John Farrow introduced Lesley Anderson from Ancestry Canada this morning. Lesley is the Chair of Ancestry's Family History Board for Canada. She gives much of her time doing presentations at genealogical society meetings and conferences, and speaking to groups like us.
How Can Ancestry Help You with Your Family History?
Lesley Anderson
leanderson@ancestry.ca * Facebook – Lesley Anderson - Genealogy * Twitter - @MsAncestry
- Millions of a family trees have been done on Ancestry
- Over billion people have DNA tested through Ancestry
- No cost to do a basic family tree, but a paid membership opens up many more resources
- 14 day free trial – to test drive a paid membership
- If you consider doing a DNA test, wait till you get your results back before to go on the free trial
- Various memberships approaches can be selected - $40 per month for the world members
- Dedicated sites in multiple websites specific to that Country USA .COM, UK .CO.UK, Canada .CA (2008), Australia .AU, Germany .GE, Italy. IT, France .FR, Sweden .SE, Mexico. MX
- Map show which countries have records
Family Tree
Lesley's 10 easy steps
- Locate family documents and information
- Interview family members
- Create a family tree online – FREE on Ancestry
- Educate yourself! Get a research Guide/Maps
- Develop a plan
- Record everything
- Search and confirm historical records
- Research in Libraries, Archives, and Museums (including Kingston Public Library Main Branch)
- Networking and Collaboration is important
- Join a Genealogy Society like the Kingston Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society https://kingston.ogs.on.ca/
Top tips for your family tree
- Start with yourself and work backwards (Note - all living info is hidden to others and not searchable on Ancestry!)
- Use one tree for both sides – paternal and maternal – as far back as you can go
- Use full names, dates of birth, marriage, death (approximate is okay)
- Include place names
- Put all your direct line ancestor’s full names in CAPITALS
- Always use maiden/birth names for females. Ancestry will use her married name if you’ve added marriage as an event
- Know the difference between Public & Private tree. Ancestry anonymizes LIVING information
Search when a leaf pops up on a record
On your Profile page
- Notes written are private
- Comments are public
Take an Ancestry DNA test to find out where you really came from, your ethnicity and verify where you came from – test from both sides of the family
Questions
John F. – DNA and privacy – what does Ancestry do or not do
Lesley – Ancestry takes privacy very seriously – they will not share with third parties or will not share with law enforcement (unless there is a warrant or subpoena)
Ed – how extensive are Eastern European ones
Lesley – Look at the map and you will see which country you are looking for
A DNA test will be donated for our auction – thank you Lesley
Lesley also graciously offered to answer questions for members who want more information, just use her email above.
Bill thanked Lesley for the presentation and presented her with virtual loaf of bread
Breakout Room Discussion:
- What did the talk mean to you?
- What should we share about it in our social media postings?