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VICTORIA GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY ~
WE COVER THE WORLD

The Victoria Genealogical Society, located in Victoria BC Canada,
was established in 1978 as a non-profit volunteer society.
VGS's first aim is to further the study of genealogy -
the exciting search for one's ancestors and family history.

We welcome new members - Please join us!

news & events | workshops | membership | aims | donations

VGS News and Events

Next Meeting - Sept 9, 2010 - Mr. Nicholas Russell

Join us at 7:30 pm on Thursday, September 9 at Gordon Head United Church for the first meeting of our 32nd year! Chat with old friends, hear about other folks' research over the summer and meet new family history enthusiasts.

We'll also be talking about the October Seminar (registration table will be open).

The Past is Present
The Story of Victoria Told Through its Buildings

Our guest speaker will be Mr. Nicholas Russell of the Hallmark Society - www.hallmarksociety.ca. So often in genealogy we get hung up on who our ancestors were and don't take enough time to consider how they lived and what their homes were like. Mr. Russell's presentation will be a look at the history of Victoria through the eyes of the buildings. Starting from the First Nations Longhouses, to the Hudson Bay Company's settlement and winding up with 150 years of Victoria's building, this presentation will offer an overview of the development of our city through history.

NOTICE: With our new membership year starting July 1, membership dues for the coming year are payable at our monthly general meetings, or at our Resource Centre.

VGS Resource Centre Open House - Sept 18, 2010

Now that the days are beginning to get longer and cooler, it is time to get back to genealogy.

Plan to come to the Resource Centre, 947 Alston Street, Victoria BC, with your friends on Saturday, September 18 for "Back to Genealogy", a Resource Centre Open House.

We hope you can attend anytime between 10am and 4pm to meet other friendly members, volunteers and visitors, and join us for light refreshments.

VGS Seminar - October 16, 2010 - Victoria BC

"CELEBRATING OUR FAMILY TREASURES"
(download VGS Seminar Flyer in PDF format)
(download VGS Seminar Registration Form in PDF format)

The VGS’ annual seminar will be held on Saturday, October 16, 2010 at:

Trinity Presbyterian Church
2964 Tillicum Road, Victoria, BC
http://www.trinitypcvictoria.org/map.htm

Presenters will include Dave Obee of Victoria BC, Brenda Smith of Maple Ridge BC, and Dr. Stephen Davies, Executive Director of the Canadian Letters & Images Project at Vancouver Island University.

Full details on this VGS Seminar are on our events page.

VGS - New Research Assistance Service – 1-ON-1

Our VGS Resource Centre (previously called our Library) is now offering a new service to anyone wishing more personal assistance in their research. Diana Gaiger offers ‘1-ON-1’, a dedicated hour with anyone who wants individual guidance.

Cost of this assistance is $10.00 per hour ($15 per hours for non-members). Contact Diana Gaiger diana_g@shaw.ca to make an appointment. Visit our library page for more information on this research assistance.

Personal Historians Conference - Nov 3-7, 2010 - Victoria, BC

The annual conference of the Association of Personal Historians will be held in Victoria BC this November. There is a great deal of overlap between personal history and genealogy, and a rising interest among genealogists in gathering the stories of family members as part of their genealogical research.

Quite a number of the conference workshops would be of interest to VGS members:

Linda Coffin, New York genealogist and family historian, will be giving a workshop on how to find images, maps, legal documents, census records, newspaper articles and government records to enhance family histories.
Dave Obee, with whom you are very familiar, will give a special presentation on providing historical and geographical context for family stories, as well as a workshop on interviewing techniques - invaluable for the genealogist who is hoping to get family history from an elderly relative.
There are a number of other workshops that come to mind as being relevant.

We would like to let VGS members know about the conference and invite them to attend. Further information is available from:

Pattie Whitehouse, Program Chair
Voices of the Elders
Association of Personal Historians Conference
http://voicesoftheelders.com
250-478-3319
conference2010@personalhistorians.biz

VGS Resource Centre Workshops

All Workshops are held at the VGS Resource Centre, 947 Alston Street.
The cost is $10 for members or $12.00 for non-members.

Advanced registration is required as the Resource Centre has a seating limit.
Register at the Resource Centre or contact Diane Clark at vgsworkshop@gmail.com.

We hope to see you and your friends at our genealogy workshops. The speakers will be informative and your registration fee will help cover costs at our Resource Centre. Come early to enjoy a cup of coffee and meet the other attendees.

5 Sept 2010 – "Genealogy Forms" with Sarah Hamster.

23 Oct 2010 – "Irish Research" with Kay Porter.

30 Oct 2010 – "Writing Memoires" with Connie Hickok

20 Nov 2010 – "National Archives of England" with Heather Shave

Full details will be posted on our Events page, when available.
Additional Resource Centre Workshops will be announced soon.
Watch this space for more information.

Victoria Genealogical Society Membership

Benefits of VGS Membership

VGS is a great place to meet people who truly care about history and families; people who can teach you wonderful lessons about research and history. You can work directly with these people, learn from them, and help each other as you search for your family.
VGS is always looking for people with all kinds of talents .. or people with time to do all kinds of tasks. Can you organize, answer phones, research data? Are you interested in transcribing documents, indexing, raising money, promoting the group? Whatever your talents and interests, VGS can use them. Some of the ongoing volunteer projects by members of the VGS are the Cemetery indexing and Coroners Indexing.
Vote at the Annual General Meeting for the VGS Executive - we are a volunteer run organization.
Receive a copy of our quarterly Journal. Members are invited to submit stories about their family research.
Free access to the VGS genealogical Resource Centre and its collections, including the BC Vital Statistics records on microfilm (BC births, marriages, deaths), information on local history, and books, maps, periodicals, working papers and CDs of genealogical interest re: Canada, the UK, Eire, the US and other countries. Microfiche/film readers and computers are also available. The Resource Centre also offers free parking and free wireless connection to the internet (bring your laptop), as well as free access to the www.ancestry.com library edition. A nominal fee for each printed page applies.
Opportunity to join one or more SIGs - Special Interest Groups - where members with similar interests and research objectives participate in small, focused meetings and discussions.
Reduced cost of Seminars and Workshops offered by VGS.
Monthly meetings featuring speakers on a variety of topics concerning genealogy, history, and heritage and many more topics.

To become a member of the Victoria Genealogical Society, download the VGS Membership Application, print the page, complete the form and forward a cheque or money order to the address below.

Single membership - $45.00 Canadian per year, OR
Family membership - $70.00 Canadian per year.

Victoria Genealogical Society
PO Box 43021
Victoria North P.O.
Victoria BC Canada V8X 3G2

Questions about Membership? Email our Membership Director at

Aims of the Victoria Genealogical Society

(as defined in the VGS Constitution and Bylaws)

Further the study of genealogy in the various areas of interest to the members;

Collect and preserve, by donation or purchase, materials relevant to such genealogical study;
Advance and encourage public knowledge of genealogical resources in the Greater Victoria area;
Encourage and instruct members in the ethical principles, scientific methods, and effective techniques of genealogical research;
Publish and distribute printed and other materials to further the aims of the Society;
Raise funds for any of the foregoing aims and to accept donations, gifts, legacies and bequests, and;
Enter into friendly relations with other Societies having similar or related aims in BC, other parts of Canada, or in other countries, and cooperate with them in promotion of our common interests.

Support the Victoria Genealogical Society

Your support is needed to help the Victoria Genealogical Society (VGS). At the present time, the Society is not receiving gaming funds from the Province of British Columbia, Canada because the Province has decided that no grants will go to adult cultural organizations this year. In the past, funds from this source took care of almost half of Society annual expenditures.

The Victoria Genealogical Society is a non-profit volunteer society, and is also a charity registered with Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Donations to the Society are eligible for an official receipt for taxation purposes, which can be used to obtain a credit to offset personal income tax owing to the federal government. See the CRA Charities and Giving page for information about the Victoria Genealogical Society (VGS) which has been filed with the CRA.

Donations to the Victoria Genealogical Society can be made by mail, by hand delivery of cash or cheques, or online by credit card:

Donations by cheque may be mailed to:
Victoria Genealogical Society,
Box 43021, Victoria North Post Office,
Victoria, BC, V8X 3G2.
Cash or cheques may also be given to the Treasurer or any member of the VGS Executive at the monthly general meetings, or left at the front desk of the Resource Centre.
Online credit card donations may be made through organizations such as Canadahelps.org, designating the donation to be sent to the Victoria Genealogical Society. In such cases, the receipt for taxation purposes is not issued by VGS, but rather by the intermediary organization, which also withholds a processing fee (currently 4% for Canadahelps). If you wish to donate in this way, please visit www.canadahelps.org with our thanks.

Thank you everyone for your efforts to help the Society become strong and vital. Your efforts are appreciated!

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