The Simcoe County Branch has retained the services of Dr. Scott A. McLean to compile a guidebook identifying resources and collections available to those studying the people and history of Simcoe County. Natural Heritage Books has agreed to publish and promote sales of the book. Simcoe County Branch is seeking a grant to help pay production costs.

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About the Book

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Tentatively titled, "Researching Your Ancestors in Simcoe County", the book that is envisioned will focus upon the types of sources available, yet the goal is that this may be done in such a way that the history of the region and the various migrations in and out of the county are taken into consideration. With this in mind the work will not only examine research facilities and their collections within Simcoe County, but also endeavour to aide the researcher in tracing various groups outside the county. In its formative years Simcoe County was an attractive destination for a diverse collection of immigrant groups, including: Irish, Scots, French-Canadian, African Americans, Germans, and others. The project aims to trace the settlement history of the county's prominent immigrant groups, what Andrew Hunter called the county's "national settlements" in order to facilitate research into these areas.

The book will focus upon how to approach various resources, what the researcher may expect to find and any problems associated with a particular type of source material. Throughout the researcher will be encouraged to go beyond the traditional piecing together of relations to create a better understanding of the events, issues and ideas which shaped the lives of their ancestors and influenced the choices they made and the way they lived. Such an approach, it is believed, can be an important and rewarding exercise that may unlock clues to new avenues of study. Further, while the focus of the project is on conducting family research, it is hoped that the approach adopted will prove valuable to anyone studying the people and history of Simcoe County.

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About the author

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Dr. McLean is a professional lecturer, writer and researcher with a PhD in Modern Scottish History. He taught history at Guelph and at Queen's international Study Centre, East Sussex, England. He was General Editor of Scottish Tradition for seven years and has written many articles on British and Scottish history and on British North America in the colonial period.

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The McLean Book Project Committee: Claudia McArthur, Mike Dunk and Marilyn Storey