PEI Genealogical Society upcoming event

The PEI Genealogical Society will hold its next general meeting on Saturday November 23 at 2:00 pm at Beaconsfield's Carriage House, located at the corner of Kent and West Streets in Charlottetown.

Guest speaker Dr. Ed MacDonald will present a talk on Our Fathers: A Brief Introduction to PEI's Fathers of Confederation. He will answer the question - Who were the PEI Fathers of Confederation? The public is invited to attend and find out more than just a name.

Admission is free.

If you would like more information, go to http://www.peigs.ca/

101st Grey Cup Football Game this Sunday

Library and Archives Canada / C-017372

The Grey Cup Game is this weekend in Regina, Saskatchewan, but do you know that the Library and Archives Canada has the papers of Albert Henry George Grey, 4th Earl Grey. He was the Governor General of Canada from 1904 to 1911 and he actually wanted to donate the cup to the champion hocked team – not the football team!

They hold many resources relating to the history of the Governor General and the Grey Cup.

To learn more about the life and activities of Lord Grey himself, you can consult the Albert Henry George Grey, 4th Earl Grey fonds at http://collectionscanada.gc.ca/pam_archives/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayItem&lang=eng&rec_nbr=105479

WWI Memorial Wall at OGS

Have you checked the WWI War Memorial Wall at OGS lately? It is starting to get populated with photos from the First World War, but the Ontario Genealogical Society is looking for more photos.

So they are asking “Do you have family members who served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force during WWI? As we approach the 100th Anniversary of the Great War, the Ontario Genealogical Society invites you to share their stories and photos on our newly created WWI Memorial Wall on the OGS Soldphotos flickr page at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ogsphotos/sets/

If you would like to share your scanned photos, letters, diaries, or require more information, please contact our Digitization Manager at scanning@ogs.on.ca

We also welcome photos and stories from all of our Canadian War Veterans, and as always, those popular Mystery Photos”.

The Chinese Labourers

There is an article on the Manitoba CBC site this morning that a Winnipeg student - Kelsey Omaga has received a Governor General's History Award.

She is a Grade 7 student at Holy Ghost School, and she wrote and illustrated The Chinese Labourers, a story told through the eyes of a Chinese worker in the 1880s.

You can read about her and the book at http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-student-wins-governor-general-s-history-award-1.2431554

One Day Symposium on Scottish Genealogy Research

Plans are starting to come together for a one day symposium on Scottish Genealogy Research to be held Friday August 22, 2014 at the Spring Hill Suites by Marriott in Vaughn, Toronto. They have four speakers confirmed, and each one will speak on a different aspect of Scottish Genealogy Research.

In addition, plans are being made to have a marketplace with a combination of genealogy vendors, clan representatives and hopefully a couple of Scottish vendors. More on this as this part of the day gets confirmed.

The topics will be Basic Scottish Research by John Thomson, DNA by Linda Reid, Scot Irish by Ruth Blair, and Tracking our Scots Emigrant Ancestors by Christine Woodcock.

Registration will open in February for the Scottish SIG Symposium. Hotel reservations are on a first come, first serve basis and are open now. More information will be sent to the SIG members on the market place and pricing details have been confirmed. The Symposium will be open to the public, with a reduced registration fee for OGS members.

For more information, please contact Christine Woodcock at genealogytoursofscotland@gmail.com

Canadian Week in Review 18 November 2013

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

Websites

Social Media

Writing Up the Ancestors http://www.writinguptheancestors.blogspot.ca/

Genealogist and Montreal writer Janice Hamilton recently started a genealogy blog about her family who lived in Canada, the US, England, Scotland, and Ireland. What sets this blog apart from many are the research remarks Janice adds at the end of each story. Not only can blog followers learn about Janice’s ancestors, they learn how she pieced together their story.

The Most Controversial Figure In Canadian History Is… http://rickpaulettervjournal.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-most-controversial-figure-in.html Rick Doyle is an RVer, but this time he writes about Louis Riel who was hanged on November 16, 1885 at the Northwest Mounted Police(RCMP) barracks in Regina, SK.for treason.

6th Annual Canadian History Forum http://canadashistory.ca/HistoryForum On Monday, November 18th at the Canadian War Museum (1 Vimy Place) in Ottawa from 1 pm - 5:30 pm, Canada's History will present the sixth annual Canada's History Forum. This year's topic is - Is Technology Altering Our History?

There are still a few seats remaining to attend the event on site but Canadians can also watch a live broadcast of the presentations.

News Articles

Nova Scotia's tree for Boston begins journey http://www.ngnews.ca/News/Local/2013-11-12/article-3478263/Nova-Scotias-tree-for-Boston-begins-journey/1 Mary Lou Milligan donated this year's tree from her property in Mill Cove to Boston. For forty-two years Halifax has been sending a Christmas Tree to Boston, Mass in appreciation for the medical personnel and supplies Bostonians provided after the explosion of Dec. 6, 1917.

Piece of Saskatoon history becoming target for vandals http://metronews.ca/news/saskatoon/852333/piece-of-saskatoon-history-becoming-target-for-vandals/ The Farnam Block, former home of Lydia’s Pub, was constructed in 1912 and has seen two World Wars alongside its share of interesting and unusual tenants.

Yarmouth council defers decision on Zion de-registration http://www.novanewsnow.com/News/2013-11-14/article-3481869/Yarmouth-council-defers-decision-on-Zion-de-registration/1 The council defers the decision on the Zion Baptist Church in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia to remove the church from its municipal heritage registry to give the province's Heritage Trust time to decide whether to make a formal offer of assistance to the church's trustees, and it is considered to be a last ditch effort to save the church from demolition.

Story of the Week

Father of Confederation (c) Collections Canada  

PEI gets ready for 2014

Over the past year, I have been reading about how the Prince Edward Island government has been getting ready for the 2014 events as PEI celebrates 150 years since the Fathers of Confederation meeting in Charlottetown.

Canada's smallest province on the east coast of the county, wants everyone to know that's where the idea of forming a country began 150 years ago.

The premiers of P.E.I., New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and what are now Ontario and Quebec all sat down at a table in the government house in Charlottetown and held talks for eight days in September of 1864. And they eventually came up with the idea of a confederation of provinces which would lead to the country of Canada.

Present-day premier Robert Ghiz says there will be 150 events that will take place all across the province. There will be concerts, theatre festivals, ecotours, culinary events, sailing regattas, to the Celebration Zone in Charlottetown where there will be free entertainment for the whole family every day over the summer.

If you want to see what PEI has planned, go to http://pei2014.ca/

Reminder: Check the Canadian Week in Review next Monday for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada. It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in country! The next post will be on 24 November 2013.

Alight at Night Festival

Upper Canada Village will hold its 13th annual Alight at Night Festival from December 6th to January 4th at the Upper Canada Village in Morrisburg, Ontario.

You will see close to one million lights adorn the heritage buildings, trees and fences of Upper Canada Village creating a one-of-a-kind magical backdrop for its annual Alight at Night Festival…a true winter wonderland!

You will experience the enchantment of horse-drawn wagons and romantic carriage rides for two, or enjoy a festive dining, shopping and other seasonal surprises all add to the event.

It sounds like lots of fun.

You can go to http://www.uppercanadavillage.com/index.cfm/en/activities/alight-at-night/ to find out all the details.