Solving Cemetery Problems

Saturday at 1 pm on 19 October 2013, the Quinte OGS Branch will present
Solving Cemetery Problems by Diane Clendenan & Marjorie Stuart.

These two lovely ladies have devoted their lives to cemeteries. They have co-authored a book Solving Cemetery Problems: How to deal with Vandalism, Abandoned Cemeteries, Registration and Heritage Designation.

They have also co-chaired the joint OGS and OHS Cemetery Preservation Committee, and in particular, the Cemetery Registration Project.

Together they bring a wealth of genealogical experience and expertise, relating to a variety of research areas, especially on the topic of cemeteries.

This event will be one you don't want to miss!

The Quinte OGS Branch will meet at the Quinte West City Hall Library, 7 Creswell Drive, Trenton, Ontario.

The website is at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~canqbogs/about_us.htm

Ancestry.ca puts on Canada GenWeb Cemetery Index

Canada GenWeb has been collecting their cemetery data since 2004, and it is on http://cemetery.canadagenweb.org.

Now, Ancestry.ca has taken this data and has put the index only on http://search.ancestry.ca/search/db.aspx?dbid=70668


But to learn about the records, go to the Canada GenWeb site.

The web site says that “It is a volunteer project of CanadaGenWeb and currently offers a free and searchable listing of over 18,000 known Canadian cemeteries.

This volunteer built database offers a variety of information geared towards genealogists:

♦ Names, locations & histories of cemeteries

♦ Links to repositories & genealogy organizations that offer further information and/or assistance

♦ Lookup offers, transcripts, indexes, and photos compiled by volunteers.

On Saturday, October 12, the British Iles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa, will present And a Brother Who Went to Australia? at 10:00 am by Chris MacPhail.

Chris MacPhail’s maternal grandfather was a Home Child who immigrated to Canada from Scotland with an elder brother in the 1880s. A family anecdote suggested that there may have been another brother who went to Australia. Chris will describe his efforts to verify the story, and the new challenges raised by some of the things learned.

You can listen to an interview with Chris at http://www.bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=106

Arrive early and take in Before BIFHSGO from 9:00 - 9:30 am to listen to Exploring the Find My Past Website by Judy Thamas, and from 9:30 - 10:00 am there are the Discovery Tables and Lesley Anderson will be there to help you Get Help with Ancestry.ca.


The BIFHSGO is http://www.bifhsgo.ca/

Canadian Week in Review 07 October 2013

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

Websites

Acadian Memorial http://www.acadianmemorial.org/They say that the Acadian Memorial is located in historic St. Martinville, Louisiana. Be sure to visit the Ensemble Encore Database of Acadian Genealogy online if you have Acadian ancestors.

Blogs

No new blogs this week.

Facebook, Videos, You Tube

No new sites this week.

Newspapers Articles of the Week

Museum hires heritage manager http://www.prpeak.com/articles/2013/10/02/community/doc524b66e6c815f716371072.txt
Bert Finnamore, a past administrator from the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton, has been appointed as Powell River Historical Museum and Archives Association’s heritage manager.

Shouldn't Digital Access to Our History Be Free? http://www.thetyee.ca/Mediacheck/2013/10/02/Shouldnt-Digital-Access-to-Our-History-Be-Free/ Michael Geist, a Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law, gives his view on Canada’s digital future.

Franklin searchers find bones, artifacts but no ships Franklin http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/franklin-searchers-find-bones-artifacts-but-no-ships-1.1862083 The CBC reports that the Parks Canada searching for the boats of the Franklin Expedition in the area of the King William Island has found about 200 small artifacts, “but offered no new hints about the fate of the reinforced wooden vessels.”

Story of the Week

Women's History Month 2013

This year’s theme is Canadian Women Pioneers: Inspiring Change Through Ongoing Leadership

October was declared as Women’s History Month in Canada in 1992, at the hest of a group of women from British Columbia.

October was chosen because it was on October the 18th 1929 that Canadian women were first declared to be legally considered as 'persons'. They were eligible to join the Senate, or the Upper House of the parliament of Canada.

There are a number of sites in Canada which are dedicated to Women's History Month, and they are –

Heroines.ca A Guide to Women in Canadian History http://www.heroines.ca/celebrate/historymonth.html A full page of news, a gallery, biographies, and a special This Month in History.

Women's History Month: Canada http://womenshistory.about.com/od/whmcanada/Womens_History_Month_Canada.htm The site gives the history of The Person’s Case in Canada, and gives, for example, the history of Celebrating Women's Achievements in Sports.

Reminder: Check out Canadian Week in Review every Monday for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada. It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in country! The next post will be on 14 October, 2013

Hands-On Claesses in Early Ontario Land Records

Gwyneth Pearc, the Secretary of the Toronto Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society, has sent us this announcement -

“Hands-On Early Ontario Land Records” is a three-session course to be taught by author, educator and long-time OGS member Jane MacNamara. Designed for both family and local historians, this course will provide an introduction to the land granting process and the main types of Crown Lands records. Participants will learn how to use the various finding aids and collections at the Archives of Ontario (including those on microfilm from Library and Archives Canada) to document a person’s acquisition of (or attempt to acquire) land in Upper Canada, and will work in small groups following case histories through the records.

The course fee is $90 ($78 for OGS members), and the schedule is Thursdays November 28, December 5 and 12, 2013, from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm.

The place that this will be held is the Archives of Ontario, 134 Ian MacDonald Blvd., York University, Toronto

Visit their Branch website at www.torontofamilyhistory.org/courses.html for course and registration details.

Postscript: To those who want to see Jane, she will be at the Ottawa Genealogical Society on March 22, 2014 at which she will appear as Guest Speaker.

For more information, go to http://ogsottawa.on.ca/

Preserve the Fegan Home in Toronto

The OGS has been told that the City of Toronto is interested in the site of the former Fegan Boys Distributing Home at 295 George Street in Toronto. The structure was damaged by fire in 2012.

They say that “Many of the boys passing through these walls left their mark by way of inscribing their names and the dates of their stays on the bricks. These names are still visible.

OGS, along with the broader genealogical and heritage community, requests that the City of Toronto seriously consider the historic significance of this treasure and find a way to preserve it and the information it holds”.

Some additional sites for information are -

J. W. C. Fegan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._W._C._Fegan A short, concise history of James William Condell Fegan, an Englisman who was the founder of orphanages for boys.

Young Immigrants to Canada http://jubilation.uwaterloo.ca/~marj/genealogy/children/Organizations/fegan.html If you had an relative in the Fegan Home in Toronto, you are given the name of a person in England who can search the English history of your relative for you.

BRITISH HOME CHILD http://www.ogs.on.ca/SIG-BHC/index.htm The OGS has a SIG dedicated to the British Home Child.

UPDATE: Nova Scotia 1921 Census

Dwayne Meisner has been hosting the 1921 census transcription on his site. I think that Halifax and Annapolis Counties are now complete, and he is looking for more volunteers to do the other counties in the province.

He says that “As a lot of you may be aware, I and others have been working on transcribing the 1921 census for Nova Scotia, and I have been uploading the finished transcriptions to my site http://www.dwaynemeisner.com/census/novascotia/index.php .

However, it a HUGE project, and so we are looking for more volunteers. I don't expect anyone to do a whole county; even just one sub-district would be a great
help!"

If you are interested, please visit his site
http://www.dwaynemeisner.com/census/volunteer.php for more information.

Is there anyone out there who can help Dwayne finish the 1921 Nova Scotia census?