New/Updated Canadian Websites, Blogs, Facebook, and Newspaper Articles – 08 April 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

Marianne Perry www.marianneperry.ca Family history was the fuel that pushed Marianne to write a novel called The Inheritance. She said she had always wanted to write “ about family dynamics and genealogical research helped me develop realistic characters confronting relevant issues in an authentic setting for my book”. Her family was from Palermo, Sicily, and they came to Canada in the early 1900s.

Blog

Marianne Perry Blog www.marianneperry.ca/blog Marianne also has a blog where she talks about genealogy, and travel.

Facebook - Video – You Tube

There is an interview on YouTube with the Chief Operating Officer Yuval Ben-Galim of MyHeritage which was conducted be James Tanner at RootsTech 2013.
http://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/2013/04/i-got-so-busy-at-rootstech-2013-that-i.html They discuss the new programs that MyHeritage has announced at RootsTeck 2013.

Newspaper Articles

Photography project preserves Prairie relics, religious history http://cupwire.ca/articles/54877 Canadian University Press reports that people are putting more than a 1,000 rural Ukrainian and Russian Orthodox Churches in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba online.

Led by history professor John-Paul Himka, historian Frances Swyripa and ethnographer Natalie Kononenko, the project has been named Sanctuary.

City eyeing new heritage preservation areas www.royalcityrecord.com/City+eyeing+heritage+preservation+areas/8187396/story.html The City of New Westminster is thinking about turning parts of the old city into heritage conservation areas.

The area being considered are the Bent Court (uptown), Ash/Gloucester (Brow of the Hill), Wood Street (Queensborough) and Manitoba/Peele Street (Queen's Park) neighbourhoods.

Bayview Secondary presents first history symposium: Richmond Hill students' research projects on display www.yorkregion.com/community-story/2519013-bayview-secondary-presents-first-history-symposium
Last Thursday, Grade 12 International Baccalaureate (IB) students at Bayview Secondary School held their first-ever history symposium to display their months-long research projects on Canadian history.

Canada to Lead the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/03/05/holocaust-canada-alliance_n_2811138.html The newspaper reports that Canada is the Chair of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).
As the Chair, Canada is committed to an ambitious campaign to raise Holocaust awareness and fight anti-semitism at home and abroad. Canada will host a major IHRA conference in October in Toronto.

A Brief History of Canada and the Holocaust
www.cic.gc.ca/english/multiculturalism/holocaust.asp?utm_source=slash-holocaust&utm_medium=short-url&utm_campaign=generic
Pictures and Story of the Week

The Library and Archives Canada says that the earliest Scots began arriving to Canada as early as the early seventeenth century. Sir William Alexander obtained permission from King James I to establish a Scottish settlement in 1622 named New Scotland or Nova Scotia.

As the third-largest ethnic group in Canada, there is a website called Clans And Scottish Societies Of Canada at http://www.cassoc.ca.

There are over 30 clans, societies, and festivals in Canada, and they list the members, and the events that are being held each year.

And the Herald Scotland newspaper reported that 8000 ran through Central Park in New York as US and Canada mark Tartan Day (April 6th). The story is in the Herald Scotland at www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/8000-run-through-central-park-as-us-canada-mark-tartan-day.1365271285

One of the places in Canada that I always check for my Scottish ancestors is Electric Scotland at http://www.electricscotland.com. There is everything Scottish at this site from history, tartans, clans and families, and much, much more.

Look for more articles next Monday April 15th.

Canadian Newspaper Articles Every Monday

Don’t forget to check my blog every Monday morning for my New/Updated Canadian Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles.

This week Marianne Perry, a writer from Canada who has written a book about her grandparents from Sicily has a new website and blog, MyHeritage is interviewed at RootsTech 2013, five newspaper articles, including the news that Canada is the Chair of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, and will host a conference this fall in Toronto.

So don’t miss the New/Updated Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles blog on Monday, April 8th.

It has been a regular blog every Monday since April 23, 2012.

Elizabeth

B.C. Government Salutes Heritage Projects

Government funding will support a heritage project in Quesnel and surrounding area, said Pat Bell, MLA Prince George-MacKenzie, on behalf of the Minister for Community, Sport and Cultural Development, Bill Bennett.

The Quesnel and District Museum and Archives, plus the much-loved annual Billy Barker Days Festival, will benefit from $105,000 in B.C. government grants, for projects including -

• To help fund the 40th annual celebration of the history of the Cariboo Gold Rush - Billy Barker Days, July 18 - 21, 2013 - $25,000.

• To help preserve the archives at the Quesnel and District Museum - $5,000.

Mary Sjostrom, the mayor of Quesnel, says, "On behalf of Quesnel City Council and the Cariboo Regional District, I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to Minister Bennett and the Province of British Columbia for this generous donation. This contribution is significant in that the funds will assist in the safety and longevity of existing assets, historic preservation and the celebration of events and Quesnel is grateful to be recognized."

In their archives, they have a Reference Library and Research Files on families, oral history files, maps, and newspapers including The Advocate 1994-1998, Ashcroft Journal 1895-1906, The Cariboo Observer 1908-present, The Cariboo Sentinel 1865-1875, The Quesnel Advertiser / Northern Pictorial 1953-1960, The Quesnel Advisor 2002-2010, and The Quesnel Nugget 1980-1982.

To find out more about The Quesnel and District Museum and Archives, visit their website at www.quesnelmuseum.ca

For more information about Billy Barker Days, drop by
www.hellobc.com/servicefelisting/4556563/billy-barker-days-festival.aspx

To find out more about Barkerville, go to www.barkerville.ca

April 6th - Tartan Day in Canada

 

The Maple Leaf Tartan was created in 1964 by David Weiser in anticipation of the 100th anniversary of Canada's confederation in 1967.

The colours represents the changing seasons of the maple leaf as the pattern incorporates “the green of the leaves' summer foliage, the gold which first appears in the early autumn, the red which appears with the coming of the first frost, and the brown tones of the fallen leaves. The design proved to be very popular throughout Canada”.

The Maple Leaf Tartan was made an official national symbol by ministerial declaration on March 9th, 2011.

Comox Valley Family History Research Group Presents All-Day Seminar

The Comox Valley Family History Research Group will hold its all-day seminar on Saturday 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.

Some topics to be covered will be They Came by Ship ... Finding Immigrant Ancestors Before 1865, and Getting Here From There – Immigration Records on Ancestry and Elsewhere 1865 – 1965.

The registration fee for CVFHRG members is $65.00; non-members $75.00. Registration cut-off is 15 April 2013

You may go to www.cvfamilyhistory.org/seminars.html

LAC Opens Displays in Two Cities in Canada

Library and Archives Canada continues to display the richness and diversity of its collections with the opening of two exhibitions, one in Saskatchewan at the Mendel Art Gallery, and the other in Quebec at the the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau.

In Saskatchewan, the Mendel Art Gallery in Saskatoon is hosting the I Know You by Heart: Portrait Miniatures exhibition until June 2, 2013. The exhibition highlights the intimate, personal nature of portrait miniatures, and the reasons that such images are commissioned and created.

In Quebec, the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau is presenting the exhibition Double Take: Portraits of Intriguing Canadians until October 14, 2013. Discover portraits of Canadians who have left—and are still leaving—their mark on our country and our culture. .

By presenting exhibitions such as these, Library and Archives Canada is able to make original works of documentary heritage accessible in galleries, museums and other community venues to Canadians across the country.

You can listen to the podcast overview of the featured works and the stories behind them at  www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/news/podcasts/Pages/double-take.aspx

FamilySearch UPDATE: The Canada Wiki

I just heard from Lisa who is a consultant at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City for the work on the Canada Wiki pages, and she has asked for our assistance

She says that “We are starting to post tasks on the FamilySearch Wiki to help us get the Ontario pages ready for a major renovation. If anyone would like to do some wiki reading and editing on the project they can find tasks at www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/FamilySearch_Wiki:WikiProject_Ontario

This project is in the beginning stages, but we hope to make the FamiliySearch Wiki a valuable place to find resource and record help for Ontario genealogists. As we finish Ontario we will move on to complete the same tasks in other provinces of Canada”.

So if you can help in any way, you can email Lisa at mcbridelw@familysearch.org

If you are already helping to read, write or edit Canadian Wiki Project pages at FamilySearch, let me know, so that I and the readers of this blog can recognize your good work.

Nassagaweya History Day, Campbellville, Ontario

The Nasagiweya Historical Society tells us that a day which focuses on Nassagaweya Township history and families, photo and local history exhibits will be held on Saturday April 6th from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm.

There will also be a book launch for the new book Death Notices and Obituaries of Nassagaweya compiled by Joy Simpson.

The event will be held at the Nassagaweya Tennis Centre & Community Hall, Guelph Line/401, Campbellville, Ontario, and there will be free admission, and refreshments available.

You can either call Audrey Allison at 519.837.9288, or click on the website at www.nasagiweyahistoricalsociety.com/id9.html

Genealogy Resources Class at Oakville Public Library, Oakville, Ontario

The OPL is offering two classes in genealogy, and they are -

Ancestry Library Edition

Interested in researching your family roots?

This hands-on workshop will introduce you to Ancestry Library Edition and other library resources that will help you get started.

Tuesday, April 9 from 10:00am – 11:30am

Cost: Free

Genealogy Online

Feeling overwhelmed trying to sift through all of the genealogical information available on the web? This hands-on workshop shows you the best websites to use when researching your family history.

Cost: $5.65 to attend the class.

Thursday, May 16 from 10:00am – 11:00am

To register, go to www.opl.on.ca/blog/type/genealogy

Oxford County Ontario Cemeteries

Dave Cooper maintains the Oxford County Genweb page.

This cemetery webpage consists of more than 100,000 headstone photographs, maps and information of all 102 cemeteries found in the townships of the County of Oxford.

If you wish to add information to the headstone photograph site, feel free to email him anytime at oxfcem@bell.net

The Oxford County Ontario Cemeteries Webpage is at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~dcoop

Breaking the Silence: British Home Children in Canada

For immediate release

April 3, 2013

Breaking the Silence: British Home Children in Canada

Ottawa-Over 120,000 children came to Canada as domestic servants and agricultural labourers from the British Isles between the 1860’s and the 1940’s. Only now are many Canadians learning that a family member was a Home Child.

The Ottawa Public Library in partnership with Ontario East Home Child Family and the British Home Child Advocacy & Research Association will present information and provide assistance in finding their stories.

Date: Saturday, April 6, 2013

Time: 1:00-4:30 p.m.

Location: Main Library, 120 Metcalfe Street, Mezzanine and Auditorium

For more information, visit www.BiblioOttawaLibrary.ca or contact InfoService at 613-580-2940 or InfoService@BiblioOttawaLibrary.ca.

This program is free and registration is not required.

Ontario GenWeb UPDATE: Cemeteries

The following cemeteries have been updated on March 16, 2013 -

Brant County

- Farringdon Cemetery

- Harley Cemetery

- Mount Hope Cemetery

- St Abner's / Landon / Dickie's Corners Cemetery

Elgin County:

- St Thomas Cemetery

Essex County:

- St Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery

Hastings County

- Mount Pleasant United Church Cemetery

Huron County

- Dungannon Cemetery Company

- Greenhill Cemetery

Leeds County

- Abandoned (Quaker) Cemetery

- Blanchard Cemetery

- Fulford Cemetery

- Greenbush / Smith's Cemetery

- Hanton Cemetery

- Holmes Cemetery

- Horton Cemetery

- Jelly Farm Cemetery

- Johns(t)on Cemetery

- Kincaid's Corners / Wiltse Pioneer Cemetery

Lincoln County

- St Anne's Church Cemetery

Middlesex County

- Strathroy Cemetery

- Woodland Cemetery

Northumberland County

- Centre Cemetery

- English Line / Tabernacle United Cemetery

Simcoe County

- Rich Hill United Church Cemetery

York County

- Hartman Cemetery

Anne Chamberlain, Deb Belcher, Alison Mitchell-Reid, Jim Anderson, Lorna Eggert, Marilyn Whiting, Sharon Mattiuz, and Tom Thompson shpuld be thanked for the indexing, and thanks should be given to Anne Chamberlain, Nancy Ross-Hill & Kevin Ross, Georgia Kovalik, Brian Smith, Joanne Bushell, Norma Falconer, W. Blanchard, Carol Ann Best, Dorcas Aunger, Sharon Burkhard, Sharon Mattiuz, John De Lange, Art Currie, and Ken Stephenson for photos of the cementeries.

Go to http://canadacems.blogspot.com/2013/03/ontario-update_16.html

Glace Bay Heritage Museum Society

The Old Town Hall of the Glace Bay Heritage Museum needs your help.

The Old Town Hall will mark its 110th anniversary this year, and the society will be starting phase three of the restoration project — the basement.

The foundation has seriously deteriorated resulting in mould, mildew and bad air quality, and the restoration will be cost nearly $400,000 to fix the foundation.

You may telephone the Old Town Hall at 842-5345 or send a donation to The Glace Bay Heritage Museum Society, PO Box 580, Glace Bay, N.S. B1A 6G4

Or you can go to the website, click http://home.seaside.ns.ca/~gbhms/gift.html

Ancestry.ca UPDATE: Free Access

The publicity department of Ancestry.ca has sent me the news that they will be offering FREE access to their collection of First World War historical records from April 9th to 12th.

This is in recognition of Canada's part in the defeat of the enemy in the Battle of Vimy which was highlighted by me in yesterday's post entitled Pictures and Story of the Week: The Battle of Vimy Ridge at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2013/04/newupdated-canadian-websites-blogs.html

Ancestry.ca UPDATE: Scottish Immigration in the USA and Canada, 1825-1875

Ancestry.ca has put on the database of the David Dobson book Scots in the USA and Canada. 1825-1875.

It records details about Scottish immigrants who came to the U.S. and Canada during the mid- to later-19th century. The information is taken mainly from newspaper accounts, as well as archival documents such as passenger records.

The database may include the following:

•name

•year or date of birth

•place of birth or residence

•father’s name

•spouse’s name

•year or date of death

•place of death

•occupation

There people were skilled workers who were educated, and many of them came from urban industrial backgrounds. They was a great demand for them in the rapidly industrializing cities of North America.

Go to http://search.ancestry.ca/search/db.aspx?dbid=4907

New/Updated CANADIAN Websites, Blogs, Facebook, and Newspaper Articles - 01 April 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

There were no new/improved websites this past week.

Blogs

ActiveHistory.ca (History Matters) http://activehistory.ca This is a blog that has the latest news about people and places in Canadian history.

The Armchair Genealogist, Lynn Palermo, www.thearmchairgenealogist.com, has written an e-book called The Complete Guide to The Family History Interview, and she talks about it in a post entitled, “The Timid Family Historian”. This free e-book is available as a download on her site.

Facebook - Video – YouTube

Jill Ball, a genealogist from Australia, has over a dozen YouTube interviews with “the movers and shakers” at the RootsTech 2013 conference, including oneinterview with Dennis Brimhall, CEO of FamilySearch, at http://geniaus.blogspot.no/2013/03/what-opportunity.html

You can view my own blog posting of Jill’s interviews at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2013/03/jill-ball-and-dennis-brimhall-of.html

Newspaper Articles

A $50,000 project would create a virtual museum to preserve Saskatchewan military history.

The Regina Leader Post reports that the Honourable Kevin Doherty, Saskatchewan’s Minister of Parks, Culture and Sport, wants to create a "virtual" museum that preserves oral history - specifically, the recollections of Saskatchewanians who have served in Canada's military.
www.leaderpost.com/news/military+history+project/8135684/story.html

Grand Pré Renovation Wins Award www.novanewsnow.com/Living/Community/2013-03-23/article-3205318/Grand-Pre-renovation-wins-award/1The owners of the Rayski House in Grand Pré were recently declared winners in preserving Nova Scotia’s built heritage by Heritage Trust of Nova Scotia.

Editorial: Ottawa's muzzling of librarians' free speech is intolerable www.calgaryherald.com/opinion/editorials/Editorial+Ottawa+muzzling+librarians+free+speech+intolerable/8146848/story.html

Ottawa's deliberate muzzling of federal librarians and archivists—a move which comes complete with a new code of conduct, jargon about "high-risk" activities, threats of discipline, and a hotline to rat out miscreants—is truly chilling.

AND

To go along with this is a post called “The Library and Archives Canada 2013-2014 Report on Plans and Priorities” on John D. Reid’s blog, Anglo–Celtic Connections, http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com/2013/03/lac-rpp-2013-14.html.

Take note of his last sentence on the subject – “For the same period, they target 60% of clients being able to find what they are looking for online. As less than 1% of LAC material is online, that seems like a hugely ambitious target”.

Tracing your family tree: Websites open doors to the stories of our ancestors

Valerie Gibson of Ottawa tells of a story of how her direct ancestors – John and Jane German – died in a rowboat accident in the Hay Bay area near Napanee, Ontario, on their way to a Methodist revival meeting. www.ottawacitizen.com/life/Tracing+your+family+tree/8165562/story.html#ixzz2OvxGTKP7

On another similar note, I just finished editing a paper for the May 2013 edition of the Ontario Genealogical Society’s journal, Families, concerning the Bible Christian Connexion, which was founded in 1815 as an evangelical sect of the Methodist Church.

Pictures and Story of the Week

The Battle of Vimy Ridge

On April 9th, Canadians will commemorate the 96^th anniversary of Vimy Ridge, one of the battles in which Canadians gave of their lives for their country.

There will be many ceremonies that will take place across the country, and overseas in France. Visit http://veterans.gc.ca/eng/feature/vimy-ridge to get a history of the battle, and what it meant to Canada.

Vimy Ridge wall carvings focus of presentation at Eldon House in London, Ontario on April 7^th www.londoncommunitynews.com/whatson-story/2515373-vimy-ridge-wall-carvings-focus-of-presentation-at-eldon-house-april-7

Zenon Andrusyszyn, founder of the Canadian Historical Documentation & Imaging Group (CANADIGM), will provide digital documentation of WWI carvings near Vimy Ridge.

As of this posting, there were only 15 (free) tickets remaining. To register, go to http://vimytunnels.eventbrite.ca/#.

Look for more articles next Monday, April 8^th.

CANADIAN Newspaper Articles Every Monday Morning

Don’t forget to check my blog every Monday morning for my New/Updated CANADIAN Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles.

This week I have put Pictures and Story of the Week on the 96th Anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, story of a couple who were on their way to a Methodist revival meeting and died in a boating accident, and a Canadian blogger, Lynn Palermo, who has written and published a FREE e-book on writing family history.

So don’t miss the New/Updated Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles blog on Monday April 1st.

It has been a regular blog since April 23rd, 2012.

Elizabeth

Happy Easter!

Spring is starting to remove all of the snow we had this winter, it is starting to turn warmer, and the genealogical conference season is starting again in Canada. Is there any better time than Spring?

May you have a lovely day, and may all of our thoughts turn to great times as we meet old friends at meeting and conferences, and discover new records over the coming months!