Discounted Deposit for Celtic Cruise

Princess is Having a Sale!

Princess cruise lines has just announced that from today until January 30th, they have reduced the required deposit to just $100usd ($125cad). That's all it takes to book your cabin! Final payment for the balance of your cruise is not due until February 1, 2019 - a full year from now! And Terri will happily work out a payment plan for you so that you don't have to panic between the time of your deposit and the time your full payment is due.

Ports of Call:

Dublin - research and consultations

Belfast - consultations

Glasgow - research

Inverness - research

Edinburgh - research

We also have shore excursions in the works for Dublin (The Emigration Museum), Belfast (The Titanic Centre), Glasgow (Loch Lomond), Inverness (Culloden) and Edinburgh (Outlander Day, Historic Walking Tour, Shopping or sightseeing on the Royal Mile) for those who won't be researching or consulting in these ports.

http://www.oconnelltravel.com/rw/cruise/38998

Book Your Ancestral Trip to Scotland Before the Tour Sells Out

Most of us are at a stage of our lives now where we can focus less on family and work and more on ourselves. To some it has been a long time coming. So, now that time is less of a constraint, why not give yourself the gift of connecting with your ancestral heritage?If you wait, it may be too late!

At Genealogy Tours of Scotland, our ancestral trips tend to sell out 8 months ahead of the scheduled tour. 

If traveling to Scotland to conduct family history research, accessing records not available online and visiting the land of your ancestors is on YOUR bucket list, you won't want to miss out on this opportunity. https://www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca/

 At Genealogy Tours of Scotland, (http://www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca, we provide you with protected time at the ScotlandsPeople Centre and at the National Library of Scotland. While on the tour, you will receive personal assistance from the archivists in each location.  

In addition to the repository visits, time is available to travel to the area of Scotland where your ancestors lived. I provide connections to ancestral tour companies, run by genealogists in Scotland, who will give you a personalised tour of your ancestors home area including graveyards, churches, streets, business and anything else you may wish to see that is still standing.  

If a genealogy research visit to Scotland is on your to-do list, contact me and I can assist you to make the most of your ancestral visit. (genealogytoursofscotland@gmail.com). I'm looking forward to sharing your genealogical adventures with you!

Come to Scotland. Spend time in the archives. Research your roots. Tour your ancestral

villages, towns, graveyards. Learn the history and culture of your ancestral homeland. Feel more connected, more rooted. Create a memory of a lifetime. Bring a friend or partner along to share the journey.

Non-genealogy partners travel for half price.

Give the Gift of Heritage This Christmas!

If you are looking for a special gift for your genealogy sleuth this Christmas, why not give them the gift of connecting with their ancestral heritage. Take them to Scotland. Allow them time in the archives to research their roots. Tour their villages, town, graveyards. Learn the history and culture. Create a memory of a lifetime. Help your genealogist search their roots and discover their heritage. Non-genealogy partners travel for half price.

http://www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca/

It's Not Too Soon to Book Up for the 2014 Tour

2014 has been designated as the Year of the Homecoming by the Scottish Government. The last homecoming, in 2009, was a rousing success for the Diaspora and clans from all over the world, but ran a major deficit financially for the hosting country, and particularly for the host city. As a result, there has been reluctance by City councils to take on hosting the event. However, June 2014 is also the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn. Clans from all over the world, but primarily Canada, the US and Australia have determined that they will have gatherings of their own during the year of the Homecoming. These events will not be a mass gathering as has taken place in the past, but rather clans will gather on their own at various venues throughout the country and throughout the year. This means that tourism will be busy all year. Many clans have had their facilities and events booked since 2012. That said, hotel availability will be at a premium. As well, there is a large push by the Scottish Government to promote Ancestral Tourism during these events since the Diaspora will be returning to their ancestral homeland. This means that the archives will also be busier than usual. Genealogy Tours of Scotland is already booked for the 2014 Genealogy Research Trip, including hotel space. It will be difficult to secure further rooms at a later date, so all spaces in the 2014 tour will be on a first come, first serve basis and will only be considered confirmed once full fees have been received. Spots can be reserved on a temporary basis (pending full payment) by paying your deposit today at: http://www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca/Tour_dates_and_Pricing.html

 

 

 

Discount for Couples Traveling Together May 2013

Do you want to go to Scotland to do some family history research? Are you looking to travel to Scotland with a partner but finding that cost is getting in the way? Why not take advantage of our couples discounts:

For one genealogy researcher and one non-genealogy researcher: This is a BOGO offer (Buy One Get One). Pay full fees for the researcher and then receive a 50% discount for the non-researcher. This applies to two people sharing a room. The fees for the non-researcher include breakfast daily, the Ceilidh, and some transportation fees. No research fees, lecture fees or other fees will be covered.

For two genealogy researchers, save the registration fees for one person. This again applies to two people sharing a room. Once both people have paid their fees in full, you will receive a refund for the second registration fee ($450).

These are equal opportunity discounts. The second person can be a spouse, partner, sibling, cousin, family member, partner or friend but must be willing to share the hotel room with you.

ONLY ONE COUPLE SPOT REMAINS AVAILABLE FOR THE MAY 2013 TRIP.

BOOK NOW AT: www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca

Genealogy Tours of Scotland Newsletter Now Available

The December issue of the Newsletter is now available.

In this issue:

• Only 4 spots left for 2013
• Highlights from 2012
• Ancestral Tourism - preparing for a genealogy holiday
• Travels of a Taphophile
• Part of Edinburgh Castle belongs to Nova Scotia

Enjoy!
Genealogy Tours of Scotland Newsletter Dec 2012

Day Two

After a restless, noise-filled sleep (the garbage men had their wheelie bins up and down the street as early as half three), it was time to start the day. Aftern checking out of the hotel, we headed down the street to the Glasgow Police Museum. This is another of the many free museums run by Glasgow City Council.

 Glasgow burgh in the UK to have police, this by an act of parliament, The Police Act of 1800. London was another 29 years in getting a police force established.

The museum has a number of badges and uniforms that span the history of the Glasgow Police as well as photos and testaments to some of the officers. There is an entire room dedicated to different police forces around the world, complete with uniforms and badges.
A couple of the more notorious crimes - murders - are also on display.
After the Police Museum, we headed over to the Scotland Street School Museum, which provides a wonderful history of education.

Scotland Street School

Girls entrance

Boys entrance

Infants entrance

Not only were there separate entrances for boys, girls and infants, but the floors were separated out according to age with the infants (4 & 5 year olds) on the main floor, primary students on the middle floor and senior students on the third floor.

This museum gives a wonderful history of education. The museum is in a former school, known as the Scotland Street School (being located on Scotland Street). Many of the children were from surrounding tenements. The building was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

The former classrooms are set up to depict different time periods in school history.

There is a very good display on school and in fact life in general during WWII

The Evacuation list was posted in the event that the air raid siren was sounded

Gas masks waiting at the ready

Child's gas mask

Letter sent to all school children by King George at the close of the war.

One of the classrooms was set up as the Cookery class and showed all of the stations where "home ec" was taught

The Cookery

Laundry Station

Mangle (Wringer)

The school also houses a number of artefacts from education over the decades:

Teacher's daily attendance book

Teaching Certificate

Hop Scotch in the hallway of Scotland Street School

Student's certificate of merit

Student report card

This was used to draw chalk lines on the chalkboard for teaching penmanship

Girls uniform

Boys uniform

The Scotland Street School Musuem provides a wonderful look at not just the history of education, but of history itself. They are curently working on an exhibit on Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the famed architect and architect of Scotland Street School.

Finalizing Details

Planning a group research trip is much like plannning a wedding. There is a flurry of activity as soon as the date is set. Reservations for the venue(s) - in this case the archival repositories we will visit as a group, transportation, accommodation and evening entertainment. Inviting the participants. Planning the itinerary. Organizing the research materials. And getting the attendee packages together (instead of thank you gifts).


Then there is a lull for several months. Advertising still happens, e-mails and queries are still answered, connections are still made. But there is still lots of time for other work. Writing articles and blog posts, lectures, meetings and if lucky, personal research.


And suddenly the dates are looming and once again there is a flurry of activity. Finalizing all of the initial reservations, attending to the details that can't be done ahead of time. It feels like a whirlwind but as the weeks fly by, the anticipation and excitment mount. Now to make sure my own research gets organized so that I too can benefit from the trip!

T minus 6 as the astronauts say.

Heading to Scotland

My updated passport arrived yesterday. The luggage is waiting to be packed. I am slowly organizing my research materials and getting them into Dropbox so I can access them from Scotland.

In six short weeks, I will be in Glasgow. It seemed ages away, but now here it is within grasp - the countdown is on. I am looking forward to wandering around the Necropolis. Hopefully the Glasgow weather will co-operate.

I have 2 brick walls in my research. My maternal great grandfather who left Scotland to "fight in the Boer War" although he never enlisted. He never returned. I am looking forward to meeting up with my great aunts to hear their version of what happened to Old Hugh. I am slowly making headway on him and hope to gather more info on this year's research trip. My other brick wall is my grandfather's first wife. She seems to have landed from Mars right before her marriage to my grandfather. Can't seem to find her before. Hopefully I will be able to make some headway on this one  too.

But I am more looking forward to rounding out the information I already have. Getting the Coroner's report and newspaper clippings of my great Uncle's death. Visiting the grave where my gt gt gt grandfather and his son are buried together. They died together in a mining accident. Andrew, the son, was all of 18. And getting to view the birth and marriage records for those ancestors who are too new to make the timelines for public accessibility.

I am looking forward to the hunt, to the find, to sharing the information and to the renewed sense of purpose once I return. Stay tuned to this blog. I hope to keep you up to date each day after our research.

Happy Hunting!

Join Us in Scotland

One of the things that we have learned from the Who Do You Think You Are series is that not everything on our ancestors is available online. Remember that large document on Reba's English ancestors from the 1600s? Or the marriage register that awaited Martin Sheen in Italy? Or the newspaper articles on Blair Underwoods gt gt gt grandfather Sauney, the conjurer?

What did these episodes all have in common? The celebrities had to travel to their ancestral homeland to find the information they were seeking on their ancestors. This helped them put their family history together.

Come and join us in Scotland and dive into the records that await in both Edinburgh and Glasgow. Come to Scotland. Find your ancestors. Discover your heritage.

You'll be glad you did.