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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)
What is NBGS, Inc.?
The New Brunswick Genealogical Society Inc. (NBGS, Inc.) is a non-profit organization founded in 1978 to encourage and facilitate family historical research in New Brunswick, Canada. It is comprised of a board of directors and five member branches.
Where is NBGS, Inc. located?
NBGS, Inc. is based in the province of New Brunswick, Canada. It is "headquartered" in Fredericton although its member branches are located throughout the province. NBGS, Inc. does not maintain any office space.
How do I access the holdings of NBGS, Inc.?
NBGS, Inc offers a variety of resources to members via this website.
NBGS, Inc. member branches may also maintain their own holdings. Please contact the individual branches for further information via the About Us page.
Why should I join NBGS, Inc.?
All members receive the Society's journal, Generations, which is published quarterly and contains book reviews, books for sale, passenger lists, rare documents, notices of genealogical seminars, cemeteries, census and other genealogy-related material associated with New Brunswick. There is also a Queries section. The magazine is distributed to over one thousand members across North America and overseas.
All members may:
- Search our database on "First Families of New Brunswick", a collection of family group records.
- Post the surnames they are researching to the website to facilitate collaboration with other researchers.
- Access all our resources such as all back issues of Generations and a directory of all members.
- Search the registers from Anglican Churches around the province. Members have full search functionality, whereas non-members can view the registers and search manually.
- Search selected cemetery transcriptions.
- Search the obituaries project, an index to newspaper obituaries.
- View our photo galleries.
- View our map collection.
- Access to tips and instructional information for using our resources.
What is the Surname Research list?
Surname Research is a listing of surnames being researched by members of NBGS, Inc. and is only accessible by members.
How is the Surname Research list compiled?
The Surname Research list is derived from the information supplied by individual members. Members can add or delete surnames on their own in the member ship section of the website and as such it is in constant change. The accuracy and completeness of the information contained therein rests with the contributor member. Not all members choose to participate in this activity.
What is Generations?
Generations is the journal of the New Brunswick Genealogical Society. It is published quarterly and is distributed to all members. Generations is made up almost entirely of articles contributed by members and NBGS encourages submissions that deal with genealogy and family history. Members have access to all issues of Generations. Non-members can view the tables of contents for each issue. Generations also accepts short family histories and other files or articles of a genealogical or historical nature for publication. Please contact the Generations editor for further details.
What are the Anglican Registers?
In May 2018 the New Brunswick Genealogical Society and the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, which now manages the Anglican records on behalf of the Diocesan Archives, agreed to scan and transcribe the many registers and then to make them available to the public on the NBGS website. The registers, in some cases, date back into the 1780s.
Can I access the Anglican Registers if I am not a member?
Yes. Non-members have access to view the registers and conduct a manual search. A guest account must be set up using a valid email address to access the registers. Members have access to a full featured search facility.
Are all Anglican Registers available to be viewed?
No. The search facility fully implements the privacy rules used by the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, as set out by the NB Vital Statistics Act. Birth records are restricted for 95 years; marriage and death records are restricted for 50 years. Records will be released when those limits have expired.
What is First Families?
First Families is a finding aid to genealogical material in the Manuscript Collection at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick. Completed in 2006 to help family historians locate genealogical data in the Manuscript Collection at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (PANB). Each Family Profile contains a source citation to locate the material at PANB. The data in each Family Profile is only for the first family of that surname to arrive in New Brunswick. Acadians, Pre-Loyalists and Loyalists, who arrived in the province with older children who immediately married and began having children, may have two generations of their family described.
What are Ancestral Lines?
These are descendant reports, in register format, covering multiple generations of some New Brunswick families. A master index makes it easy to find the person you're looking for. Members are encouraged to submit register reports to our Ancestral Lines collection in the Genealogical Resources section. Explore the Knowledge Base for more information about the reports and how to submit them.
Becoming a member of NBGS, Inc.:
Do I have to join an individual branch?
No. Members are under no obligation to join an individual branch. Details for joining NBGS, Inc. directly, without making affiliations to a specific branch, are provided on the Membership Form.
Do I lose anything by not joining an individual branch?
Yes and no. As a member of NBGS, Inc. you will continue to receive all the rights and privileges of NBGS, Inc. membership, including copies of the quarterly journal Generations. However, you will not receive branch newsletters and other correspondence, you may not be notified of branch activities and special events, and you will not be permitted to vote at the branch level.
How do I know which branch to join?
Typically, members join the Branch located within or closest to their main geographic area of research. For instance, if your research is concentrated in the City of Moncton you would join the Southeastern Branch. We strongly encourage you to join a branch closely related to the geographic area of your research as you will have the benefits of collaborating with researchers familiar with the familes in the area.
Members living within the province may elect to join the Branch nearest their home in order to attend meetings and become involved in branch activities.
I live in Miramichi but my research is based in Charlotte County - Which branch should I join?
This is a personal decision. If you wish to become directly involved in branch activities, it would likely be more convenient to join the branch nearest your residence. This allows you to network with other genealogists and participate in their seminars and activities which makes you a better researcher. If you have no desire to become involved in local activities, then we would suggest joining the branch nearest the area of your main research interests. Doing so will put you in touch with information and other researchers concentrated on that same region of the province.
Can I join more than one branch?
Yes. We offer a "dual" membership at a reduced cost for those wishing to join two or more branches. Details are provided through the on-line joining process or on the Membership form.
Can I volunteer with NBGS, Inc. if I live outside New Brunswick?
Yes! We have several on-line projects available. Also, with modern video conferencing, various officer and director roles are open to non-residents. See our volunteer opportunities here.
Contacting NBGS, Inc.:
How do I contact NBGS, Inc.?
- For general inquiries, find information on the Contact Us page.
- For branch-specific inquiries, a listing of the branches and contact information can be found on the Join or Renew page.
I forgot my password. How do I re-set it? Contact the webmanager.
How do I submit corrections and updates for the website, or notify the webmaster of other site-related problems or concerns?
- The NBGS Webmanager may be contacted using the contact page of the website. Please limit your correspondence to corrections, updates and other site-related issues. Members may use the Support page to submit corrections or comments.
- Matters of a general or society-related nature should be directed to the appropriate branch on the About Us page.
Why have you not responded to my email or letter?
There may be several reasons for a delayed response:
- NBGS and its member branches are staffed by volunteers who conduct society-related business in their spare time: the commitments of work, family, etc., will most likely have priority over NBGS correspondence and other business. However, all attempts will be made to deal with your queries or concerns in a timely fashion.
- In order to provide the best response to your query it may have been necessary for the original recipient to forward your correspondence to another individual or branch within NBGS. Obviously, this will increase the time required for you to receive a response.
- Please ensure that your email address is both current and correct. NBGS has no means of following up on "bounced" messages.
- Please ensure that the "subject" lines of emails clearly identify the content.
- Please refrain from sending attachments without prior notification to or permission from the recipient. Given the risks from computer viruses and malware, unidentifiable emails from unknown sources, especially those containing attachments, may have been deleted by our spam filters or anti-virus software.
- It is possible that your email was lost in cyber-space, or your letter was lost in the postal system. If you feel there has been an undue delay in receiving a response, please try again. And, when composing your message, please keep in mind that any delays may not have been the fault of NBGS or its volunteers.
NBGS, Inc. & Genealogical Research:
How do I submit a research Query? See our Queries page for more information.
Does NBGS offer a research service?
- No, the NBGS does not conduct research. However, some of its members will perform research, either voluntarily or on a fee-for-service basis. A list of researchers-for-hire is published in Generations and on this website.
- A list of Certified Genealogists may be obtained from the Genealogical Institute of the Maritimes.
- Some of the individual branches of the NBGS may offer their own research services. Please contact the branches directly for further information.
- We also offer a free queries service. See our submission guidelines.
Does NBGS offer research facilities?
Yes and no. NBGS itself does not maintain any office or research space. However, they do have a number of holdings maintained by the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick, located in Fredericton. These may be accessed at the Archives during their normal business hours.
Some of the individual branches also maintain holdings and/or research facilities. For instance, Southeastern Branch holdings are kept in the Heritage Room of the Moncton Public Library and may be accessed during normal library hours (although access to some holdings may require pre-arranged appointments with branch volunteers). Please contact the branches directly for further information.
NBGS, Inc. Website:
What is the purpose of this site?
The purpose of this site is to provide information on the Society, the NBGS quarterly journal Generations, the member branches, and the various meetings and other events they conduct throughout the year. We also provide a variety of research material available to members. Some of this material is available to non-members.
How do I navigate the site?
A navigation menu (Main Menu) appears on the top left-hand side of each page. Clicking any option will direct you to the page in question. In some cases, selecting a particular option will also expand the menu system and provide you with further options related to your initial choice. Our Knowledge Base offers tips and instructions to help you access some of our resources.
updated Mar 2022
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