Quebec Family History Society – Video

Three members of the executive - Gary Schroder, Deborah Robertson and Kelley O'Rourke – of the the Quebec Family History Society (QFHS) has made a YouTube video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgOYA6QtXec about the Conference which they will be holding on June 19, 29, and 21, 2015 at McGill University, Montreal.

Already, there have been over 100 viewers of the video, so that shows that there is interest in the Conference.

If you are interested in Conference 2015, you can go to http://www.qfhs.ca/cpage.php?pt=174 to see the programme, the accommodation, the Genealogical Resource Fair, and the registration package.

Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/canadian-week-in-review.html

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!
It has been a regular post every Monday morning since

April 23, 2012.

Roots 2015 - An International Conference On Family History in Quebec

The Quebec Family History Society is proud to announce it will be hosting Roots2015, an International Conference on Family History from June 19 – 21 at McGill University, Montreal, Quebec in 2015.

It is the LARGEST English language genealogical conference held in Quebec.

 

I have just taken a peek at it this morning, and it appeard to be a very good conference, with lots of lecture of interest to conference attenders.

Some of the speakers will be -

 

Gary Schroder, President of the Quebec Family History Society

 

Lesley Anderson, Teacher and Consultant with Ancestry.ca

 

Edward Zapletal, Publisher, Family Chronicle, Internet Genealogy, and History Magazine

 

Ed McGuire, President of the Vermont French-Canadian Genealogy Society

 

Glen Wright, Author and Lecturer Johanne Gervais, Computer Specialist and Genealogist

 

Deborah Robertson, Librarian and Genealogist

 

Lorraine Gosselin, Lecturer and Genealogist

 

Marilyn Gillespie, Professional Photographer

 

Luc Lepine, Author and Military Historian

 

Denyse Beaugrand-Champagne, Historian and Archivist with Bibliothéque et Archives Nationales du Quebec

 

The details are at http://www.qfhs.ca/cpage.php?pt=173

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If you haven’t done so already, remember to check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/canadian-week-in-review-26-january-2015.html

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

Connections Journal Autumn 2013 Issue

The fall issue of the Connections journal has been sent out by the Quebec Family History Society located in Montreal.

There are many short articles in this issue, and they are –

The Farnsworth/Phaneuf Connections by Rene E. Peron in which the author writes about the connections between the two families going back 300 years.

Captives Carried to Canada During the French and Indian Wars by Dawn Miller Quellette in which she talks about the Farnsworth family as it is related in the book New England Captives Carried to Canada – 1677 – 1760 by author Emma Lewis Coleman.

Pilgrimage for Bert: Remembering the 1^st Anti-Tank Regiment, 1^st Canadian Divison by Shelia Snow Wilkins in which Wilkins writes about the trip she and her husband took to Sicily this past summer to visit the places where her father fought in the Second World War.

Filles du Roi: Brides of New France by Dawn Miller Ouellette writes about the young women who came to New France looking for a husband. One thing new I learned that if they did not find a suitable suitor in Quebec City, they would travel on to Three Rivers, and then to Montreal, if they did not find a man to marry.

Ouellette also has written an article on The Battle of Chateauguay (the cover has the photo of the painting of the battle) as it has been 200 years since the Canadians fought the Americans on the shores of the Chateauguay River in October 1813.

 If you want to see what else the QFHS offers, you can go to http://www.qfhs.ca/ http://www.qfhs.ca/          

A History of Canada by Montreal Metro

Samuel Wood, Montreal native who has returned to the city after being away for 18 years of studying and teaching in Britain, has a new blog called A History of Canada by Montreal Metro.

It’s a history based on the names of Montreal’s 68  metro stations.

He says he is “inspired by my fascination with the stories that shape the world in which I live”.

The stations tell the history of both France and Britain.

“Only in Montreal could you find Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix, a French Jesuit explorer and teacher of Voltaire, on the same line as Robert Peel, prime minister of Great Britain and the founder of the London police force”, says Wood.

To read his blog, go to http://historyofcanadabymetro.com 

IRISH COMMUNITY SUMMER PARTY

The Federation of Irish Societies invites you to a Cross Community Get Together and the Special Guest will be Dr. Ray Bassett, Ambassador of Ireland to Canada

Bring your friends and meet new ones. There will be traditional Irish music and it will be provided by SIAMSA. Happy hour prices and complimentary finger food.

It will take place on Tuesday, June 25 at 5:30 p.m. at the The Irish Embassy Pub & Grill, 1234 Bishop Street, Montreal (on the back patio).

The website of the United Irish Societies of Montreal is www.montrealirishparade.com/gallery/index.php

Their Facebook page is www.facebook.com/pages/United-Irish-Societies-of-Montreal/102884813130606

Mapping The Mosaic

Have you been to this site yet? I visited it today, and recommend that you take a minute to look at it, because it holds some interesting stories.

Here is what the press release says -

"This easy-to-use, community-driven site is designed to chart the collected memories of English-speaking communities in the Greater Montreal Area.

Users can share experiences of where their history happened by pinning stories, photos or video to an interactive map of neighbourhoods around Montreal and its suburbs.

No point is too small! Educators, historical and cultural groups, and interested individuals are invited to explore, discover and contribute.

Childhood memories of life on your street? Archival photos of lost buildings? Little-known episodes in the life of a neighbourhood school, place of worship or local hangout? Memories of colourful characters or local sports heroes? The grand achievements of entrepreneurs, artists, or innovators?

Mapping the Mosaic is a “people’s history” that welcomes all these and more".

Visit Mapping the Mosaic to begin telling your favourite Montreal stories!

Click here for the website http://mapping.montrealmosaic.com

The Facebook page is www.facebook.com/mapping.montrealmosaic

Celebrating Our English Roots Day

Join us for this month's "Celebrating Our Roots Days," our theme is England! Drop by anytime during the afternoon for a cuppa tea, coffee, sweets and a "chin wag" about England and our ancestors who came from there.


Come browse the display of books from our English collection. If you are new to genealogy, talk to our members about how to start researching your family history.

Bring a coffee mug, a friend, your own favourite books and resources on Ireland that have helped you in your research, or just bring yourself.

Drop in from 1:30 pm to 4:00 pm at the QFHS Heritage Centre and Library, 173 Cartier Avenus, Pointe-Claire, Montreal.

Open to our members and the public. Admission is free.

Visit www.qfhs.ca/events.php
Thanks to Susan Gingras Calcagni, Director of Public Relations of the QFHS for letting us know.

Celebrating Our Irish Roots Day

On Wednesday, March 20, 2013, there will be a meeting of the Quebec Family History Society from 1:30 pm to 4:00 pm at the QFHS Heritage Centre and Library, 173 Cartier Avenue, Pointe-Claire (Montreal), and you are asked to come and celebrate your Irish roots.

Join QFHS members Sharon Callaghan and Kelley O'Rourke for coffee, tea, and informal conversation to talk about Ireland and our ancestors who came from there.

Sharon is a lecturer and author of the book, Paths of Opportunity, a portrayal of the Irish Montreal experience of one family who arrived in Quebec in the 1840s at the start of The Famine. Kelley was a member of a small group of dedicated volunteers who played a significant role in restoring the St. Columban Cemetery, a predominantly Irish cemetery in the Lower Laurentians.

Come browse the books from our Irish collection. If you are new to genealogy, talk to our members about how to start researching your family history.

Bring a coffee mug, a friend, your own favourite books and resources on Ireland that have helped you in your research, or just bring yourself.

Everyone is Irish on Irish Roots Day, so join us.

Open to our members and the public. Admission is free.  Visit  www.qfhs.ca/events.php

JewishGen Canada Database

The JewishGen Canada database is a multi-database search facility containing nearly a quarter of a million records of Jews living in Canada.

A list of the different "JewishGen Canada Databases" include -

The JewishGen Family Finder (JGFF) - More than 3,800 surnames and towns of Jewish families of interest to genealogists researching Canadian Jewry.

The JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR) - There are 68,000 records of Jewish burials in cemeteries in Canada. It has records in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Ontario, Québec, and Saskatchewan.

The JewishGen Memorial Plaques Database - Information from synagogue yahrzeit plaques.

The Canadian Jewish Heritage Network (CJHN) - There are more than 67,000 records from Canadian Jewish archival sources, including Jewish Colonization Association (JCA) - settler reports from western Canada and Québec (1906-1951), obituaries from the "Keneder Adler" (Montreal, 1908-1932), all text, translated from the Yiddish, Hebrew Sick Benefit Association of Montreal - membership listings from 1897-1945, Canadian Jewish Casualties in the Canadian Armed Forces, and so forth.
Montreal Jewish General Hospital Archives - More than 4,000 records, such as contribution cards from 1929.

The "JewishGen Canada Database" can be found at
www.jewishgen.org/databases/Canada

Westmount Historical Association

The Westmount Historical Association of Montreal has set a plaque in the GLEN to explain the centuries of use by humans.

In the 1800s, Scottish immigrants who built large homes on the sunny slopes of Westmount walked beside the streams to reach the church and the railway station in St. Henri. In the early 1700s, the French farming families who were deeded land along Côte St. Antoine Road transported their farm produce to market in Ville-Marie through the GLEN.

Before that, the Native People of the area walked to the petite St. Pierre River.

You are urged to bring your children and your visitors to Montreal to view this important transportation link running between Westmount and St. Henri as it takes you under the magnificent CPR Railway Arch.

To read more about the Westmount Historical Association, go to www.westmounthistorical.org

They have extensive archives located at the Westmount Public Library, and they have 1800 photographs, along with smaller collections of ephemera, pamphlets and personal papers. They also have extensive subject files relating to the history of Westmount.

© Elizabeth Lapointe All Rights Reserved

INVITATION FROM THE CANADIAN MUSEUM OF CIVILIZATION!

People are travelling from coast-to-coast-to-coast across Canada asking their fellow Canadians their opinion on the new Canadian Museum of History, which will be opened in 2015.

They will be meeting in Montreal of Jan 24th

Their press release says “The Canadian Museum of Civilization is soon to become the Canadian Museum of History—a museum that will present the history of Canada and its people. We would like to invite you to be a part of its creation by telling us what you would put in your Canadian history museum.

Join them on Thursday, January 24, 2013 from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Salon Cartier 1, Centre Mont-Royal, 2200 Mansfield Street (next to the Peel Metro station), in Montréal.

We will kick-off the evening with a dynamic panel discussion —My History Museum: A to Zed —by asking prominent Canadians, what they would put in a Canadian history museum of their making.

This will be followed by a roundtable discussion where we will ask you how you would like to engage with your national history museum. How can the museum meet your needs and interests, from here in Montréal?

RSVP at www.civilization.ca/myhistorymuseum

If you’re unable to attend this event, you can still have your say by visiting www.civilization.ca/myhistorymuseum and adding your comments and completing the survey.

We want to reach as many people as possible. Feel free to pass this email on to anyone you think would be interested in attending this event.

We look forward to meeting you”.

Irish Protestant Benevolent Society

The 5th Annual Lecture of the Irish Protestant Benevolent Society will take place on Friday, January 18, 7:00 p.m.at the Hall Building, 1455 de Maisonneuve W., Room 1001.01 (10th floor) in Montreal.

The speaker will be Professor Donald Akenson, Queen's University, Kingston, and he will talk about “Wicklow Protestants and the World of Evangelicalism”.

Dr. Donald Akenson is an internationally acclaimed scholar and author who is considered the world's foremost authority on the Irish Diaspora. Akenson received his B.A. from Yale University and his doctorate from Harvard University. He is Professor of History at Queen's University Kingston, Ontario and Beamish Research Professor at the Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool, and Senior Editor of the McGill-Queen's University Press.

As of 2007 his work included eighteen non-fiction books, including more than a dozen about Irish history, and five novels. Akenson won the Grawemeyer Award for God's Peoples (1992) and the Trillium Book Award for Conor: The Biography of Conor Cruise O'Brien (1994). His book on the Bible, Surpassing Wonder (1998), was short-listed for the 1999 Governor General's Award for nonfiction. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and of the Royal Historical Society (UK).

This event is FREE and open to the public.

The webpage is www.irishpbs.ca

SCHOOL OF CANADIAN IRISH STUDIES

On Friday, November 23, 7:00 p.m. at the Concordia University, School of Canadian Irish Studies located at the Hall Building, 1455 de Maisonneuve W., Room 1070 (10th floor). Montreal, they will be holding the 7th Annual St. Patrick’s Society Lecture .

The topic of the lecture will be “The Irish Decade of Commemorations: Some Reflections” and the speaker will be Catriona Crowe, National Archives of Ireland.

Catriona Crowe is Head of Special Projects at the National Archives of Ireland. She is Manager of the Irish Census Online Project, which has placed the 1901 and 1911 censuses online free of charge over the last 4 years. She is an Editor of Documents on Irish Foreign Policy, which published its seventh volume, covering the period 1941-45, in November 2010. She is editor of Dublin 1911, published by the Royal Irish Academy in late 2011.

She is Vice-President of the Irish Labour History Society, and a former President of the Women’s History Association. She is Chairperson of the Irish Theatre Institute, which promotes and supports Irish theatre and has created an award-winning website of Irish theatre productions.

I have heard her speak on many occasions and she has a dedication to her subject that is commendable. So if you are near Montreal, and have Irish ancestors, this is a lecture your should not miss. .

The website of the School of Canadian Irish Studies is http://cdnirish.concordia.ca

Kyle J. Betit Will Be Giving Lectures in Ontario/Quebec

Kyle J. Betit is so popular that he has already sold out his appearance in Toronto on the 17th of November, but there is still room at his lectures in Ottawa, and Montreal.

On Sunday, November 18, 201, Kyle J. Betit will give a talk at the annual Ryan Taylor Memorial Lecture of the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society. The lecture will be held at 1:00 pm at the Library and Archives Canada Auditorium, 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa.

Kyle is from Salt Lake City, Utah. He was a co-editor of the popular journal The Irish At Home and Abroad, and is co-author of A Genealogist’s Guide to Discovering Your Irish Ancestors.

For information about the lecture, please contact program@ogsottawa.on.ca, or the website at
http://ogsottawa.on.ca/

He will also be at the Quebec Family History Society on Wednesday, November 21st, and will give a talk at 7:00 pm at the QFHS Heritage Centre and Library, 173 Cartier Avenue, Pointe-Claire.

His lecture will be about Beyond the Basics of Irish Genealogy Research (Seminar), and he will talk about some of the lesser-known Irish resources that will help family historians learn more about their ancestors and track down the more elusive ones.

There will be a fee of $30.00 members, and $40.00 non-members. Reservations are required. We expect this seminar to sell out early.

Call 514.695.1502 or go to the website www.qfhs.ca/events.php for more information.

© Elizabeth Lapointe All Rights Reserved

Sisters Of Saint Anne Historic Centre

The Old Convent of the Sisters of Saint Anne in Montreal is offering an unique way of exploring the presence of the Sisters of Saint Anne in Lachine from 1860 to 2010, and that unique way is through podcasts!.

They say that "You can now take a guided tour at your own pace that focuses on the history of the buildings that now comprise Collège Sainte-Anne and the Sisters of Saint Anne Historic Centre. Located near the Lachine Canal, the Convent Complex is a major point of interest in the borough of Lachine that attests to the important religious, educational and cultural heritage left by the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Anne".

Visitors can also download the podcast on their own MP3 player from the Conseil’s website at www.patrimoine-religieux.qc.ca/en/activites/eglises/cssa.php or from the Historic Centre’s website at www.ssacong.org/musee

The Historic Centre is open from Wednesday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. until October 31, and Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. from November 1 to June 1.

Free admission. Reservations required for groups of 8 or more.

For more information, please call us at 51.637.4616, ext. 212 or e-mail us at chssa@bellnet.ca.

The “Discovering the Convent Complex of the Sisters of Saint Anne” podcast is a production of the Conseil du patrimoine religieux du Québec. It is available in English and French. 

A Genealogical Day in Quebec: 1621-2012

A seminar will be held on Saturday, September 29 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at the QFHS Heritage Centre and Library, 173 Cartier Avenue, Pointe-Claire. It will be presented by Sharon Callaghan and Gary Schroder.

This seminar will examine the main sources used in Quebec genealogical research regardless of whether your ancestors originated from France, the British Isles, or any other part of the world.

They will explain church records, civil registration records, censuses, notarial records, ship lists, newspapers, land and judicial records. There will also be emphasis on the most important websites used in Quebec genealogical research and how to use the website and databases of the Bibliotheque et Archives nationales du Québec.

The registration fee is $30.00 members, and $40.00 for non-members. Reservations are required.

Call 514.695.1502 or contact Jackie Billingham at qfhs.communications@bellnet.ca.

For more information, go to www.qfhs.ca

A Genealogical Day in Quebec (Seminar)

On Saturday, June 9, 2012 from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at the Quebec Family History Society Library, 173 Cartier Ave, Pointe-Claire (Montreal), QC H9S 4H9, Lorraine Gosselin and Gary Schroder will present a seminar called A Genealogical Day in Quebec.

This seminar will explain how to find your Irish ancestors in Quebec and Ireland, including Northern Ireland. All the major sources and major genealogical resources for research in Ireland and on the internet will be discussed.

The fee is $30.00 , and reservations necessary. You can call 514.695.1502, or visit their website is

www.qfhs.ca.

Researching Family History in Vermont (Free Lecture)

The lecture will be held on Saturday, April 14, 2012 at 10:30 a.m. at Briarwood Presbyterian Church Hall, 70 Beaconsfield Blvd, Beaconsfield (Montreal) QC, H9W 3Z3.

The leacture will be given by Ed Maquire, President of the Vermont French-Canadian Genealogy Society.

Ed Maquire will discuss the long history shared by Quebec and Vermont. In the 1860s, about almost half of Vermont’s residents were French-Canadian, and many from Lower Canada in the Eastern Townships.

They were living close to the US border, and many married in Vermont. Mr. Maguire will talk about the type of records available, such as church, immigration, naturalization, court, and military records, and explain where to find them.

Members and guests are welcome to join us!

Visit http://www.qfhs.com/

Postscript: I will have a new booklet entitled French-Canadian in Canada/Franco-Americans in the United States available in June of this year.

Watch this blog for the date the booklet will be available.

QFHS - Seminars and Public Lecture Series

News has been received from the Quebec Family History Society (QFHS) in Montreal that they will host two events in March, and they are -

The War of 1812 (Free Lecture)

It will take place on Saturday, March 10, 2012 at 10:30 a.m. at the Briarwood Presbyterian Church Hall, 70 Beaconsfield Blvd, Beaconsfield, QC, H9W 3Z3.

The talk, given by Luc Lépine, will be a lecture about the War of 1812 and will focus on events that took place in Lower Canada (now Quebec) and the Battle of Châteauguay. Luc Lépine is one of the leading experts on the War of 1812 and author of the book, Lower Canada's Militia Officers, 1812 - 1815.
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A Genealogical Day in England and Wales (Seminar)

It will be held on Saturday, March 31, 2012, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Quebec Family History Society Library, 173 Cartier Ave., Pointe-Claire, QC H9S 4H9, and will be presented by Gary Schroder.

The purpose of this seminar will be to a) examine the basic structures of family history research in England, Civil Registration of BMDs, 1837-2005; Censuses, 1841-1911; Wills 1858-2011, etc.; and b) examine how to find your ancestors for the period prior to 1837 and how to make the best use of the English databases to be found on Ancestry and other commercial websites.

Reservations are necessary. Please call 514.695.1502

For details, visit them online at http://www.qfhs.ca/

Victoria's Chinatown

Victoria's Chinatown, the first of the Chinatowns in Canada, received the first of its kind – its story has been told in a pamphlet that people can take with them as they walk down the streets of Chinatown.

David Chuenyan Lai, professor emeritus of geography at the University of Victoria and honorary citizen of Victoria first thought of the project. The project consists of a folded poster entitled "A Brief Chronology of Chinese Canadian History", and it covers the years from 1788 to 2010.

Lai is busy producing inserts of the other seven Canadian Chinatowns in Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg and Montreal.

Read the rest of the story at
http://www.timescolonist.com/travel/pamphlet+details+Chinatown+history+provides+walking+tour/5619264/story.html

A special "Canadian Obituaries" updated websites and blogs will be listed here on Monday October 31st!