Canadian Week in Review - 30 March 2015

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

In 1821, a medical school was incorporated in Montreal. It later became part of McGill University.
To read more, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McGill_University

In 1865, Prince Edward Island voted against Confederation.
To read more, go to http://www.revparl.ca/english/issue.asp?param=125&art=765

In 1885, troops were mobilized across Canada because of the Northwest Rebellion
To read more, go to http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/north-west-rebellion/

Social Media

TO Blog
What hapening with Toronto's waterfront silos?
http://www.blogto.com/city/2015/03/whats_happening_with_torontos_waterfront_silos/
   The Canada Malting and Victory Mills silos are like two great concrete bookends on the downtown waterfront. Located at the bottoms of Bathurst and Parliament streets, the former soya and grain storage facilities are relics of a time when the port of Toronto was a place of heavy industry, not entertainment.

(Photos) See what gems are hidden outside the walls of Her Majesty's Penitentiary
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/see-what-gems-are-hidden-outside-the-walls-of-her-majesty-s-penitentiary-1.2984978
   There's a museum of crime and punishment, containing documents from the 1800s and pieces of history from sordid jailhouse antics, just outside of Newfoundland and Labrador's largest —and Canada's oldest —jail.
   In fact, very few know it exists, and it's not open to the public.

(Photos) HANTS HISTORY, Nova Scotia
http://www.hantsjournal.ca/Opinion/Columnists/2015-03-26/article-4084294/HANTS-HISTORY-(March-26,-2015-edition)/1
   A look at what was making the news 25 and 50 years ago in the Hants Journal.

Articles

Nova Scotia

Whiley sawmill roof collapse 'end of an era'
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/whiley-sawmill-roof-collapse-end-of-an-era-1.3006294
   Due to the snow and ice storms that Nova Scotia has had this winter, an original mill built by freed slaves in the 1800s just outside of Halifax in Upper Hammonds Plains, has had its roof collapse.
   It was the first mill built in Upper Hammonds Plains, and was still a thriving business until just a few years ago.

New Brunswick

Rare artifact at Sisson mine site dates back 8,500 years
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/rare-artifact-at-sisson-mine-site-dates-back-8-500-years-1.3006681
   Archaeologists have recovered hundreds of artifacts at the site of the proposed Sisson mine north of Fredericton, including a rare find that could be up to 8,500 years old.
   However, two other artifacts recovered from the site have been lost, and Aboriginal leaders are concerned the "precious items" recovered aren't being handled with enough care.

Ontario

One step closer to a new heritage centre for Niagara
http://www.niagarathisweek.com/news-story/5527240-one-step-closer-to-a-new-heritage-centre-for-niagara/
   The Lincoln and Welland Regiment is one step closer to finding a new home for its collection of artifacts.

Devitt family played major role in Waterloo history
http://www.therecord.com/living-story/5514123-devitt-family-played-major-role-in-waterloo-history/
   One doesn't read very far into the history of Waterloo before coming across the name Devitt.
   Barnabus Devitt, orphaned and just one generation removed from Ireland, was adopted by Abraham and Magdalena Erb. He grew up in their 1812 home which is still standing and now designated as the city's oldest house.

VIMY RIDGE: Soldiers’ last messages go on tour
http://www.lfpress.com/2015/03/20/soldiers-last-messages-go-on-tour
   A London team’s capture of the messages and images carved by soldiers in a Vimy Ridge cave will be shared across Canada, thanks to $250,000 grant from the federal government.
    The Souterrain Impressions Exhibit will be launched at Museum London in April and tour the country until June 2018, the Department of Canadian Heritage has announced.

Reflecting on 2015 Black History Month celebration in Guelph
http://www.guelphmercury.com/opinion-story/5515067-reflecting-on-2015-black-history-month-celebration-in-guelph/
   Since 2013, during the month of February, the Guelph Black Heritage Society has organized several activities to celebrate Black History Month.
   Most of these activities took place at Heritage Hall, 83 Essex Street, the former British Methodist Episcopal (BME) church built by ex-slaves in 1880.

Saskatchewan

Saskatoon Morning looks at wartime home history in the city
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/saskatoon-morning-looks-at-wartime-home-history-in-the-city-1.3000390
   Small homes built after the Second World War are still a major feature of Saskatoon neighbourhoods – and across the country.

Royal Heights Park will become a celebration of veterans
http://www.sasklifestyles.com/news/local-news/royal-heights-park-will-become-a-celebration-of-veterans-1.1805865\
   Royal Heights Park in Estevan is going to be getting a new name, and some new additions, thanks to the Royal Canadian Legion's Estevan branch. It will be renamed the Royal Heights Veteran's Memorial Park

Grain elevator pictures seek passage to India
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/grain-elevator-pictures-seek-passage-to-india-1.2988012
   Jayaram Varada has taken a series of photographs of Saskatchewan grain elevators and hopes to exhibit his work in Kerala, India. He had moved to Saskatchewan in 2009.
   "Iconic Grain Elevators and Life in Western Canada" will be it’s title, and it will portray 60 of his photographs from Saskatchewan.

British Columbia

Mass support in pioneer times began with a signature
http://www.vicnews.com/opinion/296802811.html
   On Nov. 22, 1858, more than 400 residents of Yale, B.C., signed a petition asking their new governor, James Douglas, to provide an armed escort for their shipments of “treasure” (gold) that were being sent down the river.

Coquitlam students honour D-Day war efforts by cleaning up Juno Beach
http://www.tricitynews.com/news/297300661.html
   A group of Dr. Charles Best secondary students learned a history lesson about Canada's participation in World War II and did some service work of their own during a spring break tour of France.

 News Stories of the Week

We have just come through Museum Week in Canada, a part of a world-wide museum week, and now comes the news that Brant County Museum, among other museums in Ontario*, were meeting this week to learn how to reorganizing their history collection – called the Re-Org Program.

Simon Lambert, preservation development adviser with the Canadian Conservation Institute—which provides advice to about 2,000 small- and medium-sized Canadian museums—led the three-day learning process.

He said that most museums have 90-95% of their collections in storage. He said a survey of 1,500 museums in 136 countries revealed that 60% of them had major storage issues.

The Brant County Museum and Archives is reorganizing about 30,000 pieces of archival material, including books, photographs, slides, letters written by First World War soldiers, pamphlets, manuals, and advertisements were being sorted, boxed and placed into the new compact shelving.

To visit Brant County Museum and archives, go to http://brantmuseum.ca/

Meanwhile, a Comox man is keeping HMCS Alberni's maritime history alive. The Alberni was a Canadian Corvette that sank after a German U-boat attack in 1944, and after Lewis Bartholomew of Courtenay saw a photo of it, he created a mobile display of the ship, along with corresponding information about its occupants.

And the Alberni Project Society was formed. Its goal is to collect, interpret, display, and preserve the history of Canada’s role in the Second World War, and to convey the personal stories and events of a global war.

You can visit the website at www.alberniproject.org, or you can visit the museum in Comox from Tuesday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

And finally, Historica Canada recently announced that Rebecca Xie of Brandon has been named one of the grand prize winners in the 2014 Citizenship Challenge.

Over 60,000 young Canadians participated in the national contest!

Rebecca won an all-expenses paid trip to Ottawa. She was joined by fellow winner, Samantha Quinto of Scarborough, and they travelled to Ottawa where they explored Canada’s history and culture with personal tours of Parliament Hill, the Canadian Museum of History, and the Canadian War Museum

The Citizenship Challenge asks Canadians to put their national knowledge to the test, by studying for, and writing, a mock citizenship exam. Xie received 100 per cent on the mock citizenship exam.

You can see more about the Citizenship Challenge at http://www.citizenshipchallenge.ca/

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

* The six museums were - The Museum in Tower Hill in Parry Sound; the NEC in Timmins; Norfolk Arts Cetre in Simcoe; Clarington Museums in Bowmanville; Lambton Heritage Museum in Grand Bend; and the Collingwood Museum.

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

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/2015/03/canadian-week-in-review-23-march-2015_23.html

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

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

Need help in finding your Canadian ancestors?

Susan I. of Toronto, Ontario says –

"With her wonderful suggestions, including provincial and local archival holdings, books, and local church records, I was delighted to uncover a marriage certificate naming my paternal great, great grandparents and their original county in Ireland.

Elizabeth also mentored me regarding further educational opportunities. I was delighted with her services."

If you do, go to Elizabeth Lapointe Research Services and see how I can help you find that elusive Canadian ancestor. 

The next Canadian Week in Review will be posted 06 April, 2015. 

Have you seen the latest survey?

The Weekly Genealogical Survey has been published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society (Vol. 18, No. 12, Whole #732, March 25, 2015), and it asked the question - if you use an online or desktop software program to compile your family history research, which one do you use? 

The top five responses were -

50% use Ancestry.com

47% use Family Tree Maker

13% use RootsMagic

11% use Legacy Family Tree

7% use Reunion + 7% stated that ‘I use a software program not listed above’

Do you think these number are farily accurate, as far as you can tell. I think that Ancestry.com and Family Tree Maker are the two most popular desktop ptogrames, followed closely by RootsMagic from people that I talk to in Ottawa.



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

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/canadian-week-in-review-23-march-2015_23.html

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

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

Immigration Photos on Flickr

Canada is a nation made up of people from other countries. The diversity in its population distinguishes it from most other counties, and gives Canadians an unique view of genealogy – we are always looking over the seas for our ancestors.

And the Library and Archives Canada is the keeper of our papers, books, records, and if we want to learn about the different ethno-cultural groups, we can either go to their site at http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/Pages/ethno-cultural-groups.aspx and take a short history lesson of the following immigrants groups - Acadian, Blacks. British, Chinese, Danish, Doukhobors, Dutch, East Indian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Icelandic, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Jews, Mennonites, Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Scottish, Swedish, Ukranian, and Welsh.

Or you can check out the immigration photos on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/lac-bac/sets/72157650749992889/#



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

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/canadian-week-in-review-23-march-2015_23.html

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

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

Dear Myrt’s Beginning Genealogy - Session 10

As I promised my blog on 06 January 2014 at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/beginning-genealogy-study-group.html, I watched Dear Myrt’s Beginning Genealogy Session 10 on Wednesday. I will continue to watch the rest of the study group as it proceeds.

The major topic which was discussed in Sessions 10 was a subject which can be difficult to discover and research and it is - Adoption.

I have researched and written about this topic myself, and have found it to be very difficult when trying to establish adoption in Canada before the 1920s. Informal adoption (by another family member) was common before it was taken over by the government, and you, as researchers, have to be aware of this fact.

Dear Myrt brought up the subject of two birth certificates – one when the child was born, which would show the natural parents (which was sealed by the government), and a second birth certificate which showed the adoptive parents (which was not sealed).

Although she went to the Adoption on the United States Genealogy at the Wiki site in FamilySearch at https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/AdoptionResearch, those of us in Canada can also check the subject under Adoption on our Wiki site at https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Canada_Adoption_Records.

In fact, they say that we should “Check with the local provincial archives for addresses to private associations who assist people tracing adoption records. In most provinces, prior to the middle of the 1900s there were no formal adoption proceedings, and children would be placed with family or neighbours without the necessity for any legal documentation”.

The website for Session 10 is at https://plus.google.com/communities/104382659430904043232

Session 1 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-1.html

Session 2 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-2.html

Session 3 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-3.html

Session 4 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-4.html

Session 5 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/02/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-5.htm 

Session 6 & 7 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-sessions_5.html

Session 8 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-sessions_13.html

Session 9 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-sessions_20.html

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



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

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/canadian-week-in-review-23-march-2015_23.html

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

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

NEWS FLASH!!! OGS extends early-bird deadline

Early-Bird Registration for OGS Conference 2105 in Barrie has been extended until 10 April 2015. 

The recent finalization of the Conference Tours necessitated the change to give more time for registrants to sign up. Those already registered will have the opportunity to order tours as well.

The Conference Committee also felt that the late departure of winter from most of Canada had prevented many people from making travelling plans for the spring, so they are offering time for you to make plans to go to Barrie – a city only one hour north of the Toronto airport.

To go to the Conference site, go to http://www.ogs.on.ca/conference/

To go to the Facebook page, go to https://www.facebook.com/OntarioGenealogicalSocietyConference?ref=hl

To go to Tourism Barrie, go to http://www.tourismbarrie.com/

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

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/canadian-week-in-review-23-march-2015_23.html

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

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

UPDATE: OGS Conference – Interview No 5

Shirley Sturdevant, former president of the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) has interviewed Richard M. Doherty of Troy, MI who is a professional genealogist, lecturer and author with 40+ years of experience. Dick is director of Celtic Quest LLC and has made 34 research trips to Ireland. He lectures in the U.S., Canada and Ireland and is president of the Detroit Society for Genealogical Research.

He will be participating in the Friday workshop and the theme of his workshop is called ­Tracking Generations using 19th Century Irish Land Valuation Records and it will be Sponsored by the OGS Ireland Special Interest Group.

He will be on the Saturday Panel Discussion: Tracks through Time, and the Saturday lecture will be Tools for Embarking upon German Research. The Sunday lecture will be Ireland’s Estate Papers: Tracking Landlords and Tenants by Richard M. Dohertyand it will be Sponsored by the OGS Ireland Special Interest Group.

To view the YouTube interview, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhSw4yxEtoU&feature=youtu.be

And to review the other interviews on this blog, you can go to the following websites -

Interview No 1 with Thomas MacEntee and Dr.Janet Few at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/02/update-ogs-conference-interviews.html

Interview No 2 with Dr. Maurice Gleeson at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/02/another-ogs-interview.html

Interview No 3 with Kirsty Gray http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/02/update-ogs-conference-interview-no-3.html

Interview No 4 with Dave Obee http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/update-ogs-conference-interview-no-4.html

The OGS website is at http://www.ogs.on.ca/

The Conference Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/OntarioGenealogicalSocietyConference?ref=hl



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

If you missed this week’s edition, it is at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/canadian-week-in-review-23-march-2015_23.html

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

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

Canadian Week in Review - 23 March 2015

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

In 1900, Lord Strathcona's Horse, a unit of 537 mounted troops recruited in Manitoba, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories for the Boer War, sailed to South Africa. It was the third contingent of Canadian troops sent to South Africa.
   For more information, you can read about Lord Strathcona Horse at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Strathcona's_Horse_(Royal_Canadians)#South_African_War

Social Media

(Photos) All Saints Anglican Church resurrected in Louisiana
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/all-saints-anglican-church-resurrected-in-louisiana-1.2997306
   For the first 200 years of its existence, it was the All Saints Anglican Church of Granville Centre in the Annapolis Valley. Now it’s Louisiana Church in Abita Springs.

(Video) Building demolitions in Saskatoon draw crowds
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/Building+demolitions+Saskatoon+draw+crowds/10897822/story.html
   Like many others, Life of Pi author Yann Martel was drawn to the corner of Broadway Avenue and 11th ast to watch history disappear.

(Video) Two young men want to save an Alberta grain elevator: ‘It’s part of a disappearing history’
http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/two-young-men-want-to-save-an-iconic-alberta-grain-elevator-its-part-of-a-disappearing-history
   Since watching the destruction of his own town’s elevator more than a decade ago, Kapcsos has been obsessed with the wooden structures that jutted into prairie skylines in the 1930s and once numbered nearly 1,800 in Alberta alone.

(Video) Bathurst bishop discovers 16th century books in diocese basement
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/bathurst-bishop-discovers-16th-century-books-in-diocese-basement-1.2998627
   Bishop Daniel Jodoin had no idea of treasures hiding in the basement library until flood cleanup. The books appear to be scripture,written in Greek and Latin, and some are bound in lamb skin.

Articles

Nova Scotia

Controversial black heritage poster to be displayed again
http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1274473-controversial-black-heritage-poster-to-be-displayed-again
   A poster depicting a black slave in chains that was removed from a Shelburne high school after a complaint will be displayed once again.
   The poster was drawn by student Hannah Cameron after a Grade 8 class visit to the Black Loyalist Heritage Site in Birchtown.

Quebec

Souvenir album looks back at Roxboro's 100 years
http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/west-island-gazette/souvenir-album-looks-back-at-roxboros-100-years
   Long before Roxboro merged to become the borough of Pierrefonds-Roxboro, it was considered the summer destination for wealthy families from Hochelaga.

Ontario

Discovering that Canadians did not invent the painted highway divider
http://www.journalofcommerce.com/Home/News/2015/3/Discovering-that-Canadians-did-not-invent-the-painted-highway-divider-1006338W/
   This article was supposed to be an account of another great Canadian invention — the painted longitudinal road line — but it isn't. I was initially inspired by a web page on the site of Library and Archives Canada

Find haute and history in Toronto’s Distillery District
http://www.qconline.com/business/find-haute-and-history-in-toronto-s-distillery-district/article_9ee37860-dc28-52ad-b425-7c9b26e2d8c5.html
   At the core of the District is the history of the Gooderham and Worts Distillery, whose predecessor company started in 1831. Established in 1837 as a distillery on the shores of Lake Ontario, 50 years later, it had evolved into the largest distillery in the British Empire.

Last box of Frosted Flakes from London, Ont., bound for museum
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/last-box-of-frosted-flakes-from-london-ont-bound-for-museum-1.2997479
   The box of Frosted Flakes that the Canadian Week in Review (CWR) reported last week, is now going to the Regional History at Museum in London, Ontario.
   If you wish, you can read the original story in the 16 March 2015 edition of the CWR at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/canadian-week-in-review-16-march-2015.html

SD&G Regimental Museum seeks cash to buy artifacts
http://www.standard-freeholder.com/2015/03/16/sdg-regimental-museum-seeks-cash-to-buy-artifacts
   Leon Chamois, curator of the Regimental Museum for the United Counties, addressed counties council on Monday looking for funding to help buy artifacts to keep the museum going.

Manitoba

Canadian History Ehx: The story of Jack McEwen
http://www.sasknewsnow.com/Community/2015-03-15/article-4077817/Canadian-History-Ehx%3A-The-story-of-Jack-McEwen/1
   One of the first people to travel through the area before Grenfell even existed, was a man by the name of Jack McEwen, who came to Winnipeg in 1876, along the Red River Valley.

Take a tour of North End history
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/our-communities/times/Take-a-tour-of-North-End-history-296601311.html
   Local blogger and history buff Christian Cassidy wants to take you on a tour of the North End Winnipeg. He will deliver a presentation titled Wonder Who Lived There? The History of North End Buildings on Thurs., April 16 at St. John’s Library (500 Salter St.) from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Saskatchewan

Thieves steal power tools, Lydia's signs from Farnam Block
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/thieves-steal-power-tools-lydia-s-signs-from-farnam-block-1.2998093
   The Lydia's signs were being preserved for the Saskatoon Heritage Society. It appears the theft happened on Sunday, before the building was torn down.

Restored building serves as reminder of the past
http://www.thestarphoenix.com/Restored+building+serves+reminder+past/10899197/story.html
   A red brick house that was built as a residence for the superintendent of the Forestry Farm Park, at the time it was known as Sutherland Forest Nursery Station (part of the PFRA or Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Program). At one time, the prairie shelter belt program shipped seven million trees annually to farms for shelterbelts, which helped protect land from drought and wind.

Alberta

Where a gated community meets with history
http://calgaryherald.com/life/homes/condos/white-where-a-gated-community-meets-with-history
   When it comes to local history, most people’s first thoughts are probably the Glenbow, Heritage Park, Fort Calgary or Military Museums, maybe places like Stephen Avenue, Inglewood or Kensington. Bet you didn’t guess Currie Barracks!

British Columbia

Squamish, B.C. history: from fur-trappers to homesteaders
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/squamish-b-c-history-from-fur-trappers-to-homesteaders-1.2992888
   Less than an hour's drive from Vancouver, Squamish, B.C. is a community that is growing fast.
   The community has an official plan to grow, renew, and to re-branding itself as Canada's Outdoor Recreation Capital.

Recognizing British Columbia's Chinese Canadian history
http://www.cowichanvalleycitizen.com/living/recognizing-british-columbia-s-chinese-canadian-history-1.1791430#sthash.1hTExFNb.dpuf
   Such was the recent mandate of the Heritage B.C. Legacy Initiatives Advisory Council which advertised, "Do you know a historic place associated with the Chinese community in B.C. that is important to you and your community?

News Stories of the Week

The anniversaries that Canada has celebrated already, for instance, the 50th anniversary of the Canadian Flag in February, will continue for the rest of the year.

April will see the 70th anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands, and Canada played a major part in the liberation.

During the Second World War (1939-1945), tens of thousands of Canadian soldiers, sailors and airmen played a key role in the Liberation of the Netherlands, including up to 175,000 Canadian soldiers of the First Canadian Army. More than 7,600 Canadians lost their lives.

You can go to http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/history/second-world-war/liberation-netherlands where they have a calendar of events in the Netherlands, and a history of the liberation.

And our national game, hockey, (my apologies to the players of Lacrosse) is celebrating its 100th anniversary as an association this year!

The Chateau Laurier, a hotel in Ottawa, was the setting for the formation of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. And it was formed to oversee the amateur game at a national level, and the Allan Cup, donated by Montreal banker and steamship line owner Sir H. Montague Allan, C.V.O. in 1908, was selected as the championship trophy of amateur hockey.

You can go to http://www.hockeycanada.ca/en-ca/Corporate/About/History to see when the exhibit will come to your city.

And the Magna Carta is coming to the History Museum of Canada this summer!

As you probably know, it is celebrating its 800th Anniversary (1215-2015) this year, and it along with the Charter of the Forests.

This will be the first time that Canada will have participated in the anniversary by touring the Magno Carta in cities of Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, and Edmonton, beginning in June.

You can learn more about the Magna Carta and Canada’s plans for a momentous celebration of the 800th anniversary, and contribute to the celebration at www.magnacartacanada.ca

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/2015/03/canadian-week-in-review-16-march-2015.html

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

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

Need help in finding your Canadian ancestors?

Susan I. of Toronto, Ontario says –

"With her wonderful suggestions, including provincial and local archival holdings, books, and local church records, I was delighted to uncover a marriage certificate naming my paternal great, great grandparents and their original county in Ireland.

Elizabeth also mentored me regarding further educational opportunities. I was delighted with her services."

If you do, go to Elizabeth Lapointe Research Services and see how I can help you find that elusive Canadian ancestor. 

The next Canadian Week in Review will be posted 30 March 2015. 

Monthly Meeting OR Speaker Series?

This question has been answered by the Victoria Genealogy Society (VGS), They have decided to change the title of their Monthly Meetings to the Speaker Series – and they seemed to have struck on a winning title. 

They say that they are ‘more about presentations and less about VGS business’ – therefore the change.

So the first participant in the Speaker Series will be John Azar and he will talk about LEST WE FORGET WHERE THEY LIE: Remembering War Dead and Veterans Buried in Victoria Region Cemeteries.

John Azar, President of the CEF 100 Commemoration Society, will provide an overview of the South Vancouver Island cemeteries where veterans are buried. After telling stories about a few of those veterans, John will invite the audience to indicate the research they are conducting on ancestors who served in the First World War or other conflicts.

He is also inviting people to the annual Old Cemeteries tour of the Veterans Cemetery in Esquimalt on April 19th.

Doors open at 7pm at Gordon Head United Church, 4201 Tyndall Avenue. Admission is free for VGS members and by donation for visitors.

Come early to view the displays and the sales table, and to network with other genealogy enthusiasts.

So the business of the group will not be discussed at this meeting, and the emphasis will be changed to the speaker, displays, and networking between the attendees.

What do you think about changing the emphasis of Monthly Meetings to the Speaker Series? Does it make any difference what you call a meeting? Would it help to attract new members to have a new nomenclature? Notice that the speaker will 'invite' the attendees to talk about their research. He won't be there just to talk, and answer a few questions - it will be an exchange of research. Is this what people want in their meetings? Interesting, isn’t it?

To go to their website, it is at http://www.victoriags.org

To go their  Facebook page, it is at https://www.facebook.com/vicgs



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/2015/03/canadian-week-in-review-16-march-2015.html

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

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

Meeting in Halifax - The House on Refugee Hill

Om Tuesday March 24th at 7:00 pm, the Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia (GANS) will hold a meeting at 33 Ochterloney Street, Suite 100, Dartmouth, NS, and it will be called The House on Refugee Hill: An Archaeological Time Capsule.

The talk will be given by Dr. Jonathan Fowler, and he will address his recent archeological work in Beechville, an historic Black refugee community located in the area.

Dr. Jonathan Fowler is an historical archaeologist who teaches at Saint Mary’s University. He holds degrees from Saint Mary’s, Acadia University, the University of Sheffield, and the University of Oxford and has wide-ranging interests in the fields of archaeology, anthropology and history. For the past decade, Jonathan has directed archaeological excavations at Grand-Pre National Historic Site. He is the co-author, with Paul Erickson, of two popular books on regional archaeology, Underground Nova Scotia and Underground New Brunswick.

GANS lectures are open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.

Their website is at http://www.novascotiaancestors.ca

Their Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/NovaScotiaAncestors



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/2015/03/canadian-week-in-review-16-march-2015.html

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

 

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

Are you looking for photos of Mennonite life in Canada?

 

If you are looking for photos of Mennonites in Canada, there is a new online photo archive that is making thousands of images of Mennonite life from across Canada and around the world easily available to the public. It is located in the Mennonite Archival Image Database (MAID) at Mennonite Archives of Ontario at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ontario. 

 

The images, some over 100 years old, chronicle everything from weddings to barn-raisings, and is the product of the work of seven Mennonite archives across the country - one each in Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Ontario and three in Manitoba. 

 

There are 80,000 photos with descriptions in the database, but at this point only 10,000 of the photos are scanned and are currently available from the archives. 

 

As an added bonus, people who browse the archives and spot family members or other photos that interest them, they can easily buy and download digital copies of the photos online. 

 

The website of the Mennonite Archives of Ontario at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo is at https://uwaterloo.ca/mennonite-archives-ontario/photograph-and-slide-collections 

 

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/2015/03/canadian-week-in-review-16-march-2015.html

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

 

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

Dear Myrt’s Beginning Genealogy - Sessions 9

 

As I promised my blog on 06 January 2014 at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/beginning-genealogy-study-group.html, I watched Dear Myrt’s Beginning Genealogy Session 9 yesterday. I will continue to watch the rest of the study group as it proceeds.

The major topic which was discussed in Sessions 9 was -

Emigration/Immigration/Naturalization/Migration – All of these subjects were touched on by Dear Myrt in the latest Beginning Genealogy Study Group online meeting.

Although people who did have ancestor's who came to the United States, and therefore may not be interested in these records, they can still find something of interest to them.

She mentioned Steve Morse’s site (which I have used quite often, and he does have Canadian records) called One-Step Webpages, which contains ‘tools for finding immigration records, census records, vital records, and for dealing with calendars, maps, foreign alphabets’. It is quite a good site, and is at http://www.stevemorse.org/

She also talked about P. William Filby, one of the editors of the multi-book indexes used by people who are researching on passenger and immigration lists index. This is something that you should look at if your ancestor came to North America in the 16th to the 18th centuries.

She ended by talking about Tracing Immigrants Origins at FamilySearch at https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Tracing_Immigrant_Origins

It gives you a good idea of where to search, and there are three parts to this lesson, and it should be something that you should read.

The sessions so far are -

Session 1 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-1.html

Session 2 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-2.html

Session 3 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-3.html

Session 4 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/01/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-4.html

Session 5 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/02/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-session-5.htm

Session 6 & 7 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-sessions_5.html

Session 8 - http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2015/03/dear-myrts-beginning-genealogy-sessions_13.html

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

Ireland Canada Monument Society

Over the past few years, I have been following the process that has been involved with the Ireland Canada Monument Society, which will erect a monument to the Irish-Canadian connection in Vancouver, British Columbia.

The organizers have been working with the Vancouver Parks Board staff to get confirmation of the design. Guess what? They got word that the design was confirmed yesterday - St Patrick’s Day -  of all days!!! The monument will be erected in the George Wainbourn and David Lam Park sites at False Creek, Vancouver.

When the drawings are complete, they will be submitted to Vancouver Parks Board for the Public Process to notify local residents and businesses living near both parks to see the design. This process will take about three weeks.

They will hold a meeting in the near future, and if you would like to attend, please email them at irelandmonumentvancouver@gmail.com

Their website is at www.irelandmonumentvancouver.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/2015/03/canadian-week-in-review-16-march-2015.html

 

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

 

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

Use your society's blog as an advertisement

The Elgin County Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society has put on it’s blog at  http://elgincountyogs.blogspot.com/ , two excerpts from the Talbot Times, its society's newsletter.

The first article is "Scots coming to Canada", and it can be found at http://www.elginogs.ca/Home/talbot-times-newsletters/talbot-times-1987-september

The second one is also from the newsletter, the December 1987 Talbot Times, and it look like the society page of the local newspaper St Thomas Daily Time.

This is an excellent idea to get people interested in your society. Treat the blog articles as if it a “lost leader’, like milk in a grocery store. Think of your webpage as a store, and put these articles on your blog, so that people can see what you can offer them. And don’t leave the same articles there, change them around to make it interesting to people.

To see how the Elgin County Branch has made their page an interesting ‘go to’ page, go to http://www.elginogs.ca/Home



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/2015/03/canadian-week-in-review-16-march-2015.html

 

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

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