FREE! Ancestry is providing free access to its entire collection of Canadian immigration records

Part of their press release says -

The majority of Canadians view Labour Day as the unofficial end to summer, but how often do we stop and think of the historic origins of this national holiday?  How many of us know it marks a massive public protest in the streets of Toronto in 1872 for worker’s rights and benefits?

If you’re a third-generation Canadian, there’s a good chance your great-grandparents would have been working-age during the first Labour Day over 140 years ago, or may have even taken part in the protest themselves. But do you know what they actually did? 

According to a recent Ancestry survey, only one-third of Canadians know the occupation of at least one great-grandparent. 

And for those Canadians that don’t know when their ancestors arrived or where they arrived from, AncestryDNA gives you the ability to learn your ethnic ancestry and connect with others who may hold the key to the stories of your family’s past. More information about AncestryDNA can be found at: http://dna.ancestry.ca 

To access the immigration records Sept 3-7, please go to http://www.ancestry.ca/cs/labourday2015?o_iid=67317&o_lid=67317&o_sch=Web+Property

Happy Researching!

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

If you missed last week’s edition, it is at
http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/08/canadian-news-in-review-cwr-31-august.html

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

Dear Myrt’s Beginning Genealogy - Sessions 9

 

As I promised 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 9 yesterday. I will continue to watch the rest of the study group as it proceeds.

The major topic which was discussed in Sessions 9 was -

Emigration/Immigration/Naturalization/Migration – All of these subjects were touched on by Dear Myrt in the latest Beginning Genealogy Study Group online meeting.

Although people who did have ancestor's who came to the United States, and therefore may not be interested in these records, they can still find something of interest to them.

She mentioned Steve Morse’s site (which I have used quite often, and he does have Canadian records) called One-Step Webpages, which contains ‘tools for finding immigration records, census records, vital records, and for dealing with calendars, maps, foreign alphabets’. It is quite a good site, and is at http://www.stevemorse.org/

She also talked about P. William Filby, one of the editors of the multi-book indexes used by people who are researching on passenger and immigration lists index. This is something that you should look at if your ancestor came to North America in the 16th to the 18th centuries.

She ended by talking about Tracing Immigrants Origins at FamilySearch at https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Tracing_Immigrant_Origins

It gives you a good idea of where to search, and there are three parts to this lesson, and it should be something that you should read.

The sessions so far are -

Session 1 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-1.html

Session 2 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-2.html

Session 3 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-3.html

Session 4 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-4.html

Session 5 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/02/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-5.htm

Session 6 & 7 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-sessions_5.html

Session 8 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-sessions_13.html

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

It’s St Patrick's Day!

Why is St Patrick's Day such a time of celebration and remembrance in Canada?

Maybe the following statistics will give you a clue.

From 1825 to 1970, 1.2 million Irish immigrants arrived in Canada, and at least half of those in the period from 1831–1850.

By 1867, the Irish were the second largest ethnic group (after the French), and comprised 24% of Canada's population.

In my neighbourhood of Ottawa-Gatineau, there is the famous McCabe List: Early Irish in the Ottawa Valley.

At http://www.dippam.ac.uk/ied/records/22293dpf, there is a list of the McCabe Irish which gives county, parish, townland of origin, number of male and female children and names and addresses of relatives in the homeland for some 700 mostly Irish families who were in the vicinity of Bytown (now known as Ottawa) on 5 February 1829.

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-news-in-review-09-march-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 6

As I promised in my blog on 06 January 2014 at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/beginning-genealogy-study-group.html, I am reporting on Dear Myrt’s Beginning Genealogy study group as it proceeds. I watched Session 6 yesterday, and the top two things that were discussed were -

Software – This time, each of the people gave the name of the software that they use, and it looks like they use multiple programs to organize their genealogy. Dear Myrt said that it all depends on "personal preference".

The second part of the class was devoted to the Research Records, and she briefly touched on immigration and emigration. She said this is usually the first question that a person asks when they go to a Family History Centre, because they know that they have come from somewhere.

One thing that was discussed was the ancestors who went to Canada first, and then migrated to the United States because, for one reason, it was cheaper to go to Canada than to the United States.

The website is at https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/United_States_Emigration_and_Immigration

Session 1 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-1.html

Session 2 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-2.html

Session 3 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-3.html

Session 4 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-4.html

Session 5 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/02/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-5.html

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

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/2015/02/canadfian-news-in-review-16-february.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.

Immigration Conference: Getting Here

Kawartha Branch, The Ontario Genealogical Society will have a special one-day conference on Saturday, October 4 from 9 am to 3:15 pm at the Northminster United Church, 300 Sunset Blvd, Peterborough.

The speakers and the topics will be -

• Archivist Col. John Carew New Life, New Hope, and a New Land 

• Alan Brunger Corsley Immigration to Canada, 1830s 

• Elwood Jones The Cumberland Emigration 

• Peter McConkey The Robinson Emigrations 

Cost: $35 and includes snacks and lunch. 

For more information, go to http://www.ogs.on.ca/kawartha/Conference-Page 1 and 2.pdf  

To register, you can go to http://www.ogs.on.ca/kawartha/Conference-Registration (2).pdf

Local expert to lead discussion on Scottish immigration

Genealogy expert Christine Woodcock will lead a discussion on the history of Scottish immigration to Canada. In addition, she will show residents with Scottish heritage how to learn more about their family past on Saturday, May 24 at 2 pm at the Windsor’s Community Museum. Her presentation is entitled Tracking Your Scots Immigrant Ancestors 

She will cover such subjects as

• the difference between emigration, immigration and migration
• reasons for leaving Scotland
• Jacobite Rebellion ships lists
• and Selkirk Settler ships lists

If you want to learn more about Christine’s website Genealogy Tours of Scotland https://www.genealogytoursofscotland.ca/Home_Page.html

Pre-1865 Immigration to Canada

Library and Archives Canada has just issued a reminder on pre-1864 immigration to Canada -

Validating your ancestor’s arrival in Canada before 1865

“So you have searched the records, and still no trace of your ancestor? If you didn’t find your ancestor’s arrival before 1865, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has other genealogical resources that can assist in confirming an ancestor’s arrival in Canada.

Where did he or she settle?

Is he or she listed in census returns? LAC’s collection of census databases, which can be searched by a person’s name, can confirm an individual’s presence as early as 1825. Perhaps a reference exists for one of the parents (recorded as the head of the family) or for a sibling.

Many early settlers submitted petitions to obtain land where they could establish their family in Upper Canada or Lower Canada. LAC’s databases provide references to land transactions that give the person’s name, the date of the application and the county or township within a province.

Life events in records

The date of arrival in Canada can be estimated by searching birth, marriage, and death records for first occurrences such as the birth of a child to confirm the presence of the family in a location. Consult our previous blog on how to search for Birth, Marriage and Death Records.

Published sources and the genealogical community

Family histories, historical atlases and other published works can be searched in AMICUS, LAC’s online catalogue. It is also possible that your ancestor lived in a location that published a city directory.

Many genealogical societies have resources specific to where your ancestor settled. Finding aids that describe a location are valuable tools when searching for ancestors”.

Go to the Library and Archives Canada site at http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/Pages/default.aspx

In the end, it all boils down to local records at local archives, local libraries, local museums, local genealogical societies.

Just as a coincidence, I have a column on this very subject in next month’s free magazine In Depth Genealogist at http://www.indepthgenealogist.com .

It will appear in the February issue.

Irish potato famine mystery solved

Scientists in Germany have discovered that a plant-pathogen strain, called HERB-1, was the blight that caused the potato famine in Ireland of the 1840s. Before this tine, it had been thought that an American strain, called US-1 has caused the famine.

According to the website at Irish National Famine Museum, Ireland lost almost a quarter of its population to death or emigration between 1845 and 1850.

The mystery finally has been solved.

Read the complete story at http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/21/4350890/researchers-discover-irish-potato-famine-pathogen

Ancestry.ca UPDATE: Discover your Irish Ancestors

St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner, and now is a good time to go to Ancestry.ca and discover what records they have for Irish immigrants to Canada.

They even have an excellent video for you to watch, and it gives good tips on how to find your Irish immigrants to Canada. It is very good.

So have fun as you look through the records to find Irish people who came to Canada.

The video is at www.ancestry.ca/cs/ca/canadianirish

Set Sail on a Voyage of Discovery

Further to my post on Thursday February the 28th in which I wrote about Ancestry.ca Update: Free Indexes, this morning I checked their Facebook page, and found out more about the passenger lists in Set Sail on a Voyage of Discovery.

The Facebook page contains puzzles, a "Did You Know" section, and a Word Scramble – plus lots of information about immigration to Canada.

The Facebook page is at www.facebook.com/Ancestry.ca

The free indexes are –

Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935 http://search.ancestry.ca/search/db.aspx?dbid=1263

Canada, Ocean Arrivals (Form 30A), 1919-1924
http://search.ancestry.ca/search/db.aspx?dbid=1588

Irish Canadian Emigration Records, 1823-1849 http://search.ancestry.ca/search/db.aspx?dbid=1553

John D. Reid and Glenn Wright are at WDYTYA Conference

I learned last week that John D. Reid, and Glenn Wright, will give a special 45- minute talk at the Who Do You Think You Are Live genealogy conference in London, UK on Saturday afternoon.

The talk will be entitled Finding English Emigrants to Canada and Their Descendants.

John said that because of the time constraint “it will be a once over lightly” talk, but if you are going to the conference, both John and Glenn hope that you can stop by, and say ‘Hello’.

You can check John's blog at http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.ca, and Glenn is president of the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa, and their web site is at www.bifhsgo.ca

All information about the event is at www.whodoyouthinkyouarelive.com

Did your ancestors come from China?

The Library anf Archives Canada just sent this out -
Do you ever wonder who your first Chinese ancestor was and when he or she left China and arrived in Canada? Are you curious about your family’s Chinese heritage?

If so, the Library and Archives Canada website at www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng is a great place to begin your research. For instance, you will find a page specific to genealogical research for the Chinese people. It provides you with historical background information, archival and published material from our collection, as well as links to other websites and institutions. This page also contains a link to the Immigrants from China database which provides access to more than 98,000 references to Chinese immigrants who arrived in Canada.

If your ancestor came to Canada between 1865 and 1935, you might find his or her name on the passenger lists at www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/chinese-immigrants/index-e.html

North American Indexing Volunteers Invited to Join New US Immigration & Naturalization Community Project

As many of you know, people who immigrated to North America often went to the United States first, and then proceeded to Canada, and many who went to Canada first, often crossed the border to go to the United States.

So even though this is a FamilySearch Community Project, it should be of interest to Canadians indexers.

FamilySearch says that “It will be an indexing effort to make passenger lists, naturalization records, and other immigration related records freely searchable online. Hundreds of thousands of North American volunteers are expected to contribute over the next 18-24 months, focusing initially on passenger lists from the major US ports”.

To find out more about the project, Individuals, societies and other groups that want to participate should visit From Sea to Shining Sea: Helping Everyone Find US Immigration Ancestors at https://familysearch.org/immigration

Dave Obee Gives Two Talks

His first talk, entitled “Destination Canada”, will be given on Saturday, March 24th from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. at the West Vancouver Memorial Library.

More than seven million people arrived in Canada from Europe, the United States, and Asia between 1815 and 1930.

This talk discusses the wide variety of sources that deal with immigration to Canada, including ship passenger lists (available from 1865 through 1935), border-crossing records, and naturalization and citizenship documents.

The second talk, “Writing Your Family History”, will be held from 2:30 to 4:00 p.m. in the Welsh Hall, and touch upon the reason for writing a family history, and how a well-written story will make other family members more interested in the research that you are doing. He will also discuss ideas that will help you get over writer's block.

For more information, visit the West Vancouver Memorial Library at http://www.westvanlibrary.ca/, or write info@westvanlibrary.ca.