Rare War Medal Find Coming Home to Chilliwack, BC

There is an article this morning in the Chilliwack Progress newspaper about how the Chilliwack Museum and Historical Society were able to bring the medals awarded to members of the Coots family back home to British Columbia.

The medals were from the First World War, and acquired at an auction at Norfolk, England in late December.

The article says that “The collection consists of 12 medals awarded to Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Leslie Coote and his son Captain Ian Vernon Coote of Chilliwack for their military service. It also includes a written account from Lieutenant Russel “Ginger” Leslie Coote — Andrew Coote’s second son — documenting his remarkable wartime experiences”.

Read the article at www.theprogress.com/news/187313381.html

If you want to learn more about the medals given to Canadians who  fought in the wars and conflicts that the country has been involved in, go to Medals, Honours and Awards at www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/medals/index-e.html

Barkerville National Historic Site of Canada

The federal and British Columbia governments have announced that they will fund the conservation of two heritage buildings at Barkerville National Historic Site of Canada in British Columbia.

The press release says that “Barkerville is a provincially, nationally and internationally recognized historic site located 80 kilometres east of Quesnel. This year Barkerville is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Cariboo Gold Rush. Barkerville was the terminus of the great wagon road from Yale in 1865 and the centre of the Cariboo gold fields which were the catalyst for economic and political development in British Columbia.”

If you go on to the site, you will find that among other things, that Barkerville’s Chinatown is the largest collection of pre-railway Chinese buildings in North America and Barkerville has one of the largest Chinese archival collections in Canada.

They do have a search feature of their collection, where you can search the archives, artifacts, library, maps, and photographs.

The website is at www.barkerville.ca

Crouse-Wanamaker Lecture

Lynn Heale, Membership Co-ordinator of the Quinte Branch OGS tells us of a meeting which will take place (today) on Saturday January 19th at 1 p.m. It will be the Crouse-Wanamaker Lecture, honouring the founders of Quinte Branch.

This year, they will proudly present Historian & Author Gerry Boyce.

Mr. Boyce will speak on his project to update his book Historic Hastings published in 1967. "A lot has happened in the 45 years since Historic Hastings was published." This new book will highlight events of the past four decades and will be a companion volume to the original publication. Historic Hastings is scheduled to be reprinted with an updated index.

Mr. Boyce, who lives in Belleville and spent more than three decades in the education field, was instrumental in establishing several local museums and the Hastings County Historical Society.

The meeting will take place at the Quinte West City Hall Library, 7 Creswell Drive, Trenton, Ontario.

For more information, go to www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~canqbogs

What Do I Do with All My Stuff?

There will be a meeting of the Quebec Family History Society from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at the QFHS Heritage Centre and Library, 173 Cartier Avenue, Pointe-Claire. The topic What Do I Do with All My Stuff? and will be presented by Cecilia Karwowski and Gary Schroder.

The problem the modern genealogist often faces is finding so much information, documents, and photos that we drown under a sea of records. If we do not organize our records, important clues leading to other ancestors will be lost in a mountain of material poorly or not organized at all.

During this seminar, you will learn how to preserve the documents and photographs that you already possess and how to organize and arrange the material that you have accumulated, as well as new material that you plan or hope to obtain. The seminar will also examine the dangers inherent in simply keeping all your material on your computer, or as archivists would say "not having it at all."

The fee is $30 members, and $40 for non-members.

Reservations are required. Call 514.695.1502 or contact Jackie qfhs.communications@bellnet.ca

To go to the website, go to www.qfhs.ca

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

London & Middlesex County Branch of the OGS Holds Meeting

On the 5 February 2013, David R. Elliott will speak on "New Strategies in Irish Parish Register Indexing". 

David is a professional genealogical researcher, historian, author, has spent several summers recording church records in Ireland.

The Annual Meeting of the London & Middlesex County Branch, OGS, will also be conducted.

The website is http://londonmiddlesex.ogs.on.ca

PostScript: David ‘s latest book Researching Your Irish Ancestors at Home and Abroad has just been released, and it will be excerpted and a book review will be in the May2013 issue of Families.

The Ontario Genealogical Society website is at http://www.ogs.on.ca

2013 Anniversaries of OGS Branches

The following Branches of the OGS are celebrating anniversaries this year -

London-Middlesex Branch OGS is celebrating its 45th anniversary this year, and they are going to have a new website. They are located at http://londonmiddlesex.ogs.on.ca

Kingston Brach OGS is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, and its website is at www.ogs.on.ca/kingston

Kent County OGS is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, and it is located at http://ogs.on.ca/kent

Leeds & Grenville Branch OGS is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, and its website is located at www.leedsandgrenvillegenealogy.com

Perth County Branch OGS is celebrating its 30th anniversity this year, and its website is located at www.ogs.on.ca/perth

Sault Ste. Marie & District of Algoma Branch OGS is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and its website is located at www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~onogsssm/index.html

I wrote about the 30th Anniversary Celebration to be held at the Simcoe County Branch on the 14th of January in a blog entitled 30th Anniversary Celebration at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.ca/2013/01/30th-anniversary-celebration.html

Genealogy All-day Seminar

The Comox Valley Family History Research Group in British Columbia is pleased to announce that the next CVFHRG all-day seminar will be held onSaturday April 20th, 2013 at the Florence Filberg Centre Conference Hall in Courtenay, Vancouver Island, BC

The speakers will be Glenn Wright and Lesley Anderson, both from Ottawa.

Schedule of Events

8:00 to 8:30 Registration

8:35 to 8:45 Welcome and Introductions

8:45 to 9:35 Seminar #1: Treasures in the Parish Chest

9:45 to 10:35 Seminar #2: They Came by Ship ... Finding Immigrant Ancestors Before 1865

10:55 to 11:45 Seminar #3: Archives Revealed… Using Archival Resources, Online and On Site

11:45 to 12:45 Lunch

12:45 to 1:35 Seminar #4: Online Books ... Where to Find Them, How to Use Them

1:45 to 2:35 Seminar #5: Wills and Probate

2:55 to 3:45 Seminar #6: Getting Here From There – Immigration Records on Ancestry and Elsewhere 1865 - 1965

3:45 to ---- Open Q&A

The BC Genealogy Society will have a display table with genealogy books and supplies for sale – payment by cash, cheque, and VISA only.

Registration fee for the seminar, lunch, beverages, welcome package, and many door prizes:

CVFHRG members $65.00; non-members $75.00

Go to http://cvfhrgapr20seminar.eventbrite.ca

Star Spangled Genealogy

Drayton Valley Branch of the Alberta Genealogical Society Presents Star Spangled Genealogy on March 9th, 2013 from 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM. It will take place at the Campus Alberta Drayton Valley Norquest College, 5056 – 50th Avenue, Drayton Valley, Alberta

The presenters will be John Althouse, President Edmonton Branch AGS, and Les Campbell, President AGS.

Les Campbell will present two talks - U.S Vital Records, and US Land Records, while John Althouse will present two talks - US Census Records “Did the Ingalls family always live in Walnut Grove”, US Military Records, and if time permits - US Local Sources.

For more information, go to www.abgensoc.ca

Ancestry Update: Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1801-1928

Ancestry.ca has updated some of the images on their database - Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1801-1928.

Images are important because they are copies of original record and additional information may be found on them. So be sure to view the corresponding image, if there is one available.

If the ancestor you are researching does not have an original record yet, keep going back to the records to see if an image has been added. If the image has been added, more information is usually available in the images themselves than is found in an index.

For those who have yet to search these records, the database is a collection of approximately 3.2 million marriages recorded in Ontario, Canada between 1801 and 1928.

The records include -

•Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1928 (MS 932, Archives of Ontario)

•Division Registrar Vital Statistics Records, 1858-1918 (MS 940, Archives of  Ontario) [However, there are very few marriages in this record set.]

•Marriage License Books, 1907-1910 (MS 945, Archives of Ontario)

•Delayed Registrations of Marriages, 1892-1919 (MS 948, Archives of Ontario)

•District Marriage Registers, 1801-1858 (MS 248, Archives of Ontario)

•Roman Catholic Marriage Registers, 1828-1870 (MS 248, Archives of Ontario) Indexed by Genealogical Research Library (no images available)

•Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1919 (MS 932, Archives of Ontario), and County Marriage Registers, 1858-1869 (microfilm, Family History Library) (the FHL microfilm is of Archives of Ontario microfilm series MS 248, reels 5-18)

The records are at http://search.ancestry.ca/search/db.aspx?dbid=7921

Genealogy Day and AGM

The Lanark County Genealogical Society will hold a Genealogical Day and AGM on Saturday, April 27, 2013 at the Beckwith Township Hall, 1702 9th Line Beckwith, Blacks Corners, Ontario.

Join us at the Beckwith Township Hall, located at the corner of Highway 15 and Beckwith Concession 9. Free parking is available in the adjoining lot. Entrance is off Concession 9. The marketplace will include local heritage organizations.

Schedule:

9:30 – 10:00 Check-in. Coffee and tea will be available on arrival

10:00 – 11:00 The First Nations and Lanark County, Speaker David Murdoch, LCGS

11:00 – 11:30 Break

11:30 – 12:30 Region VIII Annual General Meeting

(Note: The AGM is open to all current and prospective members of OGS Region VIII whether registered for Genealogy Day or not; only paid up members are allowed to vote)

12:30 – 2:00 Lunch. Time to browse the book tables and displays presented by OGS branches, local genealogical/historical organizations and others.

2:00 – 3:00 The Forgotten Hero, Col. Alexander Fraser, Authors Irene Spence and Ron Shaw, LCGS

3:00 – 3:30 Break

3:30 – 4:30 Memory Trust – A panel of Lanark County “Old Timers”

Pre-registration: $25 including lunch. Deadline for Pre-registration is April 17, 2013

Registration at the door $15 (DOES NOT INCLUDE LUNCH)

Please make cheques payable to “Lanark County Genealogical Society”

Please mark your cheque/envelope “OGS Region VIII - Pre-registration” and send to Frances Rathwell, LCGS Treasurer, 68 Beckwith Street, Perth, Ontario K7H 1C1

For further information please contact Frances Rathwell at frathwell@cogeco.ca or phone 613-267-3178

The website is at www.globalgenealogy.com/LCGS

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

FamilySearch Update: Canada, Merchant Marine Agreements and Accounts of Crews, 1890-1920

FamilySearch has updated the Canadian Merchant Marine Agreements and Accounts of Crews, 1890-1920 with 23,381added images.

As they say in their description, “This collection covers ports in British Columbia (primarily Victoria). Some records are from ports in Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and a few foreign ports. The documents are organized by ship and include, among other information, the signatures of crew members, their ages and birthplaces. Each box includes a general inventory of its contents listing box and file numbers, date, ship name, location and owner. The original records are in possession of the British Columbia Archives in Victoria”.

In the records, they may have the following information -

■ Full name of crew member

■ Year of birth

■ Place of birth

■ Name of ship where the crew member last served in

■ Date and place of agreement

■ Date, place, cause of death

■ Name of ship

To go to the records, go to https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Canada,_Merchant_Marine_Agreements_and_Accounts_of_Crews_(FamilySearch_Historical_Records)