Genealogy at TLSARL
by Elizabeth CampbellOne of the functions of TLSARL in preserving the history of the Red River Settlers and their descendants, of course, is building and maintaining a genealogical record. Our database now contains over 18,000 individuals – names that have been supplied by members as their families have grown and changed over the last century.
For years, the Genealogist has been collecting data and checking BMD information of settlers and their descendants. My predecessors, together with other Executive members and volunteers, have published settler related genealogies in the past, too. The last one was in 1997, before privacy laws made such a publication nearly impossible to complete.
Currently, the Genealogist (me) and the Archivist (Chloe Clark) are working behind the scenes to correct mistakes in our record, add new material from period records, and to build biographies of all the original settlers. I’m attempting to build a digital archive of portraits of the settlers and their descendants. I’m also working through the Selkirk Papers to extract information on settlers named there, and also to develop a better contextual setting so that we can better understand their circumstances and daily life. In addition, we are drawing information from members, searching old newspapers, reading other publications about the settlement and so on.
Then there is the constant inflow of news that must be transcribed – reports of births, marriages and deaths as the lives of current descendants change.
I’m going to talk about my job a bit more this week.
