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weekender february 7 1987 pll sfeell help you find family skeletons by paul pivato staff reporter its somewhat of a thrill admits markbam genealogist louise hope when you discover that one of your ancestors was an axemurderer or a sheep- smuggler hunting for skeletons in the family closet says mrs hope is what makes genealogical re search fun take the aussies for ex ample the land of kangaroos and fosters beer has been caught in the grips of a nationwide genealogical mania as austra- sans trace their bloodlines back to colonial days its now very chic in australia to show that you are descended from the convicts who first set tled the sparse country says mrs hope people like swapping tales about scoundrels in their fami ly she says subject can be touchy but sometimes family mem bers wont cooperate with your genealogical research because theyre afraid youll dig up in formation they want to keep buried it can be touchy says the markham district high school teacher who traces her own family lineage all the way back to 1650 in the isle of man and as for ancestral scoun drels mrs hope says her fami ly has a few infamous relatives ive never shown it to be true but theres always been talk my family is related to the famous scottish outlaw rob roy macgregor she says obviously relishing the scanda lous connection she also has a distant relative who married seven times and another who founded a medical school in china mrs hope first became in volved in genealogical research in 1970 when she began tracing her canadian roots in perth ontario its grown since then she says its kind of like a disease once the bug bites youre hooked shes since become a high- profile member of 4500strong ontario genealogical society one of the largest genealogical groups in north america public interest has in creased tremendously over the years she says the society can hardly keep up with spon soring all the branches that want to belong at the turn of the century genealogical research was the preserve of the landed well-to- do families the common worker neither had the time nor the inclination to trace his roots says mrs pool company viable despite owners death despite the untimely death of its owner markhams kemac pools will continue operating in the area owner stephen mcneilage kil led last month during a northern ontario snowmobiling accident operated the business in mar kham for the past ten years two of mr mcneilages former employees brad mcleod and paul donaghy will head up the operation in the 1987 season mrs mcneilage is also taking a role in running the business we want to keep up the same reputation and the same level of service that steve had for a de cade said mrr mcleod recently basically we dont want to change anything he added that there wont be any personnel changes noting that eight original employees will stay on with the firm to carry on same the tradition mr mcleod and the firms em ployees are faithful kemac pools will remain successful in mar kham the first year is going to be rough trying to get everyones confidence 6ack he said hope but today more and more peo ple are showing an interest be cause tracing family trees has become much easier our times change so much and theres so little stability with families breaking up says mrs hope but knowing your ancestory can give you a sense of identity a feeling of having roots mrs hope teaches a course on genealogy every wednesday night at markham district high school as part of the course she goes over the various tools and ave nues of genealogical research birth certificates census fi gures land records and local archives she warns class members ab out the rampant quackery associated with genealogy and heraldry or family crests mrs hope also discusses the differences in british and euro pean genealogical research for instance those who have a scottish background stand a better chance of tracing their family tree than those with irish ancestory anyone who can trace their ancestory back to the 1600s is lucky she says hume collectables inc presents he loves me valentines special collector plate by coal port limited edition print also available limited edition print signed numbered 4 95 vnframed framed collector plates and frames limited edition prints figurines marci lipman collectable ts wear your artsweatshirts collectable goblets hand painted silk scarves zapf collectable dolls althans limited edition teddy bears laurentian lighters hours mon fbi 9 am 5 pm saturdays by appointment showroom open to the public 7291 victoria park ave suite 11 one block north of steeles 4750316 wpmeem1 air conditioning dealer heating air conditioning 4791290 our installations are up to a standard not down to a price air conditioning dealer