Saturday was a Treat!

We were in for a treat last Saturday when we attended the annual FHC Genealogy Fair at their location on Prince of Wales Drive near Dow's Lake and the Experimental Farm. The website for the Family History Center in Ottawa is <www.OttawaStakefhc.on.ca>.

The treat turned out to be a dual presentation by Ottawa genealogists Glenn Wright (BIFHSGO member) and Lesley Anderson (with Ancestry.ca) on the Canadian Census.

They made the comment that they didn't think it had been done before - and I honestly don't think it has. They have taken a rather dull subject and have turned it into something fun and interesting - and if they present it again (which I hope they will), you should not miss it.

As Glenn and Leslie pointed out, census have been taken in Canada since 1666! They went through the history of the census as it was in Canada, paying special attention to the censuses since 1871 - the first national census in Canada.

The 1871 Canadian Census is still complete at the Library and Archives Canada (it wasn't discarded after it was microfilmed), and it has many different schedules of interest (e.g. the agricultural and industrial census is attached).

They stopped and looked at the 1906 and 1916 censuses of Western Canada (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta) and noticed how complete they are - they are on Ancestry.ca.

In the 1916 census, it has who was away on the First World War overseas, and people were asked the country of their birth to make sure the government was keeping track of immigration.

The 1911 Canadian Census was the last one made public before the next census of 1921 (which is due to be made public in 2013 - 92 years after it was taken) is also on Ancestry.ca. It is the year when people were asked what year they came to Canada - again, to keep track of immigration.

Leslie said that all Canadian census will be on the Internet at Ancestry.ca next month - the 10th of June.

I spent my break times answering questions on the Loyalists who came to Canada because I am descendent for them on both sides of the family, and also answered questions about the Ontario Genealogical Society because I am their newsletter editor.

Therefore, I didn't have time to go to the "cultural room" to see who was there at the table, although my husband went there, and said that BIFHSGO and the City of Ottawa Archives were there, to name a few.

It was time very well-spent, and Shirley Ann Pyefinch and her group are to be congratulated for putting together another successful fair, and for making us feel at home.

They should go "on the road" with their presentation, which they gave Saturday at the FHC Genealogy Fair in Ottawa.

Credit: Mario Lapointe, CD

Going to Brockville Tomorrow

Tomorrow, I am going down to Brockville, a city about an hour and a half away from here (Ottawa) to attend the Region VIII AGM and Genealogy Fair being hosted by Leeds and Grenville Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society.

The day-long meeting starts at 9:00 a.m., so we shall leave around 6:00 a.m., stop and have coffee, pick up another person and then travel along Highways 416 & 401 until we come to St. Lawrence College, where the genealogical day will be held.

There will be three speakers (Kees Van Den Heuval, Jessica Squires, and Dr. Timothy Abel) plus about 16 groups in the marketplace. I will attend the lectures and take pictures for the blog (I will tell you how it went next week) and for the OGS NewsLeaf and E-NewsLeaf.

It is suppose to be an early spring day, and the temperatures are supposed to go as high as 27 degrees Celsius, with afternoon thunderstorms thrown in for good measure - so it should be an interesting day!

The Genealogical Week in Review

I have been absent from the blog for a while because I have been busy writing articles, but here is a summary of some of the things which has happened this past week -

Ian S. Wilson Announces Retirement - Ian S. Wilson, the Chief Archivist and Librarian of the Library and Archives of Canada, is retiring April 24th.

This came somewhat as a surprise to genealogists, but he has been at the Library and Archives Canada since 1999 when he joined as National Archivist, and then became the Chief Librarian and Archivist in 2004 when the two institutions were united.

He says in his letter advising of his retirement that he will continue his work as President of the International Council of Archives.

The government will make an announcement shortly regarding his successor.

Ontario Genealogy Society's Call for Papers Conference 2010 - The Toronto Branch of the OGS will be hosting Conference 2010 and has called for papers for May 1st.

But recently, they have amended their "Call for Papers" in that the workshops they plan to hold for Italian and Dutch lecture streams will have until June 1, 2010 to submit their proposal for papers.

This extension is to allow for more complete outreach to these communities.

The deadline remains unchanged (1 May 2009) for submission of all other topics.

To read more details on Conference 2010, you should go to http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference2010.

Discount on British Columbia Membership - The Ontario Genealogy Society (OGS) has entered an arrangement with the British Columbia Genealogical Society (BCGS) in which you can belong to both societies with a $5.00 discount on your membership for both.

Remember, a couple of months ago a similar discount was announced with the Saskatchewan Genealogical Society's membership, and that seems to be going along quite nicely.

If you are a members of both societies or wish to be a member of both, you should phone 416.489.1734 or email <membership@ogs.on.ca>. BCGS members should phone 604.502.9119 or email <membership@bcgs.ca>.

The British Columbia Genealogist Arrives

The March 2009 issue of The British Columbia Genealogist arrived safely on my doorstep the other day.

As usual, Diane Rogers (the editor), has done a fantastic job in putting the stories together plus all the news about the BC genealogical community.

It was interesting to read the essay that won the Most Improved Contest entitled, “Nock, Nock, and Nock Again” by Brenda Smith, as well as the two follow-up essays - “David James Gill Became A Home Child in Canada in 1871” by Judy Hassall, and “The Stanborough Family” by Brenda Perfitt Jensen.

There are three cementeries covered in this issue: the Veterans Cemetery, Esquimalt; the Rock Creek Cementery at Rock Creek; and Robinson Memorial Park Cementery in Coquitlam. The pictures of the cementeries are quite nice.

This issue also contains the 2009 Price List for their publications, as well as the schedule of things going on in the chapter.

A New Format!

Just like Families, the journal of the Ontario Genealogical Society, did last fall, the Spring issue of the Nova Scotia Genealogist has gone to the larger 8½” ×11” size with this issue <www.chebucto.ns.ca/Recreation/GANS>.

As usual, there is something for everyone in the issue. I found the article on the diary of Murdoch Campbell Smith of Port Williams, Kings County by Carolyn McGrath insightful because he went to Horton Academy—eventually becoming Acadia University—which I attended in the late 1960s.

Secondly, he went to Oakland, California. I had relatives that went there around the same time, so I have a definite interest in that area.

I will be getting in contact with Carolyn to see if he wrote anything on my relatives since she said he wrote about his visits to other Nova Scotian families in the area.

Other articles included one on British Home Children; Pierre Cyr and His Family of Acadia; and one which explains the PERSI Index in the Allan County Library in Ft. Wayne, Indiana.

They also mention the new “Members-Only” area of the GANS website, news items in the Bulletin Board; and their publications and reference books for sale at a very reasonable price.

I was pleased to see another genealogical journal go to the larger format - for me, it makes for easier reading and storage. I await the electronic version, which they may switch to in the future.

For the month of April, I plan to attend two genealogical meetings. The first one is the Ottawa Chapter of the Ontario Genealogical Society’s <www.ogsottawa.on.ca> meeting on April 21st, with guest speaker, Diane Burnett, the librarian of the Upper Ottawa Valley Genealogical Group <www.uovgg.ca>.

The second one will be the day-long conference and Region VIII AGM for the Leeds Grenville Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society in Brockville - about an hour and a half south of Ottawa. It will be held on Saturday, April 25th <www.leedsandgrenvillegenealogy.com/events.html>.

I will have information on both of these meetings as we get closer to the date.