BIFHSGO Fall Newsletter

While the Conference is going strong, I took a few minutes earlier this week to write down some notes from the Fall 2011 edition of Anglo-Celtic Roots, BIFHSGO's newsletter.

It should be noted that Jean Kitchen is the new Editor of the newsletter, having taken over from Chris MacPhail.

One of the articles, Her Majesty's Hospitality, by John D. Reid, is about the everyday life in the Coldbath Fields Prison where his great-grandfather spent a four-month sentence for embezzling 30 pounds from his employer – the London and County Bank Branch on Oxford Street in London.

John went to the London Metropolitan Archives, looked through the files, and discovered what life was like for his great-grandfather while at the prison.

Michael De St. Croix and Bryan D. Cooke have written a 6-page article on Florence O'Bayle's Irish-Anglo-Canadian Lineage (Michael's grandmother) to try and produce the correct genealogy of her life in England before she came to Canada, - and once here, her marriage to W. T. Tully, a railway executive.

You are taken through the process, and follow as they go through the marriage records, the baptism records, the confirmation records, and the Oath of Identity for the Old Age Pension in Canada.

Elizabeth Kipp returns again to bring us up-to-date with the yDNA results of the Blake family. The yDNA test now shows that there were two Theophilus BLAKEs, and the family is descendant from the Blake who emigrated from the British Isles in 1745, was located at Chester County, Pennsylvania, and by 1764 was living in Bath County, Virginia, and not from the other Theophilus Blake, who lived in New Hampshire.

The fourth article by Bill Arthur tells the story of how the Arthur and Hamilton families crossed in Ireland, back in the 14th Century, and how he awaits more surprises as a newly-discovered researcher enters the picture.

You can read the story in his article Homeward Bound from Bannockburn: Another Great Moment.

The website for BIFHSGO is http://www.bifhsgo.ca

York Region Ancestors

I received the fall issue of the newsletter this week, and it is packed full of news and articles.

On the front page is an article by Susan Smart, "1906 – A Quaker Centennial Anniversary", in which the Friends hold a meeting which itself is covered in The Canada Quaker History Journal.

The second article is "The Udell Family of Markham, Pickering and Uxbridge (Part 1)" by Walter Udell. It traces the family from 1801 to about 1826, with an accounting of the children of John and Margaret (Brown) Udell.

The May 2011 Meeting – Question of the Month lists the question, “What are some of your favourite genealogical repositories in York Region?” and some of the answers were the Georgina Pioneer Village, the Kleinburg Library, and Vaughan Township Archives.

The York Region Branch website is at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~onyrbogs

General Membership Meeting

The Sudbury District Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society will have it's General Membership Meeting on MONDAY, September 19, 2011 at 7:00 PM at the Parkside Older Adults Center,YMCA 140 Durham St. South.

It will be an evening of "SHOW & SHARE" and you are encouraged to bring your genealogical gems, summer surprises, and vacation victories!

Tell us WHO you were looking for, WHY they were important to you, WHAT you found,and WHERE you found it!

EVERYONE WELCOME!

Bring A Friend

Free Parking Under YMCA (After 6:00 P.M.)

Their website is at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~onogs/ogs.htm

The Friends of the Fort Frances Museum

The Friends of the Fort Frances Museum, ontario is hosting a meet-and-greet from 2-6 p.m. on Wednesday September 21st at the museum.

The group is looking for more members to get involved with The Friends of the Fort Frances Museum, form an executive, establish bylaws, and undertake the process of becoming a registered charity.

So everyone is encouraged to drop by and see what the “Friends” are all about, as well as bring along their questions or suggestions.

Everyone is welcome, with coffee, tea, and goodies to be served.

The website http://museum.fort-frances.com, and the email is ffmuseum@fort-frances.com

Under the heading of WHAT WE DO…, it says that the “The Fort Frances Museum contains a vast collection of photographs and artifacts related to the history of Fort Frances and the Rainy River District. These artifacts and specimens depict the past and the development of the area in terms of natural resources, first nations, exploration, settlement and people, industry and cultural achievement”.

Family in a Mural

In the village of DeGrau in Port au Port Peninsula in Newfoundland, there is a mural which shows two people in a brightly painted dory in the harbour in their home town.

To read the story, and to see the mural that Kassandra Simon painted, read the article on http://www.thewesternstar.com/News/Local/2011-08-29/article-2730628/Artist-documents-family-history/1

Getting Ready for the BIFHSGO Conference Sept 16th to 18th

Remember those days when all you had to do to get ready for a conference was register and read over the pamphlet to see who was giving talks? Those days are GONE!

Now you have to do pre-conference homework!

I don't mind doing homework, and this is what I done -

Over the past few days, I listening to their podcasts at http://bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=59 where Brian Glenn interviewed John Reid (a fellow blogger at http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com/), and this year's Program Co-Chair of the 2011 Fall Conference Committee; Brian Watson, the Co-Chair for Administration for the 2011 Conference Committee; Kathy Wallace, the Registrar for the 2011 Fall Conference; and Lesley Anderson, Director of Education all talking about the Conference 2011.

I have read about the BIFHSGO Fall Conference Speakers at http://bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=54 and listened to 10 interviews with the speakers at http://bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=62. I have kept up-to-date with John D. Reid's BIFHSGO Blog at http://bifhsgo.ca/blog/2011/06/13/welcome/.

There will be 21 exhibitors this year, and they are at http://bifhsgo.ca/blog/2011/09/08/returning-to-the-conference-marketplace, and I plan to visit each one so that I can bring you news about new holding, new books, and new courses etc.

I read their "Getting the most out of the conference" at http://bifhsgo.ca/blog/2011/09/01/getting-the-most-out-of-the-conference to make sure I covered everthing, and I think I'm ready for the Conference Friday morning!

BTW, I have been invited to blog, and tweet at hashtag #BIFHSGO about the Confernce – so stayed tuned!

If you are in the Ottawa area this weekend, please drop in to the Conference. Many people have worked a huge amount of hours to make it the best conference ever, and they would like to see a large crowd there to take in this event.

To see what is available at the Conference, go to http://bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=22 http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com/

Descendants of Roger Billings, Milton, Massachusetts to Ottawa, Canada

Mike More, a Director of the Ontario Genealogical Society was asked by the City of Ottawa Archives to research the Billings family from Milton, Massachusetts to Ottawa, Canada in the 1800s.

Mike says "The City of Ottawa Archives holds the Billings Family fonds containing over 7 metres from 1796 to 1988. MG2 contains the notes of Charles Murray Billings who considered himself the family genealogist about a hundred years ago".

He tells us that Braddish BILLINGS, a son of Dr Elkanah BILLINGS was one of the first settlers in what is now Ottawa, the capital of Canada. Braddish's house was left to the city by one of his descendants and has become the Billings Estate Museum. There is considerable interest in the genealogy of the BILLINGS family by visitors to the City Archives, and this is an attempt to compile a reference chart of the family.

There are over 800 people in the Surname Index. The Master Index shows the date of birth and death of some of the people listed in the Surname Index, and a Legend which tells you who have been excluded because they are still living, or because research is still ongoing.

If you have any information, please contact Mike at mikemore@rogers.com. The website is located at http://www.ogsottawa.on.ca/billings/index.htm

New/Improved Canadian Websites and Blogs Week 2

Here are some of the websites and blogs that I have come across for the week ending September 11th, 2011 -

British Home Child SIG http://www.ogs.on.ca/SIG-BHC/index.htm The Ontario Genealogical Society, at this year's Conference in Hamilton, recently started a new SIG. The group has just published their first newsletter, and I covered it at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2011/09/british-home-children-newsletter.html

Newfie Roots http://newfieroots.blogspot.com A blog about William & Eliza (nee Battery) Scott (including the Kettle, Lomond, and Nebucett families) from Newfoundland.

Lieutenant Charles William Pearson (1912-2000): The Lincoln and Welland Regiment's WWII Campaign http://spiritbay.yolasite.com/lieutenant-pearson.php A new blog that recounts his life in the Second World War – where he served, and what he did.

The REVIEW - VanKleek Hill Newspaper http://thereview.ca/Archive_Landingpage.html They have put online their newspaper from 1893 to 1904. The years 1904 to 1920 are coming soon. $

Genealogy Twitter Reader
http://www.genealogyintime.com/GenealogyResources/Tools/genealogy_twitter_reader.html I was kept busy reading the recent Tweets from the FGS Conference held last week in Springfield, Illinois.

The Family History Hound http://www.familyhistoryhound.com Ellen Thompson is from Alberta, and she does family history research as a business. $

That's Relative! Finding Yourself in Your Family Tree http://thatsrelative.wordpress.com A blog by Krista Moore about the MOORE family of Lanark County, Ontario, and Down, Ireland.

Looking 4 Kin Genealogy & Family History Network Chat:
Helping hands helping one another with our family history & genealogy research .
http://www.looking4kin.com This is a relatively new website created by a blogger and genealogist who goes by the non-de-plume of "Just M" from Saskatchewan, with 60 Canadian members from all the provinces and territories.

Townshippers' Day http://www.tday.ca This website takes in all the Townships in Eastern Quebec. Townshippers' Day will take place in Stanstead, Quebec, on Saturday, September 17th.

Grand Réveil Acadien/Great Acadian Awakening http://english.gra2011.org A new site which promoted Louisiana for the World Acadian Congress 2009, it is now the place to go to see what is on for this year's event, to be held from October 7th to the 16th.

September 11, 2001

There were at least 24 Canadians who died (or who are still missing, and presumed dead) on 9/11, and A. Knight has small biographies of them on his site at
http://members.shaw.ca/kcic1/cdnwtc.html

There is a YouTube video which shows the 9/11 memorial at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa this year at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qxdx2ZhqmMI

Haldimand's Volunteers

A very good write-up appears in THE CHRONICLE, a newspaper that serves the
Haldimand area of Ontario. It is entitled “Haldimand OGS thanks volunteers”

Their website is http://www.dunnvillechronicle.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3290550

Congratulations to all of our volunteers!

The Haldimand County Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society website is http://www.ogs.on.ca/haldimand

Ship’s Lists from England to Canada

Glenn Wright from Ottawa will be the special speaker at the Leeds & Grenville Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society on the topic “Ship’s Lists from England to Canada”.

The meeting will be held September 12th at the Brockville Tabernacle (the former Shrine Hall) on the Second Concession at 7:30 pm. Their website is at http://www.leedsandgrenvillegenealogy.com/meetings.html

Glenn says that ''Our ancestors packed a lot into a single suitcase - the future of an entire family. They left behind everything they knew and traveled thousands of miles across the ocean to a land they had never seen. Two men came for every woman, and more than 4,000 ships brought them here. They came for all reasons – to own their first piece of land, to find gold, to escape poverty and to discover a new life”.

If you can make the meeting, please do so - it would be very educational, and informative.

Glen will also be at Vankleek Hill at their Family History Fair Day on October the 1st http://www.vankleek.ca/PDFs/famhistory2011.pdf and I hear that he will be one of the speakers at the OGS 2012 Conference in June 2012! The Conference website is http://www.ogs.on.ca/seminar/conference2012.php

Canadian Women’s Army Corps (CWAC)

As we approach the 75th Anniversary of the beginning of the Second World War in 2013, there are a number of events coming up in the future that you may want to attend, or read about on the Internet.

One of them is the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Canadian Women’s Army Corps (CWAC).

Mr. Douglas Townend, an avid collector of memorabilia related to the Corps, will be displaying his extensive collection at the LeBreton Gallery, Canadian War Museum on Saturday, September 17, 2011 11:00 am to 3:00 pm.

Their Canadian War Museum is at http://www.warmuseum.ca/home

This event will be the same day as the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa Conference http://www.bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=22 which is being held just up the hill from the War Museum at the Library and Archives Canada http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/index-e.html, so I will be unable to attend.

For a history of the Canadian Women’s Army Corps, these places have their history online -

The Canadian Encyclopedia http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0001342

The Juno Beach Centre http://www.junobeach.org/e/4/can-tac-cwa-e.htm

Canadian Women's Army Corps http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Women's_Army_Corps

Life of an Island House

A press release came out this morning -

On Tuesday September 13 at 7.30 pm in the Carriage House at Beaconsfield, Prince Edward Island, Doug Sobey, a research associate of the Institute of Island Studies of UPEI, will give an illustrated talk telling the story of a 200-year old frame house which still stands on the cliffs near Sea Cow Head overlooking Bedeque Bay.

The title of the talk will be "Two Hundred Years in the Life of an Island House: The Story of 'Melrose Farm' and 'Windswept'".

The talk will also cover the legacy of one of the Bedeque Bay* area's Loyalist settlers, Alexander Anderson, a disbanded Revolutionary War soldier, who built the house (naming it 'Melrose Farm') shortly after arriving in the area in 1797 (after a sojourn at Rustico), and who died in the house in 1852, at the age of 106!

From him descend a number of Island families, including the MacFarlanes of Fernwood, the Godfreys of North Wiltshire and the Cairns of Freetown. In 1948 the house was saved from destruction by Eleanor Wheler, who had come from Ontario to work as a public health nurse, and who converted it to a summer
home, naming it 'Windswept'.

Its most recent occupant was the well-known Island artist and poet Elaine Harrison.

Because of a rich archive of photographic and other material preserved by descendants of Anderson, as well as by other owners of the house, the talk will be well illustrated throughout.

There will be a $5 admission charge.

The lecture will be held under the auspices of the P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation.

*My husband's family lived in Bedeque when they lived “on the island”. Although the Lapointe family was originally from Quebec City, they spent many a weekend driving around PEI taking in the history of the place, and at every turn in the road they saw a fantastic view of the beauty of the land and the sea.

International Jewish Genealogy Month

The International Jewish Genealogy (IJG) month is celebrated on the Hebrew month of Cheshvan - Oct 29 to Nov 26, 2011.

The press release says that the “International Jewish Genealogy Month honors our Jewish ancestors through the pursuit of Jewish family history research".

To read more about the IJG go to http://www.iajgs.org/jgmonth.html

To mark the International Jewish Genealogy Month, the Jewish Genealogical Society of Canada at http://www.jgstoronto.ca/content/view/448/30 is also celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the organization.

They have published a book called Tracing Our Roots - Telling Our Story. As the website says “It is an anthology of over over 45 compelling and entertaining contributions, written by members of our society”.

Also, on Sunday, September 18, 2011 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm Stanley Diamond from Montreal will be in the Toronto area to give a workshop on what is new at the Jewish Records Indexing – Poland.

The website is http://www.jgsh.org/Events.php

Four other societies in Canada are -

Jewish Genealogical Society – Hamilton & Area http://www.jgsh.org/About.php

Genealogical Institute of the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada Inc http://www.jhcwc.org

Jewish Genealogical Institute of British Columbia http://jgibc.shutterfly.com

Jewish Genealogical Society of Montreal http://www.jgs-montreal.org

Twenty Ways to Avoid Grief When Researching

You will never know what you will find when you take a couple minutes to look around the Internet. Such was the case yesterday when I went on the British Columbia Genealogy Society website, and came across a “tips” article entitled “Twenty Ways to Avoid Grief When Researching” by Margaret M. Sharon*.

Some of the tips are -

Always note the source of any material you photocopy.

How many times have you gone to the archives, and have photocopied pages and pages from a book and then forget to mark the pages, or the source of the material?

Try not to let your research get behind.

Yes, can I tell you of the boxes, and boxes that I have of research material that has yet to be put in my genealogical family history?

Place names and boundaries have changed constantly over the years.

Even in a country like Canada with such a short history changes in place name and boundaries are everywhere. In the small village where I grew up it was known as Jordan River for many years before it was changed to Jordan Falls around 1900. Changes in place names do make a difference.

Take a minute, and read the paper in full because even though it is now somewhat “dated” having been written in 1988, there are still some genealogical truths in the paper that are still valid today.

The website is at http://www.bcgs.ca/Twenty%20Ways%20to%20Avoid%20Grief%20When%20Researching.htm

*It was originally published in The British Columbia Genealogist, March 1988, Volume 17, No. 1, pp. 4-6. © B.C.G.S.

Research Wiki Needs Writers!

The Research Wiki of the FamilySearch.org https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Main_Page where it publishes various articles on doing research in a particular county on many subjects.

Canada is listed 98th out of the most popular entries with over 20,000 views.

But they still need more articles on Canada.

Do you have articles that have yet to be published?

They have a complete guide to writing the articles, what is needed, and how to put the articles on the Research Wiki.

Go to the website to find out what you need to do at https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Canada

PEI Places Receive Heritage Designation

The following place in Prince Edward Island received the provincial Heritage Places Protection Act this summer -

SOURIS TOWN HALL & the McLEAN HOUSE INN, Souris

Built in 1905, the Souris Town Hall was built of Island sandstone. It was the post office and customs house for the town until the 1960s when the post office relocated.

The McLean House Inn, Souris was built in 1875 for John McLean (1845-1936), partner in the very successful Matthew and McLean business.

For the website of the town of Souris, go to
http://www.sourispei.com/about/about.html

FARMERS' BANK of Rustico

Built between 1861-1864 of locally quarried Island sandstone, the Farmers’ Bank was established to provide low interest loans to local farmers. It was to be one of the first credit unions of the province.

To read about the Farmer's Bank, go to http://www.farmersbank.ca


BARACHOIS INN, Anglo Rustico

The Barachois Inn was built in 1880 for Joseph Gallant, a prosperous local merchant.

To read about the inn, you can go to the website http://www.barachoisinn.com

ST. JAMES UNITED CHURCH, West Covehead

St. James United Church is a fine example of a rectangular Meeting House, with Classical Revival architectural design elements.

There are pictures of the church on this site at http://peiheritagebuildings.blogspot.com/2011/07/st-james-united-church-west-covehead.html

Canadian Genealogist Online

The Canadian Genealogist has been put online at the Ontario Genealogists Society (OGS) website at http://ogs.on.ca/services/cdn_genealogist.php

It was published four times a year between 1979 to 1988 by George and Elizabeth Hancocks.

It followed the same layout as OGS Families, and there are lots of articles from across Canada, whereas Families is mostly concerned with genealogy that has an Ontario slant.

All of the issues have been indexed.

Niagara Peninsula Branch Fall Event

J. BRIAN GILCHRIST will be the featured speaker at the Niagara Peninsula Branch Fall Event to be held later in October.

He has over 40 years experience as a researcher, and speaker, and will facilitate the following 3 sessions -

LOOKING FOR RECORDS IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES - ACCESSING EARLY
ONTARIO RECORDS 1790 - 1860

WHO GETS WHAT WHEN? HOW TO DISTRIBUTE YOUR RESEARCH.
Brian assisted by Steve Fulton, Technical Support and Innovative Committee Chair
for the OGS will make suggestions.

PROBLEM SOLVING PANEL – Please submit your questions with your registration or
by email.

Te date will be Saturday, Oct. 29th, 2011, and it will be at the First Grantham United Church, 415 Linwell Road, St. Catharines, Ontario.

Doors open at 9 am for Registration, and the Region 4 Meeting, and Publication sales. The cost will be $25 before October 1st, and $30 after Oct 1st, and at the door.

Lunch as well as door prizes will be included.

Payment can be made by cheque to Niagara Peninsula Branch OGS Box 2224, St. Catharines, Ontario, L2R 7R8, or with PayPal on our website http://www.ogs.on.ca/niagara

For further information call 905 934 1537 or email niagara@ogs.on.ca