Canadian Week in Review

Reminder: Check out Canadian Week in Review every Monday for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada. It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in country! 

New workshop at Toronto

They are planning a full day of lectures on Saturday, 26 October on Tracing Forward – Searching for Relatives in Recent Times – a day designed to provide researchers with new ideas, strategies and tools to help them trace members of their expanded family trees, people who might still be alive or recently deceased.

This is a brand-new workshop topic for Toronto Branch and we’re quite excited about it – we expect to have program and registration details available on our website in the very near future.

Their website at www.torontofamilyhistory.org

BIFHSGO Conference next month

Conference time (Sept 20 - 22) is nearly here, and are you ready to attend a full-day of workshops, and two days of lectures by people from Ireland, and local genealogical experts on Irish roots?

One thing which BIFHSGO does, and has done for the past two years, is to present interviews with the conference speakers.

This year, some of the interviews are -  

Lesley Anderson Previews her Pre-conference Seminar  Lesley talks about her lecture on Ancestry.ca and how it can help you with your Irish family history research.

Interview with Linda Reid Toronto genealogist Linda Reid will be presenting "Around the Brick Wall: Tracing Back an Irish Family through Collateral Lines" and "Are They Really My Ancestors? Using Autosomal DNA Tests to Confirm (or Deny) Relationships and Ancestors."

and

Success through One Name Studies Sandra Adams, Bill Arthurs and Elizabeth Kipp along with John D Reid talk about the successes they have had by pursuing their one-name studies and what you can expect to learn if you attend the Saturday afternoon session "Success through One Name Studies"

If you want to listen to these interviews, go to www.bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=62

If you still haven’t registered, you can register online at http://www.bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=109

The website for BIFHSGO is www.bifhsgo.ca

LAC Update: 1861 Canada Census available online

Once again, the Library and Archives Canada has released a census – this time, its the 1861 census. Information was collected for people living in Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

You can search this new database by nominal information, such as the surname, given name(s) and age of an individual, as well as by geographical information such as district and sub-district names.

This wasn’t a uniform census – the questionnaires were different in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and in the Canadas (Canada West – Ontario and Canada East – Quebec).

Also, the enumeration day in the Canadas was January the 14^th, March 30^th in Nova Scotia, and August the 15^th in Prince Edward Island.

The census was also divided among rural and urban centres of the country.

So if an ancestor lived in Toronto (an urban centre), the enumerator would drop off the form for the inhabitants to fill out themselves, and then they would stop by a couple of days later to pick up the form, or if your ancestor lived in a rural area, the enumerator would fill out the form.

Districts and sub-districts did not all survive. To see which district survived, go to www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1861/Pages/census-districts-sub-districts.aspx

To search the census, go to www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1861/Pages/about-census.aspx

Sword family pioneer cemetery, Gatineau, Quebec

A meeting will be held in Gatineau, Quebec, sponsored by the City of Gatineau, Saturday, Aug. 17, 2013, 2 pm at the Alonzo-Wright House (College Saint-Alexandre), 2425 rue St-Louis, Gatineau, on the Sword family pioneer cemetery.

The speakers will be Suzanne Bigras and Jean-Guy Ouimet’

At least 46 members of a family are buried in the heart of a residential area of modern day Gatineau. The oldest family cemetery lies in the undergrowth, wedged between two single family homes! So far, a total of eight headstones have been found of the Barber, Davidson and Langford families in the Sword family pioneer cemetery.

The web site of the Société de généalogie de l'Outaouais is at  http://genealogieoutaouais.com

First Ever Video Streaming IAJGS Confernce LIVE!

Mark the date August 4 – 9th on your calendar! It will be the  live streaming of 50 sessions at the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Society Conference (IAJGS) in Boston, Massachusetts.

The International Association of Jewish Genealogy Society (IAJGS) brings the best minds and knowledge in the field of Jewish genealogy to its conference. More than 1,000 attendees from 17 countries will attend. 

Anyone in any location with the desire to learn more about their Jewish family history will be able to tap into this knowledge and attend the event via the Internet.

To learn more, go to web site at www.live.iajgs2013.org

350th anniversary of “Filles du roi”

Arrival of the Brides Library and Archives Canada, Acc. no 1996-371-1

The Library and Archives Canada released this blog post yesterday -

"Summer 2013 marks the 350th anniversary of the arrival in New France of the first contingent of the “Filles du roi” (“King's daughters”), young women who became the ancestors of numerous French-Canadian families. A variety of celebrations are planned throughout Quebec, culminating in the New France Festival in Quebec City from August 7 to 11, 2013. The website is at www.nouvellefrance.qc.ca/index.php/en

Between 1663 and 1673, King Louis XIV supported the emigration of these young women, many of them orphans. Their passage to the colony was paid and they received an average dowry of 50 livres, along with a small hope chest containing clothing and sewing materials. In exchange, the women agreed to marry on their arrival in New France, to start a family and to help their husbands work the land. These women were instrumental in helping to populate and develop the colony.

The first contingent of 36 “Filles du roi” landed in 1663. Over the next ten years, an estimated 800 young women settled in New France under the same program.

If you would like to know whether one of your ancestors was a “Fille du roi,” there are many genealogical publications and reviews you can consult".

You can visit the website http://lesfillesduroy-quebec.org