Gold: A Nova Scotia Treasure

From Saturday January 19 to Sunday March 31, 2013 there will be an exhibit at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia where the History of Bling Told in Gold: A Nova Scotia Treasure will be open to visitors. It is the little known 150 year old story of Nova Scotia and its relationship with gold.

The press release says that “Co-curated by Shannon Parker, Curator of Collections at the AGNS and Debra McNabb, Director at the Museum of Industry, this multifaceted exhibition was inspired by the discovery and identification of 15 watercolours by Frederick B. Nichols, rare paintings that document the first of Nova Scotia’s three gold rushes, as well as other industrial landscapes around Halifax. An American engraver and mining engineer, Nichols moved to Nova Scotia in 1865 because of his interest in our gold fields, and worked here as a chemist, mining engineer and professor of geology.

Sponsored by Kinross Gold Corporation the exhibition also features an extensive series of oil sketches by the Group of Seven and all manner of gold items including a Nobel Prize, Anne Murray’s gold record for Snowbird, gold jewellery crafted by Nova Scotian artisans and a stunning collection of gold medals from Nova Scotian athletes”.

To read about gold in Nova Scotia, go to -

Finding Gold in Nova Scotia
http://gemology.knoji.com/finding-gold-in-nova-scotia/

Church's mineral map of Nova Scotia. Church, A. F. (Ambrose F.), 1889
www.davidrumsey.com/maps2867.html

© Elizabeth Lapointe All Rights Reserved

Ancestry.ca Update: Canada and United States Border Crossings

Ancestry.ca has updated its border crossing records from Canada to U.S., and the records are from 1895 to 1954.

There are records from Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New York, North Dakota, Vermont, and Washington

Some of the records contain the information on the name, age, birth date, birthplace, gender, ethnicity/nationality, names of individuals accompanied by, name of nearest relative or friend in former country, and name of nearest relative or friend at destination.

So far, there are 4,859, 493 border crossing records etween Canada and the United States so far on www.ancestry.ca.

© Elizabeth Lapointe All Rights Reserved

Waterloo Region Branch Will Hold Annual Meeting

The Region III Annual Meeting will be hosted by the Waterloo Region Branch on April 20, 2013, at the Preston Legion, 334 Westminster Drive North, Cambridge, Ontario.

Registration will start at 8:45 on Saturday, and at 9:30, there will be a talk by Darryl Bonk, founder “Waterloo Region Generations,” former Director London and Kitchener Family History Centres, member of Waterloo Region al Heritage Foundation, and Waterloo Region Branch Executive member, and his topic will be “What IS on the Internet”

Before the afternoon session starts at 2:00 pm, there will be vendors onsite to visit, the Waterloo Region Branch will have its AGM, and you will be able to find out what is going on at the OGS head office in Toronto.

The afternoon talk starts at 2:00 pm will feature Ruth Blair of Blair Archival Research, and she will talk on ”What is NOT on the Internet”.

To download a Registration form visit www.WaterlooOGS.ca

For further information contact the Branch at watogs@yahoo.com

New/Updated Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles - 21 January 2013

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 –

Alberta Family History Blog http://afhs.ab.ca/blog/remembering/missing-joan-miller Here is another blog that mentions the passing of Canadian genealogist in a blog called Missing Joan Miller.

Saskatchewan Gen Web Project - Homestead Records
www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cansk/Saskatchewan/homesteadlocation.html
How to read homestead records. Included are How to find Saskatchewan Townships & Ranges in a tutorial quiz.

Manitoba, native groups prepare bid to have forest called world heritage site www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1314715--manitoba-native-groups-prepare-bid-to-have-forest-called-world-heritage-site The area, called Pimachiowin Aki, covers 43,000-square kilometres and is the largest tract of boreal forest in North America.

Save Canada's Ski History Finds a New Home: Board Votes for Mont Tremblant www.newswire.ca/en/story/1100153/canada-s-ski-history-finds-a-new-home-board-votes-for-mont-tremblant A press release says that “The Canadian Ski Hall of Fame and Museum has found a new home after a winning bid of the St Jovite Mont Tremblant Region, Quebec. The decision will see more than 15,000 artifacts from Canada's ski history once again on display for all Canadians to share”.

Genetic privacy can be compromised online www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1316391--genetic-privacy-can-be-compromised-online-study The risk that sensitive information about individual DNA information for scientific genomes could be publicly exposed has made millions afraid to release their own DNA.

Rich history part of heritage DNA information for scientific studies.
www.calgaryherald.com/travel/Rich+history+part+heritage/7836115/story.html Alida Visbach has more than her share of memories. It’s partly because of her personal history — Canadian of Dutch heritage who speaks Dutch, English and French, she is a born, raised and schooled New Brunswicker.

Canada's fur trading history explored with new exhibit www.medicinehatnews.com/local-news/canadas-fur-trading-history-explored-with-new-exhibit-01142013.html A new exhibit at the Esplanade will gives Hatters a closer glimpse at an important section of Canadian history.

In an exhibit called "Profit and Ambition: The Canadian Fur Trade," the exhibit which opens today, showcases hundreds of items, paintings and artifacts from North West Company, a fur trading company which competed with the Hudson’s Bay Company.

© Elizabeth Lapointe All Rights Reserved

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