Travels with My Aunt: Adventures in Europe 1914

The British Isles Family history Society of Great Ottawa in Ottawa, Ontario will hold its monthly meeting on Saturday February the 8th.

The following is the schedule of the meeting -

9:00 a.m. — Before BIFHSGO Education Talk — Bob McDonald will discuss Gaelic naming customs and their relation to the Gaelic language, the oldest literary language in Northern Europe and once widely spoken in Canada.

9:30 a.m. — Browse our Discovery Tables for WWI and Merchant Marine items, hosted by Barbara Tose.

10:00 a.m. — Travels with My Aunt: Adventures in Europe 1914 —Barbara Tose marks the 100th anniversary of her great-grand aunt Nellie Miller's 30-page letter to her brother that is a fascinating tale of events, society, and adventure in 1914. Nellie was a nurse superintendent at the Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay, Ontario, who joined the J.L. Hughes party for a tour of Britain and Europe.

I have heard Barbara talk before, and she is an engaging speaker.

If you would like to listen to an interview with her about her talk, go to http://www.bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=106

The meeting takes place at Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa. Free parking is available in the lots east of the building only on Saturday and Sunday. Do not use the lot west of the building.

Open to members and visitors. Free admission.

The website is http://www.bifhsgo.ca/

BIFHSGO Conference registration is now online

Brian Glenn tells us that the 2013 British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO) Conference registration is now open. Both the mail-in form and the online application are now online.

The conference theme this year will be Ireland, and there will be many speakers there, such as, Eileen Ó Dúill (an international probate genealogical researcher from Ireland), Linda Reid (a Canadian genealogists), and Lisa Louise Cooke (an American genealogist with knowledge of new technology is outstanding). There will be many topics presented which should be of interest to those whose research area is Ireland.

For information about the 2013 Conference to be held from Sept 20 to 22, you can go to www.bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=22

Lucille Campey at BIFHSGO Conference

On Saturday and Sunday, September 15th and 16th, I attended the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa's Conference, and heard Ottawa native, Dr. Lucille Campey, give three talks about emigration from the British Isles to Canada.

Since I am deeply interested in emigration, I had waited impatiently since first hearing that she was coming to speak at the conference, so I had to make sure that I did not miss any of her talks.

The first talk was “Lord Selkirk and the Settlement of Scottish Highlanders in Canada”, and Lucille says that he is a favorite of hers to write about because he had such a strong personality, and such a commitment to bring Scottish Highlanders to Canada to settle in Red River, Manitoba; Baldoon (Wallaceburg), Ontario; and Belfast in Prince Edward Island.

Her next talk on Sunday was “Seeking a Better Future: The English Pioneers of Ontario and Quebec” in which she challenged the commonly-held idea that people were running from poverty in the homeland. She found out in her research that the English came to Canada seeking greater freedoms and a more attractive style of life than they could find at home.

Her third talk, “The Scots in Ontario – a New Look at the Data”, looked at Ontario census data to explain why Scottish people settled in the area where they settled. She showed genealogists why people such as weavers and kelp farmers settled in particular areas in Ontario. It was an interesting talk for me because it showed the patterns of settlement, and the reasons why people settled in one area, and not in another.

You should check out her books on emigration at Dundurn Press http://www.dundurn.com/authors/lucille_h_campey, and the interviews that were done with her by BIFHSGO at www.bifhsgo.ca/upload/files/Conference%202012/Campey.mp3 In addition, there is an interview with Lucille Campey, Chris Paton, and Patricia Whatley by Ottawa's Austin Comerton on his radio show, The Gaelic Hour (CJLL 97.9 FM) www.thegaelichour.ca. To listen to the interview, click here - www.thegaelichour.ca/20120916.m3u

You can visit her Scottish website at www.scotstocanada.com, and her English website at www.englishtocanada.com

Fall Worshops

There are a number of workshops this fall in Ontario, and some of them are -

Kent Branch (OGS)

On Saturday October 20, 2012 from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, the Kent Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society will host the REGION 1 MEETING AND WORKSHOP, and they will have the War of 1812 as their theme.

They will present the following topics -

* The Women of the War of 1812 by Susan Spencer

* The British Army 1660 – 1815 by Eric Shaw

* War of 1812 – Walpole Island Perspective by James Jenkins

This is a full day workshop available to the public. $30.00 includes lunch and snacks. Held at St. Andrews Residence, 99 Park Street, Chatham, Ontario

For more information and to register, please go to http://ogs.on.ca/kent/?page_id=129

Brant County Branch (OGS)

On Saturday, October 27, 2012 a Fall Workshop will be held 9:30 am to 4:00 pm at the library of the Brant County Branch Ontario Genealogical Library.

$25 with lunch if registered by October 24th, and $30 at the door +$5 for lunch.

The morning session will feature speaker Zig Misiak, and he will talk on the ” Six Nation in the War of 1812”, and John Sietsm in the afternoon will talk about “Using Computers in Your Research.”

The Brant County Branch Library is at 114-118 Powerline Road, on the grounds of Smokey Hollow Estates, going east from the Wayne Gretzky Parkway, just outside the North-East corner of Brantford.

British Home Child Day

And there are a number of events on the British Home Child Day to be held tomorrow Saturday September 29th.

There will be a British Home Child Day in Ontario Symposium/Information Session at the South Stormont Township Hall in Long Sault.

This will be a day full of exhibits, displays, speakers, and research information. It will cost $10.00, which includes refreshments and attendance at the event.

For more details, go to  www.uppercanadavillage.com/index.cfm/en/activities/special-events/british-home-child-day-first-anniversary

If you can’t make it to the events, but still would like to know about British Home Children, I suggest that you go to the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa www.bifhsgo.ca to discover the work that is being done by Patricia Roberts-Pichette and other BIFHSGO members.

They have indexed Home Children names in the passenger lists of ships arriving in Canada, and the indexing of Middlemore Home Children arriving in Canada between 1873 and 1933. In addition, several groups of Home Children settled in Canada by some small agencies are also being indexed

And there is the British Home Child Day to be held on the Internet tomorrow. You are asked, if you are a descendant of a home child, to share your stories on the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services website at www.children.gov.on.ca/htdocs/English/britishhomechildday/index.aspx

Podcasts at BIFHSGO

As I get in the car this morning to go to the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO) monthly meeting at 9:00 am at the Library and Archives Canada, I am reminded of the number of podcasts that are now online on their website.

For example, there is a two-part podcast with Gary Schroder, president of the Quebec Family History Society. He talks about the Cadastral Numbering System, and how they hold the key to the land records in Quebec. Gary calls it ‘the hidden history of Quebec”.

The website is at www.qfhs.ca

There are also interviews with four founding members of BIFHSGO - Fern Small, Gary Bagley, Alan Rayburn, and Bob Campbell.

There are interviews with Malcolm Moody, Canadian Archive CD Books from Ottawa www.archivecdbooks.ca/acdbcanada.html, Ed Zapletal, Moorshead Magazines www.moorshead.com, and Lesley Anderson from Ancestry.ca and Ottawa, who talks about her experiences at "Who Do You Think You Are?". The interview was recorded live in London with Lesley.

There are over 30 interviews to listen to, all of them enlightening. I think BIFHSGO is the only society in Canada which has adopted this method of doing interviews at such a prolific pace.

A big “Thank You” goes out to John D. Reid (who tells us in an interview why he blogs) http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com, Brian Glenn, and Brooke Broadbent for conducting the interviews.

So have fun listening to the podcats.

I have a feeling that BIFHSGO will be doing a lot more podcasts in the future. Another example of how social media is changing the genealogy world!

The BIFHSGO webite is online at http://bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=59

War of 1812 Celebration at Winterlude

This year at the annual winter festival called Winterlude in Ottawa will be held on the weekends from February 3 to 20, 2012. There will be a number of events which will celebrate the War of 1812.  

“Portraits on the Ice” presented by Library and Archives returns again this to mark the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 featuring portraits of British officers, First Nations allies, and French-and English-speaking militia and colonists.

As part of a longstanding relationship with Veterans Affairs Canada, a majestic ice sculpture will commemorate the 20th anniversary of Canadian military service in the Balkans and to pay tribute to the brave Canadians who lost their lives during the mission.

At Snowflake Kingdom in Jacques-Cartier Park on the Gatineau, Quebec side of things Parks Canada will re-create the way of life of our ancestors in 1812. Maison Charron will be transformed into barracks from the war of 1812;

Also, celebrating their 50th anniversary, the Canadian Coast Guard will be at Snowflake Kingdom to demonstrate a day in the life of a Coast Guard employee through exciting activities and a unique display of water safety equipment.

For more information about Winterlude and the Rideau Canal Skateway, the public can contact the NCC at 613-239-5000, 613-239-5090 (TTY), 1-800-465-1867 (toll-free) or 1-866-661-3530 (toll-free TTY), or visit the website at http://www.Winterlude.gc.ca.

Save Library and Archives Canada!

Over the past years, we have gradually seen the decline of service at the Library and Archives Canada.

Now it has come to light that the government is thinking of closing some parts of the LAC that the public now uses, and turn the space into office space for government employees.

This also involves what has been considered as "public space" on the main floor, including the auditorium, and meeting rooms. The British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO) meets for their monthly meetings, and conference; the Ottawa Genealogical Society (OGS) use to hold (until very recently) their monthly meetings and conferences there, and various SIGs also hold their meetings every month.

Now, a new group The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) has a website called "Save the Library and Archives Canada" at http://www.savelibraryarchives.ca/default.aspx.

They held a press conference yesterday where they laid out their concerns about the LAC, and they have set up a web page where you can read the open letter they wrote to the Daniel Caron, Librarian and Archivist of Canada. You can also leave your email address in order to be brought up-to-date with the latest news from CAUT.

John D. Reid on his blog Anglo-Celtic Connections http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com/ has been keeping us informed about the LAC. Read about what he has to say today about the LAC, and the government proposed cutbacks.

Names Added to Home Children (1869-1930) Online Database

The Library and Archives Canada has just issued this press release -

"Gatineau, October 6, 2011 — Library and Archives Canada is pleased to announce the release of a new version of the online database Home Children (1869-1930). More than 20,000 names of children, who came to Canada between 1925 and 1932, were added to the extended version. The names were extracted from passengers lists held at Library and Archives Canada.

The database is available at the following address:
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/home-children/index-e.html

Library and Archives Canada would like to thank the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa http://www.bifhsgo.ca, and its volunteers without whom this project would not have happened".

BIFHSGO 2011 Conference – Day 2

Another sunny morning met us as we awoke for Day 2 of the BIFHSGO Conference.

The first talk I heard was "You Might Have a 19th Century British Mormon on Your Family Tree" given by Linda Blair.

Did you know that in the mid-19th Century there were more Mormon in Britain than in North America?

So when Linda discovered that a direct ancestor had emigrated to the US, she was on an ancestry hunt, and it finally led her to a membership in the International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers.

The second one I attended was by Gary Schroder and was called “How to Find Your Ancestors in Quebec” and as usual – he was in fine form.

He talked about marriage and death records (1926 to 1997), and notary records.

His talk was interrupted by a power outage which sort of put a damper on things, but Gary kept on going, and didn't miss a beat.

Then after a most enjoyable lunch with John D. Reid of Anglo-Celtic Connections blog http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com.

We then headed downstairs to hear Gary Schroder once again talk about “How to Find Your Ancestors in the British Army 1760-1945.

He explained what WO97 included, and gave an outlined what is held on findmypast, and at the National Archives.

The last talk of the day was given by Audrey Collins called “The Fleet Registers: Clandestine Marriages in London 1667-1754”

These marriages were performed by people who lived near the Fleet prison, London, and the many records can be searched to see if any of your ancestors did get married there.

We then went to supper at the Bay Street Bistro, where my husband and myself sat with Brian Watson, the co-chair of the BIFHSGO Conference, and attendees Judy, Linda, Mary, Barbara, Barbara, Ross, and June.

Getting Ready for the BIFHSGO Conference Sept 16th to 18th

Remember those days when all you had to do to get ready for a conference was register and read over the pamphlet to see who was giving talks? Those days are GONE!

Now you have to do pre-conference homework!

I don't mind doing homework, and this is what I done -

Over the past few days, I listening to their podcasts at http://bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=59 where Brian Glenn interviewed John Reid (a fellow blogger at http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com/), and this year's Program Co-Chair of the 2011 Fall Conference Committee; Brian Watson, the Co-Chair for Administration for the 2011 Conference Committee; Kathy Wallace, the Registrar for the 2011 Fall Conference; and Lesley Anderson, Director of Education all talking about the Conference 2011.

I have read about the BIFHSGO Fall Conference Speakers at http://bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=54 and listened to 10 interviews with the speakers at http://bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=62. I have kept up-to-date with John D. Reid's BIFHSGO Blog at http://bifhsgo.ca/blog/2011/06/13/welcome/.

There will be 21 exhibitors this year, and they are at http://bifhsgo.ca/blog/2011/09/08/returning-to-the-conference-marketplace, and I plan to visit each one so that I can bring you news about new holding, new books, and new courses etc.

I read their "Getting the most out of the conference" at http://bifhsgo.ca/blog/2011/09/01/getting-the-most-out-of-the-conference to make sure I covered everthing, and I think I'm ready for the Conference Friday morning!

BTW, I have been invited to blog, and tweet at hashtag #BIFHSGO about the Confernce – so stayed tuned!

If you are in the Ottawa area this weekend, please drop in to the Conference. Many people have worked a huge amount of hours to make it the best conference ever, and they would like to see a large crowd there to take in this event.

To see what is available at the Conference, go to http://bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=22 http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com/

Descendants of Roger Billings, Milton, Massachusetts to Ottawa, Canada

Mike More, a Director of the Ontario Genealogical Society was asked by the City of Ottawa Archives to research the Billings family from Milton, Massachusetts to Ottawa, Canada in the 1800s.

Mike says "The City of Ottawa Archives holds the Billings Family fonds containing over 7 metres from 1796 to 1988. MG2 contains the notes of Charles Murray Billings who considered himself the family genealogist about a hundred years ago".

He tells us that Braddish BILLINGS, a son of Dr Elkanah BILLINGS was one of the first settlers in what is now Ottawa, the capital of Canada. Braddish's house was left to the city by one of his descendants and has become the Billings Estate Museum. There is considerable interest in the genealogy of the BILLINGS family by visitors to the City Archives, and this is an attempt to compile a reference chart of the family.

There are over 800 people in the Surname Index. The Master Index shows the date of birth and death of some of the people listed in the Surname Index, and a Legend which tells you who have been excluded because they are still living, or because research is still ongoing.

If you have any information, please contact Mike at mikemore@rogers.com. The website is located at http://www.ogsottawa.on.ca/billings/index.htm

Juvenile Inspection Reports

I have been reading about the immigration to Canada of children from Britain, and the creation of inspection report cards as they carried out regular inspections of the children. I was interested in this because Robert McCauley wrote about a Home Child named Ada Victoria Girling in a paper in this month's Families entitled “Childhood Forgotten: The Story of a Home Child.”

Most of these reports at the Library and Archives Canada http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/index-e.html concern the British Home Children. Some 100,000 British Home Children immigrated to Canada between between 1869 and 1948.

There is usually one page in the inspection report per child, with the following details -

name
age or date of birth
year of arrival
name of ship
sending organization, and,
names and addresses of farmers with whom they were placed.

In some cases, you may have to consult the List of Abbreviations to determine the name of the sending organization, such as the Middlemore Home Children in the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa. http://www.bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=4

This series also includes inspection cards for some European children, including those brought to Canada by the Armenian Relief Association of Canada (1923-1932) and the Canadian Jewish War Orphans Committee (1920-1921).

The Juvenile Inspections Reports are available on the following microfilm reels, arranged in approximate alphabetical order by the Library and Archives Canada at http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/index-e.html

T-15420 A to CARDNO, Leslie
T-15421 CARDWELL, Andrew to EVANS, Arthur E.
T-15422 EVANS, Arthur L. to HENDERSON, Ann F.
T-15423 HENDERSON, Charles H. to LOCK, Annie
T-15424 LOCK, Herbert to O'BRIEN, Samuel
T-15425 O'BRIEN, Thomas to SHAW, Victor
T-15426 SHAW, Walter A. to WEALE, Walter
T-15427 WEALLS, Eric to ZYCZYNSKI, Leon

This is the only known source for children sent by the British Immigration and Colonization Association from Britain to Canada.