Our next Toronto Branch meeting will take place on Monday, February 24 starting at 7:30 pm at Lansing United Church in North York.
We’re looking forward to a fascinating presentation on York County and the Underground Railroad. In the mid-1990s, archaeologists searching for artifacts along the Yonge Street corridor dug up the remains of a cabin. Had they actually unearthed a secret hideout? What would draw fugitives escaping slavery to Richmond Hill? Join us as genealogist and librarian Guylaine Pétrin puts the pieces of this story together and explains how genealogy can help to solve archaeological and historical puzzles.
After our mid-meeting break, Heather Ioannou will pick up on the same theme with a short talk to close out the evening, titled An Underground Railroad Extension?
The Members Network will be gathering as usual in advance of the main meeting, beginning at 6:15 p.m.—all Branch members are welcome, regardless of level of knowledge or area of interest.
Lansing United Church is located two blocks south-west of Sheppard and Yonge, at Poyntz Avenue and Beecroft Road (enter from Poyntz). It’s a short walk from the Sheppard-Yonge subway station, which also links to frequent bus service. If you are driving, parking on local streets is free after 6:00 p.m., and there are pay parking lots close by. The few spaces in the church parking lot are reserved for members with accessibility needs. Please note that doors open at 6:00 p.m. for the Members Network and at 7:00 p.m. for the main Branch meeting.
Toronto Branch meetings are free to attend and open to all. Visit our Meetings page to find out more.
Over the past year alone, our volunteers have answered dozens of enquiries, from the U.S., the U.K., Australia, New Zealand and Asia as well as Canada. We’ve provided advice on a mysterious great-grandfather who seemed to have disappeared without a trace, investigated a family story about a relative killed searching for gold, filled in gaps in the life of a once popular English entertainer who ended up in Toronto in the 1920s, tracked down newspaper reports on a tragic house fire, and compiled historical information and photos for an author interested in an early Toronto neighbourhood.
