Manitoba to Put Local Histories Online

Here is an exciting resource that will be available tomorrow -

“MORE than 200 local Manitoba history books are only a mouse click away, thanks to a project headed by the Manitoba Library Consortium and Manitoba Historical Society, with funding from the Winnipeg Foundation.

The local histories, covering Manitoba communities from Altona to Zbaraz, bring 100,000 pages' worth of digitized Manitoba history to the website www.manitobia.ca.

Also included on the site, designed as a resource for students, teachers and researchers, are digital copies of dozens of Manitoba newspapers going back to 1871, as well as historical photos and maps.

The site will be launched Feb. 11 at 2 p.m. at the Manitoba Legislature Reading Room”.

A great day for genealogists!

RENINDER: New/Updated Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles Blog

Don’t forget to check my blog every Monday morning for my New/Updated Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles.

There will be newspaper articles Monday about the agents who went down to Prince Edward Island to recruit men for the Glengarry Light Infantry in Eastern Ontario in the War of 1812, a new blog which features families from Prince Edward Island, and a story about the Empress of Ireland and an exhibit that goes up in 2014 at the new Museum of History in Ottawa, plus many more stories.

There is something of interest for everyone!

Elizabeth

UPDATE: 1921 Canada Census

We are starting to get release information on the 1921 Canada Census bit by bit.

Apparently, it is going to be released by Statistics Canada to the Library and Archives Canada on June 2, 2013, and then to us sometime after that date.

‘Sometime after that’ could mean months, not days, after the LAC receives it, but it will be in the system June 2, 2013.

The population of the country was 8,788,483 in 1921, and the census was taken on 1 June .

The Library and Archives Canada plan to digitize the microfilmed population schedules and make them available online with a nominal index as soon as it is possible.

Stay tuned!

Workshop Friday at the OGS Conference 2013

Years ago when the annual Conference of the OGS was held, it was a two-day affair – Saturday and Sunday.

Over the past couple of years, it has expanded to include Friday, and now since 20011, a Thursday evening “Meet the Board” Reception. It is a "get togther" with the OGS Board who have arrived early to have their pre-conference board meeting on Thursday.

So come out on Thursday evening 7:00 to 9:00, and meet the people who keep our organization running. There will be refreshments and snacks. Its a sort of a warm-up top the Conference.

And on Workshop Friday, there will be 4 workshops to choose from, and then in the evening, there is the Houston Memorial Lecture. Each year, the Ontario Genealogical Society sponsors a prominent genealogist to speak at the Conference Opening Ceremonies and Reception.

This year’s speaker will be Dave Obee, who will address the attendees on the topic of Seven Habits of Highly Successful Genealogists.

I have heard him on a number of occasions, and he has even written a paper for Families a few years ago, and he is worth listening to so that you can hear his latest thoughts on genealogy.

The two workshops I will be attending on Friday will be

An Introduction to Ontario Wills and Administrations & Beyond the Estate File by Jane MacNamara.

She is such a good lecturer, and the estate files are a rich source for finding family connections and social and financial circumstances. I hope to find out how to access these important court records.

In the afternoon, I will be going to The Scots-Irish: Origins, Emigration, Religion, and Research Sources by Dick Doherty, in which he will explore the Scots-Irish  from Scottish origins to Ulster Plantation, Presbyterian religion, emigration from Ireland to North America, and 17th and 18th century settlement patterns in Canada.

To find out more details, go to www.ogs.on.ca/conference2013/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/OGSConference2013Registration-Dec27.pdf

Did your ancestors come from China?

The Library anf Archives Canada just sent this out -
Do you ever wonder who your first Chinese ancestor was and when he or she left China and arrived in Canada? Are you curious about your family’s Chinese heritage?

If so, the Library and Archives Canada website at www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng is a great place to begin your research. For instance, you will find a page specific to genealogical research for the Chinese people. It provides you with historical background information, archival and published material from our collection, as well as links to other websites and institutions. This page also contains a link to the Immigrants from China database which provides access to more than 98,000 references to Chinese immigrants who arrived in Canada.

If your ancestor came to Canada between 1865 and 1935, you might find his or her name on the passenger lists at www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/chinese-immigrants/index-e.html

Smiths Falls Heritage Week Feb. 17-24

Smiths Falls in Ontario will celebrate Heritage Week this month by offering te following events -

LEST WE FORGET -

EXHIBITION GRAND OPENING!

This event will happen on Feb. 20 from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Heritage House Museum.

Smiths Falls District Collegiate Institute students will host the grand opening of their "Lest We Forget" exhibition. Learn the personal stories of the men and women from Smiths Falls and surrounding area who served in World War One and Two. Take this opportunity to discover more about each soldier with the chance to talk to the students behind the exhibit. Each student will have researched one of the soldiers highlighted. Refreshments will be provided. Admission free. You will not want to miss out on this great event. For more information please contact the Heritage House Museum at 613-283-6311 or by email at heritagehouse@smithsfalls.ca

DISCOVER YOUR ROOTS:

GENEALOGY WORKSHOP

Come to the Heritage House Museum on Feb. 22 from 1 to 3 p.m. and discover your roots. In partnership with the Lanark County Genealogical Society, learn the skills and 'tricks of the trade' in our genealogical reference library. Price of $5 admission includes a full-year research membership to the Lanark County Genealogy Society. This workshop is for beginners or for those who have hit a road block in their family research. For more information or to register, please contact the Heritage House Museum at 613-283-6311 or by email at heritagehouse@smithsfalls.ca

INTRODUCTION TO ANCESTRY LIBRARY EDITION

On Feb. 24 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. check out the free event at the library. Join staff at Smiths Falls Public Library to research your personal history with Ancestry Library Edition. One of the most important international genealogical collections available today, it contains thousands of databases including census, vital statistics, church, court, and immigration records. Starting with an overview of the content, you will then learn how to browse and search the various collections, view, print and save the materials. Handouts will be provided to help refresh your memory after the session. Limited number of spaces. To register call the Library at 613-283-2911

To learn about these events, go to www.smithsfalls.ca/heritage-house-museum.cfm

Tradition in Felicities: Celebrating 155 Years of Victoria’s Chinatown at the Royal BC Museum

I just received this press release from the Rotal British Columbia Museum -  

Victoria, BC – Follow the lanterns into Tradition in Felicities: Celebrating 155 Years of Victoria’s Chinatown, a display on Canada’s oldest Chinatown, featuring a unique artifact, images and stories from the collection of the Royal BC Museum, from Feb. 7 to Sept. 29, 2013. This display reveals a close-knit community of families developing new identities as Chinese Canadians and the felicities – the joyful celebrations of traditional Chinese holidays – that united and strengthened them since their first arrivals in the mid-1800s.

Four families from different walks of life recall, in video interviews, the period from 1930 to 1970 and their annual celebrations of the Chinese New Year. These are the personal views of this last generation to grow up in Victoria’s Chinatown, including the Low family. Kai Ho Low was one of the donors listed on the Chinese Freemason’s lantern, a unique item, part of a growing collection representing BC’s diverse communities at the Royal BC Museum.

‘This display is the result of an important partnership with the Victoria Chinese community,” said Professor Jack Lohman, Chief Executive Officer of the Royal BC Museum. “Generating a variety of cultural perspectives, then pairing those with the rich collections from the museum and archives, help us tell BC's diverse stories."

The centrepiece is one of a kind – the oldest-known Chinese Freemason’s lantern from Victoria’s Chinatown – and was likely on display for the Lantern Festival in the 1930s. Hand-made from paper over a bamboo frame, this large traditional ‘running-horse’ style of lantern used the heat from lights or candles to power an intricate system of wheels and long black hairs used like puppet strings. These moved parts of the lantern to animate scenes from nature set among stencil-like decorations, freemason’s symbols, hand-lettered poems and the names of the lantern’s original community sponsors.

The lantern is too fragile to operate as it once did. It arrived at the museum in poor condition with many parts broken or missing. The museum’s object conservator will be a live exhibit – a rare opportunity to see expert staff at work – using science-based treatments to stabilize and preserve the lantern while visitors look on, Tuesday through Saturday from 11 am to 4 pm until Sept. 29th.

For more information about the Royal BC Museum, visit www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca or call 1-888-447-7977.