British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa
BRITISH ISLES FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY OF GREATER OTTAWA (BIFHSGO) - Society Focus

The purpose of the Society is to encourage and facilitate research and its publication by people with ancestry in the British Isles.

Established in 1994, the purpose of the Society is to encourage and facilitate research and its publication 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 2008, we are approaching 500 members, 10% of whom are national and international.

BIFHSGO is a federally registered not-for-profit society affiliated with the Federation of Family History Societies in the United Kingdom and the National Genealogical Society in the USA. There are three major groups affiliated with the Society, The Irish Group who hold monthly meetings to assist those interested in tracing their roots in the Island of Ireland, The Scottish Group whose meetings are similarly engaged, and Canada’s Home Children, a major genealogical research project in co-operation with Library and Archives Canada.

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.


BIFHSGO is an associate member of the Council of Irish Genealogical Organizations (CIGO).


We work in close cooperation with the Library and Archives Canada, particularly on the joint project of indexing the names of Home Children as found in ships' passenger lists, and in the records of the Middlemore Homes. In summary, 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.
Privacy Policy
BIFHSGO Privacy Policy
Society Logo
wheelieThe Society Logo is an ancient wheel-cross sign, a symbol of male/female and creation belonging to the living world. It is superimposed with the Maple Leaf - Canada's national symbol.
Geographic Range
"Greater Ottawa" in our Society's name shows that the Society spans both sides of the Ottawa River, embracing the cities of Ottawa and Gatineau. This large land area was settled by migrants with roots in the British Isles, who began arriving 200 years ago. The Ottawa, Rideau and Gatineau Rivers were major transportation routes into the newly surveyed lands. The Society's interest includes the places of origin of these pioneer migrants and their descendants.
An early discussion on the use of "Greater Ottawa" can be found in the 1994 article "Why Greater Ottawa" written by our first president Brian O'Regan.

NCC National Capital Commission: Map of Ottawa
By Laws
BIFHSGO By-Laws
By-Law Amendment (June 2007)
Meeting Schedule (2010/2011)
Honours and Service
BIFHSGO Past Directors
BIFHSGO Hall Of Fame Members
BIFHSGO Member Awards (Best ACR Article and Best Talk)
This Web-Site
The BIFHSGO web site is written in (X)HTML using the CSE HTML Validator editor. No other authoring tools are used. Each page has been validated by the W3C Markup Validation Service. Databases are held in XML format and are converted into (X)HTML using custom software.
The BIFHSGO Style Guide defines the style for each page.
Credits
train picture CN locomotive (CN002380) image used in our header with the kind permission of the Canada Science and Technology Museum.
Hector (ship) picture The Hector image used in our header with the kind permission of The Ship Hector Foundation (Pictou, N.S.)
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