Pater Genealogia

Irish emigrants leaving home with the priest's blessing, in 1851,

from The Illustrated London News, May 10, 1851.

Credit: National Archives of Canada

My research interests lie with my paternal family (since my mom is reasearching her lines...), all of whom immigrated from various locations in Scotland, Ireland, and England to the Ottawa Valley (Carleton, Lanark and Renfrew counties) in Ontario, Canada.  Main names of preoccupation include Barber, Cameron, Cavanagh, Code, Duke, Evans, Gillespie, Grainger, Latimer, McNee, Needham, Rivington, Story, Tomlinson and Walsh. 

Below is the linear representation of my paternal ancestors, with each generation a different colour (the oldest of which dates back to the 1770s/1790s).  All of these are either immigrants to Canada or Canadian-born - I have yet to cross the hurdle that is the Atlantic Ocean.  No dates are included because a.) this is only an initial outline and b.) it would take me days to dig those out of the wreckage... 

Cameron, Jenn (me!)

d/o Cameron, B. & Hurlburt, W.

gd/o Cameron Ellwood A. & Barber A.

ggd/o Cameron, Joseph O. & Evans, Lavina

ggd/o Barber, Michael J. & Grainger, Linda

gggd/o Cameron, Archibald G. & McNee, Isabella

gggd/o Evans, George T. & Tomlinson, Mary

gggd/o Barber, Richard & Cavanagh, Elizabeth

gggd/o Grainger, Thomas & Story, Elizabeth

ggggd/o Cameron, Alexander & Gillespie, Flora

ggggd/o McNee, John & ?, Margaret

ggggd/o Evans, Richard & Code, Rachel

ggggd/o Tomlinson, William & Walsh, Mary

ggggd/o Barber, John & Rivington Mary

ggggd/o Cavanagh, John & Rivington, Jane B.

ggggd/o Grainger, William & Duke, Esther

ggggd/o Story, David & Needham, Jane

gggggd/o Rivington, Michael & ?, Catherine

gggggd/o Story, John & Latimer, Margaret

Neglected Roots... (Research Diary, No. 1)

Almost a decade (eek!) has lapsed since I began my quest to discover where my family originated. I've ignored the piles (and piles, and piles, and piles... ;-) of paper which that initial search has precipitated for the past 3ish years (so, technically, it really hasn't been a decade...), as life and work and all that other crap intervened. In the meantime, we've lost pets and gained pets, moved places (and emails), lost a desktop computer, gained a laptop and cable (Ancestors in the Attic, yay!), and tried out a couple of other blogs (and topics of interest). Unfortunately, I'm still as scatterbrained as usual, and hopefully this attempt won't go the way of the dinosaurs (as did the other bloggies...).

And since I haven't laid a finger upon any of my genealogy crap within the last three years (and I wasn't the most organized person prior to that, as it was...), I'm beginning this reintroduction with some much needed O&O - organize and organize. At the moment, there are piles of (mostly crap) laid out upon the length of the couch. For the most part (I was apparently thinking at the time!), most of the vital records, postal correspondence, and census records (and a few other miscellaneous bits) are safe in sleeves and binders. However, my family group sheets and all that other accompanying paperwork should be officially declared a disaster zone - most of it will probably not survive...

So, here is the (immediate) purpose of this blog: to help myself (and I need all the help I can get!) re-organize my genealogical documents and present them in some semblence of order - so that, come the spring, I can begin my quest anew!