Perth County Branch Holds October Meeting

Perth County Branch of the OGS in Stratford, Ontario is having their annual meeting on Saturday, 27 October 2012 from 1-4 pm.

The meeting will take place on the Upper Level at the Stratford Public Library, 19 St. Andrew Street, Stratford, and the speaker will be Lynn Matthison. She will talk about family members who fought in the Boer War, India, WWI, WWII and Bosnia, including a picture board and artifacts.

If you have war stories and memorabilia, bring them along as well.

The website is at www.ogs.on.ca/perth

New/Updated Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles - 22 October 2012

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

Welland Public Library www.welland.library.on.ca/e-services/local-history-genealogy They have a Genealogy Database (which has family names in Welland , and you can search this database), as well as the Welland Canal History in the Local History Section of the library.

Ancient village along B.C. river reveals 1,300 years of First Nations history www.globalsaskatoon.com/canada/ancient+village+along+bc+river+reveals+1300+years+of+first+nations+history/6442736678/story.html
The Canadian Press has reported that “While the Babine Lake First Nation knew their ancestors' village was there, it's untilled ground for archeologists” until they discover how large, and important the village was in First Nations history. ..

Trans Canada Trail to be completed by 2017
www.sackvilletribunepost.com/Provincial/2012-10-19/article-3103334/Trans-Canada-Trail-to-be-completed-by-2017/1 The Sackville Tribune reports that the people of the Trans Canada Trail that the goal is to have the remaining 6,200 kilometres open in time for Canada's 150th birthday on July 1, 2017.

You can go to the website of the Trans Canada Trail at http://tctrail.ca

Harvesting local history at the library
www.frontenacthisweek.com/2012/10/05/harvesting-local-history-at-the-library Canada is starting to collect stories for the 150th birthday of Canada in 2017, as they are doing in Kingston, Ontario. Read about the story in the Local News Section in the online newspaper.

Tracing women's history www.royalcityrecord.com/technology/Tracing+women+history/7415110/story.html An article by Archie & Dale Miller in The Record, an online newspaper in New Westminster, B.C., shows that genealogy of women is in local groups such as churches, hospitals, and women’s auxiliary history.

History on rails: Royal Canadian Pacific stops in Minot www.minotdailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/569895/History-on-rails--Royal-Canadian---.html Read about the history of the Canadian Pacific Railway in Minot, North Dakota.

© Elizabeth Lapointe All Rights Reserved

Family History Weekend 2012 at Vankleek Hill, Ontario

Two years ago, some friends from Ottawa and I went to Vankleek Hill to take in a Genealogy Fair!

First, we attended pretentions at the Champlain Township Public Library that morning, and later in the afternoon, we went over to the Vankleek Hill Arena/Community Centre to see the such displays as the Tweedsmuir Histories. We also went to the newspaper office of The Review to look at their online digital archives webpage of their website http://thereview.ca/Archive_Landingpage.html, and to talk and be interviewed by the newspaper’s editor, Louise Sproule!

This year, they are doing something a bit different – it will be a two-day affair.

Various venues around town will host the event, which is planned for the weekend of October 27-28.

On Saturday, they plan to have antiques appraisals given by Janet Carlile, who is best known for her work on CBC Television’s "Antiques Roadshow", and Harold MacMillan will give a talk on the Gaelic language at the Vankleek Hill Museum.

On Sunday, Kyla Ubbink, a well-known conservator, will be at the Community Centre to offer a 90-minute workshop, and there will be Walking Tours on Sunday afternoon with Denis Seguin, an architect, who will act as the tour leader and point out the various houses and businesses in the “Gingerbread Capital of Ontario”.

A weekend like this is a great opportunity the share your family history with others. Bring your photos and genealogies, and you can research and talk to others – for FREE! You might even break down a brick wall while you are there!

To contact the Family History Weekend, email the organizers at family@vankleek.ca or call them at 613.678.2323.

The event is hosted by the Vankleek Hill & District Historical Society as a fundraiser for the Vankleek Hill Museum. Visit their website for details www.vankleek.ca.

Canada's Person’s Day 2012

The Governor General's Awards in Commemoration of the Persons Case was created in 1979 to mark the 50th anniversary of this groundbreaking case, which changed the course of history for women in Canada. www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/dates/gg/index-eng.html

Every year, on Person’s Day, October the 18th, people gather at the statue erected to these five Alberta women known as the "Famous Five"—Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, Emily Murphy, and Irene Parlby—who had taken the case to the courts in 1927 to protest the fact that before their time, women were not considered as people when it came to Senate appointments.

These women saw this case to the Court of Privy Council, when on October 18, 1929, it declared that both men and women could be considered as “people” when it came to their appointment to the Senate Court of Appeal – the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council of Great Britain.

On a warm and sunny day, people gathered on Parliament Hill in Ottawa for tea and cookies at the statue to the five women who fought the case to have women recognized as “persons” in Canadian political life.

On hand to partake in the event was Corinne Gallant of Moncton, New Brunswick, one of the five recipients of this year's awards. The other recipients are Caroline Andrew, Régine Alende Tshombokongo, and two Youth Recipients, Saara Bhanji and Joanne Cave. Their biographies are listed at www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/dates/gg/index-eng.html#tab2

June Coxon (L), President of the Media Club of Ottawa, with Maria Neil, President of the Ottawa Council of Women, next to the statues of Nellie McClung and Irene Parlby (R)

For more information, go to the following websites –

The Famous Five (Canada) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Famous_Five_(Canada)

Are Women Persons? The “Persons” Case www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/015/002/015002-2100-e.html

© Elizabeth Lapointe All Rights Reserved.

Sisters Of Saint Anne Historic Centre

The Old Convent of the Sisters of Saint Anne in Montreal is offering an unique way of exploring the presence of the Sisters of Saint Anne in Lachine from 1860 to 2010, and that unique way is through podcasts!.

They say that "You can now take a guided tour at your own pace that focuses on the history of the buildings that now comprise Collège Sainte-Anne and the Sisters of Saint Anne Historic Centre. Located near the Lachine Canal, the Convent Complex is a major point of interest in the borough of Lachine that attests to the important religious, educational and cultural heritage left by the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Anne".

Visitors can also download the podcast on their own MP3 player from the Conseil’s website at www.patrimoine-religieux.qc.ca/en/activites/eglises/cssa.php or from the Historic Centre’s website at www.ssacong.org/musee

The Historic Centre is open from Wednesday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. until October 31, and Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. from November 1 to June 1.

Free admission. Reservations required for groups of 8 or more.

For more information, please call us at 51.637.4616, ext. 212 or e-mail us at chssa@bellnet.ca.

The “Discovering the Convent Complex of the Sisters of Saint Anne” podcast is a production of the Conseil du patrimoine religieux du Québec. It is available in English and French. 

Manitoba Heritage Tattoo Cancelled

On Friday, October the 12th, I wrote about the Manitoba Heritage Tattoo to be held on the 27th of October, and now it has been cancelled due to lack of tickets sales.

Read the full story at the Brandon Sun
www.brandonsun.com/breaking-news/Manitoba-Heritage-Tattoo-cancelled-174609701.html?thx=y

Kitchener Public Library Genealogy Fair

The Kitchener Public Library is holding their second annual Genealogy Fair on Saturday, November 3 from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm. There is no registration, simply drop by. FREE admission!

The Keynote Speaker will be Kevin James, Professor of History, Centre for Scottish Studies, University of Guelph, and he will speak at 10:00 am in the Kitchener City Hall Rotunda. The subject will be "Connecting Family and Public Histories"

The press release says that “Drawing on novel examples of partnerships using sources from census returns to cookbooks, Kevin explores recent efforts to connect family history and genealogy to 'public' history, and talks about exciting new directions for collaborations between historians (amateur and professional), of the family, of the state and of society. Kevin’s research focuses on comparative Scottish and Irish social history.”

To find more information about the Fair, go to www.kpl.org/programs/program_listings/all.html#genealogy

There will be more than 25 exhibits and vendors!