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FEBRUARY 2017 GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING 

Heritage Advocate Arnold Smith and Home Designer and Heritage Advocate Carter Jeffery were the guest speakers at the general membership meeting of the Prince Edward Island Genealogical Society on Saturday February 24, 2017. Their illustrated talk was titled: “Built Heritage That We Have Lost” and it showed how the landscape of rural Prince Edward Island communities has changed over the past century and a half. The remnants of ‘what used to be’, the houses, farmsteads and other built heritage dot the Island today.   A Landmark Trust focused on preservation of Built Heritage similar to that established in the British Isles is being proposed by interested parties. Look for future announcements. 

Following the presentation, the General Membership Meeting was held.

For more information please email peigs_queries@yahoo.ca.

 

NOVEMBER 2016 GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

Family History Consultant with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Charlottetown Mr. Bob Steen was the guest speaker at the general membership meeting of the Prince Edward Island Genealogical Society on Saturday November 26, 2016.

The presentation took place at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 10 Northridge Parkway, where Mr Steen was able to showcase the resources available on their free website FamilySearch.org. It was a very interesting presentation that proved instructional for all in attendance. 

In addition there was a free exchange of genealogical magazines courtesy of a PEIGS member. 

 

OCTOBER 2016 GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

Well known Island folklorist and historian John Cousins was the guest speaker at the general membership meeting of the Prince Edward Island Genealogical Society on Saturday October 1 at 2:00 p.m. at Beaconsfield’s Carriage House, Charlottetown. The well attended meeting heard Mr. Cousins introduce his new book New London: The Lost Dream , the remarkable true story of the Quaker Settlement on PEI’s North Shore 1773-1795. He offered insights into the Quaker faith and traced the development of the settlement from concept to reality to abandonment, all during the earliest era of English settlement on Prince Edward Island. Questions and discussion followed before the general meeting convened. (This was the usual September meeting delayed until October 1 to accommodate Mr Cousins’ busy schedule)

 

FEBRUARY 2016 GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING 

The first general membership meeting of 2016 for the PEI Genealogical Society took place Saturday, February 20 at 2:00 p.m. at Beaconsfield’s Carriage House in Charlottetown. Our Guest Speaker was Mr. Jean Bernard, experienced dedicated genealogist and author of a genealogy of the Acadian families of Prince Edward Island from c1764 – c1900 which has grown to include 7 volumes. His captivating illustrated talk, presented in English was titled “The Ties That Bind”. He showed how the index to the 7 volumes contains almost as many English names as Acadian and that the links between cultures are very important in understanding our Island social reality. He shared a list of inhabitants from 1763, as well as two alphabetized lists of several pages each showing Acadians marrying into other cultures and the English, Scots and Irish marrying into Acadian families. He credited the many transcripts published by the PEIGS (available on order through our store on this website) for providing vital source material.  

 

NOVEMBER 2015 GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

The PEI Genealogical Society held its final General Membership Meeting of 2015 on Saturday November 21 at Beaconsfield’s Carriage House in Charlottetown.  Guest Speaker was Sarah Fisher, Project Manager for UPEI’s new website booklives.ca developed by the Robertson Library. The Book Lives project originated with research on the provenance of books in the library’s collection which revealed interesting facts on the individuals and families who, over the course of many decades, donated the books. Ms Fisher presented several examples of books whose lives touched the lives of Islanders and those with Island connections.  

 

SEPTEMBER 2015 GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

The PEI Genealogical Society held a General Membership Meeting on Saturday Sept 26, 2015 at 2:00 p.m. at Beaconsfield’s Carriage House, located at the corner of Kent and West Streets in Charlottetown. The meeting focused on immigrants to PEI from Devon, England. Dr. Janet Few, accomplished professional Genealogist and Social Historian who has lectured throughout England and overseas, graciously found time in her visit to PEI to speak to our meeting. In her talk titled “Faith, Fish, Farm or Family?: emigration from North Devon to Canada” Dr Few addressed several myths and misconceptions that have surfaced over the years.  To the great satisfaction of her audience she was able to reference such well known Island family names as Mallet, Tanton, Sillifant, Chanter, Burnard, Yeo and Cudmore. Questions and discussion followed the presentation. 

 

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2015

The 2015 Annual General Meeting of the PEI Genealogical Society took place Saturday, April 18 at 2:00 p.m. at Beaconsfield’s Carriage House in Charlottetown. 

 Jean MacKay, Assistant Archivist at MacNaught History Centre & Archives in Summerside was the guest speaker. Ms MacKay gave a presentation on the History of the Journal Pioneer and the celebrations  marking the “150th anniversary of the Summerside Journal newspaper”. 

A ‘Life Membership’ was awarded to Marjorie MacLauchlan of Stanhope who was present to accept it. Two others were also so honoured but not in attendance: Elizabeth Strong Reagh of Charlottetown and J. Clinton Morrison of Summerside. The Life Memberships were awarded to loyal members who had kept up their membership every year since inception in 1976. The Orlo Jones Award was given to longtime volunteer and executive member Richard Savidant. The Award was presented by the late Ms. Jones’s niece Kim Jones. 

 

FEBRUARY 2015 GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING 

The first general membership meeting of 2015 for the PEI Genealogical Society took place Saturday, February 21 at 2:00 p.m. at Beaconsfield’s Carriage House in Charlottetown. Ms. Lynanne Love, Site Director at Beaconsfield Historic House treated everyone to a tour of Beaconsfield revealing “The Beaconsfield Story” as we travelled through time through the 20th and late 19th centuries. 

 

NOVEMBER 2014 GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

The PEI Genealogical Society held its final General Membership Meeting of 2014 on Saturday November 29 at Beaconsfield’s Carriage House in Charlottetown.  Mr John Nicholson was our guest speaker on the topic “Islanders in the Boer War: as seen through the camera lens of Bill McKee”.  Mr Nicholson’s inspiration comes in part from the photographs taken by veteran Bill McKee who persevered to create and preserve photos during the war. Almost on their own they tell the story of the Mounted Rifles, with Mr Nicholson filling in valuable background information. About 20 Islanders were mentioned in his presentation. He handed out basic information from their service papers. 

 

SEPTEMBER GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

The PEI Genealogical Society held its  General Membership Meeting on Saturday Sept 27, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. at Beaconsfield’s Carriage House, located at the corner of Kent and West Streets in Charlottetown. The meeting highlighted our PEI2014 Inc supported project “Genealogy of the PEI Fathers of Confederation”.  Louise Campbell gave a well received detailed presentation on the various aspects of putting this project together. Her power point presentation covered  the project from idea to delivery as of late September. Questions and discussion followed the presentation. 

 

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING MAY 2014

The PEI Genealogical Society held its Annual General Meeting on Saturday May 3, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. at Beaconsfield’s Carriage House, located at the corner of Kent and West Streets in Charlottetown. The meeting highlighted our PEI2014 Inc supported project “Genealogy of the PEI Fathers of Confederation” A special panel of genealogists spoke about researching the seven PEI Fathers of Confederation and tracking their family lines forward to modern-day descendants. In 2013 the Society embarked on a project to find the descendants of these seven famous Islanders and invite them to take part in the PEI2014 celebrations. With most of that research complete, the project team shared their experiences. They talked about what process they used, who they discovered, how they overcame challenges, and what surprised them. Questions and discussion followed the presentation. 

 

GENEALOGY OF THE PEI FATHERS OF CONFEDERATION EVENT

In September 2014, we will be providing an opportunity for descendants of the PEI Fathers of Confederation to meet other descendants, from their own family tree and from the other families. Click here for more information.

 

FEBRUARY 2014 GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING

The PEI Genealogical Society held a general membership meeting on Saturday February 22 at 2:00 p.m. at Beaconsfield’s Carriage House, in Charlottetown.

Jim Hornby, weekly Guardian newspaper contributor on the topic of PEI seen through its 1864 newspapers, gave an entertaining talk on what life was like in 1864 drawing on his experience in the study of folklore and his readings of the 1864 newspapers.