Another way to find out more about your family history is to use directories to trace your family’s movements and employment history. A useful directory for Western Canada is Henderson’s Directories. These annual directories can be found in some libraries and archives, but for those who are unable to travel to those locations, there is an on-line option. The Peel library at the University of Alberta has searchable scans of Henderson’s Directories. While they do not have every year of every directory location, you can find a range of options. First you need to choose a location, keeping in mind that Alberta and Saskatchewan were not formed until 1905 and prior to that were part of the Northwest Territories. Then choose a year from the available options. After that you can enter a search term (such as the surname you are researching) and you will be directed to the pages on which that word appears. There can be some errors, as this method uses Optical Character Recognition, but it is still an efficient way to search large quantities of information.

Henderson’s Directories are organized by street / location as well as alphabetically by residents’ surnames. An entry typically gives name, residence, including whether it was owned or rented, and place of employment. Using this information I have tracked the employment histories of individuals and noted changing family roles as individuals retired into town and later adult children moved in to care for their aging parent. These directories have additional information that can be very helpful in trying to understand your ancestor’s life; descriptions of the city or town are included and discuss the population and the economic and cultural features of the locality. They provide a great window on your ancestor’s world.

This article was originally printed in the Bergen News and is being reprinted with permission.