IRISH HERITAGE QUEBEC

There will be a talk by Clive Kiley, the Mayor of Shannon, Quebec, who will speak on about the history of Shannon, its present and its future.

Clive Kiley has been Mayor of Shannon for 16 years and is a well known figure in local municipal affairs.

All are welcome, admission is free. Refreshments will be served and parking stubs for the parking lot at St. Patrick will be validated.

The talk will take place on Monday January 21, at 7:30 p.m. at the McMahon Hall, 1145 De Salaberry, Quebec City.

For more information, contact Irish Heritage Quebec at 418-527-2238 or 418-704-3404. Or visit the website at www.irishheritagequebec.net

Rare War Medal Find Coming Home to Chilliwack, BC

There is an article this morning in the Chilliwack Progress newspaper about how the Chilliwack Museum and Historical Society were able to bring the medals awarded to members of the Coots family back home to British Columbia.

The medals were from the First World War, and acquired at an auction at Norfolk, England in late December.

The article says that “The collection consists of 12 medals awarded to Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Leslie Coote and his son Captain Ian Vernon Coote of Chilliwack for their military service. It also includes a written account from Lieutenant Russel “Ginger” Leslie Coote — Andrew Coote’s second son — documenting his remarkable wartime experiences”.

Read the article at www.theprogress.com/news/187313381.html

If you want to learn more about the medals given to Canadians who  fought in the wars and conflicts that the country has been involved in, go to Medals, Honours and Awards at www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/medals/index-e.html

Barkerville National Historic Site of Canada

The federal and British Columbia governments have announced that they will fund the conservation of two heritage buildings at Barkerville National Historic Site of Canada in British Columbia.

The press release says that “Barkerville is a provincially, nationally and internationally recognized historic site located 80 kilometres east of Quesnel. This year Barkerville is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Cariboo Gold Rush. Barkerville was the terminus of the great wagon road from Yale in 1865 and the centre of the Cariboo gold fields which were the catalyst for economic and political development in British Columbia.”

If you go on to the site, you will find that among other things, that Barkerville’s Chinatown is the largest collection of pre-railway Chinese buildings in North America and Barkerville has one of the largest Chinese archival collections in Canada.

They do have a search feature of their collection, where you can search the archives, artifacts, library, maps, and photographs.

The website is at www.barkerville.ca

Crouse-Wanamaker Lecture

Lynn Heale, Membership Co-ordinator of the Quinte Branch OGS tells us of a meeting which will take place (today) on Saturday January 19th at 1 p.m. It will be the Crouse-Wanamaker Lecture, honouring the founders of Quinte Branch.

This year, they will proudly present Historian & Author Gerry Boyce.

Mr. Boyce will speak on his project to update his book Historic Hastings published in 1967. "A lot has happened in the 45 years since Historic Hastings was published." This new book will highlight events of the past four decades and will be a companion volume to the original publication. Historic Hastings is scheduled to be reprinted with an updated index.

Mr. Boyce, who lives in Belleville and spent more than three decades in the education field, was instrumental in establishing several local museums and the Hastings County Historical Society.

The meeting will take place at the Quinte West City Hall Library, 7 Creswell Drive, Trenton, Ontario.

For more information, go to www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~canqbogs

What Do I Do with All My Stuff?

There will be a meeting of the Quebec Family History Society from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm at the QFHS Heritage Centre and Library, 173 Cartier Avenue, Pointe-Claire. The topic What Do I Do with All My Stuff? and will be presented by Cecilia Karwowski and Gary Schroder.

The problem the modern genealogist often faces is finding so much information, documents, and photos that we drown under a sea of records. If we do not organize our records, important clues leading to other ancestors will be lost in a mountain of material poorly or not organized at all.

During this seminar, you will learn how to preserve the documents and photographs that you already possess and how to organize and arrange the material that you have accumulated, as well as new material that you plan or hope to obtain. The seminar will also examine the dangers inherent in simply keeping all your material on your computer, or as archivists would say "not having it at all."

The fee is $30 members, and $40 for non-members.

Reservations are required. Call 514.695.1502 or contact Jackie qfhs.communications@bellnet.ca

To go to the website, go to www.qfhs.ca

Some Acadians Exiled to Philadelphia in 1755

In her blog yesterday, Lucie LeBlanc Consentino writes about the establisment of the oldest Catholic Church in Philadelphia. The church was a place for the Acadians to gather after they were exiled from Nova Scotia in 1755.

Not all of the Acadians went to Philadilphia. The majority of them went to Louisiana, but of the group that went to the former British colony, they were treated rather well by the people, and the priest of that city.

The place where the church was located is known today as Old St. Joseph National Shrine. It as founded in 1733 by the Jesuits.

Read about the story at http://acadian-ancestral-home.blogspot.ca/2013/01/acadians-exiled-to-philadelphia-in-1755.html

London & Middlesex County Branch of the OGS Holds Meeting

On the 5 February 2013, David R. Elliott will speak on "New Strategies in Irish Parish Register Indexing". 

David is a professional genealogical researcher, historian, author, has spent several summers recording church records in Ireland.

The Annual Meeting of the London & Middlesex County Branch, OGS, will also be conducted.

The website is http://londonmiddlesex.ogs.on.ca

PostScript: David ‘s latest book Researching Your Irish Ancestors at Home and Abroad has just been released, and it will be excerpted and a book review will be in the May2013 issue of Families.

The Ontario Genealogical Society website is at http://www.ogs.on.ca