The Ontario Genealogical Society, operating as Ontario Ancestors since early 2019, is the largest organization devoted to research into family history in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. Founded in 1961Harry, George, "Thrill of Tracing Your Own History", ''The Sunday Star'', Toronto, 1979-02-25 as a

Registered Charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

corporation, the Society has grown by 2020 to include 30 local branches covering all of Ontario and five Special Interest Groups.

Objectives

The objectives of the Society are: *To promote genealogical research *To set standards for genealogical excellence by encouragement and instruction in effective research methods *To make available to those whose ancestors are from Ontario, the knowledge, diversity and comprehensiveness of the genealogical resources in Ontario

Activities

Professional genealogists from around the province recommend membership in the Ontario Genealogical Society. To fulfill its mandate of helping those who are tracing their family roots, the Society's members are involved in a variety of activities such as: *Holding regular branch meetings in each area of Ontario with expert speakers and panel discussions, to which the general public is invited. Topics are not limited to Ontario research, but have a world wide scope. *Organizing genealogical seminars, workshops, displays, presentations, bus trips, etc. throughout Ontario *Locating, rescuing and preserving heritage documents *Digitizing documents and making them available online *Transcribing and indexing hand-written documents *Transcribing and photographing pioneer gravestones *Advocating for the release of government and other historical documents to public view *Advocating for the preservation of pioneer cemeteries

Heritage societies

The Society has organized certificate programs for those who are proud that their ancestors were part of Ontario's early heritage: *War of 1812 Society *Centenary Club *1837 Rebellion Society *Upper Canada Society.

Annual conference

Each year, the Society organizes a family history conference in a different part of the province. In 2018 the Conference was in

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

, Ontario, in 2019 in London, and the 2020 Conference will be held in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilto ...

. Genealogists and family historians from all over North America attend these conferences to exchange information, and to learn about new resources and research techniques. This conference also arranges for information booths from similar organizations, such as the Canadian Friends Historical Association to facilitate networking, as well as exhibits and presentation from commercial providers such as

Ancestry An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from whom ...

MyHeritage MyHeritage is an online genealogy platform with web, mobile, and software products and services, introduced by the Israeli company MyHeritage in 2003. Users of the platform can obtain their family trees, upload and browse through photos, and sear ...

and

Family Tree Maker Family Tree Maker is genealogy software for Windows and Mac that allows the researcher to keep track of information collected during research and to create reports, charts, and books containing that information. The software was originally develo ...

Branches

The Ontario Genealogical Society's branches are spread all over Ontario. Each branch takes responsibility for carrying out the Society's objectives in local communities. Members of the public can find information about the branches nearest them by checking the section of the Ontario Ancestors website devoted to Branches/SIGs. https://ogs.on.ca/branchessigs/branch-sig-locator/

Publications

The Society produces a quarterly publication called ''Families''. Many of the branches also produce regular newsletters. The Ontario Genealogical Society supports the efforts of Ontario genealogists and historians by publishing and selling books of interest to them. As of a 2012 count, the Society had published about 140 books.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Genealogical societies Non-profit organizations based in Ontario Clubs and societies in Canada Organizations established in 1961