Durham's April 7th Zoom Meeting - The Ontario Land Index - Jane MacNamara

Please join Durham Branch at 7:30 pm on April 7th as one of our favourite speakers Jane MacNamara speaks about the Ontario Land Records Index.

Jane MacNamara will introduce the newly digitized version of an old friend to family historians- the Ontario Land Records Index. This was a long-term project for the Toronto Branch and it is finally accessible from your own home. The Ontario Land Records Index (OLRI) is an index to those settlers who were allocated Crown land in Upper Canada/Canada West/Ontario. Its coverage ranges from the earliest grants of the 1780s, to acquisitions administered by the Canada Company and Peter Robinson, to grants for military service in the Fenian Raids and South African War in the 20th century.

Kindly register at the following Zoom link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/ggvLC88jRsWHRTecVQE6_g

Durham Branch's March 3rd Virtual Meeting - “AI in Genealogy: Say Hello to Your Personal Research Assistant” - Michael Nettleton

created with ChapGPT

Join us at Durham’s March 3rd Meeting via Zoom at 7:30 pm when Michael will introduce us to Artificial Intelligence, using exploration of building source references and providing some additional actionable suggestions for getting started.

Michael Nettleton has been capturing family history since a young age. Active with several genealogical and historical groups, he is a frequent presenter at Toronto Branch meetings and has spoken at the OGS Conference. Michael is an articulate and engaging speaker, and a precise author. He has addressed audiences in a variety of roles, preparing and delivering presentations and articles professionally and personally as an authority on a range of topics.

The registration link is available on the Durham Region Branch website: 

https://durham.ogs.on.ca

 

Durham’s January 22nd. “Virtual Social/Research Drop-in”

 

• Durham’s January 22nd. “Virtual Social & Research Drop-in” •

Bored with just sitting in a virtual branch meeting without having a coffee break or

having a chat with your neighbour, even to just say hello and how’s your research

going?

Come and join us at our virtual social gathering, via Zoom, at 11 am ET on January 22nd .

Bring your coffee, tea, favourite beverage and spend some time with like-minded

individuals! Anything goes! It’s an informal gathering and you can share your

successes, ask questions or even see if we can look something up in our library. 

Tell your friends – and pre-register at this link (copy and paste into your browser:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/yOitnOoMS5i4kl-xMU5A4w

Durham Branch's February 3rd Meeting: "Scoundrel Bingo"

 

Durham Branch’s February 3rd Meeting: “Scoundrel BINGO”

3 February 2026 @ 7:30 p.m. via Zoom

Speaker: Janice Nickerson

It’s Game Night with Durham Branch as we participate in a lively, game-style webinar playing bingo! We will learn about crimes, occupations, and unusual records of Ontario’s scoundrel ancestors.

Who says genealogy can’t be fun? In this engaging webinar, attendees download a “Scoundrel Bingo” card filled with crimes, justice terminology, and record types. As Janice shares colourful stories from Ontario’s black sheep ancestors — from petty thieves to tavern brawlers — participants mark off their cards. Each example illustrates a specific record type, showing how scoundrels left behind more than just scandal — they left evidence genealogists can use. First to bingo wins bragging rights, but everyone leaves with a deeper knowledge of Ontario’s rich justice records.

Kindly pre-register at the following Zoom link (copy & paste into your browser):

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/ArAfSFv-T3uxXFfIj3T68w 

Durham Branch’s December Meeting - “Members' Show & Tell”

 

There’s Still Time! “Show & Tell” at Durham Branch’s December Meeting

via Zoom on Tues., Dec. 2nd at 7:30 pm.

Come and join Durham Region Branch as we celebrate, via Zoom, our end-of-year Christmas Show & Tell and Social.  For decades, our end-of-year highlight event has brought us together to enjoy personal family history stories. Anything can be shown: photos, medals, heirlooms, a tricky piece of research or even a plea for help! The last time we did a Christmas zoom event it was a great success followed by a wonderful sharing session. 

The virtual meeting drawback is that holding items up to a web camera is often not clear enough for all participants.  So, please send your images, illustrations or links to Chair Nancy Trimble ahead of time. Her email is durhamchair@ogs.on.ca     Please include your name!

Nancy will put your images or links into her PowerPoint presentation, so that she can call on you, on Zoom, to tell us all about your wonderful treasures or finds.

Kindly pre-register at our home page at:

https://durham.ogs.on.ca/

Get your hot cider and treats ready! We will have a great open session afterwards.

Durham’s Nov. 4th Meeting - Ancestral Mapping Using Google Earth Pro

 Durham’s Nov. 4th Meeting - Ancestral Mapping Using Google Earth Pro

Please Join Durham Region Branch for our Tuesday, Nov. 4th virtual meeting at 7:30 pm as David Joiner demonstrates how he transformed a diary into a graphical presentation using Google Earth Pro.

Google Earth Pro is a free downloadable application with many useful features for genealogy and digital mapping. Participants will learn how to add informative placemarks and lines on a map, use polygons to highlight regions of interest, run automated tours of mapped points, include image overlays to give context to family history, access historical imagery to link family stories with land surface changes over time, and share and store mapped details. Case studies will include the presenter's paternal ancestry from Aberdeenshire and his maternal ancestry from Ireland.

David Joiner is a recently retired secondary school geography teacher with an interest in family history and expertise in geographic information systems (GIS).

Nov. 4th will also be our brief Annual General Meeting for the purpose of presenting a yearly report.

Kindly pre-register at the following Zoom link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/9cp1jHKGRtO8iilmvfTLmQ

updated! Durham's Social Drop-In

Durham's Virtual Social Drop-In Hour•

...Via Zoom, at 11 a.m. ET, on the 4th Thursday of each month.

Bored with just sitting in a virtual branch meeting without having a coffee break or having a chat with your neighbour, even to just say hello and how’s your research going?

Come and join us at our virtual social gathering, via Zoom, at 11 am ET on the 4th Thursday of each month from September 2025 to August 2026 (except December).

Bring your coffee, tea, favourite beverage and spend some time with like-minded individuals! Anything goes! It’s an informal gathering and you can share your successes, ask questions or even see if we can look something up in our library. 

Register once in advance for all the meetings:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/4cT7gBqDRquM4kTQ2T0MMg

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meetings. Keep your join information safe, because you will be able to use it every month till August 2026.

UPDATE:
Due to bots scraping our registration links in order to record our meetings, I will be posting individual monthly registration links. You will need to copy & paste into your browser. Nancy Trimble