Canada Remembers – 30 Ways to Remember

A fellow Canadian blogger has started a new blog called The Rising Village and it’s about her family – John and Lizzie McCluskey who settled in the St. Andrews East area of Quebec in the 1800s. Today the area is known as Saint-André-d'Argenteuil - just south of Lachute.

And she has started a new project to coincide with Canada Remembers – 30 Ways to Remember, and she is taking one person per day who is listed on the Honour Roll at Veterans Affairs Canada and is telling their story.

She is asking anyone who has more information on the people she has put on the blog to write her, and if you have information on her family to do the same – she would like to hear from you.

The address is http://therisingvillage.blogspot.ca/

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

Discover your family’s hero this Remembrance Day,

Ancestry.ca is offering free access to their Canadian military records in honour of Remembrance Day.

They say that “In honour of Remembrance Day, Ancestry.ca, Canada’s leading family history website, is giving Canadians the chance to discover the military hero in their family by providing free access from November 7 to 12 to more than 4.4 million online military records from some of its most popular collections, some of which are available free for the first time.

Our Canadian Military records include details such as rank, home address, salary and more, and can connect your family to the front lines of Canada’s most historic wartime battles. With these records that date back to as early as 1710, you may follow an ancestor’s journey from enlistment, to their post overseas, to awards received and, in some cases, to their final resting place".

The records are

Canada, Military Honours and Award Citation Cards, 1900-1961, containing almost 70,000 records

Canada, Nominal Rolls and Paylists for the Volunteer Militia, 1857-1922, contains more than 1.6 million records

Canada, War Graves Registers: Circumstances of Casualty, 1914-1948, contains almost 30,000 records

Canada, CEF Commonwealth War Graves Registers, 1914-1919, contains over 56,000 records.

Canadians looking for information about their ancestors, or for those who want to start their family tree for free can visit www.ancestry.ca.

Those who want to explore the military heroes in their family tree can do so by visiting www.ancestry.ca/honouryourheros.

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.

New Updates to the Family History Library Catalogue

FamilySearch has made long awaited changes, here and there, to the Family History Library Catalogue, and has incorporated the “old” and “new” catalogue into one entity.

For example, the catalogue does a title search that includes subtitles and inclusive dates, the main author in bold type, and it displays additional places.

And the names of the catalogue searches are now the same as they were in the old catalogue, which s good to hear.

As someone who uses FamilySearch on a regular basis to search for those books and periodicals (some of which can be found in no other place on the Internet), I depend on their being a good useable catalogue at my disposal.

Postscript: The Canadian Week in Review will be published tomorrow as a special military issue as Canada begins its Veterans Week from November 5th to the 11th.

Ontario GenWeb's Q&A!

Did you know that the Ontario GenWeb offers questions and answers on genealogy research in Ontario, Upper Canada and Canada West – free of charge!

This has been going on since 1998!

Go to http://ontariogenwebqa.blogspot.com/

Mini-biographies of the pioneers of York County, Ontario

York County GenWeb, under the leadership of Sherri Pettit and Fred Appleton, started a place last year to put mini-biographies of early settlers in York County on the website at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~onyork/early-residents.html

So far, the settlers who have been placed there are

Pioneer Residents of Georgina Township

EZRA SHERWOOD

ROBERT RIDDELL

ARCHIBALD RIDDELL

Pioneer Residents of Markham Township

William Robson

Pioneer Residents of Whitchurch-Stouffville Township

In the Whitchurch Township, there is a list of records of the land patents issued in the earlier years of the settlement, and there are mini-biographies of

CHRISTOPHER SMITH

CHARLES APPLETON

Although these are not in-depth biographical studies, there may be information there that could be treated as a clue, and it could lead to a new discovery in your family history.

OGS is seeking an individual for Publishing Committee

For many years, the OGS has had a publishing committee, and part of its mandate has been publishing genealogy resource books.

The Publishing Committee is now looking for “an energetic individual interested in the world of Canadian genealogy to chair the OGS Publishing Committee. We are looking for someone with an understanding of the publication process, and a vision for the future of OGS publishing”.

The volunteer would help to

- determine current needs with regards to genealogical publications and work to develop publications to fulfill these needs,

- receive and develop publication proposals with possible authors,

- establish and follow budgets for the titles being published,

- develop marketing plans for titles

If you are interested, please contact the OGS Executive Director at ed@ogs.on.ca to discuss your skills and ideas.

Voices of the Past

Merv Scott, Project Director of the Victoria Genealogical Society has sent this notice to me. It sounds like a good idea. Are there any other societies doing a program like this?

“Our not for profit and volunteer run society is proud to announce the
launch of a new and free community service called "Voices of the Past"
and we hope that you will help us to get the word out to seniors in
our community.

The website is http://www.victoriags.org/voices

These recordings are then published/posted on our new website for
Voices of the Past at www.victoriags.org/voices where family members,friends and others can enjoy them now and in the future, and from
anywhere in the world.

The first few stories have been recorded by our volunteers and are now available on the Voices of the Past webpages. Other upcoming recording sessions are scheduled at the Greater Victoria Public Library on November 15 and December 10 (see GVPL programs website) and at the Victoria Genealogical Society Resource Centre on November 21. Recordings are free but advance registrations is required by email to projects@victoriags.org

We hope seniors don't miss this limited time opportunity to have their story, or their loved one's story, recorded for posterity.

For more info check out our fhs website at http://www.victoriags.org
and if any fhs out there wants to know how we did this please email
direct”.

1921 Canadian Census

The every name index to the 1921 Canadian Census is now on Ancestry.ca at http://www.ancestry.ca/census

Global Genealogy – Used Book Sale

Global Genealogy tells us that they are having a 50% off sale until Oct 31st at midnight on all Used Book and Book-on-CD sale.

Rick Roberts says that “we acquired several collections of USED and antiquarian genealogy and history books that we are selling off at a deep discount”.

Include the following coupon code used-books-only when you order.

Their site is www.globalgenealogy.com  

Take a survey!

The OGS Conference committee wants to hear from you!

They have put a survey on their conference page at OGS, so that you can help them to decide.  

There are five tours for you to choose from, and they all look good.

The five tours are -

Half Day visit to Niagara Falls

Afternoon Historic Wine Tour

A visit to Fort George - Optional Visit to McFarland House & Tea Room

Old Fort Erie Battlefield Tour

A Historic Journey though Niagara on the Lake

To take the survey, go to http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference2014/tours_survey/tours.php

Great Expectations: Canadians and the 1921 Census

Glenn Wright will be at Kingston Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society to give a talk on the 1921 Census on Saturday, November 16, 2013 at 10:00 a.m.

The location is at the Wilson Room, Kingston Frontenac Public Library, 130 Johnson St., Kingston.

Glenn is a retired archivist and historian with Library and Archives Canada and president of the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO)


You can contact Kingston at  http://ogs.on.ca/kingston/ for more information.

Postscript: Remember that Ancestry.ca will have the every name index of the 1921 census on their site on October the 29th.

Crowd-Sourcing Genealogy

Have you heard of Eric Proffitt and his idea about receiving a photo of your ancestor’s home or a photo of the original birth certificate, or of the town’s main street for $5.00?

Eric is using Crowd Sourcing to raise the money to hire a firm to develop the software to make it happen. Sounds like a great idea.


Read about his proposal in a http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/crowd-sourcing-genealogy

Did you see Terry Fox run?

Here is a notice that has been sent out by the Museum of Civilization -  

Did you see Terry on his run between St. John’s and Thunder Bay? Did you take a photo of him — or do you know someone who did? The Museum is looking for digital copies of these images. They could be featured in an upcoming exhibition developed in collaboration with the Terry Fox Center to mark the 35th anniversary of the Marathon of Hope.

For more details, and to submit images, go to www.civilization.ca/terryfox 

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!  

Lecture Series: Grub and Grog: Food and Drink in History

The Shannon lecture series at Carleton University, Ottawa called Grub and Grog: Food and Drink in History will bring in speakers from as far away as San Francisco, Minnesota, and Victoria BC to speak on the history of food and drink.

There are three lectures left, and they are -

October 25, 2013
 Adventures in Cooking from the Past. 
Ken Albala, Department of History, University of the Pacific.

November 8, 2013
 The Tavern Company: Food, Drink, and the Bonds of Sociability in a Colonial Society. 
Julia Roberts, Department of History, University of Waterloo.

November 15, 2013
 Only in Canada: History, Ecology and Culture of Edible Wild Plants of First Peoples in Western Canada. 
Nancy Turner, School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria.

For further information please contact the Department of History at (613) 520-2828, by email to history@carleton.ca or visit our website at www.carleton.ca/history.

All lectures will take place in the Humanities Lecture Theatre, 303 Paterson Hall, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. followed by a reception in the Department of History Lobby, fourth floor Paterson Hall.

And while we are talking about the food industry, here is an entertaining article I found in the Timmins Press about war rationing in the Second World War.  HISTORY: War rationing inspired recipes http://www.timminspress.com/2013/10/18/history-war-rationing-inspired-recipes      

The OGS Facebook page reaches 1000 'likes'

The OGS Genealogy eNews! notice received every Saturday morning, they have said that they have reached the 1000 mark in ‘likes’ on their Facebook page!  

They do have a very informative Facebook page, and if you are not a member, but would still like to keep up on the news, then click on the “Like”.

They say that “New information is shared several times a day and the page has grown into a family history discussion forum for members and non members alike. Come join us!”

The Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ontario-Genealogical-Society/259163438258

They also have a blog at http://www.ogs.on.ca/ogsblog/