Shiels Family History Book
The Shiels Family History book tells the story of our family from its earliest known beginnings around 1690 through 2024. Published and made available in April 2025, this 340-page book brings together generations of family history, photographs, stories and research gathered over many years.
This website presents selected individuals, direct family lines and several important branches of the Shiels family. It would be impossible to include the entire family history here. The book goes much further, following additional descendants and branches of the family across Scotland, Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
Throughout this website, where a family line continues beyond the story presented here, see the Shiels Family History book for additional family details and descendants.
A Collection of Histories
The Shiels Family History is a 340-page, 8.5 × 11 paperback filled with family histories, photographs and stories collected through many years of research.
While this website follows selected family lines and individuals, the book provides a much broader record of the Shiels family. It includes many descendants and branches that could not practically be included on the website and follows the family as it spread from Scotland to Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
The book is intended not simply as a record of names and dates, but as a collection of the people, places and stories that together make up the history of the Shiels family.
From the First Book to Today
The first Shiels Family History book was published in 2002. At that time, books had to be printed in advance, which meant deciding how many copies to produce and then distributing them to family members who wanted one.
Family-history research did not stop when that first book was completed. Over the next two decades, additional records became available, new family connections were discovered and information from the earlier research could be checked and, where necessary, corrected. Many more descendants and branches of the family were also added.
That continuing research eventually led to a greatly expanded second book, bringing the Shiels family history forward through 2024. Published in April 2025, the new edition can be printed individually as copies are ordered, making the family history available to anyone who wants to explore the larger Shiels story.
About the Research
Like most family histories, the story of the Shiels family began with memories and stories passed from one generation to the next. An important part of preserving those memories came in 1949, when Jack Shiels of Cranbrook, Ontario recorded what he remembered of his father, his family and the early history of the Shiels family.
Jack’s recollections provided an important starting point for the research that followed. They gave us names, places and family stories to investigate at a time when many of today’s research tools simply did not exist.
Over the years, those early stories have been supplemented by family records, historical documents, cemetery records and information contributed by descendants throughout the different branches of the family. More recently, online genealogy resources and DNA testing have provided additional ways to confirm family connections and extend the research.
What began with stories passed down through the family has grown into a history spanning more than three centuries—and the research continues.
Order the Shiels Family History Book
The Shiels Family History book is available for purchase through Amazon. Each copy is printed on demand and delivered directly to the purchaser.
The 340-page paperback is published in an 8.5 × 11-inch format and includes family histories, photographs and information on many descendants and branches that are not included on this website.
The Story Continues
The Shiels Family History book records our family history from its earliest known beginnings around 1690 through 2024, but family history is never really finished. New photographs are discovered, family stories are remembered and additional information continues to come forward.
That is where shiels.ca continues the story.
The website allows us to add new discoveries, photographs and stories without waiting for another edition of the book. Rather than attempting to reproduce all 340 pages online, the website follows selected individuals and family lines that help tell the larger story of the Shiels family.
For those who want to explore beyond the people and branches presented here, the Shiels Family History book provides the more complete family record.
Most importantly, both the book and this website were created for future generations—so that those who come after us will have a place to discover the people, places and stories that came before them.