World Tourism Day

Today is #Worldtourismday. My news feed on  both Facebook and Twitter were full of wonderful posts honouring tour providers, historic sites and museums. 

Reflecting back on my 7 years in the Ancestral Tourism business I have been so blessed. Blessed to be able to share my homeland with others in the diaspora. Blessed to be able to facilitate them learning more of their own story by uncovering the stories of their Scottish ancestors. Blessed and humbled to hear and see the emotions evoked when people have visited homes, graves, churches of their ancestors. But most importantly, blessed to be able to facilitate a deep connection to and love of Scotland in other members of the Scots Diaspora. 

If  you have Scottish ancestry, consider giving yourself the gift of a lifetime, a gift of rootedness, a gift of feeling whole. Join me in Glasgow for a genealogy research tour with opportunities to research at the Mitchell Library, the Glasgow and West of Scotland Family History Society and the Lanarkshire Family History Society. 

For more information: https://www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca/glasgow-2019.html

Space Opens for Glasgow Tour 2019

I have had a person who had signed up for the Glasgow Tour write to say she has had to cancel because her granddaughter is getting married and the wedding date is during the time of the Glasgow Tour.

That now opens a space for Glasgow 2019. If you are interested in joining us, you may want to act quickly. This space will be assigned on a first come, first serve basis and likely won't last long.

For more info: https://www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca/home.html

WOO HOO! RootsTech Registration is OPEN!

February will be here before we know it. And along with February comes....ROOTSTECH! I am thrilled to once again be both an Ambassador and Speaker at RootsTech. 

https://www.rootstech.org/

Although it still feels like it is months away, it really isn't. Before we know it, we will be giving thanks, celebrating Christmas and the new year will be upon us. Before the rush of the season begins, take time to look at the schedule and make your selection of classes to attend. 

Earlybird registration ends October 12th, so take advantage of the savings as well. 

Click to REGISTER

Now start planning who to catch up with, what vendors to visit and what you are going to need to pack. 

Anniversary of the Battle of Dunbar

The Battle of Dunbar took place on this date in 1650. 10,000 Scottish soldiers were captured. About 3,500 were released due to injury, illness or weakness. The remaining prisoners of the war were force marched down to Durham where they were to be imprisoned in the Cathedral. An additional 3,500 men died during the journey.

Roughly half of the men imprisoned in the Cathedral died in captivity. Two mass graves containing the bones of some of these men was uncovered in November 2013. More about these men can be found on here: https://www.dur.ac.uk/archaeology/research/projects/europe/pg-skeletons/

The rest of the prisoners were sold or transported to the colonies. The first 150 of these men were taken to London where they boarded the Unity and made their way to Boston Mass. 62 of the 150 men were indentured to the Saugus Iron Works.

These Scottish prisoners were instrumental in the birth of the Iron and Steel industries in North America. For the most part, they were well treated, being given housing, food, beer, clothing and tobacco. Most of the men worked as wood cutters. After the closing of the Iron Works, some of the men went north to Maine where they worked in saw mills.

Scottish ViC Registration OPEN

The 2019 Scottish ViC will be held on Saturday January 26^th, 2019 from 8:30 am until 6:30 pm. There are seven presentations by seven presenters over the course of the day:

Plenary – Scottish Studies History Professor Kevin James will present The Highlander and the Lad O' Pairts: Patterns of Scottish Migration to Canada

Glasgow City Archives Senior Archivist Irene O’Brien will present on Poor Law Records.

Retired NRS Archivist Margaret Fox will present on High Court Records in her Genealogy In presentation the records of the High Court of Justiciary

Genealogist Emma Maxwell will present on Sheriff Court Records

LivingDNA Co-Founder David Nicholson will present An Introduction to LivingDNA

NLS Enquiries Assistant Elaine Brown will present on the wealth of Resources available at the National Library of Scotland for Family History Research.

Genealogy Educator Christine Woodcock will present Online Resources for Scottish Research

Seven presentation for $99. All presentations will be available from January 26th, when they are released on a timed schedule until January 31st at midnight (eastern) to allow for time zone challenges. 

Virtual presentations, live Q&A, handouts and virtual marketplace all for one low price. 

Register at: https://www.genealogyvic.com/home.html