In my last article on genealogy, I talked about software programs. This time, I will talk about some of the books that you can borrow from the library, or if you prefer, that you can buy, although some may no longer be in print or hard to find.
There are all sorts of “how-to” books on genealogy, but I’m more interested in those that actually have lists of names. For instance, if your ancestors came from Scotland, there’s the book Dictionary of Scottish Emigrants to Canada Before Confederation - it has several volumes: Volume 1 has 12,500 entries; Volume 2, published in 1996 adds an additional 11,000 names; Volume 3, published in 2002 adds 1820 names; and volume 4, published in 2005, adds entries for settlers, pastors, shoemakers, and captains in the militia as well as those who did not survive shipwrecks and fires.
If you hail from Ireland, there are Clans and Families of Ireland, and Erin’s Sons: Irish Arrivals in Atlantic Canada 1761-1853.
There are a variety of census books available: Heads of Households in BC in 1874; Index to 1881 Canadian Census of Manitoba; Index to 8118 Canadian Census of BC; and probably other provinces, although I didn’t spot the others on my first search of the library data base.
There are multiple books on passenger lists. One that I spotted right away when doing a search online at the library, is Index of Passengers Who Emigrated to Canada Between 1817 and 1849.
There are books on individual cemeteries (Pleasant St. Cemetery, Kamloops), or on specific families (Huguenot Pedigrees).
Of course, there are some books that the library doesn’t have, but that you can borrow from the Latter Day Saints - go to familysearch.org or check out their Family History Centre in Kamloops, which is on Parkcrest Avenue on the North Shore. The Centre also has microfilms that you can look at which may be of interest.
However, sometimes the title can be misleading, such as the book titled: Bibliography of Ship Passenger Lists 1538-1825, I just ordered it in through the library and it turned out it is just a list of the list of ship passengers and not the actual list of names of the passengers. Here I was expecting a huge volume full of lists of names, but all I got was a skinny little book listing all the different ships where the lists of passengers has been archived.