Niagara Branch of the OGS is host this year to the 2014 Conference whose theme is Genealogy Without Borders . It will be held May 1 to May 4, 2014 at Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario.

They have just released who they will have as speakers and the schedule, and it is quite an impressive group, such as - 

Chris Paton, the Scottish Genealogist will conduct workshops, and will give the Houston Lecture Genealogy Without Borders-Technology on Friday evening.

Hank Jones will be the keynote speaker on Saturday evening  when he gives the talk

How "Psychic Roots" became an "Unsolved Mystery".

To see the rest of the speakers, go to http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference2014/speakers_info/Conference%202014%20Schedule.pdf

You can also go to the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/NiagaraPeninsulaBranchOgsConference2014

Like the organizers say "Genealogy Without Borders" is genealogy research that does not require a passport!

Location! Location! Location!

Have you been involved in doing Ontario research lately, and have come across a town, and you are having a hard time to find what county it is in - where it is located?

Now, you can go to the Ontario location website at http://www.ogs.on.ca/branches/ontariolocator.php.  It lists every municipality in Ontario (city, town, village, township, regional municipality) and all of the geographic townships which have belonged to a municipality.

You can find the township, and there are two types of townships –

1.     A geographic township (G Twp) is a piece of land. You need to know this to find land records and to find where people lived.

2.     An administrative township (A Twp) is a form of government, often administering several geographic townships. You need this to find local records.

And you can find out what county you are in, and the Ontario Genealogical Society Branch the municipality is in.

Snow!

We are in the middle of the first major snowstorm of the season here in Ottawa today, and the Museum of Civilization will soon open its exhibit about snow which will run from December 6, 2013 to September the 28th 2014.

The exhibit will feature some 300 articles, and more than 400 photos that Canadians have taken of snow.

To find out more about the exhibit, go to http://www.civilization.ca/event/snow/

Share a Memory Contest

Thinking that you would like to go to RootsTech 2014 but don’t know quite how to do it?

Dear Myrt, America’s “Your Friend in Genealogy”, otherwise known as Pat Richley-Erickson, has a solution.

She and her daughter are offering a Share a Memory Contest and the grand prize is a fully paid registration fee to Rootstech 2014, and two other separate prizes from Amazon.

The deadline is November 30^th , so don’t delay!

It’s all on her blog of Nov 18^th at http://blog.dearmyrtle.com/2013/11/2nd-annual-share-memory-contest.html

Canadian Immigration Records

I see where FamilySearch has added Canada Immigration Records from (1881-1930) to their holdings.

It contains records for the parts of Quebec City (1900-1921), Halifax (1881-1922), Saint John (1900-1912), North Sydney (1906-1912), Vancouver (1905-1912), and Victoria (1905-1912).

There are also records from New York City (1906-1912), and Eastern US parts from 1905 to 1912.  These are records of those names of passengers who had the intention of going directly to Canada.

To go to FamilySearch Canada Immigration Records , go to https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1823240?ET_CID=45833734&ET_RID=genealogycanada@aol.com

Canadian Week in Review 25 November 2013

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

Websites

No new websites this week.

Social Media

A number of Canadian provinces have been updates on the FamilySearch Wiki website -

Alberta Wiki https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Alberta

British Columbia Wiki https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/British_Columbia

Canada Wiki https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Canada

New Brunswick Wiki https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/New_Brunswick

Newfoundland and Labrador Wiki
https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Newfoundland_and_Labrador

Nova Scotia Wiki https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Nova_Scotia

Ontario Wiki https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Ontario

Prince Edward Island Wiki
https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Prince_Edward_Island

Quebec https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Quebec

Saskatchewan Wiki https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Saskatchewan

News Articles

Dalnavert Museum's glimmer of hope: Historic site would be kept open to public http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/dalnavert-museums-glimmer-of-hope-232304961.html I did not know that Dalnavert Museum was once the home of Hugh John Macdonald, the son of Sir John A. Macdonald. He was twice elected as a Conservative MP and was briefly the minister of the interior in 1896. And the members of the board want to keep the museum open to the public.

Q & A: Heritage Minister Tony Ince on Bluenose II http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1168125-q-a-heritage-minister-tony-ince-on-bluenose-ii-restoration A staff reporter of the online Herald News asked some questions about the Bluenose II to the Nova Scotia Heritage Minister.

Bank of Canada: Add women from Canadian history to Canadian bank notes http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/bank-of-canada-add-women-from-canadian-history-to-canadian-bank-notes In 2011, the government put The Famous Five women on our 50-dollar bill, but nothing has been done since then. Why?

History comes alive in street names http://thechronicleherald.ca/thenovascotian/1169063-history-comes-alive-in-street-names Liverpool, Nova Scotia is visited to see the history of two of its streets.

Story of the Week

Macdonald & Laurier Days


Macdonald & Laurier Days, the first two prime ministers of Canada, is a website brought to us by The Historica-Dominion Institute.

The ‘days’ referred to are the days of the birthdays – February 11 for Sir John A. Macdonald and November 20 for Sir Wilfrid Laurier.

It is quite a delightful site to read some of their speeches on the site, a quiz, and to see some political cartoons.

In addition to this page, you can also read about Sir Wilfrid Laurier at

Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier http://canadaonline.about.com/cs/primeminister/p/pmlaurier.htm

Sir Wilfrid Laurier http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfrid_Laurier

Reminder: Check the Canadian Week in Review next 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 02 December 2013.

The Ottawa Genealogical Oct-Dec 2013

The Ottawa Branch of the OGS has released its issue of The Ottawa Genealogist, and this issue contains an article on a local settlement, and an article on a re-enactment that took place this summer at a local destination. 

In the Glen Falloch – Glengarry County, Ontario article, there is a history of the settlement, plus two maps of the Glengarry County, a family tree of Donald MacAruthur, and there is also the Ancestors of John Gould (who left the area in 1912 to farm in Alberta).

There is an article called Gleanings from Gouldbourn and Nepean Township Papers in which there are hundreds of names, and land which they owned!

And there are pictures and article of the Battle of Crysler’s Farm Re-enactment July 13^th at which Edward Kipp, the editor of The Ottawa Genealogist covered.

The next meeting of the Ottawa Branch will be held on Saturday, December 14, 2013 at 1:00 p.m. at the City of Ottawa Archives, 100 Tallwood Drive, Ottawa,

At their meeting they will hear Andrew Jeanes talk about Freiman’s Santa Claus Train.

And don’t forget if you are a member, you can listen to the meeting at home by listening to the simulcast.

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

Postscript: December is membership month at the OGS. For the yearly rate of $61.20 plus 15.00, you can join the provincial society plus the Ottawa Branch.