Thursday, May 6, 2010

The Geneology Egg Hunt

Among all of the other things I'm doing in life, I'm also researching my family tree as an amateur. Its so interesting to learn about where we came from that I'm completely addicted to it. I even got a subscription to www.ancestry.ca so that I could see the original documents and look more in depth. I don't think I've ever had a viable addiction before, but genealogy might just be the crack I hadn't found yet.

The search for my family brought me lots of places, although one branch of my family has stayed pretty stationary for the better part of 100 years. I've finally reached someone who may be from a different location, and that location is from Quebec. My first thought was "ah yes! They'll have some information at the Provincial Archives!". Off I went to their website - http://www.banq.qc.ca/ - From what I can gather so far, I have to pay for a membership to get any information. But the good news there is that by hopping around on their site, I find links to other great sites I never knew existed.

For instance, did you know that the Canadian Encyclopedia is available online? I sure didn't. It can be found at http://www.canadianencyclopedia.ca

There is also a site available from the combined efforts of the Historica Foundation of Canada and the Dominion Institute. http://www.histori.ca/

These very likely won't have facts about your individual ancestors, but for me, it always helps to put into perspective what they were living through. For instance, the ancestor I'm currently researching was born possibly in Quebec in the middle of the Napoleonic Wars - Knowing information about that area at that time in history may help me find more information on him and his family. I am excited to learn!!

I'll have to keep a record of the interesting sites I've found so I can share, now that I have a place to share them!

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