The Anglo-Celtic Roots arrives

The latest issue of Anglo-Celtic Roots (ACR) arrived the other day. It is the journal of the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO), and is published four times a year.

This issue contains a message from the president, a full report on Conference 2008, and Saturday Meeting Reports - which covers five talks given at the Saturday morning meetings- such as "A Tale of Two Families" by Glenn Wright, "Lieutenant John Henry Kennedy" by Caroline Herbert, and "An Emotional Moment in Genealogy" by Bill Arthurs.

The president, Mary Anne Sharpe, reports that the society is doing very well, and BIFHSGO is—unlike other genealogical organizations—actually gaining in membership ... and the reason for that is very simple - they have intriguing ideas for meetings, interesting people who give talks, and always hold an annual conference that keeps a person coming back.

It is, as the president puts it, "a vibrant society."

Included in the journal is a questionnaire entitled "2008 Volunteer Survey", in which the society is interested in hearing your views on the society. If you would like to volunteer for the many divisions of the group - monthly meetings, research projects, workshops & courses, annual conference, website, etc, plase fill out the form and send it back to the society.

The calendar of events is covered on the back cover of the ACR - and be sure to follow the events as they are posted on their website at www.bifhsgo.ca.

Happy Chinese New Year!

The Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is celebrating the Chinese New Year with a collaboration of the information and databases they have compiled over the past years
in an exhibit entitled "The Early Chinese Canadians, 1858-1947" at www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/chinese-canadians/index-e.html

They have divided the site into five different areas of interest to genealogists, and they are -

- The history of Canada's early Chinese immigrants - explores why and how they came to Canada.

- Photos, government documents and letters that have been collected by the LAC

- Head Tax Records - You can search the General Registers of Chinese Registers online from 1885 to 1949.

- Chinese Canadian literature and historical research

- Coming soon will be educational resources for classroom study for secondary school teachers.

By the LAC's own admission, the General Registers of Chinese Immigration is the most important part of the history because it represents the payments made by the Chinese when they came to Canada. The Chinese were the only ones who paid the head tax when they came into the country.

Over 95,000 immigrants are recorded on these rolls.

There is also personal essays on the site, as well as family histories and suggested websites.

I have written about the Chinese-Canadian immigration in an article entitled "Uncovering Chinese-Canadian Records" in the January 2009 edition of Internet Genealogy, pages 20-21.

For an interesting look at the Chinese New Year, please visit www.chinapage.com/newyear.html

Canadian Civil Servants List (1872-1900)

Ancestry.ca has made the announcement that they have put on the fully-indexed Canadian Civil Servants List (1872-1900) "which features more than 78,000 records of those employed in departments of the Canadian Government during the country's early days of Confederation."

The press release says that this database gives the "family researcher a unique opportunity to find out how an ancestor's career might have progressed and how much they earned, as well as offer personal individual information such as birth date, age, date of first appointment, years at post, promotion to present rank, creed or religion and nationality of origin."

There are 22 government departments in the database including the Post Office Department, Department of Finance, and the Department of Public Printing and Stationary.

Karen Peterson, Marketing Director for Ancestry.ca, comments that "Collections such as the Canadian Civil Servants, which includes information on occupation, salary and career development, are vital as they enable family history enthusiasts to better understand how their ancestors lived by providing historical, factual context to their lives."

The Canadian Civil Servants Lists, 1872-1900 is available to Canada and World Deluxe members, and through a free 14-day trial at ancestry.ca.

"The British Columbia Genealogist"

The Christmas edition of The British Columbia Genealogist is last one in which "BC 150 Years: The Best Place on Earth" is celebrated.

As usual, it is a good mix of articles, photos, BC Genealogical Events & Activities, and Queries.

Some of the articles include "A Roll of Honor, American Can Co. Ltd, Vancouver, BC"; "Greek Soldiers Off to War, 1912-1913, BC - Cokkins, Dapoulos"; "Canadians World War I War Medals", and "In Quarantine: Life and Death on Grosse Ile, 1832-1937", and the ever- popular "Salt Lake City Research Trips, 2008".

I see where Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak will give an all-day seminar on the 7th of March at the Surrey Arts Centre. She will give four seminars ("Trace Your Roots with DNA" and "Cases That Made My Brain Hurt:, to name two of them). For more, go to www.bcgs.ca/Event-Brochures.htm.

Even though I don't have a relative native to the province, I like to read the Genealogist because it has lots of information in it which interests me.

And which, hopefully, will interest you.