In the past four years, the accrediting process has challenged me to the limits. My questions - where are our records, who or what created them, and how can they be used for genealogy - are the foundations of my work. Digital records are fabulous. More is coming online every day. All that is true, and yet I'd estimate for every record online, there are nine that are not. With the greatest respect, I'd say Canada funds its archives minimally. We in Western Canada, with our challenges of privacy and recency, need to understand our archives, because not every archive can afford subject matter experts. To answer the question of where are the records, I have made visiting archives a priority.
Tag: Hudsons Bay Company Archives (HBCA)
Exploring the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives with the surprisingly detailed story of Thomas Thomas (1766-1828), governor of HBC
In this post I want to share both what it's like to research at the Hudson's Bay Company Archives in Winnipeg, and the story of one of those finds. It's too easy in family research to want to start with the birth of one's ancestor and never stop researching. With Thomas Thomas, chief factor and governor of HBC, the rich resources necessitated some hard decisions...
Western Canadian migration before the CPR: Tracing the voyage of the Princess Royal, London to Fort Victoria (1858-59)
Before the CPR was completed, the most efficient travel across pre-Confederation Canada was by water. In this post I've focused on the HBC Princess Royal. Fifty HBC ships - barques, brigs, frigates, schooners, sidewheelers, sloops, steamships - served the Pacific Northwest 1822-1918 beginning with the brig charter Lively (1822-24). The HBC records provide a glimpse at the many types of ships settlers took to and from the Pacific Northwest.