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OntarioRoots / Techmark Services - About Us

Genealogy can be both rewarding and frustrating, as any seasoned researcher will tell you. With each generation back, the records become more elusive and fragmented. The joy of discovery often leads to aggravation when the quest reaches an impasse. The confluence of our hobbies and professional experience gives us a unique perspective when it comes to searching and deciphering the many old records still extant from Ontario's early history. The joy of discovery need not turn to frustration if the proper resources are at your disposal. It is our goal to assist you in your search. A love of genealogy, history, calligraphy, and database programming have given us the extra skills needed to properly locate and interpret the records.

We are both sixth generation Ontarians with ancestors from three continents. Our considerable experience with computer systems has helped us exploit the many genealogical resources available both here in Ontario and elsewhere. We have been doing research for more than 20 years, and collectively we have successfully researched our family files back 24 generations! We'd like to help you achieve similar results.

We carry out research for our clients with the same passion and attention to detail with which we do our own research.
CONTACT US
Liam Coleman
Tel: 416-878-9900
lcoleman@ontarioroots.com
187 Seaton St , Toronto, ON, Canada M5A 2T5
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
Upcoming Speaking Engagements:
October 22, 2007 -- Toronto Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society. Topic "Toronto: From Buggies to Buicks (1900-1950)" -- This speech is the third in a series on Toronto, and follows the development of our city from the turn of the century to the 1950s. It includes a tour of the city at the turn of the century using photographs, maps and documents, and includes a whole series of photographs showing the rapid development of the City between the wars, and just after WWII.. Toronto Branch Website.
November 10, 2007 -- Scottish Workshop, Toronto Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society. Topic "Visiting the General Registry for Scotland" -- The General Registry Office for Scotland (GROS) is the main source of family history records in Scotland—old parish registers, statutory registers of births, marriages, and deaths, and census records. While it is know as a world leader in making its records available on the Internet, it is a wonderful and very worthwhile place to visit. This session will provide an armchair tour of the Edinburgh facility, an overview of how the records were accumulated by the GROS, and explain exactly what records are available online or in person, with samples of each. Toronto Branch Website.
November 13, 2007 -- Toronto Ukranian Genealogy Group (TUGG), at the St. Vladimir Institute, 620 Spadina Av. TopicDigital Video & Cameras for Genealogy. This lecture includes a display of all relevant technologies, and provides a basic understanding of the video, camera and scanning technology which is useful for genealogist. TUGG Website.
November 17, 2007 -- Société franco-ontarienne d’histoire et de généalogie -- Room #1, 2nd Floor, North York Library, 5120 Yonge St. Topic "Beyond the Death Certificate" -- Sponsored by the SFOHG and Canadian Dept of North York Library. This talk will examine the wealth of documentary evidence of a death (and the person's life) that may exist beyond a simple death certificate. Using several specific examples of people who lived and died in Ontario the following records will be highlighted: funeral home, cemetery records, annual registers, death notices, obituaries, newspaper accounts, coronors' reports, wills and administrations. SFOHG Website.
November 18, 2007 -- Jewish Genealogical Society of Hamilton & Hamilton Branch, OGS. Topic "Pre-Confederation Census in Ontario." -- Details pending. JGSH. Hamilton Branch of OGS.
January 19, 2008 -- Quinte Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society. Topic "TBD" -- Details pending. Quinte Branch Website.
May 30 - June 1, 2008 -- Ontario Genealogical Society Annual Conference, London, Ontario. Topic "TBA" -- Details pending. OGS Conference Website.
Previous Speaking Engagements:
May 16, 2007 -- Toronto Branch of United Empire Loyalists' Association. Topic "Toronto Towards the End of the 19th Century (1845-1900)." -- This speech is a "virtual tour" of the City in the 1850s and again in the 1870s, using maps and photographs. It should be helpful for anyone doing research of their early Toronto ancestors or anyone who lives in the City. Included in the photographs are a set of 24 taken in 1856, and considered the first known photographs of Toronto. Toronto Branch of UELAC.
May 1, 8, & 15 (7:00pm to 9:00pm) -- Toronto Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society in conjunction with the Toronto Public Library. Training Course on "Multimedia Scrapbooking and Genealogy" This course is being taught by Paul McGrath and Liam Coleman. This course will help you create images of the photographs, documents and other items you have collected as a genealogist. You will learn how to best manage and store, distribute and even print the images of your family history articles. The attributes of digital scrapbooking programs will be discussed and demonstrated and you will be shown how to create a CD or DVD slide-show." North York Central Library, Meeting Room Nº. 1. Toronto Branch Website.
April 28, 2007 -- Region V Annual Meeting, Ontario Genealogical Society -- Hosted by the Simcoe Branch. Topic: Napoleonic Veterans and Land Grants. There is a lot of information about the United Empire Loyalists' land grants, but others such as Napoleonic veterans were also granted land. You will learn how to track these land grants and how to track the Napoleonic War records. These are amazingly detailed and provide great clues to your ancestor's life before Canada was formed. Simcoe Branch Website.
April 21, 2007 -- Friends of the Archives of Ontario, Annual General Meeting at the City of Toronto Archives. Topic "Toronto Towards the End of the 19th Century (1845-1900)." -- This speech involves a "virtual tour" of the City in the 1850s and again in the 1870s, using maps and photographs. It should be helpful for anyone doing research of their early Toronto ancestors or anyone who lives in the City. Included in the photographs are a set of 24 taken in 1856, and considered the first known photographs of Toronto (which are in the possession of the City of Toronto Archives). This speech will be repeated twice during the day. Friends of the Archives of Ontario.
April 11, 18, 25 & May 2, 2007 (7:00pm to 9:00pm)-- Toronto Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society in conjunction with the Toronto Public Library. American Genealogical Research. This course is being taught by Ruth Burkholder and Paul McGrath . April 11: Ohio (Paul), April 18: North Dakota (Ruth), April 25: California (Paul), May 2: Pennsilvania (Ruth). North York Central Library, Meeting Room Nº. 1. Toronto Branch Website.
February 24, 2007 -- Toronto Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society -- "Genealogy in Toronto" Workshop. Topic "Beyond the Death Certificate" -- This session will examine the wealth of documentary evidence of a death (and the person’s life) that may exist beyond a simple death certificate. Using several specific examples of people who lived and died in Toronto (although the same resources will work for people elsewhere in Ontario, and beyond) the following records will be highlighted: obituaries in dailies and community papers and other newspaper accounts, coroners’ reports, and wills and administrations. Toronto Branch Website.
February 16, 2007 -- Durham Region Branch (Whitby/Oshawa), Ontario Genealogical Society. Topic "Toronto Towards the End of the 19th Century (1845-1900)." -- This speech is a follow-up to last year's "First Fifty Years of Toronto", and involves a "virtual tour" of the City in the 1850s and again in the 1870s, using maps and photographs. It should be helpful for anyone doing research of their early Toronto ancestors or anyone who lives in the City. Included in the photographs are a set of 24 taken in 1856, and considered the first known photographs of Toronto Durham Region Branch website.
November 16, 2006 --Topic:"The Story of the Looshtauk: Beyond the Passenger List of a Famine Ship" - The Looshtauk is the most famous of the "coffin ships" it holds the record for the most casualties among the famine relief ships. The ship was carrying 25 percent more passengers than she was designed for when she left Liverpool in 1847 for the six-week journey to Quebec. Two days out of port people started getting sick and dying. By the time she reached the coast of North America 150 were dead. The ship stopped at several ports in the Atlantic but was barred. Eventually she ended up at Chatham on the Miramichi River, but was quarantined where another 100 died waiting for aid to come. In all, almost 60 percent of the passengers died. This lecture will tell the story of the Looshtauk using diaries, testimony and eyewitness accounts. Hearing the account in people's own words brings this part of history to life. It helps us understand better what life was like on one of these coffin ships. It's a fascinating story, and this is a great way of showing that there are sometimes more than passenger lists available to genealogists and researchers.
November 7, 2006 -- Durham Region Branch (Whitby/Oshawa), Ontario Genealogical Society. Topic: "Records from Toronto's First Fifty Years (1795-1845)." -- This speech examines what records are available for the first fifty years after Toronto was founded. It should be helpful for anyone doing research of their early Toronto ancestors.,. Durham Region Branch website.
October 18, 2006 -- Watch the world broadcast premiere of "Ancestors in the Attic" on History Television (Season 1, Episode 1). Click here for more details on this series. This first episode includes three segments: (1) Wendy Cosby of Vancouver wants to confirm a family legend that her ancestor cradled the head of a dying General Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham, (2) Cheryl Bumstead of Orillia unearthed a mysterious gravestone in her flowerbed. (3) Barbara Anderson of Peterborough is in search of the name of her ggg-grandmother, an aboriginal woman married to a British veteran of the Napoleonic Wars. History Television Website.
October 15, 2006 -- Hamilton Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society. Topic:"The Story of the Looshtauk: Beyond the Passenger List of a Famine Ship" - The Looshtauk is the most famous of the "coffin ships" it holds the record for the most casualties among the famine relief ships. The ship was carrying 25 percent more passengers than she was designed for when she left Liverpool in 1847 for the six-week journey to Quebec. Two days out of port people started getting sick and dying. By the time she reached the coast of North America 150 were dead. The ship stopped at several ports in the Atlantic but was barred. Eventually she ended up at Chatham on the Miramichi River, but was quarantined where another 100 died waiting for aid to come. In all, almost 60 percent of the passengers died. This lecture will tell the story of the Looshtauk using diaries, testimony and eyewitness accounts. Hearing the account in people's own words brings this part of history to life. It helps us understand better what life was like on one of these coffin ships. It's a fascinating story, and this is a great way of showing that there are sometimes more than passenger lists available to genealogists and researchers. HamiltonBranch Website.
September 13, 2006 -- York Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society. Topic "A Guide to Census Returns" -- Census returns are one of the most widely used genealogical resources available, since they can tell us so much about our ancestors. But often it's a challenge to navigate our way through them. York Branch Website.
August 19, 2006 -- Toronto Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society. Topic:"The Story of the Looshtauk: Beyond the Passenger List of a Famine Ship" - The Looshtauk is the most famous of the "coffin ships" it holds the record for the most casualties among the famine relief ships. The ship was carrying 25 percent more passengers than she was designed for when she left Liverpool in 1847 for the six-week journey to Quebec. Two days out of port people started getting sick and dying. By the time she reached the coast of North America 150 were dead. The ship stopped at several ports in the Atlantic but was barred. Eventually she ended up at Chatham on the Miramichi River, but was quarantined where another 100 died waiting for aid to come. In all, almost 60 percent of the passengers died. This lecture will tell the story of the Looshtauk using diaries, testimony and eyewitness accounts. Hearing the account in people's own words brings this part of history to life. It helps us understand better what life was like on one of these coffin ships. It's a fascinating story, and this is a great way of showing that there are sometimes more than passenger lists available to genealogists and researchers.Toronto Branch Website.
May 27, 2006 -- OGS Seminar 2006, Durham Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society. Lecture F1. 16:00 - 17:00 - Taking it With You: Portable PDA for Genealogy – This will be a condensed version of the Friday workshop (B-5) by the same lecturer. The session examines the use of portable PDA devices while doing research. Seminar 2006 Website.
May 26, 2006 -- OGS Seminar 2006, Durham Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society. Workshop B5. 13:30 - 16:00 - Mobile Computing and Genealogy – The session will deal with the ever-expanding list of portable hardware devices that are available, such as PDA’s, laptops, handheld devices, and the software choices that complement them. Seminar 2006 Website.
May 8, 2006 (7:00pm to 9:00pm)-- Toronto Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society in conjunction with the Toronto Public Library. American Genealogical Research - Michigan. This course is being taught by Ruth Burkholder and Paul McGrath . North York Central Library, Meeting Room Nº. 1. Toronto Branch Website.
March 28 & April 4, 2006 (7:00pm to 9:00pm)-- Toronto Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society in conjunction with the Toronto Public Library. Training Course on "Multimedia Scrapbooking and Genealogy" This course is being taught by Paul McGrath and Liam Coleman. North York Central Library, Meeting Room Nº. 2. Toronto Branch Website.
March 7, 2006 -- "Records from Toronto's First Fifty Years (1795-1845)." -- This speech examines what records are available for the first fifty years after Toronto was founded. It should be helpful for anyone doing research of their early Toronto ancestors.,Durham Region Branch (Whitby/Oshawa), Ontario Genealogical Society. Durham Region Branch website. (Cancelled)
February 26, 2006 -- Halton-Peel Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society. Topic: "Tax Rolls in Toronto: A valuable resource". Halton-Peel Branch OGS website
January 19, 2006 -- "Records from Toronto's First Fifty Years (1795-1845)." -- This speech examines what records are available for the first fifty years after Toronto was founded. It should be helpful for anyone doing research of their early Toronto ancestors., Uxbridge Genealogy Group, Uxbridge Public Library.
December 8, 2005 -- Book signing for "Toronto in the 1850s: A Transcription of the 1853 Tax Assessment Rolls and Guide to Family History Research" at Uxbridge Genealogy Group, Annual Christmas Get Together, Uxbridge Public Library.
November 28, 2005 -- Toronto Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society. Topic "Records from Toronto's First Fifty Years (1795-1845)." -- This speech examines what records are available for the first fifty years after Toronto was founded. It should be helpful for anyone doing research of their early Toronto ancestors. Toronto Branch Website.
October 20, 2005 -- "Researching Scottish Records." Uxbridge Genealogy Group, Uxbridge Public Library.
September 15, 2005 -- Uxbridge Genealogy Group. Moderator of a Panel Discussion on how to get past Brickwalls at Uxbridge Public Library.
August 20, 2005 -- "Pre-Confederation Census Returns in Ontario", Ontario Genealogical Society, Toronto Branch, Summer Workshop. Toronto Branch Website.
May 28, 2005 -- City of Toronto "Step into your Archives" Programme. Topic "Toronto in the 1850s: A Look at the Inhabitents of Toronto in the early 1850s" City of Toronto Archives website.
May 3, 2005 -- Durham Region Branch (Whitby/Oshawa), Ontario Genealogical Society, "Researching Military Records in Ontario" -- with emphasis on the War of 1812, Rebellion of 1837/38, Red River Rebellion, Fenian Raids, South African War, and World War I. Durham Region Branch website.
February 28, 2005 -- Toronto Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society, launch of "Toronto in the 1850s: A Transcription of the 1853 Tax Assessment Rolls and Family History Research Guide."
February 17, 2005 -- Uxbridge Genealogy Group, "Researching Military Records in Ontario" -- with emphasis on the War of 1812, Rebellion of 1837/38, Red River Rebellion, Fenian Raids, South African War, and World War I.
January 24, 2005 -- Toronto Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society, mini presentation on using City of Toronto Tax Assessment Rolls to find your ancestors.
December 16, 2004 -- Uxbridge Genealogy Group, Panel Discussion to help researchers with their "brick walls".
November 20, 2004 -- Kawartha Group, "Census Research in Ontario"
September 17, 2004 -- Uxbridge Genealogy Group, "Researching in Ireland"
May 27-30, 2004 --- OGS Seminar 2004, (Theme: "The 3R's of Family History: Resources, Research, Results"), "Early Development of the Town of York"
May 15, 2004 --- Royal Ontario Museum, ROM Walks Volunteers, "The Early History of Toronto"
February 19, 2004 -- Victoria County Genealogy Group, "Using Family Tree Maker to Document your Family's History"
January 15, 2004 -- Uxbridge Genealogy Group, "Preserving Your Family History : Scanning and Digitizing Your Photos"
November 20, 2003 -- Uxbridge Genealogy Group, "Suggestions for Getting Past 'Brickwalls'"
October 16, 2003 -- Uxbridge Genealogy Group, "Using Family Tree Maker to Document your Family's History"
May 15, 2003 --- Highlands of Durham Family History Group, Uxbridge Public Library, "Using the Internet to Aid Genealogical Research."
April 1, 2003 - Whitby-Oshawa Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society, Arts Resource Centre, Oshawa. "Census Research in Ontario."
March 20, 2003 -- Highlands of Durham Family History Group, Uxbridge Public Library, "Beginning your Census Research in Ontario."