Press Release: GenealogyCanada Will Celebrate 5th Blogiversary

Hello, Everyone,

As the press release says, GenealogyCanada will be celebrating its fifth blogiversary January the 2nd.


Feel free to pass the press release along to your genealogical friends.

If you have any questions about genealogycanada, please email me at genealogycanada@aol.com.

Elizabeth

(Ottawa Dec 27, 2012) On January 2, 2013, Elizabeth Lapointe will be celebrating the 5th Blogiversary of GenealogyCanada.blogspot.com, her daily genealogy, heritage, and history blog.

Lapointe says, “I have had five great years telling people about Canada’s latest genealogy, heritage, and history news and stories. Because of the blog, I have made friends from all over, and look forward to reaching new audiences in the next five years.”

GenealogyCanada.blogspot.com is expected to reach its 1,000th blog in the next few weeks. Come join the others who drop by for their genealogy fix – simply visit the blog, subscribe to the “Blog Update” email notification service, or follow along on Twitter.

Among the blog posts of which Lapointe is extremely proud are the posts that make up the yearly Veterans’ Week series in November, and the posts that greet her readers every Monday morning of new and improved Canadian websites, blogs, and news articles on Canadian genealogy, heritage, and history.

“Both of these posts are very important to me because they bring to my readers news of what is happening in Canada—or somehow related to Canada or Canadians worldwide—whether it’s in remembrance of her veterans each November, or on a weekly basis.”

To mark the 5th Blogiversary on January 2nd, there will be a special contest give-away of 5 copies of her cross-border resource booklet—Migration: Canada and the United States—to those readers who correctly answer a question about the blog. So please take a moment to visit us that day, and be sure to also tell your friends and fellow genealogists.

A random draw of all the correct entries will take place the next day, on January 3rd.

To find out what’s been posted or to see what you’ve missed, scroll down to the “Blog Archive” list and pick a date, or simply use the dedicated Google search box near the top to find your favourite subject.

If you have any questions about the blog, please direct them to Elizabeth Lapointe at genealogycanada@aol.com.

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About GenealogyCanada

GenealogyCanada.blogspot.com is a Canadian blog covering Canadian genealogy, heritage, and history news and events. There have been over 900 posts since January 2008.

The GenealogyCanada.com website contains over 30 newsletters dating from 2004 to 2007, again covering the same news as the blog. Also included is the Website of the Month, showcasing the best in Canadian genealogy.

Upper Canada Land Petitions (1763-1865)

The Library and Archives Canada has put the Upper Canada Land Petitions.

They say that “Before the arrival of the Loyalists and British military settlers, the present-day Province of Ontario was an extension of the Province of Quebec. Following the Constitutional Act of 1791, the colony of Quebec was divided to create Upper Canada (today Ontario) and Lower Canada (today Quebec). Many early settlers, both military and civilian, submitted petitions to the Governor to obtain Crown land. Sons and daughters of Loyalists were also entitled to free lands.

The Upper Canada Land Petitions contain petitions for grants or leases of land and other administrative records. This research tool provides access to more than 82,000 references to individuals who lived in present-day Ontario between 1783 and 1865”.

For example, there is a Thomas Barclay in the database. 

The information an him was that he was from New York, the year was 1819, Volume 43, Bundle B 12, Petition 273, Microfilm C-1625, Reference RG 1 L3.

To check out the database, go to www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/upper-canada-land/index-e.html?PHPSESSID=9ukhscr15duaokeg7j3vk5qtf6

Books 

I have just published two booklets - The War of 1812: Canada and the United States, and Migration: Canada and the United States.

They are available for purchase through Global Genealogy at http://globalgenealogy.com, and the National Institute of Genealogical Studies at www.genealogicalstudies.com.

 For more on the booklets, go to http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2012/01/booklet-1-war-of-1812-canada-and-united.html and http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2012/01/booklet-2-migration-canada-and-united.html

Canada has baseball genealogy, too!!!

Today, I was out to the final baseball game of the season for the Ottawa Rapidz of the Can-Am League. Unfortunately, the team lost their last game of the 2008 season, but there were over 5,000 people present, who thought it was just about the best game they had seen all season.

So, to celebrate all people who like baseball, I direct you to an article I wrote this summer for "Canadian Connections" on the GenealogyToday.com website called "Play Ball", and published in May, 2008. The link is <www.genealogytoday.com/roots/xweb.mv?xc=Display&xo=rescms&xn=-1&xr=1536&xw=&t_rid=25294&xz=connect.html>.

For those interested in stats, their win/loss record is 31-62, not bad for their first year. They replaced the Ottawa Lynx, a Triple-A team.

Canada Genealogy Centre is 5 Years Old!

It's hard to believe, but the Canada Genealogy Centre (GCG) is already five years old!

It was on March 29, 2003——a cold windy Saturday——that I bundled up and went out to Nepean (now Ottawa) to see the launch of a new genealogy site at the Library and Archives Canada (LAC).

The first site was 93 pages long, and by June 5, 2004, the number of pages had increased to over 300 pages.

Today, there are 20 databases online, the two newest being the Chinese Immigration List and the 1881 Census.

In fact, it is so popular that it is the second-leading website among the federal government sites - a close second to the weather website!

The top four databases, in terms of hits, are Immigration (1925-1935), Western Land Grants, the Soldiers of the First World War, and the 1871 Census.

They also have online "That's My Family", developed in partnership with the Bibliotheque et Archives nationales du Quebec and Ancester Search.

According to John Reid's blog, the hardcopy of the 1916 Census for the Western Provinces has just arrived at the LAC, and is now in the CGC Microfilm Consultation Room. The index of the census is being done by Ancestry.com.

These days, 60 percent of visits to the LAC are to the CGC.

August 2008 "NewsLeaf" is Here!

The August 2008 NewsLeaf is here! It was delivered last week to my mailbox and it looks good.

The NewsLeaf is the Ontario Genealogical Society's (OGS) four times a year publication of news about the society which one receives if a member of the society <www.ogs.on.ca>.

The OGS has a new president this year, Don Hinchley from the Durham Branch, and a new vice-president, Nancy Trimble, also from the Durham Branch.

In this issue are articles on the Irish Palatines, Finding Cousins, and Ontario Vital Records.

As well as the articles, there are the usual, as in Branch addresses and Branch meetings and what is going on in the Halton-Peel Branch for next year's conference to be held in Oakville (near Toronto) next year from May 29-31, 2009 <www.ogs.on.ca/conference>.

My opinion is rather biased because I am editor of it, as well as being the editor of its electronic sister publication, e-NewsLeaf, also only available to the members of the OGS.

The e-NewsLeaf is sent out by email, or is available onsite, eight times a year (January, March, April, June, July, September, October, December).

Meanwhile, the print NewsLeaf is available February, May, August and November.

Both are full of news about what is happening at the OGS. If you want to know when the next meeting is, or what plans the society has for an upcoming event, be sure to check the NewsLeaf or the e-NewsLeaf.

The Ontario Genealogical Society is the largest society in Canada. It will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2011.

1881 Census of Canada Released

At exactly 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 7th, the 1881 Census was released online!

The people who first got the news were the attendees at the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) who were at the Library and Archives Canada attending a conference on Genealogy and Local History. I was one of the attendees.

On the database, researchers can access the name, age, country or province of birth, nationality, religion, and occupation of Canada's residents at the time of the 1881 census. It also has the actual census return itself, which you can also access.

The press release said that "It is the first regularly scheduled collection of national statistics in Canada. Information was collected for Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, British Columbia, and the North-West Territories".

I checked the census Thursday evening for the BARCLAY (my direct line) family in Nova Scotia and I found them, but I found the children in one grouping and the mother and father in another grouping. Funny - but that is how it was.

Also, their surname was spelled as BARCKLAY - which was also unusual.

Sylvie Temblay, the Chief Project Head at the Canadian Genealogy Centre, expects 750,000 searches per week on the 1881 census.

The index was created by familysearch.org, and access to the digital images of the original census was work done by the Library and Archives of Canada.

The database is available at <www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/census-1881>.

LAC Conference 2008 - Blog

I will be away on vacation from Friday, August 1st to Sunday, August 11th. But, "I will be away on vacation", is a relative term - because for two days I will be at the "Genealogy and Local History for all: Services to Multicultural Communities" (August 6 & 7) in Ottawa. It is a Satellite Conference sponsored by GENLOC/RISS International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions under the organization of the Library and Archives Canada.

While there, I plan to meet with Dave Obee, a genealogist from British Columbia, and Janet Tomkins, a librarian with the genealogy department at the Vancouver Public Library.

While I am gone, if you want something of mine to read, you can check "Canadian Connections" on the <www.GenealogyToday.com> website.

I have been writing for them since 2002 about everything Canadian in genealogy, heritage, and history.

And you can also read the current issue of e-NewsLeaf, which can be accessed if you are a member of the Ontario Genealogy Society <www.ogs.on.ca>. I became the editor of e-NewsLeaf when it was started back in April.

The latest newsletter just came out last weekend (July 2008 Volume 1, No. 4) and has articles on the Nipissing Branch Receives Trillium Award, "The Wall of Ancestors" at Conference '08, Information Wanted for Local History Book, African Roots in Canada, and Ottawa Branch Supports Local Library.

I will be back on the blog Monday, August 11th.

FamilySearch.org - From a Canadian Point of View

Every since the Internet has become like a second skin for the genealogy public, one site has become essential for research: <FamilySearch.org>.

I did that back in 1995 when I started my family history. There were three genealogies which had been done - but there were no supporting documents. So I am grateful that <FamilySearch.org> was there and that I was able to use them for free. But that might be changing in the near future.

In a recent press release from them, the word "free" is more clearly defined.

"Where possible, FamilySearch will seek to provide free public access to digital images of original images of original records. Due to affiliate obligations, free access to some images may be available only to FamilySearch members (volunteers and indexers who meet basic contribution requirements each quarter, patrons at Family History Centers, and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who's contributions supply FamilySearch's operations)."

So what does this mean to you?

To me, it sounds like you will have to pay for access unless you fall into one of those categories. Will you be willing to go the local Family History library to do your research rather than turning on your home computer? Are you willing to index so much material per quarter in lieu of paying for access?

They are going to have the software by next year to verify that you are a member of FamilySearch so that you will be able to access future home use.

What do you think?

A Nation's Chronicle: The Canada Gazette

The Canada Gazette has been published in Canada for more than 160 years. It is the known as "the official newspaper of the Government of Canada", for it has "informed Canadians of the operations of government and encouraged them to participate in the legislature process."

In other words, in it are published new statutes and regulations, proposed regulations, decisions of administrative boards, and an assortment of government notices.

The Canada Gazette (from 1841 to 1997) will, over the next few years, be made available online. You will be able to "keyword' search of all the content of the Canada Gazette.

Right now, the database is of 30% (300,000) of the pages in Canada Gazette and by 2009 all of the pages will be on the Internet.

It is divided into three parts -

Part I - 1983-1997 - Contains all public notices, appointments and proposed Regulations from the government, and it is published every Saturday.

Part II - 1950-1976 - It contains all proclamations and order-in-council. It is published every other Wednesday.

Part III - 1983-1997 - This section contains all Acts of Parliament, and it is published as soon as possible after the act is given Royal Assent.

Issues of the Canada Gazette after 1997 are available online at the website of the Canada Gazette Directorate at <canadagazette.gc.ca/index-e.html>.

The Canada Gazette is a project funded by the Canadian Culture Online program of the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Canada Gazette Directorate.

It is available at <www.collectionscanada.gc.on/canada-gazette>.

Nova Scotia Celebrates Loyalists

Nova Scotia celebrates the 225th anniversary of the arrival of Loyalists this summer. The majority came from other cities and areas to the city of New York, and then left in the spring and summer of 1783 to settle in such places as Shelburne, Digby, and Guysborough. They were given the choice of going or staying in the U.S., but many found it difficult because they supported the British Crown during the American Revolution.

I just received the newsletter from the Shelburne County Archives & Genealogical Society Newsletter <http://nsgna.ednet.ns.ca/shelburne>
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The newsletter reports that people at the Society has written two books which will be of interest to Loyalists. They are "Founders of Shelburne Nova Scotia Who Came, 1783-1793", and "Remarks and Rough Memorandums: Captains William Both Royal Corps of Engineers, Shelburne, Nova Scotia 1785, 1787, 1789".

In this newsletter, from page 4 to page 5, is the preface to the first book mentioned in the above paragraph, and it is very interesting. Did you know that at the beginnings of the town, it was the fourth largest city in North America!

On page 6 to page 7 are excerpts from the Shelburne Budget from 10 January, 1901 to 15 September, 1901.

Not only is it my hometown, but I am Loyalist on both sides of my family (Barclay & Blades), as is true of a lot of people from Shelburne and area.

Although I was unable to go to Shelburne myself to help with the celebrations, I encourage you to go to their website and see what is available. They have oodles of resource materials, and the centre of the town is a heritage section where you can see the town as it looked in 1783.

The Spring/Summer Journal Arrives from QFHS

My copy of "Connections" — the Journal of the Quebec Family History Society (QFHS) — arrived last week. The 28 page journal has a picture of the world-famous Quebec City hotel, the Chateau Frontenac, on the front page. Taken in 1943, it is an impressive invitation to the index on the inside of the journal.

One of the articles includes "New Kid On The Block: St. James United Church" (Robert N. Wilkins, p.6), a piece about a Methodist church hidden from view in Montreal by shops built in front of it! Now on public view once more, it was one of the largest churches of the Methodist faith built in the world. It seats 2,000 people!

In this church in 1906, Booker T. Washington gave a speech on anti-slaverly. Another time, Harriet Beecher Stowe gave a similar speech on that topic, too.

At the end of page 3 is "Researching Your Family Lineage in France" in which the QFHS is offering to "... carry out detailed family searches of your French-Canadian Family Lineage(s) from Quebec to France".

They will do detailed searches for $50.00 per search and a search will take, on average three to four hours to complete - an average of $15 - $20 per hour. Where else can you find research, that experience, yet done with a knowledge only available at the QFHS?

One other article to note is their two-part series on "The Land Register of Quebec: Part I - The System" by Sharon Callaghan (p. 17) in which she says " ... that there is now an on-line, searchable database in which you can trace the history of any property in Quebec".

Part II of the article will appear in the fall issue of "Connections". She will take you on a tour of the website, and will review the search venue at <www.mrnf.gouv.qc.ca/english/home.jsp>.

There are also two articles on Montreal: "The City of Old" and "Phoebe David (1736/37-1785)" on pages 20 and 21. These should not be missed, as they provide great reading.

If you have never thought about joining QFHS, maybe it's time to consider doing so. I have been aware of Derek Hopkins and the gang since 1994, and they have done wonders with the English part of Quebec family history.

To see what else is avaible, go to their website at <www.qfhs.ca>, or send them a note at <admin@qfhs.ca>.

LAC Releases Marriage Bonds

On June 26th, the Library and Archives released the marriage bonds for Lower Canada (Ontario) and Upper Canada (Quebec) called "I Do: Love and Marriage in 19th Century Canada" <www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/love-and-marriage/index-e.html>.

There is a nominal database with more than 10,000 Upper and Lower Canada marriage bonds. Bonds issued in Upper Canada are for the years 1803 to 1865, and the bonds issued in Lower Canada cover the period from 1779 to 1858.

I put in my maiden name, Barclay, and discovered 5 results - four from the Lower Canada Marriage Bonds, and one result from the Upper Canada Marriage Bonds.

If you click on a name, you will be taken to the webpage which gives you such information as the residence, the name of the future husband/wife, his/her residence, the date the bond was signed, the reference number, the volumes, the bond number, and the microfilm reel number.

Besides the search results, there is also a online exhibition of the letters and journal entries of Mary Westcott and Louis-Joseph-Amedee Papineau.

One should note here that the Nova Scotia Archives also has their marriage bonds (1763-1864) online. They have over 12,000 records, and they have been on since October, 2007.

They are available at <www.novascotiagenealogy.com>.

More Canadian Content Coming to Ancestry.ca

In May of 2007, the Library and Archives of Canada (LAC) and The Generations Network signed an agreement in which Ancestry.ca would index the Canadian Passenger Lists (1865-1935) in the future on the Ancestry.ca. Now it looks like they will publish it next year - 2009.

If you cannot wait that long and have a need to know right now, the LAC has the microfilm records in the building on Wellington Street in Ottawa. Go to the Passenger Lists, 1865-1935 in the Canadian Genealogy Centre . They explain that the passenger lists were actually the immigration list for those years. There are no immigration applications or files.

The list from 1865 to 1935 are arranged by port and date of arrival, and if you do not know the name of the ship, you must search the unindexed lists by year.

If you go to Nanaimo Genealogical Society page, certain parts of the passenger list has been indexed by the NGS.

Arrivals at the Quebec ports for the periods of the 29 of May, 1907 to 13 October, 1910 and they are starting a list from 1907, working backward to 1900. They have indexed nearly 500,000 records, so it is worth looking there to see if you can find the people you are looking for who came to Canada.

WorldVitalRecords Releases Canadian Jewish Data

Jewish Data has partnered with WorldVitalRecords to release over 500,000 records (including tombstones, school yearbook pages, and Citizen Declarations) from hundreds of Jewish cemeteries across the United States, Canada, Germany, and Israel.

In Montreal, the Back River Cemetery (1876-1934), Berri Street entrance; Back River Cemetery (1901-1934), South Denis entrance; Shearit Israel - Spanish and Portuguese Jews (1825-1999); and a portion of Baron De Hirsch Cemetery on Rue de Savane have been transcribed.

There are 23,000 records listed. You can search by the last name and can receive the last name, the first name, the civil year of record, and the location of the record. There is also a picture of the tombstone.

Avraham Laber, President of Jewish Data, said, "Our goal is to provide a home for Jewish records in order to help people study Jewish history and genealogy. Here we have thousands of hours of research already done for people, and it only takes them a few seconds to access the records. If they would search for the same records on their own, it would cost them much more money and time."

I was at a recent convention where David Lifferth, the president of WorldVitalRecords.com, was giving a talk on "Innovative Family Tools to Connect Families", and "The Fastest Growing Genealogy Resource on the Web!"

He used to be the president of Ancestry.com, so he should know what he is talking about, and it seems that he does, with more than 500,000 monthly visits and over 25,000 subscribers.

WorldVitalRecords was founded in 2006.

Ancestry.ca Releases 1891 Canadian Census

I remember it well (because I was there at the 2007 Ontario Genealogical Society Conference in Ottawa) when Tom Sullivan from My Generations.com and the people from the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) said that they had just formed a partnership to share information.

I waited to see what they would put on Ancestry.ca, and late last year, the Drouin Collection appeared, and then some of the U.S./Canada Border Crossings came on board, and now the (searchable) 1891 Canadian Census has been published online.

Taken on April 6th, 1891, the 1891 census contains 4.5 million searchable names and 90,000 images of the original census pages.

Some of the information (online) of each person in the household is -

• name of each person in family or household on April 6, 1891
• relation to head of family or head of household
• sex
• age
• martial status (single, married, widowed, or divorced)
• country or province of birth

The areas covered in Canada in 1891 are British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and the Territories.

The census itself was handed over to the LAC in 1985. If you want to find out more about it, you can go to the Canadian Genealogy Centre or pay a visit to the Centre itself and view microfim numbers T-6290 to T-6427 to see it for yourself.

The 1891 Census of Canada is available to Ancestry.ca subscribers, or through a 14-day free trial.

British Columbia Celebrates 150th Anniversary

I received the June, 2008 newsletter, "The British Columbia Genealogist" (Vol 37, No. 2) from the British Columbia Genealogical Society the other day. They are celebrating their province's 150th anniversary by producing a very lengthy and detailed journal.

Edited by the extremely capable Diane Rogers, it has stories of "Discovery in a Trunk - HAYASHI, UJIMOTO", "59 Mile House, Account Ledger 1911-1913 - RYDER", and "Marine Workers, Vancouver, 1926".

Also, it has two interesting stories called "the most improved genealogies".

One is named "A Sailor Takes A Trip" and the other is "Mary Is A Bad Luck Name". They tell about a recent discovery the writer has made which has made their genealogy more exciting than it was before the "find".

You can contact Eunice Robinson <eunice@dccnet.com> if you wish to put in your story into next year's "Most Improved Genealogist Contest".

They also have the latest news about their society, the trips they have planned, a family research week at the local library, and queries.

You can go to their site at <www.bcgs.ca>, or if you would like to contribute an article to the journal, the email is <editor@bcgs.ca>.

Who is Elizabeth?

I started writing about Canadian genealogy in 1989. A newspaper reporter at that time, I re-discovered genealogy one day as I was going through some family research I had done before and putting my notes together. I was hooked!

I have been on the Internet for fourteen years with various interests in genealogy, but in 2004, I started a website, <GenealogyCanada.com>, as a gathering place for genealogists who had a particular spot in their heart for the latest in Canadian genealogy, history, heritage news, and endeavouring to fulfill that niche.

In 2005, I had a diabetic stroke which left my right side paralyzed, and I had to decide what I should do for the rest of my life. I decided to continue writing (I can't stop now) and today, here I am, writing for genealogy and history magazines (e.g. Everton's), websites (GenealogyToday.com), and am editor of the Ontario Genealogical Society's newsletters, NewsLeaf and its Internet sibling, e-NewsLeaf <OGS.on.ca>.

So, now I have returned to the Internet once again - this time with a blog <GenealogyCanada.blogspot.com>.

If you have a meeting, event, website, or project that you would like publicized, I would love to hear from you!

Until then,

Happy Hunting!

Elizabeth

Welcome to the Genealogy Canada blog!

Genealogy Canada now has a blog, effective Jan 1, 2008.

It still keeps the style and name of www.genealogycanada.com, and will present the news of Canadian genealogy, history, and heritage in a quicker, more up-to-date fashion.

GenealogyCanada.com will still remain the same - but the news posted here will be more current.

We can still be contacted at our regular email address of <genealogycanada@aol.com>.

Thank you for visiting us, and we hope you will continue to enjoy what we have to offer.

May we wish you and yours a Happy new Year, and a successful 2008!

Elizabeth