Nova Scotia Land Papers 1765-1800

The Nova Scotia Archives has gathered land records (1765-1800), and has put them on it's online database.

The information that is on the website says that “The records are a collection of petitions made to government by individuals or groups of people seeking grants of Crown Land for settlement purposes in early Nova Scotia”.

The database contains 11,464 names, and links from the petitioner's name to the fully digitized document files created for that particular land grant — 1890 files, containing 9259 image that were scanned.

They say that if you are searching for online information about early land settlement in Nova Scotia, you have come to the right place – you get to read the original document! The land records are from the "Record Group 20, Series A, Land Petitions and other material."

I did come across records belonging to Andrew BARCLAY, in Shelburne County, which completed, for me, his land records that I had been looking for from 1783 to 1785.

The website for the archives is http://gov.ns.ca/nsarm

The land records are at http://gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/landpapers

In addition, there are some records here from New Brunswick before it became a separate province in 1784.

Postscript: I am slowly going through the Nova Scotia Historical Newspaper Records for news about the Barclay family from Shelbure County, and the Webster family from Kentville, Kings County, although it does seen that I have not made much progress.

You can go to http://gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/newspapers

Canadians Who Fought in the Boer War

Forces War Records (a British website) has just added an additional 250,000 searchable military records.

Boer War records have been added to the Forces War Records database, and these records contain data about members of the British and Commonwealth Forces who were issued campaign or gallantry medals during the second Anglo Boer War 1899-1902.

The war ended with the Treaty of Vereeniging, signed on 31 May 1902.

The website is at http://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/default.asp

Canada sent 7,368 soldiers and 12 Nursing Sisters to the Boer War.

The personnel records include medal registers, land grant applications, and correspondence relating to those who served.

One interesting thing I found was that L. Beverly Webster from Kentville, Nova Scotia (a distant relative of mine), served with the British Army, and he is recorded in the Forces War Records as having died in England.

But a legal reprensentative made an application for land grantis on his behalf, but he didn't live long enough to enjoy the benefit of being awarded the grant of land. His body was sent back to Nova Scotia, and he is buried in Kentville.

The website at the Library and Archives Canada is www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/south-african-war/index-e.html

Manitoba Genealogical Society Website

The Manitoba Genealogical Society has a new website and a new url <www.mbgenealogy.com>.

In fact, it has had a website since March of this year, but I didn't use it until this past week when I was looking around for a Webster relative from Kentville, Nova Scotia who married a Rev. Joseph Hogg and moved to Winnipeg in c1901.

The design is quite nice and the colours are true to Manitoba - a brown as a base and a yellow to tell us that the province is at the beginning of the prairies.

They have three branches—which are also online—and MGS Cemetery Transcripts. and they have an Online Library Catalogue which is very useful in finding secondary sources.

They have the location of 1,400 cemeteries online and they are inexpensive to order one - and I will be doing that in order to see the record of Rev. and Mrs. Hogg.

They, at present, do not have any records online, which is a shame, but there is always hope for the future. Until then, we will have to do research the old way -

But they have a page on the FaceBook.com website at <http://www.facebook.com/pages/Manitoba-Genealogical-Society-Inc/7054423205>!

Canada's Parliament Opens

Canada's Parliament opened today, and in the Honour Guard was my husband (he has gone on lots of parades this year) as part of the Air Force Guard, amidst the Army Guard, the Naval Flag Party, the Canadian Forces Band, the Artillery (as it performed a 21 gun salute) and a small but brave and hearty contingent of civilian onlookers.

(He found it a "bit chilly"—there was snow on our lawn this morning with a temperature of -10 Celsius or so—as they stood at attention waiting for Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, to inspect them. But other than that, he said the parade was a big success, topped off by a delicious lunch at the West Memorial Block.)

The Library and Archives Canada has put on the Canada Gazette - "the official newspaper of the Government of Canada" - all of the issues since 1998. However, all of the issues since 1841 will be made available soon on the same website <http://canadagazette.gc.ca/index-e.html>.

The digitization project—which began in 2007—is still underway, and by the end of this year, full access to all issues of the Canada Gazetter (1841-1998) will be available to the researcher.

I will be excited to see if Barclay WEBSTER—a first cousin 4 times removed by marraige of Edwardina Mary (Ina Mary) BARCLAY, daughter of James of Shelburne, Nova Scotia to Dr. Henry Bently WEBSTER of Kentville, Nova Scotia—who had a very succesful law practice in Kentville, Nova Scotia, and was the Conservative member of Parliament in November 1900, is mentioned.

Canadian Census of Industrial Establishments - 1871

After 25 years of studying and working with the 1871 Canada Census, Elizabeth and Gerald Bloomfield of Guelph, Ontario have released the Canadian Census of Industrial Establishments.

They have digitized the industrial census from the 1871 Census of Canada - the only detailed industrial census returns to survive so completely from the nineteenth century. More than 45, 000 industrial establishments are put into databases on the website <http://www.canind71.uoguelph.ca>.

The website provides information for the four provinces - New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Ontario - covered in the 1871 Canadian Census.

I have checked the website and thre are the divisions which cover the businesses themselves, the people who were involved with the business, power (whether it be water, etc.), and the places where the businesses were located.

I discovered that a number of business in Shelburne and Kentville, Nova Scotia where my ancestors are from are mentioned, and I doubt that I would have ever taken the time to look them up on my own - now they are indexed by the Bloomfields!

There are barrel makers and shipbuilding companies that one would expect to find in a seaside town like Shelburne and businesses like agriculture in Kentville, a farming town in 1871. What this census does is that it presents a picture of the town that can help you place your relatives within the industrial mieu of the time.

And it can also provide material for the study of the technology, business and work organization of industrial activity, and the history of families, businesses and communities in 19th century Canada.

Well worth the visit, since it is the first time it has been done on such a large scale, and it does give a snapshot of industrial development in Canada in 1871.

New Website

Every American blog you see today has news from Illya d'Addezio <www.GenealogyToday.com> saying that he will have a new webpage on the free Live Roots website which will be launched October 10th. The site will list the various genealogy databases and publishers' catalogs.

But we already have a free website which highlights some Canadian sites, and it is the Canadian Genealogy Projects Registry!

It was started in the late 1990s and is a part of the Alberta Family Histories Society <www.afhs.ab.ca/registry/index.html>.

There is births, marriages and deaths already online from church records, civil records, newspaper announcements, bibliographies, and directories - to name but a few resources from all over the country.

Immigration, passenger lists, land-related records, and lineages are some other records that are included.

I have used the registry in looking for my Webster ancestry in Kentville, Nova Scotia (and I found their deaths in newspaper listings) and one branch of the family that went to Winnipeg, Manitoba, and I also found them there.

Also check the Brian W. Hutchinson Scholarship while you are there!

It is a scholarship open to all genealogists to Canadians and is worth $500.00 annually to the person to use for book(s) and the cost of tuition in a recognized educational or accrediation/certification program.

The deadline to submit is 31 December, 2008.