Friday, July 10, 2015

151th PEI Highland Games and Scottish Festival 2015



It's time to start posting the highland games events that will take place around the country each summer.

The Caledonian Club of P.E.I.’s annual 151th PEI Highland Games and Scottish Festival 2015 at the Lord Selkirk Provincial Park, Eldon, PE from August 1 – 2, 2015.

Schedule of Events 2015 are posted on the main page page of the society at http://caledonianclubofpei.ca/?page_id=16

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


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

If you missed last week’s edition, it is at
http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/07/cwr-06-july-2015.html

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



Thursday, July 9, 2015

Summer Series of Talks at Keir Museum, Malpeque, PEI


 The Keir Memorial Museum is housed in the former Keir Memorial Presbyterian Church (1925-1983) 
 
This is the roster of speakers for the summer series of “Talks” at Keir Museum, Malpeque Route 20 for the summer of 2015. The Malpeque Historical Society has been presenting these talks relating to the history and people of Malpeque and Area for the past 16 years.
 
The talks are held each Wednesday morning at 10:00 a.m. beginning on July 15th and ending on August the 12th. Go and join them and bring a friend!
 
July 15 - Stories and Songs of the Sea by Leon Gallant.
 
July 22 - Birds of P.E.I. by Gerald MacDougall
 
July 29 - Island Heroine: Great War Nurse Lillian Pidgeon of Kensington by Katherine Dewar
 
August 5 - Maps and the Army:The Military Career of Samuel Holland by Earle Lockerby
 
August 12 - Over and Under the Darnley Bridge: songs and stories of the Island by Cindy C. Stone
 
If you happen to be in PEI this summer, why don't you take in one of these talks, especially if you have ancestors that came from the island.
 
You can go to the website at http://www.malpequebay.ca/keirmuseum.htm 
 
=====================================================================


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

If you missed last week’s edition, it is at
http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/07/cwr-06-july-2015.html

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

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Extra news items



Here are some news items which have come across the desk this week - 

Lancaster Day will be celebrated in Ontario on July 11th

The Museum is keen to have as many Lancaster airplane crew Veterans present as will as well.

Lancaster veterans will receive FREE admission for themselves and two guests.

Contact Erin Napier at 905-6794183 ext. 245 or erin@warplane.com to receive VIP parking.

The Bomber command Museum of Canada also has a Canadian-built Lancaster B.X in their collection, FM159, which they have lovingly restored to ground-running condition.

To go to the website, go to http://www.warbirdsnews.com/warbirds-news/lancaster-day-july-11th-2015-hamilton-ontario.html
 

N.L. residents feel strongest sense of belonging, survey finds

More people in Newfoundland and Labrador feel a strong sense of belonging to their province than anywhere else in Canada, according to a recent report.

A Statistics Canada survey found that 65 per cent of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians feel a "very strong sense of belonging" to their province.

To read the article, go to http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/n-l-residents-feel-strongest-sense-of-belonging-survey-finds-1.3137979

No Plaisance for town of Placentia logo

Placentia's controversial new town logo will remain the same — disappointing news to some 500 residents who signed a petition, appealing the town to incorporate its French name, Plaisance, into the design.

To read the article, go to http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/no-plaisance-for-town-of-placentia-logo-mayor-says-1.3131228


Until next time, this is what crossed my desk this morning.

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


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

If you missed last week’s edition, it is at
http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/07/cwr-06-july-2015.html

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

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

How about changing the term “Meetings”?


What I mean by this is “Meetings” is getting to be an old term. Something out of the 20th century. How about calling them something different, like the Toronto Family History Branch has done. They now call their meetings and special events Learn with Toronto Branch.

And isn't that why we hold meetings – to learn?

September will be a busy month with them, with a three-session course taught by Carol Nichols on how to make the most of Ancestry.ca Library Edition running on Wednesday afternoons. Carol’s course, titled Hands-On Ancestry.ca Library Edition, will be followed by three drop-in sessions at the Toronto Reference Library, again on Wednesday afternoons, where you can practice your Ancestry.ca skills with the help of volunteers from the Toronto Branch Members Network.

On Friday 18 September, they present a special two-hour afternoon lecture by professional genealogist Chris Paton on his research into the hardships endured by our Scottish ancestors.

And on Saturday 19 September, Chris will be back with us together with historian Dr. William Roulston for a full-day workshop on Irish Genealogy—Focus on Ulster. This workshop is aimed at family historians researching ancestors in the nine counties in the historic province of Ulster, but many of the topics discussed will be of relevance to Irish research generally.

They are now accepting registrations for all of the above courses and events.

Visit their Learn with Toronto Branch pages at http://torontofamilyhistory.org/learn/ to read about the program and details and to sign up online. We expect to open registration for October and November courses in late July.

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


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

If you missed last week’s edition, it is at
http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/07/cwr-06-july-2015.html

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

Monday, July 6, 2015

Canadian Week in Review 06 July 2015


I have come across the following Canadian genealogy, history and heritage websites, social media, 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

In 1784, Britain split the colony of Nova Scotia into three separate colonies: New Brunswick, Cape Breton Island, and present-day peninsular Nova Scotia. The capital city was Sydney.

In 1820, the colony of Cape Breton Island was once again merged with Nova Scotia.
To read more information, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Breton_Island



In 1833, Capt. John Ross and 19 of his crew were rescued from Baffin Island. After their ship became ice-bound, they survived by living with Inuit for three years.

He led three Arctic expeditions, the last one in 1850, when he set out to find Sir John Franklin. Upon returning, he settled in Scotland, and died in London in 1856.
For further information, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Ross_(Arctic_explorer)

Social Media

(Photos) History of Digby’s old public clock – new town clock to be dedicated this Saturday
http://www.novanewsnow.com/Community/2015-06-18/article-4187122/History-of-Digby%26rsquo%3Bs-old-public-clock-%26ndash%3B-new-town-clock-to-be-dedicated-this-Saturday/1
Digby’s new town clock will be the first one on Water Street since 1963, when the old post office was torn down.

Articles

Nova Scotia

Why no Loyalist Day for Nova Scotia?
http://www.digbycourier.ca/News/Local/2015-06-18/article-4186796/Why-no-Loyalist-Day-for-Nova-Scotia%3F/1
The Loyalists' arrival in Nova Scotia after the American Revolution doubled the province’s population, and today 20 percent or more of Nova Scotians could have an ancestor who was a United Empire Loyalist.

Local lighthouse competing for top prize
http://www.guysboroughjournal.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=82:local-lighthouse-competing-for-top-prize&catid=42:front-page-stories
The Port Bickerton Lighthouse is battling it out with other lighthouses in Nova Scotia in Heritage Canada’s “This Lighthouse Matters” crowd-funding competition, which began June 17.
Parks Canada has just named 74 lighthouses at http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/progs/lhn-nhs/pp-hl/page01.aspx

Vice-Admiral Harry DeWolf remembered over Bedford Days
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/vice-admiral-harry-dewolf-remembered-over-bedford-days-1.3128308
Thousands of people will celebrate Bedford Days over the weekend, and many will do so in DeWolf Park, the waterfront hub for the Halifax community.
   Few may know the man who gave the park its name: Bedford resident and naval hero, Vice-Admiral Harry DeWolf.

Prince Edward Island

Battle of Waterloo P.E.I. veteran celebrated
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/battle-of-waterloo-p-e-i-veteran-celebrated-1.3119725
A ceremony Thursday commemorated a veteran of the Battle of Waterloo, whose grave was recently discovered in a small community in eastern P.E.I.

Feasts, workshops from Macphail's new kitchen
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/feasts-workshops-from-macphail-s-new-kitchen-1.3127083
A newly-renovated kitchen at P.E.I.'s Sir Andrew MacPhail Homestead is allowing the historic property to expand its programming.

New Brunswick

Birch bark canoe from 1800s fails to excite museum community
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/birch-bark-canoe-from-1800s-fails-to-excite-museum-community-1.3112010
The canoe is around 195 years old, and it has been stored upside down in Richard Paul's garage. It is wrapped carefully in plastic to keep its fragile web of ribs and birch bark intact.

Manitoba

Don Murray Museum collection goes to auction
http://www.mywestman.ca/community-news/3947-don-murray-museum-collection-goes-to-auction.html
In a two-day auction to be held July 4 and 5, Don Murray will disburse his extensive collection of antiques, collectibles, and artifacts from his private on-site museum.

Alberta

Historic church gateway to Alberta’s past
http://www.cochranetimes.com/2015/06/18/historic-church-gateway-to-albertas-past
A solitary church stands near a natural ford by the Bow River along Highway 1A between Cochrane and Morley.
   In its 140th year, the George McDougall Memorial United Church is a monument to what once was, and a reflection to what has developed since.

Grain elevators as art in Spruce Grove
http://www.sprucegroveexaminer.com/2015/06/26/grain-elevators-as-art-in-spruce-grove
Last weekend was a busy one for the Spruce Grove Agricultural Society as they played host to the Alberta Grain Elevator Society (AGES) and its membership from across the province

The Stories This Week

Read the whole census, please!
One thing that beginning genealogists don’t do is read enough. And they would say, “I read everything. I have never had so much to read in all my life – history, immigration, profile ...”.

But I ask, “When you try to find your ancestor in the 1851/52 census, for example, do you read every page of the census? There may be facts lying there in the weeds, so to speak, which you may not discover on the first reading of the census report of that particular area that the ancestor is from.”

For example, the census of this particular effort was taken by an English-speaking enumerator. When it came to surnames, he wrote down what he heard. And since many of the people were French – the surnames are somewhat “tortured”, so to speak.

Second, there are a number of pages to this particular census.

If you can’t find your ancestor, maybe they were in jail, for instance. On this particular census, two people were in jail, and the enumerator wrote them on the last pages of the census – albeit removed a number of pages from where I was looking at my ancestor.

Also, on the first pages of the census, the enumerator wrote a small description of the village in which he gave a picture of the place as it was in 1851/1852.

So the moral of the story is to watch what you read. Make sure you read all of the census, and don't disregard the "small stuff:".

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


 Canada Day Contest


This year, for the annual Canada Day Contest sponsored by the Canadian Week in Review, the skill-testing question is -

This year, Canadians celebrate the birthday of Canada's first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. The question is - When was his birthday, and where was he born? Hint: Like a true immigrant, he wasn't born in Canada!

One winner will be drawn from the correct entries.

The lucky contestant will get a free consultation with me in which they will be told of some of the places they can look to hopefully discover the year in which their Canadian ancestor immigrated to Canada, or some other detail.

The contest will close at the end of Canada History Week at midnight on Wednesday, 07 July 2015.

Place "Canada Day Contest" in the subject of the email to genealogyreserch@aol.com




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

If you missed last week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/06/canadian-week-in-review-cwr-29-june-2015.html

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

Saturday, July 4, 2015

Dear Myrt’s Beginning Genealogy Study Group: What did I learn?



As I promised in my blog on 06 January 2015 at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/beginning-genealogy-study-group.html, I watched Dear Myrt’s Beginning Genealogy Study Group to its conclusion, and this will be my last post in this series.

So what did I learn?

Contrary to what I said in the last post I made that it was starting to get confusing, the confusion was cleared up in the last two sessions/ I was able to review the sessions of the study group, and here is what I learned -


that I should add to my Canadian Research Toolkit. Just like Cousin Russ, who built the American Research Toolkit at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CXE1JFJ9HJaaGsbUPe7y0iPUX6_xnakSVL7S9XBIqUo/edit?usp=sharing we should build one of our own. There is also a Scottish Research Toolkit at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WctuJalvphJk9mQWVzbJuRcnrgT01EQjusfvrCDkBd0/edit#gid=1716377541, since Dear Myrt and Claire V. Brisson-Banks are presenting the Scottish Study Group.

The second thing I leaned was that, as Cousin Russ said, you should research one record group at a time. I usually start with the census records, and then the vital statistics records, and so forth. I was sort of doing this anyway, before it was mentioned in the study group by Cousin Russ, but it helped to hear someone else say it, and to put it into words that everyone could understand.

I extend a big thank you to Dear Myrt, Cousin Russ, the panelists, and the community for bringing this to us over 20 sessions. It is well worth it to take some time out of my busy day to listed to all of the sessions. Very well done!

Remember to make yourself a member of Dear Myrt’s Genealogy Community before watching the YouTube Google+ Hangout on Air at https://plus.google.com/communities/104382659430904043232
================================================
Canada Day Contest
This year, for the annual Canada Day Contest sponsored by the Canadian Week in Review, the skill-testing question is -

This year, Canadians celebrate the birthday of Canada's first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. The question is - When was his birthday, and where was he born? Hint: Like a true immigrant, he wasn't born in Canada!

One winner will be drawn from the correct entries.

The lucky contestant will get a free consultation with me in which they will be told of some of the places they can look to hopefully discover the year in which their Canadian ancestor immigrated to Canada, or some other detail.

The contest will close at the end of Canada History Week at midnight on Wednesday, 07 July 2015.

Place 'Canada Day Contest" in the subject of the email to
genealogyreserch@aol.com

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

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

If you missed last week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/06/canadian-week-in-review-cwr-29-june-2015.html
 

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

Friday, July 3, 2015

Family History Conference in Ottawa


Marianne Rasmus, in charge of publicity at the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa's (BIFHSGO) Conference Planning Committee, has just informed me that registration is now open.

Marianne tells us that this year's conference will take place from September 18 to 20, 2015 in Ottawa.

The conference themes will be -

Scottish Family History

Photographs in Genealogy

Technology for Genealogists

They will also have a fantastic slate of speakers, including Maureen Taylor, Chris Paton and Thomas MacEntee.

Pre-conference workshops are also offered.

The program and registration information are available on the BIFHSGO website at http://www.bifhsgo.ca.

Early Bird Registration Deadline is August 14, 2015.

Please note the new conference venue: Ben Franklin Place, 101 Centrepointe Drive, Ottawa, Ontario.

 ===============================================================
Canada Day Contest

This year, for the annual Canada Day Contest sponsored by the Canadian Week in Review, the skill-testing question is -

This year, Canadians celebrate the birthday of Canada's first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald. The question is - When was his birthday, and where was he born? Hint: Like a true immigrant, he wasn't born in Canada!

One winner will be drawn from the correct entries.

The lucky contestant will get a free consultation with me in which they will be told of some of the places they can look to hopefully discover the year in which their Canadian ancestor immigrated to Canada, or some other detail.

The contest will close at the end of Canada History Week at midnight on Wednesday, 07 July 2015.

Place 'Canada Day Contest" in the subject of the email to genealogyreserch@aol.com

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


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

If you missed last week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/06/canadian-week-in-review-cwr-29-june-2015.html
 

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