Durham's Oct 7th Virtual Meeting - A Guide to Genealogical Research in the Durham Region

A Guide to Genealogical Research in the Durham Region

Please join us as Stephen Wood and Nancy Trimble of the Durham Region Branch of Ontario Ancestors highlight the records and resources available for researching in the old Ontario County. We will also highlight the parts of old Durham County that were folded into the Durham Regional Municipality in 1974.

Date: Oct. 7th, 2025

Time: 7:30 pm

 

Bios:

Nancy started family history in her teens while trying to figure out how the various aunts and uncles were related to her. It turns out that they were great-aunts, great-uncles and courtesy aunts and uncles. She is currently the chair of the Durham Region Branch and has held various positions on the OGS Board and in the Branch over the years.

 Stephen started with a Grade 8 family history project and has been expanding his research ever since. He is one of the founding members of the Durham Region Branch and has held many positions in the Branch ever since it's start in 1982. Currently he heads the research team as well as managing the branch office and library.

Kindly pre-register at the following Zoom link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/IVNPCjzDQ0qF3nVjF-WZzg

Durham Branch April 4th Meeting - Breaking Down Brick Walls – Case Studies

 

Breaking Down Brick Walls – Case Studies

April 4, 2023 @ 7:30 pm via Zoom

No idea on how to get past your brick wall? Need help cracking the case? Come to the Durham Region Branch’s April meeting and watch Stephen Wood, our Research coordinator, show how he has helped many people work on their brick walls.

Stephen Wood is a founding member of the Durham Region Branch. He has held many roles in our branch since 1982. He is the past-Chair and the current librarian, researcher and office manager for the branch. Stephen and his wife Lori have built our library catalogue which will be rolled out soon. 

Kindly pre-register at:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUkfu-pqzIpH9IagH9YXzwkTdo7xLA1u3Wx

Research Experiences - On The Road Again

Durham Region Branch welcomes Sher Leetooze, a favourite speaker at our meetings, to our April 2nd meeting.

Join us at Northminster United Church (corner of Rossland and Simcoe St., Oshawa) at 7:30 pm.

Research experiences - On The Road Again.

Sher Leetooze has been researching her family for just over 40 years, but still has a long way to go.  In the process of doing research, Sher has gone right to the source in Great Britain and found some GREAT stuff!  Some of these things she will share with you on April 2nd.

Mini-Presentation: Stephen Wood will update us on one of our Brick Wall discoveries from our January meeting.

All are welcome (and bring a friend!)

April Meeting to Feature Jane MacNamara

Life on the Farm: Your Ancestor's Place in Ontario Agriculture

Speaker: Jane MacNamara

We often think of farming as a traditional occupation—something that hasn’t really changed much. But that is not and was never the case. Farmers had to react and adapt to changing conditions like climate, technology, economics, new markets and new competitors. Some farmers did more than adapt. They set out to be the most productive by innovating with new techniques and processes, products, and marketing. Farm journals and business records survive in many archives. Farmers may have had help and encouragement along the way from agricultural associations, community groups, government agencies, or private patrons. Digitization of many of the records of these pro-agriculture organizations has made them a viable source to help us understand the changes that were happening around our farming ancestors—and whether they were leading the way or following the pack. Jane's blog is "Where The Story Takes Me".

See our website for details about streaming our meetings.

WHEN:

April 3, 2018 @ 7:30 pm

WHERE:

Bobby Orr Room, Oshawa Civic Recreation Complex99 Thornton Rd SOshawa, ON L1J 5Y1Canada

Mini-Talk: 

Stephen Wood - "My April Fools - The Hillier Dilemma"

Free to all and free parking is on the east side of the building. Please come and bring a friend!

Last Chance to Sign up for the "British Isles Research From Afar" workshop

You're running out of time: Our British Isles Workshop is this coming Saturday! Sign up by the 25th and you will get your lunch included! Join us at Faith United Church in Courtice, just east of Oshawa. We start with coffee and check-in at 9 a.m. and our Opening Remarks will be at 9:30 a.m.

We have 2 great speakers for you: 

Ruth Blair of Oakville and Stephen Wood of Whitby

We have 4 great talks for you:

Researching Your English and Welsh Ancestors

Taking Your Irish Ancestors Back Over The Pond

Particulars and Peculiarities of Scottish Research

Researching Your Scots-Irish Ancestors: Canada and Beyond

Register Now at the Durham Region Branch Workshop Page

or send us an e-mail to durhamevents@ogs.on.ca

Introducing ... Our Workshop Speakers: Stephen Wood

Stephen Wood is a long-time genealogist, having been a member of the Ontario Genealogical Society for over 40 years. He is a founding member of the Durham Region Branch and has headed up the Research Committee for almost as long, as well as serving several terms as branch chair. Stephen has ancestral roots in Scotland, the Netherlands, England and also Quaker families from Pennsylvania. His own family research includes families in Perthshire and he will share his Scottish research expertise with us with his presentation on "Particulars & Peculiarities of Scottish Research"

For more information on our workshop, see http://durham.ogs.on.ca/workshops/index.htm

British Isles Research - A Day of Learning

The registration for the British Isles Workshop on October 29th is now open at durham.ogs.on.ca/workshops 

1. On the left is a downloadable print form to (snail)mail to us with a cheque or money order.

or

2. You can click on the PayPal symbol in the middle of the page & follow our instructions on how to access that service. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to successfully programme a 1-click button, so we have to do a 2-step procedure. Once you sent us your information by e-mail to durhamevents@ogs.on.ca, we will generate a PayPal invoice back to your e-mail. Once you click on the Pay Now button in that invoice, choose the "Don't have a PayPal Account?" button at the bottom in order to use your credit card directly.