Costumes and Halloween

The Library and Archives Canada has just put a virtual exhabit of Costumes and Halloween fancy dress balls that were hosted by Lady Aberdeen at Rideau Hall in Ottawa in the 1890s.

The exhabit is on Flickr at
www.flickr.com/photos/lac-bac/sets/72157631684420843

Value of Hotel Registers

Have you ever thought of using hotel registers as a genealogical resource? I haven't, but they would be a good resource to search for information about your ancestor in local libraris, and archives.

There will be a meeting of the Wellington County Branch on Tuesday, November 27, 2012 at 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm at the Zehrs Meeting Room, 2nd Floor, 1045 Paisley Road, Guelph, at which Dr. Kevin James, Associate Professor in the Department of History and Centre for Scottish Studies at the University of Guelph, will talk about The Hotel Visitor’s Book: Secrets, Lies and Everyday Jottings.

In this talk, Kevin explores the value of the hotel register as a historical source, drawing on surviving books from Victorian Ireland to show how they illuminate infidelity, modes of travel and the social regimes of the hotel.

For more information, go to www.ogs.on.ca/wellington/events.html

Kyle J. Betit Will Be Giving Lectures in Ontario/Quebec

Kyle J. Betit is so popular that he has already sold out his appearance in Toronto on the 17th of November, but there is still room at his lectures in Ottawa, and Montreal.

On Sunday, November 18, 201, Kyle J. Betit will give a talk at the annual Ryan Taylor Memorial Lecture of the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society. The lecture will be held at 1:00 pm at the Library and Archives Canada Auditorium, 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa.

Kyle is from Salt Lake City, Utah. He was a co-editor of the popular journal The Irish At Home and Abroad, and is co-author of A Genealogist’s Guide to Discovering Your Irish Ancestors.

For information about the lecture, please contact program@ogsottawa.on.ca, or the website at
http://ogsottawa.on.ca/

He will also be at the Quebec Family History Society on Wednesday, November 21st, and will give a talk at 7:00 pm at the QFHS Heritage Centre and Library, 173 Cartier Avenue, Pointe-Claire.

His lecture will be about Beyond the Basics of Irish Genealogy Research (Seminar), and he will talk about some of the lesser-known Irish resources that will help family historians learn more about their ancestors and track down the more elusive ones.

There will be a fee of $30.00 members, and $40.00 non-members. Reservations are required. We expect this seminar to sell out early.

Call 514.695.1502 or go to the website www.qfhs.ca/events.php for more information.

© Elizabeth Lapointe All Rights Reserved

New/Updated Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles - 29 October 2012

I have come across the following websites, blogs, and newspaper articles this past week that were of interest to me, and I thought you might be interested in them, too –

Alberta Wiki www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Alberta The site has a wiki which has a Record Selection Table, a Sources Links Table, and some online information about location of interest.

Out Of My Tree Blog www.outofmytreegenealogy.com/blog The blog along with a website by Barbara J. Starmans is all about Canadian genealogy. She is working on her father’s line (Bond/Bulmer), and on her mother’s line (Brown/Savage).

Olive Tree Genealogy Blog http://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/10/finding-ancestor-in-early-ontario.html Read Lorine’s notes on Finding an Ancestor in Early Ontario Records Before 1869. It reminds me how difficult it is to do research on an ancestor before 1869 in early Ontario.

Community Beat: Departure Bay remembers its own history www2.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/news/story.html?id=87c71a58-cb6e-4dc3-8970-a005cc3e6879 The Daily News from Nanaimo, BC has run a story about a wheel from an old ship which has been restored, and that along with a plaque has been installed at Departure Bay by the community association.

German-Manitoba history had origins with Hudson Bay Co. www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/westview/german-manitoba-history-had-origins-with-hudson-bay-co-176075311.html Read how the German-Manitoban history began in the province in 1670.

© Elizabeth Lapointe All Rights Reserved

Museum of Civilization Will Acquire the Empress of Ireland Collection

The museum will acquire the artifacts of the passenger ocean liner the Empress of Ireland which sank on May 29, 1914 in the St. Lawrence River just off of Quebec City. It had been broadsided by the Storstad, a Norwegian coal carrier.

It carried 1,477 passengers, and 1,012 died on that day.

The collection will include nearly 500 artifacts recovered from the site.

You can read the entire story at
www.ottawacitizen.com/Museum+Civilization+finally+acquires+Empress+Ireland+collection/7461001/story.html

The passenger and crew list is on this site at www.sea-viewdiving.com/shipwreck_info/empress_home/passengerindex.htm

Archives of Ontario - More Real Genealogy Stories Needed

The Archives of Ontario recently launched their first Real Genealogy Stories Display featuring OGS member Debbie Watt. The story of her ancestor is in the Reading Room.

Real Genealogy Stories, is a new initiative to promote genealogy research done by OGS members at the Archives of Ontario. Selected participants will be asked to fill two of our state-of-the-art, exhibition quality cases in the Reading Room for the purpose of highlighting their family history and records held by the Archives of Ontario.

Exhibitions will be on display for three months and will also be featured on the Archives of Ontario website, which is frequented by millions of visitors. This will allow further people to experience a family history who may not be able to visit in person.

This program is open to OGS members only and can be a chance for you to display your hard work and genealogical evidence.

If you are interested in participating, fill out the application form available in the Members Only area and mail back to the address on the form.

All questions about the Real Genealogy Stories project may be directed to the Archives of Ontario. Call 416.327.1600 or email reference@ontario.ca.

The next deadline is November 30th!

For more information, go to the Archives of Ontario website at www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/index.aspx, or to the Ontario Genealogical Sociey website at www.ogs.on.ca

Generous Genealogists

There is a new FREE service called Generous Genealogists.

It is being operated by Mark Rabideau, an Association of Professional Genealogists member. 

He is looking for volunteers to donate their time to provide research, networking, and coaching to the genealogy community at large. He is building on the work that use to be done by the now defunct Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness members.
Generous Genealogists is at http://generousgenealogists.com

All Souls Event at Vancouver’s Mountain View Ceme

A number of events will be held at Vancouver’s Mountain View Cemetery from October 27 to November 1, 2012, and they are –

Saturday, October 27 from 6:00 to 10:00 pm

Music, warming fires, and fragrant teas comfort the living, and public shrines remember the dead. Inside the Celebration Hall you will find space and materials to craft your own personal memorials.

Sunday, October 28 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

Threshold Choir performance in the Celebration Hall. The all-women Threshold Choir honours the ancient tradition of singing at the bedsides of people who are struggling, some with living, some with dying.

Tuesday, October 30 from 7:00 to 9:00 pm

Film screening of the 2006 documentary “Forever” about Pere-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France.

Thursday, November 1 from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

The Orkestar Slivovica Balkan Brass Band performance and procession through the shrines to honour the dead.

The Mountain View Cemetery is located at 5455 Fraser St, Vancouver, BC V5W 2Z3 (entrance at 39th Ave). Their phone number is 604.325.2646

An archived list of burials at Mountain View Cemetery is available here http://former.vancouver.ca/commsvcs/NONMARKETOPERATIONS/MOUNTAINVIEW/burials/index.htm
Follow this link to use the Mountain View Cemetery search on VanMap. If you use an iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch, you can download an app from the Cemetery website to search cemetery records by name and zoom in on the grave site. An Android app is coming soon.

You can go to these sites for more information -

Mountain View Cemetery (Vancouver)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_View_Cemetery_(Vancouver)

Find a Grave - Mountain View Cemetery and Crematorium
www.findagrave.com/php/famous.php?page=cem&FScemeteryid=1968309

Queen Victoria's Journals

The Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has issued a very important announcement this morning, and it is about Queen Victoria's Dairy -

“At the age of 13, Queen Victoria became an avid journal writer when her mother gave her a diary to document an upcoming trip to Wales. Her last entry was written more than six decades later, on January 13, 1901, only nine days before her death.

This year, in honour of Queen Victoria’s birth (May 24, 1819) and the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, all 141 journal volumes (comprised of 43,765 pages) have been digitized and are now available through a courtesy subscription obtained by Library and Archives Canada (LAC), through The Royal Household, and with the assistance of ProQuest.

The project’s website says that “ As well as detailing household and family matters, the journals reflect affairs of state, describe meetings with statesmen and other eminent figures, and comment on the literature of the day. They represent a valuable primary source for scholars of nineteenth century British political and social history and for those working on gender and autobiographical writing.”

Not only have the diaries been digitized, they have been (and will continue to be) transcribed to allow for a keyword search. In fact, The Queen, as Head of State for Canada, did not leave us unmentioned. A keyword search for “canad*” (without the quotation marks) currently retrieves more than 150 results up to 1839!

As the project continues and more years are transcribed and become searchable, this resource will become more valuable.

To access the journals, use any of the public workstations located at 395 Wellington Street in Ottawa or our Wi-Fi connection and visit the website Queen Victoria's Journals www.queenvictoriasjournals.org. You may browse the journals by date or search for keywords”.

The website for the LAC is www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Pages/home.aspx

The Waterdown East-Flamborough Heritage Society’s Book Fair and Seminar

The 22nd annual Book Fair and Seminar is being held Saturday, November 10th, 2012 from 9:30 am – 3:00 pm, with the Seminar beginning at 10: 30 am. at the Waterdown East-Flamborough Heritage Society. 

The seminar topic will be “The Importance of the Battle of Stoney Creek,” and the speaker will be James E. Elliott, author of “Strange Fatality: The Battle of Stoney Creek”.

Admission for the seminar is $5.00. Reservations will be taken up to November 5th. Fee is payable at the door.

For more information on the Book Sale, Seminar, and placing your reservation, you may contact them by phone at 905.540.5161. They are located at Fellowship Hall, St. James United Church, 306 Parkside Drive, Waterdown

The website is at www.wefhs.myhamilton.ca

Note: If you go on to their site, they have biographies of the Flamborough Nursing Sisters, C.E.F. Honour Roll for the Flamborough Area, Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Leper, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, and Flamborough Home Children.

They also have the history about The Railway in Waterdown, Postcards of the area, "Let It Snow" (a very well done vignette), and the McGregor family and their impact on the Waterdown area.

They have vertical files, photographs and histories of numerous other local families in the Waterdown Flamborough area.

A Toronto Genealogy Hero

A genealogy hero, Henry Wellisch, Past President Jewish Genealogical Society of Canada (JGS Canada), turned 90 years old on Sept. 22, 2012, and he will be honoured at the meeting tonigh at the Temple Sinai in Toronto at 8 pm (doors open 7:30 pm).

All members and friends are encouraged to attend this event as well as the presentation that follows called “Travelling Over the Pond” with Harvey Glasner and Les Kelman.

To read about this event, go to www.jgstoronto.ca

Breaking Down the Barriers – Hands-On Genealogy Workshop

Heritage Mississauga and the Halton Peel Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society are pleased to present Breaking Down the Barriers, on Saturday November 3rd, 10 am-4 pm, the fourth in their series of Genealogy Days.

This session is a hands-on workshop for those who have hit brick walls in their research. An esteemed panel of three professional workshop facilitators with over 80 years combined experience in genealogy research will provide personal consultations to participants.

Fawne Stratford-Devai, Dorothy Kew, and Jane Watt will be the special speakers.

This is the exciting part of the announcement - For just $10 per ½ hour session participants will meet personally with a consultant who will help them break down barriers to finding their ancestor. Call to reserve your seat today, space is limited. Reservations must be prepaid

The workshop will be held at Historic Robinson Adamson House, located at 1921 Dundas St. W., Mississauga, ON L5K 1R2. You must call 905.828.8411 ext. "0" to reserve your seat. Space is limited.

For more information, please go to www.heritagemississauga.com for Heritage Mississauga, or the Halton-Peel Branch of the OGS at www.halinet.on.ca/sigs/ogshp

Brant County Branch Fall Workshop

On Saturday, October 27, 2012 there will be a fall workshop from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm at the Brant County Branch Library of the OGS at 114-118 Powerline Road, Brantford.

Morning session speaker will be Zig Misiak, and he will talk about “ Six Nations in the War of 1812” from 1- 4 pm, and John Sietsma will talk about “ Using Computers in Your Research”.

It will be $25.00 with lunch if registered by October 24th, and $30.00 at the door + $5.00 for lunch.

To find out more about the workshop, go to the Brant County Branch www.ogs.on.ca/brant/index.html

Perth County Branch Holds October Meeting

Perth County Branch of the OGS in Stratford, Ontario is having their annual meeting on Saturday, 27 October 2012 from 1-4 pm.

The meeting will take place on the Upper Level at the Stratford Public Library, 19 St. Andrew Street, Stratford, and the speaker will be Lynn Matthison. She will talk about family members who fought in the Boer War, India, WWI, WWII and Bosnia, including a picture board and artifacts.

If you have war stories and memorabilia, bring them along as well.

The website is at www.ogs.on.ca/perth

New/Updated Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles - 22 October 2012

I have come across the following websites, blogs, and newspaper articles this past week that were of interest to me, and I thought you might be interested in them, too –

Welland Public Library www.welland.library.on.ca/e-services/local-history-genealogy They have a Genealogy Database (which has family names in Welland , and you can search this database), as well as the Welland Canal History in the Local History Section of the library.

Ancient village along B.C. river reveals 1,300 years of First Nations history www.globalsaskatoon.com/canada/ancient+village+along+bc+river+reveals+1300+years+of+first+nations+history/6442736678/story.html
The Canadian Press has reported that “While the Babine Lake First Nation knew their ancestors' village was there, it's untilled ground for archeologists” until they discover how large, and important the village was in First Nations history. ..

Trans Canada Trail to be completed by 2017
www.sackvilletribunepost.com/Provincial/2012-10-19/article-3103334/Trans-Canada-Trail-to-be-completed-by-2017/1 The Sackville Tribune reports that the people of the Trans Canada Trail that the goal is to have the remaining 6,200 kilometres open in time for Canada's 150th birthday on July 1, 2017.

You can go to the website of the Trans Canada Trail at http://tctrail.ca

Harvesting local history at the library
www.frontenacthisweek.com/2012/10/05/harvesting-local-history-at-the-library Canada is starting to collect stories for the 150th birthday of Canada in 2017, as they are doing in Kingston, Ontario. Read about the story in the Local News Section in the online newspaper.

Tracing women's history www.royalcityrecord.com/technology/Tracing+women+history/7415110/story.html An article by Archie & Dale Miller in The Record, an online newspaper in New Westminster, B.C., shows that genealogy of women is in local groups such as churches, hospitals, and women’s auxiliary history.

History on rails: Royal Canadian Pacific stops in Minot www.minotdailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/569895/History-on-rails--Royal-Canadian---.html Read about the history of the Canadian Pacific Railway in Minot, North Dakota.

© Elizabeth Lapointe All Rights Reserved

Family History Weekend 2012 at Vankleek Hill, Ontario

Two years ago, some friends from Ottawa and I went to Vankleek Hill to take in a Genealogy Fair!

First, we attended pretentions at the Champlain Township Public Library that morning, and later in the afternoon, we went over to the Vankleek Hill Arena/Community Centre to see the such displays as the Tweedsmuir Histories. We also went to the newspaper office of The Review to look at their online digital archives webpage of their website http://thereview.ca/Archive_Landingpage.html, and to talk and be interviewed by the newspaper’s editor, Louise Sproule!

This year, they are doing something a bit different – it will be a two-day affair.

Various venues around town will host the event, which is planned for the weekend of October 27-28.

On Saturday, they plan to have antiques appraisals given by Janet Carlile, who is best known for her work on CBC Television’s "Antiques Roadshow", and Harold MacMillan will give a talk on the Gaelic language at the Vankleek Hill Museum.

On Sunday, Kyla Ubbink, a well-known conservator, will be at the Community Centre to offer a 90-minute workshop, and there will be Walking Tours on Sunday afternoon with Denis Seguin, an architect, who will act as the tour leader and point out the various houses and businesses in the “Gingerbread Capital of Ontario”.

A weekend like this is a great opportunity the share your family history with others. Bring your photos and genealogies, and you can research and talk to others – for FREE! You might even break down a brick wall while you are there!

To contact the Family History Weekend, email the organizers at family@vankleek.ca or call them at 613.678.2323.

The event is hosted by the Vankleek Hill & District Historical Society as a fundraiser for the Vankleek Hill Museum. Visit their website for details www.vankleek.ca.

Canada's Person’s Day 2012

The Governor General's Awards in Commemoration of the Persons Case was created in 1979 to mark the 50th anniversary of this groundbreaking case, which changed the course of history for women in Canada. www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/dates/gg/index-eng.html

Every year, on Person’s Day, October the 18th, people gather at the statue erected to these five Alberta women known as the "Famous Five"—Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, Emily Murphy, and Irene Parlby—who had taken the case to the courts in 1927 to protest the fact that before their time, women were not considered as people when it came to Senate appointments.

These women saw this case to the Court of Privy Council, when on October 18, 1929, it declared that both men and women could be considered as “people” when it came to their appointment to the Senate Court of Appeal – the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of Great Britain.

On a warm and sunny day, people gathered on Parliament Hill in Ottawa for tea and cookies at the statue to the five women who fought the case to have women recognized as “persons” in Canadian political life.

On hand to partake in the event was Corinne Gallant of Moncton, New Brunswick, one of the five recipients of this year's awards. The other recipients are Caroline Andrew, Régine Alende Tshombokongo, and two Youth Recipients, Saara Bhanji and Joanne Cave. Their biographies are listed at www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/dates/gg/index-eng.html#tab2

June Coxon (L), President of the Media Club of Ottawa, with Maria Neil, President of the Ottawa Council of Women, next to the statues of Nellie McClung and Irene Parlby (R)

For more information, go to the following websites –

The Famous Five (Canada) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Famous_Five_(Canada)

Are Women Persons? The “Persons” Case www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/015/002/015002-2100-e.html

© Elizabeth Lapointe All Rights Reserved.

Sisters Of Saint Anne Historic Centre

The Old Convent of the Sisters of Saint Anne in Montreal is offering an unique way of exploring the presence of the Sisters of Saint Anne in Lachine from 1860 to 2010, and that unique way is through podcasts!.

They say that "You can now take a guided tour at your own pace that focuses on the history of the buildings that now comprise Collège Sainte-Anne and the Sisters of Saint Anne Historic Centre. Located near the Lachine Canal, the Convent Complex is a major point of interest in the borough of Lachine that attests to the important religious, educational and cultural heritage left by the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Anne".

Visitors can also download the podcast on their own MP3 player from the Conseil’s website at www.patrimoine-religieux.qc.ca/en/activites/eglises/cssa.php or from the Historic Centre’s website at www.ssacong.org/musee

The Historic Centre is open from Wednesday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. until October 31, and Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. from November 1 to June 1.

Free admission. Reservations required for groups of 8 or more.

For more information, please call us at 51.637.4616, ext. 212 or e-mail us at chssa@bellnet.ca.

The “Discovering the Convent Complex of the Sisters of Saint Anne” podcast is a production of the Conseil du patrimoine religieux du Québec. It is available in English and French. 

Manitoba Heritage Tattoo Cancelled

On Friday, October the 12th, I wrote about the Manitoba Heritage Tattoo to be held on the 27th of October, and now it has been cancelled due to lack of tickets sales.

Read the full story at the Brandon Sun
www.brandonsun.com/breaking-news/Manitoba-Heritage-Tattoo-cancelled-174609701.html?thx=y

Kitchener Public Library Genealogy Fair

The Kitchener Public Library is holding their second annual Genealogy Fair on Saturday, November 3 from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm. There is no registration, simply drop by. FREE admission!

The Keynote Speaker will be Kevin James, Professor of History, Centre for Scottish Studies, University of Guelph, and he will speak at 10:00 am in the Kitchener City Hall Rotunda. The subject will be "Connecting Family and Public Histories"

The press release says that “Drawing on novel examples of partnerships using sources from census returns to cookbooks, Kevin explores recent efforts to connect family history and genealogy to 'public' history, and talks about exciting new directions for collaborations between historians (amateur and professional), of the family, of the state and of society. Kevin’s research focuses on comparative Scottish and Irish social history.”

To find more information about the Fair, go to www.kpl.org/programs/program_listings/all.html#genealogy

There will be more than 25 exhibits and vendors!

The Canadian Museum of History

Monday I wrote about the pending announcement about the renaming and rebranding of the Museum of Civilization, and as luck would have it – the announcement was made yesterday!

The Museum of Civilization will be renamed The Canadian Museum of History, and Toronto Star reporter, Susan Delacourt of the Ottawa Bureau, among others, covered the story in the
www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1272496--civilization-ends-history-begins-at-canada-s-biggest-museum

The Museum of Civilization has background on the story, The Canadian Museum of History at a Glance, at their website at
www.civilization.ca/about-us/canada-history-museum

The Ontario Name Index TONI

The goal of TONI is to include EVERY name found in any publication relating to Ontario. The index will go over a million entries in October.

The members of the Ontario Genealogical Society is indexing this list. It is free, and open to everyone at www.ogs.on.ca/integrated/toni_database1.php

New/Updated Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles - 15 October 2012

I have come across the following websites, blogs, and newspaper articles this past week that were of interest to me, and I thought you might be interested in them, too –

Wanuskewin Heritage Park wanuskewin.yastechserver.com Wanuskewin Heritage Park is a national historic site on the Great Plains of North America. Before European settlement in the area, Crow, Blackfoot, Cree, Nakota, Dakota, Salteaux, Arapaho, Cheyenne, Shoshoni, Kiowa, Comanche and other First Nations people lived there.

Mennonite Historical Society of Saskatchewan (MHSS) http://mhss.sk.ca/index.shtml There are many records onsite, for example, family histories, obituaries, church history, and death notices.

News Flash! Museum of Civilization to get new focus www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/museum-of-civilization-to-get-new-focus/article4611129/?cmpid=rss1 Daniel Leblans from The Globe and Mail reports that the Museum of Civilization will be re-named this week to either the Canadian Museum of History or the Museum of Canadian History.

Column: Mysteries in the family history www.saanichnews.com/opinion/173595151.html Don Denton is looking into his family history, and has concluded “ Families are odd things and family history is often odder.”

Fairview celebrates Alberta Culture Days www.fairviewpost.com/2012/10/02/fairview-celebrates-alberta-culture-days Fairview Fine Arts Centre in Alberta celebrated Alberta Culture Days with an open house Sept. 28 and 29. They observed Culture Days in order to celebrate “our artistic sector, heritage, cultural diversity and provincial pride.”

Autumn 2012 Issue of QFHS “Connections”

Roots and Branches of My Maternal Family Tree is an article by Dawn Miller Ouellette in which she tells of the years of researching to try and find who David McConaghie (her maternal grandfather) was, and why no one wanted to talk about him!

Although she never really discovered what happened to David, she does point out the importance of using LDS records, and of belonging to the Quebec Family History Society in order to research correctly.

In his article, Sex in the City and Edwardian Mores, Robert N. Wilkins tells of stories run by the Montreal Star in which early 19^th Century people were gossiping of “salacious stories” that were heard in court on a fairly regular basis.

The remainder of Connections has a list of their events, library news, Computree, queries, and other news and notes that will help you become more knowledgeable about Quebec genealogy.

Their website is www.qfhs.ca

© Elizabeth Lapointe All Rights Reserved.

Perth & District, Ontario

A 64-page booklet about the town of Perth, located 60 minutes southwest of Ottawa, has been put together by the Perth & District Chamber of Commerce. Among the topics listed within the booklet is “Museum and Libraries”.

The eight are –

Matheson House – Perth Museum

Visit the 19th-century home at the museum, and beside the home, see exhibits on the Last Fatal Duel, and the Mammoth Cheese.

Outdoors is a Scottish garden containing flowering plants and shrubs true to the era (that I would like to see), and an outdoor bake oven and kitchen herb garden.

The website is at www.town.perth.on.ca/siteengine/activepage.asp?pageid=97

Hall of Remembrance Museum

This museum is on the second floor of the Royal Canadian Legion, and has artifacts of the Boer War, World War One and Two, Korea, and  Afghanistan.

The website is at www.lanarkcountymuseums.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=27&Itemid=20

Lanark and District Museum

There are genealogical books in their library, as well as exhibits of early pioneers life in Lanark County. They have the archives of William Caldwell, one of the earliest lumber barons of the area.

Go to their website at www.museevirtuel-virtualmuseum.ca/GetMuseumProfile.do?lang=en&chinCode=guadsp

Middleville and District Museum

Housed in a 1861 two-storey stone house, the exhibits includes a horse-drawn hearse!

There are original genealogy and family history records onsite, and a 1830s log cabin.

The website is www.middlevillemuseum.blogspot.com

Dalhousie Historic Library and Museum

This is the oldest rural library in Ontario, and it includes books donated by Lord Dalhousie in 1828, plus genealogical records.

There isn’t a website.

Archives Lanark

This archives is operated by the Lanark County Genealogical Society, and it contains deeds from 1868 to 1958, land records, newspaper clippings, and photos.

Their website is www.globalgenealogy.com/archiveslanark

Perth and District Union Public Library

This library serves the Town of Perth and Drummond/North Elmsley and Tay Valley Townships. They have genealogy books, and book clubs.

The website is at www.perthunionlibrary.ca

Lanark Highlands Public Library

This library has been in operation since 1824, and they have many books on the social and historical aspect of the Lanark Highlands.

The website is www.lanarklibrary.ca

© Elizabeth Lapointe All Rights Reserved.

Manitoba Heritage Tattoo & Festival

On Saturday, October 27, 2012, at 1:30 PM, there will be over 250 participants from across Manitoba who will be at Westman Place, Keystone Centre, in Brandon to perform at the Manitoba Heritage Tattoo & Festival.

The tattoo will feature the Winnipeg Police Pipes, Drums and Dancers, Rusalka Dance Ensemble, RCMP Drill Squad, Sagkeeng's Finest, Brandon University Symphonic Band, and Brandon University Massed Choristers.

There is also an exciting evening featuring the musicians of the RCAF Band's Celtic, Dixieland, and Jazz Ensembles, on Friday October 26th 7:30 pm at Knox United Church. Tickets are $12, and available at the door.

For more information, go to www.mbhtattoo.ca

All Hallow’s Eve Returns to Old Fort Erie

The following Press Release was received from The Niagara Parks Commission -

"Niagara Falls, ON – Experience the traditions of Halloween, 1812-style, brought to life through the ghosts of Canada’s bloodiest battlefield. Staff at The Niagara Parks Commission’s (NPC) Old Fort Erie are preparing the final details for these memorable tours, which will take place October 19 - 20 and October 26 - 27 beginning at 7:30 p.m.

A fun and frightening evening is promised for visitors to the old stone fort, ending with refreshments and the annual burning of a Guy Fawkes effigy. The site of the bloodiest battlefield in the history of Canada conjures up many of its own hair-raising tales. See the Old Fort from the perspective of the spirits who still make their presence felt. The past comes to life through story-telling and the ancient traditions of Halloween

Tours start at 7:30 p.m., followed by the burning of the Guy Fawkes effigy at 8:30 p.m. This event is suitable for all ages. Be prepared and dress for any kind of weather. Reservations are required. Please call 905.871.0540 to book".

The event will held October 19 - 20 and October 26 - 27 at 7:30 p.m.

The admission is Adult $12.25, Child (ages 6-12) $7.95, Children 5 and under FREE

The location is the Old Fort Erie, 350 Lakeshore Road, Fort Erie, Ontario

For more information, visit www.niagaraparksheritage.com

Say “Thank You” to Indexers

I revieved this notice from FamilySearch.org yesterday –

“Here’s your chance to say thank you to the indexers who have helped you find your ancestors. Create a short video that is one minute or less to thank FamilySearch indexers and arbitrators for helping to make records searchable online. Highlight an ancestor you have found, or highlight someone you know who has found an ancestor while searching on FamilySearch.org, and express your gratitude to the indexers who helped make it possible.

Help indexers know their work matters. Share this contest with your friends, and get them involved”!

Submission Start Date: Monday, October 8, 2012

Submission Deadline: Monday, November 5, 2012

Prized will be posted on the FamilySearch indexing Facebook page, and 5 winners will receive a $25 Visa gift card!

Read all about it at https://familysearch.org/blog/en/fsindexingvideocontest2012

Genealogy Tourism

Yesterday, the Asian Edition of the eTravelBlackboard website posted a story on genealogy tourism, the “new travel trend” in the UK and Ireland.

Is there a company in Canada which offers "Genealogy Tourism”?

To check out the whole story, go to www.etravelblackboardasia.com/article/86896/genealogy-tourism-the-new-travel-trend

Monday’s with Myrt Webinar

Yesterday, I listed to Dear Myrtle's (Pat Richley-Erickson) first webinar in her new series, “Mondays with Myrt”. What a delightful way to spend an hour or so listening to her and her cousin, Russ Worthington, who kept everything in running order.

She had, as special guest, Denise Levenick, The Family Curator blogger www.thefamilycurator.com, and author of a new book, How to Archive Family Keepsakes.

Pat and Denise talked about different aspects of archiving family heirlooms and how to go about doing that, and gave some advice on setting-up one's own archives.

Dear Myrt then had a lightning round at the end of the program in which listeners phoned in and told her how they archived their own family keepsakes.

And one more important thing to mention is that Dear Myrt asked people to enter the 2012 Share a Memory contest, and pne of the winners was Diane Rogers, the person behind the British Columbia Genealogy Society blog at http://www.bcgs.ca, and her own personal blog called CanadaGenealogy, or 'Jane's Your Aunt', at http://canadagenealogy.blogspot.com.

In her blog post of September 26, 2012 entitled, “My Childhood Room - Pink, Pink - My Share A Memory”, she talks about her childhood memory of her room in the house (she even has a floor plan of her bedroom, which she drew), and everything in the room was in her favourite coluor - PINK!

Congratulations, Diane!

So be sure to listen to Dear Myrt next week on "Mondays with Myrt". This webinar series will remain free, or you can register at http://blog.geneawebinars.com to hear her other webinar series. And don't forget to check her blog at http://blog.dearmyrtle.com.

I will see you next week as we listen to Dear Myrt on her “Mondays With Myrt” webinar.

New/Updated Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles - 08 October 2012

I have come across the following websites, blogs, and newspaper articles this past week that were of interest to me, and I thought you might be interested in them, too -

Records From New France www.bms2000.org They are up to Version 16 of this database now, and they inclue the following records -

 

Parishes - 6,864 records

Patronyms - 15,614 records

Baptisms - 5,133,171 records

Marriages - 3,462,849 records

Burials - 2,255,309 records

They say that these records are “verified genealogical data”, and that the index is free. Once you have subscribed to the website, you can have access to the records themselves (for a fee).

 

Tutto Franchini! http://franchinisurname.wordpress.com Read about the Franchini family in Canada.

 

Robineau Family Genealogy www.robineau.ca Read about the Sauve, Cartier, Lavimodiere, Powell, and White families in Eastern Ontario and Quebec.

 

Half-brothers meet for the first time thanks to Internet search and Toronto Daily Star article from 1945 http://www.thestar.com/living/article/1267688--half-brothers-meet-for-the-first-time-thanks-to-internet-search-and-toronto-daily-star-article-from-1945 Nancy J. White, a reporter from the Toronto Star, reports on a story about a family from the Toronto area who have met a family member that they didn’t even know existed.

 

Donation of documents helps fill gap in area death records www.ngnews.ca/News/Local/2012-10-03/article-3092090/Donation-of-documents-helps-fill-gap-in-area-death-records/1 The News in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, reports that the Pictou County Roots Society www.pictoucountyroots.ca has discovered books in their local library that cover the period from 1877 to 1908. These books uncover death records that were previously unknown.

 

Celebrating all those yesterdays today www.kamloopsthisweek.com/entertainment/171350161.html Kamloops This Week, an online newspaper from British Columbia, has a story about how Gillian Gaisera, a genealogist from the area, read an article about genealogy in a local magazine, and started the Kamloops Family History Society! This year, they celebrate their 20th anniversary!

The website of the Kamloops Family History is at www.kfhs.org

Campbellford-Seymour Heritage Society

The society is located on Front Street in Campbellford on the main street in the middle of the town, and it is in a busy place with monthly meetings, member’s helping with cemetery transcriptions, and the Campbellford Model Railroad Club.

They have put together a Tour Guide and Map, and it contains two maps of the town (a town map, and a general map of the area), and inside of the publication, there is two full pages of sites called the Heritage of Our Community which, for example, the Ferris Provincial Park where the Highland Games are held every summer, the former bridge Street School, and the Empire Cheese & Butter Co-operative, the only cheese-making facility in Northumberland County.

They have produced four books - Gleanings, A History of Campbellford-Seymour; Campbellford Memorial Hospital: 50 Years of Care Beyond Compare, 1953-2003; A Walk Down Memory Lane: 150 Years of the Campbellford-Seymour Agricultural Society, 1854-2004; and Glimpses of Campbellford: A Collection of 300 Postcards from the Archives of the Campbellford-Seymour Heritage Society.

For research purposes, they have 119,000 family names, 100 Family Files, in their local database for Campbellford and Seymour, and Campbellford/Seymour Veterans of World War I and II.

To go to their website, click on to www.csheritage.org

Nova Scotia Land Papers 1765-1800

The Nova Scotia Archives has gathered land records (1765-1800), and has put them on it's online database.

The information that is on the website says that “The records are a collection of petitions made to government by individuals or groups of people seeking grants of Crown Land for settlement purposes in early Nova Scotia”.

The database contains 11,464 names, and links from the petitioner's name to the fully digitized document files created for that particular land grant — 1890 files, containing 9259 image that were scanned.

They say that if you are searching for online information about early land settlement in Nova Scotia, you have come to the right place – you get to read the original document! The land records are from the "Record Group 20, Series A, Land Petitions and other material."

I did come across records belonging to Andrew BARCLAY, in Shelburne County, which completed, for me, his land records that I had been looking for from 1783 to 1785.

The website for the archives is http://gov.ns.ca/nsarm

The land records are at http://gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/landpapers

In addition, there are some records here from New Brunswick before it became a separate province in 1784.

Postscript: I am slowly going through the Nova Scotia Historical Newspaper Records for news about the Barclay family from Shelbure County, and the Webster family from Kentville, Kings County, although it does seen that I have not made much progress.

You can go to http://gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/newspapers

New FamilySearch Video

The other day, I learned that FamilySearch Center had put a new 10 minute video on the Family Seach site.

So I decided to take a look.

The title of the video is “Doing Research in Real Time-An Exhilarating Collaboration Experience!", and a team of researchers led David E. Rencher as he sets about researching in real time. The team was from around the country, and used records in Salt Lake City, Ancestry.ca, and from other parts of the U.S., for example, Alabama in real time.

I found that it gave a very good picture of how the research is done. And I would recommend it to everyone to get your genealogy done in a resonable amount of time.

The video is at https://familysearch.org/learningcenter/home.html

There is a The Wiki Article/Handout link at https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Doing_Research_in_Real_Time, that you can print out and use for reference later on, and a survey that you can complete.

The website for FamilySearch is at https://familysearch.org

BIFHSGO Meeting Saturday October 13th

On October 13th, 2012, starting at 9:000, at the Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa, there will be a meeting of the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ontario (BIFHSGO).

Starting at 9:00, there will be a “Before BIFHSGO Educational Talk” and it will be “Using A2A Archives (UK)” by Glenn Wright, from 9:15-10:00 am, there will be the “ Discovery Your Library and the Research Computer” out in the foyer, and from 10:00-11:30, there will be the monthly meeting speaker who will be Gillian Leitch, and she will talk about “Itchy Feet: Understanding the Emigrations of the Paulin Family from Henley-on-Thames” in the audiotorium.

She will discuss their various moves in England, their lives in their home-towns in England, and the reasons why chose the places to live that they did.

There is a 10 minute interview with Gillian by Brooke Broadbent on www.bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=59 in which she explains how she discovered the reasons why her family emigrated from England to Canada in the late/early 19th and 20th centuries, and then back to England again.

She says that being a professional historian, she always “spreads a wide net” so that she catches all of the reasons (both economic and political), as to why a family may emigrate.

There meetings are FREE, and open to everyone to come and enjoy family history.

The website for BIFHSGO is www.bifhsgo.ca

Births, Marriages, Deaths (BMD) Database

The Alberta Family Histories Society (AFHS) recently made the announcement that they have just added thousands of new records, bringing the total to almost 10,000!

It will continue to grow over time, and is a supplemental to the Newspaper announcements page.

The AFHS says that transcribers are needed. Help the Projects Committee record newspaper births, marriages and deaths.

By transcribing, you can 

■ Work from home!

■ Do as little or as much as you’d like (every little bit helps).

■ Have fun adding to the Alberta Family Histories Society’s databases.

■ Get that warm glow contributing to a worthwhile project gives you!

You can go to www.afhs.ab.ca/data/bmd/search.php to check the database, and be a AFHS transcriber!

Canada Voters Lists, 1935-1980

Ancesty.ca has added voter’s lists to their database online. As they say “Canada Voters Lists is our newest and largest collection to date and the one that may help you discover more of your family’s story”.

They contain such information as name, address, electoral district and occupations.

The women, if they are married at the time, appears as their married name, such as my mother – Mrs. Harold Barclay – not as her maiden name – Florence Blades.

I checked 1948, and 1965, two years in the voter’s list for my parent’s names –

In 1948, they were living with Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Westhaver, (train operator), at 37 Summit Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and my father was listed as a meat cutter.

By 1965, we were living in Jordan Falls, Shelburne County, Nova Scotia, and my father was a cook.

There can be mistakes in the voter’s list, because the database is an  OCR version from the original record.

For instance, in the 1965 list, my father’s middle name was listed as “cihik”, which was his occupation (cook), not his middle name. So I must correct that.

When time allows, I will check the rest of the family, who lived in southwestern Nova Scotia. It will be helpful when I marry together the year’s that members were in the United States, and when they returned to Nova Scotia.

Go to www.ancestry.ca/cavoterslists?o_xid=52461&o_lid=52461&o_sch=Email

The Association of Nova Scotia

The association has a new website, and having spent sometime there this morning, I am quite impressed!

There have their library holdings online, a Facts and Tips page, and a Surname page.

They also have FREE databases that you can check. These are all good databases, with lots of information in them.

They databases are -

Index to records of the Halifax Funeral Home

Index to Vital Stats from "The Colonial Patriot" 1827-1834

Published Genealogies of Nova Scotia Families

Nova Scotia Genealogist Subject Index

Genealogical Newsletters of the Nova Scotia Historical Society

The new site is very pleasing to the eye, and it makes you want to believe that they will keep adding to the databases. They also have a Member's Only page, which also holds databases.

On Tuesday, the 27 November 2012, at 7:30, they will hold their 3rd Annual Brick Wall Busters in which they will address "Road Blocks in Your Genealogy Research: How to Proceed".

Dr. Allan Marble, CG(C), President, GANS and Ginny Clark CG(C), Past President, Genealogical Institute of the Maritimes will be there to help you get through those Brick Walls.

The meeting will be held at Akins A/V Room, Nova Scotia Archives,
Public Archives Site, 6016 University Avenue, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The new website at http://www.novascotiaancestors.ca

And if you want to check their Facebook, go to www.facebook.com/NovaScotiaAncestors

Relatively Speaking

The newsletter of the Alberta Genealogical Society headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, has over 10 indexes of their newsletter "Relatively Speaking" online.

You can search their individual indexes to the newsletter, with issues starting online at 2004. There is also a summary of the newsletter, and supplements such as Bylaw Changes, AGM 2012, and Policy Changes.

The full issue of the newsletter itself is available at the Member’s Only website online at www.abgensoc.ca.

Moreover, they have great news!

The 40th Anniversary will be held next year, in 2013, in Edmonton. It will be celebrated at the Alberta Genealogical Society, Conference 2013, to be held April 20 & 21, 2013,

The website is www.abgensoc.ca.

The blog about the conference is at www.abgensoc.ca/AGSConference2013.jpg

The Toronto History Lecture

A press release came from The Toronto History Lecture this morning, and I thought that you would be interested -

“Please join us again this year in spreading the word about The Toronto History Lecture. It will be held on October 24 at 7:30 pm at the City of Toronto Archives and is presented jointly by the Archives and the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society.

To commemorate the bicentennial of the War of 1812, the City of Toronto Museum Services created a Book of Remembrance for the men of York who fell during the war and all the casualties of the Battle of York. Janice Nickerson's research on the militia men uncovered so many fascinating stories that she decided to put them together in a book, York's Sacrifice: Militia Casualties of the War of 1812.

For the bicentennial year's Toronto History Lecture, Janice will tell a few stories of the men, women and children whose lives were transformed by this pivotal event in the history of Toronto.

Admission is free, but reservation is required. Their website is at www.toronto.ca/archives

Many members of the heritage community contributed to the great success of last year's inaugural Toronto History Lecture. We look forward to a similar success on October 24th”.

May I add that in the November 2012 issue of the Ontario Genealogical Society Families, we will have a book excerpt from Janice’s book mentioned above, and a book review.

The website of the OGS is www.ogs.on.ca

New/Updated Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles

I have come across the following websites, blogs, and newspaper articles this past week, and I thought you would be interested in them too –

A Family Tapestry http://afamilytapestry.blogspot.com Canadian and U.S. surnames such as STEVENS, TULLY, KELLY, FLOWERS, GORDON, METZGER, DAVIS, BOOTHE, McCLELLAN, PUCHALSKI, LASKOWSKI are studied in this blog.

Scrathings http://stephenheeney.com This is a new book which traces the author's newly-found aboriginal ancestry to the Six Nations of the Grand River (Iroquois) DAVIS family in Ontario.

Browns Yard http://brownsyard.wordpress.com A new blog has been put on about St Paul's Anglican Church, between Moncton and Miramichi City in New Brunswick. The blogger says that it is very remote and travel is mostly on dirt roads. She put the cemetery on the Internet for family members, but found out that more people were becoming interested, so she decided to open it to everyone.

Canada Calls Off Franklin Search, For Now http://blogs.wsj.com/canadarealtime/2012/09/24/canada-calls-off-franklin-search-for-now/?mod=google_news_blog Alistair MacDonald of The Wall Street Journal reports that the Canadian ships searching for Sir John Franklin are back in port, and have called off the search for that disappeared ships almost 200 years ago. (accessed 25 September 2012)

100 years of flight celebrated in Charlottetown http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2012/09/24/pei-flight-100-years-airplane-584.html The CBC reports that the first airplane flight in Charlottetown on the “Red Devil” took place 100 years ago, and a plaque commemorating it was recently dedicated. (accessed 25 September 2012).