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2012-2013 Branch
News
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April
Meetings
by Bob Dawes, Photographs by
Georgette Green
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On Saturday, April 20th, Quinte Branch hosted the annual OGS
Region 7 Meeting at Christ Church in Glen Miller.
Although the weather refused to
cooperate, there were 31 members in attendance from Quinte,
Kawartha and Durham branches. |
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Quinte Branch Report given by
Peter Johnson UE, Past Chair
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The morning program included welcoming remarks from Region 7
Director, Carole Foshay and annual reports were given from the three
branches.
Nomination and appointment of a new Region 7 secretary
went to Janice Carter.
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Next was a presentation from OGS
Vice-President, Mike More, on the results of the Governance
Committee Report. This is accessible from the members only section
of the OGS website. Comments on its recommendations are welcomed.
Mike reported that it is too late for the recommendations to be
implemented by this year's Conference, so they are being planned for
the 2014 AGM.
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Mike More, OGS Vice-President |
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Lunch was provided by members of the church, following which several
additional people joined the group for the afternoon.
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Researching in Scotland: The Lowlands & the Borders
was presented by Sher Leetooze on her researching experience
in Scotland. Sher reviewed the lowland and border counties of
Scotland, including their parish structure, geography and local
points of interest. She shared highlights about various record
repositories available, as well as occupations one would expect to
find in that region based on the local industries and landscapes.
More detailed information is available in Sher's book by the same
name.
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Separation of Highlands & Lowlands
Sher Leetooze & John Carew, Chair
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Following Sher's presentation there was a final coffee break with a
last chance to browse the sales tables and question the presenters.
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Clare Westheuser at Quinte Branch
table
Branch publications and other resources |
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Tracking the Loyalists
by Bob Dawes,
Photographs by Deb Walker and Lynn Heale
The Quinte West Council Chamber was filled to capacity to hear
acclaimed Canadian editor, author and journalist, Peter C. Newman,
speak about his new work in progress called Hostages to
Fortune, which is about the United Empire Loyalists.
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Peter C. Newman was welcomed by
Programme Coordinator, Clare Westheuser
and greeted by Past Branch Chair and Loyalist re-enactor, Peter Johnson UE.
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Mr. Newman read excerpts from his book and then filled in the
details regarding this time period. He was able to weave the big
picture of world politics and current wars into the world of daily
life for the transplanted Loyalists. He explained that the
Revolutionary War was really the first American Civil War and that
the fighting was ferocious and dirty, with people regularly changing
sides depending on who was winning. When it was all over, somewhere
between 50,000 and 100,000 people left their homes and businesses in
the American Colonies to begin a new life in the wilderness of
Canada. One flotilla of emigrant refugees from New York had
over 140 ships, which in comparison, is bigger than the Spanish
Armada.
These newcomers completely overwhelmed the inhabitants and
scattered throughout their adopted country, and completely changed
it. They and their descendants rightly deserve their UE heritage
designation for giving us the Canada we know today, and for saving
it from domination by the new nation of the United States. |
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After his presentation,
Peter C. Newman was presented with an honorary membership
by Quinte Branch Chair, John Carew. |
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Hints & Tips for
Users of Family Tree Maker
by Bob Dawes,
Photographs by Georgette Green
The Quinte West Council Chamber had a full house to hear Rick
Roberts presentation on Family Tree Maker 2012 software. Both
Rick and his wife, Sandra, had brought a little of their Global
Genealogy store with them and their sales tables were busy with
eager customers both before and after the presentation.
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Rick's presentation concentrated on the latest offering from
Ancestry: Family Tree Maker 2012. You can upgrade to this product
directly from older versions of Family Tree Maker, Legacy, PAF and
The Master Genealogist. All others require a GEDCOM file import.
Unlike previous versions, this product does not change your original
file so you can easily go back and forth between versions, although
any changes in FTM2012 won't be reflected in any earlier version or
other program.
On the synchronization issue, FTM2012 allows you to work seamlessly
between computers, tablets and smartphones. Rick used the example of
snapping a photo of a tombstone while on business in downtown
Toronto and having the update on his desktop when he got home. To
make this work properly, you must have the free
Ancestry app installed on your smartphone or tablet. The web
syncing feature allows a selection of privacy choices so you can go
from complete sharing of your data with the world, to just using the
feature for personal backup security.
The main menu bar looks significantly different from previous
versions and other genealogy products with tabbed choices for PLAN,
PEOPLE, PLACES, MEDIA, SOURCES, PUBLISH and WEB SEARCH. For a
complete review of all its features and a comparison to other
popular products,
click here.
Some of the features that impressed me were the linking of images
from their source location, so your pictures are not stored in the
program file, and the ability to globally edit sources, places and
media without needing to access the individuals they are associated
with. This product is definitely worth a look and can be obtained
from Global Genealogy.com
under the software tab. FTM for Mac 2 (v. 2012) is also available.
Both can be downloaded directly from the Global site for those who
are impatient to try it.
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Branch Programme
Coordinator,
Clare Westheuser
thanked
presenter
Rick Roberts,
of Global Genealogy
for his very detailed
and informative presentation. |
Global Genealogy book table |
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The Crouse-Wanamaker Lecture
(Historic Hastings)
by Bob Dawes,
Photographs by Georgette Green
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The Quinte West Council Chamber was filled with a lot of new faces
as the branch kicked off its 2013 season with the annual
Crouse-Wanamaker lecture.
The new executive committee was introduced and ratified by the
members in attendance and these are: |
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John Carew - Chair
Vacant - Vice Chair (however, we are hopeful that this will be
filled soon)
Debbie McDonald - Secretary
Larry McQuoid - Treasurer
Other new volunteers noted at the meeting were Cheryl Levy
(Webmaster), Debb Walker (Publicity) and Lillian Wannamaker
(Newsletters Archive).
There are still positions open for various branch projects, so if
you are interested, don't hesitate to contact any member of the
executive committee to find out more. One of these is the position
of branch librarian, so if you have any skills in this regard, or
would like to learn them, please volunteer.
Marilyn Harry introduced the Crouse-Wanamaker Lecture by explaining
the history of the branch and its founding members Gordon Crouse,
Loral Wanamaker and Mildred Wanamaker. Bob Dawes then introduced the
speaker, Hastings County Historian Emeritus, Gerry Boyce. |
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Gerry regaled the audience with stories taken from his new book,
Historic Hastings - Volume Two. The original was prepared for
the Canadian Centennial in 1967 and is almost 50 years out of date
and a lot has changed in Hastings County since then. In addition to
the new volume, the original is also being reprinted with an
enlarged introduction and a new index, which includes all names
found in the book. A boon for genealogists.
Since the new book will be almost 300 pages, Gerry gave the audience
a chance to ask questions on their areas of interest, which he
answered from his draft copy. These included subjects like area
sports other than hockey, the Tibetan enclave, boundary changes,
First Nations and more. |
Larry McQuoid, Treasurer,
with Historian and Author, Gerry Boyce. |
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Incoming Chair, John Carew, wrapped up the meeting by presenting
Peter Johnson UE with a certificate honouring his three years as
Quinte Branch Chair. |
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Writing Your Family History
by Bob Dawes,
Photographs by Georgette GreenQuinte
Area genealogists gathered in the Quinte West Council Chambers to
hear speaker, Harry van Bommel, talk about the Canada 150 Project.
This aims to record as many personal stories as possible for
Canada's 150th birthday in 2017 and it isn't too early to start. In
fact, Harry challenged everyone in the room to identify forty
stories they would like to pass on to their children and
grandchildren. He suggested that we write ourselves a one-page
letter about each topic and aim to complete them by Christmas 2013.
Those forty pages, along with related photographs and other
clippings, could easily result in a book of 150 to 200 pages.
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Harry explained that the Boomer
generation, and the ones that have followed it, have not recorded
their history in the same way as their ancestors did. We do so much
by email and with digital cameras, which is all saved on our
computers. He also pointed out that our children, who inherit our
memorabilia, are very mobile and will likely have lost it by their
third or fourth house move. Therefore, it is especially important
that we record whatever we want to say to the future generations in
our families. The Canada 150
Project aims to help anyone to do this with printed guides, a
website and a blog. The website is located at
http://www.canada150.com,
where you can download and print the guides or the whole e-book.
Paper copies are also available for sale from the same website.
Ultimately, your family stories recorded on paper will reside in
Library & Archives Canada, or will be preserved digitally through
http://www.canadiana.org, so
that they aren't lost to future generations.
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Lynn Heale, Membership Coordinator,
thanked
Harry van Bommel for sharing his inspiring presentation. |
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Beginning Your Family History
by Bob Dawes, Photographs by Georgette Green
What better way to spend a dismal fall
afternoon than to re-energize yourself to attack your genealogy
brick walls over the coming winter. On Saturday, October 20th,
thirty-six area members and guests gathered in the Quinte West Town
Hall to hear Claire Nabrotzky speak on how to begin your family
history search. As she pointed out repeatedly, we all succumb to the
same poor practices such as, not documenting where we find
information, so it was refreshing to go back over the basics, even
for the experienced genealogists in the room.
Claire's presentation was organized
into three parts:
No. 1 Gather Information:
Search out and accumulate all of the family records you can find,
from the official vital records to the obscure family cookbooks,
which may contain photos and memories.
No. 2 Record Information:
Take advantage of the free software programs and standard genealogy
forms available on-line to log your research, starting with the
basic pedigree chart and family record sheet. Record your
information using more than one method, so that you have a back up
of your information. A new form that I hadn't seen before was the
Family Heirloom Inventory, which records who in your family has
items from your ancestors.
No. 3 Start with One Person:
Set an objective using known facts to make a hypothesis, and then
set about proving it in an organized way, recording everything as
you go.
A spirited question
and answer session followed with many in the audience receiving
directions about what to do next. Some helpful suggestions included:
Top
Software |
Free Software |
Free
Forms |
Self Help
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Branch Secretary, Clare Westheuser thanked
presenter Claire Nabrotzky for her informative presentation. |
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Doors
Open 2012 at the Quinte Genealogy Centre
by Bob Dawes, Photographs and captions by Stacy
Goddard
On Saturday September 15th, Quinte Branch participated in the
Doors Open event in Quinte West. There was a steady stream of visitors throughout the day who were interested in getting started on their family trees or how to overcome roadblocks in their research. Serendipity struck when a couple from Seattle ran into a cousin staying at the same hotel in Napanee. Many branch volunteers were on hand to provide one on one assistance. The most common question was about Home Children with many people trying trace them to their origins in England or track down other siblings in North America. All the computers were constantly busy with many using the CemSearch database, the Names Index Finding Aid and library catalog requests. Most visitors were genuinely surprised that they could use the branch research library any time the Quinte West Public Library is open. Goody bags were handed out containing maps, cemetery locations, branch information and a Quinte West pin. From a personal perspective, I think that the biggest benefit was for many of
the volunteers who learned more about how our library functions and how to use its resources.
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Quinte Branch volunteers Peter
Johnson, Stacy Goddard, Bob Dawes, Barbara Dawes, Mary Culloden,
Marilyn Harry, Clare Westheuser and Lois Duggan greeted
genealogically motivated guests with goody bags and helped them to
better understand and use the library resources.
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Ontario Genealogical Society
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