Join us in person...
at Knox Presbyterian Church (Lisgar & Elgin) in Geneva Hall. Please use the Garden Entrance on Elgin Street. Limited free street parking is available on Saturdays, and the City Hall Parking Garage is available for $2.00.
Join online and register here.
Annual Holiday Social: Theme “Show & Tell” (9 a.m.)
We will begin the day with our annual Christmas Social, a time for conversation and exchanges of information with our fellow genealogists. This is the first time we have been able to enjoy our Social in person since 2019 and so we are looking forward to this with excitement. Our time together will include a Family Holiday Show & Tell. Do you have a holiday story to share? Perhaps you have an ornament, tradition, or holiday heirloom that has been passed down to you from one of your ancestors. Or, have you found a way to gift your family history stories to others? This will be an open forum session with opportunity for people both in the room and online to participate, and of course there will be Christmas treats to share.
Great Moments in Genealogy (10 a.m.)
Presenters: Malcolm Thurgur, John McConkey, Duncan Monkhouse
Using tools and luck on a brick wall
The only information Malcolm Thurgur initially had about his paternal grandmother was the maiden name and date of birth on her marriage certificate—and both those things turned out to be false! Three years of record searching failed to produce his grandmother’s birth certificate or parental details. However, he did receive clues that eventually led him to succeed in identifying her; Ancestry and other DNA organization's records and DNA analysis gave him the answers he was seeking. Malcolm will reveal how he learned her real name and life history by using DNA and WATO (a DNA Painter tool), as well as many unusual sources including the Coram charity.
Malcolm Thurgur was born in Southampton, Hampshire, in October 1941, in the middle of an air raid bombing!! Malcolm stayed with his mother after her divorce in 1946. When his mother remarried, the family went to live in St. Albans, Hertfordshire. Over time, Malcolm became curious as to who his birth father was. By the time he was 18, he had asked his mother, however, she was never forthcoming. And it wasn’t until he was 50, after the death of his mother, that he met his “sister”. Malcolm never met the father named on his birth certificate or his birth father. However, both Ancestry and DNA gave him the answers he was looking for.
Malcolm went to Brunel University in London and emigrated to Montreal in July 1966 where he worked as a scientific programmer for Canadair (now Bombardier). Malcolm returned to England, where he did a part-time M.Sc. (Mathematics-Numerical Analysis) at Brunel University, he returned to Ottawa in 1970 and has been here ever since. Malcolm worked as an IT Principal Consultant /Project Manager in the private sector and the federal government. Malcolm has also been a volunteer for the Tucson Church of the LDS Family History Centre.
Maggie McConkey - what became of you?
Born in 1883, Maggie was the illegitimate daughter of John McConkey's great granduncle, George. As a young child she lived with her mother and later her step-father in London, England. George had returned to his birthplace in Ireland. The 1911 census, however, shows Maggie living with George in Bangor, Co Down. She is still there when he dies in 1917 and she is the main beneficiary of his estate. But then the trail goes cold. Did she return to England or remain in Ireland? Did she ever re-estabish contact with her mother? Did she marry and have children? John describes how this intriguing puzzle was solved.
John McConkey has roots in Northern Ireland but was born in England. He and his wife emigrated to Canada in 1971 and for the past 40 years have lived in Ottawa. John was a 17-year employee of Nortel Networks. He has been a member of BIFHSGO since 2006 and served two years as BIFHSGO's Director of Research and Projects.
The Wright Way
Upon starting family history, there are always brick walls. One of Duncan’s, which he inherited from his mother, was John Charles Wright. Duncan will explain what the brick wall was and how it finally was broken down.
Duncan Monkhouse was a long-time investigator for the federal government. This interest in prying into others' lives led to an interest in genealogy and searching for record gems in many different archives. Duncan has also served BIFHSGO as president and Co-Chair Program for the annual conference.
