British Columbia Genealogical Society

Photo Courtesy of Chris Albrecht

Welcome to the British Columbia Genealogical Society

We are a registered charitable organization with over 300 members from a variety of backgrounds and, like you, we all have an interest in researching our family history in British Columbia and beyond. We hope you will consider joining our Society.

Make time in July for a visit to our Research Library. Open Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday 10 am to 3 pm

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Make time in July for a visit to our Research Library. Open Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday 10 am to 3 pm 〰️

The BCGS would like to acknowledge the ceded and unceded Indigenous ancestral territories of BC and Canada. We are grateful for the opportunity to learn the history, culture and traditions of the First Nations Peoples, alongside our personal investigations of familial settler history and encourage everyone to reflect on the Indigenous history of the lands where they reside.

BCGS Activities and Highlights

  • Genealogy - The Next Step (via Zoom)

    Start Date: September 2025 
    Mondays, 7-9 pm (6:40-9:15 Zoom) 
    This is a 5 week course presented by Celia Lewis & Eunice Robinson.
    More details on “The Next Step” class content can be found HERE.

    Starting the week after Labour Day in September:

    Sept 8, 15, 22, 29 & Oct 6

    REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN

    Details & Registration Here

  • Past Presence Blog by Linda Yip

    Linda Yip is a BCGS member who has a Blog and Website - “Past Presence”.

    We recently highlighted our entire page dedicated to the Blogs & Websites of our members. They are all filled with useful research information.
    Read Linda’s June 1, 2025 post “Researching Supreme Court records at the BC Archives”.
    It’s full of useful information for anyone researching at the BC Archives.

    Past Presence Blog

  • BCGS August 13th Members' Meeting: Guest Speaker Maria Martins

    Maria Martins is the manager of the Agassiz-Harrison Museum. She will join our Members’ Meeting on August 13th to give a presentation on the Museum’s holdings and online resources, and explain how genealogical researchers can access their collections. 

    Find out more

Calendar of Upcoming BCGS Local & Zoom Events

 

13 August 2025

BCGS Members’ Meeting
via Zoom

Members Chat - 7:00 - 7:30 pm
Meeting Starts - 7:30 pm

Guest Speaker: Maria Martins

Members will receive a ZOOM invitation a few days ahead of the meeting. Non-members please contact info@bcgs.ca.

 

“What’s Up” In Genealogy in BC and Beyond

  • Scottish Indexes Conference 13 September 2025

    Save the date! The next Scottish Indexes Conference will take place online on 13 September 2025.
    This event is free for everyone (although donations are appreciated!) and available on Zoom or Facebook. Each presentation is shown twice throughout the day to accommodate different time zones.
    The conference schedule will be released closer to the date.

    Scottish Indexes website

  • Briitsh Institute 2025

    6 -10 October 2025 in Salt Lake City Presented by the International Society for British Genealogy and Family History. Attend in person or purchase access to video recordings.
    Canada: Kathryn Lake Hogan
    Tracing Roots Across the Atlantic: Migration from Great Britain and Ireland to Canada
    Ireland: Fintan Mullan and Gillian Hunt,
    Tracing Irish and Scots-Irish Ancestors
    England: Paul Milner
    English Research: The Fundamentals and Beyond

    Register Here

  • BIFHSGO's 2025 Conference: "Researching the Disadvantaged of England and Wales". October 18 & 19 2025

    The British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa is proud to present its 2025 annual conference on 18 and 19 October 2025. The format is virtual and the price is the same as last year! ($C35 for members, $C50 for non-members).
    Expert speakers will be presenting specialized talks related to this topic. Several will also participate in the popular Expert Connect session enabling viewers to have discussions with the speakers.
    Registration opens 1 September.

    Click here for more information

  • Canadian Letters and Images Project

    Canadian Letters & Images Project - A digitization project for those who served Canada in conflict or war. Learn how you can contribute and what has already been digitized.

    Canadian Letters

  • ProQuest - Online Access to BC Newspapers

    ProQuest provides free online access to past issues of the Vancouver Sun (1912-2010), Vancouver Province (1894-2010) and Victoria Times Colonist 1884-2010) for anyone in B.C. or the Yukon.

    ProQuest

  • Legacy Family Tree Webinars

    The world’s most popular webinar website for genealogy and DNA testing, where you can enjoy a robust offering of live and recorded webinars presented by top speakers. Over 2000 webinars to choose from.

    Legacy Webinars

  • The Old Cemeteries Society of Victoria

    2025 Tours and Excursions
    Our tours begin at 2 pm. No reservations needed. It costs $5 for non-members and $2 for members. The fee can be paid by cash or e-transfer.

    Tour locations are noted in the description. Most of our tours take place at Ross Bay Cemetery, RBC. For the Ross Bay Cemetery tours we meet at the cemetery entrance on Fairfield Road, opposite the south end of Stannard Street.

    Details and Schedule

Become a member