BRANTches - November 2010

BRANTches is the publication of the Brant County Ontario Genealogy Society, and its editor is Christine Woodcock.

In the latest edition (November 2010) of the newsletter, it was noted that the September meeting saw Misty DeMeo of the County of Brant Library System give a talk on the digitization project. The first part of the project involved scanning documents and photographs of all kinds, and the second part will involve personal memories and family history.

The October meeting was a 2-day affair which saw the Branch host the British Home Child Memorial Quit Display and the British Home Child Descendants Reunion. By all accounts, it was a great success.

There are many photos of the day in the newsletter, and there were display tables showing the homes were the Home Children in the put when they first came to Canada - Fegan Homes, Barnardo Homes, Miss Marie Rye, Middlemore Homes, MacPherson Homes, National Children's Homes, St. George's Homes, and Quarrier Homes.

There is also an articles on "How to Create a GEDCOM File", "New Books in Our Library", "From the Library Shelf", and "The Adventures of a Ten Dollar Bill: How I Tore Down My Brickwall" in which the editor tells how she found her great-grandfather and great-uncle.

To find out more about the Brant Branch, please visit www.brantcountybranchogs.ca.

The Ottawa Genealogist - Nov/Dec 2010

The Ottawa Genealogist is is now published four times a year by the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society www.ogsottawa.on.ca. The editor is Edward Kipp, and he can be reached at editor@ogsottawa.on.ca. The Branch recently switched to an electronic version, with the paper-bound edition now an option.

In the November/December 2010 edition is an article by Elizabeth Kipp about blogging called, "Blogging - sharing genealogy in a different way".

In the article, Elizabeth tells how and why she set up a blog to describe her research trip to Salt Lake City, and posted to it on quite a regular basis while she was there.

Her blog address is kippeeb.blogspot.com.

Meanwhile, her husband and fellow genealogist, Edward Kipp, tells us about "Jones Falls and Col. By".

He gives a history of the Falls, and on page 157 and 158 are pictures of the dam at Jones Locks, and on page 160, there are sources as well as pictures of the Locks, painted in the middle 1800s.

There are two articles from The Ottawa Citizen called the "Old-Time Stuff" (the first article is called "Col. By instituted Toll Gates Here; in '28 Put Tax on the First Bridge" October 18, 1824, and the second article "Where the Soldiers Lived on Barrack Hill" published March 23, 1924).

Other articles and features include the "Electronic Notebook" by Mike More, "Gleanings from Newsletters in the Ottawa Branch library" by Heather Oakley, and "John Thorton, Charles Waterston, and William Wilson" by Robert Serre.

All-in-all, an interesting read, as usual.

Three Years and Counting!

Dear Readers,

It's hard to believe that time flies by so quickly, but here we are, three years later, having launched our blog http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com on January 2nd, 2008!

Check out our first post at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2008/01/welcome-to-genealogy-canada-blog.html

And if you want to see what we've posted over the years, drop by our Blog Archives (see the link at the right-side of the screen) and surprise yourself at what you may find.

Thank you for visiting, and for your continued support.

Happy blogging!

Elizabeth

Sault Channels Newsletter

A newsletter of the Sault Ste. Marie Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS), Sault Channels is published quarterly, and edited by Arthur Manley saultchannels@shaw.ca.

The first couple of pages are taken up by the talks given by the speakers -

In September, Rev. Mal Binks, an Anglican priest at the Church of St. John the Evangelist, talked about how his and his wife's family came to Canada in 1870.

In October, Cathy Blackburn (Region IX Director) discussed "Peeking Under Grandpa's Kilt" and about the many trips he made to Scotland researching the family name of Wilcox.

In November, John Parniak talked about Eastern Europe research - especially back to Galicia, where his Ukrainian/Polish family is from.

In the December issue, there is a rather lengthy article written by Colleen Ray on the Tweedsmuir Histories, and the history of Ansonia, and places along the north shore of Lake Huron.

They have continued with two articles taken from the Sault Daily Star, a newspaper in the community of Sault Ste. Marie. The first article is from the June 16, 1936 issue by Dan McDonald in which the author talks to many of the old settlers of the area. He continued on in another article dated July 9, 1935, talking to the some of the first settlers to the area.

The rest of the newsletter is taken up by notices, a report from the Branch Executive Workshop—which took place in September in Toronto—and news about the OGS Cruise that will leave New York City on September 10th for New England, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.

If you wish more information about the Sault Ste. Marie & District Branch, please visit their website at www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~onogsssm.

Congratulations, Terry Punch!

A press release dated December 3oth states that Terry Punch, a former history teacher and a genealogist from Nova Scotia, will receive a membership to the Order of Canada from His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, later this year.

I first met Terry in Ottawa during a Gene-O-Rama Conference in 1993, although I had listened to his monthly appearances on the CBC Halifax station for a number of years.

He was on for the full half-hour, and would take phone calls (he still does) from all over the Atlantic Provinces.

Besides being the author of many books (he wrote the basic book on genealogy in Nova Scotia — Genealogical Research in Nova Scotia — ISBN 1-55109-235-2), he was one of the founders of the Genealogical Institute of the Maritimes, and one of the longest members of the Association of Nova Scotia Genealogists.

So to see that he will receive one of the country's highest civilian honours is well-deserved.

The Order of Canada was established in 1967, during Canada's centennial year, to recognize a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to community, and service to the nation. Over the last 40 years, more than 5,000 people from all sectors of society have been invested into the Order.

Blogs I Followed in 2010

Here are some of the blogs I follow on a daily basis, in no particular order. I thought that you would enjoy them, also -

Anglo-Celtic Connections
http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com

This is the blog of John D. Reid, and he posts on a regular basis. This may be of interest to those searching their Anglo-Celtic as well as Canadian ancestors.

Saskatchewan Genealogical Society
http://saskgenealogy.blogspot.com

This blog is from the Saskatchewan Genealogical Society, and they talk about Canadian and Anglo-Celtic sources.

Alberta Family Histories Society Blog
http://afhs.ab.ca/blog

This is the blog of the Alberta Family History Society. They post about genealogy happenings in Canada.

CanadaGenealogy, or, 'Jane's Your Aunt'
http://canadagenealogy.blogspot.com

This is M. Diane Rogers' blog. In addition to her own family, she blogs about news in British Columbia, and of her own experiences as a graveyard rabbit.

Olive Tree Genealogy Blog
http://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com

This blog by Lorine McGinnis Schulze has a plethora of primary resources transcribed online. This is especially true of passenger lists that no one else seems to have.

Janet the Researcher
http://researchergal.blogspot.com

Janet Iles has a very interesting blog, and always writes about ancestors from a researcher's point of view.

Librarians Helping Canadian Genealogists Climb Family Trees
www.canadianlibgenie.blogspot.com

This is a blog by Elise C. Cole, and she write about genealogy from the librarian's point of view.

Brenda Dougall Merriman
http://brendadougallmerriman.blogspot.com

A blog written by a fellow member of APG, she often writes about my home province (Nova Scotia) in her postings.

Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) Blog
www.ogs.on.ca/ogsblog

The official blog of the Canada's largest genealogical society, they post all the news about the OGS.

Finally, please allow me to wish you and yours a Happy New Year, and the best for 2011!


Thank you for following MY blog (Genealogy Canada). I hope you've enjoyed it!

Elizabeth

Anglo-Celtic Roots - Winter 2010

"The cover image combines the Coat-of-arms for the Blakes of Wiltshire/Hampshire/Somerset, England, (courtesy Elizabeth Kipp) with an image of a DNA helix (Wikipedia: National Human Genome Research Institute)"

I wasn't able to go to the December 11th meeting because of work commitments, but my dear husband dropped in for a minute and picked up the latest copy of Anglo-Celtic Roots, the award-winning quarterly publication of BIFHSGO (British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa).

In this issue are three articles, a review of their annual Fall Conference held in September, news on the Home Children Book Project by Brian Glenn, the passing of long-time BIFHSGO member (and former president) and ACR columnist ("The Printed Page") Gordon Taylor, and a report of the writer's workshop by Carol Annett, which was also held during the Conference.

As well is "The Bookworm" by Betty Warburton, listing new holdings (with some interesting titles) for the Brian O'Regan Memorial Library, the "Members' Surname Search" by Elizabeth Kipp, a membership report by Tara Grant, a message from the president, Glenn Wright, and a note from the editor.

The first article by Elizabeth Kipp, Barrie Blake, and Bill Bleak — "Revealing the Blake Family - a yDNA Project" — looks into how the surname of Blake originated. It follows through the yDNA process, and outlines the ongoing research.

If you have questions about the Blake surname, Elizabeth can be reached at kippeeb@rogers.com.

The second article, by Anglo-Celtic Connections blogger, John D. Reid — "Local Roots of Governor General David Johnston" — tries to trace the ancestry of David Johnston, Canada's newest Governor General.

Although the Library and Archives Canada does not have some of the newspapers which could have BMDs in them, he does find the newspaper at the local library, and starts to trace back the family.

If you are researching relatives in the 20th century, this is an excellent article (with detailed endnotes) to read.

The third article is a "Great Moments" article by Chris MacPhail (the editor of ACR) who writes about his great-aunt Lillian and the surprises he found in "The Importance of Being Ernest".