Sunday, July 13, 2014

Reminder: Canadian Week in Review

Check the Canadian Week in Review tomorrow morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada. 

It has the latest news covered in New/Updated Websites, History, Social Media, and Newspaper Articles.

It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in country!

If you missed least week's edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2014/07/canadian-week-in-review-cwr-07-july-2014.html 

It has been a regular post every Monday morning since April 23, 2012.

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Call for Presenters: OGS Conference 2015 – “Tracks Through Time”


The Ontario Genealogical Society will host the Society’s annual conference on 29-31 May 2015 at Georgian College Campus, Barrie, ON, Canada. The conference theme — Tracks through Time – originates from the 130th Anniversary of the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway across Canada.

Many family historians have their roots in the immigrant laborers who built this railway across our vast country. Other ancestors were tempted by the transportation routes and migration opportunities allowed by its completion. Still others worked for the railway company itself over the years to follow. As researchers, we track our family history through time in many ways, always attempting to ensure we are tracking the right people from the right line. The variations on Tracks through Time are endless. 

The subject of presentations should preferably fall within one of the following categories:

1.Impact of the development of the railway in Canada
2. Tracking various cultural and ethnic ancestor groups to and within Canada (e.g., Aboriginal, African American, Chinese, Scandinavian, Quaker, Polish, Jewish, etc.)
3. Tracking ancestors through various record groups (land, company, religious, civil, etc.)
4. Tracking the right people (sorting out same-name research, One-Name Studies, etc.)
5. Technological advancements in tracking our ancestors

Saturday and Sunday lectures will be one hour long, including time for questions. Friday workshops offering a more in-depth exploration should be 2.5 to 3 hours in length, including time for questions. Consideration will also be given to distance presentations – “streamed in” from a presenter’s location and/or “streamed out” to a distance audience.

Each one-page proposal should include:

Presentation Title

Abstract – no more than 200 words

Presentation Description – one or two sentences for program brochure• Full Contact Information – name, postal address, telephone number, e-mail address, and website (if applicable)

Brief Biography

Target Audience – beginner, intermediate or advanced level family historians; general or specialist audience.

If your proposal is accepted, you will be requested to provide a 2- to 4-page summary of your lecture or workshop for our Conference Syllabus. This may include a brief overview, references and web addresses mentioned, sample screen shots, etc. It will be submitted electronically no later than 1 March 2015 as a word processing file or in rich text for ease of formatting our Program Syllabus. Speakers should also bear in mind that PowerPoint presentations must be clearly readable from a minimum distance of 20 metres/65 feet and should employ fonts no smaller than 32 points.

Please include your approximate travel costs, economy class, to Barrie, Ontario, Canada. Remuneration will normally include reimbursement of transportation expenses, free conference registration, free accommodation, meals on the day(s) of your talk(s), free social activities, plus honorarium. Workshop fees may be negotiated.

Contact Info: Conference 2015 website: http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference/

Email address: program.conference@ogs.on.ca

The deadline is 12 September 2014 

Friday, July 11, 2014

LAC: Soundex - How to find spelling variations of a surname


The Library and Archives Canada explains how to use the JOS Soundex code to find information on names that are difficult to find because of the way that they are spelled. 
They say that “Many American archival records have been indexed using this system. It’s a way to search surnames while ignoring minor differences in spelling. The code uses the first letter of the surname, followed by three numbers associated with the sound of the name. 
Letters of the alphabet are assigned a number (0 to 9). Vowels (A, E, I, O, U and Y) and the letters H and W are not considered. Also, if the same letter occurs twice in a row in the name, it is counted only once (e.g., Lloyd becomes Loyd). If there are fewer than 3 letters in the name, 0 is used for the last digit.” 
To help you identify different spellings of surnames, we suggest that you use the following Soundex indexing site: Avotaynu Consolidated Jewish Surname Index at http://www.avotaynu.com/csi/csi-home.htm. It can also be used for non-Jewish surnames. To help you identify the Soundex code, you can use the JOS Soundex calculator found at http://www.jewishgen.org/JOS/jossound.htm.
So, speaking of ways to make genealogy research easier for you, have you entered the Canada Day Brick Wall Contest? This is the second year that I have had the contest and it closes at 6:00 a.m. EST on Tuesday, July 15th.
You can go to the website and get the details http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2014/07/happy-canada-day.html and get the details.
GOOD LUCK!  

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Special Meeting - QFHS Society

This office received a link to an article on the Genealogy Ensemble blog by Janice Hamilton to tell us about a special meeting of members of the Quebec Family History Society (QFHS) to be held this fall.

In part, the message says “The QFHS will hold a special general meeting of its members on September 13, 2014 for approval to obtain a Certificate of Continuance, a document that grants the organization continuance as a federally incorporated not-for-profit society.

Also on the meeting agenda is a discussion of possible future changes to its constitution. Members have been invited to submit written recommendations for changes to the bylaws, which were written in 1992. The deadline for these submissions is August 13.”

The link to the full story is http://genealogyensemble.wordpress.com

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Archives of Ontario - First World War Exhibit

The Archives of Ontario (AO), in Toronto, has put on an exhibit of a First World War family where six brothers enlisted. The exhibit is called The McLean Brothers of Sunderland,Ontario Real Genealogy Stories WWI Exhibit in the Archives Reading Room on the main floor, just to the left of the reception desk.

This is the story about of six brothers of the same family who enlisted together to take part in the Canadian war efforts. In partnership with guest curator Paul Hector this exhibit uses AO genealogical records to bring a very unique First World War family story to life.

I made my yearly trek to the AO in April of this year, and spent two days there, and accomplished a lot of client research. It is a fantastic facility, with a friendly, helpful staff. And it has a manuscript holdings that you can loose yourself in – I was impressed!

At that time they were busy gathering material for the exhibit, and I am glad that they were able to put it together. So if you are in Toronto, you should plan to visit.


They also have another exhibit online that you can visit - Dear Sadie – Loves, Lives, and Remembrance from Ontario’s First World War.

In this exhibit, you can read about four different families and what happened to them during the First World War. This exhibit “highlights the impact that the war had on individual lives”. 


I plan to return next June to do more research.

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Ireland Canada Monument Project


Every so often, I hear from the Ireland Canada Monument Project in Vancouver, British Columbia by receiving their newsletter.

The Monument project is an historic endeavour to give recognition to those of Irish birth or descent who have given or continue to give to Canada, its provinces and the City of Vancouver.

They say that “The core work for the project is basically complete and general agreement has been reached between the Monument Society and Vancouver Parks Board on site details. Once a new site is agreed upon, the Monument Society looks forward to finalizing the site layout with Parks Board staff.”

They have a blog at http://irelandmonumentvancouver.com and you can be placed on the newsletter distribution list by writing to irelandmonumentcanada@gmail.com 

Monday, July 7, 2014

Canadian Week in Review (CWR) 07 July 2014

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


The First World War Centenary
http://www.1914.org
People around the globe are asked to join together and honour the people who fought for the Allies in the First World War.

Help the Government of Canada organize its website!
I have just taken the 5-minute survey. You may want to take it, because there are a couple of questions among the eight that concern Library and Archives Canada.

On the other hand, if you want something simple to answer, take the Family History Online International Research Use survey at https://survey.zohopublic.com/zs/LHCKyB

This Week in History


July 3rd In 1898, Joshua Slocum of Briar Island, Nova Scotia (near Digby), arrived in Newport, Rhode Island, to complete the first solo trip around the globe.

To read more about him, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Slocum
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In 1836, Canada’s first railway, the Champlain and St. Lawrence, started service between Laprairie and St. Jean, Quebec.

To read more about it, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champlain_and_St._Lawrence_Railroad
===================================================
In 1849, Canadian doctor Sir William Osler, was born in Bond Head, Ontario (near Toronto). He was called the “most influential physician in history,” Osler pioneered medical training that combined clinical observation with lab research.

To find out more about him, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Osler
===================================================
On July the 5th in 1937, the hottest temperature in Canadian history was recorded in Midale, Saskachewan. The mercury rose to 45 degrees Celsius.

To read more about Midale, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midale

Social Media


History buffs bring WWI to life in Elliston
View the video that shows Neal Tucker and his nephew Daniel from the Bonavista Peninsula, Newfoundland to recreate an element of daily life for soldiers in the Great War. They recreated a trench in Elliston, to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War.

History Video: Letter from Britain – 1945 – Three Canadian Soldiers Write Home From War
Listen to the stories that soldiers told Canadians back home in Britain Through Canadian Eyes.

Newfoundland and Labrador

Forget-Me-Not
http://www.nlnewsnow.com/Community-/2014-06-30/article-3781407/Forget-Me-Not/1
The little blue flower is by people on Memorial Day, July 1 to commemorate the brave Newfoundlanders who died in World War One. This is especially true of the men who died on the battlefield of Beaumont-Hamel during the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

Nova Scotia

No articles this week.

New Brunswick

No articles this week.

Quebec

No articles this week.

Ontario

‘Our Canada’ celebrates our country
The Dufferin County Museum and Archives celebrated with a free event called ‘Our Canada’, which included the official opening of a new Canada showcase, activities for the family and more.

Canada's 'Liberty Bell' Comes Home After 150 Years On U.S. Soil
A bronze bell from the S.S. Queen Victoria salvaged from the steamship which sank off the coast of North Carolina, two years after the vessel ferried the Fathers of Confederation to the Charlottetown Conference in 1864 – and it will be on display Canadian Museum of History for 15 months beginning this November, part of an exhibit to mark the 150th anniversary of the events leading up to Confederation in 1867. It is Canada’s Liberty Bell.

Korean adoptees in Canada visit homeland
About 30 Korean children adopted by Canadian parents are visiting Korea for two weeks to learn about Korean culture and history, according to Korean Canadian Children’s Association.

Turn-of-the-century Canadians were getting up to stuff you aren’t going to read in history textbooks
http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/07/01/turn-of-the-century-canadians-were-getting-up-to-stuff-you-arent-going-to-read-in-history-textbooks
On about 15 metres of shelving at the British Library in London is a collection of Canadian images taken over 100 years ago, and some of them are in this article.

Canoe trek traces Métis history in Canada
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/canoe-trek-traces-metis-history-in-canada/article19407164
Holland River to the calm waters of Lake Simcoe – and 18 kilometres closer to their summer’s epic destination, the general assembly of the Métis Nation of Ontario in Thunder Bay, two months and two Great Lakes away.

Manitoba

Ancient Inuit hunting camp to be uncovered in Manitoba: 1,000-year-old tent rings, as well as food caches, burial grounds and kayak rests can be seen at the site
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/ancient-inuit-hunting-camp-to-be-uncovered-in-manitoba-1.2691611
Some 400 years before Europeans came to North America, the grassy cliff on the western coast of Hudson Bay in northern Manitoba was a thriving hunting camp for the ancestors of today's Inuit.

See Manitoba's vital history live with St. Andrews Rectory restored: Venerable Selkirk Settlers structure will be open to public for summer
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/see-manitobas-vital-history-live-with-st-andrews-rectory-restored-265162421.html
St. Andrews Rectory, built in 1854 in the Rural Municipality of St. Andrews by the Selkirk Settlers of the area, is one of the most curious because of the use of rings that were made of Tyndall stone from area. The stone was used to hold the ducts of the wood stove so that the rectory could have central heating.
The rectory will reopened to the public during July and August.

Saskatchewan

Ukrainian Project Cto will commemorate Canadian internment camps
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/news/Ukrainian+Project+will+commemorate+Canadian+internment+camps/9987912/story.html
The Eaton Internment Camp in Saskatchewan was one of 24 forced labour camps across Canada created at the outset of First World War to imprison "enemy aliens." More than 8,500 prisoners of war were sent to these camps to work on public projects such as the railway.

Ukrainian church in Regina to commemorate First World War Canadian internment camps
An upcoming project by the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association called Project Cto meaning “one hundred” in Ukrainian ,will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the War Measures Act. On August 22, 100 plaques across Canada recalling the internment camps will be unveiled at 11 a.m. local time.

Two Athabasca heritage buildings receive $55,400 in grants
Two historic Athabasca buildings — the Athabasca United Church and the old Canadian Northern Railway Station, have received thousands of dollars through the Alberta Historical Resources Foundation.

Alberta

No articles this week.

British Columbia

No articles this week. 

Story of the Week 


Canada History Week (July 1-7)

I think we were so busy with Canada Day this past, did you realize that it was also Canada History Week?

Each of the seven days had things we could, and still can do, like 7 days, 7 films: celebrating Canada History Week at http://blog.nfb.ca/2014/07/01/canada-history-week

To see more of the activities, go to http://www.pch.gc.ca/eng/1403098451625

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 July 14, 2014.