Welcome!

Welcome to my blog. It's combining my two great loves: history and genealogy. To be honest, you really can't have an interest in one without the other. This blog will focus for the most part on Canadian history and genealogy. 

First the genealogy aspect. Canadian genealogy can pose some challenges. Regardless of what you see on television, it isn't all easy, and its not all instantly accessible. With my blog, I hope to help you navigate the waters.

We are a nation of immigrants. That's a fact. Unless your personal genealogy is 100% First Nations, you have an immigrant ancestor. They could be a recent immigrant. Or in the case of many of my own lines, it could be someone in the 1600's and 1700's, before our nation became officially known as Canada. Depending on how far back you want to go, you may have to look at records from another country.

Where your ancestor lived in Canada means a lot. Each province and territory has their own unique history. They also have their own rules as to availability of records and access to them.

Religion is another big factor. Especially to accessibility of records both on line and in repositories. My French Canadian ancestry has been so much easier to research online than my Protestant ancestors. 

Now to the history part. Some people are only interested in the Birth Marriages and Deaths (BMD's) of our ancestors. There is nothing wrong with that. The more recent trend in genealogy though is not to only ask "when" but to ask "why". For instance:

• Why did several members of one family die within a few months of each other?
• Why did my ancestor become a blacksmith when his father and grandfather were farmers?
• Why did my ancestor suddenly pick up and move his family from one province to another?

That's where the history angle comes into play. To understand the why, sometimes you have to look at the history of where your ancestor lived. With this blog I hope to help you understand the complex history of our country a little better.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy!