London’s library is now a hub for ancestral research, and it’s free | CBC News

A new tool at the London Public Library is giving people access to research information to help them find their ancestral roots and map out a family tree.

Introduced last month, FamilySearch is a free database that allows people to explore their ancestral history and library-goers have already begun to drop by the London Room of the library’s central branch to try out the software in person.

“We’ve got some regulars that come in every Tuesday and Friday, and just yesterday I saw a new person log on,” said librarian Mark Richardson. “So the word is spreading and I suspect that over time, we’ll see more and more people come and use the facility.”

Although FamilySearch is available to everyone anywhere for free there are certain functions — such as viewing marriage, birth and death certificates — that are limited to library computers affiliated with FamilySearch.

Sheila Johnston, co-chair of the London and Middlesex branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, has been passionately creating her family tree for more than 40 years and said the library should make ancestry databases accessible to all.

“For me personally, the reason why I’m interested is because I only ever knew one of my four grandparents and none of my great grandparents.”

Johnston, now 68, says she’s been scavenging through government documents and trying to piece together her family tree since she was a teenager.

She began her search by requesting birth, marriage and death certificates of her parents — who lived in Montreal — from the Quebec provincial government. Later, she began paying to use databases like Ancestry.

Johnston eventually learned her family roots are tied to Switzerland and France but she wasn’t able to view any documents or records to prove it on her personal laptop.

“When I’m on the FamilySearch affiliate computer, however, it brings that [document] image right up and I can look at the actual handwriting,” said Johnston.

Richardson also began looking at his family roots.

At first, he explored FamilySearch because it was part of his job, then he learned his roots were more interesting than he had known.

“I found out that I have in my background a mathematician and I’m no good at math, so I wondered, ‘Where did that come from?'”

Richardson wants more people to come in when they have time to use the library’s free FamilySearch service.

“We’re hoping that this relationship will grow and prosper and that The London Room will be a FamilySearch centre  for years to come,” he said.