Conference Announcement: British Isles Family History Society ofGreater Ottawa 18-20 September 2015

BIFHSGO will be holding their Family History Conference from 18-20 September 2015 at Ben Franklin Place on Centrepointe Drive in Ottawa. Their three areas of focus will be Scottish Family History, Photographs in Genealogy and Technology for Genealogists with expert genealogy lecturers like Thomas MacEntee, Maureen Taylor and Chris Paton just to name a few. All details including registration information is available on their website. Happy Learning!

Quarriers Homes of Scotland

The Quarriers are a Scottish charitable organization who are dedicated to helping children and their families who are facing adversity. Their history goes back to the 1870s with their founder, William Quarrier, caring for orphaned children. If you have an ancestor or family member from an Orphan's home in Scotland, then this website will be of interest to you:

Approximately 30,000 children spent at least some of their childhood in the Orphan Homes of Scotland, a name changed in 1958 to Quarriers Homes. Each child’s entry to and departure from the Homes was recorded as was basic information about the family’s circumstances.  

Records have been kept since Quarrier opened his first Children's shelter in Glasgow, so be sure to contact their Genealogy and Records Service if you would like to learn more about the information they hold.

Canadian Scots: Consider heading home!

"There's none more Scots than the Scots abroad/There's a place in our hearts for the old sod" is a familiar phrase for fans of the Canadian band, Spirit of the West, and their song,"The Old Sod." What does this lyric have to do with genealogy? Scots are being called home for the largest Gathering of the Clans the world has ever seen during the biggest Highland Games ever organized in Scotland this summer in honour of the 250th birthday of Scotland's own Robert Burns. July 25 and 26 are the dates to plan to attend such an event, and you can learn more about the Gathering of the Clans and the Highland Games by clicking here.