Nova Scotia Paving Programme

Starting in 1934 and completed in 1938, the Nova Scotia Department of Highways undertook a major highway reconstruction project known as the Paving Programme. And I know this for a fact, that my father and his brothers* worked on this project as it made its way through the Shelburne-Jordan Falls, Shelburne County area, on the southwestern shore of Nova Scotia. 

When I took a look at the photos at the Nova Scotia Archives site, I even recognized some of the areas that they worked on, and where the paving plant was located in Jordan Falls. 

As you leaf through the scrapbook, do you also recognize the places today? Nothing has changed too much. The highways are wider than they used to be, and there are more houses. From what I understood, it was messy, hot work during that that summer of 1938, but they were happy to get the work. 

Now, nearly eighty years later, those albums have been digitized and are displayed here for Internet visitors to explore. There are 350 black-and-white images to be seen. 

The website is at http://novascotia.ca/archives/virtual/highways/


*My father was Harold Arthur Barclay, and his brothers were Perley and John Barclay of Jordan Falls, Shelburne County, Nova Scotia.

Annual Accrual of Historical Vital Statistics Now Available

My father (Harold Arthur Barclay) and myself (Elizabeth Anne Barclay) in the Public Gardens in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It was a favorite place to go on Sunday afternoons. 

I have been reminded by one of my readers that the Nova Scotia Archives has put on an additional 25,589 historical vital statistics on www.novascotiagenealogy.com! 

These records were released on 31 December 2013 and since then have been digitized, fully indexed, and checked for quality control. This year's accruals include 14,974 births (1913), 4,233 marriages (1938), and 6,382 deaths (1963). As usual, the birth records include some 'delayed' entries for individuals born in 1913 (or earlier) but not registered until a later date.

My surnames of interest are -

BARCLAY - Shelburne County and Yarmouth County  

BLADES - Shelburne County and Yarmouth County 

WEBSTER - Kings County

Heritage Property Resource at the Nova Scotia Archives

People who want to join the Canada-wide celebration of Heritage Day can explore a new heritage property resource at the Nova Scotia Archives.

For the first time, records and photos of pre-1914 built homes, churches, railway stations, bridges and other community structures are available.

A selection of the records is now available for visitors on public computers in the archives' reading room. The records include photos, descriptions of the properties and information about historical features and architecture.

The Provincial Built Heritage Inventory Project began in the late 1990s to record and document all buildings built before 1914. The Heritage Property Program records were digitized then transferred to the Archives in January.

Information about the archives' resources and programs is available at www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm

I checked the information that the archives has on the town of Shelburne and there is the paper-covered book containing list of assessments of Shelburne county and poor taxes for 1787, in semi-alphabetical order. I had never actually seen the book before, only a photocopy of it, so it was good to see the book itself as it was created in 1787.

The other communities that I have got to check when I have more time is Barrington, Tusket, Yarmorth, and Kentville.

Two other papers I noticed was the original signature of Andrew Barclay, and a postcard photo of James Barclay’s house, son of Andrew, in Shelburne, on page 9 image 4.

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

Guild of One-Name Studies

The Guild of One-Name Studies (GONS) was started in England a number of years ago, and has steadily grown to where it is today - "the researching of all occurrences of a surname, as opposed to a particular pedigree (ancestors of one person) or descendancy (descendants of one person or couple)".

This can be the surnames that are derived from a geographical area, or from an occupation, or a patronymic-type surname, such as Johnson.

On their website, they have 7850 surnames which you can check to see if your name is there, a Member's Room which you can use when you become a member, and a webpage on which the members can give the surname that interested them, the variants of the surname, origin of the surname, the frequency of the name, data (in what countries the surname appears), DNA project, and the contact details if you want to contact them.

In Ottawa, we are are very fortunate to have a good genealogist in Elizabeth Kipp, who is the Eastern Canada Regional Representative for the Guild of One-Name Studies.

She has the latest knowledge about the one-name studies, has been to England on countless occasions, and if you have ever had the opportunity to read about her research trips to Salt Lake City, and other research facilities throughout Canada, the US and the UK, like myself, you would have to agree that she has a complete understanding of an organization such as the Guild of One-Name Studies and how they can help you to understand where your surname originated.

Elizabeth's email is kippeeb@rogers.com. She also has her own website on the Blakes at www.one-name.org/profiles/blake.html as well as a blog, English Research from Canada, at http://kippeeb.blogspot.com.

I guess I will have to rectify the omission of my two surnames in the study because they are not in the database – BARCLAY of Scotland, and BLADES of England.

The website of the Guild of One-Name Studies is http://www.one-name.org

Tomorrow's Post - New/Improved Canadian Websites and Blogs Week 14

"Thanksgiving" for my American Cousins

I have American cousins on both sides of my family, even though I was born and grew up in Nova Scotia.

On my paternal side (BARCLAY), I have three great-great aunts, one great-great uncle, and one aunt who went to the “Boston States”, either to find work, or they got married and then moved to the "Boston States” with their husbands.

My great-great aunts were the issue of John and Roseanne (WATT) BARCLAY of Jordan Falls, Nova Scotia –

Josephine Peterson BARCLAY (b. 1880 – d. 1935) She emigrated in c1911 to Massachusetts to work as a teacher, but quickly became married to George Wallace GELLATLY (who had emigrated from Scotland) in 1916.

He was a Baptist minister who travelled around Rhode Island, to New Hampshire, and on to Vermont, were they eventually settled in Newfane.

They had two sons – John, who died at a very young age due to a car accident, and George, who died in California.

Alma Leah BARCLAY (b.1890 - d.1935) She emigrated to Boston, and worked as a bookkeeper. She married William Eben CURRY from Nova Scotia, and he worked on the railroad. They did not have children.

Louise Beatrice BARCLAY (b. 1880 – d. 1967) Great-Aunt Louise emigrated to Boston c1910 to Massachusetts, where she went to cooking school, and worked as a servant in various homes.

She married Martin NYE, and she had two children – Alma and John.

Harold Glenburn BARCLAY (b. 1892-d.1984) He emigrated to Boston in 1910, fought for the US in the First World War, and later, worked as a motor mechanic.

My aunt was the daughter of Cecil and Laurie (TURNER) BARCLAY of Jordan Falls, Nova Scotia -

Mary Augusta BARCLAY (b.1915 - d. 1970) The last relative on my paternal side to emigrate to the “Boston States” was Aunt Mary. She emigrated c1940s, married Samuel WALL, and had two daughters – Florence and Beth. We used to visit them quite often when they lived in Upper Kennebunkport, Maine.

If you would like to read more about Canadians who migrated to the United States, a good place to start is -

The Boston States Migration Links Page http://bostonstates.rootsweb.ancestry.com/BostonStatesindex.htm. It is THE site for Migration to the Boston States.

I would like to wish our American friends a "Happy Thanksgiving!"

If you want to see whimsical and interesting material on Thanksgiving, including "Were Cats and Dogs on the Mayflower?", check out this post (along with links to animated dancing and football-playing turkeys on my blog and website) - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2010/10/happy-thanksgiving.html.

Be sure to click on all the links - there are a few to go through!

Enjoy!

Elizabeth

Canada's Parliament Opens

Canada's Parliament opened today, and in the Honour Guard was my husband (he has gone on lots of parades this year) as part of the Air Force Guard, amidst the Army Guard, the Naval Flag Party, the Canadian Forces Band, the Artillery (as it performed a 21 gun salute) and a small but brave and hearty contingent of civilian onlookers.

(He found it a "bit chilly"—there was snow on our lawn this morning with a temperature of -10 Celsius or so—as they stood at attention waiting for Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, to inspect them. But other than that, he said the parade was a big success, topped off by a delicious lunch at the West Memorial Block.)

The Library and Archives Canada has put on the Canada Gazette - "the official newspaper of the Government of Canada" - all of the issues since 1998. However, all of the issues since 1841 will be made available soon on the same website <http://canadagazette.gc.ca/index-e.html>.

The digitization project—which began in 2007—is still underway, and by the end of this year, full access to all issues of the Canada Gazetter (1841-1998) will be available to the researcher.

I will be excited to see if Barclay WEBSTER—a first cousin 4 times removed by marraige of Edwardina Mary (Ina Mary) BARCLAY, daughter of James of Shelburne, Nova Scotia to Dr. Henry Bently WEBSTER of Kentville, Nova Scotia—who had a very succesful law practice in Kentville, Nova Scotia, and was the Conservative member of Parliament in November 1900, is mentioned.

Shelburne County Newsletter has Arrived!

Another newsletter has arrived - this time by email - and it is the Shelburne County Archives & Genealogical Society Newsletter in Nova Scotia <http://nsgna.ednet.ns.ca/shelburne>.

Shelburne County is my "home" genealogical and archives society, and it produces a newsletter three times a year, and a couple of years ago they starting producing the newsletter electronically.

In this edition "From the Doan(e) Family" recounts the grand time that was held at the reunion in Barrie, Ont this summer.

They are busy with DNA testing to find out what part of the British Isles that progenitor John Doan(e) came from (not much luck there as yet), and they are looking for more members - especially from Eastern Canada.

Another article is written by Eleanor Robertson Smith about her research of William Booth of England and his tour of Nova Scotia in 1785, He kept a diary, and you can read his impressions of Shelburne in the piece called "Introduction to Captain William Booth and His Rough Memorandums."

Eleanor also writes about Gideon White, a descendent of a Mayflower passenger, John Howland, at the launch of his papers, the Gideon White Family Papers, at the Nova Scotia Archives & Records Management Office <www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/white>.

White came to Shelburne in the spring of 1784 and his letters to friends and family members, as well as his books, have been made public by the Nova Scotia Archives.

My BARCLAY ancestors are mentioned in the papers, and being in Ontario, it was so difficult to look through them until they were opened and put on the Internet earlier this year.

If you have a question to ask of the people at Shelburne, you can contact them them by writing to <gencentre@ns.sympatico.ca>.

Vigile 1914-1918 Vigil

Last night while coming home from the hockey game between the Ottawa Senators and the Washington Capitals (which Ottawa won - yes!), we drove past the National War Memorial at the corner of Wellington and Elgin Streets, across from the famous Chateau Laurier Hotel. It was 11:41 p.m.. Although there were no people present, the names of some of the 68,000 First World War soldiers were there on the memorial itself. It was the first night of Vigile 1914-1918 Vigil <www.1914-1918.ca>.

The project is to symbolically "repatriate" the Canadian soldiers who never made it back to their homeland, and to remember them on an individual basis, rather than as a collective during Remembrance Day ceremonies. The display which will be active in the evenings until Remembrance Day on November 11th. This vigil will also be held in Halifax, Fredericton, Toronto, Regina, and Edmonton.

You can look up the names of the dead on the website. You will find their surname, their first name and/or initials, service number, their rank, their regiment, their date of death, and the date their names will be projected on the National War Memorial.

In my case, I never had anyone die in the First World War but I looked up the surname of BARCLAY and found 18 soldiers who had died from 1916 to 1920.

The project was thought up by R.H. Thomson, a Canadian actor, and lighting designer Martin Conboy.

GenealogyToday Publishes Article

GenealogyToday.com, a website that I have been writing for on a monthly basis for the past six years, continues to publish my columns on Canadian genealogy. It published my latest column, "Chinese-Canadians Immigrants Now Online", on the 10th of September at <www.genealogytoday.com/roots/xweb.mv?xc=Display&xo=rescms&xn=-1&xr=1585&xw=&t_rid=25294&xz=connect.html>.

Simply go to the "Canadian Connections" section of GenealogyToday.com to see a history of the columns that have been published by Illya D'Addezio and company.

He wrote to me over the weekend to tell me of a new website he now has now called "Live Roots".

It was launched a couple weeks ago and now contains over three million names. He says that they continue to add 5 to 10 thousand new names every week!

It is a search engine for genealogists. Illya says that "the feedback has been terrific. Live Roots also includes most of the GenealogyToday.com information, creating one place to search across thousands of databases."

He says that LiveRoots was built to provide the researcher a site that "extends beyond the typical bounds of a traditional search engine or link directory by facilitating access to offline records and publications through partnerships with amateur and professional researchers who either own copies or are geographically closer to the librarians and archives that do."

I have gone on the site to see what is available for BARCLAY, and found quite a bit of stuff - both in the non-subscription and subscription areas. So it is true to its word - the site does provide lots of information that you can't find or would take too long to find.

It says on the website that each of the results has been hand transcribed and checked to make sure they are correct - the results I have checked so far are accurate as far as I know.

You just put in the surname and you will get results in the surname area and resource area - and I found results in each area.

He asks you to email him with feedback after you have had a chance to visit LiveRoots.com. The address is <owner@gentodayllc.com>.

The first question out of Brian Gilchrist——the Reference Archivist of The Region of Peel Archives who was at the Library and Archives Canada yesterday to give the second annual Ryan Taylor Memorial Lecture——was the question, "How savvy a researcher do you think you are?"

And this was just the first of many questions he asked during his lecture, the purpose which was to spur everybody on to evaluate their research - what is the quality of your research?

Do you, as you are supposed to, always work from the known to the unknown? Do you always ask the correct question of fellow genealogists, librarians, and archivists?

Do you think about how many levels there may be to your question? Is there a difference between what you need to know and want to know? And when do you need to know it?

I was reminded of a question that I have had since I started my own genealogy in 1994. That is why my g-g-g-g-grandfather Andrew BARCLAY had listed as his occupation - a bookbinder, and not as a farmer as was his father's business?

He was not the first son, so he did not get the land owned by the Barclay's in Kinrossshire, Scotland ... so was else was he to do? But bookbinding seemed so off the wall at first glance. Why bookbinding?

Through research I found that his grandfather had been a bookbinder in Edinburgh! And that area of Scotland there had been a huge trade in printing, and bookbinding, a profession he would take with him to the United States in c1760.

But maybe the most important question Brian asked through the entire lecture was the one he finished with - "What legacy have we left behind?"

That is perhaps the most important question these days since so many Canadian genealogists over the past three or four years have died. (In our immediate area, there are three nationally-known genealogists—-Sandra Devlin, Ryan Taylor, and Paul McGrath——who have passed on since 2005). Where has their work gone? What has happened to it?

Have you made a provision in your will to give direction to your executive as what to do with your papers, photos, video, and anything else you may have discovered along the way? What will happen to your genealogical "stuff"?

These questions he raised yesterday have made me think. I plan to finish the BARCLAY genealogy over this winter, and post it to the Internet as well do a limited production run of it to give to the Shelburne County Genealogical and Archives in Shelburne, Nova Scotia. I also have photos, certificates, and other family memorabilia which I plan to give to them for safekeeping, and for other people to research.

So, have you done the same thing with the "stuff" you have collected?

BIFHSGO Conference is a success!

The conference was held this past weekend of September 19-21 in Ottawa, and was a success - the best I have felt about a conference in many a year!

This year's conference was the society's 14th annual one, and was entitled "Celebrate Your Anglo-Celtic Roots", which meant there was a special emphasis on England.

The keynote speaker was Sherry Irvine, a genealogist and one of the founders of Pharos Teaching and Tutoring from Victoria, British Columbia <www.pharostutors.com> who gave an outstanding Don Whiteside Memorial Lecture Friday evening when she talked about "Genealogy With Wings: Reflections of a Family Historian in an Age of Techno-enthusiasm."

Her speech truly did set the stage for the rest of the weekend because it advanced the setting of genealogy on the Internet to "Genealogy 2.0".

She explained that genealogists who are willing to go that one step further and get on the train going towards "techno-enthusiasm" by becoming involved with such Web 2.0 technologies as collaborative family history sites, blogs, wikis, and Facebook and other social networking websites, will find their genealogy expanding and taking on new meaning for those involved in it.

You and your cousins can go on the Internet and build your family tree together, bringing a new dimension to genealogy that I will look into because my cousins are all across Canada and in the United States, and this will bring us closer together! (I will look into putting the genealogy of Andrew BARCLAY, the progenitor of the United Empire Loyalist BARCLAYs of Boston, New York City, and Shelburne, Nova Scotia on such a site.)

And it just continued through the next two days as it encompassed Marian Press in her talks about "Genealogy 2.0: What Do I Need To Know" and "The Past, Present and Future of Librarians for Family Histories", and Alison Hare and her talk about how to properly document your genealogy work called "Citations for Genealogists."

The rest of the time I spent in the Marketplace where I said my "Hellos" to everyone, including Ed Zapletal, the editor at Mooreshead Magazines Ltd. (Internet Genealogy, Family Chronicle); Derek Hopkins and John Reid of the Quebec Family History Society, who gave me a demonstration of the new Quebec database that the society owns, and which is only available only to members <www.qfhs.ca>; and Mike More from the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society <www.ogsottawa.on.ca> spent a hour or so on Friday afternoon talking about Canadian genealogy in general.

Doug Rimmer, Assistant Deputy Minister - Program and Services Sector, also gave a brief summary of the accomplishments of the Canadian Genealogy Centre of the LAC over the past year.

He touched on the hours that the LAC is open and how they were increased when they were reduced last fall, and this was because of the "public reaction", and he also discussed a few of the databases which have been put on last year - the North West Mounted Police; Black Loyalists; Chinese Immigration; the 1881 Census; and the Second World War - Killed in Action.

Congratulations should be given to all of the team who worked on this year's conference, especially the Program Co-Chair, John Reid, who put together a wonderful conference by bringing the speakers to us from Victoria, B.C., Toronto, and England, and Wills Burwell, who as Past President and Co-Chair (Administration) of the conference, helped to make everyone feel welcome. Their cadre of volunteers are also to be congratulated for their dedication and hard work in the face of the onslaught of the many harried and hurried genealogists who took over the LAC this past weekend!

Mark your calendar for next year's conference from September 18th to the 20th. Their website is <www.bifhsgo.ca>, and John Reid at his blog, Anglo-Celtic Connections, also has some comments on the conference.

Ancestry.ca Launches Online the "Canadian Passenger Lists 1865-1935"

At 10 o'clock this morning (on Tuesday, September 16, 2008), Josh Hanna — Ancestry.com's Senior Vice-President — announced in Toronto that it has put the Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935 online at <http://landing.ancestry.ca/intl/canada/passenger/lists.aspx> in both French and English (simply click the language link at the top of the page).

I have been on the site (even though all of my ancestors came to Canada pre-1865) to see what it is all about, and there is 1,441 BARCLAYs who came to Canada and 178 BLADES. (To those who don't know - my father's line is through the surname of BARCLAY, and my mother's name was BLADES - both of them descendent from United Empire Loyalists who came to Canada in 1783 and 1784, respectivly, from the United States.)

The passenger lists covers the provinces and cities of Quebec (Quebec Ports, May 1865-June 1908, June 1919-July 1921, April 1925-November 1935); Montreal (April 1925-November 1935); Halifax, Nova Scotia (1881-October 1922, 1925-1935); North Sydney, Nova Scotia (November 1906, August 1908-August 1922, 1925-1935); Saint John, New Brunswick ( 1900-September 1922, 1925-1935); Vancouver, British Columbia (1905-September 1922, 1925-1935); Victoria, British Columbia and Pacific Ports (April 1905-September 1922, 1925-1935) and some eastern U.S. Ports (July 1905-1919, 1925-1928) and New York City, which covers 1906 to 1921.

When you put the name into the search engine you may get their estimated year of birth, their birth country (although many of the immigrants did not mention their country of birth), date of arrival, name of the vessel, and port of departure. You can then view the image from which the information was taken.

It appears that the partnership that was forged between Ancestry.com and the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) in May, 2007 was not adhered to in this instance because nowhere is the LAC mentioned in the Ancestry.com press release.*

But it may be worth checking the LAC site <www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/immigrants> because they have some of the passenger lists onsite, too. They also have the Moving Here, Staying Here. The Canadian Immigrant Experience online, and it's worth looking at it because it can give you the background behind immigration.

This past August, Sylvie Tremblay, Chief Project Manager of the Canada Genealogy Centre, said that the LAC has embarked on a three to five year project where they hope to develop a family history site where you will go to get the "story behind the headlines". They will make the connections for you between the databases, and the history in family history, and they are looking towards wikis to do this - so watch for that.

In the meantime, you can look up your ancestor on Ancestry.ca, and decide if you want to spend the money to do a deeper search. Remember, you can also get a 14-day trial at <www.ancestry.ca>.

*The LAC is mentioned in the CNW News Release. It refers to the LAC in that the LAC holds the official records on microfilm.

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) Releases Second World War Service Files

I have been waiting patiently for the LAC to release the Second World War Service Files of the Canadian Armed War (1939-1945) Dead.

I first found out about the database in the spring of this year, and last week, Sylvie Tremblay, Chief Project Head of the Canada Genealogy Centre, said that they were finally on the website.

Of the 1,159,000 men and women who served in the war, 44,093 died.

If you go to the site at <www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/war-dead/index-e.html> and put in a last name, you will get the date of birth, date on death, and the service number of the member.

If that is not enough information, you can press on the name and — in addition to the information already given — also get their rank, the unit in which they served, what force they were in (army, navy, air force), and the reference and volume numbers of the reference.

There has been some criticism of the database because you won't see the person's address on the record - so if there are two people with the same name, you will need to know the date of death of the person you are researching.

I had two uncles on my father's side (BARCLAY) who were in the war. Luckily, they made it through. My father did go to the depot in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia to join, but was refused because of his knees, and so didn't go to war.

John (Johnnie) was in the Canadian Navy and sailed on the convoy ships during the war, and Perley was in the Canadian Army and fought in Sicily.

I also had two brothers on my mother's side (BLADES) who were in the war. Walter and Arthur were in the Canadian Army in Europe.