Historical Maps of Toronto

Nathan Ng would like to share with us his newest site. His blog is called Historical Maps of Toronto.

The site is an easy site to use, online collection of notable pre-1900 maps of Toronto. Specific maps that researchers may find of utility include the 1858 Boulton Atlas of the City of Toronto and Vicinity, and the 1860 Tremaine Map of the County of York, Canada West.

He says that “I hope the site will facilitate discovery and exploration, as well as serve as a convenient resource for casual research [It's also enormously fun to randomly browse through]. The site is intended to serve as a companion resource for my previous mapping project, Goad's Atlas of Toronto -- Online!

I would be delighted if you could please share this with anyone who would enjoy it or find it useful as a resource...

I will be using the site when I am called to do research in Toronto. 

The site is at www.oldtorontomaps.blogspot.com If you go to the website and like what you see, drop him a line at nathan.ng@gmail.com

“Thank You” to my readers

I would like to say a heartfelt “Thank You” to all of my readers who passed on their kind words to me when my blog was named as one of the Top 40 Blogs of 2013 by the FamilyTree Magazine.

There are many things planned for 2013 with the blog, so keep  checking my blog every day.

To check all of the blog which were named by FamilyTree Magazine, click http://familytreemagazine.com/article/Top-40-Genealogy-Blogs-2013

Elizabeth

Newspaper Articles Every Monday

Don’t forget to check my blog every Monday morning for my New/Updated Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles.

I love to go across this grand county of ours and pick out the interesting things that have happened in the genealogy, history, and heritage world the previous week and bring them to you.

I also check on the latest Canadian blogs, and websites to see what is new in them.

This week, I also highlight a Facebook pages too!

So don’t miss the New/Updated Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles blog on Monday February 25th.

It has been a regular blog since April 23, 2012.

Elizabeth

Canadian Blogger Supports Canada Census 1921 Indexing Project

M. Diane Rogers of the blog CanadaGenealogy, or, Jane's Your Aunt! has had an idea.

Why not a series of blog prompts on the 15th of each month?

She will be “blogging either about someone who lived in a certain Canadian province or territory, or about new or interesting resources for genealogy in a particular area of Canada, or about a special Canadian topic, like the long awaited release of the 1921 Canadian census in June.

I hope to be supporting indexing of this at a Canadian site like AutomatedGenealogy.com right after Library and Archives Canada receives it”.

While she awaits for the census to be released, she has put on the blogging calendar the dates of March 11th, and the territory of the Yukon, and the second one will be the week of April 8th and the province of Alberta.

Go to the blog, click on to http://canadagenealogy.blogspot.ca/2013/02/canadian-genealogy-blogging-prompts-for.html

Irish Palatine Group Sponsors Ontario Genealogical Tour

The Irish Palatines have the Irish Palatines in Ontario Tour in September of this year. And it seems like they will be visiting many spots of interest to the Irish Palatines in Ontario.

Here is the press release that was sent out a few days ago -

The Irish Palatine Special Interest Group (IP-SIG) is pleased to sponsor a 10-day Irish Palatines in Ontario Tour to take place September 5-15, 2013. You do not have to be a member of the IP-SIG in order to join us on the tour.

However, seating is limited and the bus is already over half full so if you want to be part of the Tour, book your seat today. Download the Tour brochure that outlines the places we will visit, as well as the cost. The tour brochure is available at http://briandunk.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/tour-brochure-final.pdf

The tour will highlight several Irish Palatine settlement areas and we will meet various Palatine descendants along the way. The tour also includes visits to many major historical and tourists sites across Ontario. Accommodations will be at quality hotels in the heart of several major Ontario cities as well as a one night stop at a lovely, large Ontario cottage country resort.

If you are interested in joining our tour, please do not hesitate to contact "Great Canadian Holidays" for details at 1-800-467-8687 (ext. 280).

They now have a WordPress page at www.ogs.on.ca/ip-sig , in addition to the website at www.ogs.on.ca/ireland

Reminder: If you want the GenealogyCanada blog updates to come to you everyday in your email, send your address to genealogycanada@aol.com with the subject heading Blog Update, and I will put you on the email list.

Newspaper Stories Every Monday

Don’t forget to check my blog every Monday for my New/Updated Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles.

I love to go across this grand county of ours and pick out the interesting things that have happened in the genealogy, history, and heritage world the previous week and bring them to you.

I also check on the latest Canadian blogs, and websites to see what is new in them.

So don’t miss the New/Updated Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles blog on Monday February 11th.

It has been a regular blog since April 23, 2012.

Elizabeth

RENINDER: New/Updated Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles Blog

Don’t forget to check my blog every Monday morning for my New/Updated Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles.

There will be newspaper articles Monday about the agents who went down to Prince Edward Island to recruit men for the Glengarry Light Infantry in Eastern Ontario in the War of 1812, a new blog which features families from Prince Edward Island, and a story about the Empress of Ireland and an exhibit that goes up in 2014 at the new Museum of History in Ottawa, plus many more stories.

There is something of interest for everyone!

Elizabeth

Newspaper Stories Every Monday

Don’t forget to check my blog every Monday for my New/Updated Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles.

I love to go across this grand county of ours and pick out the interesting things that have happened in the genealogy, history, and heritage world the previous week and bring them to you.

I also check on the latest Canadian blogs, and websites to see what is new in them.

So don’t miss the New/Updated Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles blog on Monday February 4th.

It has been a regular blog since April 23, 2012.

Elizabeth

Some Acadians Exiled to Philadelphia in 1755

In her blog yesterday, Lucie LeBlanc Consentino writes about the establisment of the oldest Catholic Church in Philadelphia. The church was a place for the Acadians to gather after they were exiled from Nova Scotia in 1755.

Not all of the Acadians went to Philadilphia. The majority of them went to Louisiana, but of the group that went to the former British colony, they were treated rather well by the people, and the priest of that city.

The place where the church was located is known today as Old St. Joseph National Shrine. It as founded in 1733 by the Jesuits.

Read about the story at http://acadian-ancestral-home.blogspot.ca/2013/01/acadians-exiled-to-philadelphia-in-1755.html

Ontario Genealogical Society Heritage Photos

The OGS has started Heritage Photos: Trades and Professions: Farming this week on their site.

They say on the blog that “Over the past few months, we have searched out heritage photos that depict where and how our ancestors lived. Now we are going to use heritage photos to try to get a sense of the trades and profession our ancestors would have been involved in.

Our photo collection this week is all about Farming. Chances are you have at least one, if not several, farmers in your family tree.

Over the coming week, we are going to start the year off by looking at any photos that we can find of the trades and professions our ancestors may have been involved in.

If you have any trades or professions that you would like to suggest, and if we can find photos for them, that have no copyright issues of course, then let us know and we will see what we can find.

As always, if you have photos you would like to share, let us know”.

The website is www.ogs.on.ca/ogsblog

Canadian Blogger Joan Miller RIP

This came through on the OCAPG (Ontario Chapter of the APG) message board from Lorine McGinnis Schulze this morning. I am sure that you join me in saying that the genealogy community in Canada is sad today to hear this news -

"Hello everyone

I am not sure if the group has heard of the sad passing of fellow Canadian genealogist Joan Miller on Friday Jan.4, 2012. Joan was an avid genealogist, blogger and public speaker. One of Joan's passions was her blog Luxegen Genealogy and Family History. I met Joan at Rootstech 2011 and spent quite a bit of time with her and her husband Reg.

Joan's enthusiasm and cheerful spirit were contagious! She will be greatly missed. If any of you knew Joan you may wish to remember her.

Joan's family has requested that anyone wishing to donate in Joan's memory please do so on Kiva. Joan was a co-founder of the group Genealogists for Families which is a team on Kiva. If you are not familiar with Kiva:

Kiva connects thousands of people to borrowers and partner institutions around the world, working together to create opportunity and alleviate poverty. It only takes $25 to get started.

I made a loan to Delia, a pig farmer in the Philippines, in Joan's name. If you wish to participate you can choose who you wish to help by going to http://www.kiva.org/invitedby/lorine5773

I chose to make a commerative loan, dedicated to Joan. When the loan is repaid, the money will go directly back to Kiva instead of to me and another person will be given a loan”.

Lorine

Thank you for this news, Lorine.

You can follow genealogy news on her blog at http://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com

OGS President Shirley Sturdevant Has an Update on the LAC

There has been an update on the termination and replacement of the Interlibrary Loan (ILL) Services at the Library and Archives Canada‏ from OGS President Shirley Sturdevant. 

You can read the full update on their blog at www.ogs.on.ca/ogsblog/?p=2794, but it more or less says that although she offered to be a part of the discussion, that offer wasn’t accepted. This is rather unfortunate, since Shirley might have been able to present the “genealogical point of view”, which has been missing from the discussion so far.

The answer that she received from the LAC said, in part, that “Although my offer was not accepted, I was promised by M. Grandmaitre (of the LAC) hat we would receive the same documentation as the other participating parties for further discussion with or distribution to our members”.

In the meantime, she says that “The Ontario Genealogical Society shall stay its course in advocating for open and equal access to our Canadian archival documents”.

© Elizabeth Lapointe All Rights Reserved

Library Books are Vandalized

A blog at the Windsor Star (Windsor, Ontario) has an unsettling post  about books at the Leamington Library being vandalized with urine.

And they weren’t just any book – they were genealogy books!

To read the post, go to
http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2012/12/10/library-books-vandalized-with-urine

Relatively Speaking

The newsletter of the Alberta Genealogical Society headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta, has over 10 indexes of their newsletter "Relatively Speaking" online.

You can search their individual indexes to the newsletter, with issues starting online at 2004. There is also a summary of the newsletter, and supplements such as Bylaw Changes, AGM 2012, and Policy Changes.

The full issue of the newsletter itself is available at the Member’s Only website online at www.abgensoc.ca.

Moreover, they have great news!

The 40th Anniversary will be held next year, in 2013, in Edmonton. It will be celebrated at the Alberta Genealogical Society, Conference 2013, to be held April 20 & 21, 2013,

The website is www.abgensoc.ca.

The blog about the conference is at www.abgensoc.ca/AGSConference2013.jpg

New Canadian Blog

We congratulate Betty on staring a new blog that is going to contain Canadian content, and it is called The Pye Plate at http://thepyeplate.blogspot.com.

Since she is a Mayflower Descendent, she will discuss ancestors who travelled from England to New England, and from there to the Canadian provinces of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and to New Brunswick.  

She promises that the blog will be mostly about her family, but she will post for anyone who is seeking assistance in researching their family.

Welcome aboard Betty!

BCGS Blog

The British Columbia Genealogical Society now has a blog!


It went online December 10 with the “BCGS TOUR – Vancouver City Archives – April 12, 2012”, and has continued with what is new in their library, and on December the 15 they celebrated the 40th anniversary of BCGS.


So keep posted on what is happening by going to their blog at http://www.bcgs.ca .

CBC is 75 Years Old!

In celebration of the CBC/Radio-Canada 75th Anniversary, it has chosen the theme "Your to Celebrate". CBC/Radio-Canada was established in November, 1936.

If you go on the site you will see a special place where they have archived several radio programs, and TV shows.

There is also a very interesting blog on the site, and a Timeline which takes you back to such things as the Springhill Mine Disaster, The CBC's First Colour TV Show, and Churchill's Funeral.

There will be several other events announced in the coming months. To keep up on the latest events, go to http://www.cbc.ca/75/index.html

Stories of a Canadian Family

A new blog appeared yesterday, and it is named “Stories of a Canadian Family”.

It is by Lianne Lavoie, and it explores her “French, English, Scottish, and Swedish ancestry”. Genealogy is right up there with the things she likes to do (right after computer science, languages, and philosophy), and she says that most of her “research so far has been on my dad’s side of the family, simply because it is the French Canadian side, and there are ample resources available. However, I do plan to discover as much as I can about my mom’s side, which is English, Scottish, and Swedish, as well. There are many gaps still in my family tree, and I intend to fill them in”.

She has the surnames of her paternal side, which are -

Bard
Daineault
Deshaies
Ducharme
Gagne
Lavoie
Levasseur
Ouellet
Paradis
Richard
Voyer

And the surnames of her maternal side, which are -

Angus
Aspinal
Fretwell
Jackson
Johnson
Pehrsson/Peterson
Prince
Watts

So if you have any of these names in your family, be sure to drop Lianne a note, and help her along the way.

The website is http://storiesofacanadianfamily.blogspot.com/

New Canadian Blog

Kate Tivoli is a Canadian librarian who has started a blog called Genealogical Resource Reviews at http://ktivoli.blogspot.com/2011/07/welcome.html.

She says in her first post on July 10th that "I will be reviewing resources for genealogical research.Over the past few years, I have been researching family history, using different resources, many of which may be found online. The scope of content, technological ease of use and accessibility of these tools will be examined, along with specific examples of queries they may help to answer".

I am really excited, and interested to see what resources she will list, and review.

Dear Readers

As you have seen from my infrequent postings to this blog as of late, I have been busy doing other "genealogical" things, and I really haven't had the time to post on a regular basis.

Plus, I have just taken on another job.

John Becker, the editor of Families (the journal of the OGS) has taken ill, and is unable to complete the August issue. So I have taken over the editorship of the August issue as Guest Editor.

Those of you who have been involved with publications know that it is very intensive work, and since I am also the editor of NewsLeaf (the newsletter of the OGS), I don't imagine I will see too much of the summer from now until the middle of July, when the two publications go to the printer.

So if you will bear with me while I work on these three OGS publications (yes, I also edit e-NewsLeaf, the e-mail newsletter), I will be posting a bit less during the next few weeks.

Of course, you can always read me in NewsLeaf, e-NewsLeaf, or Families by simply joining the Ontario Genealogical Society at www.ogs.on.ca. NewsLeaf and Families are issued four times a year (Feb, May, Aug, Nov), while e-NewsLeaf is issued eight times a year (Jan, Mar, Apr, June, Jul, Sept, Oct, Dec).

But I have more good news for my readers - if you were not aware, there are over 200 previously posted blogs in the archives to keep you company in this dry time - see the section marked "Blog Archive" at the right side of the page. You can search by date, or if a more direct approach is desired, use the custom search box for the site, powered by Google.

In any event, I look forward to getting back to the blog, and in the meantime, I wish to say -

"Thank you for your patience, and continued support!"

Regards,

Elizabeth