BRITISH COLUMBIA GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY GENEALOGY NEWS ABOUT OUR MEMBERS FOR OUR MEMBERS May 1, 2018 Volume 3, Issue 5 ​ ​ ​Index p. 1 BCGS Bylaws Notification to All Members p. 2 BCGS MAY 2018 Poster p. 3 Message from the President p. 4 BCGS Members’ Meeting - MAY 2018 p. 4 Looking Back at the APRIL Meeting p. 5 BCGS News p. 8 - BCGS Seminar p. 8 - BCGS Committee Chairs and Positions p. 17 - BCGS 2018 Interest Group Facilitators p. 19 - New Members at the BCGS p. 20 - 2019 Calendar & BCGS Boutique Seminar Visits p. 21 - Billie Williamson Obituary p. 22 BCGS Library - Library Volunteers, Password Change p. 23 BCGS Genealogy Coffee Chats p. 24 BCGS Special Interest Groups p. 25 Genealogy News in BC p. 26 Genealogy News in Canada p. 27 DNA Genealogy News p. 27 Close to Home Genealogy Seminars p. 28 Far From Home Genealogy Seminars p. 29 Members’ Corner p. 30 - Patrick Keily - Protecting the Past - Family Style p. 30 - Meg McLaughlin - Weathering History p. 31 Corrigenda p. 32 Mark Your Calendar p. 33 BCGS Newsletter & Contact InformatIon p. 33 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Check our website www.bcgs.ca for more detail about our Society. ​ ​ Please share. Just click FORWARD from the email and send this to your friends. Thank you! ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ THE BRITISH COLUMBIA GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY - MAY 16, 2016 TO MAY 1, 2018 A very big THANK YOU to our BCGS members who wrote their stories, posed for pictures, and ​ ​ sent us encouraging emails to tell us how much they enjoyed receiving information on a monthly basis about the events and ongoing activities of the Society. We hope to continue to entertain and inform the membership during the coming year. Judith Ueland and Linda Maitland, Co-editors ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ May 1, 2018 British Columbia Genealogical Society Page 1 of 33 Volume 3, Issue 5 BYLAWS NOTIFICATION Notice to All Members: Special Resolution Concerning the BC Genealogical Society (BCGC) Bylaws The Board of Directors has referred revised BCGS Bylaws to the July 11, 2018 general meeting, to be considered under a Special Resolution at that time. In order to accommodate discussion on the draft bylaws, the schedule below will be followed: 1. The draft bylaws will be circulated by email as soon as is possible, likely after the May 1st newsletter is sent out, and they will be posted on the web site along with a link to the existing bylaws; 2. Time will be set aside for members at the May 9th general meeting to review and comment on the draft bylaws in an open forum; 3. Any further changes will be considered by the Board of Directors in late May, before the final edition of the bylaws are distributed to all members with the June Journal; and, 4. A vote will be held regarding the Special Resolution at the July 11, 2018 general meeting. Any comments can be given to Rob Whitlock, at [email protected] ​ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ May 1, 2018 British Columbia Genealogical Society Page 2 of 33 Volume 3, Issue 5 Photos and Poster by June Gauntley, Member No. 5112 The link for the BC Archives is http://search-collections.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/Genealogy ​ June writes that if members have not used the archives, they will be surprised at what they can find. There is a good search function. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ May 1, 2018 British Columbia Genealogical Society Page 3 of 33 Volume 3, Issue 5 MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ They say April showers brings May flowers! With all the rain we’ve had lately, I hope May brings me a boat! Which then has me thinking about my ancestors who were sailors. How many of you have men of the sea in your past? Did they have a child in every port? Or did their wives remain at home, while they sailed off to exotic locales? There have to be some stories out there, such as my husband’s grandfather being shipwrecked off the coast of Iceland, and again off the coast of Tahiti. Maybe you can share your stories with us. Our 2018 Seminar was a resounding success, thanks to the hard work of the Seminar Team, and of course, to the attendees. Learning more about your DNA, and how it can help you connect with family seems to be a very hot topic right now. Have any of you made any startling discoveries? Have you uploaded your raw data to GedMatch? I’d like to welcome two new Interest Group Facilitators – Keith MacNutt will be heading up the Atlantic Canada Group, and we will have our first session at our May meeting. Janet White couldn’t choose between British Columbia or Ontario, so has offered to look after both. Thank you, Janet and Keith. And don’t forget the Most Improved Genealogy Contest – just tell me why you think you should win the ​ ​ contest – send me an email or write me a note. The contest ends at the November meeting, with the winner(s) being announced at the December meeting. Till next month, happy hunting! Eunice Robinson, BCGS President [email protected] ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ BCGS MEMBERS’ MEETINGS News about the upcoming meetings as well as previous meetings ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Meetings are held the second Wednesday of each month at 7:30 pm Danish Lutheran Church Hall 6010 Kincaid Street, Burnaby BC THE NEXT MEETING IS: WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 2018 What happens at our regular meetings? The doors open half an hour before the meeting starts, and you’re welcome to chat with other members and get settled in. Our business meeting begins at 7:30, followed by a coffee break where you can chat with others. We then have our 50/50 draw and break out into our education sessions - usually about an hour. Then there’s time for more chatting while we tidy up. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ May 1, 2018 British Columbia Genealogical Society Page 4 of 33 Volume 3, Issue 5 BCGS MEMBERS’ MEETINGS, cont’d ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ EDUCATION SESSIONS AT THE MAY MEETING KEITH McNUTT will speak on researching in ​ Atlantic Canada, which comprises Newfoundland, ​ ​ Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ JANET WHITE has agreed to become the BCGS new Facilitator for researching in Ontario ​ ​ and British Columbia - areas in which she has done considerable research. We hope we ​ ​ will be hearing from Janet in the not too distant future. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ MEMBERS’ MEETINGS - LOOKING BACK AT THE APRIL MEETING ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________​ ​ A collection of eight boxes of BCGS Library books deemed duplicates or surplus were brought to the meeting and displayed for the members to buy (by donation) for their own library collections. Those items remaining after the meeting were donated to the Qualicum Beach Family History Conference of April 20 - 21 at Qualicum Beach, BC . Below: Daphne Kelly, Recording Secretary and Eunice ​ ​ ​ Robinson, President, open the meeting. ​ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ May 1, 2018 British Columbia Genealogical Society Page 5 of 33 Volume 3, Issue 5 MEMBERS’ MEETINGS - LOOKING BACK AT THE APRIL MEETING, cont’d ​ ​ __________________________________________________________________________________________ Left: Rob Whitlock updating members with a presentation of the Bylaw Review process. ​ ​ Centre: Janice Davis with our evening’s 50/50 winner, Janice Switzer. ​ ​ Right: Darlene Austin with her decorations for Easter and the spring season. ​ ​ __________________________________________________________________________________________ Left: Geof Kraemer presenting his talk on “Reconnecting With Russia” for the European Interest Group. ​ Right: Eunice Robinson speaking to the Irish Group about “Immigration records from Ireland”. ​ ​ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ At the April BCGS Members’ Meeting, one of Cathy Magee’s Short Snappers referred to Napoleon Buonaparte. That ​ ​ inspired Bill Clayton to share a story about his ​ GGG grandfather, Dr. William Warden, RN. In ​ ​ 1815, Dr. Warden was the Royal Navy surgeon who accompanied Napoleon Buonaparte and his entourage into exile, to the island of St Helena in the south Atlantic. After returning to England, Dr. Warden published a controversial book about his time spent as Napoleon’s doctor during the voyage aboard HMS Northumberland and on St Helena. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ May 1, 2018 British Columbia Genealogical Society Page 6 of 33 Volume 3, Issue