African Nova Scotian Diaspora: Selected Government Records of Black Settlement, 1791-1839

Here is a press release that I received from the Nova Scotia Archives -

"The Nova Scotia Archives is pleased to present a significant new online resource features unique documents reflecting the struggles and survival of African Nova Scotians, as the world marks the United Nations' International Year for People of African Descent.

It contains over 500 digitized and fully searchable government documents relating to early African Nova Scotian immigration and emigration. Many of the documents are rich in the names and reflect the experiences of Black Refugees who came here at the close of the War of 1812.

You can visit the exhibit at: http://gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/diaspora"

Lauren Oostveen
Public Information Officer
Nova Scotia Archives
Department of Communities, Culture & Heritage
6016 University Avenue
Halifax, Nova Scotia
CANADA B3H 1W4
Ph:902-424-6073
oostvelj@gov.ns.ca

New/Improved Canadian Websites and Blogs Week 4

Here are some of the websites, and blogs that I have come across the week ending Sept 25, 2011

Major Boutron et compagnies http://majorboutroncompagnies.blogspot.com Genealogy about Estienne Boutron Major from Franche Comté to Nouvelle-France, and his lineage in North America, particularly in Quebec, Ontario, Michigan, and Louisiana.

A Latvian Canadian Story http://chelli11.wordpress.com A blog which covers French-Canadian genealogy, individual family history, Italian genealogy, Latvian genealogy, and Ukrainian genealogy .

Gumbo Genealogy http://gumbogenealogy.blogspot.com An Acadian genealogy with individual family histories, and Louisiana genealogy .

Rock of Ages: Grave Concerns http://leprechaunrabbit.wordpress.com The President of the Alberta Genealogical Society, known as "The Leprechaun Rabbit", has a blog about the cemeteries of Alberta.

Evans Books: Publications by Gwen Barry www.booksbygwen.ca I received an email from fellow Ottawa genealogist, Bonnie Miller, about this site in which Gwen Barry has published books on her own family lines and the history of Megantic County, Quebec. As Bonnie says, “What was even more useful for me was the free extensive genealogy database of the early families who lived there and where they eventually migrated to, as well as the links and references to other sources”.

Following the Ancestral Trail of Notable Canadian Families: Mitchell, Pearson, McKelvey & James http://web.me.com/jonathan_mitchell Jonathan Mitchell follows the Irish immigrant in the Canadian countryside.

Recensement de l'Acadie de 1671 (Census of Acadie, 1671) www.zonecousinage.com/recensement/acadie1671.html Site is in the French language, and gives the person's name, their age, and occupation.

AncestorStalker: A Leader In Professional Genealogical Research http://services.ancestorstalker.com Offers genealogy including DNA analysis for a fee. $

Irish Family History And Genealogy Contributed By Guest Bloggers And Brought To You By TheWildGeese.com http://thewildgeesegenealogy.blogspot.com This brand new sites invites people to write about their Canadian and other Irish Ancestors. It will focus on Irish Family History, and this week it is about a Nova Scotian Irish family.

Luxegen Genealogy and Family History www.luxegen.ca/category/genealogy Written by Joan Miller, with an emphasis on the prairie provinces and Quebec with surnames - Kerr, Wilson, Henderson, Irvine, Woodland, Aumack, Miller. Catch Joan's latest interview on Geneabloggers radio, plus “Genealogists – Capture Your Family’s Interest”, her latest blog post.

Think before you 'Delete'

In the most recent edition of the Moncton, New Brunswick newspaper, The Times & Transcript, Diane Lynn Tibert — a freelance writer based in central Nova Scotia — writes about the impact of emails in “Think before you 'Delete'".

She says that “E-mail is simply an alternative method of corresponding with others. The difference between e-mail and letters is that for the most part email leaves no history”.

Read about what she has to say about emails and genealogy at
http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/travelleisure/article/1440544

Tantramar Seniors' College

The college, located in Sackville, New Brunswick, is offering over 50 courses this fall in Sackville, NB; Amherst, NS; Moncton, NB; and The Greater Shediac Area, NB.

One of the courses is -

An Introduction to Memoir Writing

Tues 10:00 am to noon with Marilyn Lerch in Lafford Space. First class is Oct 11 with 8 classes. No maximum. Tuesday, September 27, 2011 in Trinity-St Stephen United Church Hall from 3:00 to 5:00 pm.

They will also be offering courses in genealogy, museums, and in researching cemeteries.

The website for the college is http://tantramarseniorscollege.ca. You can contact them at tsccoordinator@nbnet.nb.ca

Top Five Canadian Genealogy Sites

Yesterday (Sept 22nd), I went online at Google to see what were the top five Canadian Genealogy Sites, and this is what I found -

# 1 - Canadian Genealogy & History Links (CGHL)
http://www.islandnet.com/~cghl The Canadian answer to Cyndi's List, it's been on the Internet since 1995, and there are postings here you don't find in other places. Besides listing all of the Provinces, and Territories, there are Personal Pages, Archives, Census, Cemeteries, History, Loyalist, Military, and Organizations.

# 2 - CanGenealogy http://www.cangenealogy.com Dave Obee's famous link pages which lists provinces and Territories, Resources and Events in Canada. It was first posted in 2006.

# 3 – Library and Archives Canada
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/022/index-e.html
The current front page of the Genealogy and Family History was created in 2006, and it lists the Most Requested Records, plus additional resources you can access online.

# 4 – Canadian Genealogy-Canadian Genealogy Resources
http://www.canadiangenealogy.net. Online since 2002, this site is also a Links site, but has older articles on the right hand side - some of which I have not seen before.

# 5 - Canadian Genealogy: Find your genes, friends, family and ancestry to get re-united!
http://www.canadiangenealogy.ca I have not used this page in the past, but I did put my maiden name in the Search Box, and was taken directly to the name in Ancestry.ca. Don't know how helpful this is for longtime Internet people, but could prove useful to the first time users.

BIFHSGO 2011 Conference – Day 3

The last day was clear and sunny, and the crowd was eager to start. The first session was with Susan Davis, “A Social Media Primer for Family Historians”.

Susan, who is BIFHSGO's Director of Communications, had the sold-out crowd in the palm of her hand as she explained Social Media.

She frequently polled the people to see how many were already on Twitter, Facebook, had a blog, etc. It was evident not many of the people have taken advantage of the new social media but they were there to learn – which is exactly what the talk was about!

The second session I went to was “Solving Genealogical Problems Using English Probate Records” by Linda Reid.

She used her own ancestors to illustrate some of the problems she encountered when looking at the probate records. Through researching wills, she was able to discover new relationships in the family, and therefore was able to solve genealogical problems.

The third session was “Master and Mates: Sounding the Depths of Merchant Marine Records” by Barbara Tose. She told us how she traced the genealogy of her great-grand grandfather, William Tose, by using the records of the British Merchant Marine.

The fourth session was given by Sherry Irvine, “Resting Peacefully in Essex – While I Was Becoming a Better Genealogist”, and was the closing talk of the Conference.

She talked about advanced research skills (evidence orientation, thought processes, record selection, and trailblazing) as they related to research in Essex County (England),and how she was able to solve a number of problems.

The conference presented a good mixture of primers and advanced sessions. One can hope that the organizers continue to present sessions like this next year. They had something for everyone. Also, one hopes that they have the ever-growing popular Friday sessions next year also.

Listening to the pre-conference interviews by John D. Reid and Brian Glenn before going to the conference really helped me. I wish everyone would have done this before going to the Conference. I found the Conference easier to understand, and it increased its value to me.

Be sure to check out the Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/British-Isles-Family-History-of-Greater-Ottawa/149788348437126, and Twitter pages at https://twitter.com/#!/BIFHSGO. Both of them give you an excellent account of what it was like to attend the Conference.

There are new Podcasts on their site by Brian Glenn at http://www.bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=59 of the Marketplace. Rick Roberts of Global Genealogy at http://globalgenealogy.com, Elizabeth Kipp of the Guild of One-Name Studies at http://www.one-name.org, and Robin Cushnie of the Osgoode Township Historical Society and Museum at http://www.magma.ca/~oths are some of the people who were in the Marketplace. Their interviews are interesting, so be sure to listen to it!

And finally, the people at BIFHSGO are in the process of posting conference handouts at the “Members Only” site. There are also details about the 10% discount for BIFHSGO members on all courses offered by Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Limited to the “Members Only” area of their site.

The next BIFHSGO Conference will be held (tentatively) from Sept 14-16, 2012.

Their website is at http://www.bifhsgo.ca

BIFHSGO 2011 Conference – Day 2

Another sunny morning met us as we awoke for Day 2 of the BIFHSGO Conference.

The first talk I heard was "You Might Have a 19th Century British Mormon on Your Family Tree" given by Linda Blair.

Did you know that in the mid-19th Century there were more Mormon in Britain than in North America?

So when Linda discovered that a direct ancestor had emigrated to the US, she was on an ancestry hunt, and it finally led her to a membership in the International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers.

The second one I attended was by Gary Schroder and was called “How to Find Your Ancestors in Quebec” and as usual – he was in fine form.

He talked about marriage and death records (1926 to 1997), and notary records.

His talk was interrupted by a power outage which sort of put a damper on things, but Gary kept on going, and didn't miss a beat.

Then after a most enjoyable lunch with John D. Reid of Anglo-Celtic Connections blog http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com.

We then headed downstairs to hear Gary Schroder once again talk about “How to Find Your Ancestors in the British Army 1760-1945.

He explained what WO97 included, and gave an outlined what is held on findmypast, and at the National Archives.

The last talk of the day was given by Audrey Collins called “The Fleet Registers: Clandestine Marriages in London 1667-1754”

These marriages were performed by people who lived near the Fleet prison, London, and the many records can be searched to see if any of your ancestors did get married there.

We then went to supper at the Bay Street Bistro, where my husband and myself sat with Brian Watson, the co-chair of the BIFHSGO Conference, and attendees Judy, Linda, Mary, Barbara, Barbara, Ross, and June.