Canadian Week in Review - 24 November 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.
 

History

 

On 18 November 1883, the first operation of Standard Time in North America began at midnight in eastern Nova Scotia. Scottish-born Sir Sandford Fleming played a major role in introducing the concept around the world.

   To further read about Sir Sandford, go to http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/sir-sandford-fleming/

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On 18 November 1929, an earthquake in Cape Breton sent a 15-metre tidal wave onto Newfoundland's Burin Peninsula. The wall of water killed 28 people (27 then, and one years later) and did $20 million (2004 dollars) in damage and loss.
   For more, see http://www.earthquakescanada.nrcan.gc.ca/historic-historique/events/19291118-eng.php

   Be sure to read "Not Too Long Ago...Seniors Tell Their Stories" at the bottom of the page http://en.copian.ca/library/learning/ntla/ntla.pdf.
 

Social Media

 

(Photos) Stone cottage built in the 1700s is a testimony to Quebec's history
http://montrealgazette.com/life/homes/stone-cottage-built-in-the-1700s-is-a-testimony-to-quebecs-history
   This south-facing, small stone cottage on Gouin Boulevard in Ahuntsic-Cartierville speaks volumes about the quality of ingenuity of old construction methods.

(Video) From the CBC archives: Nonsuch arrives in Winnipeg in 1973
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/from-the-cbc-archives-nonsuch-arrives-in-winnipeg-in-1973-1.2841284
   Nov. 19, 1973, a truck transported the replica to its permanent home: a museum gallery that was being built for the two-masted ketch. The museum would receive the Nonsuch, a replica of the 17th-century British ship that led to the creation of the Hudson's Bay Company and the opening of western Canada to commerce.

Nova Scotia
 
HISTORY: An old Kings County militia badge
http://www.novanewsnow.com/Opinion/Columnists/2014-11-20/article-3944074/HISTORY%3A-An-old-Kings-County-militia-badge/1
   A rare Nova Scotia volunteer militia badge that may have been worn by farmer soldiers in Kings County over 150 years ago.

Local recipients receive culture and heritage art awards
http://www.trurodaily.com/News/Local/2014-11-21/article-3948003/Local-recipients-receive-culture-and-heritage-art-awards/1
   The ninth annual Creative Nova Scotia Awards were presented during a special ceremony at the Seaport Market in Halifax on Thursday. The event, with the theme ART is Everywhere!, was organized by the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council and Arts Nova Scotia.

Hundreds gather in Purlbrook to see off Nova Scotia tree for Boston
http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/hundreds-gather-in-purlbrook-to-see-off-nova-scotia-tree-for-boston-1.2105604#ixzz3JRnb0amg
   Hundreds of students and community members gathered in Antigonish County Monday morning as Nova Scotia’s tree for Boston was cut down and wrapped before starting its journey across the border.
   John and Ethel Ann MacPherson of Purlbrook, N.S. are donating their 55-year-old, 13-metre white spruce to Boston this year.

Ontario
War declared by telegram in 1914
http://www.ingersolltimes.com/2014/11/21/war-declared-by-telegram-in-1914
    Oxford Remembers Oxford's Own – a series of 100 events planned throughout Oxford County between 2014 and 2018 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the First World War.

Charlie Chaplin – A Canadian Sidebar in History
http://www.netnewsledger.com/2014/11/20/charlie-chaplin-a-canadian-sidebar-in-history/
   A sidebar in history about Charlie Chaplin’s earliest North American tours with Fred Karno’s Travelling Show in Canada venturing all the way to British Columbia is an alluring time. An interesting story.

Coteau visited Sheffield Park Black History and Cultural Museum in Clarksburg
http://www.theenterprisebulletin.com/2014/11/17/coteau-visited-sheffield-park-black-history-and-cultural-museum-in-clarksburg
   On 13 November, Carolynn Wilson, director of the Sheffield Park Black History and Cultural Museum in Clarksburg, had the chance to show Ontario’s Minister of Culture Michael Coteau around her extensive, lovingly-put-together museum documenting African-Canadian history of her family and other early black pioneers to Canada.

Canada Science and Tech Museum looking to lend out exhibits
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/canada-science-and-tech-museum-looking-to-lend-out-exhibits
   The show must go on, and for the Canada Science and Technology Museum that means taking the show on the road.

Saskatchewan

City of Saskatoon wants more heritage properties
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/city-of-saskatoon-wants-more-heritage-properties-1.2837349
   The Municipal Heritage Advisory Committee has started building a historic buildings registry, listing all of the historically important buildings in the province.

Alberta

Which Great Alberta Suffragette Are You?
http://blogs.edmontonjournal.com/2014/11/21/which-great-alberta-suffragette-are-you/
   Henrietta Muir Edwards, Roberta MacAdams, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, Emily Murphy, Irene Parlby.

Simons: Financial woes halt construction of Ukrainian museum
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Simons+Financial+woes+halt+construction+Ukrainian+museum/10403819/story.html
    The Ukrainian Canadian Museum and Archives of Alberta was supposed to rejuvenate two of Jasper Avenue’s most important Edwardian buildings, kick-start the redevelopment of The Quarters, and provide a marvellous place to preserve and celebrate Alberta’s rich Ukrainian heritage.
   But now, two years after construction began, the museum, which was supposed to open this spring, is in trouble.

British Columbia

Winners Announced for BC's Best Building Contest
http://www.kelownanow.com/news/bc_news/news/Provincial/14/11/17/Winners_Announced_for_BC_s_Best_Building_Contest
   The contest, by the Architecture Foundation of British Columbia marked 100 years of architecture as a profession in BC. More than 450 nominations from around the world were received and the judges have decided on the winners.

B.C. thanks veterans with 50,000 licence plates in 10 years
http://thenelsondaily.com/news/bc-thanks-veterans-50000-licence-plates-10-years-34518#.VGuc1sVdU8A
   The Province is celebrating a decade of commemorative licence plates honouring Canadian veterans in British Columbia. Since the program launched in 2004 on the 60th anniversary of D-Day, more than 50,000 veterans have been recognized with the licence plates.

Story of the Week

 Memorial to Holodomor Victims in Kiev, Ukraine

 81st Anniversary of the Holodomor

The Holodomor, meaning "death by hunger" in Ukrainian, refers to the great man-made famine of 1932-33 that wiped out millions of Ukrainians. It was recognized by the Canadian government in 2008, when millions of people starved to death.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper issued the following statement commemorating the 81st anniversary of the Holodomor:

"Today is Holodomor Memorial Day, a somber occasion when people around the world remember the forced starvation of millions of Ukrainian men, women and children in 1932 and 1933 by Joseph Stalin’s tyrannical communist regime."

An estimated three to 3.5 million people died of starvation that year, and the famine was caused by agricultural embargoes and economic blockades in Soviet Ukraine that literally starved people to death.

Last year, on the 80th anniversary of the Holodomar, eighty stories were collected from the people who survived the famine, and they are shared on the Share the Story website at http://www.sharethestory.ca/index.html

The Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/pages/Share-the-Story/1404429459770523

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 01 December 2014.

LAC Update: Digitization of First World War Service Files

As of today, 78,914 of 640,000 files are available online at their Soldiers of the First World War.

You can go to http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/first-world-war/first-world-war-1914-1918-cef/Pages/canadian-expeditionary-force.aspx to see if your ancestor is there.

Canadian Week in Review - 17 November 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.

History

11 November 1813 -  The Americans were defeated at Crysler’s Farm in the War of 1812.

For further reading, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Crysler's_Farm

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11 November 1872 - The Intercolonial Railway was completed between Halifax, Nova Scotia and Saint John, New Brunswick.

For further reading, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercolonial_Railway

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12 November 1856 – The Grand Trunk Railway was opened from Quebec City, Quebec to Toronto, Ontario.

For further reading, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Trunk_Railway 

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16 November 1885 - Louis Riel was hanged after the Northwest Rebellion.

For further reading, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Riel

Social Media

(Photos) They served so that men could fly

http://www.muskokaregion.com/community-story/4978857-they-served-so-that-men-could-fly/

   “You never hear about these women. It’s a chunk of history that’s just not there,” said local author Glad Bryce. “They were trailblazers. They showed what women could do.”

Newfoundland

Danny Williams hopes documentary teaches people about province

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/danny-williams-hopes-documentary-teaches-people-about-province-1.2828813

   A new documentary from the National Film Board of Canada looks back on former premier Danny Williams and his political career, and will be shown on 10 screens across Newfoundland and Labrador next week.

Nova Scotia

ED COLEMAN HISTORY: A school arithmetic book from 1840 

http://www.novanewsnow.com/Opinion/Columnists/2014-11-09/article-3931513/History%3A-A-school-arithmetic-book-from-1840/1

   Documents relating to school exercise books used here in the 1840s. The books were recently donated to the museum.

Black Loyalist Heritage Society president receives honorary degree

http://www.novanewsnow.com/News/Local/2014-11-10/article-3935173/Black-Loyalist-Heritage-Society-president-receives-honorary-degree/1

   Elizabeth Cromwell, president and founder of the Black Loyalist Heritage Society, was presented with an honourary degree from Mount Saint Vincent University on November 2nd for her work with preserving the black history and culture of Nova Scotia.

Ontario

The White Hurricane: The worst storm in Great Lakes history

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/-worst-storm-in-great-lakes-history-101-years-ago-this-weekend/15815/

   Over 250 lives lost. At least 12 ships sunk. Thirty other ships crippled. The worst natural disaster in Great Lakes history.

Ontario's WWII PoW camp casualty of neglect

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/straighttalk/archives/2014/11/20141110-074418.html

   The Second World War was fought on many far-flung fronts, but one is much closer than you'd think, and that is PoW Camp 30 in Ontario.

Manitoba

Remembering Canada’s veterans

http://www.manitobacooperator.ca/2014/11/10/remembering-canadas-veterans/

   Remembering Our Veterans is a limited-edition book to be published this fall. The brainchild of Beverley Anderson of MacGregor, it is a compilation of material she has collected, with the help of other members of an ad hoc group from the local area.

Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan newspapers printed during WWI now online

http://cjme.com/story/sask-newspapers-printed-during-wwi-now-online/448477

   When Saskatchewan soldiers went off to fight in the First World War, their stories and the reactions at home were reported in newspapers across the province. Now, everyone can read those headlines online. Newspaper were written in English, German, French, and Ukrainian.

Alberta

Counting the rings on your family tree

http://www.stonyplainreporter.com/2014/11/14/counting-the-rings-on-your-family-tree

   Clarissa Giese and Annemarie Sarango have done this every spring and fall, both on their own, and with the help of a genealogy program offered at the Multicultural Heritage Centre.

British Columbia

Stanley Park's secret military history

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/stanley-park-s-forgotten-military-history-1.2830524

   Stanley Park may seem like a quiet place among the trees to many Vancouverites, but the large park also has a storied military history.

What’s in a name? Time to move beyond “British”

http://www.vancouverobserver.com/politics/commentary/what-s-name-time-move-beyond-british

   The discussion revolved around the question of whether it is time to consider a new name for British Columbia, and if so, what could that be?

Story of the Week

Is the long-form census form on its way back?

The long-form census form was stopped in June of 2010 , and was replaced by the National Household Survey (NHS), which is a voluntary survey, and has been the focus of much controversy since then.

The NHS was intended to be sent to about 4.5 million households. Remember when then-Industry Minister Tony Clement said that the change had been made because of privacy-related complaints, but when asked about this, he said that the decision had been made after consulting organizations and governments that worked closely with Statistics Canada.

In 2013, criticism reared its head again with the National Household Survey when the first set of results were released from the survey.

And this is when Liberal MP Ted Hsu stepped in and introduced a private member's bill, “Bill-626, An Act to amend the Statistics Act”, with the intention appointing a Chief Statistician and reinstatement of the long-form census in Canada.

So this is where it stands right at the moment.

On Saturday evening, I received an email from Mike More, former chair of the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, and former vice-president of the Ontario Genealogical Society, who said that fellow Ottawa blogger, John D. Reid, on his Anglo- Celtic Connections blog, has a piece on the private member's bill http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com/2014/11/bring-back-mandatory-long-form-census.html, and was asking members of the genealogical community for their support.

The blog says -

“Ted Hsu, Member of Parliament for Kingston and the Islands has a new private member's bill to bring back the mandatory long-form census. Debate on this bill began last week in Parliament. Your help is sought to build momentum leading up to the vote expected in February.

Debate on this bill began last week in Parliament. Your help is sought to build momentum leading up to the vote expected in February.

The government replaced the 2011 long-form census with a voluntary National Household Survey (NHS). Unsurprisingly, the NHS data is of poor quality and can't be compared with previous census data. Experts who rely on this data, and the continuity of these data sets, call the NHS data worthless.

Bill C-626 is a private member's bill that will reinstate the mandatory long-form census and expand the authority of the Chief Statistician.

Throughout this debate, and leading up to the eventual vote on Bill C-626, you are asked to please:

1) Write or speak to your MP to encourage them to support the bill and reinstate the mandatory long-form census

2) Write a letter or op-ed for your local paper explaining the value of the census and the need to pass Bill C-626

3) Share this information with your friends, family and colleagues

It's not too late to fight for the census! If you wish to contact MP Ted Hsu, please email ted.hsu@parl.gc.ca.”

If you would like to keep informed about the bill as it makes its way through committees, go to http://openparliament.ca/bills/41-2/C-626/?tab=mentions

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 2014.

FamilySearch Update: Nova Scotia Probate Records (1760-1993).

The FamilySearch site has added more records to their Nova Scotia Probate Records (1760-1993). 

This site includes “records of probate proceedings from Nova Scotia. The records include estate files, inventories, wills, administrations and other records related to probate. Most of the records are dated from 1800-1940, but coverage varies by area.” 

They have the counties of Annapolis, Antigonish, Barrington District, Cape Breton, Colchester, Cumberland, Guysborough District, Hants, and Inverness. 

You can search the records at https://familysearch.org/search/image/index#uri=https://familysearch.org/recapi/sord/collection/2134302/waypoints 

I just briefly looked at the records on the Barrington Distract area since I have family there (the descendants of Henry Blades), and found that the records are of faint quality, but with patience and years of reading these type of records, I was able to pick out probates of interest. 

So give it a try. Remember that they are not indexed, so you will have to skim through them until you find the desired record.

Norfolk County Branch of the OGS Moves to Inactive Status

Alan Campbell, the president of the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS), wishes to let everybody know that the Norfolk Genealogical Society has transferred all of its work that it has done on local records will "remain in the community via the loan of the Branch Library collection to a local repository. " 

Campbell goes on to say that "Although this is a sad occasion, I must celebrate the numerous volunteer hours put in by Norfolk County Branch volunteers which have resulted in this permanent legacy for present and future researchers. Also, consider the number of hours Norfolk County Branch volunteers must have spent in helping local and distance researchers with their family history research. Thank you Norfolk County Branch volunteers!"

You can still visit their two websites - 

Old website http://www.ogs.on.ca/norfolk/norfolk/index.htm 

New Website http://www.ogs.on.ca/norfolk/?page_id=42 

Their Charlotteville, Houghton, Middleton, Townsend, North Walsingham, South Walsinsham, and Windham Township publications are still on the website under the heading of Published Resources. 

Apparently, they will be available from the provincial office of the OGS at www.ogs.on.ca/

Canadian War Museum to webcast the illumination in Memorial Hall

For the fourth year in a row, the Canadian War Museum is webcasting the illumination of the headstone representing Canada's Unknown Soldier. 

To view the illumination, go to http://www.warmuseum.ca/remember#webcast

While you are at the site, listen to Tim Cook, Canadian War Museum historian, talk about the lasting impact of the First World War on Canada.

CBC will live broadcast the event from the National War Memorial in Ottawa.

Their website is http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/remembrance-day-livestream-watch-listen-on-cbc-1.1143482