Genealogy Canada

Monday, May 11, 2015

Canadian Week in Review - 11 May 2015

I have come across the following Canadian websites, social media websites, and newspaper articles this past week that were of interest to me, and I thought you might be interested in them, too.

This Week in Canadian History

In 1930, uranium was discovered in a mine in Ontario. The mine was to produce fuel for the atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the Second World War. The province’s uranium mines were closed by the late 1990s, mainly for economic reasons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_mining_in_Canada

Social Media

The Days of Their Lives

http://thedaysoftheirlives.blogspot.ca/

This blogger writes The Days of Their Lives, in which the lives of her ancestors are spotlighted.

Articles

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia history explained in 50 objects

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/nova-scotia-history-explained-in-50-objects-1.3062189

A single red clay brick got Joan Dawson thinking that maybe she could write a book about Nova Scotia, in the style of Neil MacGregor's History Of The World In 100 Objects.

Prince Edward Island

Dawson Hardware Building in Charlottetown gets new life

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/dawson-hardware-building-in-charlottetown-gets-new-life-1.3065481

A historic building on the corner of University and Kent streets in Charlottetown is one step closer to restoration.

Protective tarps came down Thursday on the 130-year-old Dawson Hardware Building.

Quebec

West Quebec steam train to run to Montebello, not Wakefield

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/west-quebec-steam-train-to-run-to-montebello-not-wakefield-1.3063924

The historic Wakefield steam train that's been offline for the past four years could be back on the rails by 2017, but its new route likely won't take it through the town that made it famous.

The Compagnie de Chemin de Fer de l'Outaouais, or CCFO — the corporation managed by the municipalities of Gatineau, Chelsea, and La Pêche that oversees the train — decided Wednesday.

Ontario

GENEALOGY WITH JANICE: The web makes it easy to search family history records

http://www.insidetoronto.com/news-story/5602105-genealogy-with-janice-the-web-makes-it-easy-to-search-family-history-records/

"When I started researching my family history it was a tediously slow process because NOTHING was online or even indexed! If I was lucky, the records were on microfilm and I could read them at the library using the hand crank on the reader to go from page to page. It was exercise."

Stattue for Flanders Field poet

http://www.ottawasun.com/2015/05/03/statue-for-flanders-field-poet

On the 100th anniversary of the creation of his great poem In Flanders Fields, a statue of John McCrae was unveiled at Green Island Park.

Fundraiser for black church unites community

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/05/03/fundraiser-for-black-church-unites-community.html

An online fundraising campaign for the township of Oro-Medonte launched in February during Black History Month has brought in $79,000 in donations like these, many from people with connections to the church long buried in the past.

If you would like to contribute, go to the site The Journey to Freedom at http://www.gofundme.com/oroafricanchurch

19th century schooner found at Toronto's Queen's Wharf

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/19th-century-schooner-found-at-toronto-s-queen-s-wharf-1.3065646

The remains of a 19th century schooner have been uncovered near Toronto's waterfront.

The ship, which could date back to as early as the 1830s, is incomplete, with only the keel, the lowermost portions of the stern and bow and a limited section of the bottom of the hull on the port side intact.

Manitoba

Winnipeg breaks ground on revamp of Battle of Seven Oaks monument

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-breaks-ground-on-revamp-of-battle-of-seven-oaks-monument-1.3062535

Construction began on Tuesday on the re-imagining of the Battle of Seven Oaks Monument National Historic Site in Winnipeg's West Kildonan neighbourhood.

Alberta

Jack Francis lovingly watches over U of A’s ALES Museum’s agricultural treasures

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Jack+Francis+lovingly+watches+over+ALES+Museum+agricultural+treasures/11033846/story.html

In a pristine white dairy barn on the University of Alberta’s South Campus, Jack Francis takes care of an eclectic collection of Alberta farming history.

British Columbia

B.C.’s Chinese-Canadian history going digital

http://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/b-c-s-chinese-canadian-history-going-digital-1.1872476

A Vancouver Island-based pilot project announced this week aims to digitize and archive these artifacts — providing access to thousands of items and hundreds of years of Chinese-Canadian history online.

Family eager to share stories of South Asian pioneers with all Canadians

http://www.hindustantimes.com/chandigarh/family-eager-to-share-stories-of-south-asian-pioneers-with-all-canadians/article1-1343258.aspx

The 100 Year Journey celebrates contributions of 100 pioneers and commemorates the arrival of the Komagata Maru in Burrard Inlet on May 23, 1914.

Some of these pioneer stories will be published on Vancouver www.Desi.com through the month of May

Do you know your Japanese-Canadian history?

http://www.straight.com/blogra/443836/do-you-know-your-japanese-canadian-history

To a lot of people who weren’t alive during World War II, the war is something that happened “over there”. But even Canadians who stayed in North America experienced the war, and Japanese-Canadians had a particularly brutal time of it.

Stories of the Week

Ontario Heritage Trust museums open for the summer

This summer, visit one of the Ontario Heritage Trust's seasonal museums and learn more about the history of our province. Located across the province, each of these museums brings Ontario's story to life through the experiences of ordinary and extraordinary people from our past.

Niagara Apothecary, Niagara-on-the-Lake – May 8 to September 7, 2015

Visit this National Historic Site and see how pharmacists practiced their profession 150 years ago, with rows of patent medicines and "miracle cure-alls" for everything from hair loss to tuberculosis.

Open daily and on weekends from Labour Day to Thanksgiving.

The website is http://www.ocpinfo.com/extra/apothecary/index.html

Fulford Place, Brockville – May 10 to August 30, 2015

Come for tea at this opulent mansion and National Historic Site overlooking the St. Lawrence River and experience how a millionaire entrepreneur and his family lived in the early 1900s. The seasonal tea room offers treats and refreshments; the museum is open year-round.

The website is at http://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/Fulford-Place/Visit-Fulford-Place.aspx

Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Dresden, Chatham-Kent – May 16 to October 23, 2015

Discover Josiah Henson, an abolitionist minister who escaped slavery and overcame unbelievable odds to find freedom and establish communities in Canada. The annual Emancipation Day celebration – a highlight of the season – takes place on Saturday, August 1.

The website is at http://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/Uncle-Tom-s-Cabin-Historic-Site/Home.aspx

Homewood Museum, Maitland (near Brockville) – June 13 to August 30, 2015

Explore one of the oldest houses in Ontario where generations of the Jones family lived, including a descendant who developed an internationally-renowned variety of apple. Bring the children to this National Historic Site for the annual Family Day celebration on Sunday, July 26.

The website is http://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/Conservation/Buildings/More-buildings/Eastern-Ontario/Homewood-Museum-(Maitland,-near-Prescott).aspx

Mather-Walls House, Kenora – June 29 to August 29, 2015

Step into the house built by John Mather, an enterprising businessman who formed the Keewatin Lumbering and Manufacturing Company in the late 1800s. It was one of three nearly identical houses built for his employees. Operated by the Lake of the Woods Historical Society.

The website is at http://www.heritagetrust.on.ca/Conservation/Buildings/More-buildings/Northern-Ontario/Mather-Walls-House-(Kenora).aspx

Macdonell-Williamson House, Chute-à-Blondeau (near Hawkesbury) – July 4 to August 30, 2015

Visit the former home of John Macdonell, a fur trader with the North West Company in the early 1800s, who sponsored construction of the first steamboat on the Ottawa River. This National Historic Site is newly reopened after significant conservation work, and features new displays.

The website is at http://www.mwhouse.ca/home.html

And that was the Canadian genealogy, history, and heritage news in Canada this past week!

SPECIAL OFFER!!!!!!!!!

Need help in finding your Canadian ancestors?

As a nod of the hat to the Ontario Genealogical Conference being held in Barrie, Ontario from May 29 to May 31, may we take this opportunity to offer a month-long discount on our research and consultation services of 15% (ends 11 June at midnight).

Just go to Elizabeth Lapointe Research Services at www.elrs.biz, or send an email with the subject "special" to genealogyresearch@aol.com to see how I can help you find that elusive Canadian ancestor!

The next Canadian Week in Review will be posted 18 May 2015. Last week's issue is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/05/canadian-week-in-review-04-may-2015.html

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Oldest lighthouse in the Americans to get renovations

The federal government has recently announced the a Nova Scotia lighthouse – the Sambro Island lighthouse – is more than $1.5 million in federal funding over the next two years for renovations.

The lighthouse has been in operation for more than 250 years, and the work will include restoring the lighthouse's original lantern, painting the building and installing heating and ventilation.

The lighthouse was built in 1758 and is considered the oldest one in operation in the Americas.

For more information, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambro_Island_Light

For more information, go to the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/sambrolighthouse

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

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/05/canadian-week-in-review-04-may-2015.html

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012

Children of Topley

Photo of Missie Perley, Ottawa, July 1893 – photographer William Topley

(Library and Archives Canada : Mikan 3489570)

In honour of Mother’s Day, the Children of Topley, photos taken by William Topley from Ottawa who took many photos of children in his studio, have been places on Flickr by the Library and Archives Canada.

Comprised of over 150,000 glass plate negatives as well as studio proofs and counter books, the Topley Collection dates from 1868 to 1923.

To check out the collection, go to Flickr, the Children of Topley is at https://www.flickr.com/photos/lac-bac/sets/72157651170942042/?rb=1

To read the full biography, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_James_Topley

Another indexing opportunity

A new project that has been started by the Kawartha Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society is the indexing of the family histories in the society’s library.

They hope to create a name index for each history and will put the index in TONI (The Ontario Name Index - the three million and growing name index created by OGS).

If you would like to help, this is another project you can do in your own home. You will be sent a digitized copy of the family history, you read it, and you enter each name you find into a spreadsheet.

It sounds like a neat thing to do over the summer!

If you want to help, please contact them at kawarthaprojects@ogs.on.ca

The website for the TONI page is http://www.ogs.on.ca/projects.php#toni

Saturday, May 9, 2015

Thank you, Dick Eastman!

I read some disappointing news this morning – Dick Eastman won’t be posting to his blog on the weekends anymore! It will no longer appear Saturday and Sunday in your mail box those two days, so that he can take some well-deserved time off.

He has been publishing since 1996, when, like so many of us, his posts started out as a newsletter. He converted it to a blog in 2004 at http://blog.eogn.com/

To show you how popular the blog and Dick has been to the genealogy community, I think everyone one of us (seasoned genealogists, that is) have met and enjoyed the company of Dick.

So I am sure that all of us wish him a well-deserved rest, and may the EOGN continue forever!

You can subscribe to the newsletter at http://www.feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?Sub=48932

Friday, May 8, 2015

Two more Facebook pages ...

Dave Hunter, the man behind The Island Register of Prince Edward Island at http://www.islandregister.com/, now has two Facebook pages – the first once concerns photos and the second one concerns The Telephone Museum which he runs himself.

The Prince Edward Island Family Photos page in its first few weeks has 193 members, and a large number of family photos posted by its users. It took quite a jump in memberships in the last couple of weeks. There has been a large amount of information found to bolster the information the submitters had, and we are all very pleased with its progress!

The Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/groups/PEIFamilyPhotos/

The Telephone Museum Facebook page has also done amazingly well in it first few weeks - it had 110 members, and now has a number of discussions about various telephone subjects, and with members from the USA, Canada, Ireland, and Great Britain.

The Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/groups/PEITelelephoneMuseum/

Calling all travellers!!!

Between June and August this year, if you are leaving and saying goodbye to someone special at Toronto Pearson International Airport or if you are waiting for someone to arrive back home – the people at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) needs your story! Your story could appear in their program called Hello Goodbye Canada.

Please fill out their very brief questionnaire and one of their story producers will get back to you ASAP!

To fill out the questionnaire, go to
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1kIYr_AhiouNfGO8IIZMfXdnH7llnqpMRsRygyLaFs3w/viewform?c=0&w=1

Early Nipissing District, Ontario Births, Marriages, Deaths Records

While at the Nipissing District Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society yesterday, I came across a site that may hold records that you have been looking for and have not been able to find. It is the are early birth, marriage and death records.

The say on the website that ‘While the old records at the Nipissing District Land Registry Office were being inventoried by members of Apolrod, three old registers were discovered which contain important information relating to early settlers. The Land Registrar gave permission for these books to be copied and the information is provided here for research purposes.

The first book contains an index of births, marriages and deaths in the Nipissing District; the second contains the original entries for 56 births; and the third contains the original entries for 27 marriages. The book containing the original entries for the 26 deaths has not been located as of November 1997.

Most of the events in these records took place in the Mattawa area and contain many first nations people. Many of the marriages were of shanty men. Catholic priests, J.M. Nedelec, J.M. Poitras, and J.M. Gueguen and Protestant ministers, John McEwan, Robert Hamilton, C.V. Forster Bliss, Silas Huntington, and D.L. MacKechnie officiated the marriages’.

The period covered by these records are

Births: February 1871 to March 1881http://www.nipissing.ogs.on.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Early-Nipissing-Births.pdf

Marriages: January 1871 to July 1883 http://www.nipissing.ogs.on.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Early-Nipissing-Marriages.pdf

Deaths: February 1871 to December 1881 http://www.nipissing.ogs.on.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Early-Nipissing-Deaths.pdf

The website is at http://www.nipissing.ogs.on.ca/

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Extra news items

Here are some news items which have come across the desk this week -

The Weekly Genealogists Vol 18 No 17 #Whole 737 29 April 2015 had their weekly survey once again, and this time they asked about our orphan ancestors.

Of the 4,024 who answered, 58% said they were not aware of any of their ancestors having been an orphan, and 10% said they were aware of one or more of their grandparents was an orphan, and another 10% said that they were aware of one or more of their great-grandparents was an orphan.

I do not have anyone in my family, either on my maternal or paternal side who was an orphaned.

How about you?

The Ontario Genealogical Society has officially launched their Twitter service at @OGSBarrie2015, and it looks like they are getting a good response.

The website is at https://twitter.com/OGSBarrie2015

The Department of Canadian Heritage is providing $2,300 to the Emancipation Festival through the Building Communities.

This will help support the 153rd edition of their annual summer event in Owen Sound, Ontario. This year's activities take place from July 31 to August 27 and include an artist and artisan show, speakers' forum and musical performances.

The Emancipation Festival has been holding an annual Black History celebration and commemoration event in Owen Sound since 1862. The village of Sydenham near Owen Sound was the most northerly terminus of the Underground Railway from the United States.

Read more about the Emancipation Festival at http://www.emancipation.ca/

Lastly, the latest news from the Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia is that they have a 3-month trial offering from Find My Past so that you can access through WIFI at the GANS office. This is a great database for finding those NS ancestors with origins in the UK. A reminder that they also have American Ancestors at the office. The research room is open Thursday from noon to 4 pm. Come access these great resources or check out the traditional library resources.

The website is http://www.novascotiaancestors.ca/

Would you like to volunteer?

The Manitoba Genealogical Society (MGS) will be participating again this year in this arts, culture and heritage fair along with many other community organizations, and it is called Manitoba Day Celebration.

The celebration will be held at Alloway Hall at the Manitoba Museum in Winnipeg on Saturday May 9th from 11am to 5 pm.

The celebration includes free admission to the Museum Galleries, Science Gallery and Planetarium, special educational programming throughout the day, and a new temporary exhibit featuring fur trade materials from the Hudson Bay Co. and Archaeology collections Trade: Materials and Ideas in Transition. Birthday cake (Manitoba’s 145th) and other refreshments will be served later in the day.

Why not volunteer for an hour and then take advantage of the free admission?

They need volunteers to staff their table - two volunteers for each hour (12 people could do 1 hour each). If you are available, please contact Bill Curtis (Outreach Chair) at billcurtiswpg@hotmail.com.

This is a great opportunity for MGS to inform the general public about their organization.

The website is at http://www.mbgenealogy.com/

The Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/pages/Manitoba-Genealogical-Society-Inc/7054423205

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Black Loyalist Heritage Centre opens June 6th

The Black Loyalist Heritage Centre, located in Birchtown, Nova Scotia (just outside of Shelburne on the province's’ southwest coast), will have their grand opening on Saturday June 6, 2015. The grand opening has the title of The Journey Back to Birchtown.

It will performances by African Nova Scotian artists and a multi-media stage presentation. Performers include Juno award-winner JRDN, Jeremiah Sparks, Dutch Robinson, Shelley Hamilton, Cyndi Cain, Joe Sealey, the Nova Scotia Mass Choir, the Sierra Leone dancers, Shauntay Grant, Hillcrest Academy Djembe Group and many more.

The program will also feature John Franklin of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and the Book of Negroes author Lawrence Hill.

Tours of the new facility will begin at 9 am, keynote addresses in the morning, procession of dignitaries from the Black Burial Ground, National Historic Monument at 1:30 pm and entertainment will start in the afternoon at 2 pm.

If you haven’t been to the site before, is a digital archive which you can read Our Story at http://blackloyalist.com/cdc/index.htm

To read more about the details, go to http://blackloyalist.com/

Their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Black-Loyalist-Heritage-Centre/111527972216141?fref=photo

Would you like to transcribe?

If you would like to contribute to the transcribing effort that the Royal British Columbia Museum is undertaking, then you should go to http://transcribe.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/

The project is called First World War Letters, Diaries and Scrapbooks, and it covers letters, diaries and scrapbooks from the First World War.

The transcriptions you create will become searchable data, facilitating learning and research around the world. Whether you choose to transcribe one page, one hundred pages, or just browse our collections, you’re helping us share the stories that matter.

There is a Transcription Tips on the page that you should read, as well as
over 12 projects you can choose from to transcribe.

The Facebook page is at ia a https://www.facebook.com/RoyalBCMuseum

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Manitoba Archives blog “At home and Away”

Manitoba Archives has had a blog since 2014, and its main emphasis is on the First World War and Manitoba.

In April 2015, there are two new postings -

On the 2 April 2015, there is the Keeping a Diary in the Trenches.

George Henry Hambley was one of over 600,000 Canadians who served in the First World War. Hambley enlisted at Camp Hughes (then Camp Sewell) on 13 October 1915 when he was almost 19 years old. He was a trooper in the Canadian Light Horse and served in France, Belgium, and Germany, fighting in the battles of Ypres, Mons, Cambrai, and Vimy Ridge.

And the second post was 7 April 2015 Hudson's Bay Company & Cable Communications

During the First World War cables (also known as telegrams) were an almost immediate source of communication. The Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) utilized this form of communication on a daily basis in the early 20th century, as demonstrated in a series of inward and outward cables records titled “Cables related to Hudson's Bay Company's wartime business with European governments” from 1914 to 1916.

If you are interested in reading these blogs, go to http://www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/ww1blog/index.html?utm_source=T270415&utm_medium=T270415&utm_campaign=T270415

Three Canadian indexes updated at Ancestry.ca

The 1871 Canada census, an every name index to individuals enumerated in the 1891 Canada Census, has been updated.

British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec – and the Northwest Territories, which at the time was comprised of the districts of Alberta, Assiniboia East, Assiniboia West, Saskatchewan, and Mackenzie River. Other unorganized territories are also included.

The website for the 1891 census is at http://search.ancestry.ca/search/db.aspx?dbid=1274

This database is an every name index to individuals enumerated in the 1871 Canada Census, the first census of Canada since it became a country in 1867.

It is the census of the provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, and Ontario.

The website for the 1871 census is at bhttp://search.ancestry.ca/search/db.aspx?dbid=1578

They have also updated the Manitoba Birth Index 1866-1912.

You can go to http://search.ancestry.ca/search/db.aspx?dbid=70599

Happy Researching!