No Easter Databases

I have checked with Ancestry.ca, and there isn't any free access to their historical databases this weekend for the Easter holiday.

However, on their Facebook page, they do tell us that they still have available their Family Tree Sweepstakes.

If you haven't entered yet, you can start here at www.facebook.com/Ancestry.ca

Bytown/Ottawa Settlers in the 1800s

Jim Stanzell, from the Ottawa Branch of the OGS, says today that he will post the settlers of three distinct settlements in the Ottawa area during the 1800s on the Ottawa Branch blogsite .

The settlements are –

1. Hull, Quebec settled by Philemon Wright in 1800

2. Richmond Military Settlement, mainly Goulbourn Twp, Richmond, Stittsville and Ashton area, which started in the fall of 1818 and consisted mainly of soldiers of the 99th/100th Reg't

3. Rideau Canal settlement started when Lt/Col John By came to the area [eventually Bytown ] in 1826/1827 to build the Rideau Canal

He says that he will post on alternate Wednesdays between visits to Ottawa City Archives where he will gather info/data to post and rotate thru the three settlements above.

In 2 weeks time, on the 10 Apr 2013, there will be data/info on Hull and Philemon Wright settlers.

To read the post, go to  http://ogsottawa.blogspot.com/2013/03/bytownottawa-settlers.html

Manitoba Genealogical Society is going to have online databases

The MGS recently made an announcement that they are planning to put online indexes of cemeteries, vital records information etc and it will be available to members and non-members alike.  The records will be on a pay-for-view basis.

They say that they will have indexes of historical records that even Ancestry.ca does not have!

Also, some time ago, I read that the Manitoba Genealogical Society was offering a discount on membership fees if you were also a member of the Ontario Genealogical Society and/or the Saskatchewan Genealogical Society.

I had an inquiry into the society about the amount of the discount before I reported it to my readers, and now I have the answer - the discount is $5.00 CDN.

Thank to the MGS for letting us know of their plans for 2013, and beyond. This sounds exciting, and I look forward to it as I have the family of Rev. Joseph Hogg from Nova Scotia in Manitoba at the turn of the 20th century.

To go to their website, go to www.mbgenealogy.com

2013 AGS Conference

The Alberta Genealogical Society invites you to join them in celebrating their 40th Anniversary Conference “Same Roots, Different Branches” at the Chateau Louis Conference Centre, Edmonton, Alberta on 20 & 21 April 2013.

The conference committee have the pleasure of bringing the most electrifying and diverse international, regional and local speakers to maximize your conference experience.

The lineup of presenters include:

Stephen Young

Lisa Louise Cooke

Dave Obee

Pat Ryan

Deanna Bullock

Lyn Meehan

John Althouse

Alison Freake

Vernon R. Wishart

The conference opens with Stephen C. Young, a project manager with FamilySearch. His topic will be FamilySearch: Genealogy at Your Fingertips. Stephen will explore features and services on FamilySearch, WIKI that provides valuable research guidance, and information about indexing—an opportunity to “pay-it-forward”.

Fot those who are new to genealogy, there will be A Beginner’s Track is recommended for those just starting, however all participants at any level are more than welcome to attend.

Numerous door prizes, vendor merchandise and publications from AGS Branches will be for sale. And attendees have the privilege of pre-conference tours to Edmonton’s diverse specialized libraries and archives on Friday, 19 April 2013.

Registrations are now being accepted at www.abgensoc.ca/events.html#agsconf

Early bird special will end soon!

Ealy bird registration will end on March 31st, 2013 at the OGS Conference in Oshawa this year.

For all other questions, please email Anne Delong, Conference Chair, at conference2013@ogs.on.ca and she will either answer your question or direct you to someone who can.

To read all about the conference, go to www.ogs.on.ca/conference2013

Nova Scotia Genealogy Website Available in French

The website with nearly a million possibilities for people to search for their Nova Scotia roots is now available in French.

The Historical Vital Statistics website, maintained by the Nova Scotia Archives, has a searchable database containing nearly one million personal names. Each is linked to a corresponding birth, death or marriage registration, digitized and available online. The earliest records date from the mid-1700s and the most recent from the 1960s.

"One of the ways the province is making life better for Acadian and francophone families is by creating more access to bilingual services online," said Communities Culture and Heritage Minister Leonard Preyra. "The Historical Vital Statistics website is an invaluable genealogical tool for Nova Scotians to explore our family history and learn more about our culture and heritage."

The website is the only one of its kind in Canada that people can browse for records about their genealogy free of charge. The website is a popular destination for family history researchers and community historians from Nova Scotia and around the world.

To search for records on the Historical Vital Statistics website go to www.novascotiagenealogy.com. People can also purchase electronic or paper copies of the documents by ordering online and paying via secure credit card transaction.

The Historical Vital Statistics website includes records transferred from Vital Statistics after 100 years for births, 50 years for deaths and 75 years for marriages.

CANADIAN Newspaper Articles Every Monday

Don’t forget to check my blog every Monday morning for my New/Updated CANADIAN Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles.

This week in the section Pictures and Story of the Week, I have put RootsTech 2013. So be sure to read the Canadian happenings at RootsTech.

So don’t miss the New/Updated Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles blog on Monday March 25th.

It has been a regular blog since April 23, 2012.

Elizabeth

The Nova Scotia Genealogist Fall 2012 Issue

This will probably be the last printed The Novas Scotia Genealogist, as they are going to electronic newsletter shortly.

In this issue, they have Immigrants and Newcomers Married at St Johns Church, Lunenburg, 1817-1851 by Terry Punch. The church was founded in 1753, and is an Anglican Church.

There have been additions to the 42 marriages that were put on index cards by Heather Long. The additions include children who were baptised in the church.

Andrew White the Planter – an Update by W. Warner to an article submitted in 2011, in which he discussed the problem between Andrew White of Sudbury, Massachusetts and Andrew White of Marshfield, Massachusetts. Who was the Planter in Nova Scotia?

The writer disproves through the Massachusetts Archives that Andrew White of Marshfield was not the Planter who settled in the Annapolis Valley.

The third article in the newsletter is The Hillcrest Mine Disaster and the Nova Scotia Connection by M. Bole .

The mining disaster occurred in Hillcrest, Alberta, and 189 miners were killed in 1914. Twenty-three miners were from Nova Scotia and the author gives a brief history of each of the minters.

The names of the miners were –

BARBER, James (Barbour)

BAINBRIDGE, Sidney H.

BINGHAM, Frederick Seymour

EMERY, David

GREY, James F.

HOOD, John

HUNTER, Hugh

JOHNSTON, Alfred and William

McISAAC, Roderick

McKAY, Angus H.

McKINNON, John B.

McKINNPON, Stephen

McNEIL, Pius

McQUARRIE, John A.

MEGENCY, Nicholas (Megeney)

MOORHOUSE, Frederick (Moorehouse, Muirhouse)

NEATH, William Henry

QUIGLEY, James S.

QUIGLEY, Thomas

ROBERTSON, George

WALKER, John (Donald John)

WALLACE, Rod

The writer has three other name of miners who may hace spent time in Nova Scotia, and they are Frank Bostock, Prosper Days, John Pearson, and she needs information on the following – August Fougere, William Miller, and William G. Miller.

The website for GANS is http://www.NovaScotiaAncestors.ca

RootsTech 2013 – Live Streaming Day 3

March the 23rd will be the last day of Live Streaming of the RootsTech 2013 Conference.

It is reported that there are 6,800+ people who have registered for the conference- which starts today! And that doesn’t count ‘walk ins’. So it should be a well attended conference.

Here is the schedule for Saturday –

Saturday    

10:30 AM Eastern  Keynote - David Pogue and Gilad Japhet

11:45 AM Eastern Using Technology to Solve Research Problems - Karen Clifford

1:00 AM Eastern Digital Storytelling: More than Bullet Points - Denise Olson

Join the conversation at #RootsTech

Like on Facebook Follow @RootstechConf on Twitter

Or go to http://rootstech.org

Ancestry UPDATE: Find A Grave Index

Find A Grave has been updated, and now has 5,012, 693 records online. Find A Grave was started a few years ago, and as the website says its mission “is to find, record and present final disposition information from around the world as a virtual cemetery experience”.

    

If you want to view the original data, go to Find A Grave at www.findagrave.com

The website at Ancestry is http://search.ancestry.ca/search/db.aspx?dbid=70699

          

FREE access to immigrant roots to end soon

Free access to select immigration records ends at midnight Eastern Daylight Time, today, Sunday, March 17th. 

So come to Ancestry.com right now to learn about an ancestor's voyage to America in passenger lists. Or find out if they traveled by land in border crossings records.

Go to http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/18142230/family

Irish Canadians

Almost 1.2 million Irish immigrants arrived in Canada from 1825 to 1970. By 1867, they were the second-largest ethnic group in Canada and comprised 24% of Canada's population. About one-half settled in Ontario. One-third was Catholic, and two-thirds were Protestant.

While many immigrants came as farmers with such settlement schemes as cheap (or free) land, some of the immigrants came to work on the infrastructure of the country, such as canals, roads, railroads, and in the lumber industry in Ontario.

I have been reading the new book, Researching Your Irish Ancestors at Home and Aboard by OGS member Dr. David R. Elliott, and have excerpted a part of it in the May issue of Families, of which I am the editor.  

This book is written from the point of view of getting your research in order at home before going to conduct research in Ireland.  By using, the approach outlined in the book, it should give the researcher a degree of satisfaction in finding your Irish roots.

This book can be purchased at the Ontario Genealogical Society at http://ogs.on.ca/ogscart/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1502&zenid=aq9j832c6ok4khsr02obnar5b6

To refresh your knowledge of the Irish in Canada, you can go to the Library and Archives Canada at www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-905.005-e.html

RootsTech 2013

RootsTech 2013 is almost upon us, and I am getting ready to live stream the 13 talks that the speakers will give at this year conference.

FamilySearch has a blog today in which Paul M. Nauta, marketing manager for FamilySearch says  “RootsTech has something for everyone, whether an avid genealogist or someone just getting started and interested in telling and sharing personal and family stories or simply to discover the latest technologies and solutions to better connect the family,” said Paul M. Nauta, marketing manager for FamilySearch, the Church’s organization providing service to family history enthusiasts worldwide regardless of religious persuasion”.

Among the Canadian blogger that will be there, are –

John D. Reid

Anglo Celtic Connections www.anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com

Deborah Large Fox

Help! The Faerie Folk Hid My Ancestors! http://irishfamilyresearch.blogspot.com

M. Diane Rogers

CanadaGenealogy, or, Jane’s Your Aunt

www.canadagenealogy.blogspot.ca

Lorine McGinnis Schulze

The Olive Tree Genealogy

http://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.ca

Attendance is expected to exceed last year’s event, which attracted more than 4,000 registrants and was seen by more than 50,000 viewers of live streaming sessions. They expect 5,000+ to attend this year’s conference!

To see the website, go to www.rootstech.org