Penny Allen, Canadian librarian/genealogist/blogger living in England who posts at the UK to Canada Genealogy, recently added Whither thou art: ye Canadian speakers at UK Family History Shows.
Penny asks: WHY do virtual Genealogy shows in the UK seem to have little Canadian content?
Penny points out that THE Genealogy Show does have a few Canadian speakers. Andrea Lister, Prison and Court Records; Lianne Kruger, Vlogging Your Family History; Wayne Shepheard, Using Parish and Other Records To Determine How Natural Phenomena Affected People and Communities.
Let’s have a stab at Penny’s question.
Is it true that the UK genealogy shows have little Canadian content?
When the show organizers look at what their potential audience wants, how much Canadian content is appropriate? Could it be that the present level meets the demand? Shows and conferences may only have room for a fraction of possible presentations, possibly less than one-third of proposals.
Then again, some may only invite presentations from speakers the organizers know, leaving those from outside their domestic ambit and newcomers out of consideration.
We need to remember that most people in the UK (and elsewhere) start out wanting to research their genealogy and their origins, which for most will be predominantly in their home country. Later they will move on to the life and times of their UK ancestors. Perhaps, after that, they become interested in collateral lines. They might get curious, even obsessed, about why someone two, three or more generations back disappears from domestic records. These days, with so many large databases available, they may easily stumble across a relative who strayed overseas, including to Canada.
Folks have other ways, aside from UK shows, to find out about Canadian genealogical resources. UK genealogy magazines often have Canadian content. I’ve had two articles in the past year, including one appearing in Family Tree magazine’s July 2022 issue. Wayne Shepheard is a frequent UK magazine contributor and a conference speaker.
Finally, there are many opportunities to attend events organized by Canadian societies in these days of virtual presentations. Many are free. There are also virtual conferences, like the Ontario Genealogical Society/Ontario Ancestors conference coming later this month. Admittedly, it’s more of a challenge for UK residents to find out about those than their domestic conferences. UK magazines could help with that.
The virtual opportunities are many…and I agree, at the for most people in Britain, they’ll want the main focus to be on information and resources closer to to home.