Contribution of Aboriginal Peoples in the First World War (1914-1918)

Above is the Attestation Paper of Private Henry Norwest, a Métis from Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, was one of the most famous snipers.

The Library and Archives Canada has sent this email to me so that I could alert my readers that they have a new post called the Contribution of Aboriginal Peoples in the First World War (1914-1918).

In part, the post says that “Aboriginal peoples have a long tradition of military service in Canada dating back several centuries. Although not legally required to participate in the war, an estimated 4,000 Status Indians, and an unrecorded number of Métis and Inuit enlisted voluntarily and served with the Canadian Corps in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF).

Almost all of the young men on many reserves enlisted for service. For example, approximately half of the eligible Mi’kmaq and Maliseet from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia volunteered for overseas duty. In other provinces, the number was even higher. In the small Saskatchewan community of File Hills, nearly all of the eligible men signed up to fight.

The exact number of Aboriginal soldiers who lost their lives during the First World War is not known. It is estimated that at least 300 men were killed during battles or died from illness, such as tuberculosis”.

Read the full blog post at http://thediscoverblog.com/tag/aboriginal/

Postscript: Am I correct in thinking that the LAC is changing the design of its website again? I am starting to get frustrated as I flip back and forth between the old-old site and the new site. Some records are still at the old-old site, and then some are on the new site, and …

Military Great Moments in Genealogy

The British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO) is having a special monthly meeting in honour of Remembrance Day on Saturday November 9th, when they will feature seven 15-minute talks.

The meeting will take place at Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa.

Come early and browse the Discovery Tables, and meet with family history experts.

9:00 to 9:15 am
Over the Top: Researching our First War Ancestors in Fifteen Minutes Glenn Wright

9:15 to 9:30 am
Finding a Family Member on the Western Front Jane Down

9:30 to 10:00 am
Discovery Tables — Military Memorabilia Helen Garson

10:00 to 10:15 am
BIFHSGO Monthly Business Meeting Glenn Wright

10:15 to 10:30 am
Sam Cromie: Canadian Private to British Officer Wendy Croome

10:30 to 10:45 am
A Family in Service Mark Lloyd

10:45 to 11:00 am
Slipping Backward: A Canadian Prisoner of War, 1915-18 Brian Watson

11:00 to 11:15 am
William Sterling Lamb (1894-1918): A Promising Life Cut Short Anne Sterling

11:15 to 11:30 am
What Did He Do for Armistice? By Brian Glenn

If you want to hear speakers Glenn Wright, and Anne Sterling as they are interviewed by Dave Cross about the subjects of their talks, go to http://www.bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=106


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

Veterans Week - Cape Bretoners in World War Two

Wayne Macvicar, from Cape Breton (Nova Scotia), has emailed that
his site - Cape Bretoners in World War Two has just gone through an update.

The site contains an additional 16 individuals for a total of 16, 077 and 261 new pages for fatal casualties in the period Jan-Jul 1944, with photos for 19 individuals that are not on the Canadian Virtual War Memorial site.

He says that “Although I feel I'm getting close to completing the number of individuals that served I only have the bare information for many of them, including those that died in service. I invite everyone to have a look at my site and if they have any information they would like to share to fill out the form I have provided on my general Cape Bretoners at War https://sites.google.com/site/cbatwar/ site”.

To visit his sites, go to Cape Bretoners at War: https://sites.google.com/site/cbatwar/ and

Cape Bretoners in World War Two: https://sites.google.com/site/cbinww2/

Wayne thanks you for your input. It is very much appreciated.

(C) Veterans Affairs Canada

Postscript: This year during Veterans Week (November 5 – 11th), we remember Canada's Veterans - Brave and Proud.

Thank a Veteran by sending a Postcard for Peace at http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/veterans-week/postpeace

Canadian Week in Review 05 November 2013

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Veterans Affairs, 2013

Veterans Week November 5 - 11

Today is the beginning of Veterans Week in Canada. This year’s theme is I Remember – Canada's Veterans, Brave and Proud.

They have an Honour Roll at their page at
http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/collections/virtualmem/honour-roll

Yesterday, they honoured 281 people who died in war on that date, and each person has burial information, a photo of the soldier if it is available, and a summary of their military service.

Some of the stories that have caught my eye this week were –

‘Give a Vimy for Vimy:’ Fundraising campaign highlights battlefield image on $20 bill http://www.canada.com/Give+Vimy+Vimy+Fundraising+campaign+highlights+battlefield+image+bill/9119175/story.html Montreal-based Vimy Foundation is launching “a centennial campaign to convince the country to adopt the nickname “Vimy” for the new polymer $20 bills, which feature an image of the towering Vimy Ridge battlefield memorial in France”.

Libraries and Legion work together for literacy this Remembrance Day http://www.ngnews.ca/News/Local/2013-10-01/article-3413507/Libraries-and-Legion-work-together-for-literacy-this-Remembrance-Day/1In order to promote Remembrance Day this year, the Legion and the libraries in Nova Scotia are giving away 6,000 copies of Norman Leach’s award winning book Passchendaele,an illustrated history.

`Victory in Europe's 70th anniversary and the liberation of the Netherlands http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/canadian-students-and-teachers-to-join-dutch-citizens-in-celebrating-victory-in-europes-70th-anniversary-and-the-liberation-of-the-netherlands-229744371.html Students from Canada will go to the Netherlands May 2015 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe and the liberation of the Netherlands.

Top Canadian History Teacher is from Winnipeg

Matt Henderson, a history teacher from St. John's Ravenscourt School in Winnipeg has won the 2013 Governor General's History Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Awards are administered by Canada’s History Society, and are awarded "to the best Canadian achievements in the field of history and heritage".

Last year, Henderson and his grade eleven history class went to the provincial archives (Archives of Manitoba Family History Research

http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/family_history/index.html) “to help them gain a better understanding of the experience of indigenous persons in Manitoba”.

“They learned about conducting research in archives, they wrote historical fiction based on what they discovered - they even published their own Idle No More textbook called Because of a Hat - Stories of Red River”.

Congratulations Matt, and the Grade 11 history class!

Go to Winnipeg teacher wins GG Award at http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/scene/winnipeg-teacher-wins-gg-award-1.2159524

Only 6 days left until …

Guess what? It is 6 days away from being debuted on Ancestry.ca, and it is the  every name index to the 1921 Canada census!

Ancestry.ca will hold an official launch party in Toronto on the 29^th. Glen Wright, Dr. Kevin James, and Mark McGowan will be there to give brief comments about the census.  

So keep the 29^th open as it will be the day that the every name index to the 1921 Canada census will become available to the world!  

October is Canadian Islamic History Month

Islamic History Month Canada (IHMC) was launched on October 25, 2007, and October was proclaimed as the Islamic History month in Canada.

The press release says that “The Objective of IHMC is to celebrate, inform, educate and share with fellow Canadians the Muslim cultural heritage and Canadian Muslim contributions to Canada and the contributions made by the Islamic civilization throughout its history; to sciences, humanities, medicines, astronomy, and other disciplines that have contributed positively to human progress. IHMC believes that it is through education and sharing positive stories that we can build a more inclusive and gentle multicultural Canada.”

A few facts about Canadian –

- The census of 1871 reports 13 Muslims in the country

- Edmonton has the oldest mosque in North America, built in 1938

- There are 1 million Muslims in the country.

Their website is at http://www.islamichistorymonth.com/ihmc2010/

They also have a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Islamic-History-Month-Canada/322440464106?ref=stream&hc_location=stream

York Region Ancestors Fall Issue

The fall newsletter of the York Region of the OGS has two articles about the Upper Canada Sundries, New Research opportunities from the Library and Archives Canada, Aliens in the Township of Markham, and the Vaughn Memorial Project.

The first two articles involve land records in Upper Canada, and gives very good advice in finding people within the microfilm.

We are reminded that there are two places to check (FREE) and they are Janice Nickerson’s website at http://www.uppercanadagenealogy.com and Michael Stephenson’s website http://www.ontariogenealogy.com/uppercanadasundries.html for sundries files.

If you have had difficulty finding aliens in the 19th century in the Township of Markham, maybe you should look at the list in this newsletter. There are fifteen names on the list for the year 1815, and they were taken from the sundries list.

The City of Vaughan Archives are putting together a Memory Project and Exhibit, and are asking people who use to live, or are living in the area to collect oral histories, and send them to the archives once finished.

The person in charge of this project is Brenda Hicock and she can be reached by Brenda.hicock@vaughan.ca

If you would like to receive this newsletter four times a year, you can join the York Region by going to the http://www.rootsweb.com/~onyrbogs

Fall 2013 Anglo-Celtic Roots

The British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO)has issued the fall edition of its journal the Anglo-Celtic Roots.

There are a number of articles in this issue, and they are –

The Cowley Family Saga: From Sherwood Forest to the NHL – Part I by Christine Jackson which talks about the role that the Crowley family (they arrived in the Ottawa area from England in the 1830s) played in the development of the Ottawa Valley, and of Champlain Park, a housing development in the west end of Ottawa in the 1950s.

Found in a Monastery? by Brian D. Cook is a summary of what happened to tracing his maternal great-grandfather – Cuthbert Baker – from help by the BIFHSGO society, and genetic genealogy. .. and the records of the Benedictine Monastery in Europe.

The Cutler Genealogical Odyssey by Gillian Leitch tells of she successfully traced John Cutler from Eton, England who was employed as a clerk at the Tower of London. It is a fascinating story!

In the From the President message, Glenn Wright, says that they have imitated two projects that will result in two databases – the pre-Confederate immigrants from the British Isles (which will hold important names for researchers), and the second one will concern the First World War. So stayed tuned for developments on that front.

Betty Warburton keeps us up-to-date on the happenings at the library at the Archive of Ottawa, this month she tells us of the books on Ireland; John D. Reid talks about Canadiana.org, and the 1921 Census in The Cream of the Crop, and Ian White writes about The Ottawa City Archives: a Treasure Chest for Genealogists.

The Anglo-Celtic Roots (ACR) is available as a member benefit of BIFHSGO when you join the organization.

To join as a member, go to http://www.bifhsgo.ca

UPDATE: Nova Scotia 1921 Census

Dwayne Meisner has been hosting the 1921 census transcription on his site. I think that Halifax and Annapolis Counties are now complete, and he is looking for more volunteers to do the other counties in the province.

He says that “As a lot of you may be aware, I and others have been working on transcribing the 1921 census for Nova Scotia, and I have been uploading the finished transcriptions to my site http://www.dwaynemeisner.com/census/novascotia/index.php .

However, it a HUGE project, and so we are looking for more volunteers. I don't expect anyone to do a whole county; even just one sub-district would be a great
help!"

If you are interested, please visit his site
http://www.dwaynemeisner.com/census/volunteer.php for more information.

Is there anyone out there who can help Dwayne finish the 1921 Nova Scotia census?

1911 Census Updated

Ancestry.ca has updated the 1911 Census database.

There are now over 7-million names on the database.

This database is an every name index, and it covers the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan, and two territories - the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories.

Go to the website at http://search.ancestry.ca/search/db.aspx?dbid=8947

Kent County Branch Meeting

On Friday, October 11, 2013 at 7:00 pm at the St. Andrews Residence, 99 Park St., Chatham, ON, the Kent County Branch of the OGS will hold their monthly meeting at which Reg Johnston will speak on 150 YEARS! THE CHATHAM GRANITE CLUB.

Mr. Johnston with share the history and the people involved with building the curling club.
Contact http://ogs.on.ca/kent

If you can’t make it to the meeting, there is a short history of the Chatham Granite Club on their website at http://chathamgraniteclub.com/club

Call for speakers

The Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society has issued a Call for Speakers for a spring 2014 workshop titled Scotland and its People.

This full-day workshop for family historians, to be held on Saturday 12 April 2014, will explore the social, economic and cultural history of Scotland.

We are seeking proposals for presentations at this workshop from professional genealogists, historians, family historians, librarians and archivists.

The deadline for proposals is Monday 18 November 2013.

You can contact Gwyneth Pearce, Secretary, Toronto Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society at
publicity@toronto familyhistory.org or contact them at www.torontofamilyhistory.org.

Toronto school memorials database

Gwyneth Pearce, Secretary,Toronto Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society, sent us this notice –

More than 32,000 names now in Toronto school memorials database

It’s that time again… when children, parents and teachers launch into a new school year!

And to mark the start of classes for 2013, the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society has added more than 2,700 new names and eight more schools to its on-line database of school memorials commemorating Toronto students and staff who volunteered for active service in the two World Wars and other military conflicts.

The newest schools in the For King and Country database include Essex Street, John English, Rose Avenue, Lambton Mills, Lansdowne, Humewood Public and Runnymede Collegiate Institute.

We’ve also added our first independent school – St. Michael’s College School – a Catholic middle and high school with a rich history dating back to 1852. The database now contains more than 32,000 names and 88 schools, with transcriptions and photographs of school war memorials, historical background and links to other useful school and community websites.

Explore this growing collection now at www.torontofamilyhistory.org/kingandcountry/.

To find out more about the For King and Country project, and how you can help, contact co-ordinator Martha Jackson at kingandcountry@torontofamilyhistory.org.

And if you happen to be one of the many heading back to school this month, take a moment to remember the past generations of students and staff who went to war.

Elgin County OGS monthly meeting

The Elgin County OGS meets on the fourth Monday of March, April, May, September, October and November in the Carnegie Room at the St. Thomas public Library at 7:30 p.m.

Martin DeKeyzer will talk about Elgin County Postcards & Postal Memorabilia on Monday, September 23, 2013.

For further information, contact info@elginogs.ca

While you are checking out the Elgin County site. Don’t forget to go to Ancestry Indexes at

http://www.elginogs.ca/Home/ancestor-indexes. There you will find cemetery, census, land records and much, much more!

Quebec Family History Society Holiday Hours

The library and office of the Quebec Family History Society will be closed from Thursday August 22, 2013 until and including, Monday September 2, 2013.

On Tuesday September 3, 2013 the library and office will reopen and the regular schedule of opening hours will resume.

Monday to Friday 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Wednesday Evening 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Sunday 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

For information on upcoming events please consult our website http://www.qfhs.ca/

The Quebec Family History Society is the largest English-language genealogical society in Quebec

Dog Days of Summer Sale!

This exciting notice just came into the office - 

Save 15% from now until midnight August 15th 2013 off all products listed on the Global Genealogy website at http://globalgenealogy.com

Purchase as many items as you want -- order as often as you want!

Enter the COUPON CODE 'Summer Sale' into the COUPON CODE blank in our online shopping cart and click APPLY, or say the code when you phone in your order (1-800-361-5168).

New workshop at Toronto

They are planning a full day of lectures on Saturday, 26 October on Tracing Forward – Searching for Relatives in Recent Times – a day designed to provide researchers with new ideas, strategies and tools to help them trace members of their expanded family trees, people who might still be alive or recently deceased.

This is a brand-new workshop topic for Toronto Branch and we’re quite excited about it – we expect to have program and registration details available on our website in the very near future.

Their website at www.torontofamilyhistory.org

BIFHSGO Conference next month

Conference time (Sept 20 - 22) is nearly here, and are you ready to attend a full-day of workshops, and two days of lectures by people from Ireland, and local genealogical experts on Irish roots?

One thing which BIFHSGO does, and has done for the past two years, is to present interviews with the conference speakers.

This year, some of the interviews are -  

Lesley Anderson Previews her Pre-conference Seminar  Lesley talks about her lecture on Ancestry.ca and how it can help you with your Irish family history research.

Interview with Linda Reid Toronto genealogist Linda Reid will be presenting "Around the Brick Wall: Tracing Back an Irish Family through Collateral Lines" and "Are They Really My Ancestors? Using Autosomal DNA Tests to Confirm (or Deny) Relationships and Ancestors."

and

Success through One Name Studies Sandra Adams, Bill Arthurs and Elizabeth Kipp along with John D Reid talk about the successes they have had by pursuing their one-name studies and what you can expect to learn if you attend the Saturday afternoon session "Success through One Name Studies"

If you want to listen to these interviews, go to www.bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=62

If you still haven’t registered, you can register online at http://www.bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=109

The website for BIFHSGO is www.bifhsgo.ca

First Ever Video Streaming IAJGS Confernce LIVE!

Mark the date August 4 – 9th on your calendar! It will be the  live streaming of 50 sessions at the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Society Conference (IAJGS) in Boston, Massachusetts.

The International Association of Jewish Genealogy Society (IAJGS) brings the best minds and knowledge in the field of Jewish genealogy to its conference. More than 1,000 attendees from 17 countries will attend. 

Anyone in any location with the desire to learn more about their Jewish family history will be able to tap into this knowledge and attend the event via the Internet.

To learn more, go to web site at www.live.iajgs2013.org