Ancestry.ca updates Canadian Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current

Ancestry has upgraded the Find A Grave Index on its website, and now there are over 3-million records on Ancestry.com.

Find A Grave provides users with a virtual cemetery experience, with images of grave markers from around the world, as well as photos, biographies, and other details uploaded by volunteers. You may find obituaries and links to other family members included, as well.

But I must sound a note of caution. This is an INDEX, and it is not a SOURCE. These are simply pictures of gravestones, and there can be errors in the data that is put on the stone - even the date of death can be wrong. You will need the death certificate to go along with the burial record in your genealogy.

And another important thing – the gravestone may or may not be a true record of whom is buried under it. The husband or wife may have been remarried after the death of a spouse, and is actually buried with the subsequent spouse, not with the original spouse.

So these indexes must be treated with a dose of caution, and care.

Otherwise, have fun researching, as more and more graves come online.

The website is at http://search.ancestry.ca/search/db.aspx?dbid=60527

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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.

The conference lowers its price – sort of ...

The inaugural National Genealogy Conference—to be held in Halifax this summer from the 17th to the 19th of July—has lowered its price from $895.00 to $210.00 for the conference.

But I think if you look at the programme, they have removed the included tours, accommodations, and some extras like the Ceilidh-style reception (with entertainment) to be held Friday evening. However, these things will still be available at an extra cost.

However, it should be quite a conference. Halifax is especially lovely that time of the year.

The website is at https://www.visiontravel.ca/heidiwilker/en/national-genealogy-conference

If you want to check out my original blog post dated 09 January 2015, go to http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/national-genealogy-conference-in-canada.html

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.

Canadian Week in Review - 26 January 2015

I have come across the following Canadian websites, social media websites, and newspaper articles this past week that were of interest to me, and I thought you might be interested in them, too.

History


January 20, 2014 - The Sands of Time
   Someone from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts sent a bottle with a message in it to test the currents of the ocean, along with a reward of 50 cents. It found found on Sable Island nearly sixty years later.
   Read the story on http://www.pc.gc.ca/apps/cseh-twih/index_e.asp

On the 7 of April 1634, the city of Trois-Rivières (Three Rivers) was founded in Quebec, and on 18 of May 1642, Montreal, Quebec was founded.
   To read about Trois-Rivières, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trois-Rivi%C3%A8res, and for Montreal, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal

Social Media

(Blog) My Moynahan Genealogy Blog
http://moynahangenealogy.blogspot.ca
   Cindi, from Ottawa, has a blog to ‘honour my ancestors: Moynahan, Coughlin, Broderick, Annal, Brennan, Hussey, Hess and Duffy. (Essex & Kent County Ontario, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, Ireland, Scotland); and Creighton, Moreland, (Nova Scotia, England and Scotland); and Foreman (Ireland, Scotland and Norway)’.

(Video)Two canal boats from mid-1800s found in Lake Ontario
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/01/21/two-canal-boats-from-mid-1800s-found-in-lake-ontario.html
   A team of shipwreck explorers found the canal boat and canal scow over 200 feet below the surface, using side scan sonar.

(Photos) Canadian golf pioneer’s family donates historical pieces to Hall of Fame
http://www.golfcanada.ca/news/article/amateur/canadian-golf-pioneers-family-donates-historical-pieces-hall-fame
   At the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame and Museum in Oakville (outside of Toronto), the lasting legacy of Albert H. Murray has taken its rightful place alongside a number of the nation’s most prized and treasured items celebrating Canada’s storied history with golf.

(Video) New Brunswick Museum's park expansion bid meets opposition
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new-brunswick-museum-s-park-expansion-bid-meets-opposition-1.2919389
   The New Brunswick Museum wants to expand to the park next door, but that park has a monument, including trees planted in honour of soldiers who died in the Boer War.

Articles

Nova Scotia

ED COLEMAN'S HISTORY: Which is correct – Scots Bay or Scott’s Bay?
http://www.kingscountynews.ca/Opinion/Columnists/2015-01-22/article-4014063/ED-COLEMANS-HISTORY%3A-Which-is-correct-%26ndash%3B-Scots-Bay-or-Scott%26rsquo%3Bs-Bay%3F/1
   “From these temporary residents, the place got its name,” writes Arthur W. H. Eaton in The History of Kings County.

Black Loyalist Heritage Society to attend gala Book of Negroes screening
http://www.novanewsnow.com/News/Local/2015-01-23/article-4018167/Black-Loyalist-Heritage-Society-to-attend-gala-Book-of-Negroes-screening/1
   Black Loyalist Heritage Society members are picking out their wardrobe for the red carpet Nova Scotia screening of The Book of Negroes on January 28 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

New Heritage project announced in Yarmouth
http://www.thevanguard.ca/News/2015-01-20/article-4014309/New-heritage-project-announced-in-Yarmouth/1
   The Town of Yarmouth will develop Heritage in Your Hand, a self-guided activity app to promote the community's culture and heritage.

'Inspiring' month planned, African Nova Scotian affairs minister says
http://www.thevanguard.ca/News/Local/2015-01-21/article-4015786/Inspiring-month-planned,-African-Nova-Scotian-affairs-minister-says/1
   As Tony Ince, African Nova Scotian Affairs Minister, said in Yarmouth he wanted the program to be a "prelude to African Heritage Month”. He said that "African heritage should be celebrated all year long”.

Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island commemorates Samuel Holland survey
http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/News/Local/2015-01-21/article-4014766/Prince-Edward-Island-commemorates-Samuel-Holland-survey/1
   A commemorations committee has been established to recognize the 250th anniversary of Samuel Holland’s map of the province. A series of promotional and educational activities this year will pay tribute to Holland’s role in the Island’s history.

New Brunswick

Saint John art exhibit focuses on industrial heritage
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/saint-john-art-exhibit-focuses-on-industrial-heritage-1.2917640
   A new art exhibit at the Saint John Arts Centre features 13 young artists who have looked to New Brunswick's industrial heritage for inspiration.

Quebec

European Flavor, Closer to Home
http://www.417mag.com/417-Magazine/February-2015/European-Flavor-Closer-to-Home
  Consider a long weekend to Quebec City. Leave Springfield mid-morning on a Friday, change planes in Chicago, and be in Quebec City late Friday afternoon, with plenty of time to check into your room and enjoy a memorable dinner chosen from a rich list of restaurant options.

Anne Fortin invites you into the kitchen of Quebec's past
http://montrealgazette.com/life/food/anne-fortin-invites-you-into-the-kitchen-of-quebecs-past
   Anne Fortin is the owner of Librairie Gourmande in downtown Montreal at the Jean Talon Market that recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, and it’s her job to know what’s out there.

Ontario

NDP MPs Want To See More Women On Canadian Money
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/01/17/women-canadian-money-ndp_n_6482954.html
   Thousands of people have demanded that more Canadian women be shown on the country's bank notes, and at least two opposition MPs are listening.

Diving deep into history
http://www.recorder.ca/2015/01/17/diving-deep-into-history
   Read this interesting interview with Jonathan Moore, one of the divers on the Victoria Strait Expedition that discovered the HMS Erebus last summer in the Arctic.

1812 bicentennial a 'gift' to Niagara, Canada
http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/2015/01/17/1812-bicentennial-a-gift-to-niagara-canada
   Was the more than $15 million that went towards infrastructure and programming support money well spent?
   The Niagara 1812 Legacy Council—the superintendent of heritage for the Niagara Parks Commission, and a senior member of the federal government that forked over a good chunk of that cash—says an unequivocal "Yes!"

ZAVITZ: The history of a newspaper
http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/2015/01/16/zavitz-the-history-of-a-newspaper
   Founded by two brothers, James and William Anger, who were originally from the Fort Erie area, the paper had its office on the second floor of a small building on the west side of Erie Avenue. Printed on a Washington hand press, the first edition of the weekly paper appeared on Oct. 10, 1879.

CCAH and Town of Oakville present Black History Month
http://www.insidehalton.com/news-story/5261613-ccah-and-town-of-oakville-present-black-history-month
   The Canadian Caribbean Association of Halton (CCAH) is partnering with the Oakville Museum to host the kickoff to Black History Month.

Where is the federal support for historical church?
http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2015/01/16/where-is-the-federal-support-for-historical-church
   The Oro African Methodist Episcopal Church stands— for now—at the corner of Old Barrie Road and Line 3 in Oro-Medonte Township. The township is still looking for funding to help save the church, which was built in the 1840s and is one of the oldest African log churches still standing in North America.

Niagara Falls man thinks he has oldest hockey stick
http://www.insidehalton.com/news-story/5265713-niagara-falls-man-thinks-he-has-oldest-hockey-stick
   Art Federow suspects his stick could be just as antique as the one heralded as the world's oldest by the Canadian Museum of History.

Manitoba

South Main Street buildings are among city's oldest
http://www.thecarillon.com/provincial/building--block-288955611.html
   South Main Street, between Graham and Assiniboine Avenues, is a "key opportunity for intensification and redevelopment," and is creating a redevelopment strategy that will soon be released to the public.

Saskatchewan

Demolition likely for Lydia's building in Saskatoon
http://cjme.com/story/demolition-likely-lydias-building-saskatoon/518986 
   If the economics don’t make sense, the Farnam Block Building on the corner of 11th Street and Broadway could be demolished, according to its property owners.

British Columbia

Chinese historical sites in B.C. call for nominations
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/chinese-historical-sites-in-b-c-call-for-nominations-1.2928706
   The provincial government is seeking nominations from the public of locations with significance to B.C.'s Chinese community that would be added to a registry of historic places.

Stories of the Week

How many newsletters do you receive every week?

One of the newsletters I receive is American Ancestors from the New England Historic and Genealogy Society whose website is now as American Ancestors.

Each week in their newsletter The Weekly Genealogist, and they have The Weekly Genealogists Survey.

The survey for the Vol 18 No 2 January 18 2015, issue, they asked us about our relationship to New England. Of the 5,172 people who answered, 54% of them noted that they had “One or more of my ancestors lived in New England but was born in New England”.

That is definitely true of my family. We lived in two worlds when I was growing up – partly in Nova Scotia, and partly in the New England States. Relatives would either come to Nova Scotia in the summer time, or we would go there – there was a constant stream of Barclay’s and Blades’ across the border. There was such a strong bind that my grandfather, Lester John Blades, joined the American Army in 1917 in Boston instead of the Canadian army! *

So I understand why 54% would say that they had ancestors who were born in New England, although not all of them came from Nova Scotia.

Which brings me to one of my favorite subjects of migration, which will be the topic of my new e-book, to be published this spring. In the book, I examine the topics of migration between Canada and the Unites States, and its effect on both countries. I will discuss the history of migration, actual groups who migrated, and where they migrated to the countries. So watch for that. 

And have you heard of the National Bird Project of the Welcome to Canadian Geographic’s National Bird Project?

The goal of which is to help designate an official bird for Canada by 2017, the country’s sesquicentennial. And they want your help finding a species that can represent this nation of forest, prairie grassland, Arctic and sub-Arctic, maritime and wetland, agricultural and urban, and many other habitats, so vote for your favourite species, or contribute your own short essay today!

Right now the Loon is in the lead, but you can still vote your choice for the official bird for Canada at http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/nationalbird/#Shorebirds

* "United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/KZNL-N8R : accessed 24 January 2015), Lester Blades, 1917-1918; citing Boston City no 5, Massachusetts, United States, NARA microfilm publication M1509 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,684,776

Need help in finding your Canadian Ancestors?

If you do, go to Elizabeth Lapointe Research Services and see how I can help you find that elusive Canadian ancestor. Great service. Reasonably priced.

Website: www.elrs.biz

Email: genealogyresearech@aol.com 

 The next post will be published on Groundhog Day - 02 February 2015.

 

News from the Alberta Family History Society

The Alberta Family Histories Society (AFHS) is having a busy pre-spring month of February.

The Society will be offering a course on Sunday, February 1, at 2:00 p.m. at the AFHS Library (712 - 16 Avenue NW) in Calgary, Alberta.

You will learn how to find records, and what they can tell you about your ancestors. You will have time to search on AFHS computers, with individual assistance from the presenters.

There is also a DNA SIG ,which is becoming very popular.

Their newly-formed DNA Special Interest Group (SIG) has already held two meetings, which were very well-attended.

To help spread the word, the first issue of Thermometer is onsite at http://www.afhs.ab.ca/docs/thermometer-jan-2015.pdf

Their website is http://www.afhs.ab.ca

Their Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/AlbertaFHS

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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-19-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.

I love reading genealogy travel articles

To my mind, there is nothing so interesting and educational as genealogy travel articles. Don’t you agree?

My imagination tends to wander through the settlements where the writer’s ancestors once lived, and I'm hard-pressed to find anyone better in writing these types of articles in Canada than Elizabeth Kipp, and her husband, Ed.

I think I have read every one of their travel pieces, and I wasn’t disappointed when I received the January-March 2015 edition of The Ottawa Genealogist (the journal of the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, of which Ed is the editor), and there was an article entitled, Visiting Some WW II and WW I Sites & etc.: French Elegance Tour of France 2014 by Elizabeth Kipp (with the assistance of Edward Kipp).

They went on a tour of France in May and June of 2014, and they were interested in finding more information about Elizabeth’s Richard le Blak (Blake) of Rouen, and Edward was interested in going to Île de Ré and Saint-Martin-de-Ré on the Île de Ré, where his Huguenot ancestors were from. And they were both interested in the First and Second World War battlefields and cemeteries.

She takes us through the tour of what they saw on a daily basis, starting and ending in Paris. They saw the Bayeux Tapestry, the beaches of Normandy, the Chateux of Chenonecu, and Saint-Martin-de-Ré, toward the end of their trip.

It was truly breathtaking, the places that they were able to see. Do you write your travel stories up so that you can share them with people at your local society?

I can hardly wait until their next article. I wonder where they will travel this year?

The website for the Ottawa Genealogical Society is at http://ogsottawa.on.ca/

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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-19-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.

Eaton’s Goes To War

Jay Young, Outreach Officer at the Archives of Ontario (AO), says that the archives has a new online exhibit entitled Eaton’s Goes To War, which shows the contributions made by the T. Eaton Company and its employees to the war effort during the First World War.

Soon after war broke out in 1914, Eaton’s contributed an unprecedented amount to Canada’s war effort. The company announced that all military contracts it received would be delivered at cost, and it even paid the salaries of enlisted employees for the duration of their service, in addition to their military wages.

In total, 3,327 Eaton’s employees across Canada enlisted, with 2,200 from the Toronto store alone.

The press release says that ‘Each time an enlistee employed at Eaton’s Toronto location was shipped overseas, a portrait was taken of him to be displayed prominently in the store. More than 2,000 of these portraits—part of the T. Eaton Company records at the Archives of Ontario—are featured in the exhibit. The faces of these men show an intimate side of the war.

These photographs are an excellent resource for genealogists who are researching their family history in Toronto. In particular, the exhibit allows users to view a list of names of Eaton’s enlistees and their portrait. You might discover that someone in your family was an “Eatonian” – an enlistee employed at Eaton’s.

Eaton’s Goes To War also asks users to contribute their own stories of ancestors who worked for Eaton’s during the 1910s. These stories will help to show how Eaton’s had a personal impact on Ontarians during the Great War.

To view the exhibit, go to http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/explore/online/soldiers/remembrance_day.aspx

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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-19-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.

Name a ferry!

Transport Canada wants your ideas for the naming of a new ferry which will cross the Bay of Fundy between Digby, Nova Scotia and Saint John, New Brunswick.

Greg Kerr, MP for West Nova, at a meeting in Digby, said the name should have some regional significance, and has to mean something to people on both sides of the Bay of Fundy.

One name which he said he had heard has been Samuel de Champlain, the French explorer and cartographer who made the first accurate map of the coast of Canada. But all ideas of a name are welcome.

There are guidelines for you to follow, and some of them are -

• It should promote Canadian culture, history or geography by honouring people or places of importance to Canadians.
• It should have some regional significance. The name should be brief and easily understood by radio or phone.
• Complicated or confusing spelling or pronunciation should be avoided.
• If it is has professional or honorific titles, like Dr. or Right Honourable, and family abbreviations, like Jr. or III, they should be avoided.
• A vessel name will only be considered for persons posthumously.
• Canadian citizens can enter as many suggestions as they wish, but only until 20 February 2015.

Forms are available at the ferry terminals in Digby and Saint John, as well as online at http://www.ferries.ca/naming.

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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-19-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.

Get creative with The Armchair Genealogist!

Lynn Palermo, aka The Armchair Genealogist—a long-time Canadian blogger and family history writer—is encouraging everyone to get creative, and turn their family history research into stories by being a part of The Family History Writing Challenge - which runs from the 1st to the 28th of February.

For details on the challenge, to register, and take advantage of other incentives, such as receiving the Daily Dose newsletter, please visit her site at http://www.familyhistorywritingchallenge.com.

So how about you? Are you ready for the challenge??

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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-19-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.

Top 100 Websites of 2015

The list of ‘The Best of …’ or the ‘Top 100 Websites of ….’ are starting to appear for 2015.

The first one this year is the Top 100 Websites of 2015 by GenealogyInTime magazine at http://www.genealogyintime.com/articles/top-100-genealogy-websites-of-2015-page02.html. There are only four Canadian sites mentioned in this list.

My first reaction is that Canadian websites have a lot of catching up to do!

The four are -

• Ancestry.ca - #13
• GenealogyInTime Magazine - #26
• Anglo Celtic Roots - #97
• Global Genealogy - #100

So, on to better results in 2016 for the Canadian websites and blogs.

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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-19-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.

Saskatchewan Historic Newspapers Online

The Saskatchewan Archives, in partnership with Saskatchewan History Online, is pleased to announce the launch of a new online tool called ‘Saskatchewan Historic Newspapers Online’ (SHNO).

This is the beginning of a new multi-year project which, once completed, will provide online access to all weekly newspapers from 1878–1964 held within the Saskatchewan Archives Collection. The current release focuses on the early years of the First World War, featuring local weekly newspapers from English, French, German, and Ukrainian communities across Saskatchewan.

During the first installation of the Saskatchewan newspaper online program, it will focus on the period from 1878 through to the mid-1960s. The first stage of the project will focus upon Saskatchewan newspapers published during the Great War period, from January 1914 through to the end of hostilities in 1918.

This sounds exciting!

Be sure to drop by their website at http://sabnewspapers.usask.ca

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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-19-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.

The Courage to Remember: The Holocaust 1933-1945

In recognition of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27th—and the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz—the Atlantic Jewish Council, in partnership with the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, presents the Simon Wiensenthal Center exhibition, "The Courage to Remember" http://novascotia.ca/archives/chase

This exhibition features 200 Holocaust photos that cannot be seen anywhere else in the world. They are at the Chase Exhibit Room of the Nova Scotia Archives in Halifax until the end of January 2015.

The Nova Scotia Archives is at http://novascotia.ca/archives

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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-19-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.

The OGS wants to know...

Mike More, of the Ontario Genealogical Society and the OGS Conference Advisory Committee, has put on a survey about their yearly conference.

They are looking for your input.

This survey is open to members and non-members, as well as those who have not yet attended the annual Conference. Please take a few minutes and fill it out online.

The survey conference is at http://ogsottawa.blogspot.ca/2015/01/ontario-genealogical-society-conference.html

I just took the survey, and it seems pretty inclusive in what they want to know – meal prices, conference venues, tours, and accommodations. It looks like they are trying to keep up to the times to make the conference as relevant as possible.

So spend a few minutes and take the survey. I am sure that they would appreciate it.

================

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-12-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.

Gene-O-Rama 2015

Ontario's first genealogical conference of the year — the ever-popular "Gene-O-Rama" — is once again being hosted by the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) at the Confederation Education Centre, 1645 Woodroffe Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario (at the corner of Hunt Club Road) in Ottawa's west end.

This 31st edition of Gene-O-Rama will be held March 27th and 28th, and will feature Janice Nickerson as both the keynote speaker and lecturer.

She will give the address Friday evening, plus two lectures on Saturday, including Putting the Flesh on the Bones of Your Upper Canada Ancestors.

This would be an excellent opportunity to come to Ottawa to conduct research on your ancestors with a variety of societies and vendors, all for a very reasonable price.

This event is being held near the Ottawa City Archives on Tallwoods Drive, which is open on Saturday.

If staying another day in Ottawa, be aware that the Reading Room of the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is open on the weekend (both Saturday and Sunday) as is the Canadian Museum of History (located across the river, in Gatineau, Quebec) and the Canadian War Museum, both a short walk from the LAC.

The brochure and registration form is at http://ogsottawa.on.ca/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/GOR2015.pdf

The website of the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society is http://ogsottawa.on.ca/

Janice Nickerson’s website is http://www.uppercanadagenealogy.com

The website of the Ottawa City Archives is http://ottawa.ca/en/liveculture/archives

The website for Library and Archives Canada is http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca

The website for the Canadian Museum of History is http://www.historymuseum.ca

The website for the Canadian War Museum is http://www.warmuseum.ca

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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-12-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.

Acadian Museum of Prince Edward Island receives grant

The Association of the Acadian Museum of Prince Edward Island will receive $25,000 through the Development of Official-Language Communities Program.

The Museum will launch the Causeries du mardi 2015 series to explore the cultural richness of the Island’s Acadians as part of a project called “Le Musée acadien de l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard, gardien du patrimoine acadien depuis 50 ans, continue sa mission” [The Acadian Museum of Prince Edward Island, the guardian of the Island’s Acadian heritage for 50 years, continues its mission].

The funding will also be used for the production of a multimedia exhibition.

The Acadian Museum of Prince Edward Island website is at http://museeacadien.org

============

Check the Canadian Week in Review 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-12-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. 

GANS "Lest We Forget" Workshop

On January 24th, the Genealogists Association of Nova Scotia (GANS) is hosting a workshop called Lest We Forget Workshop, led by two representatives of the Halifax Public Libraries, to work hands-on with First World War military services files for both soldiers and nursing sisters.

There is no cost for this workshop.

According to their press release, "After a brief introduction to Canadian military records, each participant will be given a real Canadian Expeditionary Forces service file of a Nova Scotian soldier or nursing sister, with the task of finding out their personal war story. At the end of the workshop, participants will share their discoveries and questions with the rest of the group. Halifax Public Library staff Joanne McCarthy O'Leary and Vicki Clark will be on hand to assist with research and advice on further research. Please see flyer attached with times and location".

This is restricted to 25 participants, so register soon to secure your spot.

To register, send an email to membership@novascotiaancestors.ca

The GANS website is http://www.novascotiaancestors.ca

The Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/NovaScotiaAncestors

If you haven’t done so alreay, remember to check the Canadian Week in Review 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-12-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.

Nova Scotia Schoolhouse Receives Heritage Designation



At November's town council meeting, a small one-room schoolhouse in Truro, Nova Scotia, received heritage designation. Originally located in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, it is now on the Nova Scotia Community College's property on Arthur Street in Truro.

The Little White Schoolhouse Museum's website http://littlewhiteschool.ca has a picture of the schoolhouse, and lots of material in their archives, such as texts “used in Nova Scotia schools and other books relating to education from the mid-1800s to the early 1970s. In addition, annual Reports of the Superintendent of Education from 1851 onwards, the Journal of Education and other publications from 1893 onwards”.

They can also assist you to research student records of the Provincial Normal School, and the Provincial Normal College from 1854 to 1946.

My great-aunt Josephine Barclay, from Jordan River, Shelburne County, went to the Provincial Normal College in 1908, and then went to Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Vermont, where she taught school. She was married to the Rev. George Gellatly.

Check the Canadian Week in Review 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-12-january-2015.html

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

The Manitoba Museum Wants Artifacts

The Manitoba Museum wants to know if you have artifacts relating to the first time women were allowed to vote in the province. 

A new exhibit called “Nice Women Don’t Want the Vote” will open at the museum on November 5, 2015. The title comes from the words uttered by former Manitoba Premier Sir Rodmond Roblin during a heated exchange with Nellie McClung.

The exhibit will commemorate the 100th anniversary when the Manitoba Legislature amended the Manitoba Election Act on January 28, 1916 to allow women to vote.

“Nice Women Don’t Want to Vote” will run until February 9, 2016 before travelling for the next eight months across Manitoba prior to open at the Canadian Museum of History in Ottawa on November 17, 2016.

Anyone with artifacts or a story for the exhibit should contact Roland Sawatzky at (204) 988-0634 or by email rsawatzky@manitobamuseum.ca.

Read the history of how women won the vote in Manitoba at http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/mb_history/32/womenwonthevote.shtml

Check the Canadian Week in Review 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-12-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.

Watch Hamilton Branch of the OGS on YouTube tonight

The Hamilton Branch of the Ontario Genealogist Society is meeting tonight for their Annual General Meeting, with guest speaker Pat Blackburn, UE and the topic will be What is a United Empire Loyalist (UEL)? How do you trace your lineage?

Meeting time is 7 pm. It will be held at the Lincoln Alexander School (near the LINC and Upper Gage Ave), 50 Ravenbury Dr. Rm. 1, Hamilton, Ontario.

And the meeting will be broadcast on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uHLRrO5ejo

If you haven’t done so already, remember to check the Canadian Week in Review 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-12-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. 

Dear Myrt’s Beginning Genealogy - Session 2

As I promised in my blog on 06 January 2014 at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/beginning-genealogy-study-group.html, I watched Dear Myrt’s Beginning Genealogy Session 2 yesterday. I will continue to watch the rest of the study group as it proceeds. 

The two main topics that were discussed yesterday were the FamilySearch Wiki, and the transcription of records.

First, we went back to the FamilySearch Wiki where we were last week, and this time, we went to the Research Process at https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Research_Process.

Dear Mryt spent time explaining the 5 steps of researching to us – 1. Identify what you know 2. Decide what you want to learn 3. Select the records to search 4. Obtain and search the records and 5. Evaluate and Use the information.

Then she went to the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS) at http://www.bcgcertification.org/resources/standard.html and went through the five elements of the GPS. You must know these five elements in order to conduct ‘reasonably exhaustively research’ properly, thereby making your conclusions sound.

She asked for people to take birth, marriage, and death records and share them with us, and we saw records from Pennsylvania and Great Britain. Different aspect were then discussed, errors were noted on the certificates, and people were asked to give their ways of handling different errors in records.

The second subject was the importance of doing proper and accurate transcriptions of records, which can then point out these errors, for example.

It is necessary that to transcribe every record we come across in a record, because it helps to understand the complete record, and what it is saying to you, the researcher.

So if you want to watch this session, it is available online at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFi7sTUexhQ

Remember to make yourself a member of Dear Myrt’s Genealogy Community before watching the YouTube Google+ Hangout on Air at https://plus.google.com/communities/104382659430904043232

If you haven’t done so already, remember to check the Canadian Week in Review 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-12-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.

A one-day workshop on Genetic Genealogy

The Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society is planning a one-day workshop on 6 June 2015 on Genetic Genealogy and its uses in family history research.

The press release says that "We are looking for speakers who would like to be take part. The workshop will deal with the main types of DNA testing that are used by genealogists as well as how the results from genetic testing are used in conducting or supporting genealogical research. We hope to offer lectures for audiences at the beginner level as well as for people with a more advanced level of knowledge who have used DNA testing”.

The details are at http://torontofamilyhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Call-for-Speakers-Genetic-Genealogy-Workshop-June-2015.pd

The deadline is this Saturday 17 January 2015.

Meanwhile, details of the first annual Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy Colloquium, the final draft of the Genetic Genealogy Standard has officially been announced and released! They are finishing the guidelines for Y-DNA and mtDNA testing and interpretation, and they are putting together some guidance for citing DNA test results in reports, scholarship, and in general.

You can read more at http://www.thegeneticgenealogist.com/2015/01/10/announcing-genetic-genealogy-standards/

If you haven’t done so already, remember to check the Canadian Week in Review 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-12-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.