GANS office in open this afternoon

Here is a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon -

Genealogy is a great past time on a rainy day. Drop into the office this afternoon and work on your family tree.

Sunday, April 27
GANS Office Open
1:00 pm to 5:00 pm - 3258 Isleville Street, Halifax, NS

The Office is open to everyone. Stop by to chat, do some internet research, check out our library or buy a publication or membership. Bring a friend!

Web: http://www.NovaScotiaAncestors.ca

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NovaScotiaAncestors

Twitter: @NSAncestors

Canadian Week in Review

Check the Canadian Week in Review tomorrow morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada. 

It has the latest news covered in New/Updated Websites, Social Media, and Newspaper Articles.

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in country! 

The Canadian Week in Review is now in its third year of bringing you the Canadian take on genealogy, heritage and history news. It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.  

University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies Toronto’s is offering a 6-week course

The University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies is offering the six week course called Toronto’s Past, Your City, Your House, Your Family starting May 6th. 

The press release says "Are you interested in discovering the history of your house or neighbourhood, the history of your family once in Toronto, or a Toronto business or institution? Are you exploring another aspect of Toronto history? Or are you a writer or researcher? 

This course introduces established principles of local and family history research as taught worldwide, and suggests how to apply them in the Toronto context. We work our way through a variety of research projects, representative of the expressed interests of participants. In support of these practical case studies we review, in an integrated way, remarkable resources which we can draw upon, including some little-known ones. Watch yourself start to become a local history sleuth! "

For more information and to register for this course, please visit the course website at http://2learn.utoronto.ca/uoft/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=1701461

McDonald family holds a community reunion in Lanark County, Ontario

I just received this notice from the Lanark County Genealogical Society -

“When John McDonald, his wife Isabel Maclaine and their children emigrated from Mull, Scotland, and settled the 10th Concession of Ramsay, Lanark County, Canada in 1822, they brought with them, among other possessions, a cast-iron porridge pot. The pot has been handed down through generations of McDonald descendants, to Mary Lennox and her husband Barrie, who have donated it to the North Lanark Regional Museum. Nearly two centuries later McDonald descendants are returning to the Almonte region for this joyous occasion.

You are most cordially invited to attend this jointly sponsored celebration by the Lanark County Genealogical Society, the North Lanark Regional Museum and Archives Lanark on Thursday June 5th, 2014.

It’s a once in a lifetime chance to meet John and Ishbel descendants, from international locations returning to Almonte for this occasion. Other family members will be familiar, as they reside in the area, such as McPhail, Cameron, NcNaughton, Ellis, Smith, McLean, Dickson, Little, Taylor, and Finlay.

The day’s program includes:

Bus tour: Number of seats available 55. Cost $20 per person.

A guided tour made possible by Barr Bus Lines Ltd. Pakenham, Ontario. Bus leaves from the North Lanark Regional Museum (Appleton), 647 River Rd, Mississippi Mills, ON at 10:15 a.m. The Museum opens at 9:00 allowing time to view their holdings and sip a morning beverage while waiting for the buses to arrive.

The bus will stop at the original McDonald property and the family cemetery. This cemetery is recognized as one of the first cemeteries in the Town of Mississippi Mills, with the first burial in 1823.

The bus continues with short tour of historical highlights in the area. We will travel to

Blakeney and the Park, an area well loved by twins Jessie and Katie McDonald and your chance to view nature unspoiled.

Bennie’s Corners, the village honored by a visit from the Prince of Wales (King Edward) in 1860 and the One-Room Rural school area where the Inventor of Basketball, Dr. James Naismith brought honour to the school, the community and to Canada.

Mill of Kintail, the home of Canadian-born sculptor, doctor, soldier, physical educator, athlete and scouter Dr. Robert Tait McKenzie.

High Falls, Almonte’s Historic Main Street, and the R. Tait McKenzie’s bronze sculpture, The Volunteer.

Returning to the museum in Appleton for your vehicles so you can attend the lunch and remainder of the event at the Social Hall of the United Church, 160 Elgin Street, Almonte.

United Church Social Hall, 106 Elgin Street, Almonte (seating for 100 people)

Buffet Lunch at 12:30 by The LeatherWorks Catering Cost per person $10

Includes,

North Lanark Regional Museum display featuring the historic MacDonald family Porridge Pot donated by Mary and Barrie Lennox.

Minister: Rev. Mary Royal Duczek’s family blessing through a “Commemorative Sand Ceremony Dedicated to the McDonald Family Generations

McDonald and McPhail settler’s family history displays.

Farm related displays, family photos, farm photo, some historical artifacts and treasures from life on the farm.

Archives Lanark display includes documents related to the 10th concession farms and a display announcing their soon to be released “One Room Schools of Ramsay Township” book.

Ramsay Women’s Institute representatives will be there with the Tweedsmuir History Books.

Mississippi Valley Textile Museum Curator will enlighten us on a new research opportunity with over 100 years of Almonte Gazette on-line.

And we may even get a chance to hear a musical interlude with bagpipes, and taste some oatmeal crisps, peas’ brose, haggis, Scottish eggs and poor man’s pudding, from recipes that during the 1800s and 1900s provided nourishment on the table in a Scottish household.

The purpose of this note is to extend to you an invitation to attend this historic event and help make this event a lasting family memory.

Tickets for the full day $30 or in part, bus tour $20 or lunch $10 can be purchased in advance by mailing your cheque, payable to Lanark County Genealogical Society to Lanark County Genealogical Society, c/o Frances Rathwell, Treasurer, Attention: McDonald Event, 68 Beckwith St E Perth ON K7H 1C1

Or you can contact them at the Lanark County Genealogical Society at http://www.globalgenealogy.com/LCGS

Call for Speakers - The Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society and the Canadiana Department of the North York Central Library

                                                                                                                                                         

 Gwyneth Pearce, Secretary of the Toronto Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society, has sent me the following notice -

“The Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society and the Canadiana Department of the North York Central Library will be co-hosting a one-day workshop on the above theme of Industrial England. The time period we are particularly interested in is 1750 to 1870 although later times could also be relevant. 

We are looking for speakers who would like to be part of this workshop. We want to receive proposals from professional genealogists, historians, family historians, librarians and archivists. 

You are invited to submit proposals for lectures on topics such as migration to the cities, changes in occupations, effects of industrialization on rural communities, and changes in social organizations, cultural life, religion and education. Lectures can be about a family, an industry or about a place in England (e.g., Manchester), a county (e.g., Cornwall), a region (e.g., the Midlands) or relevant to the whole country. 

Workshop attendees will be most interested in lectures emphasizing sources and research techniques that might be useful in their own family history research. We need lectures suitable for all levels of experience. 

Each lecture session will be an hour or half-hour long, including 10 or 5 minutes for questions. Presentations should be illustrated; we will provide a computer projector or an overhead projector. Speakers will be expected to provide a handout of supporting material (up to four pages), which we will photocopy for all registrants. 

Speakers will be paid an honorarium of $100 per lecture hour ($50 for a half-hour lecture). Speakers living in the Greater Metropolitan Area of Toronto will receive an allowance of $35 for travel and incidental expenses. For speakers living further away, modest travel expenses, accommodation and incidental expenses will be reimbursed on an individual basis. 

Please submit your lecture proposals by e-mail. Please keep them brief and informal at this time. Be sure to include your mailing address, phone number and a brief biography”. 

DEADLINE FOR PROPOSALS: FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2014. 

The workshop will be held NOVEMBER 1, 2014 at the NORTH YORK CENTRAL LIBRARY AUDITORIUM, 5120 Yonge Street, Toronto

Proposals must be sent to: courses@torontofamilyhistory.org 

For more information about the Toronto Branch of the OGS, please go tohttp://torontofamilyhistory.org                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

GANS to hold their Annual General Meeting & Lecture

  

The Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia will hold its Annual General Meeting & Lecture on Saturday, May 10 from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm at the Akins A/V Room, Nova Scotia Archives, University and Robie Strrets, Halifax, Nova Scotia. 

The lecture will be given by Terrence M. Punch, and Terry will be talking about his latest publication, Montbeliard Immigration to Nova Scotia, 1749-1752. Do you have the surnames Bailley, Burgoyne, Boutilier, Dorey, Jodrey, Patriquin, Dauphinee, Jollimore, Langille, or Tattrie somewhere in your family background? 

Come hear about where they, and other Montbeliardais, came from. You may learn some surprising facts; for example, at the time of the immigration to Nova Scotia from 1749 to 1752, Montbeliard was an independent Lutheran state. 

Light refreshments to follow. 

2nd Annual Book Sale 

We will be selling back issues of the Nova Scotia Genealogist, duplicates from our library, surplus Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society publications, and much more. Bring along your cash and pick up some great bargains! 

You can check their website at http://www.NovaScotiaAncestors.ca, and their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/NovaScotiaAncestors. Twitter is available @NSAncestors

RootsTech 2015 Call for Papers

RootsTech 2015 will be held in Salt Lake City from February 11–14, 2015, and the RootsTech Content Committee is calling for dynamic presentations that inform and educate both those seeking to begin and those continuing to discovering their family story through technology.

They say that presentation submissions will be accepted June 2 to June 27, 2014, through the Call for Presentations portal on RootsTech.org

They are looking for presentations such as -

· Finding and Organizing: search tactics, resources, specialized tools, methodologies, solutions, metadata, apps and software

· Preserving Your Work And Legacy: family trees, digital migration, audio and video solutions

· Sharing: social media, and tools for collaboration, wikis, crowd sourcing, community building, blogs

· Stories and Photos: storytelling and interviewing, capturing stories, preserving stories, enhancing stories with photos, photo restoration, movies and presentations, photo editing, oral histories

· Tools: technology introductions, gadgets, genetic research, DNA, breaking down barriers,

· General: family history topics in general including geographic research, time-period research, inspirations, market trends, research trends, adjacent industries, record types. (Please note, there is still an expectation in this category that technology is a part of the presented topic.)

· Family Traditions And Lifestyle: cultural arts, handicrafts, food, influential historical events, everyday living standards, social customs, pastimes, artifacts. (Please note there is still an expectation in this category that this knowledge assists the learner in family history and that technology is a part of the presented topic.)

And at the Innovator Summit, they would like the following presentations -

· Developer: standards and API’s, mobile app development, social applications, record imaging and visualizations, apps for youth, software and tools that enable the work of family history.

· Business: funding and investment, startups- success stories and tips, opportunities and market trends, networking and partnerships, insights and entertainment

The complete Call for Presentations document is present at https://familysearch.org/blog/en/files/2014/04/RT15-CFP-041614v.2.pdf. It includes presentation and evaluation criteria, the submission timeline, and process details.

Questions regarding the RootsTech 2015 call for presentations can be emailed to the Content Committee at info@rootstech.org.

Good Luck!