Distributed free of charge to interested subscribers and former members.

 

Discounted Family Tree DNA kits with FREE DNA workshop 

We are pleased to offer this exciting new benefit of membership available to all 2024/2025 VGS members. Through a partnership with FamilyTreeDNA, we are able to offer DNA kits at great discount.

There's more! Members who purchase one or more DNA kits will also receive free registration to the “How to use FamilyTreeDNA” workshop in November of 2024.

 

With several types of DNA Kits from FamilyTreeDNA available there has never been a better time to become a VGS member. View all Membership Options and join us today.

 

The offer to purchase these discounted DNA Kits is available to active and new VGS members only during the month of July, 2024.

Several types of DNA Kits from FamilyTreeDNA will be available to purchase:

 

Family Finder DNA kit ($79 CAD). A new Autosomal DNA test from FamilyTreeDNA. Use this kit to discover your ethnic origins and connect with new autosomal relatives across the globe;

Autosomal DNA Transfer Unlock ($25 CAD). After transferring your DNA Kit from AncestryDNA or MyHeritage, unlock all Family Finder features with this purchase. This includes the Chromosome Browser, myOrigins®, and ancientOrigins;

Y DNA Kit -37 markers ($120 CAD). Y-DNA testing can help you discover and verify your direct paternal ancestry by connecting you with other individuals who are descendants of a shared common patrilineal ancestor;

Mitochondrial DNA Kit ($180 CAD).  Use mtDNA to determine where your direct maternal line’s ancestors came from, their locations in historic times, and how they migrated throughout the world.

These DNA kits are available for VGS members to purchase online once you've logged into your members account on our website and view further details in our VGS store.

 

John Azar provided attendees to the recent AGM for the VGS with the progress of the Legacy initiative he first broached at the VGS Speaker's evening last October. Since that time he has formalized the deliverables for a project and presented them to an enthusiastic and supportive VGS Executive Committee. In short the project brings focus to the question many researchers have: "What have each of us done to safeguard our genealogy and family history research for that moment in time when we become an ancestor?"

Some of the deliverables are: a project to develop a guidebook and worksheets that serve to protect a researcher's genealogy and family history; a workshop to formally disseminate the information produced; and a SIG discussion group to personally support VGS members on their legacy journey.

 

Participating in this project and discussion group is open free to VGS members. Become a member today and join the fun.

- Merv Scott, VGS Member

 

This is a FREE service open for non-members of the VGS.  For directions visit VGS Genealogy Learning & Research Centre.

 

The VGS has been invited to host an information booth at this year's Saanich Fair.  Our display will focus on the individuals and families that were enumerated on the Saanich Peninsula for the 1881 Canadian Census. The 1881 census is a critical record as it is the first census to include British Columbia. There will also be an emphasis on the genealogies of the ten founders of the Fair. We hope to see you there.

 

VGS members may now signup for a discussion group focusing on the Netherlands on the VGS Special Interest Groups webpage.  Our thanks to VGS member Frans Compeer who will be the coordinator for this new SIG.

 

Along with the Netherlands SIG we also offer discussion groups on the following topics:

Family History 101

CSI (Crowd Sourced Intelligence)

DNA

Eastern Europe

England

Ireland

Ontario

Scotland

United States

 

SIG schedules for the coming year are listed on the Events Calendar.

 

For more information visit Special Interest Groups. 

I facilitate two Special Interest Groups. One is Family History 101 and the other is Eastern Europe.

Family History 101 started as a group to help people get started on their genealogy. All were welcome, the newbies, people who had “lost their way” and the curious. This started out as a weekly meeting, but soon morphed into a monthly SIG. We have a steady group and have drop-ins. We always welcome members with new problems or as I like to call them, new adventures.

Eastern Europe started up again last September. With the war in Ukraine, people have begun to re-think their ancestry. DNA has given us all a wider scope for our searches. This group tries to dig deeper into their heritage. There are lots of problems with languages, shifting borders, wars, finding documents.

Both groups are very interactive, helping each other. We all bring something different to share with others. We always look forward to meeting new people. Any VGS members that would like to join us are welcome to attend.

 

Learn more about all special interest discussion groups at SIG

- Sarah Hamster, SIG Leader