Ancestry.ca UPDATE: Discover your Irish Ancestors

St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner, and now is a good time to go to Ancestry.ca and discover what records they have for Irish immigrants to Canada.

They even have an excellent video for you to watch, and it gives good tips on how to find your Irish immigrants to Canada. It is very good.

So have fun as you look through the records to find Irish people who came to Canada.

The video is at www.ancestry.ca/cs/ca/canadianirish

Ancestry.ca UPDATE: Canada, City and Area Directories, 1819-1906

As of 12 March, 2013, Ancestry.ca has 8,299,563 people in their database of Canadian directories.

TherThere are directories for Kentville, Nova Scotia, and Henry B. Webster is listed there as a barrister in 1867, in the Hutchinson’s Nova Scotia Directory, 1866-1867, and in 1869 in the  McAlpine’s Nova Scotia Directory, 1868-1869.

Henry B. Webster was the son of Henry Webster of Kentville, Nova Scotia, and Edwardiana Barclay, Shelburne, Nova Scotia, who was the only daughter of James Barclay and Catherine Bingay, the brother to my g-g-g-g-grandfather George Barclay.

So go to www.ancestry.ca/search/db.aspx?dbid=3789, put in the name of yout ancestor, and see what come up – you may be surprised.

BCGS Publication The Offspring

The e-newsletter of the British Columbia Genealogical Society The Offspring is back in production again, and it is full of news. 

The BCGS Offspring was previously published on-line from 2006 to 2008. 

The most recent issue is at www.bcgs.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/The-Offspring-final_4.1_Spring_20131.pdf

The BCGS Website is at www.bcgs.ca

Celebrating Our Irish Roots Day

On Wednesday, March 20, 2013, there will be a meeting of the Quebec Family History Society from 1:30 pm to 4:00 pm at the QFHS Heritage Centre and Library, 173 Cartier Avenue, Pointe-Claire (Montreal), and you are asked to come and celebrate your Irish roots.

Join QFHS members Sharon Callaghan and Kelley O'Rourke for coffee, tea, and informal conversation to talk about Ireland and our ancestors who came from there.

Sharon is a lecturer and author of the book, Paths of Opportunity, a portrayal of the Irish Montreal experience of one family who arrived in Quebec in the 1840s at the start of The Famine. Kelley was a member of a small group of dedicated volunteers who played a significant role in restoring the St. Columban Cemetery, a predominantly Irish cemetery in the Lower Laurentians.

Come browse the books from our Irish collection. If you are new to genealogy, talk to our members about how to start researching your family history.

Bring a coffee mug, a friend, your own favourite books and resources on Ireland that have helped you in your research, or just bring yourself.

Everyone is Irish on Irish Roots Day, so join us.

Open to our members and the public. Admission is free.  Visit  www.qfhs.ca/events.php

GATINEAU VALLEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Please join the Gatineau Valley Historical Society for an evening of poetry, song and images celebrating the Gatineau River as Phil Jenkins talks and sings about The Babbling River: The Gatineau Valley in Verse and Song

Apart from spending his teenage years in Liverpool, England during Beatlemania, Phil has been thinking about Ottawa and the Gatineaus for more than 40 years. He has written for a variety of magazines and is weekly local history columnist for the

Ottawa Citizen. 

He is the author Fields of Vision and An Acre of Time: The Enduring Value of Place, as well as River Song: Sailing the History of the St. Lawrence, and Beneath My Feet: The Memoirs of George Mercer Dawson.

He is also a singer/songwriter who performs solo, or with the group "Riverbend." He currently lives in the Gatineau Hills. 

Everyone welcome, and there are refreshments!

The meeting will be held Monday, March 18, 7:30 pm, at the Wakefield Library, Wakefield Community Centre, 38 Valley Drive, La Pêche – just north of Ottawa.

The website of the GVHS is www.gvhs.ca

Digging for Gold in Toronto’s Libraries and Archives

On Saturday the 4 May 2013 from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm, there will be a  Workshop given by various members of the Toronto Branch OGS at the North York Memorial Community Hall, 5110 Yonge St., Toronto entitled Digging for Gold in Toronto’s Libraries and Archives.

It will be a one-day workshop with sessions for all skill levels – full of great reasons to visit Toronto's wonderful cluster of archives and libraries in person.

For more information, contact info is available at www.torontofamilyhistory.org

For more information on libraries and archives, you can go to

Toronto Public Library www.torontopubliclibrary.ca

Archives of Ontario (located in Toronto) www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/index.aspx

New/Updated CANADIAN Websites, Blogs, Facebook, and Newspaper Articles - 11 March 2013

I have come across the following Canadian websites, blogs, Facebook, and newspaper articles this past week that were of interest to me, and I thought you might be interested in them, too –

Websites

Atlantic Canada Genealogy Project http://chignecto.tribalpages.com This project, tracing people from Yorkshire, England in the late 1700s, to what is now Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in Canada, is still collecting information. It has been on the Internet since 2010.

Blog

Ancestral Road: Sharing the journey to know our ancestors http://ancestralroad.blogspot.ca Join Gayle as she starts the journey to gather information on her and her husband’s ancestors. She is tracing them as they immigrated to Ontario, Canada at various times between 1842 and 1912 from the United Kingdom.

Facebook

Toronto Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society   www.facebook.com/TOFamilyHistory They have just recently started a Facebook page, and the 2013 events are posted there.

Video

Piece of Canadian history sent home from Kirriemuir (Scotland) www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/angus/video-piece-of-canadian-history-sent-home-from-kirriemuir-1.73447  Bowlby Bros tin, which had been filled with “choice winter apples” from Ontario has been returned home.  

Newspaper Articles

Annual French celebrations start this week www.journalpioneer.com/News/Local/2013-03-03/article-3191424/Annual-French-celebrations-start-this-week/1

Provincial French celebrations called the Rendez-vous de la francophonie will be taking place across Prince Edward Island starting this Friday and will continue until March 24.

Naval memorial in Halifax gets funding from Ottawa/Northumberland Fisheries Museum will also get funds www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2013/03/03/ns-naval-memorial-mackay.html  The federal government is making a financial contribution to preserve HMCS Sackville in Halifax as a naval memorial.

Government cancels public viewing of designs for War of 1812 monument

www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Government+cancels+public+viewing+designs+1812+monument/8065516/story.html The Department of Canadian Heritage abruptly cancelled a planned public unveiling of six competing designs for a prominent new monument to the War of 1812 on Parliament Hill – no reason as to why it was cancelled was given.

Genealogist looking for long-lost members of UK woman’s family in Oakville  www.insidehalton.com/news/article/1590374--genealogist-looking-for-long-lost-members-of-uk-woman-s-family-in-oakville  Keith Morris of the Genealogical & Local History Research Service Segontium Searchers, is tracing the history of two sisters from North Wales, who immigrated to Oakville , Ontario.

A life at sea can be smooth or choppy www.northumberlandtoday.com/2013/03/06/a-life-at-sea-can-be-smooth-or-choppy A life at sea was the life for two of the ancestors discussed at the recent Mystery Ancestor Night, held annually by the Lakeshore Genealogical Society.

Look for more articles next Monday March 18th.