Canadian Week in Review 14 April 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

Ancestor Seekers of Kenora

http://askgen.ning.com

A very bright and lively website that just started this year.

A list of FREE Canadian databases online

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~gaelynn/links.htm

Links to early Canadian documents at Canadiana.org.

The Friends of the Loyalist Collection at Brock University

http://www.brockloyalisthistorycollection.ca

A detailed, descriptive catalogue has been put on the site that covers the Loyalist Collection at Brock University.

Social Media

Deborah Morrison to leave as publisher of Canada's History magazine to run national youth travel exchange program

http://canadianmags.blogspot.com/2014/03/deborah-morrison-to-leave-as-publisher.html

Congratulations, Deborah, as you embark upon a new venture!

Interviews on The Genealogist Professional Podcast – Such an Honour!http://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/03/interviewed-on-genealogy-professional.html

One of own is interviewed by Marian Pierre Louis on her Blog Radio Show.

News Stories

Heritage Acres: We did credit the Boss

http://www.pinchercreekecho.com/2014/04/01/heritage-acres-we-did-credit-the-boss

Heritage Acres Farm Museum moved a barn from a property to the award winning museum grounds at Pincher Creek, Alberta.

Black History Enriches Canadian History

http://www.stouffvillefreepress.com/articles-2/featured/black-history-enriches-canadian-history

Stouffville’s Claudette Zabsonre is on a mission to make the achievements of black people more commonly known.

100th Anniversary of Sealing Disasters

http://www.vocm.com/newsarticle.asp?mn=2&id=44817&latest=1

Two hundred and fifty-four Newfoundland sealers lost their lives in two separate disasters (1914), within the same few days. A memorial service was held this week at George Street United Church in St. John's to commemorate those who perished.

Cy Becker a part of local history

http://www.edmontonsun.com/2014/03/31/cy-becker-a-part-of-local-history

A new master-planned community in Edmonton’s north end is named after Cy Becker, a bush pilot and wartime flying ace.

Gas bar canopy under consideration for heritage designation

http://www.thespec.com/news-story/4439215-gas-bar-canopy-under-consideration-for-heritage-designation

The canopy of the Canadian Tire gas bar at 304 Main St. E. as an entry on the city’s buildings of heritage interest list. We stopped at that gar bar when we were in Hamilton in 2011, and remarked on the uniqueness of the structure.

Bridgetown will file an application to dissolve town

http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/bridgetown-will-file-an-application-to-dissolve-town-1.1754879

Bridgetown in the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia will have a new governance structure in place by April 1, 2015. The town of 1,000 people was incorporated in 1897.

Story of the Week 

April is Sikh Heritage Month

Bramalea-Gore-Malton NDP MPP Jagmeet Singh’s Private Member’s Bill entitled, Sikh Heritage Month, has passed third reading in the legislature, and the month of April has been declared as Sikh Heritage Month.

April was chosen as the month to celebrate Sikh Heritage Month because it is the time that the community celebrate Vaisakhi, which marks the creation of the Khalsa and the Sikh articles of faith. Sikh Canadians widely celebrate Vaisakhi, also known as Khalsa Day, across Ontario.

The Sikh Heritage Museum of Canada (SHMC), located in Toronto, held the opening of the Gallery as a first major step forward towards its goal of having a permanent museum on Saturday, April 5th. 

Each family who attended the museum received a commemorative Sikh Heritage Month Poster. 

The museum is located at 2980 Drew Road, Unit 125, Mississauga, ON L4T 0A7 (It is at the Great Punjab Business Centre, next to Malton Gurdwara).

The website of the museum is at http://shmc.ca, and the Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/events/652770224758332 

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 21 April 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 most recent news about New/Updated Websites, Social Media, and Newspaper Articles.

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

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

N.B. The CWR was not published last Monday due to the fact that I was down in Toronto attending a full-day workshop conducted by Dr. Thomas Jones, and spent two days in the Archives of Ontario.

Mennonite Migration to Ontario

The Oxford County Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society will meet on Monday April 14th at 6:45 pm at the Woodstock Public Library, 445 Hunter St., Woodstock, and the speaker will be Laureen Harder-Gissing. 

Her topic will be Mennonite Migration to Ontario and Resources available in the Mennonite Archives. Ms. Harder-Gissing is the Historian of the Mennonite Church of Eastern Canada and is currently Archivist at the Mennonite Archives at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo.

Contact information is available at http://oxford.ogs.on.ca/eventspg.html

The Mennonite Archives is online at https://uwaterloo.ca/mennonite-archives-ontario

The Mennonite Historical Society of Ontario http://www.mhso.org/index.shtml

Give a VIMY for Vimy Campaign

The 100th anniversary of the Canadian victory at the Battle of Vimy Ridge in France will take place in 2017. 

A foundation called The Vimy Foundation was started in 2006 to honor the remembrance of the battle. They have been involved in producing education resources for thousands of teachers and schools across Canada and been involved in more than 10,000 student ‘pilgrimages’ to Vimy. They also have plans to build a state- of-the-art Education Centre to be unveiled in France on April 9, 2017 on the grounds adjacent to the Canadian National Vimy Memorial. 

The Government of Canada has committed $5 million to the project, but The Vimy Foundation is committed to match that commitment through the generosity of Canadians, and they have come up with a rather unique was that this can be accomplished.

The back of a $20.00 dollar bill has an image of the towering Vimy Ridge battlefield memorial in France, so the foundation is asking Canadians to donate $20 to the VIMY for Vimy Campaign. 

In exchange for your donation, you will receive a Vimy Pin and your name will be added to the list of Vimy 2017 supporters. 

To go to their site, please click https://vimyfoundation.ca/vimy2017

The Sinking of the Empress of Ireland

The Empress of Ireland was in a collision with the Norwegian collier SS Storstad in the early hours of 29 May 1914. Of the 1,477 persons on board the ship, 1,012 died. 

The Beaurepaire-Beaconsfield Historical Society will meet on Thursday April 17th at 7:30 p.m. at the Centennial Hall, 288 Beaconsfield Blvd, Beaconsfield (Montreal). The lecture will be in English, but there will be a bilingual question period. 

The lecture will be on the RMS Empress of Ireland, and the speaker will be Derek Grout who has written a book on the ill-fated liner Empress of Ireland which sank in the Gulf of St Lawrence, in front of Pointe-au-Père, in a collision in 1914. 

The hundredth anniversary of the sinking is May 29 and the book's release in Canada is scheduled for early April, in advance of the anniversary. Canada Post is supposed to be issuing two stamps to commemorate the event, and various museums across the country have scheduled special exhibitions, most notably the Canadian Museum of History (formerly Canadian Museum of Civilization) in Gatineau, across from Ottawa. 

At this lecture, you will be able to buy the book RMS Empress of Ireland, Pride of the Canadian Pacific's Atlantic Fleet by Derek Grout, at the price of $35.00. 

Everyone welcome. Free for members and $2 for non-member. You can become a member for just $5 per year. 

You can call 514-695-2502 for information, or you can go to http://www.shbbhs.ca 

For more information about the Empress of Ireland, you can go to
RMS Empress of Ireland http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Empress_of_Ireland 

Although this is a pay site, there is the passenger and crew list (FREE) at http://www.sea-viewdiving.com/shipwreck_info/empress_home/passengerindex.htm

Field Trip to the LAC

The Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society is planning their second field trip to the Library and Archives Canada on May 3rd.

This field trip will take place on Saturday May 3, 2014 from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm and this time the LAC and OGS members will focus on the process of requesting retrieval of documents. After the meeting, members will be welcome to stay and do some research. The LAC is open until 6 pm on Saturdays

As part of this trip, attendees will obtain their LAC User Card (required for anyone wishing to undertake research or to consult the holdings at LAC facilities), there will be a tour of the resources on both the 2nd and the 3rd floor.

Although this trip is geared towards anyone who has never done any research at Library and Archives Canada, or to anyone who hasn't been to the LAC in a while

This special event is only open to a maximum of 15 people so reserve your spot early!

The Library and Archives Canada is located at 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa.

Also, there is a meeting on April 26 at the Ottawa City Archives on 100 Tallwood Drive, Ottawa, and the talk will be about the subject of Using Social Media for Genealogy Research and it will be given by Ken McKinlay.

The meeting will be live streamed, and details are available on their website at http://ogsottawa.on.ca

Some OGS Branches Live Stream their meetings

More and more OGS Branches are Live Streaming their monthly meeting.

Niagara Peninsula Branch was the first one to try the new technology couple of years ago, then Ottawa Branch tried it, and then the Lambton County Branch, and the Kent County signed on so. Members at a distance can hear the meeting also, as well as members close at hand. And don’t forget the OGS Conference this year, as it will be Live Streaming some sessions as well. 

I attend the Ottawa Branch Live Streaming monthly meetings held on a Saturday of each month (except July, and August) especially in the winter time, because I can’t get to the meetings during the snowy season. But I don’t miss anything because I can see the PowerPoint presentation, hear the speakers, and have the ability to ask questions – so I am quite satisfied with the process. 

So, if you are a member of any of these societies, be sure to give it a try. 

Here are the meetings to be held in April – 

Niagara Peninsula Branch Meeting

Date: Thursday, April 10, 2014

Time: 7:00 – 9:00 pm

Location: First Grantham United Church, 415 Linwell Rd., St. Catharines

Speakers: Marjorie Stuart & Diane Clendenan

Topic: “Unregistered Cemeteries”

Brief Overview: Marjorie and Diane are the highly respected “Cemetery Ladies” for both the OGS & the Ontario Historical Society

Contact Info: http://www.ogs.on.ca/niagara 

Lambton County Branch Meeting

Date: Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Time: 7:30 – 9:30 pm

Location: 1400 Murphy Road, Sarnia, Ontario

Speaker: Lynn Clark

Topic: Adoption Update. Drop by and learn what’s new when searching for info regarding adoptions in Ontario.

Contact Info: http://www.ogs.on.ca/lambton/index.html 

Kent County Branch Meeting 

Date: Friday, April 11, 2014

Time: 7:00 pm

Location: St. Andrew’s Residence 99 Park St., Chatham, ON

Speaker: Elise Harding-Davis

Topic: BLACK MILITIA OF KENT COUNTY

Brief Overview: Elise Harding-Davis will discuss the involvement of the Black Militia in the War of 1812.

Contact Info: http://ogs.on.ca/kent 

Ottawa Branch Meeting

Date: April 26, 2014

Time: 1:00 pm

Location: City of Ottawa Archives, Room 115,

Topic: Using Social Media for Genealogy Research

Speaker: Ken McKinlay

Brief Overview: Ken will be talking about the various social media sites, such as Facebook, Google+, Twitter and blogs to name just a few places, that can be used to help in your own research through interacting online with others around the world via the world wide web.

Contact information: http://ogsottawa.on.ca

Fort Howe – Fort-Howe on Flickr

Credit: Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No. 1986-19-1
Fort Howe in New Brunswick, during the American Revolution, experienced continuous pressure from American forces including attacks on the colony and its inhabitants. 

After the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783, which ended the war between Britain and the United States, there were calls from both the citizens of Saint John and incoming loyalists for better protection of the area, and the existing and damaged fort was replaced by Fort Howe. 

Sir William Howe, replaced General Thomas Gage as Commander-in-Chief of British North America, 1775-1778. He was present at the sieges of Louisbourg, Quebec and Montreal, and he defeated the American rebel forces in Fort Washington, Fort Lee, Brandywine and Gemantown before his resignation in 1778.

Over 200 people have viewed Flickr already. 

You may view it at https://www.flickr.com/photos/lac-bac/sets/72157641274749775

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, Social Media, and Newspaper Articles. 

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

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

From Aberdeen to Albany: How Our Scott Family Ancestors Became United Empire Loyalists in Canada

The British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO) will be holding its monthly meeting next Saturday at the Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa. 

The meeting will start at 9:00 a.m. with the Before BIFHSGO Education Talk which will be given by Ken McKinlay and he will talk about Using Evernote for Genealogy Research. He will provide an overview of the online tool and how it can help with genealogy tasks.

From 9:30 until 10:00 a.m. you will be able to browse the Discovery Tables and talk to Ken McKinlay about the online tool Evernote. (Since I am a recent covert to Evernote, I will be interested to hear what Ken thinks about this newer research tool for genealogy.)

At 10:00 a.m.. Ken Harley will give a talk in which he will build on an earlier presentation he made to BIFHSGO in December 2009 during which he established how his wife Maxine's family arrived in Manitoba as original homesteaders. The first presentation traced the Scott family roots back to UEL settlers in Prince Edward County. Ontario. 

This talk will track Maxine's GGGG-grandfather's emigration from Inverurie, in Aberdeenshire Scotland through Ireland and on to the American Colonies in the early 1700s. In addition to how William Scott followed his dream, Ken tries to establish why our ancestors would emigrate to what was essentially an unsettled wilderness. 

Dave Cross’s interview with Ken Harley has been added to the BIFHSGO Podcast page. Through this interview, Ken provides you with the structure of his upcoming presentation, a bit about the research he has done with the Scott family and some of the interesting stories which might yet be uncovered.

The podcast is available at http://www.bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=106 

All monthly meetings are open to the general public, and they are free of charge.

The website is at http://www.bifhsgo.ca 

Free Exhibit - Kids! – Children of the Eastern Townships between 1890 -1930

The Eastern Townships Resource Centre (ETRC) cordially invites you to attend its first photo exhibition Uplands Cultural and Heritage Centre, Lennoxville.

For the first time, the ETRC is opening its archives to share the treasures of several fonds and collections with the broader public. The exhibition showcases a small selection of the thousands of remarkable photographs in the ETRC’s collection. 

Kids! – Children of the Eastern Townships between 1890 -1930 is a photograph exhibition that displays the life of children in the Eastern Townships of Quebec and takes you on a journey back in time. 

The ETRC is thankful for the cooperation with the Lennoxville-Ascot Historical and Museum Society (LAHMS) for giving us the opportunity to display our photographs in this beautiful building. 

The exhibit will be open until June 30, 2014, and it will be held at the Uplands Cultural and Heritage Centre, 9 Speid St., Lennoxville.

The event is free to everyone. 

Also, visit their exhibit online at http://www.historypin.com/collections/view/4010/title/KIDS!%20Children%20of%20the%20Eastern%20Townships%20between%201890%20and%201930/#.Uu-cGQvJS0Q.facebook

LAC to outsource national catalogue

From an article in the Ottawa Citizen by Don Butler comes the news that the Library and Archives Canada is going to outsource its library catalogue called AMICUS to an American company – Computer Library Centre Inc. (OCLC). This also involves 1,300 other libraries across Canada. 

To read the article, go to http://www.ottawacitizen.com/Library+Archives+Canada+moves+outsource+national+catalogue/9687461/story.html

So what do you think? Is this a good or bad move for the LAC? Does it change your opinion of the future of the LAC, or are you not surprised by this move?

La Grande Vague ou la mémoire de l’eau salée (The Great Wave : Or the Memory of Salt Water)

At the Musée des beaux-arts de Sherbrooke located at 241, Dufferin Street, there is an exhibit called La Grande Vague ou la mémoire de l’eau salée which is a monument to the memory of the early Québec pioneers. 

This is an installation of two meters by ten meters representing a wave which symbolizes the crossing of our ancestors from France to America. Constructed from 400 books arranged to show the names of 400 pioneer families sculpted in bas relief -- names still belonging to 3.4 million Québecers -- it is the illustration of a grand voyage integral to the history of Québec and its cultural heritage as well as to that of the individuals who were part of it.

This exhibit will be at the 241 Dufferin, Sherbrooke until May 18, 2014.

For more information, call 819.821.2115 or visit http://mbas.qc.ca/en/la-grande-vague-ou-la-memoire-de-leau-salee

MyHeritage and a Billion Graves start to digitally preserve the world’s cemeteries

Both MyHeritage and its partner a Billion Graves is undertaking a huge project – they want to digitally preserve the world’s cemeteries. 

They say that “The effort is being conducted by both companies free of charge. The hope is to "crowdsource" an effort to digitally preserve every cemetery and gravestone in the world. The companies are working together to providing the content online for everyone to see, free of charge. This project is important and beneficial for genealogists everywhere”.

They have produced a short video at the MyHeritage blog 

http://blog.myheritage.com/2014/03/video-myheritage-team-digitizes-cemetery/

The a Billion Graves blog describing the project at http://blog.billiongraves.com/2014/03/all-billiongraves-users-be-part-of-your-own-success-story-myheritage-shows-you-how