May is Jewish Heritage Month in Ontario

The “Jewish Heritage Month Act” (Bill 17) was passed unanimously in the Legislature on February 23, 2012. JHMO provides an opportunity to appreciate and learn about the history and culture of Ontarians of Jewish heritage who have made an impact in communities across the province.

Two of the many events taking place in Mat, include

May 5 at 11am (Est. Walk Time 1.5 hrs)

Jane’s Walk: A Sense of Spadina (Toronto, ON)

Did you know that Kensington Market, the epicenter of Toronto hipsterdom, was once a thriving Jewish village teeming with kosher bakeries, synagogues, and social clubs? Through the Ontario Jewish Archive’s “Sense of Spadina” Walking Tour, the Jewish life of the past—biographies of its former inhabitants; the sounds; the smells; Yiddish language; religious, social, and political attitudes—is brought to life.

And

Tracing Our Jewish Roots: Selections from the Jewish Genealogical Society of Toronto Library Collection

Bathurst Clark Resource Library, 900 Clark Avneue W., Thornhill, ON

JGS Toronto’s Librarian, Elaine Cheskes, is curating a special exhibit on view for the entire month of May at The Bathurst Clark Resource Library.

For more information, go to http://jewishheritagemonth.wordpress.com/2013-events

Heritage Toronto announce the launch of its 2013 Tours program!

They say that many Torontonians know how great their walking tours are – they have been putting them on for 19 years! Heritage Toronto Tours in 2013 will be a bit different. It’s not just walking tours that they will be offering – they are excited to be expanding their usual walking tour program to include bus, bike, family and boutique tours too!

This year’s Tours program will run from the end of April until October and have 58 in total, including 26 new tours.

You will be able to reserve a spot for our new paid and pre-registered tours via our website www.heritagetoronto.org

Join them on a tour – they would love to show you some hidden gems, tell you about some fascinating stories and share with you Toronto’s amazing heritage!”

For info, go to http://heritagetoronto.org/sample-page/contact-us

The tours are listed on the followimg page at http://heritagetoronto.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/HT_TourBrochureelectronics.pdf

There are many postings to the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/HeritageToronto

There are countless YouTube Videos on www.youtube.com/user/heritagetoronto on various heritage walks in Toronto

Second Annual Genealogy Workshop

On Saturday, May 11, 2013 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, there will be the Second Annual Genealogy Workshop at 536 Wellington Road 18, between the villages of Fergus and Elora.

Presenters include:

Gwen Armstrong, Family History Centre, Getting the Most out of FamilySearch.org

Rick Roberts, Global Genealogy, Beginning a Family History Project: 12 Steps for Success and Researching Your Ontario Roots Using Traditional and Online Resources

Susan Dunlop, Curator, Wellington County Museum and Archives, Exploring Lesser Known Resources: A Case Study of the Hollinghead-Everson Family of Wellington County

Registration: $35.00, light lunch included

Call 519.846.0916, X 5225 or Toll Free 1.800.663.0750 X 5225 to register.

Email at karen@wcm.on.ca, and the website is at http://www.wellington.ca/museum

Inheritance in Ontario: Estate Files and Beyond

On 27th of May 2013, at 7:30 p.m., there will be a meeting at the Burgundy Room, North York Memorial Community Hall, 5110 Yonge Street, Toronto, and the topics will be Inheritance in Ontario: Estate Files and Beyond, and the speaker will be Jane E. MacNamara.

She will review how to find an estate file and how it can lead to other, and she will explain sources both inside and outside the court system.

This will be a warm-up lecture to her workshop at the OGS Conference on May 31st staring at 9:30 Friday morning when she will talk about wills and her her new book Inheritance in Ontario - Wills and Other Records for Family Historians

There will be an additional short presentation by Jean McNulty A Photographic Puzzle

For more info, go to www.torontofamilyhistory.org

Waterloo Region Branch OGS Township Records

Do you have ancestors in Waterloo and Perth Counties in Ontario? If you do, they have Township Records onsite.

Waterloo County

1840 Wilmot Township Census, transcribed by Laurie Strome

1851 Waterloo Township Census
Perth County

Wallace Township 1861

Wallace Township 1871

Go to www.waterlooogs.ca/waterloo_data.htm

UPDATE: LAC releases a new version of the Census of Canada, 1881 database

The following notice just came in from the Library and Archives Canada -

Library and Archives Canada is pleased to announce the release of a new version of the Census of Canada, 1881 database. This second general census covered the seven provinces and one territory that were then part of Confederation: British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and the Northwest Territories.

This new version includes suggestions for corrections that were received from users in recent months, as well as revised district and sub-district information.

Did they make the corrections that you suggested?

Go to the search page at
www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1881/Pages/1881.aspx

May Events at the Quebec Family History Society

My thanks go to Susan for letting me know about these following events.

On Wednesday, May 8, at 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm there will be a meeting on Brick Wall Solutions (Special Interest Group) QFHS Heritage Centre and Library, 173 Cartier Avenue, Pointe-Claire.

New and experienced genealogists are invited to join us at our monthly meeting to discuss brick wall problems in a friendly and informal setting. This month, we will learn how to improve our online research skills to find family trees, newspapers, and books. We will also review how to use wild cards when searching for ancestors on websites, such as Ancestry, Family Search, and Free BMD.

On Saturday, May 11th, there will be a Guided Tour of the Chateau Ramezay (Tour) at 10:30 am at 280 rue Notre-Dame est, Montreal.

This guided tour is $8 per person and open to QFHS members and non-members. To attend, you must register and make your payment at the QFHS Heritage Centre and Library.

The Château Ramezay is the province's oldest private history museum. It was built in 1705 as the residence of the Governor of Montreal Claude de Ramezay and his wife Marie-Charlotte Denys, whom he married in 1690 in Quebec. Their home changed hands over the years and has had an interesting history. The building was enlarged in 1756.

The Château Ramezay Historic Site and Museum was selected by a team of experts, in collaboration with UNESCO, as one of the 1001 historic sites you must see before you die.

On Wednesday, May 15th, there will be Celebrating Our Female Roots Day (Roots Day) from 1:30 pm to 4:00 pm at the QFHS Heritage Centre and Library, 173 Cartier Avenue, Pointe-Claire.

Half of our direct ancestors are women, and since Mother's Day takes place this month, this is a good time to celebrate our female ancestors and learn how our ancestors lived.

Join us to chat about how to learn what life was like for your female ancestors. What was home life like during the time they lived? Do you own any letters or diaries? Share with others the challenges you face when researching your female ancestors.

On display will be books from the QFHS collection about social history that help us better understand our ancestors’ lives.

Drop by for coffee, tea, and informal conversation to talk about some of the favourite women in your family and how our ancestors may have lived. Bring your own books, resources and memorabilia on social history that have helped you in your research, a friend, or just bring yourself.

Before Roots Day, please drop off copies of photos of your female ancestors for the display with Joan Benoit at QFHS. Remember to caption the photo with name, date, and description. If you live out of town, please send your photos by email at qfhs@bellnet.ca.

Open to members and the public. Free admission.

On Wednesday, May 22th Family History Writing (Special Interest Group)

To be held from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm at the QFHS Heritage Centre and Library, 173 Cartier Avenue, Pointe-Claire.

Join us any month! Together, in a friendly and informal setting, we encourage each other to write and discuss each month's mini-project.

This monthly meeting is open to QFHS members. We meet the fourth Wednesday of each month. If interested in joining, call 514.695.1502 or email qfhs.web@gmail.com.

More info: http://qfhs.ca