Ancestry.ca Offers FREE Access to French-Canadian Records

Ancestry.ca is offering FREE access to more than 14.5 million records of millions of people in Quebec, and France, and they will be available free from April 17-22.

Among the free collections is the Drouin database. This database spans 346 years from 1621 to 1967,  and includes  37 million names in baptism, marriage and burial records, plus a summary of church records from Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and various New England states.

The free access also includes the Tanguay collection. This large, seven-volume collection was published by the French-Canadian priest and genealogist Father Cyprien Tanguay from 1871 to 1890.

The collection includes Quebec, the Maritimes, Ontario and old French settlements in the United States and France. Tanguay traced ancestors of many early French-Canadian colonists back to Normandy, and other parts of France.

Entries in this collection details family pedigrees with baptism, marriage, and burial dates, and places.

Go to http://www.ancestry.ca/

Genealogy Association of Nova Scotia Events

This note comes to us from GANS - 

"Since we don't have a monthly lecture planned for April, we've been busy
planning a number of other ventures that will take us out into the community.

Tomorrow, Bob Davison, VP; Dawn Josey, Membership and Correspondence Secretary
and I will be attending the Kings County Genealogy and Family History
Committee meeting at the Kings County Museum in Kentville at 1:30 pm to
promote the August 25 30th Anniversary event.

As well, we will be at the West Hants Historical Society monthly meeting in
Windsor at 7:30 tomorrow night.  We will again provide information about the
30th Anniversary event and Dawn Josey will be giving her "Research to Artwork"
presentation.  If you missed Dawn's presentation in January, come and join us
tomorrow night.  Here is a little bit about the presentation and Dawn:

  Dawn Josey, a visual artist, has taken her family research from paper to
works of art telling the story for generations to come. Come hear how your
story can be told visually.

  Dawn Josey is a mixed media artist living in Enfield, Nova Scotia. For 17
years she practiced Biomedical photography first in Life Science then Biology
at Dalhousie University. She is an elected member of the Society of Canadian
Artists and a board member of Visual Arts Nova Scotia who exhibits her work in
group and solo shows throughout the province. She is currently continuing
studies at NSCAD.

On Saturday, April 14 and Sunday, April 15, GANS will have a table at the
Shearwater Spring Hobby Show held at the Aviation Museum in Shearwater outside
of Dartmouth.  You'll be able to purchase our publications, register for the
30th Anniversary event or pick up some handouts.  We could use some help
during those two days.  The show is open from 10:00 to 4:00 both days.  So
far, four members of the executive have volunteered, but it would be nice to
have at least two people at the table at all times.  If you'd like to spend a
half day with one of us, it would help us immensely.  Send me a quick email
and let me know which half day you are available. As a bonus, the company is
pretty good too! :)

If you can't help out, please consider coming to the show - drop by to
introduce yourself and say hello.  The show is wonderful entertainment and at
$3.00 per person/$10 per family, is an excellent bargain.  Proceeds are
donated to the Aviation Museum."

Hope to see you at any or all of the above events!

Regards,

Pamela Wile
Programme Convener
https://www.facebook.com/NovaScotiaAncestors

Ancestry.com Has Canadian Titanic Records

As a lead in to the 100th Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic on April 15th, Ancestry.com has added more than 200,000 records to the collection at www.ancestry.com.

Among the records are two collections from Nova Scotia, and they are – headstone photographs of 121 victims buried at Fairview Cemetery in Halifax, N.S. and coroner inquest files and 330 records about bodies that were recovered from the wreck The collection includes the vessel's passenger list of the Titanic, information about crew members, and coroner files, and records about recovered bodies. Access to the records is FREE until May 31.

95th Anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge

One just has to say "Vimy Ridge" to any Canadian, and we think of the sacrifices that our fellow countrymen have made in the First World War. And this year. Major Arthur William Currie, grandson of  famed Canadian commander, General Arthur Currie, will lead Ottawa-area cadets on a pilgrimage to Vimy Ridge.

The cadets are from the Ottawa unit of the Royal Canadian Dragoons Cadet Corps, and they will see Vimy Ridge today. They will participate in a Remembrance Ceremony organized by the government.

To find out more about the Memorial, please visit http://veterans.gc.ca/eng/feature/vimy-ridge/history.

To learn more about Vimy Ridge, visit the following websites –

Canadian National Vimy Memorial Stone Display www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/memorials/cbmr/wall_stone_display See if your ancestor is on the Memorial.

Canadian War Museum www.warmuseum.ca/home See the events and displays at the museum on Vimy Day.

If you want to find out more about your ancestor in the First World War, Glenn Wright has written an excellent book, Canadians at War 1914-1919: A Research Guide to World War One Service Records. I have used this book many times to help me answer the questions that my clients have about their ancestors in the First World War.

It is available from Global Genealogy at http://globalgenealogy.com/countries/canada/military/resources/101160.htm

Richmond Hill Public Library

Richmond Hill Public Library located at the corner of Yonge Street, and Major Mackenzie Drive has a genealogy library on the library’s fourth floor (now known as the Mary-Lou Griffin Room) to house information about Richmond Hill.

They have had public lectures during the winter/spring season called "Finding Our Roots Online", and they have two sessions left -

Googling for Genealogy: How to Take Advantage of all Google has to Offer


Saturday, April 28, 2012, 10:30 - 11:30 AM

Most genealogists know that Google is a good place to start to find family information on the Internet but many don’t know how to get the best results from this search engine nor do they take full advantage of everything else Google has to offer. Author, librarian and genealogist Marian Press will guide you through Google alerts, image searching, Google Maps, Google Books, Google News Archives, Google Blogs, Google translation tools and more

Using Ancestry Library Edition to Find Your Family

Saturday, May 26, 2012, 10:30 - 11:30 AM

Working with the databases and creating a family tree online can make it easy to keep track of your family. We all know Ancestry has the Ontario births, marriages and deaths and some of the census returns but what else is available to help us find our family? Join author, historian and genealogist Ruth Burkholder and find out

Tickets for each program is $5.00 per person.

Interested people are asked to pre-register at the Central Library’s Full Service Desk

The website is at http://www.rhpl.richmondhill.on.ca/

OGS Receives Trillium Grant for Phase 2 of Digitization Project

The Ontario Genealogical Society is pleased to announce that we have been granted funding by the Ontario Trillium Foundation to begin Phase 2 of our Keeping and Valuing Ontario’s Heritage Project. The funding consists of $156,000 over two years and will allow us to continue to assist Ontario heritage organization in scanning their materials and making them available to researchers.

 Phase 1 began in Fall 2008 with the aim to do the following:

• provide a digitized version of one-of-a-kind records, increasing security
• allow small organizations access to digitizing services they otherwise could not afford
• increase access to records significant to Ontario's heritage
• allow an income stream to heritage organizations if they wish

Since then we have successfully joined with several Ontario heritage organizations to digitize their records and make them available online through a revenue generating program. We have launched a beta version of The Ontario Name Index (TONI) as the main access point to the Pay-Per-View database. The information available through Pay-Per-View allows access to the history of the people of this province.

Phase 2 seeks to continue to support the preservation of Ontario heritage materials through digitization by adding to the data available on this system and expanding our affiliations to include new heritage organizations. 

We will improve and expand on TONI while creating new indexing systems where necessary.

We will also create and launch a more user friendly search interface for TONI and Pay- Per-View to ensure that researchers can find and access their information with ease.

OGS gratefully acknowledges the Ontario Trillium Foundation for their strong support of this project and appreciates their ongoing efforts to support the growth and vitality of communities across the province of Ontario.


To go to the website of the Ontario Genealogical Society, click on www.ogs.on.ca

Sable Island Will Be a National Park Reserve

Sable Island was passed from the Canadian Coast Guard to Parks Canada this week, and the sandbar where so many ships went down (shipwrecked), and lives were lost, will be recognized as a National Park Reserve.

Over the recent years, more requests have been made by people wishing to visit the island, and it was believed that Parks Canada was best equipped to answer these requests.

The Honourable Peter Kent, Canada’s Minister of the Environment and Minister responsible for Parks Canada, the Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of National Defence and Regional Minister for Nova Scotia, and the Honourable Darrell Dexter, Premier of Nova Scotia, signed a landmark agreement in 2011.

“Today’s historic agreement will ensure that this iconic and valued Canadian landscape fabled for its wild horses, shipwrecks and one of the largest dune systems in Eastern Canada, will be protected as a national park reserve.

Located 290 kilometres offshore from Halifax, Sable Island is a windswept crescent-shaped sandbar 42 kilometres long that emerges from the Atlantic Ocean near the edge of the Continental Shelf. The island’s sand dunes and fresh water ponds are home to over 400 wild horses and numerous migrant and breeding birds, including the rare Ipswich Savannah sparrow", said Minister Kent in the press release.

Called the "Graveyard of the Atlantic”, there were over 350 shipwrecks recorded here since 1583 due to the fog and storms that beset the island from time to time.

Branches, Twigs, and Roots Newsletter

I received my first issue of the newsletter Branches, Twigs, and Roots this week.

Sue has an interesting topic this month in her newsletter, and it’s about how doing genealogy in different cultures can lead to brick walls.

She gives an account of a query she received by a reader in which she was asked to help find Edward Mayo/Maheux and his wife Ann Toose of Quebec. Were they of different cultures - or are they from the same culture? Is Edward French? Is he Irish? Are there any clues in their surnames?
Read about her case study, and what she has to say about taking culture into account in working through the problem.

To subscribe to the newsletter, go to http://www.familyhistoryalive.com/.

While you are there, look at the various topics which she has included to help you in your researh.

Researching Family History in Vermont (Free Lecture)

The lecture will be held on Saturday, April 14, 2012 at 10:30 a.m. at Briarwood Presbyterian Church Hall, 70 Beaconsfield Blvd, Beaconsfield (Montreal) QC, H9W 3Z3.

The leacture will be given by Ed Maquire, President of the Vermont French-Canadian Genealogy Society.

Ed Maquire will discuss the long history shared by Quebec and Vermont. In the 1860s, about almost half of Vermont’s residents were French-Canadian, and many from Lower Canada in the Eastern Townships.

They were living close to the US border, and many married in Vermont. Mr. Maguire will talk about the type of records available, such as church, immigration, naturalization, court, and military records, and explain where to find them.

Members and guests are welcome to join us!

Visit http://www.qfhs.com/

Postscript: I will have a new booklet entitled French-Canadian in Canada/Franco-Americans in the United States available in June of this year.

Watch this blog for the date the booklet will be available.

Genealogy Courses in Toronto

Gwyneth Pearce of the Toronto Branch of the OGS has just written to GenealogyCanada to tell us that the previously scheduled March/April course, "Going Back to Basics – A Refresher", has been cancelled due to low enrolment.

In addition, their course on "Exploring the Baldwin Room’s Manuscript Collection", which was to be offered in March, has been postponed (new date TBA) due to the Toronto library strike.

The following are courses which are still offered by the Branch. They are -

DATE: 5-19 Apr 2012: 3 sessions, Thursdays (5:30-7:30 p.m.)
COURSE: Toronto Branch OGS
LOCATION: Archives of Ontario, 134 Ian MacDonald Blvd., Toronto
TITLE OF COURSE: "Hands-On Ontario Estate Records"
NAME OF INSTRUCTOR: Jane E. MacNamara
BRIEF INFO: Participants will follow assigned case histories to learn hands-on at the Archives of Ontario how to find estate files and land registry records. Basic course or equivalent experience is a pre-requisite. This course is now FULL.

DATE: 18-25 Apr, 2-9 May 2012: 4 sessions, Wednesdays (6:15-8:15 p.m.)
COURSE: Toronto Branch OGS
LOCATION: Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge Street, Toronto
TITLE OF COURSE: "Advanced English Family History"
NAME OF INSTRUCTOR: James F.S. Thomson & Joan Read
BRIEF INFO: This advanced course will focus on the 1700-1837 period – topics will include finding vital events, researching a parish, population listings, inheritance records, poor relief, apprenticeship records and land tenancy records.

DATE: 28 Apr 2012: Saturday (9:00-4:00 p.m.)
COURSE: Toronto Branch OGS
LOCATION: North York Central Library, 5120 Yonge Street, Toronto
TITLE OF COURSE: "A Day of Technology for Family Historians"
NAME OF INSTRUCTOR: Carol Nichols
BRIEF INFO: Learn how to harness the power of technology in your genealogy – find out how technology can assist family historians in finding and organizing information, and in editing and sharing photographs and other images.
CONTACT INFO: www.torontofamilyhistory.org/

The following is the monthly meeting -

DATE: 23 April 2012 (7:30 p.m.)
MEETING: Toronto Branch OGS
LOCATION: Burgundy Room, North York Memorial Community Hall, 5110 Yonge Street, Toronto
TITLE OF TALK: “Women, Bicycles and Animals: Humanizing the First World War”
NAME OF SPEAKER: Melissa Ellis
BRIEF INFO: A look at some databases of women's involvement in the war effort and the bicycle corps' work in reconnaissance gathering. Additional short presentation by Elayne Lockhart: “My DNA – the Genealogical Gift That Keeps on Giving”. $5 charge for non-members of OGS.

For more information, go to http://www.torontofamilyhistory.org/

BIFHSGO's Anglo-Celtic Roots - Spring 2012

The Spring 2012 edition of the newly-revamped Anglo-Celtic Roots has just been received, and the new format lends itself very well to the writings of the members of BIFHSGO.

Under the title of "Family History Research" are four articles - Perhaps Love: A Postcard from the First World War; Little Girl Lost – and Found; The Yacht Armide; and Eleanor, Ellen and Francis.

In "Techniques and Resources" are the articles The Cream of the Crop, and The Bookroom.

There is the "BIFHSGO News" section in which they have put the Notice of Annual Meeting and Minutes of 2011 AGM; Website Access; Great Moments: June Meeting; and the Membership Report.

Anglo-Celtic Roots is published four times a year; this is in addition to an electronic newsletter issued once a month via email.

Over 20 informative and interesting articles have been reprinted and made available online as "Classic Articles" at www.bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=33, while past issues are available in the "Members Only" section at http://bifhsgo.ca/members.php.

Marilyn Adams Genealogical Research Centre

The Marilyn Adams Genealogical Research Centre (MAGRC) is located in the Ameliasburgh Ward of the City of Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada. The area was settled by the United Empire Loyalists in 1784

Some of the records that they have are -

Hastings County Land Records for about 100 years prior to 1955

Tudor & Cashel Township Records, dating back to 1852

The Klein research on the Tripps' of the Bay of Quinte

Women's Institute Tweedsmuir histories, minute books, and other records

Douglas Crawford canning factory papers

Hessian Research of Johannes (John) Helmut Merz

Heal Research Papers and Records

There are also two databeses online – the Names Database with 1,426 names that you can check, and the Heal Database with 147, 760 names.

The site is at http://quinte-kin.com/magrc.htm

1921 Canadian Census

The 1921 Cenadian Census will be released to the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) on June 1st, 2013 from Statistics Canada. According to the legislation, 92 calendar years must have elapsed before the census is releaded to the LAC. The records will be transforred to the LAC, and it will opened for public use.

The LAC says that it is their intention to make the 1921 Canadian Census available to researchers online, in the same format as previous censuses, as soon as possible after that date.

Here are a few facts about the 1921 Canadian Census -

It was taken on June 1, 1921

It is the sixth comprehensive decennial census to be taken since the creation of the Dominion

There will be five schedules with a total of 565 questions

241 commissioners and 11,425 enumerators were employed

The most important growth of the population was in the prairie provinces with 47% since the 1911 Census

and

the overall population of Canada was 8,788,483 individuals.

If you would like to see the other census records, go to http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-911-e.html

Preparing for the OGS Conference

The Ontario Genealogical Conference to be held from June 1st to the 3rd in Kingston, Ontario will have a number of unique activites going on during the weekend.

Some of them are -

Ask a Pro - You’ll be able to sign up for one free session lasting 15 minutes with a professional genealogist, courtesy of members of the Ontario Chapter, Association of Professional Genealogists.

Research Around Kingston – Look at the page on the Kingston Area Research.  Do note that most of these repositories have valuable holdings but are quite small.

Go to http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference2012/kingston-facts, and see the many places to research in Kingston.

Research Room – See the separate page about this under “Program”. Sign up on arrival at the College for your hour of free research in genealogical databases for which you would normally have to pay.

The website is at http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference2012/research-room tells you what to expect in the Research Room.

Wall of Ancestors – Take advantage of this FREE research activity. Decide which facts you most want to learn about which ancestors, and make up 3×5″ cards ahead of time, to post on the Wall of Ancestors when you arrive.

You can go to http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference2012/ancestors ,and read what can be included on your card.

Go to http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference2012 to read about the Conference itself.

TONI and OGSPI Update

I have been using Ontario Genealogical Society's The Ontario Name Index (TONI), and the Ontario Genealogical Society Provincial Index (OGSPI) this week.

TONI is an index of every name in every publication relating to Ontario. The index points people to the location of the information about that name, and the location of the information may be a Branch (Chapter) document, a web site, a microfilm, a family history, an archive, etc.

It was started in May 2011, and you should check it often because they are putting on names to the index nearly everyday.

You can check out the index at http://www.ogs.on.ca/integrated/toni_database1.php

Also, don't forget the Ontario Genealogical Society Provincial Index (OGSPI).

There is 1,830,226 names on this index, and the project was started in 1997. It is located at http://www.ogs.on.ca/ogspi/welcome.htm on the Ontsario Genealogical Society.

As with any index, I always compare, and contrast the two indexes – TONI and OGSPI. Since TONI is a "work in progress", I always check it against the OGSPI to make sure that I have found all the information possible that has been put on the two indexes.

The Ship's Company of Penetanguishene

The Ship's Company of Penetanguishene is going to commerate the 200th Anniversary of the War of 1812 by building and sailing the HMS Lynx.

Work has continued on the HMS Lynch during the winter. The interior of the vessel is almost complete, including an innovative steering system running from a ship’s wheel to the outside of the stern.

They are planning to launch the HMS Lynx on Sunday June 10 at the Penetanguishene Town Dock. The vessel will then be very active this summer, participating in a range of War of 1812 Bicentennial and community events.


They are based out of Penetanguishene, Ontario on Southern Georgian Bay, in association with the Penetanguishene Centennial Museum.

To read about The Ship's Company, they have a very nice webpages full of history, and a calendar of events on http://www.shipscompany.ca/

BIFHSGO Special Meeting Event

On Monday April the 2nd there will be a Special Meeting Event from 7:00-9:30 pm at the Auditorium, Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa with English researcher Simon Fowler who will give two FREE lectures.

 Called "An Evening with Simon Fowler" he will give lectures on - Researching your Military Ancestors Online, and British Emigration Records.

Simon Fowler is one of Britain’s most experienced family history teachers, writers and researchers. He specializes in military family history, with a particular focus on the First World War, and is the author of numerous well-regarded research guides and articles. Simon worked on and off for The National Archives/Public Record Office at Kew for over thirty years and edited their family history magazine Ancestors. He also teaches online military history courses for Pharos Tutors.

Come and meet experienced researchers, enjoy some refreshments and listen to this noted family history expert give two FREE lectures. The BIFHSGO website is http://www.bifhsgo.ca/.

See you there!

Immigration to Canada

The following are FREE databases online from the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) which can be used to check the immigration of your ancestor to Canada. They are -

Immigrants at Grosse-Île http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/grosse-ile-immigration/index-e.htmlThis database includes information on 33,026 immigrants whose names appear in surviving records of the Grosse-Île Quarantine Station between 1832 and 1937.

Passenger Lists, 1865-1922 http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/passenger/index-e.html Passenger lists (RG 76) were the official immigration documents from 1865 to 1935.

Passenger Lists, 1865-1922 http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/passenger/001045-130-e.html The database provides access to 21,840 references to passenger lists held at LAC.

List of Head Tax Certificates Held at Library and Archives Canada http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-905.002.02-e.html It gives the person's name, plus particulars of the Head Tax.

Immigrants from China http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/chinese-immigrants/index-e.html It provides access to 98,361 references to Chinese immigrants who arrived in Canada between 1885 and 1949.

Port of New Westminster Register of Chinese Immigration http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/chinese-immigrants/index-e.html

Newfoundland Register of Arrivals and Outward Registrations
http://www.blogger.com/goog_1118683899

Home Children http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/home-children/index-e.html Between 1869 and the late 1930s, over 100,000 juvenile migrants were sent to Canada from Great Britain during the child emigration movement.

Montreal Emigrant Society Passage Book (1832) http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/mes/index-e.html  This research tool provides access to 1,945 references to people who received aid from the Montreal Emigrant Society between May 12 and November 5,1832.