Surrey British Columbia Family History Centre

Location and Map

 * 6270 126th Street Surrey BC south side of building. There is a buzzer just to the left of the main doors to be buzzed.
 * Parking is free for our patrons.
 * Location on Map

Contact Information


Phone: 604 597 9695

E-mail: surreyfhc@gmail.com

SUMMER HOURS 2018 - July 10th 2018 through September 10th
Tuesdays: 10 am to 9 pm

Wednesdays: 11 am to 3 pm

Regular hours resume September 11th
***During inclement weather call ahead to be sure the centre is open.

• Tuesdays 10 am to 9 pm • Wednesdays 11 am to 3 pm • Thursdays 2 pm to 9 pm Hope to see you there.

Holiday Closures 2018
Closed all Statutory Holidays

Christmas closure Dec 14th 2018 through Jan 7th 2019

Summer closure June 15th through Jul 9th


 * Please contact our centre to get up to date closures, to check our hours, or to arrange group visits or arrange special help.
 *  NEW Exciting changes and new services


 * Make an appointment for your family: We have various family history exploration activities for children of all ages or for families to do together. Topics of the tubs are a toy exploration, a photo exploration, records exploration, migration exploration, and a temple exploration.We have a special family friendly area.
 * We have upgraded equipment and furnishings.
 * Live in the Surrey BC area? Come get help with your genealogy.

Calendar and Events
All classes will be held at the Surrey Family History Centre or in a room in the same building.

6270 126 Street

Surrey BC

Finding Your Roots Conference October 13th 2018 - 8:30 am to 4:20 pm - doors open at 8 am
Classes, Instructors and Descriptions Finding Your Roots 2018

“Being of Sound Mind…”: Using Wills, Probates, and Administrations to Expose Family Relationships

Brenda Smith

End of life records can be rich sources of family eccentricity. Consider the range of revelation contained in wills and their codicils, and property values in probates. Examine administrations to learn about family circumstances uncovered when your research subject passes on without instructions.

“Never heard from again…”: Where to look when an ancestor disappears

Brenda Smith

Poor man’s divorce, whereabouts unknown, and other euphemisms cloak the realities of missing persons cases. Examine the reasons for unexplained disappearances and some of the places where the family historian might search to solve these puzzles.

Advance Your Eastern European Research with a Baker's Dozen of Unusual Sources

Xenia Stanford - You have searched on Ancestry, FamilySearch and even Googled to find your Eastern European ancestors. You have found their vital records in North America and even found them on passenger arrival lists. You may be giving up hope of ever finding more from North American record sources and even less certain about finding records in Eastern Europe. Learn how to advance your research with sources you haven’t thought to try at home and from abroad in your ancestors’ Eastern European country of origin. After this lecture, you may find emigration (departure) passenger lists and overseas vital records, cemeteries, business directories, census records and even local family histories. Practically every type of record you can find in North America, you can find in Eastern Europe and perhaps more if you know how and where to track them down.

Advanced England

Rob Whitlock

Census and civil registration in England and beyond: This course will look at both primary and secondary records in the 1800s in England in a detailed manner as well as a review of current online access to these sources. This will demonstrate effective techniques for tracing English ancestors from the late 1700s to the early 1900s.

Basic FamilySearch Family Tree

Jeannie Vance

Learn how to work together with extended family using the shared Family Tree within FamilySearch.org. This free website allows you to build a family tree, record your ancestors' life facts, stories and pictures. Find family connections from millions of records stored within the Family Search databases. An introduction on how to add people, do basic editing and add sources and memories will be included in the class. Also, included will be some LDS information during the last 15 minutes of class. (If you are not LDS you may enjoy the exhibit hall during the last 15 minutes of class when it is not crowded.)

Beginner England

Rob Whitlock

This course will explore the major sources of civil registration, census and passenger records in both Canada and England as an effective means of tracing English ancestors and their movements from England to Canada.

Combining a One-Name Study with the Family Tree DNA Family Finder Autosomal DNA Test

Peter Whitlock

Learn how One-Name Studies can help you connect with cousins and distant cousins researching the same part of your family that you are. Many clues are provided by researching collateral families and knowing more about that ancestor who is part of a One-Name Study may provide you with new information about other ancestors. In many cases connecting with a One-Name Study through autosomal matching makes that particular ancestral line a much more interesting part of your ancestry.

Learn to do chromosome matching and understand  the advantages and limitations of chromosome matches offered by Autosomal tests."

Digging Into Alberta Records At Cloverdale Library

Jamie Brown

Having trouble locating records for your Alberta ancestors? The staff and resources at Cloverdale Library can help! Discover how to find Alberta vital records both in print and online. Recognize the value of records in print: local histories, cemetery records and various Alberta related indexes. Discuss and learn how to find other sources such as newspaper, census and land records. Let’s go digging together!

DNA Tests, Buzz, Hype and Reality

Gayel Knott

DNA testing is popular, but what do you really know about it. We’ll look at why there are problems with Ethnicity Estimates, why Health Reports are only half the story, and what you can expect to find with a DNA test. We’ll also look at some of the issues around privacy; some of the things to consider when choosing a testing company; and what you should and can do with your results.

Explore your German Ancestry

Eva Gremmert

In this class you will learn how to uncover records documenting your ancestors lives. We will discuss the unique challenges of German research including deciphering German-language records and German script, as well as the shifting political boundaries throughout much of Germany’s history.

Family Stories from Family Members - Interviewing

Sandra Borger - Genealogy is all about family stories. Genealogists obtain those stories through diaries, letters, census, photographs, birth certificates, and more. All these sources share one quality – they provide a finite amount of information. People, however, have endless amounts of information, of stories. This presentation will teach you the first steps in doing oral interviews with family members in a way that is respectful, professional and will yield the most amount of information.

Family Storytelling 101: Write * Share Your Short Family Stories

Karen Inkster Vance - Family history research is more than just tracing names and dates; it's finding, preserving and sharing the personal stories that go along with each person on your family tree. Feel overwhelmed by the thought of writing an entire book or not sure that you have enough material? Come and be inspired by examples, tips and ideas for writing and sharing short family vignettes and essays. If you are your family's storykeeper and are worried these stories might be lost, then this class is for you!

"FamilySearch & Family Tree (Mandarin speaking only) -

尋根 」 中文班課程內容簡介 - Steve & Ruth Kao

高仕淦弟兄，高何君曼姐妹

1.  家譜的重要性

2.  中文家譜涵蓋內容

3.  那些資料可供使用

4.  如何利用教會資源

5.  如何利用電腦建立「家譜樹」

6.  家譜與聖殿教儀"

Translation:

•                    The importance of Genealogy

•                    What is covered in Chinese Genealogy

•                    What resources you can use to collect information

•                    How to use Church resources (Family Search) to collect information

•                    How to use the computer to build up a " Family Tree " on the "FamilySearch  Website"

•                    Genealogy and preparing ""Temple Ordinances Cards"

FamilySearch: Advanced Family Tree

Mary Kathryn Kozy - The FamilySearch Family Tree can be fantastic “cousin bait” and a great way to collaborate with fellow researchers! However, some researchers find the “one tree” concept a bit overwhelming and even frustrating. In this lecture, we’ll learn about some of the more advanced features of the Family Tree, how to know who else is working on your ancestors in the tree, and a few tips to discourage others from changing hours of research willy-nilly (and what to do when this does happen!).

Find Elusive Eastern European Records Using Advanced Techniques on Familysearch

Xenia Stanford -  Finding Eastern European records through familysearch.org may be frustrating because when you do the basic search, you either retrieve zero results or dozens of records but mostly of Americans. You may have given up, thinking there are no Eastern European records on this website, but there are millions if not billions available if you know how to go beyond the basic search techniques. Learn how to power search and navigate the many records available on FamilySearch for your ancestors. This is especially important because The Family History Library films are no longer available through loan and you can’t always get to Salt Lake City but if you know how, you can access them online from the comfort of your home or from any Family History Center. Level All

Find the Women Hiding in Your Family Tree

M. Diane Rogers

Researching women can be frustrating since women’s names and activities are often missing from official sources. Learn how to use cluster genealogy to locate women, and about locating and interpreting lesser known records relating to women’s relationships and lives.

Genealogy at Library and Archives Canada – Discover your Heritage          Susanne Sulzberger        LAC now has a presence on the West Coast with an office in Vancouver and Service Desk at the Vancouver Public Library Central Branch. Learn how the Vancouver office can help you with your genealogy research. This presentation will point out LAC’s new initiatives and explore highlights of LAC’s main online genealogy collections as well as what researchers can expect to find within those databases to further their goals in creating their family tree.

Genealogy by Google - Google has been recognized for several years now as a great search engine for genealogy, but it is so much more! It also provides a number of other tools that can be of great help to family historians. In this presentation, we’ll examine several and discuss how to:  Use Google Earth and Google Maps to unearth information about where your ancestors lived. Learn how you can educate yourself, meet others, and ‘hang out’ with those who are like minded (and maybe even related!) using Google’s social media tools. Discover how to carry your research with you and kick your research into gear through collaboration on Google Drive.

'''How Do I Know That's Right? Evaluating Genealogical Evidence'''

Mary Kathryn Kozy - What does a genealogist do when there is so much data and some things conflict? Or what does one do if there are only a few data points and they don’t agree? How do you know which one is right? In this presentation we’ll define the various types of evidence and discuss ways of evaluating them to come to a sound conclusion. A case study will help illustrate how points of evidence can come into conflict and demonstrate methods for resolving that conflict.

Irish Online Genealogy Records Available

Eva Gremmert - In this class we will discuss both free and subscription-based Irish genealogy databases available online. You will learn research techniques to effectively utilize these new resources that might begin to break down your Irish “brick wall.”

Irish Research - Not Everything Was Burned

Eunice Robinson - Most researchers with Irish roots have been told it is impossible to find anything, and that all the records were destroyed. This session will discuss the records that do exist, and how to access them.

Is there a Loyalist Hiding in Your Family Tree?

Linda Nygard - " If your ancestors go back to the early 1800s in Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes - you may have a Loyalist in your family tree. Loyalists lived in the original 13 colonies of British North America during the American Revolution which started in 1776. They supported Britain in the Revolutionary War. The Patriots - who opposed British taxes (Boston Tea Party) - fought for an independent nation. The Loyalists lost this war and fled to Upper and Lower Canada, and the Maritimes. The Patriots signed the Declaration of Independence and became the United States. Those Loyalists who fled to what is now Canada, were granted land for their allegiance to the King.

I will provide a Hand Out with online resources for Loyalist research.

The former Vancouver Branch Library is now part of the BCGS collection at the Walter Draycott Library in Surrey.

For a small fee, this library is open to non-members."

I've Had My DNA Tested - Now What?

Mary Kathryn Kozy - DNA testing has really come to the fore as a way of helping us to break through brick walls in our genealogical research. Many people have had their DNA tested only to get some rather confusing results that they don’t understand, much less know how to use to advance their research. This lecture will briefly review what DNA testing is and what it can—and can’t—tell you. More specifically, we’ll be discussing autosomal DNA in this lecture and the tools available online from the testing companies, as well as third-party entities, to help you interpret your results.

Navigating Your Computer: Computer Basics & Vocabulary

Tiffany Harvey - This class is to help you navigate your computer. Come learn tricks and short cuts to get the most out of using your computer. Together we will learn to use and understand computer vocabulary. By being able to use correct computer terms you will be better able to communicate about computers with those you work with. We will cover finding and saving files and how to use file explorer to see  documents, hard drives and USB sticks. We will look at both Apple and Windows systems. This class is not to trouble shoot or fix computers.

ORGANIZE: The Second Prime Directive

Brenda Smith - As the paper and Web site visits accumulate, the frustration deepens. A tidy workspace, a research log, and coherent files support the family historian’s search for ancestors. Learn to create tools for organizing research activities and results.

Philippines: An Introduction to Indexing, Reviewing and Researching Records

Bela Jahn &Juliette Clemente - In this class you will be shown how you can assist in the work of indexing and reviewing Philippine records. You will also be instructed on how to use Family Tree on Family Search and the Wiki on the Philippines. It is recommended that you bring your laptops to the class and names that you might have collected over the years.

Researching Your Military Relatives

'''Colin Stevens. CD''' - Most families have had members who served in the military. Fortunately, military forces generate a lot of paperwork and many of these records were saved. Finding information is one thing and understanding it is another. This talk will present an overview of where to find military records, the types of records that one might find and how to understand them. The emphasis will be on Canadian, British and American resources, but the principles apply to many counties and time periods.

RootsMagic Genealogy Database Program: Getting Started

Sally Haysom - Learn about an excellent program for organizing your family history on your computer. You can add pictures, sources, print out various reports and even keep a To-Do List and Research log for each person or family in your file. RootsMagic is easy to use and updated all the time with lots of free online webinars for you to view and learn. This program has a free version called RootsMagic Essentials which you can download and try.

RT Video: Finding Elusive Records on FamilySearch

Robert Kehrer - Did you know that 77% of the records on FamilySearch can’t be found using a basic search? Learn how to tap into these hard-to-find records with resources like the FamilySearch catalog, unindexed image collections, and advanced search techniques. In this presentation from RootsTech 2018, Robert Kehrer provides detailed instructions and examples.

RT Video: Google Photos: Collect, Organize, Preserve and Share

Michelle Goodrum - Google Photos is a powerful, free app for storing, organizing and sharing. Users can also edit and create photo projects and automatically add their photos to the app from their digital devices.

Scottish Genealogy - Advanced

George Caldwell - This talk will focus on Scottish legal documents & their importance to your genealogical research in Scotland: Record collection - Wills, Testaments, Sasines & other legal documents; Information Contained in these records and how to use this information to trace your Scottish ancestors; Tips & techniques for accessing these records from digitized microfilm records available on the FamilySearch website.

Scottish Genealogy - Introduction

George Caldwell - This talk will focus on starting your genealogical research in Scotland. It will include: Record collections - Old Parish Registers, Civil Registration, Census & more; Typical information contained on the records and how this information can be used to trace your Scottish ancestors; Where these records can be found; Internet sources such as ScotlandsPeopele, Ancestry, FindMyPast & Familysearch with an emphasis on digital material available on the FamilySearch website.

Starting or Jump Starting Your Research

Eunice Robinson - So you want to trace your family tree, but where to start, how to record your findings, and who to research first. This session will talk about genealogical methodology, some of the Where and Why certain records are of value. What pitfalls you may encounter, and some hints for successful research.

The Elusive Daniel Doyle

Andrea Lister - Daniel Doyle died in the battle of Jutland, going down with the H.M.S. Indefatigable in 1916 or was he in the British army during the First Hazara Expedition in India? Why isn’t he in the census? Searching through a variety of records brings more questions and maybe some answers. Join me on the case of the elusive Daniel Doyle.

Where Else Can You Look When You Can't Find  Records

Lil Heselton - A collaborative listing of “Where to look”  combined with on the spot problem solving. Come prepared with a clearly stated single problem and let’s see what we can do together. We will not spend a great deal of time on any one person, so be brief and concise. A list of resources will be provided at the end of the hour.

World War I: The Stories Around Us

Karen Inkster Vance - Karen will present a compelling narrative on how seeking out our distant WWI family stories is critical to understanding both our ancestors who served in the conflict and those who remained at home. The session will cover her own personal journey discovering nearly-forgotten family tales, researching a small Vancouver Island town through the Great War years and her attempts to discover why this is still so relevant today. Attendees will leave the session with a deeper appreciation of the decisions and sacrifices made 100 years ago and inspiration to pursue their own family research.

Collections

 * FamilySearch Catalog Films: We have many films and fiche on extended loan. So even though film ordering has ended you can still access these resources at our centre.
 * Index of all the extended films in our centre is available on our computers.
 * Thousands of books dealing with research from all parts of the world. An index of these books is available on our computers.
 * Film indexes for Ontario.
 * Icelandic Census books

New Book Acquisitions
September 2017 Previous Acquisitions from the past two years:

BC Genealogist Vol 43 # 2 June 2014 BC Genealogist Vol 44 # 2 June 2015 BC Genealogist Vol 44 # 2 Sept 2015

Iceland 1703 Census The 1703 Census of the whole of Iceland continued in a second binder. Iceland 1703, 1729 Census The 1703 Census of the whole of Iceland continued. The 1729 Census of the whole of Iceland. Iceland 1762 Census Index Index to the 1762 Census for Iceland Iceland 1801 Census Index Index to the 1801 Census for Iceland Iceland 1801 Census Index with Family Groups Index to the 1801 Census for Iceland with Family Groups Iceland 1816 Census Index Iceland 1816 Census Index - Last name Index Iceland 1845 Census Index Binder 1 Iceland 1845 Census Index Binder 1 / Book 1 Surnames Abela - Gudlaug Iceland 1845 Census Index Binder 2 Iceland 1845 Census Index Binder 2 / Book 2 Surnames Gudlaugur - Hoskuldur Iceland 1845 Census Index Binder 3 Iceland 1845 Census Index Binder 3 / Book 3 Surnames Idbjorg - Kristin Iceland 1845 Census Index Binder 4 Iceland 1845 Census Index Binder 4 / Book 4 Surnames Kristjana - Sigridur Iceland 1845 Census Index Binder 5 Iceland 1845 Census Index Binder 5 / Book 5 Surnames Sigrun - Ossur Iceland Guide to 1703, 1729, 1801 Volume 1, Volume 2, 1816, 1845 Guide to the complete Census for Iceland for 1703, 1729, 1801 Volume 1 Volume 2, 1816, 1845

Planters and Pioneers, Limited Revised Edition 2006 - Dr. Esther Clark Wright - Justin Wentzell publisher - early New Brunswick settlers.

Ukraine Ukrainian Research 2013 State Archives 947.7 Villages within Parishes. Languages for months of the year translation. Ukrainian American Collection. Manuscript collections. Other resources Ukraine ( internet ) Ukrainians in North America by Professor Bohdan P. Procko 20-Sep-13

Canada Canadian National Censuses 1871,1881,1891,1901 2002 Family Search 971 How to navigate census giving Family History Library film number. 20-Sep-13

Canada Ontario Land Records 2003 Family Search 971 How to search Ontario Land records. Steps 1 by surname, Step 2 by land by description, Step 3 by probate records, Step 4 other types. Book referenced 'Genealogy in Ontario, Searching the Records', Brenda D. Merreman is in our Surrey FHC Library. 20-Sep-13

CanadaThis is Alberta 1963 The Albertan 971.2 This is Alberta is a compilation of newpaper articles from ' The Albertan ' Articles include - this is Alberta p 91, day of the fur traders p 93 - 8, Grain - Keystone of our Economy and Canada's stock in trade. Look back at pioneer life, pioneer past. Railway, planes, oil, tar sands, gas, banks, nature, agriculture. History of Alberta. 20-Sep-13

Databases and Software

 * FHC Portal: This centre has access to the Family History Centre Portal page which gives free access in the centre to subscription websites.
 * Premium Databases Include the following
 * 19th Century British Library Newspaper Digital Archive
 * Alexander Street Press• The American Civil War: Research Database, Letters and Diaries, Images, Photographs, Posters, and Ephemera, Social and Cultural History, Women and Social Movements in the United States
 * Ancestry.com - Institution version
 * Archive Digital
 * Findmypast - Institution version
 * Fold3.com
 * Kinpoint - Premium
 * MyHeritage - Library Edition
 * Paper Trail
 * ProQuest Obituary Listings
 * Puzzilla.org - Premium Services
 * World Vital Records- All content has been added to MyHeriage.com (They purchased WVR)
 * We also have database programs for information storing of your genealogical work such as PAF (Personal Ancestral File), Legacy, Roots Magic, and Ancestral Quest to name a few. We have the deluxe paid versions at our centre. You may download the basic free version for use at home.

Hardware and Equipment
Our centre has 12 computers, 2 printers, 3 fiche readers, 5 film readers including 2 high magnification readers, 1 digital film/fiche reader and a multi functional digital copier/scanner/printer.

Center Services
Group Visits - youth groups, adult groups, children's groups and family groups.

Email: surreyfhc@gmail.com or call the centre at 604-597-9695 for information on booking and on what types of instruction are available, etc.

NEW SERVICE: One on One Assistance - to book this email surreyfhc@gmail.com and you will be contacted with times available. Often individual assistance is available from regular staff without an appointment. However, if you wish to be sure there is a knowledgeable staff member available you can book an appointment.


 * 1) • Patrons can scan photos to memory sticks and upload them to the FamilySearch Family Tree site. • Patrons at the center have free access to 12 premium databases including Ancestry and Find My Past. We can help you get the most out of these. • Our friendly staff can assist with uploading images and doing research using FamilySearch and the Premium Databases. • We offer monthly seminars during the winter months to help patrons learn new skills and these are free and open to the community.
 * 2) • We book group appointments to help youth groups and families learn more about their ancestors.
 * 3) • We teach individuals and groups how to do FamilySearch Indexing, how to research using FamilySearch, how to complete the My Family booklet and enter data in Family Tree.
 * 4) • We can help you create fan charts, photo pedigrees, etc. using Treeseek
 * 5) • We can help you use the Premium versions of Puzzilla to find more cousins.

Executive Committee:  Director: Jeannie Vance Assistant Director: Sara Herrington Patron Services Coordinator: Jeannie Vance Technical Coordinator:

Training Coordinator: Jeannie Vance Scheduling Coordinator: Barbara McMullin

Associate Administrator: Jacquie Jarvis

Specialists: (other consultants also have knowledge for researching in these areas)

Scotland - George Caldwell

England - Marilyn Ponting

Ontario: Jeannie Vance, Sharon Russell or Terry Rogers

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