In Search of Your Roots: A Guide for Canadians Seeking Their Ancestors

Dean Tudor is a journalism professor at the Ryerson Polytechnical
Institute and founding editor of the CBRA.

This book was first published in 1978 and reviewed in CBRA 1978 (entry 2124). At that time our reviewer noted that “though the author himself has stressed that in Search of Your Roots does not describe all existing record sources, it does provide the necessary basics to guide the family sleuth in discovering more. The chapter on his experience searching his wife’s ancestry is full of valuable personal hints and examples.” Sources include church records and archives, along with relevant addresses for every province in Canada, for England, Ireland, Wales, and Scotland, for the United States, and for some of the various nations of Europe (France, Scandinavia) plus notes on other countries in order to get you started. Stressed are the author’s opinions about the helpfulness of various organizations. The book’s title page says “Revised and Updated” and, while the bibliography has been extended through to 1982, neither the publisher nor the author has bothered to seek a new copyright date. In most cases this tells the reader that there is very little new material; thus, purchasers of the 1978 work might want to hang onto that edition.