The British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa, or BIFHSGO, was founded in 1994.

 

The Society's purpose is to encourage and facilitate research and its dissemination by people with ancestry in the British Isles: that is, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands. As of 2011, we have more than 500 members, 10% of whom are from outside the National Capital Region.

BIFHSGO is a federally registered not-for-profit society affiliated with the Federation of Family History Societies in the UK and the National Genealogical Society in the USA.

 

There are several groups affiliated with the Society: the Writing Group, for members who want feedback on their family history stories; the Irish Group, who hold monthly meetings to assist those tracing their roots in Ireland; The Scottish Group, whose meetings are similarly engaged; the DNA Interest Group; and the TMG Users Group, a self-help group for those using The Master Genealogist database program.

 

BIFHSGO is a member of The Council of Heritage Organizations in Ottawa / le Conseil des organismes du patrimoine d'Ottawa (CHOO/COPO), an umbrella organization providing networking for the entire local heritage community in the City of Ottawa.

The Society is also an associate member of the Council of Irish Genealogical Organizations (CIGO).

We work in close cooperation with Library and Archives Canada on researching Canada's Home Children, particularly the indexing of Home Children names found in ships' passenger lists and in the records of the Middlemore Homes. BIFHSGO's role in Canada's Home Children story is to establish databases of information about Home Children who came to Canada and to ensure that the information compiled is freely available to all who are interested. We also recently published "British Home Children: Their Stories," available from GlobalGenealogy.com.