Although census returns, customs records and the British Parliamentary Papers may seem like unlikely sources to use in tracking down a British ancestor who immigrated to Canada, they do hold nuggets of data that can provide vital clues. Lucille Campey will demonstrate how such sources can sometimes reveal the geographical origins of immigrants and/or their places of settlement in Canada. This can be achieved by analyzing numeric data rather than hunting down a particular surname. 

 

Note – participants who register for this talk need not register again for the Feature Talk. It will take place at 10.30 a.m.

 

A timeline of dates, neatly matched to events and or achievements, encompasses most of the elements in a person’s life, but have no linking theme, no cause and effect nor climax and resolution. Ruth Stewart Verger will show us how to transform our family history timelines into compelling, engaging stories. 

 

Ruth Stewart Verger grew up in a storytelling household. She was immersed in the tales of her grandparents' childhood memories and in stories gleaned from traveling tellers who dined at her family’s table. Ruth has traveled across Canada telling stories, and finding new ones! She weaves her tales from family histories, and from hours, days, years spent in Archives, local, provincial, national, and in university libraries researching Canadian historical figures. Ruth facilitates workshops, conducts seminars and presents at symposiums and conferences on storytelling and the applications of storytelling. Ruth recorded two CDs, "She Pushed From Behind: Emily Murphy in Story and Song" commissioned by Library and Archives Canada, and  “From God Knows Where: Marie-Anne Lagimodiére in Story and Song”; and two full-length videos of Canadian history “The Winnipeg General Strike of 1919: the Conflicting Views of Grandma Coulter and Helen Armstrong” and “The Almonte Train Wreck” both commissioned by the Workers’ History Museum in Ottawa.