CREDIT: GRACIA ESPINOSA
Learn your family history through the London Public Library. Pictured: Mark Richardson.

If students want to discover their family’s history, they can now do so with the London Public Library. Since August, a room has been available for all those who wish to use FamilySearch, a free database that facilitates the search of relatives who lived a long time ago in Canada or other parts of the world.

According to its website, Family- Search is the world’s largest shared online family tree. At the same time, those who start a family tree on FamilySearch are not only reconstructing their family history. They also contribute to creating a global, unified family tree for humanity.

Although anyone can use FamilySearch free of charge from home, certain functions, such as viewing marriage, birth, and death certificates, can only be viewed from library computers.


“London’s library is one of the 40 places in Ontario that have affiliate status with this website,” said librarian, Mark Richardson. “We have 400 million more records and many more scanned images of the documents.”

“You can come, you get on the terminal. And whatever you find, you can download, you can print. You can email it to yourself. So, you don’t need me except to get you started. You know, we don’t do this family tree for you,” said Richardson.

That’s why, “If you’re doing your family tree and want more information, you might want to join the group and get insights from people who know you well,” suggested Richardson.

Students can learn tips and tricks at the library’s in-person, one-hour sessions hosted by Ontario Ancestors every third Saturday at the Central Library from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. It’s not all online; there are also in-person sessions on Oct. 21, and Nov. 18 at 251 Dundas St.

However, if someone is interested in exploring the family tree for the first time, perhaps that person should register for the Ancestry Library Edition for Beginners event. Available for use in any library branch, Ancestry Library Edition has almost all the capabilities of Ancestry.com but none of the costs.

Ancestry.com is a genealogy company from the United States that operates a network of genealogical and historical records and genetic genealogy-related websites.

Richardson said students should consider looking into their family trees because it’s better to start young.

“If you leave it too late, you may no longer have a father or mother to talk to about history. Students, you still have a chance to talk to your parents or maybe even your grandparents about your family tree. And so, it’s a lot easier if you start younger.”