Certification with the Genealogy Institute of the Maritimes

I attended a very informative meeting for potential applicants to the Genealogy Institute of the Maritimes last night.  We are a small group of 6 (maybe 7) who have applied to the Institute or are considering it.  We wanted to learn more about the process and gain some confidence in our ability to create a submission that would be accepted.


I think most of us felt intimidated by the process going into the meeting but now feel that it is do-able.  A couple of us realized just how much work we have ahead of us.


I think I will bite the bullet and apply sometime in the next few months.  Now to decide whether to apply for Genealogical Researcher [Canada] [GRS (C)]; or Certified Genealogist [Canada] [CG(C)].  That decision will partly depend on how many points I can rack up on the application form.  Here is the Guide for Certification Candidates


In order to have a submission critiqued before actually submitting, I have to create a report on a family that I won't be submitting to GIM.  Our "mentor" Dr. Allan Marble, CG(C)", is an examiner for GIM and it would be a conflict of interest for him to help us with our actual submissions.  So, I have to pick two families that I want to research.  I will have to have a practice one ready for our January meeting so it can be viewed and critiqued by Allan and the rest of the group.  It will be a lot of work, but fun too, so I'm looking forward to it. 

I've tentatively chosen the two families - Descendants of Mark Spearing/Patience Lake, Hants County, Nova Scotia Nova Scotia for my practice one and Descendants of John Jacob Deal/Elizabeth Heyson, Lunenburg County, Nova Scotia for the actual submission.  Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind if one or the other becomes too difficult! :)


So, now to become disciplined and get working on my Mark Spearing research.  Family lore says that he was Shanghied in Britain at the age of 14 and spent an unknown number of years at sea before jumping ship in Halifax with another boy/man.  Mark is an interesting character who was once suspected of murdering a sherriff (later determined to be false) and who received a land grant in Hants County that was mismeasured and resulted in him getting a lot more land than he should have.


Well, now to get started...




Until next time, Happy Researching!