CURRENT PROJECTS:
Voices from the Past: A History of North Roe - Updated edition with additional stories and photos. Anticipated publication late 2021. For further information, including what is new click here.
Gone But Not Forgotten (Book in progress) - A social and family history of the William Grassie & Ann Anderson family who emigrated from Milltown of Kildrummy, Aberdeenshire to Mount Albion, Ontario in 1847.
Samuel & Ann (working title; book in progress) - A family biography of crofter and seaman Samuel Inkster (1834-1921) & his wife, Ann Brown Thomason (1837-1912) of Skelberry, North Roe, Shetland Islands. Based on personal letters, diaries and historical research, this work will investigate life's ups and downs for this hardworking couple and their family of ten children, and how their faith and wisdom helped sustain them through it all.
Under a Prairie Sky (working title; book in progress) - A history of William Honeyman (1880-1945) & Olga Pedersen (1893-1981) and their struggles to survive as Northern Alberta homesteaders through the Hungry Thirties.
Finding the Fisets (essays/book in progress) - Compiled essays on the family of Pierre Joseph Fiset (1868-1946) and Celine Papillon (1873-1929) who emigrated from Portneuf, Quebec to Plessis, Saskatchewan in 1912. A focus on their son and his family, Ernest Fiset (1895-1989).
Gone But Not Forgotten (Book in progress) - A social and family history of the William Grassie & Ann Anderson family who emigrated from Milltown of Kildrummy, Aberdeenshire to Mount Albion, Ontario in 1847.
Samuel & Ann (working title; book in progress) - A family biography of crofter and seaman Samuel Inkster (1834-1921) & his wife, Ann Brown Thomason (1837-1912) of Skelberry, North Roe, Shetland Islands. Based on personal letters, diaries and historical research, this work will investigate life's ups and downs for this hardworking couple and their family of ten children, and how their faith and wisdom helped sustain them through it all.
Under a Prairie Sky (working title; book in progress) - A history of William Honeyman (1880-1945) & Olga Pedersen (1893-1981) and their struggles to survive as Northern Alberta homesteaders through the Hungry Thirties.
Finding the Fisets (essays/book in progress) - Compiled essays on the family of Pierre Joseph Fiset (1868-1946) and Celine Papillon (1873-1929) who emigrated from Portneuf, Quebec to Plessis, Saskatchewan in 1912. A focus on their son and his family, Ernest Fiset (1895-1989).
COMPLETED PROJECTS:
BOOKS
Remembering Renate: Renate (Fooken) Pedersen (1867-1901)
Self-published, 2017, pp. 44
For many years of my life Renate's story has been a haunting mystery to me. My great-great grandmother married an older man (they didn't even speak the same language!) and died young - supposedly in childbirth - but no one knew exactly when, only sometime after the 1900 census in Sims, North Dakota.
Her lines on my family tree were mockingly blank; the lack of information bothered me as I more easily filled in the blanks on other lines. How could someone be forgotten like that? What was she like? What happened to her? This published essay is not only an effort to answer these questions through carefully sourced documents, social history, interviews, and photo analysis, but it is also a personal journey that reveals how researching our ancestors can better help us know and honour them.
Self-published, 2017, pp. 44
For many years of my life Renate's story has been a haunting mystery to me. My great-great grandmother married an older man (they didn't even speak the same language!) and died young - supposedly in childbirth - but no one knew exactly when, only sometime after the 1900 census in Sims, North Dakota.
Her lines on my family tree were mockingly blank; the lack of information bothered me as I more easily filled in the blanks on other lines. How could someone be forgotten like that? What was she like? What happened to her? This published essay is not only an effort to answer these questions through carefully sourced documents, social history, interviews, and photo analysis, but it is also a personal journey that reveals how researching our ancestors can better help us know and honour them.
Voices From the Past: A History of North Roe
Shetland Times Publishing, 2006, pp. 273
In 2001, a young woman stood at a ship’s rails watching the low-lying Shetland Islands come into view. Over one hundred years had passed since her great-grandfather, Peter Inkster, then a young man, had stood watching these same isles recede into the distance as he ventured to start a new life in Western Canada. In the latter years of his life, this same Peter returned to his native islands. He kept a diary of his thoughts and childhood memories which gave an intimate glimpse of his isolated home village at he end of the 19th century.
Nearly fifty years after Peter’s death, his great-granddaughter has combined extensive research with his written recollections to create a unique vignette of the lives of the ordinary people of North Roe who, at the mercy of the weather and the landlord, struggled to survive at the edge of sea.
Shetland Times Publishing, 2006, pp. 273
In 2001, a young woman stood at a ship’s rails watching the low-lying Shetland Islands come into view. Over one hundred years had passed since her great-grandfather, Peter Inkster, then a young man, had stood watching these same isles recede into the distance as he ventured to start a new life in Western Canada. In the latter years of his life, this same Peter returned to his native islands. He kept a diary of his thoughts and childhood memories which gave an intimate glimpse of his isolated home village at he end of the 19th century.
Nearly fifty years after Peter’s death, his great-granddaughter has combined extensive research with his written recollections to create a unique vignette of the lives of the ordinary people of North Roe who, at the mercy of the weather and the landlord, struggled to survive at the edge of sea.
FILMS
Coming Full Circle: Remembrances of Royal Roads Ex-Cadets
Documentary Film, Royal Roads University, April 2009, 50 mins
Opened in 1940 to provide naval officer training during WWII, Royal Roads soon served as Canada's west coast military college for all three armed forces services until its closure in 1995. These two documentaries showcase excerpts from oral history interviews along with photos and original film footage of Royal Roads Military College. Both DVDs can be ordered through Royal Roads University.
Documentary Film, Royal Roads University, April 2009, 50 mins
Opened in 1940 to provide naval officer training during WWII, Royal Roads soon served as Canada's west coast military college for all three armed forces services until its closure in 1995. These two documentaries showcase excerpts from oral history interviews along with photos and original film footage of Royal Roads Military College. Both DVDs can be ordered through Royal Roads University.
Ingrained in Us: Remembering Royal Roads
Documentary Film, Royal Roads University, August 2013, 50 mins
Listen to ex-cadets from the last three decades of the military college as they share their stories. From being a cadet in the 1970s and the introduction of lady cadets in the 1980s through to the final closing parade, ex-cadets reflect on the legacy of leadership that they gained.
KEYNOTE ADDRESSES
World War I: The Stories Around Us
Keynote Address, Victoria Family History Conference, March 2018, 75 mins
Karen Inkster Vance presented a compelling narrative on how seeking out our distant WWI family stories is critical to understanding both our ancestors who served in the conflict and those who remained at home.
The session covered her own personal journey discovering nearly-forgotten family tales, researching the small Vancouver Island town of Duncan, BC through the Great War years and her attempts to discover why this is still so relevant today. Attendees left the session with a deeper appreciation of the decisions and sacrifices made 100 years ago and inspiration to pursue their own family research.
FAMILY REUNION POSTERS
Fiset Family Reunion, August 2019
Descendants of Pierre Joseph Fiset (1868-1946) & Marie Celine Papillon (1873-1929)
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