Some Canadian Archival Resources

Douglas Brymner (Dominion Archivist) July 3, 1823 - June 18, 1902

Douglas Brymner became Senior Second Class Clerk in 1872, and was responsible for the creation of a national archives in Canada. The government had voted for $4,000 to be spent in overseeing the collection of records, and in undertaking "general archival responsibilities".

Two archives that I use on a regular basis are the Nova Scotia Archives www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm and the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick http://archives.gnb.ca/archives because I have relatives in both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

The NS Archives astounds me every time I go to it – there is always something new. I have searched their vital records and have found births, marriages, and deaths there; I have searched through one of their virtual archives, 'Seeing Yarmouth': Celebrating 250 Years of Community Life, and have found areas there that interest me; and I have spent hours reading the Nova Scotia Historical Newspapers from Shelburne, finding my family name (Barclay) in them.

Go to www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual to get a complete listing of their Virtual Archives.

The archives in New Brunswick holds Nova Scotia newspapers, and I found things here that I couldn't find anywhere else, especially in their Daniel F. Johnson's New Brunswick Newspaper Vital Statistics webpage at http://archives.gnb.ca/APPS/NewspaperVitalStats/?culture=en-CA. So it is well-worth a look, as they are adding to it all the time.

If you go to the Archives of Manitoba website at www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives looking for estate records, take a look at the Winnipeg Estate Indexes, 1870-1983 webpage at www.gov.mb.ca/chc/archives/probate/wpg_estate.html.

I was lucky to find what I was looking for (for many people did go "Out West" when it was opened to find their fortune), and you just may be lucky enough to find your people listed in the estate indexes.

And, of course, I always come back to the Library and Archives Canada's (LAC) website at www.collectionscanada.gc.ca

One area that is worth a look on their website is the Search All search box, found in the upper right-hand corner of the page. Just put the name of the person you are looking for in the box, and you can search through four of their portals - "Library", "Archives", "Ancestors", and "Website" to see if there's a match.

You may be as surprised as I was when I discovered that a relative in the Boer War received a land grant from Canada, even though he had fought with the British in South Africa instead of with the Canadians!

So there is lots of information to find at these archives, either through the Internet, or by inter-library loan. All that one has to do is ask!

Tomorrow's Blog: Ontario Genealogical Groups

French-Canadian Societies

Marc-Amable Girard (1822–1892) was the second Premier of the Western Canadian province of Manitoba, and the first Franco-Manitoban to hold that post.

There are lots of French-Canadian societies in Quebec, but did you know that there are French-Canadian societies in other parts of Canada? French-Canadians—as they expanded westward across Canada—settled in villages, towns, and cities in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta.

Ontario

In the 2006 Canadian census, there were 488,815 French-Canadians in Ontario. They make up 4.1 per cent of the province's total population.

They are mainly concentrated in Eastern Ontario (in the cities of Ottawa, Cornwall, and towns in-between), Northeastern Ontario (in the cities of Sudbury, North Bay, and Timmins), and in Toronto, Windsor, Penetanguishene, and Welland.

There is Le Réseau du patrimoine franco-ontarien (RPFO) at http://rpfo.ca. This is a collection of over 30 French-Canadian societies in Ontario. Some sites are bilingual(F/E), while others are strictly in French, but they all have good information.

Manotiba

The majority of Franco-Manitobans (about 90%) live in the Greater Winnipeg area. There are Franco-Manitoban centres in Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, St. Claude, St. Pierre-Jolys, Ste. Anne, Ste. Rose du Lac, La Broquerie, Lorette, St. Laurent, Somerset, and St-Lazare.

The Manitoba Genealogical Society www.mbgenealogy.com covers all linguist groups in the province.

There is also The Manitoba Historical Society at www.mhs.mb.ca, and the Centre du patrimoine, Société historique de Saint-Boniface at http://shsb.mb.ca in which you can access the library database (in French), and the Voyageur contracts database (in French).

Saskatchewan

French-Canadians make up about 2 per cent of the population of Saskatchewan, and live in the cities of Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, and Moose Jaw. They also live in small towns such as Gravelbourg, Albertville, Duck Lake, Ponteix, Zenon Park, and Bellegarde.

Saskatchewan Genealogical Society www.saskgenealogy.com This society has 20 branches throughout the province, and covers the many peoples (including the French-Canadians) who settled there. Also, check La Société historique de la Saskatchewan at www.societehisto.com They have many published books such as La trace des pionniers, and offer a quarterly journal.

Alberta

The French-Canadians are centered in the Bonnie Doon area of Edmonton, in the towns of Bonnyville, Plamondon, and St. Paul in the northeast, and in the settlements of St. Isidore and the Municipal District of Smoky River No. 130, including the towns of Falher, Donnelly, McLennan, and Girouxville, as well as in north-central Alberta.

La Société généalogique du Nord-Ouest www.sgno.ca is located in Edmonton, and they have been a society since 1991. They have a very inclusive research library.

Tomorrow Post: Canadian Archival Societies

Holiday Sale!

In the spirit of providing readers of this blog with some great news about a terrific product, here is the latest news from Malcolm Moody of Archive CD Books Canada Inc. -

"WE HAVE CAUGHT SALES FEVER!

We have marked down ALL of our Canadian made CDs by UP TO 50%.  

Some CDs are only $7.00 each!

Sale prices are shown in the catalogue and will apply in the Shopping Cart.

(Sorry sale does not apply to Gleanings. They are ALWAYS at the minimum price.)

Don’t know how long we can keep this sale up. Shop early!"

Hurry to our Canadian Catalogue at:
http://www.archivecdbooks.ca/index.cfm?fuseaction=store.viewCatalog&lstCtl=8&lstCat=&lstSCat=#cat8

Archive CD Books Canada Inc.
President:  Malcolm Moody
PO Box 11,Manotick
Ontario, Canada K4M 1A2
Tel:(613) 692-2667 or 1-888-692-2660 - Toll-free
WEB SITE: http://www.ArchiveCDBooks.ca
FACEBOOK: http://tinyurl.com/ACDB-Can-on-Facebook

And here is a link to a review I recently did on them at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2011/12/archive-cd-books-project.html

African-Canadian Societies

Josiah Henson (June 15, 1789 – May 5, 1883). He escaped to Dresden, Ontario in 1830, and founded a settlement and labourer's school for other fugitive slaves from the United States. He became the main character in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin. You can visit the Uncle Tom's Cabin website at www.uncletomscabin.org.

It is thought that the first Black person to live in Canada was Mattheu Da Costa in 1605. He had come to Acadia with Samuel de Champlain (commonly referred to as the “Father of Canada”) on the ship, Jonas, from France.

Da Costa was the interpreter for the French with the Mi’kmaq natives of Nova Scotia, having been in Canada on previous occasions.

Here are some of the websites of Blacks in Canada -

Africville: The Spirit Lives On www.africville.ca This was a settlement of people of African descent who were former slaves, escaped slaves, and free people. In the 1960s, the community was destroyed in the theme of “urban renewal", but as the website says, “the community spirit continues to thrive today through annual gatherings and in the stories and photos of an aging generation”.

The Black Loyalist Heritage Society www.blackloyalist.com They are in the process of building a new centre to display the Black Heritage of Birchtown, Nova Scatia. There is also the Old School House Museum on site.

Black Cultural Centre for Nova Scotia www.bccns.com They just celebrated their 28th Anniversary this year, and they have just completed the 2011 Museum Renovation.

The Ontario Black History Society www.blackhistorysociety.ca. A genealogy webpage, www.blackhistorysociety.ca/genealogy_en_239cms.htm, offers leads in Black genealogy.

The Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society www.ckblackhistoricalsociety.org. The Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society has a current exhibit called “The Black Mecca in the Heritage Room“.

Tomorrow's Post: French-Canadian Societies

My List of Books for the Holidays

These are five books Canadian books that I have found particularly helpful to me during the past year, and which I have used in doing my own genealogy. I would suggest that you may find them helpful, too -

British Home Children: Their Stories. Compiled by the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (ISBN 978-1-926797-47-2). A compilation of personal essays in which 36 children tell their life stories of how they came to Canada, and the life they lived here between 1869 and 1948.

The book is available from Global Genealogy at http://globalgenealogy.com/countries/canada/home-children/resources/101189.htm

Tracing Your Irish Roots is published by Moorshead Magazines (ISBN 978-0-9781592-6-9). A great collection of fifteen articles previously printed by the publisher since 2005.

It is available through Moorshead Magazines at http://familychronicle.com/Best_of_Irish.htm

And as part of a series, her sister publication, Tracing Your English and Scottish Ancestors also has fifteen articles in it about English and Scottish genealogy.

It is available from http://familychronicle.com/best_of_engscot_contents.htm

One of the best books published in 2010—and which I use as my "go to" book on immigration, citizenship, and naturalization—is Dave Obee's book, Destination Canada: A Genealogical Guide to Immigration Records. (ISBN: 978-0-9735143-3-9)

For any questions that I am asked about immigration, I always include Obee's book in my searching for the answer because I want to make sure that I am aware of all of the facts surrounding immigration to Canada.

To read the rest of the review, go to http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2011/04/destination-canada.html.

The book is available from http://globalgenealogy.com/countries/canada/general/resources/319005.htm

Glenn Wright's Canadians at War 1914-1919, A Research Guide to World War One Service Records (ISBN13: 978-1-926797-45-5). This is a very detailed book on the resources available to a researcher on the Canadians who fought in the First World War.

A military archivist at Library and Archives Canada (LAC) before his retirement a number of year ago, he has left no stone unturned in his description of the resources available to the researcher. You can read the full review in Families, the journal of the Ontario Genealogical Society (a membership in the organization is required), or from Global Genealogy's listing at http://globalgenealogy.com/countries/canada/military/resources/101160.htm

Holiday Season 2011

(Ottawa, December 25, 2011) Elizabeth Lapointe, editor of GenealogyCanada.blogspot.com, is publishing significants posts on Canada's genealogy, history, and heritage during the holiday season, from Boxing Day, December 26, until January 2, 2012.

Lapointe says, "Since the Holidays are festive in Canada, GenealogyCanada wants to share with all of its readers special postings highlighting some of the country's best genealogical resources, and at the same time, celebrating the blog's 4^th blogiversary on January 2.

The Holiday postings will feature the following topics -

Dec 26 – List of Books for the Holidays
Dec 27 – African-Canadian Societies
Dec 28 – French-Canadian Societies
Dec 29 – Canadian Archival Societies
Dec 30 – Ontario Genealogical Groups
Dec 31 – Most Popular Pages of 2011
Jan 1 – Happy New Year!
Jan 2 – Our 4^th Blogiversary!

It is hoped that you will enjoy all of the Holiday postings, and if you see something you like, be sure to pass the word of the blog and tell your friends that GenealogyCanada.blogspot.com welcomes everyone to drop by to say 'Hello!' My email is genealogycanada@aol.com.

Happy Holidays to you and yours, and all of the very best for a Happy and Prosperous New Year!"

About GenealogyCanada

GenealogyCanada.blogspot.com is a Canadian blog covering genealogy, heritage, and history. Over 600 posts have been published since January 2008.

At its sister website, www.genealogycanada.com one will find are numerous newsletters, columns, and other articles of interest, dating from 2002 to 2007, covering genealogy, heritage, and history, including the popular webpage, "Website Pick of the Month".

-30-

This illustration was done for a Toronto newspaper by W. Bryce, who lived in the 1880s.

May I take this time of year to wish everyone a "Happy Holiday, and a Merry Christmas!"

I will be back on Monday with a regular posting, and it will cover my Christmas Reading List in place of my usual "New/Improved Canadian Websites and Blogs" post, which will be back in the new year.