The following seven talks will be presented in honour of Remembrance Day.
The first two at Before BIFHSGO and the last five during the regular monthly meeting.
9:00 to 9:15 am
Over the Top: Researching our First War Ancestors … in Fifteen Minutes
By Glenn Wright
For those of us researching Canada’s role in the First World War, we are blessed with extensive service, administrative and operational records that can be used to tell the story of our ancestor’s role in the war in great detail. This presentation will highlight the major sources for researching and understanding “Great War” records.
About the Speaker
Glenn Wright was born and educated in Toronto, Ontario. Over the course of a thirty year career in the public service, he worked as an archivist and historian with Library and Archives Canada, National Defence and the RCMP. In 2010, Glenn published Canadians at War, 1914-1919: A Research Guide to World War One Service Records. He is a frequent speaker at family history and genealogical societies and, until June 2014, President of BIFHSGO.
9:15 to 9:30 am
Finding a Family Member on the Western Front
By Jane Down
In the summer of 2003, Jane and family went on a trip to the battlefields of Northern France and Normandy because her son was studying military history and yearned to see these sites. On this trip, Jane had a fascinating genealogy experience that linked a sad grave of a First World War soldier in Northern France to her family tree. In this talk, Jane will describe her discovery, how she linked this soldier to her family and the heroic deeds of this remarkable man that earned him the Victoria Cross.
About the Speaker
Jane Down is the current Program Director for BIFHSGO and has been researching her family roots in Ontario and England since 1975. She has won several genealogy contests and awards and given several talks at genealogy conferences and meetings. In real life, Jane is a Senior Conservation Scientist at the Canadian Conservation Institute where since 1978 she has been carrying out research on adhesives that are used to conserve works of art.
10:15 to 10:30 am
Sam Cromie: Canadian Private to British Officer
By Wendy Croome
Samuel Osborne Cromie was born in 1891 in Quebec’s Eastern Townships, to an Irish father and an Australian mother. With the onset of World War I, Sam joined the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force as a private. How did he end up as a Second Lieutenant in the elite British regiment, the Coldstream Guards? Wendy traces Sam's military career through Canadian and British records.
About the Speaker
Wendy Croome has been researching family history for over 40 years. She began by hand-writing letters to records offices, graduated to squinting at microfiche and microfilm, enjoys the abundant information on the Internet, and is beginning to explore the mysteries of DNA. Wendy and her husband, who is also a family historian, joined BIFHSGO about eight years ago. Soon after that, Wendy joined the BIFHSGO Writing Group. With the help of feedback from members of the group, Wendy has had several articles published in Anglo-Celtic Roots and has written life stories of various ancestors for her family members.
10:30 to 10:45 am
A Family in Service
By Mark Lloyd
In 1910 William and Ann Lloyd immigrated to Montreal with ten of their thirteen children, a son-in-law and a one-year-old grand daughter. Four years later six of the eight sons who moved to Canada would begin returning to England to serve in the Canadian Army during World War 1. In addition to this, one of William and Ann`s son-in-laws also deployed with the Canadian Army. The one brother who remained in England enlisted in the Royal Navy.
About the Speaker
Mark Lloyd is a civil servant working for the Department of National Defence in the Ottawa area. He has been a member of BIFHSGO since 2000. Mark has helped to manage the membership database for 10 years. He has been researching his family history since 1995 making multiple trips to England and Scotland to gather additional information and visit relatives.
10:45 to 11:00 am
Slipping Backward: A Canadian Prisoner of War, 1915-18
By Brian Watson
Brian Watson's grandfather, Henry Ralph, enlisted with the 48th Highlanders in Toronto in 1914 and was captured at the Second Battle of Ypres the following year. In 1918, he was paroled to the Netherlands where, for the first time, he was able to write home, describing his three years as a prisoner of war in Germany. Brian will summarize the contents of the letter and his grandfather's second escape from behind enemy lines in 1940.
About The Speaker
Brian Watson holds degrees in history and international relations. He spent 34 years in the Canadian foreign service. Since retiring, he has worked for Oxfam and the Canadian Museum of History. He acted as co-chair of the past three BIFHSGO annual conferences.
11:00 to 11:15 am
William Sterling Lamb (1894-1918): A Promising Life Cut Short
By Anne Sterling
William Sterling Lamb (1894-1918) served in WWI as a stretcher bearer in France and had been an elementary school principal living in Quebec City. By coincidence, his name is on a plaque at the back of Anne’s family church. Through her research, Anne has discovered how her family and his were intertwined. She is also choosing to honour him because neither Willie Lamb nor his sister, Grace, have closer descendants to tell of his life. Anne will tell how she has put together William Sterling Lamb’s story, aided by a locket, photos found recently in a cottage drawer, directories, and Quebec Drouin records. Anne will also paint a picture of life as a stretcher bearer in France.
About the Speaker
Anne Sterling was born and grew up in Quebec City, where her father worked as a federal government scientist. Although relatives lived far away in Ontario, she was always interested in family history and stories. Anne’s father became the family genealogist, publishing two family books in the early 1990’s. Anne, a retired elementary teacher, is making new discoveries and is writing family stories by meeting and talking to people, studying background information, collecting photographs, and of course working online. Since joining BIFHSGO in 2008 “just to listen to the monthly talks,” she has become much more involved in genealogy and is the current Secretary on the BIFHSGO Board of Directors.
11:15 to 11:30 am
What did he do for Armistice
By Brian Glenn
Brian explores the service of his Grandfather during the First World War who enlisted in a lesser known company that, in the words of Colonel G.W.L. Nicholson in his book “The Official History of the Canadian Army in the First World War Canadian Expeditionary Force 1914-1919”, “helped to defeat the submarine ... more surely than a fleet of ships". As events leading up to the Armistice unfolded, perhaps not unsurprising things happened in the ranks
About the Speaker
An Ottawa native, Brian Glenn counts himself as a fifth generation Irish Glenn from the Pontiac on his Father’s side and second generation Scots Canadian on his Mother’s side. Brian has been actively involved in the Society's work for the past several years including the recent publication of two books celebrating our past: British Home Children: Their Stories and St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church Ottawa Baptism Marriage and Death Records 1829-1949. Brian and his wife, Lynn, started their journey into their respective family histories over 20 years ago with the aid of a $10 genealogy program, Brian has made a couple of presentations at the Saturday meetings on his search for his maternal Grandfather with not much more to go on than a family story and a signature.
