Great War Workshop March 31, 2012

Saturday, March 31, 2012
North York Memorial Community Hall
5110 Yonge Street, Toronto
Concourse Level
(North York Centre subway station)
(For a Google map, click here)

Robert Victor Polley, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers

For directions and accommodation information, click here

Registration fees after February 22, the fees are:

	Ontario Genealogical Society members:	$55
	Non- members:	$65

Please register using the computer-editable form here.

Program* - For a tabular summary of the program, click here.

8:00 - 9:00 AM

Registration and Coffee

9:00-10:00 AM Plenary

Welcome, Introductions & Session A

March 31, 1917: All Quiet on the Western Front?
The experience of service personnel and civilians
This plenary session will set the scene for a full day of Great War exploration with a journey back to the events of a single day in time, as portrayed in the letters and diaries of the British and Canadian servicemen who were there.
Speaker: Simon Fowler

Concurrent Sessions

Three streams:
Stream 1: Canadian Research
Stream 2: British Research
Stream 3: Case Studies and Curios

10:15-11:15 AM

Session B1:

Canadians at War, 1914-1919
Part 1: The basics of researching a Canadian soldier, a nursing sister or a sailor
This session will provide an introduction to the key records and other resources available to document the service of Canadians in the Great War – on land, at sea and those caring for the ill and wounded.
Speaker: Glenn Wright

Session B2:

They Also Served:
Researching British seamen (both Naval and Merchant) of WWI
This session focuses on records and resources for researching those who served at sea in the Great War – in the Navy and as merchant seamen.
Speaker: Simon Fowler

Session B3:

Shot at Dawn: The tragic story of William Alexander
William Alexander, the speaker’s great-uncle, lost his life in the Great War in 1917 when he was one of the soldiers “Shot at Dawn” by the British Army under whom the Canadians were serving. There are many fascinating threads to this sad case study, including the effects of shell shock, the importance of winning the war, the fight of the families for a pardon, and the implications for Canada of fighting under British command.
Speaker: Carol Nichols (30 min.)

No Ordinary Jo: A mysterious Canadian in the Balkan campaign
This case study unravels the intriguing tale of a young Canadian woman who turned up at a field hospital in the Balkans, and of her identification using a genealogist's toolkit.
Speakers: Dr. Marianne Fedunkiw & James F.S. Thomson (30 min.)

11:30 AM-12:30 PM

Session C1:

Canadians at War, 1914-1919
Part 2: Advanced research - beyond the service file
This advanced-level session will explore some of the lesser known sources for military research that may prove invaluable to a family historian in fleshing out the stories of soldiers and nursing sisters in the Canadian Expeditionary Force during the Great War.
Speaker: Glenn Wright

Session C2:

British Army Research Part 1: Researching Tommies - How to find out about ancestors who served in the British Army
This session provides an introduction to British Army research – how to track down information about your Army ancestor’s service in the Great War. Learn what records survive, how to access them, and how to use them to build up a detailed portrait of individual service men and women and their experiences of “the war to end war”.
Speaker: Simon Fowler

Session C3:

Charlotte Susan Wood and Her "Five Sons Killed in WWI": The real story revealed
This is a Great War case study about a Manitoba mother and her five sons. It is also a story of two researchers, the speaker and one from the extended family, who sought the truth behind the legend of a family tragedy. A story can become accepted as history through its retelling – even if it is not entirely true.
Speaker: Susan Evans Shaw (30 min.)

An Irishman in the Australian Navy and the Australian Army: A case study
This case study is of an Irishman who deserted the Australian Navy to join the Australian Army under an alias, and served at Gallipoli and in Western Europe. The speaker has traced his story with the help of a range of resources (some now freely available online), including attestation papers and service records, naval records, a request for pardon, family correspondence, and the records of some fellow soldiers.
Speaker: Linda Reid (30 min.)

12:30-1:30 PM

Lunch Break: You can pre-order a box lunch when registering (click here). There is a food court in the adjacent mall and restaurants nearby on Yonge Street..., or feel free to bring your own lunch.

Special Bonus Lunchtime Lecture
The Identity Hunters
Speaker: Janet Roy
Janet Roy is a forensic genealogist, the Genealogical Coordinator for funeral-services company MacKinnon & Bowes and a contractor for the Department of National Defence for which she helps identify the remains of missing soldiers by finding living relatives for DNA testing. She has participated in this process since the first breakthrough in 2007, the identification of the remains of Great War soldier, Private Herbert Peterson. Other successes have followed and Janet is currently working on eleven cases of remains recovered in France. Her 20-minute presentation describes the identification process and includes a basic explanation of DNA testing.

1:30-2:30 PM

Session D1:

Canadian Airmen of the First World War

Except for the short-lived three-man Canadian Aviation Corps of 1914-1915, Canada did not have an official air arm until after the war’s Armistice. However, as many as 20,000 Canadians are believed to have served in the Great War with one of the British Imperial air forces – the Royal Flying Corps or Royal Naval Air Service, and later the Royal Air Force. This session introduces the key archival and electronic records for documenting the wartime service of Canadian airmen of the First World War. Since this is largely a guide to British records, it will also apply to aviators from Britain and the other Dominions within these forces.
Speaker: Timothy Dubé

Session D2:

British Army Research Part 2: Advanced research - When service records are not extant (and other conundrums)
This session, tailored for Toronto-based British Army researchers, introduces a number of advanced-level sources and strategies. These may be of special interest when service records cannot be found, or when the researcher encounters another conundrum.
Speaker: James F.S. Thomson

Session D3:

The "Far From Home" Project
Far From Home is a not-for-profit project undertaken by Diana Beaupré and Adrian Watkinson, two researchers in southeast England. The aim of the project is to locate and photograph all of the First World War Canadian graves and memorials throughout the United Kingdom – and create profiles for each of the nearly 4,000 men and women in whose memory they stand.
Speaker: Glenn Wright (30 min.)

The "For King and Country" Project
For King and Country is a searchable on-line database of war memorials in Toronto schools, launched by the Toronto Branch of the OGS on Remembrance Day 2010. It now contains more than 20,000 names, with information on dozens of schools. This session will provide a quick overview of the project and an update on progress to date.
Speaker: Martha Jackson (15 min.)

The Riches of a Regimental Museum: A case study
This case study will focus on the speaker’s grandfather, who served in the 19th Lincoln Regiment in the First World War, and will demonstrate how snippets of information in a soldier’s attestation paper led to a host of new research resources including original documents and photographs. An overview of resources from several Regimental Museums will also be discussed.
Speaker: Lorri Busch (15 min.)

2:45-3:45 PM

Session E1:

The Canadian Munitions Industry in The Great War

This session will explore the operations of Canadian munition companies during the Great War and the lives of the workers they employed on the home front, and will offer a practical example of how researching companies can contribute to local, social and family history.
Speaker: John Gilinsky

Session E2:

Sinews of Steel: Researching women in the services and at home
Tens of thousands of women served in the military in the Great War – both in support services and in combat. Many more served the cause as civilians, replacing men in essential jobs at farms and factories. This session will look at the many roles of women both at war and on the home front, and the resources available to help you tell their stories.
Speaker: Simon Fowler

Session E3:

Using Maps in Great War Research (New)
Exploring maps and related resources can lead to a much-enhanced understanding of an ancestor's experience of the Great War. This session introduces some of the most interesting Great War maps and ancillary records available to the researcher, and identifies ways of accessing them in and from south central Ontario.
Speaker: James F.S. Thomson (30 min .)

Hector Fraser Dougall WWI Documentary (video):
This session will feature a documentary reconstructing one officer’s experiences in the Great War, based on a forbidden diary and a descendant’s pilgrimage to the relevant sites in Europe.
Speaker: Brenda Dougall Merriman (30 min.)

4:00-5:00 PM Closing Plenary

Session F:

Planning a Battlefields Tour (Modified)
Researchers planning a visit to the Great War Battlefields have several options to consider, including package tours, do-it-yourself trips and bespoke tours. Linda Reid recently went on a five-day bespoke Battlefields tour with three generations of her family. This session is anchored by a 30-minute presentation in which she will share her experiences and offer tips and some "dos and don'ts" on organizing a tour of your own.

Linda will then be joined on the stage by Simon Fowler, Glenn Wright and Toronto Branch's Nancy Conn, each a seasoned Battlefields traveller. They will discuss and elaborate on Linda's presentation, as well as take questions from the audience. This panel will provide an invaluable and practical learning opportunity for anyone who may ever take a Battlefields tour. It will be entertaining for all.
Speaker: Linda Reid (30 min .)
plus a panel discussion with experienced travellers, including Simon Fowler and Glenn Wright (30 min.)

*Program is subject to change without notice

Speakers' Biographies

Lorri Busch has been researching her English/Canadian family for more than twenty years. She has a special interest in the first two decades of the twentieth century, immigration to Canada during this period and the home front in both England and Canada during the First World War.

Timothy Dubé has served as the Chairman and Newsletter Editor of the Ottawa Chapter of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society (CAHS) since 1989, and is a past National President (2008-2010) of the CAHS. For the last twenty-five years, he has served as a Military Archivist with Library and Archives Canada, responsible for all military acquisitions from the private sector and foreign governments. He is the author of a number of archival guides and publications on the British and Canadian military.

Dr. Marianne Fedunkiw is a Toronto-based historian, writer, and playwright with a PhD in medical history and an MA in journalism. She is a former writer for The Globe and Mail and Maclean Hunter publications and the author of two books and numerous articles, and has spoken at various international venues on women physicians serving in WWI. Marianne is currently a communications consultant within the university and healthcare sectors as well as an instructor in international studies at York University.

Simon Fowler is one of Britain’s most experienced family history teachers, writers and researchers. He specializes in military family history, with a particular focus on the First World War, and is the author of numerous well-regarded research guides and articles. Simon worked for The National Archives/Public Record Office at Kew on and off for over thirty years and edited their family history magazine Ancestors. He also teaches online military history courses for Pharos Tutors.

John Gilinsky is an experienced Canadian history teacher and historian who lectures on a range of military and war-related topics. His primary area of research is WWI, with a focus on the Canadian home front as well as the social, medical, legal, cultural, bibliographical, musicological, iconographical, visual art and literary aspects of the War.

Martha Jackson is a retired school-teacher and a long-time Toronto Branch member. The war memorials in Toronto public schools first caught her eye in the fall of 1989, while she was working as a substitute teacher and travelling from school to school. She has championed and co-ordinated the For King and Country project over the past two decades.

Brenda Dougall Merriman has been a board-certified genealogist for more than thirty years and is the author of Genealogy in Ontario: Searching the Records, often described as the seminal work for Ontario genealogical research. Known as a writer, instructor, and speaker, she has twice received the OGS Citation of Recognition. Her special interests are genealogical problem-solving and the 18th-century Loyalist era. Brenda blogs at http://brendadougallmerriman.blogspot.com.

Carol Nichols is a former teacher and now a member of the Executive Committee of the Toronto Branch of the OGS. She has taught courses for the Toronto Branch about using technology in genealogy, and has made presentations at Branch meetings. Carol’s interests in history, photography and travel have meshed well with her passion for finding and telling the stories of her family.

Linda Reid is a retired librarian who has been researching her British roots for 25 years. She is actively involved in the Toronto Branch of the OGS, presently serving as program co-ordinator and compiler of the electronic bulletin. She has spoken at many family history workshops and conferences, most recently the annual conference of the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO) in September 2011 and the English Workshop in Toronto in November. She also volunteers at the Toronto Family History Centre.

Susan Evans Shaw, formerly a health sciences research technician at McMaster University, now chooses to apply her skills to writing and history. Her father and husband were both geologists and their influence helped cultivate her interest in the past, but the real catalyst was the discovery of her grandfather’s letters, written home during World War I, which piqued her interest in Canadian and family history. Susan is the author of two books, including Canadians at War: A Guide to the Battlefields of World War I, published in 2011.

James F.S. Thomson is a University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies instructor and has designed and taught over a dozen very popular advanced and expert-level family history courses co-sponsored by the Toronto Branch of the OGS and the Toronto Public Library. His particular interests include military records and British Isles research.

Glenn Wright is based in Ottawa and has been a fixture in the genealogical and family history community in Ontario for many years. In 2006, he retired from the federal public service after a thirty-year career as an archivist and historian at Library and Archives Canada, the Department of National Defence and the RCMP. He is a member of the Ottawa Branch of the OGS and President of the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO). Glenn has spoken at numerous genealogy conferences and meetings on military records, fraternal societies and census research, and is the author of Canadians at War, 1914-1919: A Research Guide to War Service Records (2010).

How to get to the workshop:

By public transit: North York Memorial Community Hall is connected directly to the North York Centre subway station, on the Yonge line. Inter-city trains and buses link with the subway at Union, Dundas, or York Mills stations. Allow at least 35 minutes from Union or Dundas, or 15 minutes from York Mills, to get to North York Centre.

By car: North York Memorial Community Hall is at 5110 Yonge Street, Toronto M2N 5N9, on the west side at Park Home Avenue (about halfway between Sheppard and Finch.) From Highway 401, exit northbound at Yonge Street; proceed north to Park Home Avenue (6th or 7th traffic light) and turn left. The most convenient parking ($6 per day on Saturdays) is under the building—enter from Novotel on Park Home, or from Beecroft Road (parallel to and west of Yonge Street.)

Accessibility
The venues for this workshop are wheelchair accessible with easy elevator access between floors. If you are a person with a disability and you need a support person to accompany you to this workshop, he or she is welcome at no extra charge (except for the optional cost of pre-ordered lunch). Please e-mail us at registrar@torontofamilyhistory.org if you wish to register a support person or if you have any other accessibility questions or concerns.

Accommodation:
Novotel Toronto North York Hotel is located adjacent to the North York Memorial Community Hall. For reservations received on or before March 9, 2012, a group rate is being offered which does not require pre-payment, and bookings are flexible for changes until 4 PM the day of arrival. Call in-house reservations at 416-733-2929 #2 and refer to booking #16469 or “Finding Your Great War Ancestors Workshop”. Long-distance registrants may e-mail the hotel at h0910-re5@accor.com and request a return call. Reservation requests received after March 9, 2012 will be accepted at the sole discretion of Novotel Toronto North York Hotel on a space and rate availability basis.

Box Lunches $12.50 - Box Lunch Orders are Closed March 22
At the time of registering, you can order a box lunch at a cost of $12.50. Each box will contain one sandwich, fresh veggie sticks, apple, decadent cookie and a beverage. On the registration form, you can select the following choices:

Bread choice: plain white or whole wheat
Filling choice: egg salad, tuna salad, or veggie
Beverage choice: orange juice, diet cola, or ginger ale