Family History

Join us for to discuss using DNA for your family history research. An opportunity to learn from others and share resources and experiences.

Learn to use one of the largest collections of family history materials in western Canada. 

Join us for some lively, open family history discussions in roundtable format. We will discuss up and coming family history programs. Find out what's new in our family history databases.

Access to more than 1.4 billion records covering the United States, eastern Canada, the British Isles, continental Europe, and beyond.  It includes one of the most extensive online collections of early American genealogical records, and the largest collection of U.S Catholic records online.  Available at Cloverdale branch.

Contains over 20 billion records from more than 80 countries, is the largest international online genealogy database, and has the largest Canadian collection. Available in-branch only.

Search the indexes to British Columbia births (1854-1903), marriages (1871-1946), deaths (1872-2001), colonial marriages (1859-1872) and baptisms (1836-1888).

Searchable newspaper archives for the Vancouver Sun (1912 - 2010), The Province (1894 - 2010), and The Times Colonist (1884 - 2010).

This is a cooperative database with the birth, marriage, and burial records for Quebec and “New France”. Data is collected from 24 genealogical societies in Quebec province. It contains over 15 million records from the 16th to 20th Centuries.  Available at Cloverdale branch. 

FamilySearch.org provides free online access to records containing over 4 billion names from many countries.  Using FamilySearch at an affiliate library allows users to access many digital images of original documents that would otherwise be locked to home users. Available at Cloverdale branch. 

International collection with a strong UK focus. Contains over 2 billion records from around the world, with the largest online collection of Irish records, millions of historical newspaper pages, emigration records, census, vitals, military, apprenticeship and more.  Includes free access to 1921 Census.

Available at Cloverdale branch.

A key site for British research, this database contains over 800 million records and includes collections not found in other databases. International holdings include emigration and military records for Canada, Australia, South Africa, and India, and Scottish directories from the 15th to 19th Century.  Available at Cloverdale branch.

A gateway to a world-class collection of primary sources, with nearly 200 million pages of digitized historical content – maps, photos, newspapers, manuscripts, pamphlets, portraits, and much more. Includes a solid collection of UK historical newspapers from the 17th to 19th Centuries.

Contains over 2.4 million Quebec and “New France” records of various types from the 17th to 19th Century: various records from parishes, missions, and Catholic institutions, and over 26,000 Protestant marriages. A variety of other records as well, such as name census and passenger lists. Available at Cloverdale branch.

Search across three national databases for historical resources relating to places in Scotland.  Includes millions of photographs, maps and digitized archives, as well as tax records and old Ordnance Survey records.  Learn more about Scottish ancestors by researching details about where they lived.

A unique collection of Atlantic Canada shipping records from the mid-19th Century to the early 20th Century, featuring Canadian and British crews and vessels.  Information on the masters and seamen who crewed the vessels, ship owners, ports of call and voyages.  Searchable by name.  Available at Cloverdale branch.