Monday, June 8, 2015

Canadian Week in Review (CWR) - 08 June 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.

This Week in Canadian History


 1817 - Launching of first steamship Frontenac in Kingston, Ontario in 1817. It plied the Great Lakes and made its inaugural trip west to the town of York.

Frontenac was sold for ₤1550 to John Hamilton in 1824, who sold the Frontenac after for scrap at Niagara in 1827. Before she could be scrapped, she burned to the waterline due to arson.





1798 - The second session of second Parliament of Upper Canada was held on Niagara-on-the-Lake until July 5, and it set up the county system, it marked valid marriages performed by non-Anglicans.






 1613 - Samuel de Champlain (c1570-1635) loses his astrolabe near Lac des Chats on the Ottawa River. One such instrument, supposedly found on June 7, 1867, is not old enough to be Champlain's.




Social Media

(Photos) Telling the history of the Fraser Valley with LEGO
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/telling-the-history-of-the-fraser-valley-with-lego-1.3098458
Artists have spent hundreds of hours creating a display out of LEGO that illustrates the history and future of the Fraser Valley.
   Their work is being featured in a new exhibit at the Surrey Museum entitled LEGO - A Fraser Valley. 

(Drone Video (Watch this: Unbelievable drone footage of Halifax
http://www.thecoast.ca/RealityBites/archives/2015/06/03/watch-this-unbelievable-drone-footage-of-halifax
It's a different perspective on some everyday Halifax sights. The dropping costs and improved quality of HD cameras and aerial drones increasingly offer a new way to view some common landmarks.

(Blog (First World War Veterans of Guysborough County
http://guysboroughgreatwarveterans.blogspot.com/
131 Guysborough County veterans who died while serving.

Nova Scotia

Tourists and local economy to benefit from Yarmouth's Heritage in Your Hand app
http://www.thevanguard.ca/Business/2015-06-02/article-4167576/Tourists-and-local-economy-to-benefit-from-Yarmouths-Heritage-in-Your-Hand-app/1
Esther Dares, a member of the group working on the project, came up with the idea of developing an app that would give people a new way to experience Yarmouth’s Sea Captains’ Homes and Mercantile Heritage Walk.

The big hole where a house once stood
http://thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/1290201-demont-the-big-hole-where-a-house-once-stood
I may not be the most observant reporter in the world, but I was pretty sure that the last time I drove down Armview Avenue there wasn’t a big hole on the Northwest Arm side of the street where it meets Tupper Grove, as there was late last week.
   When I finally found somebody to ask, it turned out I was right.

Prince Edward Island

Old Prince Edward Home land could become green space
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/old-prince-edward-home-land-could-become-green-space-1.3096113
Once a hospital, then a nursing home and palliative care centre, the 80-year-old building is situated on a prime piece of land next to Victoria Park.

Sea level surge changing coastal P.E.I.
http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/News/Local/2014-07-25/article-3812542/Sea-level-surge-changing-coastal-P.E.I./1
Prince Edward Island is slowly disappearing, parts of it anyway, and the UPEI Climate Research Lab demonstrated at a recent public meeting here just how climate change and rising sea levels are affecting the Garden of the Gulf.

New Brunswick

Sackville United Church building listed among Canada’s top ‘endangered places
http://www.cumberlandnewsnow.com/News/Local/2015-06-03/article-4169172/Sackville-United-Church-building-listed-among-Canada%26rsquo%3Bs-top-%26lsquo%3Bendangered-places%26rsquo%3B/1
With the former Sackville United Church building up on the chopping block, the site has been named as one of the top ‘endangered places’ in the country by Heritage Canada’s National Trust.

Ontario

Upper Canada Lands Records help trace a Butler Ranger from the American Revolutionary War
http://www.insidetoronto.com/news-story/5656365-lee-dickson-genealogy-upper-canada-lands-records-help-trace-a-butler-ranger-from-the-american-revol/
In the late 1980s, with skillful guidance from Archives of Ontario archivists and coupled with beginner’s luck, I managed to trace a line back to my United Empire Loyalist ancestors.

Manitoba

History, architecture well preserved in Winnipeg Exchange district
http://o.canada.com/travel/history-architecture-well-preserved-in-winnipeg-exchange-district
It’s not hard to picture Winnipeg's wild-west past as you walk through its historic Exchange District. The jails, saloons and brothels may be gone, but more than 100 buildings in the compact 20-block area have been preserved, along with rail tracks, ornate interior decor and old-fashioned advertisements painted on brick walls.

Saskatchewan

Saskatoon's Montgomery Place neighbourhood inches closer to heritage status
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/travel/Saskatoon+Montgomery+Place+neighbourhood+inches+closer+heritage+status/11100235/story.html#ixzz3c01lqBTN
A city committee has unanimously given its support for the Montgomery Place Community Association to seek national heritage designation for the neighbourhood.

WDM exhibit looks at history of funeral homes
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/exhibit+looks+history+funeral+homes/11098414/story.html
Death is a tricky topic for a family attraction. On Saturday, the Western Development Museum launched a new exhibit tackling just that.

Alberta

History: The Houcher Story
http://www.canadiancattlemen.ca/2015/06/01/history-the-houcher-story/
The man who grew the first carload of wheat in the Wetaskiwin district!! There’s a pioneering story there. Yet this is a mere sidelight of the thrilling saga of a courageous young couple who built up a prosperous ranch in a country that was a nemesis to some of the most powerful cattle syndicates in North America.

British Columbia

Shaughnessy to become Heritage Conservation District
http://www.vancouversun.com/Shaughnessy+become+Heritage+Conservation+District/11110014/story.html
A report going to council June 9 calls for First Shaughnessy to be named the city’s first Heritage Conservation District, which could dramatically change development in the historic neighbourhood.

Stories in the News

Residents of an Indian School, Regina, Saskatchewan, 1908. Original photograph by John Woodruff 

News that is trending in Canada this past week has revolved around the Aboriginal Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report on Residential Schools.

What does this mean to genealogists?

For years, we have been asked to prove that an ancestor is Aboriginal, and sometimes this has been a complicated thing to prove because many times the people just did not say self identify as Aboriginal or Métis in their census and vital records.

And now, just this past weekend, I have heard that the site in front of the Supreme Court of Canada is to be dedicated to the Residential School so that a monument can be built there. This will be interesting as time goes on because the planned Memorial to Victims of Communism will have to be moved across the street to the Garden of the Provinces and Territories, where it was planned to be in the first place.

From Manitoba comes the news that the people there want to transform one of its residential schools into museum. The Long Plain First Nation -- in Central Manitoba -- is seeking to reclaim the nearly 100-year-old Portage la Prairie Indian Residential School

To read more about it, go to http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/manitoba-reserve-hopes-to-transform-residential-school-into-museum-1.2403709

So keep your eyes on the news in the coming weeks, because I am sure this this is the first salvo fired in the round of discussions that will take place

If you are looking for Aboriginal records in Canada, here are some places they are kept -

Aboriginal Heritage - https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/aboriginal-heritage/Pages/introduction.aspx There is a section on Residential Schools within the sources in the Library and Archives Canada.

MemoryBC - http://guides.library.ubc.ca/content.php?pid=478071&sid=3920235 They have the name of the archives of the attendance records at Residentail Schools

Vancouver Public Library - http://guides.vpl.ca/genealogy/aboriginal They have excellent genealogical information on the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people.

And that was the Canadian genealogy, history, and heritage news in Canada this past week!



Need help finding your "ELUSIVE" Canadian ancestors???

As a nod of the hat to the Ontario Genealogical Conference being held in Barrie, Ontario from May 29 to May 31, we are offering a 15% discount on our research and consultation services (ends 11 June at midnight).

Go to the Elizabeth Lapointe Research Services website www.ELRS.biz, or send an email with the subject "special" to genealogyresearch@aol.com to see how I can help you find that elusive Canadian ancestor!

Research Tip! To research Ontario's early census records, you can go to Ontario's GenWeb site at http://ontariocensus.rootsweb.ancestry.com


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

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

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

The next issue will be 15 June 2015.

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Breaking the Ice 2015: HMS Erebus Revealed



You can now see and experience what the divers saw and experienced last spring when they found the Erebus, one of the ships in Franklin's Expeditions of the North West Passage. There is now an exhibit called  HMS Erebus Revealed and it is on the http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/culture/franklin/franklin2015.aspx website.

These artifacts have been lost to the Arctic Sea for nearly 160 years, and now they are available to us online to see.

Here is a photo album on the site, a dive diary, and little bits on information, like the Franklin Expedition carried 4,000 kilos of chocolate which could be put into water for as a drink of hot or cold chocolate!

Enjoy the time that you spend at the exhibit. I read all of it. and found it so interesting! 


Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.
It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

Friday, June 5, 2015

Is the Never Forgotten National Momument going to be built?


 
I had heard of this before, and I am wondering if you have heard of the statue and park that is to be built on Green Cove in Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia.

The statue – Never Forgotten National Monument – will be an eight foot statue in memory of the 114,000 Canadians and Newfoundlanders who gave their lives overseas in war and they never returned home.

Friends of Green Cove Cape Breton Highlands National Park says the park needs to be protected. They say is was never meant to house a statue such as this, and it should be moved somewhere else.

So what do you think? The project is going ahead, and it will be built on the land where it is intended to be built. It has already been approved by Parks Canada.

If you oppose the building if the park and statue, there is an online petition for you to sign at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/in-opposition-to-the-nfnmf-monument

The website of the Never Forgotten National Monument is http://www.nfnm.ca/

The Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/NeverForgottenNationalMemorial/posts/894974587208603

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Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.
 
 
It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Did your Canadian ancestors originally come from Denmark?


Do you want to know who your first Danish ancestor was and when he or she left Denmark and arrived in Canada?

If so, the Library and Archives Canada can fill you in on the history and reason why the Danish people came to this country.

You can go to http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/immigration/history-ethnic-cultural/Pages/danish.aspx to get the historical information, archival documents and published material to help you.

If your ancestor came to Canada between 1865 and 1935, you might find his or her name on the passenger lists at http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/immigration/immigration-records/passenger-lists/Pages/introduction.aspx

By the way, the oldest Danish community in Canada is New Denmark, New Brunswick, first inhabited by Danish immigrants in 1872.

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Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.
 
 
It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

Keffer Writing Contest Winners



At the Ontario Genealogical Society Conference (OGS) held in Barrie this year, the winners were annouced for the Keffer Writing Contest this year, and they are -

First prize - Joyce H. Munro for her essay How Ker-Burns-Weld- Thompson Got His Name.

Second prize - Stephen Young for his essay The Disguised Origin of George R. Young Jr.

Third prize - D. Russell Morton for his essay Fill in the Blank.

Fourth prize - James Bangtson for his essay The Loyalist Connection Revised.

These essays will be published in Families, the journal of the OGS.

The website of the OGS is https://www.ogs.on.ca/

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Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.
 
 
It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Another online resource in Canada


The McCulloch Heritage Centre in Pictou, Nova Scotia is starting to put their photographs and collections of historical significance to family history, with emphasis on the arrival of the Scots in 1773, online. The page is titled Find Your Scottish Roots

If you go to their site at http://www.mccullochcentre.ca/, and log in, you will see where they have started already to put on wills, photos, and there is lots more to come. Census records, diaries, photographs, wills, deeds and newspapers will be added in the future.

To go to the McCulloch Heritage Centre itself, their website is at https://mccullochhouse.novascotia.ca/about-mcculloch-house/mcculloch-heritage-centre

Happy Researching!

 

Canada Day lineup of performers



With the theme Strong. Proud. Free. Canadian Heritage will celebrate the 200th anniversary of Sir John A. Macdonald and the 50th anniversary of the Canadian flag on Canada Day – July 1st.

There will also be nods to the "Year of Sport" in Canada and the Franklin expedition, which uncovered in the Arctic one of Sir John Franklin's lost ships from 1846.

Here is the Canada Day lineup so far-
  • Reggae-inspired band -- Magic!
  • Quebec pop singer and songwriter -- Marc Dupré
  • Country singer -- Gord Bamford
  • Rockers -- Jonas and the Massive Attraction
  • Pop up-and-comer -- Francesco Yates
  • Pop singer and Star Académie finalist -- Andee
  • Iqaluit alt-band -- The Jerry Cans
  • Elite high school marching band from Calgary -- The Bishop Grandin Marching Ghosts
  • Winnipeg singer/songwriter -- Cassidy Mann
  • Pop and hip-hop artist -- Karim Ouellet
There will also be programming at Major's Hill Park in Ottawa and Jacques-Cartier Park in gatineau right across the river.

The day ends with the traditional fireworks around 10 p.m. on Parliament Hill.

They say that 350,000 people take in the festivities on Canada Day and one third are tourists.

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Need help finding your ELUSIVE Canadian ancestors???
 
As a nod of the hat to the Ontario Genealogical Conference being held in Barrie, Ontario from May 29 to May 31, may we offer a month-long discount on our research and consultation services of 15% (ends 11 June at midnight).
 
Just go to Elizabeth Lapointe Research Services website at www.elrs.biz, or send an email with the subject "special" to genealogyresearch@aol.com to see how I can help you find that elusive Canadian ancestor!
 
Research Tip! While you are in Ottawa, if you have ancestors who lived here, a good place to check is the Ottawa Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society at http://ogsottawa.on.ca/
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Check the Canadian Week in Review every Monday morning for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada.
 
It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in Canada!