Canadian Genealogy

What you need to know to visit the BC Archives today (Sep 2022)

How to read the codes for vital statistic records at the BC archives:I'm excited to share this with you. Despite pulling birth, marriage, and death records (BMDs) back in 2018, I'd forgotten this little trick for reading registration codes and was utterly confused my first day. Now I'm sharing it with you (and my future self, who will forget again). There are two different methods depending on whether the records were produced before or after 1944. We will start with the easier ones: record produced after 1944.

Canadian Genealogy · Canadian laws · Chinese Genealogy

True crime, the Wing Sang Co., and police records: A trip to the City of Vancouver Archives

Once you're on site, my best tip for getting the most out of an archives visit is asking for a quick tour. Most times the archivist will ask you what area, subject, or time frame you're researching. They will also show you how to fill out a record retrieval slip and while I am an experienced researcher, I always appreciate the reminders. Every archive follows archival best practises, which means...

Canadian Genealogy · Chinese Genealogy · Japanese Genealogy

A trip to the United Church of Canada Archives, Vancouver

After census records and vital statistics (birth, marriage, and death records), church records are some of the most important fonds in a genealogist's toolkit. For the Chinese, however, it was a circuitous path to worship and so it appears relatively few Catholic or Protestant records exist. I am working on understanding better how the Methodist Church ministered to the Chinese populations in Canada. My research shows they established missions for non-white congregants and it was the Vancouver and Victoria mission fonds I wanted to explore.

Canadian Genealogy · Genealogy How Tos

Genealogy gold part 3: More tips on prairie local histories

I thought you might enjoy the fantastic tips and advice on prairie local history I have received since posting Genealogy gold part 1. On prairie local histories From Beverley: ...they are a great resource and those of us who live on the Prairies have long used them. One caution, if your relatives did not submit… Continue reading Genealogy gold part 3: More tips on prairie local histories

Canadian Genealogy · Genealogy How Tos

A trip to the archives #3 – the SK edition

This is #3 in my Archives series. If you'd like to start at the beginning, see British Columbia here and Alberta here. Update - 28 Mar 2019 The Saskatchewan government moved to consolidate its 4 locations into one location in Regina. The Saskatoon archives are now closed. In addition, the online database is also offline. I will… Continue reading A trip to the archives #3 – the SK edition