Lest We Forget: Researching Your World War Ancestors

The Keshen Goodman Branch of the Halifax Public Library is hosting a talk this Saturday at 2:390 pm on learning how to build your military ancestors' stories using the most common resources available online and at the library.

The talk will be given by Joanne McCarthy, Reference Librarian, and she will use actual examples of Nova Scotia service files from the Lest We Forget workshops for those of you in the area,

Visit the Keshen Goodman Public Library at
www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca/branches/locations/keshen-goodman.html

Visit them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/hfxpublib

Talk Notes

Do you know that they have a series of "Talk Notes" on the Alberta Family History Society since 1997 up to the present day.

These are notes on the talks that are given by the meeting presenters to post on the society's website, and some of them are quite useful.

I took a minute and read through them yesterday, and there are notes on Eastern European Ancestry, Scottish Law, Ontario Land Records, Mining Online Resources, and Family History in Homestead and Land Records.

There have been other societies in Canada which have done this, but they hae usually put them behind “Member’s Only” website, so they aren’t available to the public.

But if you want to read the AFHS "Talk Notes", go to www.afhs.ab.ca/aids/talks/index.shtml to see what notes are available.

Two Meetings in Ottawa on Sept 22nd

I, among other genealogists in the city, will be busy Saturday as we will have two events in Ottawa that I plan to attend –

There will be the first meeting of the fall/winter season by BIFHSGO to be held at the Library and Archives Canada on Sept 22nd.

At 9:00 to 9:30 pm, there will be the Before BIFHSGO Educational Talk which will be on Google Earth for Genealogy by Ann Burns.

From 9:30 to 10:00 am there will be Browse the Discovery Tables and Computer, and at 10:00-11:30 there will be the Monthly Meeting Speaker

The subject of the talk will be “Why Study Genealogists? Initial Results from the Canadian Genealogy Survey” given by Dr. Leighann C. Neilson

During the summer and early fall of 2011, over 2,700 family historians completed the Canadian Genealogy Survey online, including many BIFHSGO members. This survey was the first to attempt to capture data about family historians across the nation, and promises to expand our knowledge of the ways that genealogical So I am exhibited to hear the results.

Go to www.bifhsgo.ca

And at 1 pm on Sept. 22nd, there will be the first meeting of the fall/winter season of the OGS Ottawa Branch.

It will be held at the Diefenbunker Bunker, Cold War Museum, at 3911 Carp Road. A pre-meeting will start at 1:00 pm with tour starting at 2 pm.

The facility, was decommissioned in December 1994, and reopened as the Diefenbunker, Canada's Cold War Museum, and a National Historic Site.

Go to www.diefenbunker.ca, or the http://ogsottawa.on.ca for more information.

I have never been there before, and I have heard so much about the place, I am excited to see it for myself.

The Branch is covering the cost of the tour, so there will not be a charge for this tour.

Loyalist Weekend in Shelburne Nova Scotia Sept 21-23

Stephen Davidson UE of my former hometown of Shelburne, Nova Scotia tells us that the Shelburne (Nova Scotia) Re-enactment Association will be hosting a living history/Loyalist history weekend from Friday, Sept. 21-23rd featuring guest speaker Todd Braisted.

The event begins with a wine and cheese meet and greet at the Shelburne County Museum from 7-9 pm. The remainder of the event gets underway at the Shelburne Regional High School on Saturday, September 22nd with sessions running from 9 - 4 pm and again on Sunday with sessions running from 10-5 pm.

Information sessions include: Bergen County 101, History of the 4th Battalion of the New Jersey Volunteers, New Jersey Volunteer Material Culture, Who Do You Think They (men of the NJV) Were? Land Settlement and Heritage, military Drill sessions, Mannerisms and Deportment, Personal Development, Choosing Period Correct Fabric, Basic Minuet and English Country Dancing lessons.

Lunches and nutrition breaks are included. Registration for this event is $20. To register please contact Sam Brannen via Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Shelburne-County-Archives-Genealogical-Society/145848502093215, email at sambrannen@b-wauctions.com or by phone at 1.902.637.3422. Registration deadline is Sept. 18th. Some members of the association have offered rooms at their homes for out of town attendees. Please ask when registering. Period clothing is encouraged!

A separate event within the weekend will be the New Jersey Volunteers, 3rd Bt. Regimental dinner. This will take place at the Shelburne Lions Hall on the Saturday of the event. Cost of this event is $25 and registration is required by Sept. 15th. Please contact Mary Lee Gonzaga at 1.902.875.3291 and state meal preference - pork or chicken. 6 pm appetizers, and at 7 pm there will be dinner. Period dress please.

To go to the Shelburne County Archives & Genealogical Society, go to http://nsgna.ednet.ns.ca/shelburne.

New Website, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles

I have come across the following website, blogs, and newpaper articles this past week, and I thought you would be interested in them too -

Your Link to the Past www.yourlinktothepast.com $ A Professional Genealogy Research site that searches ancestors in Canada.

That’s Relative! http://thatsrelative.wordpress.com Krista Moore is back from an absence to writing her blog again, and this time, she is starting to explore Gills and Beatons surnames in Dominion Point, Exploits, Newfoundland.

Federal government calls for War of 1812 national monument
www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Federal+government+calls+1812+national+monument/7226903/story.html Chole Fedio from the Ottawa Citizen writes that is looks like the NCC is going to put up a monument on Parliament Hill in 2014.

Group tries to get Kingston Penitentiary heritage status www.ottawasun.com/2012/09/11/group-tries-to-get-kingston-penitentiary-heritage-status Peter Hendra writes in the Ottawa Sun that a group is being formed in Kingston (Ontario) to save the Kingston Penitentiary as an heritage site.

Digging through Stouffville's history www.yorkregion.com/opinion/columns/article/1501715--digging-through-stouffville-s-history Jim Mason, the editor of The Sun-Tribune of the York Region, writes about what Chris Burkholder found while renovating a house.

Culture Days in Canada

Culture Days will take place in Canada on September 28, 29, and 39th, and it is “A collaborative coast-to-coast-to-coast volunteer movement to raise the awareness, accessibility, participation and engagement of Canadians in the arts and cultural life of their communities for three days.”

There will be a special event in Ottawa on the weekend of September the 29th, and it will be Genealogy on the Internet.

A hands-on introduction to some of the most important online genealogical research sources. Internet experience is required, and will be presented by Genealogy Librarian, Diana Hall.

The events will be at the Ottawa Public Library - Main Library, and it will be Saturday, September 29, 2012 from 9:30 AM to 11:30 AM. The library is at 120 Metcalfe, Ottawa, Ontario.

To see events all across Canada, go to www.culturedays.ca/en

The second event (not associated with the Culture Days) is that The Friends of The Beechwood Cemetery Foundation will be hosting a historical lecture on the early history of Beechwood and Ottawa, given by local historian Glenn Wright (the president of the British Isles Family History of Greater Ottawa) on Sunday, September 30, 2012.

The event will take place at Beechwood, the National Cemetery of Canada, 280 Beechwood Ave. The talk will begin at 2:00pm, and will be followed by light refreshments.

Space is limited, so please register by calling 613.741.9530 or emailing info@beechwoodcemetery.com

The website is at www.beechwoodcemetery.com

The Fall Edition of Anglo-Celtic Roots

The fall issue of the Anglo-Celtic Roots (Autumn issue), is out, and it is absolutely full of interesting articles.

For instance, the first article is called “Bound for Canada” by Andrew Frownd in which he recounts the letters from his grandmother (Augusta Mary Oates) that she wrote as she travelled across Canada to Saskatoon right before the Great War broke out. In this part of the journey, you follow her across the Atlantic Ocean to Montreal.

“The Rowe Family Bible – a Link to Their Newfoundland History” by Robert P. Woodland writes about his family from Somerset, England to Trinity, Newfoundland, and the fortunate discovery of a family Bible which helped him to do the family’s genealogy.

Betty Warburton writes about ”Searching for Uncle Percy’s Naval Records” , and by reading the article you get a very good idea of what a treasure trove members of the family can be – she discovered the information she needed to know from Uncle Percy’s grandson so that she could uncover his service record at the Library and Archives Canada.

The article by Helen Garson writes about “A Mystery Solved in South Africa” tells us that by researching in South Africa, she found her Watson ancestors, and Glenn Wright writes about the War of 1812 resources in “Discover the War of 1812: Websites, Archives and Books for the Discerning Researcher”.

As the postscript to this edition of Anglo-Celtic Roots, it should be noted the Glenn Wright has been re-elected president of BIFHSGO for another two year term. Congratulations, Glenn.

Go to www.bifhsgo.ca