Ancestry.ca Releases 1891 Canadian Census

I remember it well (because I was there at the 2007 Ontario Genealogical Society Conference in Ottawa) when Tom Sullivan from My Generations.com and the people from the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) said that they had just formed a partnership to share information.

I waited to see what they would put on Ancestry.ca, and late last year, the Drouin Collection appeared, and then some of the U.S./Canada Border Crossings came on board, and now the (searchable) 1891 Canadian Census has been published online.

Taken on April 6th, 1891, the 1891 census contains 4.5 million searchable names and 90,000 images of the original census pages.

Some of the information (online) of each person in the household is -

• name of each person in family or household on April 6, 1891
• relation to head of family or head of household
• sex
• age
• martial status (single, married, widowed, or divorced)
• country or province of birth

The areas covered in Canada in 1891 are British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and the Territories.

The census itself was handed over to the LAC in 1985. If you want to find out more about it, you can go to the Canadian Genealogy Centre or pay a visit to the Centre itself and view microfim numbers T-6290 to T-6427 to see it for yourself.

The 1891 Census of Canada is available to Ancestry.ca subscribers, or through a 14-day free trial.

British Columbia Celebrates 150th Anniversary

I received the June, 2008 newsletter, "The British Columbia Genealogist" (Vol 37, No. 2) from the British Columbia Genealogical Society the other day. They are celebrating their province's 150th anniversary by producing a very lengthy and detailed journal.

Edited by the extremely capable Diane Rogers, it has stories of "Discovery in a Trunk - HAYASHI, UJIMOTO", "59 Mile House, Account Ledger 1911-1913 - RYDER", and "Marine Workers, Vancouver, 1926".

Also, it has two interesting stories called "the most improved genealogies".

One is named "A Sailor Takes A Trip" and the other is "Mary Is A Bad Luck Name". They tell about a recent discovery the writer has made which has made their genealogy more exciting than it was before the "find".

You can contact Eunice Robinson <eunice@dccnet.com> if you wish to put in your story into next year's "Most Improved Genealogist Contest".

They also have the latest news about their society, the trips they have planned, a family research week at the local library, and queries.

You can go to their site at <www.bcgs.ca>, or if you would like to contribute an article to the journal, the email is <editor@bcgs.ca>.

The Library and Archives Canada (LAC) Reduces Hours

Canada's national library and archives — located in the nation's capital, Ottawa — has had quite a year with making multiple changes in its open hours.

Back in the early 1990s, it used to be open 24 hours (both the library and archives), but as we inched towards 2000, the hours that it was open to the public began to decrease. This continued until last fall, when the hours took the largest cutback in the hours of operation.

Eventually, it was explained by the LAC that a reduction of monies budgeted did not align, and a lot of the records that genealogists were looking for were already online. Ergo, the cut in hours.

Now on July 7th, they have decided to post the new hours for the consultation rooms and the Canadaian Genealogy Centre, and they are -

Monday, Wednesday, Friday - Open from 9:00 am. to 4:00 p.m. (For the reading room where the microfilm and microfiche reader are located, the hours are 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.).

Tuesday and Thursday - Open from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (For the reading room where the microfilm and the microfiche reader are located, the hours are 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.).

Saturday and Sunday - 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

One bit of advice, if you are coming to Ottawa from out of town, go to their website first (to check on new security measures and how to get your research card), find out the correct hours, and then come and enjoy your visit.

Their website is <www.collectionscanada.gc.ca>.

Who is Elizabeth?

I started writing about Canadian genealogy in 1989. A newspaper reporter at that time, I re-discovered genealogy one day as I was going through some family research I had done before and putting my notes together. I was hooked!

I have been on the Internet for fourteen years with various interests in genealogy, but in 2004, I started a website, <GenealogyCanada.com>, as a gathering place for genealogists who had a particular spot in their heart for the latest in Canadian genealogy, history, heritage news, and endeavouring to fulfill that niche.

In 2005, I had a diabetic stroke which left my right side paralyzed, and I had to decide what I should do for the rest of my life. I decided to continue writing (I can't stop now) and today, here I am, writing for genealogy and history magazines (e.g. Everton's), websites (GenealogyToday.com), and am editor of the Ontario Genealogical Society's newsletters, NewsLeaf and its Internet sibling, e-NewsLeaf <OGS.on.ca>.

So, now I have returned to the Internet once again - this time with a blog <GenealogyCanada.blogspot.com>.

If you have a meeting, event, website, or project that you would like publicized, I would love to hear from you!

Until then,

Happy Hunting!

Elizabeth