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Celebrate Your Genealogicial Roots

SASKATCHEWAN GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY Celebrating 50 Years in Saskatchewan

Submitted by Gloria Onstad, WGS member

Who was your great grandmother?

What was she like?

Why did she come to Canada?

Great grandfather didn’t like to talk about the war – are his records available?

Little did I know when Aunt Bertha told me her Grandfather Henderson was a doctor educated in Edinburgh, that it would lead to years of armchair detective work into family history.  

If you are curious about some of your family history, but haven’t quite got around to it, why not start now?  You don’t have to sign up for expensive DNA tests advertised on TV — family research doesn’t need expensive software. All you need is just a notebook, a few pencils, an inquisitive mind, a willingness to ask questions and to tramp through old cemeteries. Here are some of the ways to get kick started!

I learned that it’s important to get the stories from older family members, and to do it now while they are here. Record the conversations if you can, or take notes – if you can’t meet in person, email questions, telephone or Skype, and start recording the information. Most families have at least one person who keeps track of the extended network of relatives, and if you can talk to her (it usually is a woman!), you’re off to a great start.

Next, research can include sources like the Homestead Records of western Canada, the Weyburn museum, old Weyburn Review issues, Canadian census records and so many others. It’s really valuable to join a local group of people who share this interest and exchange ideas, such as the Weyburn branch of the Saskatchewan Genealogical Society.

By the way, Aunt Bertha was only partly right. I discovered that my great-grandfather was a druggist educated in Glasgow, so keeping an open mind is important!

(The Saskatchewan Genealogical Society is marking its 50th anniversary this year. The Weyburn branch celebrates its 35th anniversary in 2019, and welcomes newcomers to monthly meetings held at the public library.  For more information contact Lorna Bossenberry at bossenberry@sasktel.netor Ilene Johnston at ilenel@accesscomm.ca)