This fall, I have had a few articles published which you might find interesting to read -
Everton's Genealogical Helper (Nov/Dec) - This article, "Canada Remembers the Arrival of American Loyalists in 1783", celebrates their 225th anniversary, which was commemorated throughout Canada this year.
Internet Genealogy - The Dec/Jan edition will feature an interesting article entitled, "Chinese-Canadian Records", written after I met the librarian of the Vancouver Public Library, Janet Tomkins, at the International Federation of Librarian Association (IFLA) Conference held this August at the Library and Archives Canada.
Family Chronicle - In the Nov/Dec issue is an article called, "A Genealogy Education". It is about getting a education in genealogy, and quotes such people as George Morgan, Dear Myrtle, and Chris Paton, who recently got his Postgraduate Diploma in Genealogical Studies at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland.
"Columns" - The latest in-house issue of the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors' (ISFHWE) newsletter, "Columns", will be out in December. It will be my usual column, this time entitled, "A Basket Full of Conferences", in which I talk about the Irish Symposium in November and the British Island Family History Society Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO) Conference in September of this year. Both were held at the Library and Archives Canada.
November's "NewsLeaf" - The newsletter of the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS), "NewsLeaf", arrived a week or so ago and, as usual, it was a pleasure to edit!
Some of the articles are the first of two articles by Dr. Jerome Teelucksingh on the "No Longer Hidden: Recording the Caribbean Presence in Canada", "Some History on the Beginnings of the Ontario Genealogical Society" by Ross W. Irwin, and "Burial Records for Jewish Cemeteries Across Ontario" by Shelley Stillman.
Plus lots of news on the OGS and meetings and special events which will take place in Ontario this winter and summer!
December 2008 "e-NewsLeaf" - I also edit the OGS' "e-NewsLeaf". Right now I am working on the December issue, which will be sent out to OGS members December 15th.
Some of the topics to be covered will be "Canadian 'PaperofRecord' Sold to Google", "Immigration to Canada", and there will be photos and a short write-up of the opening of the new office/library in Brant County.
And, of course, there is always the blog!!!!!
A daily blog about Canadian genealogy, heritage, and history
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Canada's Parliament Opens
Canada's Parliament opened today, and in the Honour Guard was my husband (he has gone on lots of parades this year) as part of the Air Force Guard, amidst the Army Guard, the Naval Flag Party, the Canadian Forces Band, the Artillery (as it performed a 21 gun salute) and a small but brave and hearty contingent of civilian onlookers.
(He found it a "bit chilly"—there was snow on our lawn this morning with a temperature of -10 Celsius or so—as they stood at attention waiting for Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, to inspect them. But other than that, he said the parade was a big success, topped off by a delicious lunch at the West Memorial Block.)
The Library and Archives Canada has put on the Canada Gazette - "the official newspaper of the Government of Canada" - all of the issues since 1998. However, all of the issues since 1841 will be made available soon on the same website <http://canadagazette.gc.ca/index-e.html>.
The digitization project—which began in 2007—is still underway, and by the end of this year, full access to all issues of the Canada Gazetter (1841-1998) will be available to the researcher.
I will be excited to see if Barclay WEBSTER—a first cousin 4 times removed by marraige of Edwardina Mary (Ina Mary) BARCLAY, daughter of James of Shelburne, Nova Scotia to Dr. Henry Bently WEBSTER of Kentville, Nova Scotia—who had a very succesful law practice in Kentville, Nova Scotia, and was the Conservative member of Parliament in November 1900, is mentioned.
(He found it a "bit chilly"—there was snow on our lawn this morning with a temperature of -10 Celsius or so—as they stood at attention waiting for Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, to inspect them. But other than that, he said the parade was a big success, topped off by a delicious lunch at the West Memorial Block.)
The Library and Archives Canada has put on the Canada Gazette - "the official newspaper of the Government of Canada" - all of the issues since 1998. However, all of the issues since 1841 will be made available soon on the same website <http://canadagazette.gc.ca/index-e.html>.
The digitization project—which began in 2007—is still underway, and by the end of this year, full access to all issues of the Canada Gazetter (1841-1998) will be available to the researcher.
I will be excited to see if Barclay WEBSTER—a first cousin 4 times removed by marraige of Edwardina Mary (Ina Mary) BARCLAY, daughter of James of Shelburne, Nova Scotia to Dr. Henry Bently WEBSTER of Kentville, Nova Scotia—who had a very succesful law practice in Kentville, Nova Scotia, and was the Conservative member of Parliament in November 1900, is mentioned.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Shelburne County Newsletter has Arrived!
Another newsletter has arrived - this time by email - and it is the Shelburne County Archives & Genealogical Society Newsletter in Nova Scotia <http://nsgna.ednet.ns.ca/shelburne>.
Shelburne County is my "home" genealogical and archives society, and it produces a newsletter three times a year, and a couple of years ago they starting producing the newsletter electronically.
In this edition "From the Doan(e) Family" recounts the grand time that was held at the reunion in Barrie, Ont this summer.
They are busy with DNA testing to find out what part of the British Isles that progenitor John Doan(e) came from (not much luck there as yet), and they are looking for more members - especially from Eastern Canada.
Another article is written by Eleanor Robertson Smith about her research of William Booth of England and his tour of Nova Scotia in 1785, He kept a diary, and you can read his impressions of Shelburne in the piece called "Introduction to Captain William Booth and His Rough Memorandums."
Eleanor also writes about Gideon White, a descendent of a Mayflower passenger, John Howland, at the launch of his papers, the Gideon White Family Papers, at the Nova Scotia Archives & Records Management Office <www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/white>.
White came to Shelburne in the spring of 1784 and his letters to friends and family members, as well as his books, have been made public by the Nova Scotia Archives.
My BARCLAY ancestors are mentioned in the papers, and being in Ontario, it was so difficult to look through them until they were opened and put on the Internet earlier this year.
If you have a question to ask of the people at Shelburne, you can contact them them by writing to <gencentre@ns.sympatico.ca>.
Shelburne County is my "home" genealogical and archives society, and it produces a newsletter three times a year, and a couple of years ago they starting producing the newsletter electronically.
In this edition "From the Doan(e) Family" recounts the grand time that was held at the reunion in Barrie, Ont this summer.
They are busy with DNA testing to find out what part of the British Isles that progenitor John Doan(e) came from (not much luck there as yet), and they are looking for more members - especially from Eastern Canada.
Another article is written by Eleanor Robertson Smith about her research of William Booth of England and his tour of Nova Scotia in 1785, He kept a diary, and you can read his impressions of Shelburne in the piece called "Introduction to Captain William Booth and His Rough Memorandums."
Eleanor also writes about Gideon White, a descendent of a Mayflower passenger, John Howland, at the launch of his papers, the Gideon White Family Papers, at the Nova Scotia Archives & Records Management Office <www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/white>.
White came to Shelburne in the spring of 1784 and his letters to friends and family members, as well as his books, have been made public by the Nova Scotia Archives.
My BARCLAY ancestors are mentioned in the papers, and being in Ontario, it was so difficult to look through them until they were opened and put on the Internet earlier this year.
If you have a question to ask of the people at Shelburne, you can contact them them by writing to <gencentre@ns.sympatico.ca>.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Library and Archives Canada Launches Flickr
As a part of the Irish Symposium which took place at the LAC Monday and Tuesday at the beginning of this month, the LAC has put 84 images of the Irish-Canadian connection on www.flickr.com/photos/28853433@N02.
"The objective of the project is to explore new ways to improve access to Canada's documentary heritage," said Ian E. Wilson, Librarian and Archivist of Canada. "Library and Archives Canada is excited about the opportunities that social media sharing communities provide for Canadians to discuss and contextualize an important selection of our collective history."
Visitors to Flickr.com can comment and tag the content of the pictures, and can explore history in the context of their surroundings by navigating the album on a virtual map of the world.
I was on the exhibit twice in the past few days, and find it to be very good. It gives both the Irish and Canadian view of each other from the turn of the 19th century, and it rounds out the perception of the Irish-Canadian had of each other of that time.
LAC is planning to put videos on YouTube later in the year.
"The objective of the project is to explore new ways to improve access to Canada's documentary heritage," said Ian E. Wilson, Librarian and Archivist of Canada. "Library and Archives Canada is excited about the opportunities that social media sharing communities provide for Canadians to discuss and contextualize an important selection of our collective history."
Visitors to Flickr.com can comment and tag the content of the pictures, and can explore history in the context of their surroundings by navigating the album on a virtual map of the world.
I was on the exhibit twice in the past few days, and find it to be very good. It gives both the Irish and Canadian view of each other from the turn of the 19th century, and it rounds out the perception of the Irish-Canadian had of each other of that time.
LAC is planning to put videos on YouTube later in the year.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Joint Initiative Provides Online Access to Canadian Censuses
Ancestry.ca and FamilySearch International made an announcement on Nov 11th that they will partner on the digitized and indexing of the Canadian census.
The press release says that the "joint initiative will allow the organizations to improve online access to a comprehensive collection of Canadian censuses".
As apart of the agreement, FamilySearch.org will provide images and index to Ancestry.ca for censuses 1861, 1871, 1881, and 1916, and Ancestry.ca will provide images and index to FamilySearch.org for the 1851, 1891, 1901, and 1906 Census.
Notice that nowhere is the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) mentioned. The LAC originally held the census records on microfilm (being transferred to them by StatsCan), but through agreements with Ancestry.ca and FamilySearch.org, they seemed to have lost control over them in how they are used.
And it looks like the "free" search on FamilySearch.org is about to come to an end. The press release says that the images "will be free to all qualified (those people who have done transcription work for FamilySearch.org) FamilySearch members and at all FamilySearch family history centers".
The press release says that the "joint initiative will allow the organizations to improve online access to a comprehensive collection of Canadian censuses".
As apart of the agreement, FamilySearch.org will provide images and index to Ancestry.ca for censuses 1861, 1871, 1881, and 1916, and Ancestry.ca will provide images and index to FamilySearch.org for the 1851, 1891, 1901, and 1906 Census.
Notice that nowhere is the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) mentioned. The LAC originally held the census records on microfilm (being transferred to them by StatsCan), but through agreements with Ancestry.ca and FamilySearch.org, they seemed to have lost control over them in how they are used.
And it looks like the "free" search on FamilySearch.org is about to come to an end. The press release says that the images "will be free to all qualified (those people who have done transcription work for FamilySearch.org) FamilySearch members and at all FamilySearch family history centers".
Saturday, November 15, 2008
The "Ottawa Branch News" is here!
The Nov/Dec issue of the Ottawa Branch News arrived yesterday and it's a good one - at 52 pages!
The FEATURES articles include "Early Carleton County Settlers", sub-titled 'Early Medical Practitioners in Carleton County' (note that in 1847, the total number of people looked after by the doctors was 664 - the largest number to date); "Early Residents of Ottawa's Sandy Hill Neighbourhood"; and "Irish Threads - A New Look at the Tapestry of Life".
The NEWS section includes "Upcoming Events"; "OGS Conference 2009"; and a "Message from the Chair". DEPARTMENTS includes "Electronic Notebook"; "Conferences, Meetings, Workshops"; and "Historic Plaques and Monuments".
The Ottawa Branch News—along with the website <www.ogsottawa.on.ca>—is an excellent addition to your membership. It takes many volunteer hours to put together, and Ottawa has one of the better newsletters. It is published five times a year.
On the title page is a photo of the monument erected in Beechwood Cemetery, listing the 26 Canadians who were killed September 11, 2001.
The FEATURES articles include "Early Carleton County Settlers", sub-titled 'Early Medical Practitioners in Carleton County' (note that in 1847, the total number of people looked after by the doctors was 664 - the largest number to date); "Early Residents of Ottawa's Sandy Hill Neighbourhood"; and "Irish Threads - A New Look at the Tapestry of Life".
The NEWS section includes "Upcoming Events"; "OGS Conference 2009"; and a "Message from the Chair". DEPARTMENTS includes "Electronic Notebook"; "Conferences, Meetings, Workshops"; and "Historic Plaques and Monuments".
The Ottawa Branch News—along with the website <www.ogsottawa.on.ca>—is an excellent addition to your membership. It takes many volunteer hours to put together, and Ottawa has one of the better newsletters. It is published five times a year.
On the title page is a photo of the monument erected in Beechwood Cemetery, listing the 26 Canadians who were killed September 11, 2001.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Ancestry.ca and the Library and Archives Canada
This is a story that's turning into a soap opera of sorts - it's becoming "the continuing story of LAC and Ancestry.ca".
In 2007, a partnership was drawn up between the LAC and Ancestry.ca, and it was announced at the 2007 Ontario Genealogical Society Seminar. I was there to hear it as well as were about 500 other people. It was as if the air had been sucked out the room - people were astounded by the news! "We didn't know that this was going on" - was the complaint of the people. It had come as a complete surprise!
Ancestry.ca said at that time that the release of the Quebec City Immigration Records was Number One on its list of things to do, and that they would make it available online at Ancestry.ca as well as the free LAC website. It is not on the LAC site - yet.
Then the Passenger Lists (Canada's Immigration Lists) from 1865 to 1935 was made public the first part of September on Ancestry.ca. That sort of caught me by surprise because I was expecting it to be released early in 2009 - but there it was - much to everyone's surprise. And it was not released at the LAC in Ottawa - but at Ancestry.ca headquarters in Toronto. It is supposed to be on the LAC site - but so far, it hasn't appeared.
And now, another press release in which Josh Hanna, a Senior VP of Ancestry International, and Ian Wilson, Chief Librarian and Archivist of Canada, are saying that Ancestry.ca will "digitize and index microfilm and original records (my italics) held by LAC and make these available to Ancestry.ca members." It goes on to say that "all of the digitized records will eventually be available free of charge to users of the LAC website". Notice that they say "digitized" records, and not "indexed" records.
Mr. Hanna says that "This is a win-win relationship for Ancestry to offer a wide range of Canadian collections to its members and in turn LAC will receive the expertise, experience and person hours that are required for imaging and indexing these records."
We all know that the LAC, being a government department, doesn't have the money to hire people (as the National Archives of Ireland has found out in its transcription of the 1901 and 1911 Irish census, and now has put it out to transcription companies to bid on it - they have said that they have chosen the company - but wouldn't say who it is at the Irish Symposium in Ottawa in November).
But I believe that this is the crux of the matter - the LAC simply does not have the money. So it has turned to Ancestry.ca to do the digitization and indexing of the microfilm and original records - and the LAC will take whatever it has agreed to put onsite. We will see what that is as time goes by.
In the meantime, were you as surprised as I when you opened the Globe and Mail newspaper yesterday morning, and read where Ancestry.ca had made a major mistake by putting a German soldier where there should have been a Canadian soldier in its Remembrance Day advertisement in the paper the previous day?
Ancestry.ca issued an apology and it said it will never happen again.
In 2007, a partnership was drawn up between the LAC and Ancestry.ca, and it was announced at the 2007 Ontario Genealogical Society Seminar. I was there to hear it as well as were about 500 other people. It was as if the air had been sucked out the room - people were astounded by the news! "We didn't know that this was going on" - was the complaint of the people. It had come as a complete surprise!
Ancestry.ca said at that time that the release of the Quebec City Immigration Records was Number One on its list of things to do, and that they would make it available online at Ancestry.ca as well as the free LAC website. It is not on the LAC site - yet.
Then the Passenger Lists (Canada's Immigration Lists) from 1865 to 1935 was made public the first part of September on Ancestry.ca. That sort of caught me by surprise because I was expecting it to be released early in 2009 - but there it was - much to everyone's surprise. And it was not released at the LAC in Ottawa - but at Ancestry.ca headquarters in Toronto. It is supposed to be on the LAC site - but so far, it hasn't appeared.
And now, another press release in which Josh Hanna, a Senior VP of Ancestry International, and Ian Wilson, Chief Librarian and Archivist of Canada, are saying that Ancestry.ca will "digitize and index microfilm and original records (my italics) held by LAC and make these available to Ancestry.ca members." It goes on to say that "all of the digitized records will eventually be available free of charge to users of the LAC website". Notice that they say "digitized" records, and not "indexed" records.
Mr. Hanna says that "This is a win-win relationship for Ancestry to offer a wide range of Canadian collections to its members and in turn LAC will receive the expertise, experience and person hours that are required for imaging and indexing these records."
We all know that the LAC, being a government department, doesn't have the money to hire people (as the National Archives of Ireland has found out in its transcription of the 1901 and 1911 Irish census, and now has put it out to transcription companies to bid on it - they have said that they have chosen the company - but wouldn't say who it is at the Irish Symposium in Ottawa in November).
But I believe that this is the crux of the matter - the LAC simply does not have the money. So it has turned to Ancestry.ca to do the digitization and indexing of the microfilm and original records - and the LAC will take whatever it has agreed to put onsite. We will see what that is as time goes by.
In the meantime, were you as surprised as I when you opened the Globe and Mail newspaper yesterday morning, and read where Ancestry.ca had made a major mistake by putting a German soldier where there should have been a Canadian soldier in its Remembrance Day advertisement in the paper the previous day?
Ancestry.ca issued an apology and it said it will never happen again.
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