Showing posts with label British Columbia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label British Columbia. Show all posts

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving!

So, please let me offer a "Happy Thanksgiving!" to our American Cousins! (I have first cousins in Maine, first cousins once removed in Texas, and first cousins three times removed in California).

Canada, in 2005, celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Canadian Society of Mayflower Descendants, and is still going strong <www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~canms/canada.html>.

There are four "colonies" in the country (in Toronto, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and Alberta), with the Canadian society being the first formed outside of the United States.

They published a book for their 25th anniversary detailing their history, and it has many pictures which cover the events and meeting of their four colonies.

The site, which has had over 20,000 visitors since the website first started eight years ago, has an index on Mayflower Research Articles, Mayflower Families Corrections and Additions, and Upcoming Events & Society Meetings.

There is a List of Mayflower Passengers Who Left Descendants, Society Dues & Fees, and Application Procedure & Documentation Requirements.

They have also put online Reports of our Past Guest Speakers, Mayflower Research Articles (Index), and Mayflower DNA Projects.

For a change of pace, please read this interesting article entitled, "Were Cats and Dogs on the Mayflower?", at <http://www.petplace.com/cats/were-cats-and-dogs-on-the-mayflower/page1.aspx?utm_source=catcrazynews001et&utm_medium=email&utm_content=petplace_article&utm_campaign=dailynewsletter>.

And finally, for a bit of fun, knowing that watching football is paramount in any household this weekend (we watch it, too!), visit our Canadian Thanksgiving page at <http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2008/10/happy-thanksgiving.html> and check the graphic at the bottom.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Fall Issue of The British Columbia "Genealogist"

It difficult to believe but fall is here already, and so is the "Genealogist". It arrived the other day from the British Columbia Genealogy Society <www.bcgs.ca>.

At 148 pages, it is a hefty publication with all sorts of topics covered - some of them being the Diary of Rev. Edward White (1822-1872); Cemeteries of Hope, BC; and the biography of Robert Grenville/Granville McKamey (1836-1896).

Intersersped with these articles are one such as British Columbia Mining Accidents (1878-1889 & 1896-1942); Daniel Stanley Masset; Queen Charlotte Islands, 1911; and the Vancouver Business Woman (1929, 1930).

There are BC's 150th Birthday Crossword; the Most Improved Contest; Book Reviews; BC Genealogical Events; and Activities and Queries.

Be sure to check the Images of Army Life; World War I - Baxter; Plumper Bay Petition, 1890; and Meet the Pioneers - Grenelle and Goupill.

And all of this celebrating "BC 150 Years - The Best Place on Earth".

Even though I do not now have any relatives living in BC right now (my aunt and uncle — Fred and Annie LEE — used to live in Golden and Kamloops), I found the journal to be a good read.

I especially liked the book reviews (they are always good) and this time they review three - The Family History Toolkit by Michael Hait; You Can Write Your Family History by Sharon DeBartolo; and In Search of Your German Roots by Angus Baxter.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

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.