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

Top Canadian History Teacher is from Winnipeg

Matt Henderson, a history teacher from St. John's Ravenscourt School in Winnipeg has won the 2013 Governor General's History Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Awards are administered by Canada’s History Society, and are awarded "to the best Canadian achievements in the field of history and heritage".

Last year, Henderson and his grade eleven history class went to the provincial archives (Archives of Manitoba Family History Research

http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/family_history/index.html) “to help them gain a better understanding of the experience of indigenous persons in Manitoba”.

“They learned about conducting research in archives, they wrote historical fiction based on what they discovered - they even published their own Idle No More textbook called Because of a Hat - Stories of Red River”.

Congratulations Matt, and the Grade 11 history class!

Go to Winnipeg teacher wins GG Award at http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/scene/winnipeg-teacher-wins-gg-award-1.2159524

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!  

Does blended families mean blended surnames

A blended family in Yellowknife has chosen something different – they have used a hybrid surname

They have put together the first four letters of his surname (Van Overbeek) and the last three letters of her last name (Harilyw - they changed the letter ‘y’ to the letter ‘i’ in her name), and came up with  Van Overliw

So what does this do to genealogy? We are now creating special last names that didn’t exist before, it will be a hybrid last name.

If you want to read the full article, it is on http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/blended-families-blended-names-1.2127504

Canadian Week in Review 21 October 2013

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

Websites

The Petworth Emigration Project www.petworthemigrations.com/‎ This is a case study of assisted emigration from the south of England to Ontario in the 1830s.

Blogs

As Canadian As Can Be http://hoguegirardin.wordpress.com/ As the blog says, “I remember the day I was standing in the gift shop at the Museum of Man and Nature here in Winnipeg, and stumbled upon my great-great grandmother’s name in a history book.  The book was Sylvia Van Kirk’s Many Tender Ties and the name was Margaret Taylor”.

Facebook, Videos, You Tube

OGS Facebook page reaches a 1,000 ‘likes’ https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ontario-Genealogical-Society/259163438258

The Petworth Emigration Project also has two Facebook pages, and they are - https://www.facebook.com/PetworthEmigrationProject This Facebook page concentrates on the emigration project, and the second Facebook page concerns the people who emigrated to Canada. The address is https://www.facebook.com/groups/49248715727/

Newspapers Articles of the Week

Minister Fantino Challenges Canadians to Remember: 30 Days, 30 Reasons http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1241531/minister-fantino-challenges-canadians-to-remember-30-days-30-reasons A press release was issued by Veterans Affairs in which it said that "The Honourable Julian Fantino, Minister of Veterans Affairs, today launched 30 Days, 30 Reasons - a social media campaign leading up to Remembrance Day on November 11, 2013. As part of the annual Remembrance Campaign, Veterans Affairs Canada will use social media to engage Canadians in remembering the sacrifices and achievements of Canada's Veterans”.

State of the Arts: Production celebrates 85-year history of Ukrainian Hall http://www.vancourier.com/state-of-the-arts-production-celebrates-85-year-history-of-ukrainian-hall-1.660332 Beverly Dobrinsky, who directs the Barvinok Choir at the hall and researched special anniversary shows Nov. 8 and 10, the building’s history for a new production, Bread & Salt, that celebrates its 85th anniversary.

Less is more for 150th bash http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/editorials/less-is-more-for-150th-bash-227773561.html The fields of science, literature, technology, political controversies, aboriginal history and other stories that make up the country's past are not to be included in the 150^th birthday bash.

Canada plans to mark 100th anniversary of First World War http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2013/10/19/21207096.html  Canada met with other European leaders last week to discuss the ceremonies that will take place next year. Canada will be part of an international effort planning the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the First World War.

Story of the Week

Speech From the Throne

Last week was the Speech From the Throne. I went to the site to read it for myself, and I found a few things of interest to genealogists, such as -

2017: Anniversary of Confederation

As we approach our historic 150th anniversary in 2017, our Government will join with Canadians in honouring this momentous milestone by:

Marking the 150th anniversaries of the Charlottetown and Québec Conferences;

 Celebrating the 200th birthdays of two of our greatest Fathers of Confederation, Sir George-Étienne Cartier and Sir John A. Macdonald

Commemorating the centennial of the First World War and the 75th anniversary of the Second World War, and the enormous sacrifices made by Canadians and our Allies in both

Re-dedicating the National War Memorial to the memory of all men and women who fought for our country

Building a Memorial to the Victims of Communism, to remember the millions who suffered under tyranny

Marking the end of Canada’s mission in Afghanistan by honouring the service of our men and women in uniform, including those who made the ultimate sacrifice combating the spread of terrorism

Establishing the Canadian Museum of History to share the story of Canada with pride

Quite an ambitious schedule we have over the next four years.

There is one thing missing though – where are the programs that would help Canadians save their family stories? Genealogy has grown into a large industry in the world, and there hasn’t been a nod to that part of our society.

We, as genealogists, would ask for such an acknowledgement. Maybe the Library and Archives Canada could be a leader in this field.   

The whole Speech is at http://www.speech.gc.ca/sites/sft/files/SFT-EN_2013_c.pdf

Reminder: Check out Canadian Week in Review every 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 28 October, 2013.