Chris Paton at BIFHSGO Conference 2012

Ttwo beautiful mornings (Saturday and Sunday, September 15th and 16th) greeted us as we made our way to the Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa to hear Chris Paton give four lectures (two lectures each day) on Scotland. He had also given workshops the day before which, unfortunately, I was unable to attend.

The first lecture was an introduction to “Researching Scottish Family History”, and Chris took us though Civil Registration, Decennial Censuses, Parish Records pre-1855, Wills and Testaments, Where People Lived, Newspapers, Books, and Courses.

Since my ancestor was Scottish (BARCLAY), and was born in 1738, I took particular interest in the records of Scotland pre-1855.

The second lecture was on the “Scottish House and Land Records” and, through his lecture, we learned that Scotland was under the feudal system up until 2004.

He went through all of the available land records and explained the terms so that land records could be more easily researched.

On Sunday, the morning started with Chris giving a talk on “The Godly Commonwealth” in which he talked about The Church of Scotland – the Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

Besides giving a timeline of the development of the Church, he told us how to search the records, and the biographical details of the ministers.

The fourth and final lecture given by Chris was called “The Mount Stewart Murder”, in which he talked about the murder of his 3x great-grandmother, Janet (nee Henderson) Roger, who was killed in 1866.

The murder has never been solved, and Chris took us through a list of “possible suspects” of who could have the murderer.

His talks were easy to follow because his hand-outs were very well-organized, and we were given them before the lecture. He stayed behind and answered many, many questions, and was very approachable during the times when he wasn’t giving a lecture.

It was a very successful conference for Chris – he completely sold out of his books!

Go to his blog, British GENES (British Genealogy News and Events) http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/bifhsgos-2012-conference-report.html, to read his report on the conference in Ottawa, and the nice words he said about my booklet on the War of 1812 - "an absolute gem"!

There are interviews with Chris, Lucille Campey, and Patricia Whatley by Austin Comerton on Ottawa's radio show, The Gaelic Hour (CJLL 97.9 FM) www.thegaelichour.ca. To listen to the interview, click here www.thegaelichour.ca/20120916.m3u.

Podcasts at BIFHSGO

As I get in the car this morning to go to the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO) monthly meeting at 9:00 am at the Library and Archives Canada, I am reminded of the number of podcasts that are now online on their website.

For example, there is a two-part podcast with Gary Schroder, president of the Quebec Family History Society. He talks about the Cadastral Numbering System, and how they hold the key to the land records in Quebec. Gary calls it ‘the hidden history of Quebec”.

The website is at www.qfhs.ca

There are also interviews with four founding members of BIFHSGO - Fern Small, Gary Bagley, Alan Rayburn, and Bob Campbell.

There are interviews with Malcolm Moody, Canadian Archive CD Books from Ottawa www.archivecdbooks.ca/acdbcanada.html, Ed Zapletal, Moorshead Magazines www.moorshead.com, and Lesley Anderson from Ancestry.ca and Ottawa, who talks about her experiences at "Who Do You Think You Are?". The interview was recorded live in London with Lesley.

There are over 30 interviews to listen to, all of them enlightening. I think BIFHSGO is the only society in Canada which has adopted this method of doing interviews at such a prolific pace.

A big “Thank You” goes out to John D. Reid (who tells us in an interview why he blogs) http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com, Brian Glenn, and Brooke Broadbent for conducting the interviews.

So have fun listening to the podcats.

I have a feeling that BIFHSGO will be doing a lot more podcasts in the future. Another example of how social media is changing the genealogy world!

The BIFHSGO webite is online at http://bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=59

Upcoming PEIGS Meeting

The PEI Genealogical Society's next general public meeting is in Summerside, Prince Edward Island Saturday, September 29, at the Lefurgey Cultural Centre, 205 Prince Street, off Granville Street, at 2:00 p.m. All welcome, free admission.

Includes brief business meeting and illustrated presentation by Island historian Mr Earle Lockerby speaking on "Descendants of Samuel Holland on PEI and Their Royal Connection". Mr. Lockerby will trace the family lore that has grown up concerning the family's connection to Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (after whom the Island is named), and compare the conventional wisdom with the results of historical and genealogical research.

The meeting will also receive an update from the Public Archives and Records Office, one of the most-frequented resources for Island genealogical researchers.

For more details contact society president Fred Horne, fredchorne@gmail.com or go to www.peigs.ca

Lest We Forget: Researching Your World War Ancestors

The Keshen Goodman Branch of the Halifax Public Library is hosting a talk this Saturday at 2:390 pm on learning how to build your military ancestors' stories using the most common resources available online and at the library.

The talk will be given by Joanne McCarthy, Reference Librarian, and she will use actual examples of Nova Scotia service files from the Lest We Forget workshops for those of you in the area,

Visit the Keshen Goodman Public Library at
www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca/branches/locations/keshen-goodman.html

Visit them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/hfxpublib

Talk Notes

Do you know that they have a series of "Talk Notes" on the Alberta Family History Society since 1997 up to the present day.

These are notes on the talks that are given by the meeting presenters to post on the society's website, and some of them are quite useful.

I took a minute and read through them yesterday, and there are notes on Eastern European Ancestry, Scottish Law, Ontario Land Records, Mining Online Resources, and Family History in Homestead and Land Records.

There have been other societies in Canada which have done this, but they hae usually put them behind “Member’s Only” website, so they aren’t available to the public.

But if you want to read the AFHS "Talk Notes", go to www.afhs.ab.ca/aids/talks/index.shtml to see what notes are available.

Two Meetings in Ottawa on Sept 22nd

I, among other genealogists in the city, will be busy Saturday as we will have two events in Ottawa that I plan to attend –

There will be the first meeting of the fall/winter season by BIFHSGO to be held at the Library and Archives Canada on Sept 22nd.

At 9:00 to 9:30 pm, there will be the Before BIFHSGO Educational Talk which will be on Google Earth for Genealogy by Ann Burns.

From 9:30 to 10:00 am there will be Browse the Discovery Tables and Computer, and at 10:00-11:30 there will be the Monthly Meeting Speaker

The subject of the talk will be “Why Study Genealogists? Initial Results from the Canadian Genealogy Survey” given by Dr. Leighann C. Neilson

During the summer and early fall of 2011, over 2,700 family historians completed the Canadian Genealogy Survey online, including many BIFHSGO members. This survey was the first to attempt to capture data about family historians across the nation, and promises to expand our knowledge of the ways that genealogical So I am exhibited to hear the results.

Go to www.bifhsgo.ca

And at 1 pm on Sept. 22nd, there will be the first meeting of the fall/winter season of the OGS Ottawa Branch.

It will be held at the Diefenbunker Bunker, Cold War Museum, at 3911 Carp Road. A pre-meeting will start at 1:00 pm with tour starting at 2 pm.

The facility, was decommissioned in December 1994, and reopened as the Diefenbunker, Canada's Cold War Museum, and a National Historic Site.

Go to www.diefenbunker.ca, or the http://ogsottawa.on.ca for more information.

I have never been there before, and I have heard so much about the place, I am excited to see it for myself.

The Branch is covering the cost of the tour, so there will not be a charge for this tour.

Loyalist Weekend in Shelburne Nova Scotia Sept 21-23

Stephen Davidson UE of my former hometown of Shelburne, Nova Scotia tells us that the Shelburne (Nova Scotia) Re-enactment Association will be hosting a living history/Loyalist history weekend from Friday, Sept. 21-23rd featuring guest speaker Todd Braisted.

The event begins with a wine and cheese meet and greet at the Shelburne County Museum from 7-9 pm. The remainder of the event gets underway at the Shelburne Regional High School on Saturday, September 22nd with sessions running from 9 - 4 pm and again on Sunday with sessions running from 10-5 pm.

Information sessions include: Bergen County 101, History of the 4th Battalion of the New Jersey Volunteers, New Jersey Volunteer Material Culture, Who Do You Think They (men of the NJV) Were? Land Settlement and Heritage, military Drill sessions, Mannerisms and Deportment, Personal Development, Choosing Period Correct Fabric, Basic Minuet and English Country Dancing lessons.

Lunches and nutrition breaks are included. Registration for this event is $20. To register please contact Sam Brannen via Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Shelburne-County-Archives-Genealogical-Society/145848502093215, email at sambrannen@b-wauctions.com or by phone at 1.902.637.3422. Registration deadline is Sept. 18th. Some members of the association have offered rooms at their homes for out of town attendees. Please ask when registering. Period clothing is encouraged!

A separate event within the weekend will be the New Jersey Volunteers, 3rd Bt. Regimental dinner. This will take place at the Shelburne Lions Hall on the Saturday of the event. Cost of this event is $25 and registration is required by Sept. 15th. Please contact Mary Lee Gonzaga at 1.902.875.3291 and state meal preference - pork or chicken. 6 pm appetizers, and at 7 pm there will be dinner. Period dress please.

To go to the Shelburne County Archives & Genealogical Society, go to http://nsgna.ednet.ns.ca/shelburne.