Ontario Family History Research Course

The following item was sent to me by Gwyneth Pearce of the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society -

For those with Ontario roots, the next 4-week Ontario Family History Research course offered by the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society starts on March 9th.

To register, visit the Branch website at www.torontofamilyhistory.org/courses.html.

Here is the course description:

ONTARIO FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH

Searching for ancestors in Ontario? This course will provide a brief historical
background and introduce records essential to Ontario research including land and property records, vital statistics (pre- and post- 1869), estate records, census, directories and maps – with emphasis on 19th century sources.

Course: 4 sessions, Tuesdays 7–9 PM, March 9–March 30

Location: North York Central Library, Meeting Room 2

Instructor: Jane MacNamara

Fee: $66 ($60 for OGS members)

Connections

I always enjoy receiving Connections from the Quebec Family History Society.

This time, it's the Winter 2010 issue, and I wasn't disappointed.

For articles, they have "The Haunted House of Sir George A. Drummon", "Patriots' Prison", and the "Edifice Gilles Hocquart", all written by Robert N. Nixon.

"Treasure in France", by Ransom Vrooman, and "Surviving the Russian Quagmire 1942-1945", by E. Peter McLoughlin, round out the article in this edition.

Although I haven't had the chance to go to any of their meetings yet, I like to read about them, and I hear that they will have the conference in June next year - that will be a treat that I am looking forward to with great anticipation!

Besides reading the articles, I also like to read the newest library acquisitions since the last issue, the Queries section, and a chance to see what is new on the computer page, and in genealogical software.

So, if you have English ancestors in Quebec, or have some who lived in Quebec, and you don't belong to the society, maybe it's time you checked out the Quebec Family History Society www.qfhs.ca because they offer a lot for the money.

BC Genealogists

December (which I thought was going to be a quiet month) turned out to be among the busiest I have ever had as far as writing articles is concerned.

Now that I have a few weeks free, I will try to post blogs more often. This is a special blog because it is about The British Columbia Genealogist, and it's all about sports. The BC Genealogist is tipping its hat to the Olympics that will be there in February.

They have a number of articles on different sports and its stars, such as Lionel E. YORKE, who played Lacrosse; Baseball in the Fifties from Merritt, BC; Tommy PHILLIPS, Hockey Player; George ELLEY, Stanley Park Race Runner; Eleanor McKENZIE and Ron MILLER, Olympic Athletes; the Dawson Creek Ladies Curling Club; and the Vancouver Y.M.C.A.

There are other articles about the trip some of the members took to Salt Lake City, a profile of the South Peace Roots Group, and Manitoba Reunions in Vancouver, 1910.

This is always a very-well put-together newsletter, with lots of interesting articles.

The website is www.bcgs.ca.

The Nova Scotia Genealogist - New Issue

Their newsletter just came in this past weekend in its new large format, and it looks good.

There are three articles of interest this edition and they are -

• "The Death of William Ackhurst" by K. Lamb

• "A Note on the Family of Robert Westcott of Warwick and North Kingston, Rhode Island and Newport and Falmouth, Nova Scotia" by B. Owen

• "Ferdinand Traunweizer, an Itinerant Jeweller from Poland to Texas, Part I" by S. Lomas.

In their 'Sources of Research' section, they have published the database put together by Earle Ripley of Saskatoon of the "His Majesty's Nova Scotia Regiment of Fencible Infantry, Part II".

If you want to contact Earle, he can be reached at condomble@shaw.ca.

Also, there is a list of surnames found at the Dartmouth Heritage Museum on page 135 of the newsletter.

The site of the Dartmouth Heritage Museum is at www.dartmouthheritagemuseum.ns.ca, and their email is museum@bellaliant.com

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you, our faithful readers!

So, here are some links for the same festive greetings in different languages or as listed by country.

Merry Christmas (in over 75 languages) - www.ethnicharvest.org/ideas/christmas.htm

Merry Christmas (by country) - www.myuniversalfacts.com/2005/12/how-to-say-merry-christmas-in.html

Happy New Year (by language) - www.myuniversalfacts.com/2005/12/how-to-say-happy-new-year-in-different.html

I have my hopes on some nice things for my genealogy research, although I was lucky enough to solve a brickwall this past year, which in turn, was a solved brickwall from the previous couple of years - my Aunt Annie Louisa Barclay, whom I had heard about, but couldn't find. Well, long story short (I will write abut this later in detail), I discovered a new branch of the family, and made contact with a few distant "cousins" along the way.

So may Santa fulfill all your genealogy wishes!

Elizabeth

Genealogy Season is Stirring!

Every spring, the genealogy season in Canada starts to stir as the weather changes from cold and snow, to warm and sunshine. It's also a good time for the Ottawa Branch of the OGS to take advantage of the change in seasons, as it hosts its 27th Annual Gene-O-Rama on March 26 and 27 at the Library and Archives Canada.

The theme, "Researching Female Ancestors", will feature Lisa Alzo as guest speaker Friday evening, speaking on "Silent Voices: Telling the Stories of Your Female Immigrant Ancestors".

Saturday seems to be quite full of interesting topics such as "Using Library and Archives Canada Databases and Resources to Trace Females Ancestors" to "DNA Testing for Genealogy: Not Just for Men".

In the evening is the banquet, to be held at Algonquin College. The guest speaker, Glenn Wright, will give a talk on "Sex, Lies and Archives: Behind Closed Doors at the Public Archives of Canada, 1900-1950".

The lecture on Friday evening is free to the public, and the cost for Saturday's banquet is very reasonable, at $35.00 for an individual OGS member, or $40.00 for a non-member.

For more information, visit their website, or contact them at conference@ogsottawa.on.ca.

Hope to see you there!

Arcalife Nets Deal

Vancouver's Arcalife, and a British company, Firebird Media Ltd., have signed a deal which will bring the two companies closer together in archiving personal history on the Internet.

Arcalife will use Firebird Media's Memorybank to offer its customers a "people's archive", including sources of local history as well as their own personal history.

Arcalife CEO Paul Taylor says, "This is significant opportunity for both organizations. Many of our operational needs are similar and our services are complimentary, so it makes perfect sense".

I met Paul in Ottawa about a month ago while I was covering a meeting for the Canada 150 Project. At that time, he was busy getting his company out of the starting blocks in Canada, and was looking forward to a bright future.

It looks like he has struck his stride with this partnership.