For me, genealogy is about the stories: the ones we heard growing up, and the ones we find through research. The stories that resonate the most for me are those that have largely been forgotten or overlooked by history. What I love most is genealogy’s capacity to encompass everything – history, law, politics, geography, religion, culture, sociology, psychology – because at its heart it is about people.
What’s available for you here?
Welcome to my personal library of links of useful sites. Feel free to bookmark these pages, because I am always updating them.
And then there are the blogs: over one hundred sixty and counting.
I write about Canadian and Chinese genealogy, about organizing, and archives. See the tags below for topics, and use the Search for anything specific. If you like what you see, sign up for my newsletter at the link below. You will get notices when I drop a new post. If you’ve got a great idea, let me know on the Contact Me page.
If you’re interested in a deeper dive with a step-by-step guide, check out my members-only subscription.
Amazing things happen when you do what you love:
- Went to Sze Yup, China to visit my ancestral roots (Oct 2019) with the Heritage of Cantonese Migration Tour
- Joined the Ancestry Canada Advisory Board (Nov 2019)
- My book, “Getting Started in Chinese Genealogy,” was added to the archives at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (Spring 2023)
- My Level 1 Genealogy Project on the Won Cumyow family was accepted by the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (Spring 2023)
- Partnered with Ancestry® in their philanthropic release of 500M Chinese records (Jun-Jul 2023)
- My family’s historic home the Wing Sang complex is the permanent site of the national Chinese Canadian Museum at 51 E. Pender Street, Vancouver, BC (1 Jul 2023)
- And this panel discussion in Washington, D.C. (18 Jul 2023)
About me
My speciality is the history of the Chinese in Canada. An unintended but incredible benefit is being able to connect many of the historic families in Canada with my private tree (2200+ people), document archive (22K+), and image archive (40K+). My geographic focus is Western Canada: from BC to Manitoba. Finally, I am as passionate about organizing as I am about family history, and have given multiple talks on using Evernote for genealogy.
I’m a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, the Ancestry Canada Advisory Board, and many genealogy societies:
- British Columbia Genealogical Society
- Chinese Canadian Historical Society
- Manitoba Genealogical Society
- Saskatoon Branch, Saskatchewan Genealogical Society
- Seattle Genealogical Society
GDPR
Do please see my privacy page at the link below, which is written as clearly as possible and lets you know what information this site collects, what is done with it, what you can do about it, and other super fun topics.