Records  – this recording is no longer available – see below for the Bite-Size presentation

Prison and court records can tell you a lot about your ancestors and their lives. Whether documenting legal battles or criminal activity these records will provide a wide variety of color and detail. We will look at records on everything from petty theft to illegal poaching to declaring someone’s husband dead. The scope includes Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and North America.

Bite-size: Don Rampone presenting Weird and Wonderful Obituaries

November 3: Every Source Matters: Using a variety of clues to find distant family members, presenter Dave Obee

Taking Advantage of Google Translate on Foreign Language Databases for Better Results, with Vera Ivanova Miller – recording no longer available

Bite-size: Searching the KDGS Central Okanagan Obituary Database, with KDGS member, Xenia Stanford

Our May Kelowna & District Genealogical Society General Meeting – Three stories of Genealogical Discoveries by 3 KDGS Members

Hidden in Plain Sight, by Steve Hall:  A few months ago I decided to purge all my duplicates and redundant paper copies of family information.  On close examination, a rough family tree that I had written out at least 15 years ago had one word beside one ancestor that opened the door to discovering more of my wife Lynn’s Kelowna heritage.

Shea Cousins Project: Bringing Maurice Patrick Shea Back to Life, by Xenia Stanford. This is a real-world case study in how extended family collaboration can restore the past story and glory of a forgotten soldier, Maurice Patrick SHEA (1794-1892), for our future generations to remember and honour.

Astonishing Discovery on my Courtney Family, by Claire Smith-Burns: My 4^th Great-grandfather, John Baptiste COURTNEY,  settled in an unsurveyed area of Ontario with no churches, schools or local government. A lucky dip uncovered an eye-witness report of a day in his life in 1821. Following a hunch, led me to the greatest discovery yet in my family history.

April 7: Lost in London, presenter Helen Smith of Brisbane, Australia. This recording is no longer available.

Bite-size: Employment Records in Genealogy: A Bank Manager in Summerland, presenters KDGS member, Brenda Gloster

March 3: Researching Genealogy at the National Archives Records Administration (NARA), USA: More than just the Census! Do you have ancestors who lived in the USA? This talk will outline what records NARA maintains with an overview of some of the unique record groups we specifically hold at the National Archives in Seattle. Also, how and which materials can be requested online or via email. Presented by Eric Flores and Michelle Criner.

Bite-size: Research in the Cemetery, presenter KDGS member, Heather Clifton.

Note: The video presentation, Photographs to take in the Cemetery, by Lisa Lisson is available on YouTube.

February 3: AI & Genealogy: Trouble Ahead, presenter Thomas MacEntee (this recording is no longer available

Bite-size: My DNA Story, presenter, KDGS member, Elaine Malcolm

Scottish Wills, Testaments and Related Documents presenter Bruce Durie – this recording is no longer available

Bite-size: FamilySearch Lab’s Full-text Search, by Claire Smith-Burns