12 May 2011

BIFHSGO May Meeting

14 May 2011 at Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington, Ottawa

Yet another interesting presentation in store at 10 AM, Unravelling the Anglicization of an Irish Family to be presented by Irene Ip.


Although Irene's father's family was Irish, when he was born he was registered with a Cornish surname, a bequest from his grandmother. She had wanted her family to shed their Irishness when they decided to settle in London, England, and a change of name was the first order of business. Irene was told that the name had been O'Callaghan and that they had come from Cork, Ireland. Irene's story is how, after almost three decades, she finally tracked down her grandfather's family and found the name that should have been given to her father and so to herself. Irene will explain how name variations, together with hasty assumptions, led her on false trails, seriously impeding her research. She will talk about her visits to the Public Record Office, the National Archives at Kew, the Dublin Record Office, the Ottawa Public Library and her unexpected discovery on her home computer.

Irene Ip was born in London, England, and came to Canada in 1956 on a working holiday but decided to stay. She has been researching her English and Irish ancestors for over 30 years but more seriously since joining BIFHSGO in 2001. She was editor of Anglo-Celtic Roots for three years and is presently a member of the BIFHSGO Writing Group and was a member of the team that conducted two writing workshops for the Society.

The "Before BIFHSGO" educational sessional at 9 AM is Tips on Using PowerPoint for Genealogy Presentations, presented by Brian Glenn.

1 comment:

Ellen Thorne Morris said...

Some years ago while visiting Thorne and Wilmot cousins in Ontario during the summer months we met a family whose Irish ancestors settled in Newcastle around 1810-14. They had an interesting religious tradition. The first son in each generation was always raised Anglican, or Church of England, and the other children retained the Roman Catholic faith of the parents. This had something to do with the English laws banning Catholics from holding office.
The eldest brother, a judge, was a member of St. George's Anglican Church and his younger brother was Catholic. All the children over generations divided land just south of my Wilmot ancestors, and some of my cousins married into their family.