Toronto Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society

Toronto Branch—50 years young!

This is a special anniversary year for Toronto Branch. It has been a full 50 years since we became the very first Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society.

Thirty people joined the Branch in 1967, its inaugural year. We now have hundreds of members in Canada and countries around the world.

Over the decades, our volunteers have transcribed and indexed many thousands of gravestones, burial registers, war memorials, census records and tax assessment rolls; rallied to preserve heritage cemeteries and land records; offered top-notch learning and training for family historians; hosted cutting-edge genealogy conferences… and much much more.

We think that’s reason for a party!

Exterior of Osgoode Hall, Toronto

Members and guests are invited to an Anniversary Reception on Monday 25 September at historic Osgoode Hall. This will be an evening of fellowship and celebration of the achievements of Toronto Branch over the past 50 years, featuring a keynote address by Patty McGregor on her genealogical adventures after the discovery of a box of WWI letters at an auction sale. Attendees will enjoy an array of savoury finger food, a cash bar, a sweet table with coffee and tea to cap off the festivities… and a chance to win some fabulous door prizes!

Tickets must be purchased before 19 September – there will be no sales at the door. Buy your tickets now!

Please note that the Branch will not be meeting in September because of our golden anniversary event. Our first regular fall meeting will take place on Monday 23 October.

2017 Toronto History Lecture Series

To mark the sesquicentennial of Canada’s Confederation, this year’s Toronto History Lecture has been expanded to a special three-lecture series on consecutive Wednesday evenings in August.

On August 9, Bill Gladstone will reconstruct a “lost world” from a memorable 1910 photograph of what is now the intersection of Bay and Dundas, exploring the connections between the cluttered turn-of-the-century streetscape and the personalities, issues and events of the era.

On August 16, Gregory Klages will shine a light on the Lakeshore Psychiatric Hospital Cemetery in Etobicoke and what the stories of the men, women and children buried there can tell us about the history of Toronto and the treatment of marginalized populations.

And, last but not least, on August 23, Joyce Munro will present the story of Yorkville in the 1890s, through the eyes of one house—Bloorview, a spacious single-family home owned by the Thomas M. Thomson family—as it embraced and weathered changing times.

Left: Reconstructing a Lost World; centre: Forgetting and Remembering; right: Yorkville through a House’s Eyes

The 2017 Toronto History Lectures are dedicated to the memory of Jack and Jeannette Tyson, who made significant contributions to genealogy and family history as committed volunteers on Branch cemetery projects over many years.

Join us for one, two or all three talks at the recently renovated City of Toronto Archives.

These events are free to attend but registration is required and space is limited.

Visit our Toronto History Lecture page now to find out more.