Meagham's Atlas (1880) of PEI

 

The P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation has commissioned a reprint of Meagham's Atlas (1880), the most comprehensive property atlas ever published on Prince Edward Island. It goes on sale today at various museums, and bookstores around the island.

Meanwhile, you can search the atlas by surname and town/lot number online at the following websites -

Names Appearing in Meagham's Atlas (1880) http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~mvreid/pei/35atl80.html

Searchable database of the Patron's List/Directory of the 1880 "Meacham's Illustrated Historical Atlas of Prince Edward Island". Searchable by town/lot and surname http://www.islandregister.com/meachams/patronindex.html

International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) Conference 2014

The IAJGS conference will be held in Salt Lake City next year from July 27-Aug 1.

The press release says that “This conference brings together people from all over the world who are interested in Jewish genealogy. Last year’s conference in Boston had over 800 people representing 20 different countries, including researchers, archivists, writers and bloggers.

In addition to presentations on Jewish genealogy, this year’s conference will have strong representation on events leading to the beginning of World War I, which approaches the 100th anniversary of its beginning.

An important notice to all registrants – you will be encouraged to share family stories and pictures from the World War One era. These stories and pictures will be compiled into an online volume which will provide a unique resource for genealogists and historians. Please gather your stories and pictures to be ready to upload them once Registration opens in late December”.

To go to Website http://conference.iajgs.org/2014/

To go to their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/IAJGSConference

Caledonian Club of PEI~ annual Burns Concert

Next year marks the 255th anniversary of the birth of Robbie Burns, and celebrations will be taking place all over Canada. One of the celebrations will be at the Caledonian Club of P.E.I. where they will present the 125th annual Robbie Burns concert -

"The Caledonian Club of PEI will present the 125th annual Robbie Burns Scottish Concert, on Friday, January 24, (storm date Jan. 25th), at 7 pm at the Carrefour Theatre, 5 Acadienne Drive in Charlottetown.

The 150th anniversary of the Caledonian Club of Prince Edward Island will be held throughout 2014, with special events to mark its sesquicentennial of Scottish culture and Island traditions to complement the history of the Club.

This year also marks the 255th anniversary of the birth of Burns (Jan. 25, 1759), known as Scotland’s favourite son, the Ploughman Poet and the Bard of Ayrshire, where many referred to him as The Bard.

The club is overjoyed to welcome back Tom MacDonald who makes his home in Arisaig, N. S., with his wife, Maria, and family. MacDonald and his guitarist, Rob Wolfe, have built up a considerable following on the Island, and are always delighted to performing on this side of the water.

In his day job, MacDonald is a lobster fisherman on the Nova Scotia’s Eastern Shore. But his real love is the wonderful music of his Scottish ancestors and the great songs of the sea.

In addition to MacDonald, Burns’ songs, music, poetry, and Highland dancing will be performed at the concert on Jan 24th".

Tickets will be available at the door.Adults $10 and children under 12 admitted free. Tickets are also available by calling the following club members: Cecil MacPhail, 892-2181; John Bryanton, 566-2082; Bill Acorn, 892-1666; Douglas MacKenzie, 394-0669; or Eleanor Boswell, 368-7378.

The grand finale will include club members and performers on stage for the singing of Auld Lang Syne.

Tom’s website is https://sites.google.com/site/tommacdonaldceltictenor/home

Burleigh Papers Online

Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario and its archives has just announced the public launch of their latest digital initiative - the digitization of the Dr. Herbert Clarence Burleigh fonds.

I took time and checked certain family names, and found quite a bit of information - especially Loyalists families of the area. For example, it just doesn’t pertain to people in Kingston, there was information on the townships of the Bay of Quinte area too.

They say that “Through the Burleigh Family, and in particular, Peter and Evelyn Burleigh, whose generous donation has made this exciting initiative a reality, and in collaboration with the Internet Archives of Toronto the research amassed by Dr. Burleigh on approximately 1,000 families, who have roots in the Kingston region, is now available on-line”.

You can go to the website at http://archives.queensu.ca/databases/genealogy/burleigh.html

Canadian Week in Review 16 December 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
Writing Up the Ancestors http://writinguptheancestors.blogspot.ca/ Janice Hamilton writes about her family (James Hamilton) who emigrated from Scotland to Upper Canada and the United States.

News Articles

Sikh Heritage Month http://www.sikh24.com/2013/12/april-is-sikh-heritage-month-in-ontario-as-ndp-mpp-jagmeet-singhs-bill-passes-final-reading/#.UqhdldJDvKo April has been designated as Sikh Heritage Month in Ontario, the bill passed final reading in the legislation this month.

Oversized map brings history to life http://www.simcoe.com/news-story/4264251-oversized-map-brings-history-to-life/ The newspaper reports that “Students at Huron Park Public School follow in the footsteps of Laura Secord, Sir Isaac Brock and other historical figures on an 88-square-metre map produced by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, with the support of Canadian Heritage”. What a cool idea!

Dave Obee: At 155 years, we offer a fresh look at the past http://www.timescolonist.com/news/world/dave-obee-at-155-years-we-offer-a-fresh-look-at-the-past-1.754516#sthash.p1gk7W1G.dpuf Dave Obee tells us that they now have expanded the digitization project to include all of the Colonist issues from 1910 to 1920, which means that the newspaper now covers the First World War.

Conservatives ask public how we should celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary in 2017 http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/12/11/conservatives-ask-public-how-we-should-celebrate-canadas-150th-anniversary-in-2017/ The Heritage Department is asking us how we want to brand the 150th Anniversary of Canada?

Story of the Week
Canada Post

M. François-Xavier Giroux dressed in his fall clothing. 

Credit: William James Topley/Library and Archives Canada/PA-012269

I suppose everyone has heard of the changes coming to Canada Post – eg the elimination of door-to-door delivery, but how many of us know the history of the post office in Canada.

It all started in 1755, the first post office in Canada opened in Halifax. It was started so that military communication could be improved between Britain and North America, so the British started a monthly packet run to New York. From there, any available vessel carried mail to Halifax, until 1788, when regular packets called in the port.

And did you that one of the first databases to be put on the Library and Archives Canada website was the http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/post-offices/index-e.html.

The database documents changes of postmasters at individual post offices located across Canada. The data relate to open and closed post offices located in the ten provinces and territories.

For additional information, you can go to http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/archivianet/0201/020129_e.html which is also at the Library and Archives Canada website and they have Canada Post Publications, biographical notes about the people who have created stamps used by Canada Post, and the government files about the post office.

Reminder: The next Canadian Week in Review will be Monday January 6, 2014 because of the Holiday Season. Check the Canadian Week in Review for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada. It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in country. 

Are you curious about your Finnish origins?

The Library and Archives Canada has a blog about tracing your Finnish Ancestors.

Do you want to know who your first Finnish ancestor was and when he or she left Finland and arrived in Canada? Are you curious about your Finnish origins?

That say that “If so, our website is a great place to begin your research. Here you will find a page dedicated to genealogical research at http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-905.009-e.html This page provides you with historical information, archival documents and published material from the Library and Archives Canada collection, as well as links to other websites and institutions”.

If your ancestor came to Canada between 1865 and 1935, you might find his or her name on http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-908.003-e.html

You can also check these websites -

Finnish Canadian http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_Canadian

The Genealogical Society of Finland http://www.genealogia.fi/sss/indexe.htm

Finland's Family History Association http://www.sukuhistoria.fi/sshy/index_eng.htm

British Women’s Emigration Association Database

The British Islands Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO) has just written to me about a new database which they have just put on their site - British Women’s Emigration Association Database.

They say that “The Hon. Mrs. Ellen Joyce was the head of the British Women’s Emigration Association (BWEA) from 1901 until 1919. Mrs. Joyce was married to a Church of England clergyman and they resided at St. John’s Croft, Winchester, Hampshire, England. Most of her work appears to have been carried out from this house as the address shows frequently in her correspondence.

The aim of the Association was to encourage middle class women to emigrate to the colonies because of a perceived surplus of women in England and Wales while there was a dearth of British women in the colonies, particularly in Canada and Australia. The 1901 Census revealed that there were a million more women than men in England and Wales.

The young women ranged in age from 14 to mid 40s and the majority went to Ontario or Western Canada, most were single but a few of the older women were widows. All were said to be `of good character’.

Any records in England that contained information on individual women were destroyed in 1964, therefore the records held by Library and Archives Canada have added significance for any persons researching women’s immigration to Canada”.

To view the database, go to http://www.bifhsgo.ca/cstm_mrsJoyce.php