A History of Canada by Montreal Metro

Samuel Wood, Montreal native who has returned to the city after being away for 18 years of studying and teaching in Britain, has a new blog called A History of Canada by Montreal Metro.

It’s a history based on the names of Montreal’s 68  metro stations.

He says he is “inspired by my fascination with the stories that shape the world in which I live”.

The stations tell the history of both France and Britain.

“Only in Montreal could you find Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix, a French Jesuit explorer and teacher of Voltaire, on the same line as Robert Peel, prime minister of Great Britain and the founder of the London police force”, says Wood.

To read his blog, go to http://historyofcanadabymetro.com 

The Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) has a new postal code!

The use of this new postal code will ensure that all correspondence and packages will be sent directly to CCI's Innes Road location in Ottawa where they can be received and handled by our trained personnel.

Please update your mailing information immediately.

Canadian Conservation Institute

1030 Innes Road

Ottawa, Ontario K1B 4S7

Archive CD Books Canada is having a MID SUMMER MADNESS SALE!!

My friends in the world of genealogy, Malcolm and Chris Moody, for a short period of time, are marking down the prices on most of their CANADIAN CD products by as much as 50%!

Still no shipping and handling charges within Canada.

Malcolm and Chris say that “We predict we won’t be able to keep this going for too long in this heat - so DON’T DELAY”.

The website is www.archivecdbooks.ca/acdbcanada.html

Personal Recommendation: I have known Malcolm and Chris over the past years in the Ottawa area, and have used their products. I can say that to have these books on a CD means that they are convenient, and easy to use ... and they don’t take up any room! All pluses in my world of books, books, and more books, and less and less room. 

Lac-Mégantic Library and Archive destroyed in disaster

I wrote in the Canadian News in Review on Monday that the library and archives at Lac-Mégantic had been destroyed in the fires resultant from the train disaster. Now word comes from the chair of the board of Lac-Mégantic’s library and archives, that they were planning to move from the two-floor location downtown to a bigger facility this fall. Now everything is gone.

To read the complete article, please go to www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/07/08/lacmgantic_casualties_include_quebec_towns_history.html

Reminder: Check out Canadian Week in Review every Monday for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada. The next Canadian News in Review will be Monday July 15 2013

UPDATED: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba & Saskatchewan Update (revised)

The following cemeteries have been revised on the GenWeb Canada website - 

ALBERTA

Camrose:

- Greenview / Rosalind United Church / Methodist Church Cemetery

Edmonton:

- Westlawn Memorial Gardens & Edmonton Crematorium

Mountainview:

- New Bergthal Mennonite Cemetery

Stettler:

- Red Willow Cemetery

BRITISH COLUMBIA

Central Kootenay Regional District:

- Edgewood Cemetery

Cowichan Valley Regional District:

- Ladysmith Indian Cemetery

Peace River :

- North Rolla Lutheran Church Cemetery

- Sorenson / Carpio Cemetery

MANITOBA

Fisher RM:

- Sylvan Public / Transfiguration Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery

Franklin RM:

- Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Cemetery

- Ridgeville / South Ridge Cemetery

Harrison RM:

- Holy Ghost Ukrainian Catholic (New) Cemetery

Ritchot RM:

- St Joseph's Catholic / St Norbert Koscio sw Jozefa Cemetery

- St Norbert Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery

Rockwood RM:

- Polsen St Mary's Roman Catholic / Chapel of the Assumption Roman Catholic Cemetery

- St George's Cemetery

- St Michael's Cemetery

- Windsor Cemetery

St Andrews RM:

- Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery

West St Paul RM:

- Riverside Holy Family Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery

Winnipeg City:

- St James Anglican Cemetery

SASKATCHEWAN

Excelsior RM # 166:

- Rush Lake Cemetery

Remembers to say your “Thanks” to Marilyn Whiting, Cheyenne Kepke, Patricia Green and Julia Adamson for help indexing, and to Carol Wilkinson, Cheyenne Kepke, Chris Pfeifle, Dennis Schultz, Grace Peters, Henry Martin Hamm, Ian Coupland, John Berger, Marilyn Whiting, Myron Masnyk, Patricia Green, Susan Severdija, and Walter Smelski for photos & transcripts.

You may go to http://canadacems.blogspot.com/2013/07/alberta-british-columbia-manitoba_7.html

Canadian Week in Review - 08 July 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

Quebec, Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979 

https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1321742
This is a FamilySearch.org web site that is added to every so often. Baptisms, marriages and burials of the Catholic Paris Registers. It also includes some confirmations and some index entries for Montréal and Trois-Rivières

Schürch Family Association www.schurchfamilyassociation.net/Schurch_Family_Association/Home.html

The family register also extends to Ontario. The web site says that “The surname spellings were anglicized over time with the predominant ones being SHIRK, SHERK, and SHERRICK. The purpose of our web site is to help Schürchs learn their ancestry and to facilitate networking with each other”.

Waterloo Region Generations http://generations.regionofwaterloo.ca

Have you seen this site before? It contains about 250,000 people with over 1,000,000 source citations. They say that the people are in context of how “they relate to community members, businesses, buildings, organizations and places”

Blogs

Oshawa Journal http//:www.oshawajournal.com

A new blog about Oshawa, Ontario. The site says it “contain timelines, news clippings, birth/marriage/death/grave records, photos and stories of the people I am researching, as well as the history of streets and houses in the village of Oshawa”.

Facebook, Videos, You Tube

No sites for this week.

Newspapers Articles of  the Week

Latest Update: It appears that the library and archives building in Lac Megantic, in the Eastern Townships in Quebec, has been destroyed by fire in the run away train accident that occurred early Saturday morning.

Up-to-date news is available at www.cbc.ca/news

Which province has the largest land size? and other questions about Canada

www.brandonsun.com/lifestyles/breaking-news/which-province-has-the-largest-land-size-and-other-questions-about-canada-213374611.html?thx=y In case you missed this last week when Canada celebrated its 146th birthday on July 1^st, here are some questions about the country. How many did you get correct?

Halifax artist, soldier chronicles her time at war

www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2013/07/04/ns-soldier-art.html  

A new exhibit at Halifax's historic Citadel Hill is teaching people about the war in Afghanistan through the eyes of a young soldier and artist who there - Bombardier Jessica Wiebe.

Federal government partners to create Terry Fox exhibit www.bramptonguardian.com/news-story/3881585-federal-government-partners-to-create-terry-fox-exhibit

The Friends of the Terry Fox Collection and the future Canadian Museum of History have reached an agreement where an exhibit will open at the museum in 2015, in memory of the 35th anniversary of the Marathon of Hope.

Jet Aircraft Museum launches campaign "Save Voodoo 006" http://skiesmag.com/news/articles/19365-jet-aircraft-museum-launches-campaign-quot-save-voodoo-006-q.html

The Jet Aircraft Museum at London, Ontario is excited that it is going to transport and restore a CF-101 Voodoo from the air base at Greenwood, Nova Scotia. This is one of the Royal Canadian Air Force's most important  Cold War fighters – the Voodoo 006.

Story of the Week

Calgary Stampede

The Calgary Stampede can trace its beginning back to 1886 when the Calgary and District Agricultural Society held its first fair. In 1912, American promoter Guy Weadick organized his first rodeo and festival, known as the Stampede.

He returned to Calgary in 1919 to organize the Victory Stampede in honour of soldiers returning from World War I. It became an annual event in 1923 when it merged with the Calgary Industrial Exhibition, and the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede was created.

This year’s stampede is still going on despite the flood which has occurred there the past couple of weeks.

Did you know that they have an archive? They do, and it is called The Calgary Stampede and Libraries and Cultural Resources, and it is housed at the University of Calgary.  

 The archives include - photographic images, board and committee minutes, annual reports, daily programs, and souvenir programs. It also includes people associated with the Stampede - all rodeo and chuck wagon contestants, the winners of those events dating back to 1912, and the sponsors and prizes.

In addition, the archives contain Stampede collectibles such as posters, Stampede Post Office cachets, letterhead stationery, invitations, souvenirs, prize trophies and many other historical items.

You can also visit their online archives where you will find digitized images of Stampede posters, thousands of photographs, databases of rodeo and chuck wagon contestants and collections of corporate publications such as annual reports and souvenir programs.

Go to www.ucalgary.ca/stampede

Reminder: Check out Canadian Week in Review every Monday for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada. The next post will be 15 July, 2013

Brant OGS Golf Fundraiser

This is a really neat idea!

On Saturday, August 31, 2013, there will be a golf fundraiser held at a local club called Fescue’s Edge, 18 Hagan Rd., Brant at 11:00 am Shotgun Start.

The cost will be $80 and it includes cart, lunch and donation to Brant OGS (Receipt for donation will be provided), and the deadline to register will be August 20, 2013.

You can contact brantogsgolf@gmail.com, or go to the web site at www.ogs.on.ca/brant

Winners of the Canada Day Brick Wall Contest

The four winners of the Canada Day Brick Wall Contest held by GenealogyCanada, and sponsored by ELRS at www.elrs.biz on Canada Day are –

• Lois E.
• Phyllis C.
• Heather K.
• Jennifer L.

There were dozens of entries in all, with the four winners being picked by random.

I would like to thank everyone who took the time to send in their brick walls, all of which were interesting and daunting. It was a pleasure to have had the chance to read them.

Elizabeth

Reminder: Check out Canadian Week in Review every Monday for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.

Historic Acadian Families of Summerside, PEI

If you have Acadian roots or connections in Summerside, PEI, your family may go back several centuries, and you should attend the Historic Acadian Families of Summerside, which is a summertime series of talks by Jean Bernard (presented in English). The eight most familiar Acadian family names of Summerside are Arsenault, Aucoin/Wedge, Bernard, DesRoches, Gallant, Gaudet, Poirier/Perry and Richard.

Genealogist and author Jean Bernard will speak on these family histories at the Lefurgey Cultural Centre, 205 Prince Street on Wednesdays July 10, 17, 24 and 31 and Thursdays July 11, 18, 25, and August 1. All presentations will be in English and begin at 10:00 a.m. lasting for 60 to 90 minutes with lots of time for questions and answers.

Each talk will feature a 'primary concentration' on a surname and the talks will be presented in 'alphabetical order'. Invariably the discussion will 'stray' onto other connected names, but the intention is as follows:

July 10 is primarily about Arsenault

July 11 is primarily about Aucoin/Wedge

July 17 is primarily about Bernard

July 18 is primarily about DesRoches

July 24 is primarily about Gallant

July 25 is primarily about Gaudet

July 31 is primarily about Poirier/Perry

August 1 is primarily about Richard

Space is limited. Please contact Fred Horne at 432-1332 fredhorne@wyattheritage.com for more information or if you wish to reserve a seat. Admission is by donation.

Presentations hosted by Culture Summerside's MacNaught History Centre and Archives in response to Mr Bernard's generous offer to share his knowledge of Acadian family history

The Culture Summerside's MacNaught History Centre and Archives is at  www.wyattheritage.com/mainsite3/macnaughthouse.asp

Save Our Heritage Lighthouses

                                Seal Island Lighthouse Replica

Lisa Bastien—the Constituency Assistant–Outreach of the Office of Malcolm Allen, NDP M.P. for Welland, Ontario—asked for my help yesterday in spreading the word about saving out heritage lighthouses.

The message says, in part - “In 2010 the Conservative Government identified nearly 1000 lighthouses across Canada as surplus – meaning that these lighthouses are not active or they could be replaced by a simpler structure such as pole with a light on top as a cost-saving measure.

The Department of Fisheries & Oceans gave the provinces and communities groups 2 years to send in petitions and submit business plans to save their local lighthouses. As of May 2013, only 128 plans have been received, and the future of over 800 lighthouses are unknown. There are lighthouses in every province and territory at risk."

We think that the Conservatives need to stand up and protect our Maritime Heritage and work with the provinces/territories and local community groups to ensure that these lighthouses remain as beacons of navigation and history along our coastlines rather than downloading the coast onto others.

If you would like to know if there is a surplus lighthouse in your riding, please contact our office at 905-788-2204, or at malcolm.allen.c1a@parl.gc.ca".

A PDF copy of the petition is available by writing me at genealogycanada@aol.com. (I received a copy of the original Word file, but I can't post it for download from my blog.)

Personal Note: Lighthouses are dear to me because my great-great-grandmother spearheaded the project of building the lighthouse on Seal Island off of the southwest coast of Nova Scotia. Her name was Mary Hitchens.

In later years, her descendant, Walter Hichens, from Bethel, Maine, spent many summers on Seal Island, and eventually had one lighthouse built at Barrington Passage. You can visit it today, and learn the story of Mary Hitchens.

And, I'm pleased to note, the Canadian Coast Guard named a ship after her.

Family History Conference

The LDS Family History Centre in Brampton, will hold their  4th Annual Family History Conference called One World - One Family — Discover Your Family Roots. The conference will be held on Saturday, August 24th 2013, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m

The cost: $20 (includes box lunch).

It will be held at the LDS Family History Centre, 10062 Bramalea Rd, Brampton, Ontario

To see who the presenters will be and their subjects that they will talk about, go to   www.oneworldonefamily-theevent.com

For their Facebook page, go to www.facebook.com/pages/One-World-One-Family/140879625925281

The St. Lawrence River

Retrace this river’s historic path with the exhibition Moving with the River at the Museum of Civilization in Ottawa from June 21, 2013 to March 23, 2014.

When one thinks of the settlements along the river from Quebec City to Montreal, to Brockville, and to Kingston, it is the “Birthplace of the first colonies and passageway to the Great Lakes and the Canadian West for millions of immigrants, the St. Lawrence River played a fundamental role in the building and settling of Canada.

 The exhibition retraces the river’s historic path with the Iroquois' thousand-year presence on the land, Franco-Aboriginal alliances, growth of a French settlement in the St. Lawrence Valley and multiethnic European immigration for which Québec served as a gateway”.

An exhibition developed by Parks Canada and presented in collaboration with the Canadian Museum of Civilization.

The audience is open to adults, children, family, youth, young adults, and teens.

You can go to www.civilization.ca/plan-your-visit

Reminder: Check out my Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada

Historica-Dominion Institute to be named Historica Canada.

A press release has been released by the Historica-Dominion Institute of Toronto, in part it says -

TORONTO, July 2, 2013 - Stephen Smith, Chairman of the Board of The Historica-Dominion Institute, announced today that effective September 3, 2013 , the organization will change its name to Historica Canada.

'The new bilingual name will clearly and concisely reflect our focus on building awareness of our history and the values of Canadian citizenship, " said Mr. Smith. "These continuing priorities have formed our mandate since our two founding organizations, The Historica Foundation of Canada and The Dominion Institute, merged in 2009, and will continue to do so."

Based in Toronto with activities across the country, the organization's programs include the making of the popular Heritage Minutes - 60-second vignettes on Canadian History; The Memory Project, which provides audio, video and live platforms for the country's war veterans to relate their experiences; Passages to Canada, which gives newcomers to Canada a similar platform; the annual Aboriginal Writing and Arts Challenge; and Encounters with Canada, which brings more than 1,000 high school students from across Canada into Ottawa each year for a week of learning about their country. The organization is also presently building new interactive enhancements to its widely-used Canadian Encyclopedia, with those features slated to be unveiled this fall.

The new name will not take formal effect until the fall in order to allow for legal and logistical steps to be completed. In the run-up to the change and beyond, the present phone numbers, e-mail addresses, website and overall contact points for the organization will remain the same.

The webpage is www.historica-dominion.ca

British Columbia Genealogical Society Library Week

The annual BCGS Library Week will be held this year from July 15th to 21st, 2012. The Library Open House from 2-4 pm is on Sunday, July 15th. 

Library Week is a FREE event, and refreshments will be served.

From July 16 to 21st, the Library will be open each day from 10 am to 3 pm. Volunteers will be available to assist you in searching the Library collections and there are talks scheduled each day on various topics – Scottish, Irish, English. Canadian, US and Australian research, and on using Ancestry Library Edition and our BCGS website and more.

The schedule will be -

Monday: Scottish

Tuesday: Irish

Wednesday: English

Thursday: Canadian

Friday: United States

Saturday: Europe

There will also be sessions available on using Ancestry Library, the Genealogical Research Library and the American Ancestors on-line databases, and Geni.com – and this BCGS website

For more information, go to www.bcgs.ca/?page_id=1563

UPDATED: Ancestry.ca

The following record groups have been updated –

Ontario, Canada, County Marriage Registers, 1858-1869 This database is an index to approximately 3.2 million marriages recorded in Ontario, Canada between 1801 and 1928

Go to http://search.ancestry.ca/search/db.aspx?dbid=8510

Toronto Star Obituaries, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1999 - April 2000, February 2001This database is an index to over 2 million deaths that were registered in Ontario, Canada, between 1869 and 1938

Go to http://search.ancestry.ca/search/db.aspx?dbid=3888

Canadian Genealogy Index, 1600s-1900s The majority of these records are from city directories, marriage records, land records, and census records.

Go to http://search.ancestry.ca/search/db.aspx?dbid=7920

You should check Ancestry at least every three months to see if the records have been updated. 

Happy Canada Day!

Lennoxville-Ascot Historical and Museum Society

There is an exhibit called Old But New to Us at the Lennoxville - Ascott Historical  and Museum Society.

It will range from sports equipment, clothing and artwork to toiletries and household items dating as far back as the 18th century. 

The exhibit will continue until December 15th, 2013.  Guests are invited to visit from Tuesday to Sunday between 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Admission is free! 

Visit the exhibit at 9 Speid Street, Sherbrooke, Quebec

For more information, please visit our website www.uplands.ca or contact us at 819.564.0409.

UPDATE: 1921 Canada Census Petition

I have just received word from Bill Robinson, that over 1,849 people have signed the petition to release the 1921 census.

Thanks to all of my readers for doing their part in making sure that the census is released, so that indexing can begin.

Thank you, Bill, for the update.

To sign the petition, go to https://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/the-honourable-james-moore-release-the-1921-census-now

Town of Plympton-Wyoming, Ontario to establish a museum

The Lambton County Branch of the OGS is helping the Town of Plympton-Wyoming to establish a museum in the lower level of the Camlachie Library [former Camlachie United Church].

One way they are doing this, is publishing the fact that the people of Plympton-Wyoming are looking for information about World War I and World War II Soldiers.

The names on the Camlachie Cenotaph are -

World War I                                                       

Sam Norwood                                                      

Thomas Powell                                                    

George Richie                                                      

George Gray

World War II

Martin Anderson

Leslie Collinson

John Stewart

Editor’s Note: A George Ritchie, who claimed Mrs. Thomas Maloney of Camlachie as his next of kin, was born 16 June 1881 at Point Edward, Ontario and died 15 August 1917. His name is on the Vimy Memorial. Does this information connect with anyone’s family tree?

Are any of these people your ancestors?

If you wish to help form the local historical society and museum contact Mayor Lonny Napper at 226-307-0523 or Don Poland at 519-869-4909 or dpoland1@cogeco.ca