Genealogy information is often only a click away

By Ry Clarke - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on August 27, 2022.

Herald photo by Ry Clarke Board member Bob Hamilton, along with archives assistant Bobbie Fox, leads a genealogy research workshop at the Galt Museum.

The Galt Museum and Archives hosted a genealogy workshop last week helping those in the community explore their heritage and find resources and methods to go about exploring and expanding their family trees.

Bob Hamilton, member of the Galt’s Board of Directors, hosted the event using his passion for family history and background in FamilySearch, a genealogy research website built by the LDS Church.

“We get many requests here in the archives that are genealogy related. So, one of the things I decided to do was create a series of programs related to genealogy and how to use the archives to answer genealogy questions. Delving into different aspects of genealogy research to help researchers on their quest to unlock their family stories,” said Bobbie Fox, archives assistant at the Galt, noting the Galt is a resource too, aiding those looking into their family history with the ability to help in their research.

Hamilton was able to show the ease of research sites, like FamilySearch, helping find information lost or missing to a person’s heritage. Genealogy websites can help expand the branches using tools like scanned old newspapers that cross reference names with obituaries and birth announcements.

Even connecting missing gaps with death certificates due to the information filled out on them.

“This branch is also showing a death certificate, it’s a BC death certificate. Whenever I see somebody who’s passed away in BC, I always like that one because it is pretty powerful to your research. Because the BC certificate shows you lots of amazing detail,” said Hamilton.

Hamilton also notes when starting your research websites like findagrave.com help because of its vast collection.

“People go around to cemeteries all over the world, and take pictures of the headstones and then upload them to the site,” said Hamilton, pointing out graves have excellent information due to listing a person’s date of birth and death.

For those looking to explore their heritage, or even looking for a new hobby, the resources are out there to aid in the journey of making those long-lost connections.

“I spend a lot of time on my family. But I also branch off if I find something of interest,” said Hamilton. “That’s the kind of thing that you can do. Some people tend to just focus on their own family only. But you can use research wiki’s to find so much more too.”

Comments are closed.