Dave Obee, Times Colonist editorial editor, will be giving a seminar that will be of interest to anyone researching their family tree.
Obee is a journalist and genealogical researcher. He has written a dozen books and given more than 400 presentations at conferences and seminars in Canada and the United States.
Since 2007 he has been teaching family history courses for the continuing education department of Royal Roads University in Colwood, British Columbia.
Obee’s latest book, A Genealogical Guide to the Canadian Census will be coming out in April. It covers the history of the census and offers advice for effective research.
This could be the most important book on Canadian genealogy this year. In 2011, Obee’s published The Library Book: A History of Service to British Columbia. It is a comprehensive look at library service and development over the past two centuries.
Obee is also the author of Destination Canada: A Genealogical Guide to Immigration Records, published in 2010. He wrote Making the News, published by the Times Colonist in Victoria, in 2008 to mark the 150th anniversary of the newspaper. It is a comprehensive history of Vancouver Island, drawn from old newspapers. Obee is also the co-author (with Sherry Irvine) of Finding Your Canadian Ancestors: A Beginner’s Guide, published by Ancestry in 2007.
Topics at the Campbell River seminar will include:
Write Your Family History — One of the best ways to create a lasting memory of your ancestors is to tell the stories of their lives.
While a genealogical chart can seem daunting (or even worse, boring) to a non-genealogist, a narrative is accessible. A well-written story will make other family members much more aware about, and more interested in, the research that you are doing. This talk — by a genealogist who has been a journalist since 1972 – includes some ideas that will help you get over your writer’s block.
It’s About Time – A Simple Way to Organize your Work — While the fun is in finding new information, the way you assemble your information is essential to your overall success. Organizing, sorting, and categorizing what you discover will help you to notice overlooked details and further your research. One of the best strategies is to use a timeline, or a chronology, because it will help identify gaps, and might point to sources you might have otherwise missed.
Family History in Western Canada — Western Canada is the youngest part of the country; serious settlement did not begin until thousands of people arrived from San Francisco for the Fraser River gold rush in 1858. They were followed by millions of people from just about everywhere. Today, it is possible to find plenty of information about the people of Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Some national and regional sources will help, but it pays to know the differences among the four provinces. The first thing to do is to sort out the geography, because two of the provinces are barely a century old.
Seminar Details: The Campbell River Genealogy Seminar will be held at the Maritime Heritage building on Saturday, April 21 from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m in the Thulin Room on the second level. Obee will be selling genealogy related books so come early and browse his book table. Doors will open at 9:30 a.m. The cost is $40 or $50 with lunch. For more information or to register, contact Helen Russell: russell1370@shaw.ca
