Fun at the FHC
Last night was the first Thursday night in recent months that I haven't taught a class at the Edmonton Riverbend Family History Center. We intended to discuss our plans for classes for the new year. Instead we had patrons come in for help, which was much more fun. One was a family history consultant helping a family from Fiji to register on new.familysearch.org and prepare a Family Ordinance Request, something she had not done before. She was easy to help, and in a half hour they went on their way happy. Another was a man wanting help with his research, and our director helped him.

I helped a lady who wanted help with her research. Her ancestor, George Fletcher Hurst was born in Ontario about 1879, and his parents might be named Lawrence and Martha. I "struck out" on the 1881 census from familysearch.org, but succeeded on the 1891 census from Collections Canada. This gave his full name, his parents and four younger brothers, ages and birth places. The 1901 census at http://www.automatedgenealogy.com/ gave the exact birth dates of the parents and the children who were at home. My patron was really happy at this point!

She said she thought that Lawrence died in Manitoba. I told her that we could probably find his death registration at http://vitalstats.gov.mb.ca/ListView.php Sure enough!
LAST NAME: HURST

GIVEN NAMES: LAWRENCE
DATE OF DEATH: 18/04/1929
AGE: 77
UNITS OF AGE: YEARS SEX: MALE
PLACE OF DEATH: RM WHITEHEAD
REGISTRATION NUMBER: 1929,025286


At http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~maryc/thisisit.htm I found the marriage registration!
004166-80 Lawrence HURST, 25, blacksmith, widower, England, Madoc, d/o John & Mary, married Martha EMBRY, 20, Madoc, same, d/o John & Phoebe, witn: Mary BUSH & Abigail BOUDER both of Madoc on Feb. 2, 1880 at Madoc

This confirmed the previous information and added the names of the parents of the bride and the groom. My patron was ecstatic, and so was I!

I didn't finish planning for our future classes, but I had a wonderful time!