Searching for First World War Ancestors

Heritage Mississauga and the Halton Peel Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society are pleased to present a full-day workshop on Saturday February 8th, 2014 at 10 am-3 pm at Historic Robinson Adamson House, 1921 Dundas St. W., Mississauga, ON. 

Professional Genealogist and Lecturer, Ruth Blair will lead the workshop, and the day will be divided into two sections –

Session 1 “In Search of Your First World War Ancestors”

Was your ancestor in the First World War? Resources to find military records will be presented whether he be from Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia or the United States. If your First World War ancestor was a woman we will also be discussing resources to find service records for women who served at home or on the front.

Session 2: “You Won’t Find it All in Your Ancestor’s First World War Military File”

We will be discussing other resources to help you find out more about your ancestor’s experience in the First World War. You won’t find it all in the military file. These resources will help you build a better picture of what your ancestor and his family went through during the First World War.

The fee is $25.00, and it covers both sessions. Fee must be prepaid to reserve seat. Coffee and Tea will be served. Please make your own arrangements for lunch. Call to reserve your seat today - 905-828-8411 ext.”0″. Space is limited so call and make your booking early.

The website of Heritage Mississauga is http://www.heritagemississauga.com/index.php

The website of the Ontario Genealogical Society is www.ogs.on.ca

Canadian Week in Review 20 January 2014

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

Chroniques ancestrales (Ancestral Chronicles) http://chroniquesancestralesqc.blogspot.ca/ This is a new blog  by Jean-François Dagenais, and he discusses Genealogical Tools, Quebec genealogy, and his ancestry. He is on Facebook, and YouTube also.

News Articles

Highlanders' winter journey one of most heroic feats in Manitoba's history http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/the-sutherland-saga-240975291.html An article about the Selkirk settlers and the first European colony in Western Canada.

Ontario farmer loses part of 200-year-old family farm to military http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-farmer-loses-part-of-200-year-old-family-farm-to-military-1.1637996 A farmer has lost part of his farm land after CFB Trenton expropriated it for expansion of the military base. There is also video and photos.

Royal Canadian Mint's first collector coins of 2014 herald a historic year 

http://www.menafn.com/d561b1bb-aff7-4145-b504-e97cc1a30d51/Royal-Canadian-Mints-first-collector-coins-of-2014-herald-a-historic-year?src=main Read about the plans of Royal Canadian Mint as we enter an historic year of commemoration in 2014

Canada 150 celebrations: Your responses http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-150-celebrations-your-responses-1.2500384 Read the results of a survey that the CBC asked viewers “What do you most want to see celebrated in Canada 150?”

Thanks go to Gail Dever, Canadian Week in Review’s Special Correspondent for the following news article -
The Kitchener Library http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/kitchener-library-wants-you-to-adopt-wwi-soldiers-1.2491598 The Kitchener Public Library is asking for your help getting to know local soldiers who fought overseas in the First World War.

The library’s web page about the First World War Soldier Card Project is at http://www.kpl.org/ref/gsr/soldiercards.html

Story of the Week

Major milestones in 2014

The government says that we are about to experience major activity this year. By receiving almost daily press releases from them as we approach some very important historical events in 2014 (First World War), we are finding more plans to commemorate other events in the years ahead to 2017 and beyond.

For instance, did you know that

The Library and Archives Canada say that they plan to publish a new collection called "100 Canadian Stories of the First World War" and digitize 640,000 First World War records. The major papers which has been already put online so far has been the Attestation Papers, so does this mean that they plan to put the rest of the service files online?

And there’s more

• the centennial of the start of the First World War on Aug. 4, 2014

• the 75th anniversary of the start of the Second World War on Sept. 10, 2014

• the centennial of the writing of In Flanders Fields in spring 2015

• the centennial of the battles of the Somme and Beaumont-Hamel in 2016, and of Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele in 2017

• the centennial of Armistice Day, the end of the First World War in 2018

• the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Hong Kong (2016), Dieppe Raid (2017), Battle of the Atlantic (2018), Battle of Normandy (2019)

• the 75th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in 2020

• the 100th anniversary of the City of Kitchener is a war-related milestone of major local significance that we'll reach in 2016.

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 27 January 2014.

Historical Debates of the Parliament of Canada (Hansard) now online!

This week, we received news from the Library and Archives Canada about additional parliamentary debates which have been put online -

The press release says that “This new portal contains the historical debates in both official languages from 1867 to the mid-1990s. This means you can now search and browse all published debates of both the Senate and the House of Commons from Parliament 1, Session 1, until the coverage begins on http://www.parl.gc.ca/Default.aspx?Language=E

As mentioned above, the portal was developed by the Library of Parliament, in collaboration with Canadiana.org, a membership alliance dedicated to building Canada’s digital preservation infrastructure and providing wide-ranging access to Canadian documentary heritage. Library and Archives Canada is pleased to have provided support by producing the digital page images.

You can consult our blog Looking for the Debates of the House of Commons (Hansard) online of June 2012 at http://thediscoverblog.com/2012/06/05/looking-for-the-debates-of-the-house-of-commons-hansard-online/ to help you find information on the House of Commons debates”.

In addition, check the http://parl.canadiana.ca/?usrlang=en

Also, special thanks Gail Dever, Special Correspondent to GenealogyCanada, for the heads-up on this news story.

WorldWide Genealogy Blog

A new blog has joined us this month, and its WorldWide Genealogy.

And anyone can post on it!

Its founder, Julie Goucher says " It is really quite simple! Each day a blogger from across the genealogy or historical community will post to Worldwide Genealogy. The posts will be about something related to either genealogy, history or local history."

But there isn’t anyone from Canada on the blog as yet. England, Scotland, Wales, Australia and the United States has posted, but no one from Canada has put anything on.

So if you are interested, contact Julie at Worldwide Genealogy

90 schools now in Toronto war memorials database

Gwyneth Pearce. the Secretary of the Toronto Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society has sent us the following message -

"Volunteers with the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society have added about 3,000 new names since the fall of 2013 to For King and Country – the growing online Branch database of school memorials commemorating Toronto students and staff who volunteered for active service in the two World Wars and other military conflicts.

This searchable collection now contains 90 schools and more than 35,000 names, with transcriptions and photographs of school war memorials, along with historical background and links to other useful school and community websites. The newest schools in the database are Oakridge Public School and Danforth Technical School. Danforth Tech holds the distinction of being the alma mater of a staggering 2,235 volunteers—students, graduates, teachers and other staff—more than any other school in the British Commonwealth—and it maintains an impressive archive of records, housed in its War Memorial Library".

Explore For King and Country now at www.torontofamilyhistory.org/kingandcountry/, and contact co-ordinator Martha Jackson at kingandcountry@torontofamilyhistory.org if you would like to get involved with this project.

Search Your Chinese Roots

The Toronto Family History Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society has just announced that they will be holding a special lecture on Chinese Roots on Saturday, March 22, 2014, 2 – 3:30 p.m.

This special lecture will present an overview of how Chinese family history has been recorded over the centuries and what people living today need to know if they want to find information about their ancestors in China and elsewhere in the world. Please note that this lecture will bein Chinese with English explanations as needed.

The instructor will be Grace Chan, and it will be held at North York Memorial Community Hall, 5110 Yonge Street, Toronto.

For further details, visit our website at http://torontofamilyhistory.org/learn/courses.

Their Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/TOFamilyHistory

Chinese-Canadian Genealogy http://www.vpl.ca/ccg/Migration_ON.html

TORONTO ST. PATRICK'S DAY PARADE

Are you making your plans for St. Patrick’s Day yet? If you live in Toronto, Sunday March 16th is a day to circle on your calendar, because there will be a parade!

TORONTO ST. PATRICK'S DAY PARADE

Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day (and the day before)!

On Sunday, March 16, all eyes will be smiling in downtown Toronto for the St. Patrick's Day Parade. Enjoy a family friendly celebration of Ireland and St. Patrick with colorful floats, bands, dancers and marching groups. There will be a golden touch at the green celebration with Olympic gold medalist Irish boxer Katie Taylor acting as Grand Marshal.

The procession starts at noon from St. George and Bloor, heading east before turning south along Yonge to Queen where it makes a final turn to finish at Nathan Phillips Square. TTC access and parking are available at several points along the parade route.

For more information, please visit www.topatrick.com.