Lesley Anderson has been involved in the personal research of her family tree for over 35 years (yes she was a teenager!) and her passion for genealogy has branched out to teaching classes, speaking at seminars and conferences, consulting and doing research for others.  She is well known for her computer and genealogy classes offered through the Ottawa Catholic Board of Continuing Education and her “field trips” to various archives and libraries.  Lesley is often seen at Library and Archives Canada, researching for clients and working for Ancestry.ca – now that she has been offered her dream job as a Consultant to acquire genealogical content for Ancestry.ca!  She has accepted the position of the Director of Education for BIFHSGO for another 2 year term and continues to provide educational seminars.

Early 20th Century British Immigrants to Canada
Using case studies, and focusing on 20th century immigrants pre-WW1, the period of greatest English emigration, this presentation shows how to use Canadian and British records together to track down that elusive ancestral family.

Some lesser-known websites for British family history.  In four years of writing my blog, Anglo-Celtic Connections, and even longer working on my British family history, I’ve  seen an explosion of British family history websites. While many are commercial, accessed by subscription or pay per view, with relatively familiar offerings from the census and civil registration indexes, others are hidden gems.

Your Family History in Newspapers Online
Chances are there is information about your family history recorded in a newspaper that, when discovered, will be news to even the most diligent researcher. Digital and optical character recognition technology, still imperfect, is now making millions of frames of newspaper microfilm searchable online. Learn how digitized newspapers can help your family history search.

Searching Effectively on Ancestry
Lesley will explore some of the key Ancestry databases and will demonstrate the best strategies for searching Ancestry sites; various approaches to finding records; types of information to include in searches; how to use names and locations effectively in searches; how to use search forms and wild cards to refine searches; what to do when you find a record; Ancestry hints; and how to add alternate information and updates to your ancestors’ records.   

Census records online – A goldmine of information   
The Canadian censuses are a key starting point for Canadians interested in discovering their family story. They provide vital details such as names of spouses, immigration years, occupations and so much more.  Ancestry.ca has indexed and linked all of the years from 1851 to 1911.  

Directories – What are they and how to use them  
Directories are an invaluable primary source for historians. Using City, County and Provincial directories, we will explore how they provide first hand data about local communities, their infrastructure and the individuals inhabiting those communities. Directories can also be used to help fill in any missing gaps as they are published more frequently than the census.