British Home Children Newsletter

A brand new newsletter has just been added to the newsletters produced by Canadian genealogy organizations, and it is the BHC-SIG Newsletter. That is – the British Home Children Special Interest Group.

In the first issue of the newsletter there is an article about the S.S. Toronto, Dominion Line; an article on Mary Scott Pearson submitted by Beth Bruder; an article on William Thomson Robin by Margory Ronnin; an article on Percy Henry Smith by Shirley Sturdevant; My BHC Ancestors by Phil Ellis, and Part I: Thomas (George) Warner – A Barnardo Boy by Linda Hurtubise.

There is a message from the Chair Phil Ellis, and an article about the Flamborough Archives, and the work they have done on the Home Children from the town of Waterdown.

If you wish to join, the fee is $5.00 per year (in addition to the regular yearly ($60.00) and a half-yearly ($35.00) fee.

If you wish to join, go to the membership site at http://www.ogs.on.ca/membership/join.php, or contact Marsha at the OGS membership@ogs.on.ca to discuss it with her. Or you can go to the BHC-SIG site at http://www.ogs.on.ca/SIG-BHC/index.htm

New/Improved Canadian Websites and Blogs - Week 1

A weekly listing of some of the Canadian websites and blogs that I have come across the week ending Sept 4th, 2011.

The Oram Family Tree http://oramtree.sumgen.com — This Oram family is thought to have originated in Wiltshire, UK. Some members have appeared to have gone to Canada.

The New Auty Genealogy Site http://www.autygenealogy.org — AUTY, AWTY, AUTIE, AUTTIE, AUTEY, AUTTY, AUTTEE surnames covering England, New Zealand, Australia, USA, and Canada.

Roots Cape Breton Genealogy & Family History Centre http://museum.gov.ns.ca/hv/en/home/researchlearn/rootscapebreton/default.aspx — Roots Cape Breton is a computer-assisted research service for those in search of their Cape Breton roots. $

Directory of Oxford County 1857-1858 http://www.ocl.net/genealogy/oxford_dir — Online searchable directory of residents and businesses of Oxford County, Ontario 1857-1858. I wrote a blog posting on this site - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2011/08/oxford-county-library-databases-indexes.html

Ontario (Upper Canada) County Directories http://www.ontariogenealogy.comontariocountydirectories.html

The FERGUSON Connection - A Family History http://thefergusonconnection.cds-enterprises.com — The FERGUSON, FIELDS, and related families are included from all over the Unites States, and some from Canada.

Quebec Genealogy Pointers - ManyRoads http://www.many-roads.com/category/thoughts/tips-opinions/quebec-genealogy — Mark Rabideau writes about French Canada, and the Rabideau – Henss histories & Genealogy.

Canada Lands Survey System http://clss-satc.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca/googledata-donneesgoogle-eng.php — Canada Lands in Google Earth including Indian Reserves, National Parks, and the territories.

Canadian Military Research and Genealogy http://canadiangenealogyandresearch.ca — A bilingual (French/English) website which can help research your military ancestors.

RIVETTE Family Genealogy http://www.rivettefamily.com/places_index.htm Follow the Acadian family through New Brunswick, and other Acadian settlements in Canada.

Canadian Blogger will be at RootsTech 2012

Just finished reading the latest posting by Canadian genealogist Joan Miller at http://www.luxegen.ca/genealogy/rootstech-ramping-up and she will be at RootsTech 2012 to be held in Salt Lake City from Feb 2nd to Feb 4th next year.

She is going to be a presenter at the conference, and she will be on an "international panel of colleagues discussing genealogy and social media".

So if you are at RootsTech, be sure to take in the panel discussion, and if you are a blogger, write about the panel in your blog.

Joan also said that if you want to be kept informed about what is going on, be sure to join the RootsTech Mailing List at http://www.rootstech.org.

Have fun, Joan, and say "Hello" to all of our American Cousins!

CBC is 75 Years Old!

In celebration of the CBC/Radio-Canada 75th Anniversary, it has chosen the theme "Your to Celebrate". CBC/Radio-Canada was established in November, 1936.

If you go on the site you will see a special place where they have archived several radio programs, and TV shows.

There is also a very interesting blog on the site, and a Timeline which takes you back to such things as the Springhill Mine Disaster, The CBC's First Colour TV Show, and Churchill's Funeral.

There will be several other events announced in the coming months. To keep up on the latest events, go to http://www.cbc.ca/75/index.html

OGS Branch Libraries

Do you know that there are seven Branches of the Ontario Genealogical Society that have their libraries onsite?

You can search the holdings of the -

Brant Branch at http://brantcountybranchogs.ca/,

Kinston Branch at http://www.ogs.on.ca/kingston/pages/library.php,

Nipissing Branch at http://www.nipissing.ogs.on.ca/#Branch Library,

Quinte Branch at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~canqbogs/library.htm,

Halton-Peel Branch at http://www.halinet.on.ca/sigs/ogshp/LIBCOLL.HTM,

Ontario Branch at http://www.ogsottawa.on.ca/library/,

York Branch at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~onyrbogs/br_009.htm.

You can go to the Resources Section of the OGS website at http://www.ogs.on.ca/services/library.php, and read about the Resources that are there to help you.

Joint Fall Workshop with LDS in Grande Prairie

On Friday evening, and during the day on Saturday (September 9th and 10th, 2011), there will be a Joint Fall Workshop with LDS Church and Grande Prairie & District Branch, Grande Prairie, Manitoba.

It will feature Peter & Linda Darby, and they will give talks about “Organizing Your Files”, “Online Maps/Gazetteers”, and “Mining Gold”.

Go to their website at http://gp.abgensoc.ca/workshop.html

Prince Edward Island Card Index

The Prince Edward Island Baptisms (1721-1885), Marriage (1832-1888) and the Death (1721-1905) Card Index browsable images are slowly going online at FamilySearch.org.

There are 92,700 Baptisms images as of 25 August 2010, and they are available at
https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/show#uri=http://hr-search-api:8080/searchapi/search/collection/1827217

There are 3,428 images as of 31 August 2010 which can be found at https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/show#uri=http://hr-search-api:8080/searchapi/search/collection/1827167 and,


the Death Card Index has 15,903 Index images as of 31 August 2010 with the website at https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/show#uri=http://hr-search-api:8080/searchapi/search/collection/1827236.

De-Mystifying Lineage Societies

The Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, and the Sir Guy Carleton Branch of the United Empire Loyalists Association of Canada are pleased to offer a one-day workshop on De-Mystifying Lineage Societies.

This workshop will provide some history on lineage societies, as well as discussion of the resources, hints and techniques for completing successful applications along with an opportunity for research with local experts.

Societies highlighted will be the Mayflower Society, Daughters and Sons of the American Revolution, United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada and the Ontario Genealogical Society Heritage Societies.

It will be held on the 29 Oct 2011 10:00 am to 5:00 pm at the City of Ottawa Central Archives, 100 Tallwood Drive, Ottawa, Ontario.

Following the presentations, registrants will be able to research in the City Archives Reference Room.

The presentations will be made by -

De-Mystifying Lineage Societies: Mike More and Dorothy Meyerhof

Researching in Military Records: Glenn Wright

Using Ancestry: Lesley Anderson

The cost will be $30.00 per person, and payment must accompany registration form.

Registration is limited, and the Deadline for Registration: 21 October 2011

Please make cheques payable to “OTTAWA BRANCH, OGS”

For registration form, please go to http://ogsottawa.on.ca/?cat=8, or contact the OGS at pastchair@ogsottawa.on.ca

English Family History Workshop

The English Family History workshop will be co-sponsored by the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, and the Canadiana Department of North York Central Library, and will be held Saturday 5 November 2011.

It will feature speakers John D. Reid, a blooger at http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com/, and Lesley Anderson at Ancesrry.ca both are from the Ottawa area. Paul Jones, Jane E. MacNamara and Linda Reid are from Toronto, and will join them in presenting the workshop.

Find out from the experts how to make the most of parish, probate and manorial records, how to track your English ancestors through newspapers, directories and gazetteers and how to use Canadian and British records together to put the puzzle pieces in place.

The early bird registration deadline is 14 October 2011 and OGS members enjoy special rates.

For program and registration details, see http://www.torontofamilyhistory.org/English2011.html.

Icelandic Emigration Center at Hofsos, Iceland

It has been 15 years since the Icelandic Emigration Center opened. Is is estimated that between 20 to 25% of the total population of Iceland emigrated to North America in the early 1900s.

Nelson Gerrard, a write from Eyrarbakki, Manitoba has been in Iceland this summer assisting in answering genealogical inquiries, and in helping at putting together exhibits at the Emigration Center.

He specializes in recording the history of Icelandic emigrants in North America, and his books include Icelandic River Saga and The Icelandic Heritage, and he is currently researching Gimlunga Saga, a 3-volume history of pioneers in the Gimli area.

The museum is at http://en.hofsos.is/, and their email is hofsos@hofsos.is

In Canada, Gimli, Manitoba was where many of the Icelandic people settled, and there is the New Iceland Heritage Museum (NIHM). It was founded in Gimli in 1973.

There is archival photos and local history research material, free audio tours, and there is the Gimli Webcam.

Go to the website http://nihm.ca/museum/about.html. You can contact them at nihm@mts.net

Free Access - Canadian Immigration Records

Just got notice this morning that Ancestry.ca is announcing FREE online access to 200-million immigration records.

The access is from right now to Sept 5th!

The press release says that “This unprecedented access will allow Canadians to 200 million immigration and travel records from around the world, including 13.5 million records specific to Canada. This includes the complete Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935, the official records of the arrival of the majority of people accepted as immigrants in Canada during this key immigration period".

They also say that “An estimated 11.6 million Canadians or 37 per cent of its current population have ancestors included in this collection[, which also includes records for many vacationers and travellers, business people, crew members and historical figures such as foreign leaders, scientists and celebrities”.

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

The Buxton Homecoming Weekend

Buxton National Historic Site & Museum located in North Buston, Ontario will be holding their 14th Annual US/Canadian History Genealogy Conference on Friday Sept 2nd.

The event will be co-hosted by The Harriet Tubman Institute of York University & Buxton Historical Society, and there will be a full day of lectures.

There will be a youth panel, and genealogists such as Adrienne Shadd, Henry Natasha, and Irene Moore Davis will be there giving lectures and answering your questions.

Pre-registration is required

To find out more about the activities that will take place at The Buxton Homecoming from Friday to Monday (Sept 2 to the 5th) go to http://www.buxtonmuseum.com/hcoming/hc-event.html

Launch of "Census of Canada, 1871"

The LAC has just released a press release this afternoon -

"Ottawa, August 30, 2011— The 1871 census marked the first regularly scheduled collection of national statistics, and Library and Archives Canada is now pleased to make its results available online. Researchers can access digitized images of original census returns featuring the name, age, country or province of birth, nationality, religion, and occupation of Canada's residents at the time.

The information covers the four provinces that were part of the Dominion of Canada in 1871: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec.

Access to the digitized images of the 1871 census is available online in two different ways:

Through a database that is searchable by nominal information such as Name, Given Name (s) and Age, and/or geographical information such as Province, District Name, District Number, and Sub-district Number.

The database is available at: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/census-1871/index-e.html

Through the "microform digitization” research tool, you can browse the microfilm reels page by page.

The tool is available at: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/microform-digitization/006003-110.02-e.php?&q2=26&interval=30&sk=0&&PHPSESSID=f0v3thhcgqvau3vslaruumn2a7
For more information, please contact webservices@lac-bac.gc.ca.

Free Access – Immigration to the US

Yesterday, I had the post about "Free Access - Immigration from the UK", today there is more news, and it is free access (August 29th to September 5th)to "Immigration to the US". One of the areas to check is the “Border Crossings: From Canada to U.S., 1895-1956”.

I spent the morning working on my grandfather Lester John BLADES from Barrington Passage, Nova Scotia. There were at least 17 trips he made to New York from 1925 to 1935. While in New York, he worked on yachts that travelled around the world, and while in Boston, he worked in factories.

Do you have Canadian ancestors who went to the States looking for work, or ancestors going on vacation to visit their relatives?

If you do, using Ancestry.com until Sept 5 is an excellent way to discover the trips they made from 1895 to 1956.

The website is at
http://www.ancestry.com/immigration?cj=1&o_xid=0004887102&o_lid=0004887102

Call for Papers

The Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society have issued a call for speakers to take part in a one-day Branch workshop on Finding Your Great War Ancestors, to be held in Toronto on 31 March 2012. It will be co-hosted by the Canadiana Department of North York Central Library.

To read about the Call for Papers, please go to http://www.torontofamilyhistory.org/GreatWarCall_2012.html

The deadline for proposals is 18 September 2011

To submit your proposal, please contact the workshop coordinator, Paul Jones, at announcements@torontofamilyhistory.org

Free Access – Immigration Records

A reader of the blog wrote to me yesterday to tell me that the British arm of Ancestry.com is offering free access to immigration records from today up until the 5th September.

You can search and view all of the immigration records for free.

I will be checking my Barclay, and Hitchens names to see if there is anything new.

Thank you Craig for passing along the word.

If you want to check them out, they are at http://www.ancestry.co.uk/immigration?o_iid=48750&o_lid=48750&o_sch=Inbound&AID=10402952&PID=1793701

New Blog – AFGS Acadian Heritage News

The tag line is “Focus of this blog is to provide news and information regarding Acadian Heritage”.

It is a Heritage Blog by the American-French Genealogical Society, and although it is not strictly a Canadian blog, it is about the Acadians – and there are genealogical societies on both sides of the border, so the blog caught my eye over the weekend as something I would like to read..

One of the blogs is “As tough as her ancestors” which the blogger tells about the being interviewed by his niece about what it is like being Acadian, and shows pictures of her exhibit and video of the process – very interesting! The exhibit “Nova Scotia - Acadian”

Another blog was the 34th Annual Acadian Festival which was held at
Madawaska, Maine on August 11th, and a visit to the The Acadian Historic Village – Caraquet, NB.

The blog is at http://afgs-acadian-heritage-news.blogspot.com/

London Leaf Newsletter

The August London-Middlesex Newletter August 2011 edition is out, and this edition is all about lists of names.

It contains articles such as “Women Who Were Entitled To Vote In London For The First Time” contains over 400 names of local women in 1885; a list of 80 Glencoe And Wardsville High School Entrans 1900, and a list of the people who offered their help to the inhabitants who were living in Michigan and were affected by the fire of 1881 under the title of Strathroy Request for Help – 1881.

The London-Middlesex County Branch will meet on September 6th at 7:30 pm at the Westmounth Branch of the London Public Library, 3200 Wonderland Road, in which Dennis Mulligan will talk about “Don't Believe Everything You Read: Research Using Internet and Other Sources”.

Their website is http://www.londonmiddlesex.ogs.on.ca

Oxford County Library Databases & Indexes

I came across a webpage in the Oxford County Library, Ontario the other day, and there is a huge amount of genealogy for those who have ancestor's in the county.

For example, they have -

Newspaper Indexes of the Ingersoll Chronicle (birth, death and marriage index), and also of the Ingersoll Tribune.

Oxford County Genealogy Records (1793 - 1858)

Cemetery Records of the Index of Ingersoll and Area Cemeteries, and some headstone photos

Land Records of Oxford County Land Patents (1798-1852)

Local History Books & Indexes including -

Index to History of North Oxford Township 1867-1967
Index to Ingersoll: Our Heritage by Henry W. Whitwell
Index to The Axe and the Wheel: a history of West Oxford Township, 1790-1974
Index to With Mortar and Pine: a collection of the architectural heritage in the Township of Norwich
Autobiography of Thomas Brush Brown, 1804-1893 : a pioneer of East Nissouri Township
From the Roaring 20s to Y2K by Elsie McSpadden
Zorra Boys at Home and Abroad or How to Succeed by William Alexander McKay
Pioneer Life in Zorra by William Alexander McKay
Musings on the Banks of Canadian Thames by James McIntyre
Zorra by William M. Campbell
Souvenir Manual of the Embro Congregational Church

Directories, Gazetteers & Voters' Lists -

1852 Oxford Gazetteer by Thomas S. Shenston
1857-58 Directory of Oxford
1871 Gazetteer of Oxford County : Ingersoll (11 MB)
1877 Town of Ingersoll Voters' List NEW
1883 Town of Ingersoll Voters' List NEW
1894-95 Town of Ingersoll Directory
1908 Union Publishing Company's Directory of the Town of Ingersoll(12 MB)
1911 Town of Ingersoll Directory NEW
1927 Town of Ingersoll Telephone Directory NEW

History of the Town of Ingersoll including -

Town of Ingersoll Historical Photo Gallery
Industrial Ingersoll Illustrated, February 1907
Industries of Canada : Ingersoll, 1887
Ingersoll in the Eighteen Seventies : excerpts from the Ingersoll Tribune
Index to Ingersoll: Our Heritage by Henry W. Whitwell
The Ingersolls of Hampshire in the line of John Ingersoll of Westfield, Massachusetts by Charles Stedman Ripley
History of the Town of Ingersoll by James Sinclair, 1924
1947 Ingersoll Fall Fair Souvenir Program

The amount of information here is astounding!

If you wish to read some of these histories, directories, newspapers go to http://www.ocl.net/genealogy/.