Monday, November 5, 2012

New/Updated Websites, Blogs, and Newspaper Articles – 05 November 2012

In keeping with Veterans’ Week 2012, here are some military websites, blogs, and newspaper articles that I have come across that were of interest to me, and I thought you might be interested in them, too –

New Historical Records Offer Glimpse Into The Lives Of Canada’s Military Heroes Ancestry.ca
      A press release received by GenealogyCanada says, “Ancestry.ca announces more than 1.5 million new historical Canadian military records spanning more than 100 years.
      “Remembrance Day is such an emotional time for Canadians to reflect on the people who made the brave and often ultimate sacrifice for this nation and its ideals,” says Lesley Anderson, a genealogist and Content Manager at Ancestry.ca. “We are so happy and proud to be able to provide a forum for Canadians to discover more details about their military ancestors and the lives they lived through the preservation and digitization of these rare historical records.”
      The collections, which launched on November 1, 2012, include -
      Canada, Military Honours and Award Citation Cards, 1900-1961 contains almost 70,000 records documenting awards and honours received by Canadian service personnel, both men and women. Some records include valuable and rare information on the soldier’s next of kin, a physical description, their home address, and a description of the meritorious action.
      Canada, Nominal Rolls and Paylists for the Volunteer Militia, 1857-1922 contains more than one million records that provide detailed information about a soldier’s everyday life, including payroll. The records also include travelling expenses, battalion or regiment, rank, pay for the use of a horse, and signature of the member for received pay. These small details can help paint a richer picture of the day-to-day routine of Canada’s servicemen and women.
      UK, Commonwealth War Graves, 1914-1921 & 1939-1947 contains more than 500,000 records and includes information from both World Wars. The records list names of gravesites and memorials maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and document who is buried in a cemetery and where, names of people with no known grave, next-of-kin, and a history of military action in the area. The collection includes burial and memorial sites in about 150 different countries.
      Canada, War Graves Registers: Circumstances of Casualty, 1914-1948 contains almost 30,000 new records added to the existing collection already available on Ancestry.ca. The collection includes military burial documents from Canada, as well as casualty records from the U.S., prisoners of war and members of the Australian Air Force, Polish Air Force, and Royal New Zealand Air Force.
      Ancestry.ca is also providing FREE access to select military records from some of the most popular collections, from November 8th to November 12th at www.ancestry.ca/11remembrance, including records covering Soldiers of the First World War, the Rebellion of 1837, and the War of 1812.”

Last Post: Death Notices www.legionmagazine.com/en/lastpost The Royal Canadian Legion has over 190,000 deaths of veterans listed on its website, giving their rank, their first and last name, their unit, plus other information, if known.

Welcome to the Maple Leaf Legacy Project www.mapleleaflegacy.ca/wp The Maple Leaf Legacy Project is a volunteer project aiming to photograph every Canadian War Grave from the South African War (1899-1902), World War 1 (1914-18), World War II (1939-45), Korean War (1950-52), all United Nations Peacekeeping Missions, and to the conflict in Afghanistan, in which 157 Canadians died.

Learn about Canada’s History from The War Amps Military Heritage Series http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2012/10/31/77852 Jenny Fredenburgh tells us about The War Amps Military Heritage Series. More information is available at www.waramps.ca

Question of the Day: In what year did the Legion Magazine of the Royal Canadian Legion first honour those members with military backgrounds, Canadian war veterans, and Legion members with police service who had died with short death notices in a special column known as the “Last Post”?

Send your answer to Elizabeth at genealogycanada@aol.com by midnight, Eastern Standard Time. Please put “booklet” in the title, and remember to submit your full name and postal address. A winner will be chosen by random draw from every eligible entry received.

Good luck, and happy researching!

© Elizabeth Lapointe All Rights Reserved

Sunday, November 4, 2012

One Booklet To Be Won Every Day During Veterans' Week

This year, I will be giving away a copy of my booklet—a research guide on both sides of the War of 1812 entitled The War of 1812: Canada and the United States—every day during Veterans’ Week (November 5th to November 11th) to lucky readers who correctly answer questions about Canada’s military history.

A new question will be available daily, and a winner will be picked randomly each day from all entries with the correct answer.

For a description of the booklet, please visit www.genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2012/01/booklet-1-war-of-1812-canada-and-united.html

Please place “Booklet” in the subject of the email, and do not forget your address!

Good luck!

Friday, November 2, 2012

PRESS RELEASE

Blogger Showcases Canada’s Veterans' Week 2012 (November 5th-11th)

(Ottawa, 29 October 2012) GenealogyCanada.blogspot.com — a daily blog that has covered Canadian genealogy, heritage, and history news since 2006 — will again publish a series of posts during this year’s Veterans’ Week by focussing on all aspects of the Canadian military, highlighting events occurring from coast to coast to coast.

“Veterans Week, which takes place this year from November 5th to the 11th, is a very important resource for readers of this blog. It allows us to remember those who fought in Canada’s wars, starting with the Boer War (1899-1902) to the War in Afghanistan (2002–2011), and to say ‘Thank you’ to those who gave so much for Canada”, says Elizabeth Lapointe, of GenealogyCanada.blogspot.com.

For posts from last year’s Veterans’ Week, please visit http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2011/11/blogger-showcases-canadas-veterans-week.html

Recently, Elizabeth became the newest addition to Thomas MacEntee’s GeneaBloggers website and newsletter www.GeneaBloggers.com. Her column on Canadian genealogy news and resources for those seeking their Canadian roots has just been launched, and with the column, Elizabeth will continue to offer her breadth of knowledge on Canadian genealogy, and on cross-border migration between Canada and the U.S.

“I am very happy to write a column for GeneaBloggers, and to work with Thomas MacEntee, a world-renowned genealogy blogger. The second column will be ‘Canadians in the American Civil War,’ she says.

About GenealogyCanada

The blog, www.GenealogyCanada.blogspot.com, has been covering Canadian genealogy, heritage, and history since the first of over 800 posts was first published in January, 2008.

At the www.GenealogyCanada.com website, there are over 30 monthly newsletters covering news on Canadian genealogy, heritage, and history, including the famous “Website of the Month”.

Elizabeth Lapointe is the editor of Families, the journal of the Ontario Genealogical Society.

Celtic Studies Speaker Events at St. Michael’s College, Toronto


On November 8th, 2012 from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm, The University of Toronto’s Celtic Studies Department is hosting another of their Celtic Studies Speaker events. The event will be held at the Charbonnel Lounge, St. Michael’s College, 81 St. Mary Street, Toronto.

The topic will be “Irish Women in 18th Century Newfoundland” with will look at the unsettling femininity in early Irish-Newfoundland fishing communities by the speaker Willeen Keough, from Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia.

Admission is FREE. All are welcome. No registration required.

Contact information is celtic.studies@utoronto.ca, or you can phone 416.926.7145.

This series is made possible by the generosity of a grant from The Irish Cultural Society of Toronto at www.torontoirishassociation.com

The website for St. Michael’s College is

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Montreal's Department of Archives.

In addition to the Annual General Meeting to be held at 10:30 am to 10:45 am on Saturday November 10th at the Briarwood Presbyterian Church Hall, 70 Beaconsfield Blvd., Beaconsfield, Montreal by the Quebec Family History Society, there will be a special talk entitled Discover 100 Years of Records at the Montreal Archives.

The talk will be presented by Mario Robert, head archivist at the Montreal Archives. Learn about the different types of records that are held in Montreal city hall's vaults and how they can be used in genealogical and historical research.

Mr. Robert's presentation will kick off the 100th anniversary of the Montreal Archives that takes place in 2013. Although Montreal was founded in 1642, its political history as a municipality only began in 1833 when the first municipal election took place. It was not until 1913, however, that city council voted to create Montreal's Department of Archives.

Members and non-members are invited to attend this event FREE and stay afterward for refreshments and conversation.

The website of the Montreal Archives is www2.ville.montreal.qc.ca/archives/500ans/portail_archives_en/accueil.html

The website of the Quebec Family History Society is www.qfhs.ca

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Costumes and Halloween

The Library and Archives Canada has just put a virtual exhabit of Costumes and Halloween fancy dress balls that were hosted by Lady Aberdeen at Rideau Hall in Ottawa in the 1890s.

The exhabit is on Flickr at
www.flickr.com/photos/lac-bac/sets/72157631684420843

Value of Hotel Registers


Have you ever thought of using hotel registers as a genealogical resource? I haven't, but they would be a good resource to search for information about your ancestor in local libraris, and archives.

There will be a meeting of the Wellington County Branch on Tuesday, November 27, 2012 at 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm at the Zehrs Meeting Room, 2nd Floor, 1045 Paisley Road, Guelph, at which Dr. Kevin James, Associate Professor in the Department of History and Centre for Scottish Studies at the University of Guelph, will talk about The Hotel Visitor’s Book: Secrets, Lies and Everyday Jottings.

In this talk, Kevin explores the value of the hotel register as a historical source, drawing on surviving books from Victorian Ireland to show how they illuminate infidelity, modes of travel and the social regimes of the hotel.

For more information, go to www.ogs.on.ca/wellington/events.html