AFHS Society Meeting
2025-09-08 19:00 - 21:00 (America/Edmonton) | At AFHS Resource Centre & via Zoom, Suite 251S, 8500 Macleod Trail SE, Calgary, Alberta, T2H 2N1, Canada
The AFHS Society Meeting is our regular meeting for all members, usually held on the second Monday of each month from September to June. Guests are welcome to attend!
Please note: Due to the passing of her father, Tara Shymanski is not able to do the presentation about Hudson’s Bay records on Monday night. Instead Amber Godfrey has kindly come forward to do the talk.
Topic: The D.R. Eaton Tragedy: Researching Three Nova Scotian Brothers Who Were Lost at Sea
Description: The Shaw brothers had no idea that their routine voyage to Bremen would end in tragedy. In the fall of 1878, they set out from Baltimore, Maryland to Antwerp, Belgium, with a load of grain and timber. Their ship, the D.R. Eaton, had been built in Eatonville, Cumberland County, Nova Scotia, by brothers D.R. and C.F. Eaton and was launched in October 1877. She was built by J.G. Olive Jr. of Saint John, New Brunswick, a first-class ship builder. The D.R. Eaton was declared to be a “ship of the first order for strength and durability.” So how did this brand-new vessel disappear completely, never to be heard from again? Captain Harris H. Shaw, his wife and young daughter, two of his brothers and twenty other crew members simply vanished. Follow my journey as I learn more about this seafaring family and the tragedy that befell them. Newspaper articles, probate documents, Seafarer’s of the Atlantic Province records, census returns, birth and marriage records all help me piece together their story.
Our Speaker: Amber Godfrey
Amber Godfrey is an amateur family historian whose love of family history started in childhood, listening to family stories shared by her parents, grandmothers and extended family. She received a Family History kit for Christmas when she was twelve and that started her on a family history research journey that continues to this day.
After finishing college and working in a variety of office jobs, Amber realized that she could combine her love of books and research and her interest in computers by working in libraries. She graduated as a Library Technician and worked in public libraries in BC for nearly twenty years. When she moved to Calgary, she was hired by the Calgary Board of Education to work on-call in school libraires. Now that her family has moved back to BC, she is currently searching for her next job.
Amber plans to remain a member of the Alberta Family Histories Society and will continue her role as editor of the AFHS Chinook Arch newsletter. While she was living in Calgary, she also volunteered at the AFHS library and helped with their Family History Coaching program at Calgary Public Library.
In 2024, she submitted a presentation idea to the Nova Scotia Genealogy Virtual Conference and was chosen as one of the presenters. Amber is passionate about sharing stories of ordinary people who led interesting lives, especially women, and she hopes to do more presentations for groups in the future.

This meeting will be a hybrid Zoom meeting held at our Resource Centre (Suite 251S, 8500 Macleod Trail SE in the Heritage Square building). If you are in Calgary and area, we’d love to have you join us in person.
The zoom invite for this meeting has been removed since this meeting has now passed.
We welcome guests!
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For more AFHS events, see our calendar.
To see our other two society websites, browse to https://albertaancestors.ca or https://familygenes.ca.

AFHS Society Meeting
2025-11-10 19:00 - 21:00
The AFHS Society Meeting is our regular meeting for all members, usually held on the second Monday of each month from September to June. Guests are welcome to attend!
Topic: After the War: Stories of those who served
This meeting will be a hybrid Zoom meeting held at our Resource Centre (Suite 251S, 8500 Macleod Trail SE in the Heritage Square building). If you are in Calgary and area, we’d love to have you join us in person.
The Zoom meeting has now passed.
We welcome guests!
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For more AFHS events, see our calendar.
To see our other two society websites, browse to https://albertaancestors.ca or https://familygenes.ca.

AFHS Society Meeting
2025-12-08 19:00 - 21:00
The AFHS Society Meeting is our regular meeting for all members, usually held on the second Monday of each month from September to June. Guests are welcome to attend!
Topic: All I Want for Christmas: Vintage Catalogues
Long before online shopping there was the mail-order catalogue. Children and adults alike waited for the delivery of the Christmas catalogue to decide what to put on their wishlists. We will look at some of the repositories that hold these catalogues and then ask the question, “What would you ask Santa for?” We’ll give you a bit of time to make your list and those who are willing can share their finds.
This will also be our Christmas get-together, so in-person attendance is encouraged, but not necessary (although you will miss the chat and the goodies)
Weather permitting, this meeting will be a hybrid Zoom meeting held at our Resource Centre (Suite 251S, 8500 Macleod Trail SE in the Heritage Square building). If the road and weather conditions are questionable, please check this calendar before heading out. We will update the calendar as soon as a decision is made about whether to hold a hybrid meeting or use Zoom only.
If you are in Calgary and area, we’d love to have you join us in person.
To attend via Zoom, please use this registration link.
We welcome guests!
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For more AFHS events, see our calendar.
To see our other two society websites, browse to https://albertaancestors.ca or https://familygenes.ca.

AFHS Society Meeting
2026-01-12 19:00 - 21:00
The AFHS Society Meeting is our regular meeting for all members, usually held on the second Monday of each month from September to June. Guests are welcome to attend!
Topic: Start, Search, Discover: Genealogy Essentials presented by Christine Hayes
Description: Every family tree starts with a tale—sometimes epic, sometimes eccentric. In this session, we’ll chart a path from curious beginner to seasoned sleuth, sharing the twists, turns, and surprising discoveries that make genealogical research feel more like time travel than homework.
Weather permitting, this meeting will be a hybrid Zoom meeting held at our Resource Centre (Suite 251S, 8500 Macleod Trail SE in the Heritage Square building). If you are in Calgary and area, we’d love to have you join us in person. To attend by Zoom, please use this Zoom registration link.
If the weather or road conditions are poor, please check here on the meeting day to see if we will proceed with hybrid or change to Zoom only.
We welcome guests!
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For more AFHS events, see our calendar.
To see our other two society websites, browse to https://albertaancestors.ca or https://familygenes.ca.

AFHS Society Meeting
2026-02-09 19:00 - 21:00
The AFHS Society Meeting is our regular meeting for all members, usually held on the second Monday of each month from September to June. Guests are welcome to attend!
Topic: Genealogical Research in British Columbia presented by Gord McBean
If you are going to do research in British Columbia you will be using all the normal sources, you are probably already using. They may just be organized differently and found in a different place. The genealogy research process brings the desperately needed structure that will carry us through all our research problems. This is why good organizational habits and research fundamentals are so important in genealogy. The same steps we currently use need to be followed:

Identify Known Information
Plan the Research
Search the Records
Analyze the Records
Make Conclusions

Historical vital records in BC are held by BC Archives (Royal BC Museum). In some cases, the original images have been digitized and are available for free download. But this is not the only source for information on your ancestors time in BC. Genealogical Groups, Museums and Archives in BC are a wealth of resources and information to assist you in your research.

Weather permitting, this meeting will be a hybrid Zoom meeting held at our Resource Centre (Suite 251S, 8500 Macleod Trail SE in the Heritage Square building). If you are in Calgary and area, we’d love to have you join us in person. Please register for the meeting using this link.
We welcome guests!
——-
For more AFHS events, see our calendar.
To see our other two society websites, browse to https://albertaancestors.ca or https://familygenes.ca.

AFHS Society Meeting
2026-03-09 19:00 - 21:00
The AFHS Society Meeting is our regular meeting for all members, usually held on the second Monday of each month from September to June. Guests are welcome to attend!
Topic: Indigenous Research at Library and Archives Canada
Description: Join staff from Library and Archives Canada for this online workshop and learn how to search genealogy records about First Nations, Inuit and the Métis Nation. Discover how to access collections and digitized records, and receive advice and assistance for conducting your research.
Weather permitting, this meeting will be a hybrid Zoom meeting held at our Resource Centre (Suite 251S, 8500 Macleod Trail SE in the Heritage Square building). If you are in Calgary and area, we’d love to have you join us in person. To attend via Zoom, please use this registration link.
We welcome guests!
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For more AFHS events, see our calendar.
To see our other two society websites, browse to https://albertaancestors.ca or https://familygenes.ca.

AFHS Society Meeting
2026-04-13 19:00 - 21:00
The AFHS Society Meeting is our regular meeting for all members, usually held on the second Monday of each month from September to June.
Topic: Investigative Genetic Genealogy: What it is and how you can help presented by Marie Palmer.
Description: In this webinar, Marie Palmer, a Canadian Accredited Investigative Genetic Genealogist with numerous case solves, will give an overview of IGG and walk through a Canadian case study about one of her first successful identifications. Additionally, she will discuss how people can help of get involved.
This meeting will be a hybrid Zoom meeting held at our Resource Centre (Suite 251S, 8500 Macleod Trail SE in the Heritage Square building). If you are in Calgary and area, we’d love to have you join us in person. To attend by Zoom, please register using this registration link. Please note: You must include a full name.
We welcome guests!
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For more AFHS events, see our calendar.
To see our other two society websites, browse to https://albertaancestors.ca or https://familygenes.ca.

AFHS Society Meeting
2026-05-11 19:00 - 21:00
The AFHS Society Meeting is our regular meeting for all members, usually held on the second Monday of each month from September to June. Guests are welcome to attend!
Topic: To be determined
This meeting will be a hybrid Zoom meeting held at our Resource Centre (Suite 251S, 8500 Macleod Trail SE in the Heritage Square building). If you are in Calgary and area, we’d love to have you join us in person. The Zoom link will be posted here when it is available.
We welcome guests!
——-
For more AFHS events, see our calendar.
To see our other two society websites, browse to https://albertaancestors.ca or https://familygenes.ca.

AFHS Society Meeting
2026-06-08 19:00 - 21:00
The AFHS Society Meeting is our regular meeting for all members, usually held on the second Monday of each month from September to June. Guests are welcome to attend!
Topic: Irish Name Books presented by Ron Gilmore
This meeting will be a hybrid Zoom meeting held at our Resource Centre (Suite 251S, 8500 Macleod Trail SE in the Heritage Square building). If you are in Calgary and area, we’d love to have you join us in person. The Zoom link will be posted here when it is available.
We welcome guests!
——-
For more AFHS events, see our calendar.
To see our other two society websites, browse to https://albertaancestors.ca or https://familygenes.ca.
