Mocavo offer free access

Cliff Shaw in his blog at Mocavo is offering all Mocavo Basic members free access to all of the premium Mocavo Gold features until Sunday at midnight. 

Over the past few months, he says, “we received so much positive feedback about our free access weekends is offering that we decided to do it again!

Back by popular demand, all Mocavo Basic members can now access all of the premium Mocavo Gold features for free until Sunday at Midnight. This means you can search our entire collection to your heart’s content, upload your tree to receive new discovery alerts, download and print any document you find, and much more”!

During their last free offer, I found a marriage notice of my g-g-aunt Aunt Louisa Barclay (daughter of Andrew Barclay from Shelburne, Nova Scotia) to Caleb Haley of California (formerly of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia) in a New York newspaper. I had been looking for a notice of her marriage for years, because I had been lead to believe they were married in Yarmouth, even though I had known she had taken frequent trip to New York. There is a lesson here - 

The details of the blog is at http://blog.mocavo.com/2014/03/open-access-mocavo-gold-sunday-midnight

OGS Conference 2014

Steve Fulton U.E., on behalf of the OGS Conference 2014 Committee, has sent out an invite and a reminder that the conference is almost most here! 

The Conference is between May 1 to 4th at Brock University in St Catharines, and here are some of the activities - 

• Hank Jones Jr - Banquet Speaker - Coming from California

• Chris Paton - Houston Lecture Speaker - Coming from Scotland

• Saturday Morning Plenary - International Panel on Social Media

• Thursday Board Meeting & Greet at Donnelly's Pub in Thorold

They are also providing an opportunity for those who can't come for whatever reason. They will be streaming 7 speakers onto the Internet so you can view them in your home. 

Three Speakers will be streamed in from their locations (England, Salt Lake City & British Columbia). 

Other amazing Speakers and opportunities to meet other genealogists!

The website is at http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference2014/index.php

The Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/NiagaraPeninsulaBranchOgsConference2014?ref=hl

The Gatineau Valley Historical Society

The Gatineau Valley Historical Society will host An Evening with Brian Doyle that will be held at the Larrimac Golf & Tennis Club, 1148 rte. 105, Chelsea Quebec on Monday, March 17 at 7:30 p.m. 

Brian will talk about and read from his 2013 e-book Confessions of a Depression Baby, a series of 24 essays he wrote for the Ottawa Citizen about growing up in the 1930s. 

A former Glebe Collegiate teacher in Ottawa, Brian is best known for his grainy young-adult novels about growing up in Ottawa and along the Gatineau River, and as a consummate storyteller, his 24 essays are no less engaging than the vivid scenes he painted for readers in such books as Angel Square, Up to Low and Easy Avenue.

The website is at http://www.gvhs.ca

They have a great Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gatineau-Valley-Historical-Society/810653888950823

FamilySearch Online Training is NOW a Click Away

Kudos to FamilySearch because now you can now get training through the use of  their online manuals. 

Some of the manuals which are available are - 

The Family Tree Reference Manual 

The FamilySearch Learning Center (on this site is the 2014 RootsTech live streaming talks) plus other videos – and they are all FREE)

The Training Link

The Family Tree Quick Start Guide

Go to https://familysearch.org/blog/en/familysearch-online-training-click

Canadian Week in Review - 10 March 2014

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.

Websites

Timber Trade History
http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/en/article/timber-trade-history/
This site tells the Timber Trade History in Canada in the 1800s, and the effect that world events had on the industry.

Social Media

No blogs this week.

New Stories 

Canadian War Museum
http://blogs.ottawacitizen.com/2014/03/01/canadian-war-museum-to-highlight-canadian-art-of-the-first-world-war
The exhibition is called Witness – Canadian Art of the First World War and will be ob at the Canadian War Museum from April 10, 2014 to September 21, 2014 at the Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae Gallery.

It examines how Canadians captured their First World War experiences in art, both at home and overseas, whether as official war artists or as soldiers in the field.

Anne Murray's Nova Scotia hometown of Springhill applying to dissolve status
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/anne-murray-s-nova-scotia-hometown-of-springhill-applying-to-dissolve-status-1.1714497
There is news that the town of Springhill, Nova Scotia is applying to the government to have the town dissolved of its town status. The reason: economics!. 

Roderick Benns: Our prime ministers are worth honouring
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2014/03/04/roderick-benns-our-prime-ministers-are-worth-honouring
The plan for 22 life-sized statues of Canada’s prime ministers, once intended for central parkland in Kitchener, Ontario, has been quashed because 79% of the survey’s 2,441 respondents rejected the plan!

Shilling discovery could rewrite Canadian history
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hLjve_XGNlbeteLjroFpOsUBfJrg?docId=4fbf6ac4-3c2f-4bf2-a21d-e395052d4578
An amateur treasure hunter has discovered a 16th century shilling buried in clay on the shores of Vancouver Island, and he may have found something that may overturn the theory that says that a British explorer (Sir Francis Drake) had made the voyage here two centuries before it was discovered by Spanish sailors. 

Words take on different meanings to describe Quebec’s history
http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Words+take+different+meanings+describe+Quebec+history/9554528/story.html
Apparently, young francophones and anglophones see Quebec’s history differently — they even use different words to recount that history.

Heritage policy getting an overhaul
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/travel/Heritage+policy+getting+overhaul/9585207/story.html
Saskatoon city council has been asked to look at a proposal to create a public database listing all heritage properties in the city, but also a comprehensive resource for people interested in heritage. 

Restoring tradition
http://www.thepacket.ca/News/Local/2014-03-06/article-3639375/Restoring-tradition/1
Learn of the history of the Pelley House in Boyd’s Cove, Newfoundland, as it receives a Heritage Plaque from the province. 

Medalta receives grant money to preserve kilns
http://medicinehatnews.com/news/local-news/2014/03/07/medalta-receives-grant-money-to-preserve-kilns
Read how the flood which hit Alberta in 2013 almost destroyed an historic kiln in the torn of Medicine Hat.

After the deluge, High River’s museum thaws out Alberta’s history
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/after-the-deluge-high-rivers-museum-thaws-out-albertas-history/article17361855
And in High River, learn how the archivist is undertaking a groundbreaking project to reanimate part of Alberta’s history that was nearly wiped out by last summer’s floods.

MP Greg Kerr speaks about Cape Forchu Light in House of Commons
http://www.novanewsnow.com/News/2014-03-07/article-3641283/MP-Greg-Kerr-speaks-about-Cape-Forchu-Light-in-House-of-Commons/1
The lighthouse at Cape Forchu at Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, is on this year’s cover of the 2014 Nova Scotia Doers and Dreamers Travel Guide.

Story of the Week

The Ukrainian Uprising 

In 2011, there were an estimated 1,209,085 persons of full or partial Ukrainian origin residing in Canada. It is the 9th largest group living in Canada. It is the third-largest Ukrainian population behind the Ukraine itself, and Russia.

The first wave of settlement was from 1891 to 1914. The first wave of Ukrainian immigration came to Canada in 1892. Ivan Pylypow helped found the Edna Star Settlement, east of Edmonton, the first and largest Ukrainian block settlement.

The second wave was in 1923 to 1939. The majority of immigrants who came became workers in the growing industrial centers of Montreal and southern Ontario, and the forests of Northern Ontario.

And the third wave from 1945 to 1952, when most of the immigrants were political refugees and displaced persons who tended to move to cities in southern Ontario and Quebec.

The History of Ukraine in Canada
http://www.torugg.org/History/history_of_ukrainians_in_canada.html

With the political unrest in the Ukraine over the past couple of weeks, there had been newspaper reports showing that the Ukraine people in Canada still remember their homeland.

Rich Ukrainian history in Saskatchewan: Province's ties to Ukraine date back to late 1800s
http://www.newstalk650.com/story/rich-ukrainian-history-saskatchewan/273635
The earliest Ukrainian settlements in Saskatchewan date back to 1896. By the 1930s, Western Canada had over 200,000 Ukrainians.

Reminder: Check the Canadian Week in Review next Monday for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada. It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in country! The next post will be on 17 Match 2014.

British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa September 2014 Conference

 

Here are the speakers who will appear at the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa Conference this fall in Ottawa -

OTTAWA, 8 March 2014 — The British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO) has announced the speakers for the annual conference, to be held 19-21 September, at Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa.

For its 20th anniversary year, the society will celebrate with an ambitious program which will help family historians delve into their British Isles roots.

The society expects to welcome more than 250 attendees at the event, which has three special themes:

•  English family history; 

•  Immigration from the British Isles, including Home Children; and 

•  Genetic genealogy. 

“Our nation’s capital is also its family history capital. Every year we have welcomed folks from far and near, researching their ancestors in collections at Library and Archives Canada and learning about resources for discovering their British and Irish roots at our conference ” said BIFHSGO President Glenn Wright.

This year’s conference speakers will include:

Dr. Lucille Campey — emigration historian, author of numerous books on British Isles emigration to Canada who will launch her latest book Ignored but not forgotten - Canada's English Immigrants at the conference.

Gail Dever — BIFHSGO webmaster, social media expert and blogger at Genealogy à la carte

John Dickenson — a former professor at Liverpool University who now researches Canada’s Home Children, especially their involvement in the First World War.

Dr. Janet Few — freelance researcher and prize-winning author specializing in the south-west of England who will give a streamed-in presentation on North Devon immigrants to Canada.

Paul Jones — retired publisher, “Roots” columnist for Canada’s History magazine who speaks frequently on offbeat topics at family history events.

Debbie Kennett — an avid genetic genealogist, author of DNA and Social Networking (2011) and The Surnames Handbook (2012). Debbie is Honorary Research Associate in the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment at University College London.

Paul Milner — an internationally recognized speaker specializing in British Isles research, author of Discover English Parish Records and Genealogy at a Glance: English Research.

Gary Schroder — long-time President of the Quebec Family History Society and a frequent guest on Quebec radio and television promoting family history research.

In addition, speakers at pre-conference seminars on September 19 will include, from Library and Archives Canada, Paul Marsden and Sylvie Tremblay.

BIFHSGO looks forward to welcoming you at its 20th anniversary conference. Reserve 19-21 September in your agenda now and look for more details coming soon on the society website at www.bifhsgo.ca.

BIFHSGO Contacts: John D. Reid, Conference Program Chair, conference@bifhsgo.ca or Mary-Lou Simac, Publicity Director, MLMSIMAC@gmail.com

Free Conference: The Art of Biography

 

There will be a freeday-long conference on The Art of Biography in Toronto this March. This conference is going to be an excellent opportunity to hear four prominent authors and historians discuss their approach to writing biography, with a focus on Canadian history. It is being presented by the Dictionary of Canadian Biography and Department of History, University of Toronto.

The speakers will be -

CECILIA MORGAN - An (Almost) Accidental Biographer: Finding Lives in the Archives

SUZANNE MORTON - The Exploration of a ‘Hidden Life’ Performing ‘Unhistoric Acts’: Jane B. Wisdom and the Development of Social Work in Canada

JOHN ENGLISH - Writing the Biography of Pierre Elliott Trudeau

CHARLIE FORAN - Richler Was Funny, Why Can’t You Be? On Writing the Biography of Mordecai Richler

The conference is taking place at the Jackman Humanities Building (corner of Bloor and St. George) in Toronto on Saturday March 22, 2014.

If you would like further information about this event or would like to confirm your attendance, please contact Michael Wilcox at 416-946-8593 or by email at: michael.wilcox@mail.utoronto.ca

The website is at http://www.biographi.ca/en/article/art_of_biography.html

Note: If anyone is going to this conference, I would be interested to hear how it went.