NewsLeaf Editor Announced

Joyce Fingland has been appointed the new NewsLeaf and e-NewsLeaf editor. She has already assumed the editorship of e-NewsLeaf (the first issue will be out in April), and she will produce the first issue of NewsLeaf in August.

I have been the editor of NewsLeaf since 1996, and editor of e-NewsLeaf since 1998, and now I am the editor of Families - the journal of the Ontario Genealogical Society.

It will seem strange not to have the editorship of NewsLeaf in which I worked directly with the Regional Directors and Chairs of the Branches of the OGS, but am pleased to know that it will be in good hands with Joyce.

From e-Announce of March 4th, 2011 -

The Ontario Genealogical Society is pleased to announce the appointment of Joyce Fingland as Editor of NewsLeaf and e-NewsLeaf.

Currently the Editor of Kingston Relations, Joyce is an active OGS member who belongs to the Kingston, Quinte, and Ottawa branches. She has worked on the Kingston Branch Publications Committee and has authored several books about the history of her family as well as an article about British Home Children. Joyce also brings extensive technical and layout experience from her work with the Limestone District School Board.

Joyce will be taking over the position previously held by Elizabeth Lapointe, who was recently appointed Editor of Families, and who can now direct all of her energies to that endeavour.

We are happy to have Joyce with us, and look forward to her work on NewsLeaf.

OGS 50th Anniversary Events

With the 50th Anniversary of the Ontario Genealogical Society to be celebrated from the 13th to the 15th of May in beautiful downtown Hamilton, there are five areas of interest which you can read about, and in some cases, take a part of - Golden Anniversaries, Top 50 in 50, the Conference itself, the OGS Cruise, and TONI.

Links to the above can be found at www.ogs.on.ca/home/news.php, from which the following are found -

"Ontario Genealogical Society’s 50th Anniversary
In 2011, the OGS will be 50 years old. The OGS Board has approved the following celebrations and projects to commemorate the occasion.

Conference 2011
To be held in Hamilton on May 13 to 15, this will be our birthday party. Details can be found on the OGS website and through our blog. Don Hinchley, Past President pastpresident@ogs.on.ca, is Conference Chair.

Cruise
We will hold a genealogical cruise of the east coast of North America in September 2011. This is a continuation of our birthday party. For information on the ‘ports of call’ and the dates and costs, please see the website. Mary Rossiter, Director of Region 10 director10@ogs.on.ca, and Cathy Blackburn, Director of Region 9 director09@ogs.on.ca, are leaders of this project.

Golden Anniversary Family Histories
For the 25th anniversary, OGS requested family histories and received 620 of them. We are seeking more family histories for our 50th, with a particular request for updates to the histories produced for the 25th. These family histories will join the 3 500 family histories now in our library and will go into our e-Library, ensuring that the histories are never lost and making them available worldwide. Paul McAlister, Director of Region 11 director11@ogs.on.ca, is leader of this project.

Top 50 in 50
We are asking the OGS Branches and Regions to name three or four OGS Members (current or past, including Family and Associate) who have made a significant contribution to Branch/Region/OGS, with a description of their accomplishments. From these proposals we will select the Top 50 as a way to honour those who have worked mostly in the Branches. Don Hinchley, pastpresident@ogs.on.ca is leader of this project.

TONI (The Ontario Name Index)
Indexes, particularly name indexes, are the most valuable thing a genealogical society can produce. We are going to create a single index of Ontario names, indicating where information about that person can be found. The index will go on the public part of the OGS website so that anyone can access it. TONI will show:
First name
Last name
Record type (birth, marriage, death, obit, tombstone, newspaper article, etc, etc)
Date of event, at least to the decade
Location of event, at least the county
Where the full information may be found

OGS currently has over two million names indexed online but not in one index. It will be straightforward to bring TONI to ten million entries and it has the potential to reach fifty million entries. Mike More, Director of Region 8 director08@ogs.on.ca, is leader of this project."

Just to take one feature (Golden Anniversary Family Histories), it is remembered that for their 25th anniversary, OGS requested family histories, and received 620 of them. This number of family histories has since increased to over 3,500 in number. These family histories are in the OGS Library located at the North York Library's Canadiana Section. located on the sixth floor. To celebrate our 50th Anniversary as a Society, we would like to have these histories updated, as well as seek more family histories to add to our library collection.

A number of the current family histories have already been digitized and will be added to our e-Library. This will ensure that the histories are never lost and to make them more accessible to researchers, both locally and worldwide.

In addition, there are a number of family histories located in the libraries of the OGS Branches across the Province that may not be part of the OGS's main library holdings. Where possible, the Branch should be contacted to have these histories updated, as well. It is hoped that a link can be established through their websites.

So as you can see, their is much activity being planned for the OGS' 50th anniversary celebrations. I hope you can join us and partake of these activities.

In case you were not aware, you do not have to be an OGS member to attend the conference. Go to their website for further details.

But if you do wish to join (and we would love to have you), please visit our membership page for membership details (and member advantages).

See you there!

Book Review in Jan/Feb 2011 Family Chronicle Magazine

How delighted I was to open the latest issue of Moorshead Magazine's Family Chronicle and see the book review I did on Janice Nickerson's book, Crime and Punishment in Upper Canada, on page 29.


As I say at the end of the review, "One comes away with the impression that the author has thought long and hard about the importance of research, and has put together a first-rate research guide."

Janice can be reached at janice@uppercanadagenealogy.com

In the May issue of Families, the journal of the Ontario Genealogical Society, and of which I am the editor, there will be an article by Janice on an aspect of crime, plus another review of her book.

Halton Digital Newspaper Archive

L-R: Walter Lewis, Halton Hills Public Library; Bob Crawford, Halton-Peel Branch OGS; Jane Watt, Halton-Peel Branch OGS; Bernie Bradner, Halton-Peel Branch OGS; Mike Payne, Halton-Peel Branch OGS

From Mr. Bob Crawford, Chair of the Halton-Peel Branch OGS www.halinet.on.ca/sigs/ogshp, comes this big news -

"On Wednesday, January 19, 2011, the Halton Hills Library held the official launch of their segment of the Halton Digital Newspaper Archive. This project was completed using software technologies and hosting by Our Ontario as a service of Knowledge Ontario and the financial support of the Halton-Peel Branch OGS.

A number of years ago, Halton-Peel Branch received a financial bequest from a member with the condition that it be used to provide genealogical resources for people to use in their research. After searching for the best places to use this gift, we decided to support the digitization of the newspapers from the area that is now Halton Hills. This includes newspapers like the Acton Free Press, the Georgetown Herald, the Acton Tanner, the Georgetown Independent, and many others.

The collection is on-line now at http://news.halinet.on.ca/search. There are a few areas that need fixing but it is essentially complete from ca. 1867 to 1967. You can now search this collection of newspapers by word or browse by year or day. Often there are images of the actual page from the newspaper so you can read the full text. The OCR software fails occasionally, but is very good, so there are not many search errors."

Congratulations to Bob, the Branch, and the Halton Hills Library for both the launch and for making this tool available to researchers everywhere. Thanks, also, to Our Ontario and to Knowledge Ontario for their assistance in the fruition of this project, and to the anonymous member, whose financial bequest made it possible.

Mi'kmaq Ancestry

A notice was received from the Halifax Public Library which may be of interest to people with Mi'kmaq (Micmac, formerly) ancestry.

============

Hi everyone,

Have a look at our new resource page on the Mi'kmaq, including images, a beginner guide to genealogy research, resources from our catalogue, digital collections, and a selection of articles from magazines and journals.

http://www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca/research/topics/mikmaqresources.html

All the best,

Joanne

Joanne McCarthy
Librarian
Tantallon and JD Shatford Public Libraries
(902) 826-3333 (phone)
(902) 826-3328 (fax)

http://www.halifaxpubliclibraries.ca

Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/hfxpublib

Visit us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hfxpublib

Clarification of OGS Fee Increase

January 13, 2011

Erroneous Publication of an OGS Fee Increase

Just after the holidays, there was an erroneous statement published on a private blog that is causing concern. It was claimed that there is discussion within the Society of a further fee increase and that there was a notion to require OGS members to also be a member of their local branch.

On behalf of the Board and the Executive, I would like to inform our members that neither of these ideas has been discussed at this time.

As one of the Board's responsibilities, fees are discussed at least once a year. Any fee increase recommended must then be approved by the membership. The Board is not recommending a change to the fee structure for 2011. The fee will remain the same as in 2010.

As to requiring members to be a member of their local branch, this has not been recommended nor discussed.

I hope that this explanation clarifies all concerns. If there are any further questions regarding this matter, please feel free to contact me (president@ogs.on.ca) or the Executive Director (ed@ogs.on.ca).

Sincerely,

Nancy Trimble,
President, Ontario Genealogical Society

Crouse-Wanamaker Lecture

For more, please visit the Quinte Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society at www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~canqbogs

Update – The Canada Gazette (1841-1997)

On Monday, the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) commemorated the 170th anniversary of The Canada Gazette by making accessible the digitized back issues on its website dedicated to this official publication. The website is
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/canada-gazette/index-e.html.

A Nation's Chronicle: The Canada Gazette is also available at http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/canada-gazette/index.

The press release says that it is often referred to as “the official newspaper of the Government of Canada.”

It goes on to say that "It has informed Canadians of the operations of government and encouraged them to participate in the legislative process".

The database is searched by keywords (for example – keywords such as divorce, immigration and naturalization), and not by a person's name.

For example, from 1867 to 1968, the website says that "a person wishing to obtain a divorce was first required to place a notice of intent to petition the government for an Act of Divorce in the Canada Gazette and in two newspapers in the district or county where the petitioner resided. It was to appear for a six-month period".

An explanation of the Divorce Laws in Canada is given at http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-906.008-e.html.

Here is a sample of the divorce records found in the Canada Gazette - -

NOTICE is hereby given that Dame Beatrice Evelyn Tutill, housewife, of the City and District of Montreal, in the Province of Quebec, wife of Walter Joseph Bobineky, taxi driver, of the City of Montreal and District of Montreal, in the Province of Quebec, will' apply to the Parliament of Canada, at the next or following session thereof, for a bill of divorce from her husband, the said
Walter Joseph Bobinsky, on the ground of adultery.
Dated at Montreal, in the Province of Quebec, this 9th day of July, 1947 .
N. W. JACOBS,
Solicitor for the Applicant
Source: DA Nation's Chronicle: The Canada Gazette, Library and Archives Canada. APPLICATIONS FOR DIVORCE Part I (1947-1997), volume 81, number 30, 26 July 1947, p. 7

A website about Citizenship and Naturalization at the Library and Archives Canada is at http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-908.011-e.html.

An example from The Canada Gazette on naturalization is -
Vmldcroecn, Clarence-certification of naturalization No.72000, seriee A, granted at Ottawa, Ontario, on July 28, 1930.

Source: A Nation's Chronicle: The Canada Gazette, Library and Archives. Canada DEPARTMENT OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE OF CANADA,THE CANADIAN Citizenship ACT Part I (1947-1997), volume 83, number 29, 16 July 1949, p. 4

Lambton Lifeline - December 2010

Lambton Lifeline is the newsletter of the Lambton Branch of the OGS, is published four times a year (March, June, Sept and Dec). The editor, Alan Campbell, can be reached at campbeal@sympatico.ca.

In the issue (December 2010), the members of the Sycamore Lodge No. 151 (IOOF), instituted at Arkona on 24 November, 1874, has been transcribed by Linda Koolen.

It gives their name, their occupation, where they worked, how old they were, and when they were born. It even has a column for comments, of which there are some.

A letter from Melissa Gadsgy to Alfred Zavitz talking about their wedding to take place soon, sent the Lambton Branch on a hunt to find out who these people were, and the results are quite interesting.

The Petrolia Topic (the local newsletter) provides two articles - the first one about the First World War, and the second article is about Petrolia and Area Events.

The remainder of the newsletter concerns a new website, notices, and letters to the editor.

If you wish more information, please visit their website at www.lambton.ogs.on.ca.

BRANTches - November 2010

BRANTches is the publication of the Brant County Ontario Genealogy Society, and its editor is Christine Woodcock.

In the latest edition (November 2010) of the newsletter, it was noted that the September meeting saw Misty DeMeo of the County of Brant Library System give a talk on the digitization project. The first part of the project involved scanning documents and photographs of all kinds, and the second part will involve personal memories and family history.

The October meeting was a 2-day affair which saw the Branch host the British Home Child Memorial Quit Display and the British Home Child Descendants Reunion. By all accounts, it was a great success.

There are many photos of the day in the newsletter, and there were display tables showing the homes were the Home Children in the put when they first came to Canada - Fegan Homes, Barnardo Homes, Miss Marie Rye, Middlemore Homes, MacPherson Homes, National Children's Homes, St. George's Homes, and Quarrier Homes.

There is also an articles on "How to Create a GEDCOM File", "New Books in Our Library", "From the Library Shelf", and "The Adventures of a Ten Dollar Bill: How I Tore Down My Brickwall" in which the editor tells how she found her great-grandfather and great-uncle.

To find out more about the Brant Branch, please visit www.brantcountybranchogs.ca.

The Ottawa Genealogist - Nov/Dec 2010

The Ottawa Genealogist is is now published four times a year by the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society www.ogsottawa.on.ca. The editor is Edward Kipp, and he can be reached at editor@ogsottawa.on.ca. The Branch recently switched to an electronic version, with the paper-bound edition now an option.

In the November/December 2010 edition is an article by Elizabeth Kipp about blogging called, "Blogging - sharing genealogy in a different way".

In the article, Elizabeth tells how and why she set up a blog to describe her research trip to Salt Lake City, and posted to it on quite a regular basis while she was there.

Her blog address is kippeeb.blogspot.com.

Meanwhile, her husband and fellow genealogist, Edward Kipp, tells us about "Jones Falls and Col. By".

He gives a history of the Falls, and on page 157 and 158 are pictures of the dam at Jones Locks, and on page 160, there are sources as well as pictures of the Locks, painted in the middle 1800s.

There are two articles from The Ottawa Citizen called the "Old-Time Stuff" (the first article is called "Col. By instituted Toll Gates Here; in '28 Put Tax on the First Bridge" October 18, 1824, and the second article "Where the Soldiers Lived on Barrack Hill" published March 23, 1924).

Other articles and features include the "Electronic Notebook" by Mike More, "Gleanings from Newsletters in the Ottawa Branch library" by Heather Oakley, and "John Thorton, Charles Waterston, and William Wilson" by Robert Serre.

All-in-all, an interesting read, as usual.

Three Years and Counting!

Dear Readers,

It's hard to believe that time flies by so quickly, but here we are, three years later, having launched our blog http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com on January 2nd, 2008!

Check out our first post at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2008/01/welcome-to-genealogy-canada-blog.html

And if you want to see what we've posted over the years, drop by our Blog Archives (see the link at the right-side of the screen) and surprise yourself at what you may find.

Thank you for visiting, and for your continued support.

Happy blogging!

Elizabeth

Sault Channels Newsletter

A newsletter of the Sault Ste. Marie Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS), Sault Channels is published quarterly, and edited by Arthur Manley saultchannels@shaw.ca.

The first couple of pages are taken up by the talks given by the speakers -

In September, Rev. Mal Binks, an Anglican priest at the Church of St. John the Evangelist, talked about how his and his wife's family came to Canada in 1870.

In October, Cathy Blackburn (Region IX Director) discussed "Peeking Under Grandpa's Kilt" and about the many trips he made to Scotland researching the family name of Wilcox.

In November, John Parniak talked about Eastern Europe research - especially back to Galicia, where his Ukrainian/Polish family is from.

In the December issue, there is a rather lengthy article written by Colleen Ray on the Tweedsmuir Histories, and the history of Ansonia, and places along the north shore of Lake Huron.

They have continued with two articles taken from the Sault Daily Star, a newspaper in the community of Sault Ste. Marie. The first article is from the June 16, 1936 issue by Dan McDonald in which the author talks to many of the old settlers of the area. He continued on in another article dated July 9, 1935, talking to the some of the first settlers to the area.

The rest of the newsletter is taken up by notices, a report from the Branch Executive Workshop—which took place in September in Toronto—and news about the OGS Cruise that will leave New York City on September 10th for New England, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.

If you wish more information about the Sault Ste. Marie & District Branch, please visit their website at www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~onogsssm.

Congratulations, Terry Punch!

A press release dated December 3oth states that Terry Punch, a former history teacher and a genealogist from Nova Scotia, will receive a membership to the Order of Canada from His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, later this year.

I first met Terry in Ottawa during a Gene-O-Rama Conference in 1993, although I had listened to his monthly appearances on the CBC Halifax station for a number of years.

He was on for the full half-hour, and would take phone calls (he still does) from all over the Atlantic Provinces.

Besides being the author of many books (he wrote the basic book on genealogy in Nova Scotia — Genealogical Research in Nova Scotia — ISBN 1-55109-235-2), he was one of the founders of the Genealogical Institute of the Maritimes, and one of the longest members of the Association of Nova Scotia Genealogists.

So to see that he will receive one of the country's highest civilian honours is well-deserved.

The Order of Canada was established in 1967, during Canada's centennial year, to recognize a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to community, and service to the nation. Over the last 40 years, more than 5,000 people from all sectors of society have been invested into the Order.

Blogs I Followed in 2010

Here are some of the blogs I follow on a daily basis, in no particular order. I thought that you would enjoy them, also -

Anglo-Celtic Connections
http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com

This is the blog of John D. Reid, and he posts on a regular basis. This may be of interest to those searching their Anglo-Celtic as well as Canadian ancestors.

Saskatchewan Genealogical Society
http://saskgenealogy.blogspot.com

This blog is from the Saskatchewan Genealogical Society, and they talk about Canadian and Anglo-Celtic sources.

Alberta Family Histories Society Blog
http://afhs.ab.ca/blog

This is the blog of the Alberta Family History Society. They post about genealogy happenings in Canada.

CanadaGenealogy, or, 'Jane's Your Aunt'
http://canadagenealogy.blogspot.com

This is M. Diane Rogers' blog. In addition to her own family, she blogs about news in British Columbia, and of her own experiences as a graveyard rabbit.

Olive Tree Genealogy Blog
http://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com

This blog by Lorine McGinnis Schulze has a plethora of primary resources transcribed online. This is especially true of passenger lists that no one else seems to have.

Janet the Researcher
http://researchergal.blogspot.com

Janet Iles has a very interesting blog, and always writes about ancestors from a researcher's point of view.

Librarians Helping Canadian Genealogists Climb Family Trees
www.canadianlibgenie.blogspot.com

This is a blog by Elise C. Cole, and she write about genealogy from the librarian's point of view.

Brenda Dougall Merriman
http://brendadougallmerriman.blogspot.com

A blog written by a fellow member of APG, she often writes about my home province (Nova Scotia) in her postings.

Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) Blog
www.ogs.on.ca/ogsblog

The official blog of the Canada's largest genealogical society, they post all the news about the OGS.

Finally, please allow me to wish you and yours a Happy New Year, and the best for 2011!


Thank you for following MY blog (Genealogy Canada). I hope you've enjoyed it!

Elizabeth

Anglo-Celtic Roots - Winter 2010

"The cover image combines the Coat-of-arms for the Blakes of Wiltshire/Hampshire/Somerset, England, (courtesy Elizabeth Kipp) with an image of a DNA helix (Wikipedia: National Human Genome Research Institute)"

I wasn't able to go to the December 11th meeting because of work commitments, but my dear husband dropped in for a minute and picked up the latest copy of Anglo-Celtic Roots, the award-winning quarterly publication of BIFHSGO (British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa).

In this issue are three articles, a review of their annual Fall Conference held in September, news on the Home Children Book Project by Brian Glenn, the passing of long-time BIFHSGO member (and former president) and ACR columnist ("The Printed Page") Gordon Taylor, and a report of the writer's workshop by Carol Annett, which was also held during the Conference.

As well is "The Bookworm" by Betty Warburton, listing new holdings (with some interesting titles) for the Brian O'Regan Memorial Library, the "Members' Surname Search" by Elizabeth Kipp, a membership report by Tara Grant, a message from the president, Glenn Wright, and a note from the editor.

The first article by Elizabeth Kipp, Barrie Blake, and Bill Bleak — "Revealing the Blake Family - a yDNA Project" — looks into how the surname of Blake originated. It follows through the yDNA process, and outlines the ongoing research.

If you have questions about the Blake surname, Elizabeth can be reached at kippeeb@rogers.com.

The second article, by Anglo-Celtic Connections blogger, John D. Reid — "Local Roots of Governor General David Johnston" — tries to trace the ancestry of David Johnston, Canada's newest Governor General.

Although the Library and Archives Canada does not have some of the newspapers which could have BMDs in them, he does find the newspaper at the local library, and starts to trace back the family.

If you are researching relatives in the 20th century, this is an excellent article (with detailed endnotes) to read.

The third article is a "Great Moments" article by Chris MacPhail (the editor of ACR) who writes about his great-aunt Lillian and the surprises he found in "The Importance of Being Ernest".

Membership Month at OGS

Do you know that the OGS has a blog www.ogs.on.ca/ogsblog, and that it is open to the public?

An example of a posting is listed below -

December 8th, 2010

It's Membership Month here at the Ontario Genealogical Society. If you're a current member, you have received, or will soon receive, your OGS membership renewal form with your November issue of Families. If you're not a current member, now is the best time to join us to ensure you get a full year's worth of OGS membership benefits.

So, why join OGS?

OGS Members receive our journal, Families, and our print newsletter, NewsLeaf, and the electronic version sent by email, e-NewsLeaf.

Families is a quarterly publication that includes researched, referenced, and illustrated articles; the Game, a queries column that members may contribute to; and a book review section on books of interest to genealogists.

NewsLeaf is our newsletter which is published quarterly, as well. It includes OGS news and happenings; a section announcing forthcoming gatherings and special events; and current news from the 30 OGS Branches and SIGs.

The e-NewsLeaf has links to other websites of interest to members, as well as timely news items and announcements.

Join us to receive these publications.

To become a member, click on to the Membership page.

Since I am the editor of both publications, I can say—modestly—that they are top-notch in passing along the latest news to, and about, the OGS and its members.

In the February issue of both NewsLeaf and Families will be articles on how to discover Jamaican and Trinidadian roots from Canada, an article on the Library and Archives Canada, and one on an Irish family from the Ottawa Valley in Ontario.

Canadian Families Database

Family events such as baptisms, marriages, and burials are key elements of genealogy and family history research.

From early times to the present, these events have been recorded in church records. Library and Archives Canada holds a small collection of church records, some of which are indexed by name.

To provide better access to those indexes, the information they contain has been entered in a database that will expand slowly over the next few years.

The records are in the Canadian Families database www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/whats-new/013-500-e.html

Although I am pretty certain that I do not have any direct descendants in Ontario on either side of my family (BARCLAY, BLADES), I just put the names in on the off-chance that there may have been something there.

And while no one directly related was discovered, at least I found out how it works.

However, the Barclay name yielded one entry on the database in Leeds County. There was nothing for Blades.

Name: Barclay family
Parish: Leeds County, Ontario
Fonds: Miller, W.J. (Bill) Collection
Volume: 2
Page: 67 - 68
Microfilm: H-1668
Reference: MG 25 G370

It should be noted that, at present, the Canadian Families database covers the St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Williamstown, Ontario; the Miller, W.J. (Bill) Collection; and the Kipling Collection: Card Index. Future databases will be added.

LAC has another database called That's My Family at www.thatsmyfamily.info/Metamoteur/explications_en.html.

It contains the Marriage Records Index for Canada, of which there are more than 3 million records for the Quebec population between 1621 and 2004.

Holiday Wishes

Merry Christmas to you and yours, our loyal readers!

Thank you for dropping by. We hope you take the time to explore all we have to offer. Use our search engine to go through over 200 blog postings to date.

Start now, and you might just be finished in time to read our new posting on Boxing Day!

All the best,

Elizabeth

LAC Launches 1916 Census of the Prairie Provinces

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is pleased to make the 1916 Census of the Prairie Provinces (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta) available online at www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/census-1916/index-e.html.

In order to track the high rates of population growth in Western Canada during the early years of the 20th Century, the Canadian government called for a special census of the Prairie provinces (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta). The first census was conducted in 1906, followed by another in 1916.

Access to the digitized images of the 1916 census is available online in two different ways:

* Through a database that is searchable by Province, District Name, District Number, and Sub-district Number. The database is available at: www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/census-1916/index-e.html

Please note that this is NOT a nominally-indexed database - it is not searchable by family name.

* Through the research tool "microform digitization," you can browse the microfilm reels page by page. The tool is available at:
www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/microform-digitization/index-e.html

One webpage which the LAC staff has published is "Column Headings and Interpretation", which gives an explanation of each of the fields of the census plus "Common Abbreviations".

On a personal note, I do have Webster ancestors (by marriage) who went out to Manitoba in 1904, and I can trace them up to the present day, due to the census and material that is at the LAC.

So while you are at the LAC website, be sure to put your ancestor's name in the search engine, and the results will be shown in the Archives, the Library, the Ancestor Database, and on the Websites at the LAC.

Bill C-568 - Gordon Watts Latest Census Report

As genealogists know, Canada has had a long battle with the government over the country's census - it's collection and release.

The latest battle has been over the dropping of the long term census, but Gordon A. Watts, in his latest newsletter issue, reports that it is coming to an end.

To see his report, go to http://globalgenealogy.com/globalgazette/gazgw/gazgw-0127.htm

Bill C-568 has been in the Senate, and Watts says "Debate on Second Reading of Bill C-568, that would restore the mandatory long-form Census and would remove imprisonment as a punishment for failure to complete the Census, took place on 5 November and 3 December 2010. The vote on a motion to pass second reading and to refer the Bill to the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Technology took place on 8 December 2010. The motion was passed on a division of 147 to 136.

Following consideration by the Committee, the Bill will be reported back to the House of Commons, with or without recommendation. It may then be debated in Third Reading, and if passed there, would be referred to the Senate for consideration.

While this Bill may very well receive Third Reading in the House of Commons, I think it unlikely that it will pass through the Senate. There are currently 152 sitting Conservative members of the Senate. If all of these Senators voted against the Bill, and all non-Conservative Senators (151 in total) voted in favour of it, it would fail by one vote.

Bill C-583, dealing with the method of appointment of the Chief Statistician and some of the responsibilities of that position, received First Reading in the House of Commons on 30 September 2010. As of this writing, it has not yet been placed in the order of precedence, and so debate on Second Reading has not yet begun."

And Wells tells us that there is to be a second court action being taken on long-form Census.

He says that "Media reports indicate that a coalition of aboriginal organizations and chiefs from Atlantic Canada were in Halifax Federal Court Monday 13 December to argue that the removal of the mandatory long-form Census questionnaire violates their Charter rights. Lawyers for the Native Council of Nova Scotia, the New Brunswick Aboriginal Peoples Council, the Native Council of Prince Edward Island, the Maritime Aboriginal Peoples Council, and three Atlantic chiefs claim that the changes to questions about ethnicity and ancestry will make it difficult for the government to discharge its constitutional duties to aboriginal peoples.

This is the second group to take the government to court over the government's decision to do away with the mandatory long-form Census. The first was a Francophone organization in Quebec that argued the long-form Census was the only reliable source of information about minority French-speaking communities. A Federal Court judge ruled against that argument.

The federal government has stated that they will be introducing legislation to remove the imprisonment penalties for failing to complete the Census from the Statistics Act, but to date I have seen no indications of any such legislation being presented to the House of Commons."

So, there is the latest news on the census.

Hopefully, some comprise can be found which would satisfy everyone, but I think that time has passed, and we will get whatever the government decides.

Ancestry.ca Digitizes Records from the Lest We Forget Workshops

Today, Ancestry.ca released a press release saying that they have taken the records from the Lest We Forget Workshops of the Library and Archives website, and have put them online.

This program was run through the Library and Archives for a number of years through their Education Centre, but it was closed this year (March 30, 2010), because of lack of funds.

In part, the press release says, "The collections, Selected Service Records of Soldiers, 1914-1918 and Selected Service Records of War Dead, 1939-1945, are fully-searchable by the soldier's name, birth and death date, and keyword, and provide unprecedented information about soldiers' lives during their time serving in the military."

Individual soldiers' records in the collections contain up to three dozen forms detailing their enlistment, training, medical and dental history, hospitalization, discipline, pay, and discharge or notification of death, painting a rich picture of their lives and often tragic experiences.

Selected Service Records of Soldiers, 1914-1918 contains a sampling of approximately 100 individuals who served in the First World War. Amongst these documents is personal correspondence from the few surviving complete service files which have been recently released by LAC.

Selected Service Records of War Dead, 1939-1945 includes the enlistment records, medical and dental charts, evaluation reports, medal and promotion entitlements, letters (personal, military and recommendations), wills, and inventory of personal effects of approximately 100 soldiers from the Second World War Service Files.

These new records add to what is already the largest online collection of Canadian military records found anywhere in the world, one that includes the Soldiers of the First World War, a collection of attestation papers for nearly 600,000 Canadian soldiers who fought in the 'War to End All Wars'.

Ancestry.ca genealogist Lesley Anderson comments: "There are so many Canadians with ancestors who fought in the two world wars - many of whom made the ultimate sacrifice - and so it is important that new generations continue to learn about their stories through workshops such as Lest We Forget".

Ontario Chapter, APG Presents Elizabeth Shown Mills

On Saturday April 2nd, 2011, I will be in Toronto to see one of the eminent genealogists of our time - Elizabeth Shown Mills!

The Ontario Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists and the Canadiana Department, North York Central Library (Toronto Public Library) are pleased to present this opportunity to hear one of the foremost genealogical educators of our day. We promise a full day of stimulation for your personal or professional genealogical pursuits.

Elizabeth Shown Mills, CG, CGL, FAGS, FNGS, FUGA, has been a leader in genealogical education for a quarter of a century, pushing the cutting edge of research methodology, standards, and quality, serving as president of both the Board for Certification of Genealogists and the American Society of Genealogists, as well as an officer or trustee of other major organizations. During her 16 years as editor of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Elizabeth made the journal into the leading forum for the teaching of research methods and principles. For even longer, her Advanced Methodology Track at the Samford University Institute of Genealogy & Historical Research has been a rite of passage for serious family historians.

Among Elizabeth's countless publications are the award-winning Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian and Professional Genealogy: A Manual for Researchers, Writers, Editors, Lecturers, and Librarians. They are considered "absolute essentials" for both personal and professional genealogists. Her latest book, Evidence Explained: Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace, earned Library Journal's Best Reference 2007 designation. She has also created a number of convenient QuickSheets as research aids.

The schedule has been posted at www.ocapg.org/shown_mills.html

Saturday, April 2, 2011
Advanced Genealogical Skills: A Seminar with Elizabeth Shown Mills

Program:
8:30 Doors open
9:00 Welcome
9:15 Genealogical Problem Solving: Professional Techniques for Everyday Success
11:00 Sources & Citations Simplified: From Memorabilia to Digital Data to DNA
12:15 Lunch break
1:30 Finding Females: Wives, Mothers, Daughters, Sisters & Paramours!
3:15 Dissecting Your Research Problem and Planning a Solution
4:30 Concluding Question & Answer Session

Place:
Auditorium, North York Central Library, 5120 Yonge Street, Toronto

Information:
Refreshments will be available; lunch is not included.

Lunch: Brown bag it, North York Centre food court, or restaurants on Yonge Street.

For accommodation, Novotel North York is part of the North York Centre (416-733-2929, www.novotel.com).

Books of interest will be available for purchase on the day of the event. See the registration site for titles and pre-ordering, when registration begins. Our speaker will be available during the afternoon break for book signing.

ONLINE REGISTRATION BEGINS HERE ON JANUARY 15, 2011
Cost: $45 public admission; $20 OCAPG members.
Space is limited.

-30-

Launch of LAC "Medals, Honours and Awards" Database

Victory Medal, First World War
Courtesy: LAC

Ottawa, December 9, 2010 — Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is pleased to announce the launch of a new online database, "Medals, Honours and Awards".

Through this online database, researchers can access more than 113,000 references to medal registers, citation cards, and records of various military awards. In addition to archival references, this research tool includes digitized images of some medal registers.

The database is available at: www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/medals/index-e.html

I checked the database and found a Barclay Webster, s/o Henry Bentley Webster and Ina Mary Barclay (my gggg aunt) who joined the 2nd Canadian Queen's Regiment.

I did not know that he was in the militia, and that he had received the Canada General Service Medal as noted below www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/medals/001099-110.01-e.php?PHPSESSID=u8farn7vbbhl9hqp3oa83u73m5&q1=Webster&q2=Barclay&q3=&q4=&q5=&q6=&interval=2 -

Name: WEBSTER, Barclay
Rank: Private
Regiment: 2nd Queen's Regiment Nova Scotia Militia
Medal/Honour/Award: Canada General Service Medal
Event/Time Period: Fenian Raid (1866)
Volume: 8
Page: 113
Reference / Acession Number: RG 9 IIA5
Microfilm: C-1862

There is a very brief account of him and his life on Wikipedia, as follows -

Barclay Webster - from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barclay_Webster

Barclay Webster (September 16, 1849 – ) was a lawyer, judge and political figure in Nova Scotia, Canada. He represented King's County in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 1890 to 1894 as a Liberal-Conservative member.

He was born in Kentville, Nova Scotia, the son of Henry Bentley Webster, a lawyer, and Mary Ina Barclay. Webster was educated at Acadia College, Dalhousie University and Harvard University. He was called to the Nova Scotia bar in 1872 and set up practice in Kentville. He married Ethel, the daughter of Leverett de Veber Chipman, in 1877. In 1890, Webster was named King's Counsel.

His son, L. Beverley Webster, died in London after fighting in the Boer War.

New Issue of OGS Families - Cont'd

To continue the overview that I started the other day of the papers in the Ontario Genealogical Society's journal, Families, there are four more papers in the November issue, and they are -

"Where Are The Records?" is an ongoing column by Gwen Patterson in which she takes often overlooked resources at the archives or library and sets them in context so that Ontario researchers can use them.

In this issue, she has a piece on "The Papers of Andrew F. Hunter (1863-1940), Simcoe County Historian" and there are newspaper clippings from The Family Herald and Weekly Star. These clippings concern Lost Persons and Deaths from 1936 to 1938.

"Unfolding Old Documents", by Dr. Fraser Dunford, the Executive Director of the Ontario Genealogical Society, goes through the work involved in taking old papers to ready them for scanning. There are photos, and the step-by-step process is described for those people who are faced with the same problem.

'The Edgars in Glengarry Country and Abroad", by James Somerville Edgar, tells the story of the searching for Charles Edgar of Newry, County Down, Northern Ireland.

"Documenting Ontario War Dead, 1918-1950", by military archivist Glenn Wright. Since November is Remembrance Month in Canada, Glenn has written a new book called Canadians at War 1914-1919: A Research Guide to World War One Service Records, which details the records in Canada.

This paper goes through the Circumstances of Death Registers (which are not online) in the Library and Archives Canada, and he tells us, in detail, how to use these records.

In the February issue, the lead article will be "How to Research Your Jamaican Ancestry from Canada", by Dorothy Kew, in honor of Heritage Day in Ontario.

It's one in a variety of other similar excellent articles written by enlightened and exciting authors.

New Issue of OGS Families

As the new editor of the Ontario Genealogical Society's journal, Families, I have had the pleasure of my first issue being recently released.

In this November 2010 issue, I covered the fact that 2010 was declared as the Year of the Home Child, and I published the following articles -

"Young Immigrants to Canada: The Children's Friend Society" by Marjorie Kohli. This article gives a history of The Children's Friend Society, and lists two pages of names of children who came to Canada from Britain in the middle 18th-Century. A typical entry reads, "Smith, Jesse on Active, house servant to Rev. Thomas B. Fuller of Toronto".

"The British Child Emigration Scheme to Canada (1870-1957)" by Perry Snow. Read about the legacy left by his father, Fred G. Snow, as he made his way to Canada as a Home Child. This article appears as a reprint courtesy of Chinook, the quarterly journal of the Alberta Family Histories Society.

'The Diary of Reverend William Bowman Tucker, 1859-1934" is an except from a diary of a Home Child, one who later went on to found the Montreal City Mission. Glenn Adams, his grandson, gave me his kind permission to reprint a small portion of the diary.

"Discovering the Story of Father" by John Fielding is a heart-warming story of a boy, Leslie Fielding, and how he made a life for himself after he came to Canada.

In the next posting, I will continue with Part II, telling you about more articles in this issue of Families, plus a special article in the OGS NewsLeaf.

OGS Provincial Office Reopens

From OGS Headquarters comes this news -

October 23, 2010

Provincial Office Reopens

The OGS Provincial Office is open for business once again. Our server, phones and fax machines are up and running and we have returned to our regular hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00am - 5:00 pm.

The incident that caused us to be closed happened around 12:00 on Friday October 8th. A worker renovating the library above the office drilled through the concrete floor and into a water pipe in the ceiling of our office. Water poured into our office and knocked out the power to our server and printer, also dumping water on parts of the machines. Sarah Newitt and Marsha Brown were the staff in the office that day and they worked quickly to remove as many objects as possible from the path of the flood that rapidly covered the office with an inch of water. Beyond some pamphlets and in stock OGS publications nothing was damaged that could not be repaired.

The building itself sustained the most damage and required that we empty and close the office so the bottom few feet of most of the drywall could be replaced as well as part of the ceiling. These repairs and the ensuing air quality check took longer than anticipated but are finally complete. Technicians have checked and reconnected all of our electronic equipment and found they were not damaged. The contractor's insurance will pay for the expenses incurred as a result of this.

If you have recently sent us an email that bounced back to you, please try again. The server was unable to receive messages during our closed period and we would like to make sure we do get your email.

Thank you once again for your patience and support during this period. We are happy to be returning to normal and look forward to hearing from you and seeing you at the office.

Happy Thanksgiving

Visit our website, www.GenealogyCanada.com, for some great stuff on Canadian genealogy, history, and heritage.

We have an article on Canadian Thanksgiving -

1. http://www.genealogycanada.com/October_News_2006.htm (with dancing turkey)

And we have two articles on Thanksgiving on our blog -

1. Canadian Thanksgiving - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2008/10/happy-thanksgiving.html (with football-playing turkey)

2. American Thanksgiving - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2008/11/happy-thanksgiving.html

Enjoy the posts, and to all our readers, "Happy Thanksgiving!", no matter which one you celebrate!

Elizabeth

Friends of Laura Secord

(Click on image to make it bigger)

www.niagaraparks.com/heritage-trail/friends-of-laura-secord.html

Workshop - The Women in Our Past

Elayne Lockhart reminds us of an upcoming workshop co-hosted by the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society and the Canadiana Department of the North York Central Library.

================================

Hi everyone.

If you’ve been thinking of coming to the workshop on November 6th, The Women in Our Past: Strategies and Resources for Researching Female Ancestors, I’m happy to tell you that even though the end of September has crept up on you, you haven’t missed the Early Bird deadline. We have extended it to next Monday, October 4th.

We hope to see many members there. We know that our speakers are going to be providing some great strategies to help us all learn to research “outside the box”.

Elayne

Vankleek Hill Family & Local History Day

Saturday, October 2nd will be Family & Local History Day at Vankleek Hill - a village about an hour's drive from Ottawa, right next to the town of Hawkesbury.

In the morning are talks given by the Ontario Genealogical Society and the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa on genealogical research. The afternoon session features Ancestry.ca and and their Library Edition, as well as a Q&A session for advanced genealogy. The Quebec Family History Society will also be there.

To register for either genealogy session, call the Champlain Public Library at 613.678.2216, or visit them online at www.champlaintwplibrary.ca.

There will be special sessions on the Tweedsmuir Histories, heirloom furniture, exhibits at the museum, a quilt shop, Gaelic lessons, and a Masonic Lodge tour. Even stuff for kids.

The Review newspaper www.thereview.ca will have a special exhibit all day long at the newspaper office. The paper is putting its archives online then—with free access all day—and their will be special guided tours of the Old Jail in L'Orignal.

Go to their site at www.vankleekhill.ca.

I will be there Saturday (all day), and if you see me - be sure to say "Hello!"