Currently accepting clients for...

• DNA
• Family History Research
• Other Speciality

Relative Roots Genealogy is a one-person practice in Duncan, on Vancouver Island. I have been doing family history for twenty-five years, and one rule sits underneath all of it: I do not put a name or a fact into a tree unless the records prove it.

Clients usually arrive with one of a few questions. Some are documenting Canadian citizenship by descent under Bill C-3 and need proof of a Canadian-born ancestor solid enough to file, and most of them are Americans with a Canadian great-grandparent they have never been able to document. Some are tracing Métis ancestry or building a citizenship application, work I take personally: I am a Métis citizen and went through the process for my own family. Others are staring at a list of DNA matches that does not add up, or just want their family history found and written down the right way. I research across Canada, the United States, and the British Isles, and the work is remote, so it does not matter where you are.

All of it follows the Genealogical Proof Standard, which means the reasoning behind a conclusion is written down where you can see it and question it. I take a small number of projects at a time, and I handle each one start to finish.

Geographic Specialities

• Canada (all provinces)
• British Columbia
• Quebec / French-Canadian
• Métis homeland / Red River (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, prairie parishes)
• United States
• United Kingdom and Ireland

Additional specialities or search keywords
Canadian citizenship by descent, Bill C-3, Métis, French-Canadian, Vancouver Island

Repositories

• BC Archives / Royal BC Museum, Victoria
• Library and Archives Canada
• Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ)
• Drouin Collection, Quebec parish registers
• Provincial vital statistics offices, Canada

Research Time Periods

• 21st Century
• 20th Century
• 19th Century
• 18th Century
• 17th Century

Affiliations

• Association of Professional Genealogists (APG)
• Association of Professional Genealogists, Canada Chapter (APGCAN)
• National Genealogical Society (NGS)
• British Columbia Genealogical Society (BCGS)
• Victoria Genealogical Society (VGS)