Branching Out Spring Seminar at Campbell River

The Branching Out Spring Seminar of the Campbell River Genealogy Society of British Columbia will be held on Saturday 25th April at the CR Maritime Heritage Centre from 9:30-3:00 pm.

The speaker will be Dave Obee and he will present four seminars and they will be -

Travel Smart with Technology: Visiting an ancestral community is one of the greatest thrills. The presentation is designed to help travellers, both real and virtual, to maximize their research into family connections outside Canada.

Beyond the Online Basics: A genealogical guide to digital collections. This session provides ideas on how to find the documents that will help you learn more about your families, or the local histories of the areas where they lived.

A Fresh Light on old Newspapers: Thanks to the many digitization projects, there are millions of newspaper pages on the Internet. What are the pitfalls? This presentation takes you through the digitization process, from hard copy to your computer screen. It is designed to help you achieve the best results from your work.

Trinkets & Treasures: Things Your Ancestors left Behind - Items that your ancestors used or created will help you to gain a better understanding of the lives they lived and serve as a reminder of times past. Think of the stories they can tell.

The cost of the seminar is $50.00.

A Save-On bag lunch can be pre-ordered for an added fee. Refreshments will be available and there will be a draw for door prizes.

To register, contact Janice Wilkin before April 17 at wilkin1@telus.net or phone (250) 203-0585. A registration form can be downloaded from www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bccrgc/

Their website is at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bccrgc/

The Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/groups/179838535426731/

The Conference has been cancelled!

On the website of the National Genealogy Conference in Canada at http://www.visiontravel.ca/heidiwilker it says that the Conference has been CANCELLED!

They say that “Regretfully, we must cancel the National Genealogy Conference in Canada for July 17-19, 2015.

Many thanks to the planned speakers for their willingness to support an inaugural national genealogy conference in Canada, to the companies and organizations who were willing to support the conference through sponsorship, and to those who generously helped to spread the word to their network of genealogists”.

So the Conference saga has come to an end. It wasn’t unexpected. Because the cost was too high for most people, and having lived in Halifax for 20+ years, I would go for an outdoors vacation where I could visit the sights, rather than stay indoors at a conference.

So maybe they can come back to underwrite another Comference at some future date. We shall see.

Meanwhile, here are two blogs I wrote on the Conference -

January 9, 2015 National Genealogy Conference in Canada http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/national-genealogy-conference-in-canada.html

January 27, 2015 The conference lowers its price – sort of ... http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-conference-lowers-its-price-sort-of.html

Ontario Jewish Archives

What a complete, and useful archives this is – full of records, and you can research the following topics at the archives -

marriage records

family histories

newspapers and periodicals

cemetery records

synagogue and Jewish fraternal society records

immigration case files created by the Jewish Immigrant Aid Society (JIAS) and the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC)

ledgers from Jewish shipping agents

military records

Who's Who of Toronto Jewry

Go to their wesite at http://www.ontariojewisharchives.org/

Their Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/OntarioJewishArchives

April 9 - Vimy Ridge Day in Canada

Vimy Ridge was a battle in which Canadians fought in the First World War. It was part of a larger battle of Arras in northern France. It began on Easter Monday, and about 30,000 Canadians fought at Vimy Ridge and claimed victory. 3,600 Canadians were killed, with many wounded.

There is a special exhibit in London right now until September 2015, and then will travel across the country, and it is called the Souterraine Impression.

This exhibition illuminates the lives of Canadian veterans through the deeply personal carvings and drawings made by soldiers concealed in the allied caves and trenches near Vimy Ridge, France.

Organized by Zenon Andrusyszyn, Souterraine Impressions “will bring reproductions of site-specific artifacts to Canada through contemporary 3-dimensional printing, allowing audiences a rare glimpse at these personal documents created while Canadian soldiers awaited orders to join the now legendary Battle for Vimy Ridge. While not a great military success, the battle has subsequently become for Canada a symbol of national unity, achievement and tremendous sacrifice”.

Visitors will see “a series of "tableaus” containing one of the reproduced carvings, a photograph of the soldier who created it and a short biography. While many of the carvings feature regimental or battalion badges, there are also carvings of hearts, animals and names’.

You can go to the museum in London at http://www.museumlondon.ca/exhibitions:115 to get particulars on the exhibit.

Meanwhile, there are news articles today in the papers, and some of them are -

Honouring the memory of Vimy Ridge
http://www.melfortjournal.com/2015/04/07/honouring-the-memory-of-vimy-ridge

New Vimy Foundation poll reveals majority of Canadians believe 100th anniversary of Vimy Ridge in 2017 should be focus of Canada's Sesquicentennial
http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1514029/new-vimy-foundation-poll-reveals-majority-of-canadians-believe-100th-anniversary-of-vimy-ridge-in-2017-should-be-focus-of-canada-s-sesquicentennial

Three Quarters of Canadians (74%) Believe 100th Anniversary of Vimy Ridge in 2017 Should Be One of Canada’s Most Important Celebrations During Sesquicentennial 
http://www.northumberlandview.ca/index.php?module=news&type=user&func=display&sid=33787

Ninety-eight years later, historian finds ‘missing’ soldiers from the Battle of Vimy Ridge 
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/world/ninety-eight-years-later-historian-finds-missing-soldiers-from-the-battle-of-vimy-ridge

Its time for the 4th Annual Genealogy Fair!!!

The 4th Annual Genealogy Fair will be held at the Kitchener Public Library, 85 Queen St N on Saturday, April 25, 2015 from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm.

It will be an all-day affair, beginners and experts alike are invited to Kitchener Public Library’s 4th Annual Genealogy Fair. Attend workshops and lectures, speak with experts, browse exhibits, and connect with vendors.

The keynote speaker will be Lynn Palermo of the blog The Armchair Genealogist at http://www.thearmchairgenealogist.com/, and she will offer attendees down-to-earth advice on researching and writing their family history.

For a full-day of speaker, go to http://www.kpl.org/ref/gsr/genealogyfair.html

FREE ADMISSION! Just simply drop by. There is no registration required.

Do you know that its National Archives Week in Canada?

Although it is National Archives Week in Canada, there some archives which celebrate it at other times during the year.

But one archives which celebrates it is the Grimsby Historical Society Archives in Grimbsy, Ontario.

This little archives has as its logo “We preserve Grimsby’s past for the future”.

Yet the little archives which is acting way beyond its weight, has inputted 525 entries onto www.OurOntario.ca, a huge province-wide database. They have also researched and added more than 1,500 pieces of information to the archives’ First World War file. And they have added more than 2,000 newspaper clippings to the collection, as well as scanning thousands of photos and documents for the collection. The database of obituaries – very important especially for family history researchers – now has 7,800 entries. And all of this work has been done by volunteers!

So if you are in the area, drop in and say ‘Hello’.

The website is at http://www.grimsbyhistoricalsociety.com/

There’s a new look to an older website

 

The Sudbury Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society has a new look to its website!

I knew that they were working on one, and today I took a visit.

It is a very clear design, an inviting way to present genealogy, in a non-glitzy
(is that a word?) manner. I am very impressed.

Under Reference Information drop down menu, they have put their library holdings that you can download onto your site; Our Projects – where you can download cemetery updates, and the 1921 census data; Maps - which show the District and the Townships in 1841 – Baldwin, Chapleau, Killarney, Nairn and Hyman, Sables-Spanish Rivers, and Surnames List from various publications - cemeteries, registers, funeral home data, wills, land registry documents and miscellaneous books.

So if you have ancestors in the Sudbury area, this is a place that you should check at http://www.sudburyogs.com/

They also have a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/sudburyogs/

Toronto Branch of the OGS releases its summer programe

We have just received the summer program of the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society. The program is as follows -

Registration is now open for Genetic Genealogy, a full-day workshop to be held on Saturday 6 June 2015 at North York Central Library, co-sponsored by Toronto Branch and the Library’s Canadiana Department.

This workshop will cover the main types of DNA testing available to genealogists, different analytical techniques and how the results from genetic testing are used in conducting or supporting family history research. Our keynote speaker will be Irish genetic genealogy expert Dr. Maurice Gleeson.

Early-bird rates apply until 9 May and OGS members enjoy additional discounts.

For full program and speaker details and to register online, visit http://torontofamilyhistory.org/learn/workshops/genetic-genealogy/

Toronto Branch and the Canadiana Department of North York Central Library will also be co-sponsoring a one-day workshop on Atlantic Canada Genealogy on 17 October 2015.

The keynote speaker for this event will be Dr. Terrence M. Punch of Halifax, Nova Scotia. We are now looking for other speakers who would like to be part of this workshop.

The deadline for submission of proposals is 16 May 2015.

The full Call for Speakers can be found at http://torontofamilyhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Call-for-Speakers-Atlantic-Canada-Genealogy.pdf.

The website is at http://torontofamilyhistory.org/

Their Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/TOFamilyHistory

Ever been to Genealogy Summer Camp?

One of the highlights of the summer was going Summer Camp, wasn't it?

Well, did you know that Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society has had a Genealogy Summer Camp for almost twenty years?

If you didn't know, but would like to find out more about the summer camp, you can contact Jane MacNamara at her blog http://wherethestorytakesme.ca/genealogy-summer-camp/ for details.

Toronto Branch has been running this innovative program for almost two decades now - they invite out-of-town researchers to Toronto for a full week of concentrated family history research at our wonderful libraries and archives, under the guidance of local experts. More than 140 participants from England, right across Canada and many US states have attended over the years.

Local residents are welcome too, and may choose to stay with the group or attend as “day-campers”.

This year’s Genealogy Summer Camp will run from Sunday 7 June to Friday 12 June 2015.



Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/canadian-week-in-review-30-march-2015.html

 It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

April is Sikh Heritage Month in Ontario

Sikh Heritage Month is celebrating in Ontario because in 2013 Bill 52 An Act to proclaim the month of April as Sikh Heritage passed by the Ontario government.

“Sikh Canadians have lived in Ontario since the middle of the 20th century,” said Singh. “They represent a growing and dynamic population. Sikh Canadians have made significant contributions to the growth and prosperity of Ontario and that’s what we’re celebrating this month.” said Jagmeet Singh, NDP MPP. 

Their website says that "April was specifically chosen given its importance for Sikhs, as it is in April that Sikh Canadians celebrate Vaisakhi, which marks the formalization of the Khalsa and the Sikh articles of faith. Sikh Heritage Month is an opportunity to remember, celebrate and educate our future generations and society at large about Sikh Canadians and the important role that they play in communities across Ontario".

To see their website, go to http://ontariosikhheritagemonth.ca/

To read their Facebook page, go to https://www.facebook.com/sikhheritagemonth



Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/canadian-week-in-review-30-march-2015.html

 It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

SEEKING "ASK AN EXPERT VOLUNTEERS" FOR OGS CONFERENCE 2015

 

Shirley Sturdevant, Program Chair of the Ontario Genealogical Society’s Conference this year in Barrie, Ontario has put out a special call for "ASK AN EXPERT VOLUNTEERS".

Many of the OGS Conference 2015 Speakers have offered their service for the "Ask an Expert" program being offered at the OGS Conference in Barrie this year from May 29-31 at Georgian College, Barrie, Ontario. Conference organizers are seeking other experienced OGS members or other APG/OCAPG experts in the field who wish to offer their services and promote their skills.

This is an excellent opportunity for experts in Canadian genealogy to share their knowledge and help people with their genealogy.

Interested volunteers should contact Shirley Sturdevant, Program Chair at program.conference@ogs.on.ca

You can go to the Conference site at http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference/



Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/canadian-week-in-review-30-march-2015.html

 It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

New idea at the Kensington Market Historical Society

Since the Kensington Market Historical Society came into being in 2012, they have put on many events, and walking tours around the market in Toronto.

And they are about to put on a new exhibit with a interesting way of experiencing it!

On April the 19th at the Lillian H. Smith Library, the Kensington Market Historical Society, and Marianne Williams, and Rachel Leaton will present General Eclectic: Oral Histories of Kensington Market, an online exhibition of the stories from current and former residents of the beloved Toronto neighbourhood.

To launch the exhibit a free' human library' is being co-sponsored by the Toronto Public Library on April 19, 2015 from 2pm to 4:30pm. The Human Library event allows you to "borrow" a member of the Kensington Market community for a brief conversation about their experiences and memories. You are also welcome to share your memories of Kensington Market.

The exhibition will be launched at 2:15pm with the Human Library starting at 2:30pm. Light refreshments from the market will be served.

Do you see your genealogical society doing something like this? You could highlight something in your society, for example. You could have an online exhibit, plus a ‘human library’ of speakers available to talk about the archives one-on-one at your Speakers Series with people who come to the event. Wouldn't  this be a great idea? Some thinking 'outside of the box', right? Let me know if your society intends to do something like this.  You can read my post on the Speaker Series at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/monthly-meeting-or-speaker-series.html

Visit the exhibition online at www.kmhs.ca/general-eclectic after April 19th. (Check back at this time)

Go their website at the http://www.kmhs.ca/



Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/canadian-week-in-review-30-march-2015.html

 It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

Prince Edward Island Archives has online exhibit

 

The Prince Edward Island Archives has an online exhibit called

Preserved by Letters - Fifty Years of the Public Archives and Records Office which shows how the archives was conceived, and brought into being.    Trace the history of the archives at http://www.gov.pe.ca/archives/onlineexhibits/display.php3?ipn=1&cat=35

Ottawa Museums & Archives Collections

We have been informed that Ottawa has put their museums and archives collections online at http://felix.minisisinc.com/ottawa/scripts/mwimain.dll?get&file=%5Bottawa_web%5Dindex.html

You can search the entire collection, browse the items, or click on one of the community museum links to browse only that museum's collection.

So I took a look at the full collection, and visited each of the museum ‘virtually’ and I liked my visit. I got to see each item at my leisure and I subscribed to the e-newsletter so that I will get the upgrades to the museums, and the archives.

You can search their collections of the community museums in Ottawa – the Bytown Museum, the Diefenbunker, the Goulbourne Museum, the Osgoode Township Museum, and the Museoparc Vanier Museapark, and the City of Ottawa museums at Billings Estate National Museum Site, the Cumberland Heritage Village Museum, and the Gloucester Collection, and of course, the City of Ottawa Archives.



Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/canadian-week-in-review-30-march-2015.html

 It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

UPDATE: OGS Conference – Interview No 6

Shirley Sturdevant, former president of the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) interviews Kathryn Lake Hogan, an Ontario professional genealogist, author, educator and speaker specializing in helping family history researchers find their ancestors in Canada.

She annually attends genealogy research institutes and conferences, and this year she will be speaking at the Conference on Saturday with the topic Loyalist or Patriot: Whose Side was He On? , and on Sunday she will speak on two topics - Canadian Copyright for Family History and Free at Last! Researching African Americans in Canada During Slavery.

To view the YouTube interview, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-hOd9DcLL0&feature=youtu.be

And to review the other interviews on this blog, you can go to the following websites -

Interview No 1 with Thomas MacEntee and Dr.Janet Few at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/02/update-ogs-conference-interviews.html

Interview No 2 with Dr. Maurice Gleeson at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/02/another-ogs-interview.html

Interview No 3 with Kirsty Gray http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/02/update-ogs-conference-interview-no-3.html

Interview No 4 with Dave Obee http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/update-ogs-conference-interview-no-4.html

Interview No 5 with Richard M. Doherty http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/update-ogs-conference-interview-no-5.html

The OGS website is at http://www.ogs.on.ca/

The Conference Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/OntarioGenealogicalSocietyConference?ref=hl



Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/canadian-week-in-review-30-march-2015.html

 It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012. 

Canadian Week in Review - 30 March 2015

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

This Week in Canadian History

In 1821, a medical school was incorporated in Montreal. It later became part of McGill University.
To read more, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McGill_University

In 1865, Prince Edward Island voted against Confederation.
To read more, go to http://www.revparl.ca/english/issue.asp?param=125&art=765

In 1885, troops were mobilized across Canada because of the Northwest Rebellion
To read more, go to http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/north-west-rebellion/

Social Media

TO Blog
What hapening with Toronto's waterfront silos?
http://www.blogto.com/city/2015/03/whats_happening_with_torontos_waterfront_silos/
   The Canada Malting and Victory Mills silos are like two great concrete bookends on the downtown waterfront. Located at the bottoms of Bathurst and Parliament streets, the former soya and grain storage facilities are relics of a time when the port of Toronto was a place of heavy industry, not entertainment.

(Photos) See what gems are hidden outside the walls of Her Majesty's Penitentiary
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/see-what-gems-are-hidden-outside-the-walls-of-her-majesty-s-penitentiary-1.2984978
   There's a museum of crime and punishment, containing documents from the 1800s and pieces of history from sordid jailhouse antics, just outside of Newfoundland and Labrador's largest —and Canada's oldest —jail.
   In fact, very few know it exists, and it's not open to the public.

(Photos) HANTS HISTORY, Nova Scotia
http://www.hantsjournal.ca/Opinion/Columnists/2015-03-26/article-4084294/HANTS-HISTORY-(March-26,-2015-edition)/1
   A look at what was making the news 25 and 50 years ago in the Hants Journal.

Articles

Nova Scotia

Whiley sawmill roof collapse 'end of an era'
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/whiley-sawmill-roof-collapse-end-of-an-era-1.3006294
   Due to the snow and ice storms that Nova Scotia has had this winter, an original mill built by freed slaves in the 1800s just outside of Halifax in Upper Hammonds Plains, has had its roof collapse.
   It was the first mill built in Upper Hammonds Plains, and was still a thriving business until just a few years ago.

New Brunswick

Rare artifact at Sisson mine site dates back 8,500 years
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/rare-artifact-at-sisson-mine-site-dates-back-8-500-years-1.3006681
   Archaeologists have recovered hundreds of artifacts at the site of the proposed Sisson mine north of Fredericton, including a rare find that could be up to 8,500 years old.
   However, two other artifacts recovered from the site have been lost, and Aboriginal leaders are concerned the "precious items" recovered aren't being handled with enough care.

Ontario

One step closer to a new heritage centre for Niagara
http://www.niagarathisweek.com/news-story/5527240-one-step-closer-to-a-new-heritage-centre-for-niagara/
   The Lincoln and Welland Regiment is one step closer to finding a new home for its collection of artifacts.

Devitt family played major role in Waterloo history
http://www.therecord.com/living-story/5514123-devitt-family-played-major-role-in-waterloo-history/
   One doesn't read very far into the history of Waterloo before coming across the name Devitt.
   Barnabus Devitt, orphaned and just one generation removed from Ireland, was adopted by Abraham and Magdalena Erb. He grew up in their 1812 home which is still standing and now designated as the city's oldest house.

VIMY RIDGE: Soldiers’ last messages go on tour
http://www.lfpress.com/2015/03/20/soldiers-last-messages-go-on-tour
   A London team’s capture of the messages and images carved by soldiers in a Vimy Ridge cave will be shared across Canada, thanks to $250,000 grant from the federal government.
    The Souterrain Impressions Exhibit will be launched at Museum London in April and tour the country until June 2018, the Department of Canadian Heritage has announced.

Reflecting on 2015 Black History Month celebration in Guelph
http://www.guelphmercury.com/opinion-story/5515067-reflecting-on-2015-black-history-month-celebration-in-guelph/
   Since 2013, during the month of February, the Guelph Black Heritage Society has organized several activities to celebrate Black History Month.
   Most of these activities took place at Heritage Hall, 83 Essex Street, the former British Methodist Episcopal (BME) church built by ex-slaves in 1880.

Saskatchewan

Saskatoon Morning looks at wartime home history in the city
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/saskatoon-morning-looks-at-wartime-home-history-in-the-city-1.3000390
   Small homes built after the Second World War are still a major feature of Saskatoon neighbourhoods – and across the country.

Royal Heights Park will become a celebration of veterans
http://www.sasklifestyles.com/news/local-news/royal-heights-park-will-become-a-celebration-of-veterans-1.1805865\
   Royal Heights Park in Estevan is going to be getting a new name, and some new additions, thanks to the Royal Canadian Legion's Estevan branch. It will be renamed the Royal Heights Veteran's Memorial Park

Grain elevator pictures seek passage to India
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/grain-elevator-pictures-seek-passage-to-india-1.2988012
   Jayaram Varada has taken a series of photographs of Saskatchewan grain elevators and hopes to exhibit his work in Kerala, India. He had moved to Saskatchewan in 2009.
   "Iconic Grain Elevators and Life in Western Canada" will be it’s title, and it will portray 60 of his photographs from Saskatchewan.

British Columbia

Mass support in pioneer times began with a signature
http://www.vicnews.com/opinion/296802811.html
   On Nov. 22, 1858, more than 400 residents of Yale, B.C., signed a petition asking their new governor, James Douglas, to provide an armed escort for their shipments of “treasure” (gold) that were being sent down the river.

Coquitlam students honour D-Day war efforts by cleaning up Juno Beach
http://www.tricitynews.com/news/297300661.html
   A group of Dr. Charles Best secondary students learned a history lesson about Canada's participation in World War II and did some service work of their own during a spring break tour of France.

 News Stories of the Week

We have just come through Museum Week in Canada, a part of a world-wide museum week, and now comes the news that Brant County Museum, among other museums in Ontario*, were meeting this week to learn how to reorganizing their history collection – called the Re-Org Program.

Simon Lambert, preservation development adviser with the Canadian Conservation Institute—which provides advice to about 2,000 small- and medium-sized Canadian museums—led the three-day learning process.

He said that most museums have 90-95% of their collections in storage. He said a survey of 1,500 museums in 136 countries revealed that 60% of them had major storage issues.

The Brant County Museum and Archives is reorganizing about 30,000 pieces of archival material, including books, photographs, slides, letters written by First World War soldiers, pamphlets, manuals, and advertisements were being sorted, boxed and placed into the new compact shelving.

To visit Brant County Museum and archives, go to http://brantmuseum.ca/

Meanwhile, a Comox man is keeping HMCS Alberni's maritime history alive. The Alberni was a Canadian Corvette that sank after a German U-boat attack in 1944, and after Lewis Bartholomew of Courtenay saw a photo of it, he created a mobile display of the ship, along with corresponding information about its occupants.

And the Alberni Project Society was formed. Its goal is to collect, interpret, display, and preserve the history of Canada’s role in the Second World War, and to convey the personal stories and events of a global war.

You can visit the website at www.alberniproject.org, or you can visit the museum in Comox from Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

And finally, Historica Canada recently announced that Rebecca Xie of Brandon has been named one of the grand prize winners in the 2014 Citizenship Challenge.

Over 60,000 young Canadians participated in the national contest!

Rebecca won an all-expenses paid trip to Ottawa. She was joined by fellow winner, Samantha Quinto of Scarborough, and they travelled to Ottawa where they explored Canada’s history and culture with personal tours of Parliament Hill, the Canadian Museum of History, and the Canadian War Museum

The Citizenship Challenge asks Canadians to put their national knowledge to the test, by studying for, and writing, a mock citizenship exam. Xie received 100 per cent on the mock citizenship exam.

You can see more about the Citizenship Challenge at http://www.citizenshipchallenge.ca/

That was the Canadian genealogy, history, and heritage news in Canada this past week!

* The six museums were - The Museum in Tower Hill in Parry Sound; the NEC in Timmins; Norfolk Arts Cetre in Simcoe; Clarington Museums in Bowmanville; Lambton Heritage Museum in Grand Bend; and the Collingwood Museum.

And that was the Canadian genealogy, history and heritage news in Canada this past week!

Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.


If you missed last week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/canadian-week-in-review-23-march-2015_23.html

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

Need help in finding your Canadian ancestors?

Susan I. of Toronto, Ontario says –

"With her wonderful suggestions, including provincial and local archival holdings, books, and local church records, I was delighted to uncover a marriage certificate naming my paternal great, great grandparents and their original county in Ireland.

Elizabeth also mentored me regarding further educational opportunities. I was delighted with her services."

If you do, go to Elizabeth Lapointe Research Services and see how I can help you find that elusive Canadian ancestor. 

The next Canadian Week in Review will be posted 06 April, 2015. 

Have you seen the latest survey?

The Weekly Genealogical Survey has been published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society (Vol. 18, No. 12, Whole #732, March 25, 2015), and it asked the question - if you use an online or desktop software program to compile your family history research, which one do you use? 

The top five responses were -

50% use Ancestry.com

47% use Family Tree Maker

13% use RootsMagic

11% use Legacy Family Tree

7% use Reunion + 7% stated that ‘I use a software program not listed above’

Do you think these number are farily accurate, as far as you can tell. I think that Ancestry.com and Family Tree Maker are the two most popular desktop ptogrames, followed closely by RootsMagic from people that I talk to in Ottawa.



Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/canadian-week-in-review-23-march-2015_23.html

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012. 

Immigration Photos on Flickr

Canada is a nation made up of people from other countries. The diversity in its population distinguishes it from most other counties, and gives Canadians an unique view of genealogy – we are always looking over the seas for our ancestors.

And the Library and Archives Canada is the keeper of our papers, books, records, and if we want to learn about the different ethno-cultural groups, we can either go to their site at http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/Pages/ethno-cultural-groups.aspx and take a short history lesson of the following immigrants groups - Acadian, Blacks. British, Chinese, Danish, Doukhobors, Dutch, East Indian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Icelandic, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Jews, Mennonites, Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Scottish, Swedish, Ukranian, and Welsh.

Or you can check out the immigration photos on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/lac-bac/sets/72157650749992889/#



Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/canadian-week-in-review-23-march-2015_23.html

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012. 

Dear Myrt’s Beginning Genealogy - Session 10

As I promised my blog on 06 January 2014 at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/beginning-genealogy-study-group.html, I watched Dear Myrt’s Beginning Genealogy Session 10 on Wednesday. I will continue to watch the rest of the study group as it proceeds.

The major topic which was discussed in Sessions 10 was a subject which can be difficult to discover and research and it is - Adoption.

I have researched and written about this topic myself, and have found it to be very difficult when trying to establish adoption in Canada before the 1920s. Informal adoption (by another family member) was common before it was taken over by the government, and you, as researchers, have to be aware of this fact.

Dear Myrt brought up the subject of two birth certificates – one when the child was born, which would show the natural parents (which was sealed by the government), and a second birth certificate which showed the adoptive parents (which was not sealed).

Although she went to the Adoption on the United States Genealogy at the Wiki site in FamilySearch at https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/AdoptionResearch, those of us in Canada can also check the subject under Adoption on our Wiki site at https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Canada_Adoption_Records.

In fact, they say that we should “Check with the local provincial archives for addresses to private associations who assist people tracing adoption records. In most provinces, prior to the middle of the 1900s there were no formal adoption proceedings, and children would be placed with family or neighbours without the necessity for any legal documentation”.

The website for Session 10 is at https://plus.google.com/communities/104382659430904043232

Session 1 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-1.html

Session 2 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-2.html

Session 3 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-3.html

Session 4 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-4.html

Session 5 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/02/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-5.htm 

Session 6 & 7 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-sessions_5.html

Session 8 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-sessions_13.html

Session 9 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-sessions_20.html

Remember to make yourself a member of Dear Myrt’s Genealogy Community before watching the YouTube Google+ Hangout on Air at https://plus.google.com/communities/104382659430904043232



Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/canadian-week-in-review-23-march-2015_23.html

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

Digging Into the Past: Family History in Canada

In this podcast, genealogy consultants Sara Chatfield and Richard Lelièvre from Library and Archives Canada, discuss genealogy research.

The podcasts explore what genealogy is, what is involved, how to start, suggest resources to use and how Library and Archives Canada can help you with your genealogy research.

Subscribe to their podcast episodes using RSS or iTunes, or if you don’t want to listen to the podcasts, but prefer to read a transcript of the conversation, it is online at http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/news/podcasts/Pages/family-history-canada.aspx

Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/canadian-week-in-review-23-march-2015_23.html

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.