The Archives' Reading Room is now open to the public on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., in addition to being open from Tuesday to Friday, at the same hours.
The building, located on Thomas Street in Napanee in Ontario (to the west of Kingston), was—until 1971—a county jail.
Now, you can go to the restored building and research their genealogical holdings, which include reference works, microfilm sources, card indices, and family files.
They also have an historical collection which includes newspapers (microfilmed up to 1977) such as the Napanee Standard, Napanee Express, Napanee Beaver, and The Heritage. As well, they carry municipal papers from the County of Lennox and Addington, the old town of Napanee, the villages of Newburgh and Bath, and the townships within the County.
They also have a photograph collection of over 10,000 original images, with close to 5,000 of them indexed by subject matter or sitter.
The Archives are online at <www.lennox-addington.on.ca/government/Info/arch.html>.
A daily blog about Canadian genealogy, heritage, and history
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
The Eastern Ontario Countryside
About noontime, we arrived in the town of Hawkesbury.
Celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2009, this town of 10,000 is situated right on the Ottawa River.
This is the Long-Sault Bridge, which we crossed over between Grenville, Quebec and Hawkesbury.
But the main site I wanted to see on this trip was the Higginson Observation Tower at Vankleek Hill.
The tower was originally built be Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Higginson, an Irishman who settled in Vankleek Hill in 1829.
The tower was first built by him as a windmill about 1830 so that he could grind wheat and corn, but it failed due to inconsistent wind power.
He then turned it into the first private observatory in Eastern Ontario.
In 2003, it was decided by the business people of Vankleek Hill to restore the tower to its former glory, and now you can visit it by walking up the stairs inside to the top of the tower, and take in the wonderful view of the village and the hills of Quebec to the north.
To the right of the tower is the Anglican Church, and in the back of the tower is the home of William Higginson, the son of Thomas, the builder of the tower.
At the foot of the tower, going all around it in a circle, are bricks of stone with the businesses and people who contributed to the restoration of the tower.
After spending an hour there, we took old Highway 17 back to Ottawa and passed through the villages of Alfred, L'Orignal, Plantagenet, Riceville, Treadville, and Wendover.
We stopped in at L'Orignal to take the Jailhouse Tour, but it was raining, and since there was a tour underway, we decided not to wait. Instead, we took a tour around town, and took pictures of various buildings, including this one of the land office.
Hawkesbury and the subsequent villages we visited on our way back to Ottawa are located in Prescott County, and they have an excellent genealogy site at <www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~onpresco>.
Here, you will find Prescott County Families; Maps; Cemetery and Vital Records; and Lovell's Canadian Directory.
After an enjoyable ride through this part of Ontario, we stopped into Orleans (Ottawa East) for a lovely supper, took a ride into downtown Ottawa, and then went home.
Facing west, here is a picture of Ottawa's skyline at dusk (taken several miles away).
Celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2009, this town of 10,000 is situated right on the Ottawa River.
This is the Long-Sault Bridge, which we crossed over between Grenville, Quebec and Hawkesbury.But the main site I wanted to see on this trip was the Higginson Observation Tower at Vankleek Hill.
The tower was originally built be Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Higginson, an Irishman who settled in Vankleek Hill in 1829.
The tower was first built by him as a windmill about 1830 so that he could grind wheat and corn, but it failed due to inconsistent wind power.
He then turned it into the first private observatory in Eastern Ontario.
In 2003, it was decided by the business people of Vankleek Hill to restore the tower to its former glory, and now you can visit it by walking up the stairs inside to the top of the tower, and take in the wonderful view of the village and the hills of Quebec to the north.
To the right of the tower is the Anglican Church, and in the back of the tower is the home of William Higginson, the son of Thomas, the builder of the tower.
At the foot of the tower, going all around it in a circle, are bricks of stone with the businesses and people who contributed to the restoration of the tower.
After spending an hour there, we took old Highway 17 back to Ottawa and passed through the villages of Alfred, L'Orignal, Plantagenet, Riceville, Treadville, and Wendover.
We stopped in at L'Orignal to take the Jailhouse Tour, but it was raining, and since there was a tour underway, we decided not to wait. Instead, we took a tour around town, and took pictures of various buildings, including this one of the land office.
Hawkesbury and the subsequent villages we visited on our way back to Ottawa are located in Prescott County, and they have an excellent genealogy site at <www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~onpresco>.
Here, you will find Prescott County Families; Maps; Cemetery and Vital Records; and Lovell's Canadian Directory.
After an enjoyable ride through this part of Ontario, we stopped into Orleans (Ottawa East) for a lovely supper, took a ride into downtown Ottawa, and then went home.
Facing west, here is a picture of Ottawa's skyline at dusk (taken several miles away).
Sunday, July 5, 2009
The Quebec Countryside
Before starting, I wish all of our American readers a belated Happy Fourth of July. We came home too late to post this issue, but having spent many a summer visiting American cousins in the Boston States, my thoughts were with you on this special day.
Yesterday, we took off for a drive down the Quebec countryside from Gatineau to Grenville along the Ottawa/Outaouais River, and covered such areas as Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais, La Lièvre et la Petite-Nation, and Les Laurentides.
Remember how I said it was going to be sunny? It rained! Not all the time - but enough to be bothersome.
However, we pushed on through the rain drops, and while we didn't visit as many museums nor sites of interest as we would have liked, we did drive around quite a bit in the rain, and had time enough to enjoy a nice supper back in Ottawa.
We started from the easterly side of the city of Gatineau, which includes the sectors of Alymer, Gatineau, Hull, Buckingham, and Masson-Angers. These cities and towns were amalgamated into the City of Gatineau in 2002.
After a short delay so that my husband could check for a laptop part at a computer store, we took off to follow the river almost down to its mouth at the St. Lawrence.
The Ottawa River was a key river in Canada's settling, as it was the waterway to the heart of the country for early immigrants to Canada, and vital to the early lumber industry.
Ottawa River, located near Thurso, Quebec
The first place we went through was Thurso. It was settled in 1886 by Scottish people, and was named Thurso after the town in Scotland.
Its liveliehood has been in lumber industry, and in the early days sent its lumber to England to be used by the British Navy, but there are rumours now that the paper plant (after troubles in the lumber industry) is set to close.
It is a village of 2,000, and today the population is mainly French, although there is still a healthy population of English-speaking residents with Anglo-Celtic roots.
The next place we visited was Papineauville.
It is a pretty town, the former seigniory of Louis-Joseph Papineau, one of Quebec's early politicians.
It was settled around 1855.
And then on to Montebello, a very picturesque town which has become an artist's paradise, and is home to the Chateau Montebello, a first-class hotel and the largest log structure in the world. It was built in 1930.
We stopped at the nearby tourist bureau, which is an old train station (note the "weather vane" on the roof), and it was here that we encountered our first of many rain showers.
Tourist Bureau in Montibello, Quebec
We continued down the road, following the Ottawa/Outaouais River to Hawkesbury, going through such settlements as Fassett and Grenville.
Until tomorrow ...
In the meantime, there are some places to check for genealogy -
The Quebec GenWeb page on West Quebec at <www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~qcoutaou/home.htm> has a free look-up based on what area you are researching in the West Quebec (Outaouais) region, and <www.islandnet.com/~cghl/region.php?cat=Quebec> has listings of cemetery transcriptions for the province of Quebec, such as the website found at <http://cemetery-index.tripod.com> for some the areas we travelled yesterday.
Also, check on other sites mentioned in this blog.
Yesterday, we took off for a drive down the Quebec countryside from Gatineau to Grenville along the Ottawa/Outaouais River, and covered such areas as Les Collines-de-l'Outaouais, La Lièvre et la Petite-Nation, and Les Laurentides.
Remember how I said it was going to be sunny? It rained! Not all the time - but enough to be bothersome.
However, we pushed on through the rain drops, and while we didn't visit as many museums nor sites of interest as we would have liked, we did drive around quite a bit in the rain, and had time enough to enjoy a nice supper back in Ottawa.
We started from the easterly side of the city of Gatineau, which includes the sectors of Alymer, Gatineau, Hull, Buckingham, and Masson-Angers. These cities and towns were amalgamated into the City of Gatineau in 2002.
After a short delay so that my husband could check for a laptop part at a computer store, we took off to follow the river almost down to its mouth at the St. Lawrence.
The Ottawa River was a key river in Canada's settling, as it was the waterway to the heart of the country for early immigrants to Canada, and vital to the early lumber industry.
Ottawa River, located near Thurso, QuebecThe first place we went through was Thurso. It was settled in 1886 by Scottish people, and was named Thurso after the town in Scotland.
Its liveliehood has been in lumber industry, and in the early days sent its lumber to England to be used by the British Navy, but there are rumours now that the paper plant (after troubles in the lumber industry) is set to close.
It is a village of 2,000, and today the population is mainly French, although there is still a healthy population of English-speaking residents with Anglo-Celtic roots.
The next place we visited was Papineauville.
It is a pretty town, the former seigniory of Louis-Joseph Papineau, one of Quebec's early politicians.
It was settled around 1855.
And then on to Montebello, a very picturesque town which has become an artist's paradise, and is home to the Chateau Montebello, a first-class hotel and the largest log structure in the world. It was built in 1930.
We stopped at the nearby tourist bureau, which is an old train station (note the "weather vane" on the roof), and it was here that we encountered our first of many rain showers.
Tourist Bureau in Montibello, QuebecWe continued down the road, following the Ottawa/Outaouais River to Hawkesbury, going through such settlements as Fassett and Grenville.
Until tomorrow ...
In the meantime, there are some places to check for genealogy -
The Quebec GenWeb page on West Quebec at <www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~qcoutaou/home.htm> has a free look-up based on what area you are researching in the West Quebec (Outaouais) region, and <www.islandnet.com/~cghl/region.php?cat=Quebec> has listings of cemetery transcriptions for the province of Quebec, such as the website found at <http://cemetery-index.tripod.com> for some the areas we travelled yesterday.
Also, check on other sites mentioned in this blog.
Friday, July 3, 2009
22nd Wedding Anniversary
Tomorrow is our 22nd wedding anniversary, and to celebrate, we are going to take a circular trip through the Quebec side of the Ottawa River towards Montreal (in the Outaouais region), then cross the river to Hawkesbury (on the Ontario side) to celebrate its 150th birthday, and then we will return to Ottawa via Eastern Ontario.
Some of the places we plan to stop at are Thurso, Papineauville, and Montebello on the Quebec side, and Hawkesbury (of course), Vankleek Hill (they have a special museum there), and various towns along the way back.
For those not familiar with the area, let me assure you that it is very scenic — as our pictures will show — and historic in nature.
As usual, I am packing my notebook, pencil, and camera, and will gather information for the various publications I write for, and for the blog.
It's supposed to be fair tomorrow - sunny and warm - so here's hoping for a nice trip, and a lovely supper!
Some of the places we plan to stop at are Thurso, Papineauville, and Montebello on the Quebec side, and Hawkesbury (of course), Vankleek Hill (they have a special museum there), and various towns along the way back.
For those not familiar with the area, let me assure you that it is very scenic — as our pictures will show — and historic in nature.
As usual, I am packing my notebook, pencil, and camera, and will gather information for the various publications I write for, and for the blog.
It's supposed to be fair tomorrow - sunny and warm - so here's hoping for a nice trip, and a lovely supper!
Canada's New Tombstone Project
We are invited to drop by the Canadian Headstone Photo Project, where digital images of tombstones will be put online <www.canadianheadstones.com>.
The founders of the project say that the stones are becoming harder to read, and in order to read the inscriptions, they are archiving the images.
The website covers all provinces and territories, as well as Ireland and the United States.
So I checked Canada's section, and found nothing yet, but that understandable because it is a new service.
You can do either a surname or cemetery search - or both.
The service is free - both to upload and download.
But if you check Ireland, you will see tombstones for County Tyrone and County Farmanagh, and a transcription is right under the picture.
The date which the transcription was done is also given.
The founders of the project say that the stones are becoming harder to read, and in order to read the inscriptions, they are archiving the images.
The website covers all provinces and territories, as well as Ireland and the United States.
So I checked Canada's section, and found nothing yet, but that understandable because it is a new service.
You can do either a surname or cemetery search - or both.
The service is free - both to upload and download.
But if you check Ireland, you will see tombstones for County Tyrone and County Farmanagh, and a transcription is right under the picture.
The date which the transcription was done is also given.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Nipissing University, North Bay
I've been researching Nipissing University in North Bay and their Institute for Community Studies and Oral History, and discovered that they have a robust interest in the social history of the area.
Not only is it a "robust interest", but over the past few years, have been sending their students to collect local history stories about the people and places of the Near North in Ontario, from the earliest times to the present.
Current interests include Family Rituals, the Early Families Project, and the history of local townships.
So if you have any ancestors living in the Near North of Ontario, consider contacting them at <icsoh@nipissingu.ca> or go to their website at <www.nipissingu.ca/icsoh>.
Not only is it a "robust interest", but over the past few years, have been sending their students to collect local history stories about the people and places of the Near North in Ontario, from the earliest times to the present.
Current interests include Family Rituals, the Early Families Project, and the history of local townships.
So if you have any ancestors living in the Near North of Ontario, consider contacting them at <icsoh@nipissingu.ca> or go to their website at <www.nipissingu.ca/icsoh>.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Happy Canada Day!
The 142nd birthday of Canada (July 1st) has rolled around again, and it is raining with thunderstorms in Ottawa - but it's a birthday!
I remember when it was Dominion Day, for it was only changed to Canada Day in 1983, and it took a bit of getting used to the new name.
Typically, everyone has the day off, and although it is a day for picnics, and having fun in the great outdoors in the summer time, it is also a time to remember our ancestors - the French and Anglo-Celtic peoples who first came here in the 1600s and 1700s, and the hard times they had in making a life for themselves in an often unforgiving land.
We also remember the Irish Potato Famine Immigrants who came here in the 1800s, and what a difficult time they had settling in their new land; of the Eastern Europeans who, in a great way, settled and tamed the Prairie Provinces in the early 20th century with nothing more than hard work and an unswerving dedication; and of the Chinese, who came and developed the railway, and in so doing, opened up the West to the rest of Canada.
And, of course, all these new immigrants came and built upon a land originally settled by the Aboriginal peoples, who themselves came here thousands of years ago.
And to all the other immigrants who have come to Canada, and have found a home and prosperity here - welcome to Canada!
There are only eight more years before Canada's 150th anniversary, and I hear that planning for it has started already.
So Bonne Fête, Canada - Happy Birthday, Canada!
I remember when it was Dominion Day, for it was only changed to Canada Day in 1983, and it took a bit of getting used to the new name.
Typically, everyone has the day off, and although it is a day for picnics, and having fun in the great outdoors in the summer time, it is also a time to remember our ancestors - the French and Anglo-Celtic peoples who first came here in the 1600s and 1700s, and the hard times they had in making a life for themselves in an often unforgiving land.
We also remember the Irish Potato Famine Immigrants who came here in the 1800s, and what a difficult time they had settling in their new land; of the Eastern Europeans who, in a great way, settled and tamed the Prairie Provinces in the early 20th century with nothing more than hard work and an unswerving dedication; and of the Chinese, who came and developed the railway, and in so doing, opened up the West to the rest of Canada.
And, of course, all these new immigrants came and built upon a land originally settled by the Aboriginal peoples, who themselves came here thousands of years ago.
And to all the other immigrants who have come to Canada, and have found a home and prosperity here - welcome to Canada!
There are only eight more years before Canada's 150th anniversary, and I hear that planning for it has started already.
So Bonne Fête, Canada - Happy Birthday, Canada!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Newfoundland Memorial Day - July 1st
Not only is it Canada Day tomorrow (July 1) in Newfoundland and Labrador, it is also their Memorial Day.
Memorial Day is held in memory of those Newfoundlanders and Labradorians that lost their lives in combat, especially during World War I.
Members of the Newfoundland Regiment fought and died at Beaumont-Hamel in France during the opening day of the Battle of the Somme on July 1, 1916.
Because Newfoundland and Labrador was not yet a part of Canada until 1949, they were still considered a British colony.
They went to war in August, 1914.
The first day of the Battle of the Somme was particularly hard for the Newfoundland Regiment because only 68 of 801 soldiers survived. All of the others were either killed, wounded, or went missing in action.
You can visit the trenches at Beaumont-Hamel and see the statue of a caribou - the Newfoundland Regiment's emblem.
For more on their history, visit the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial website at <www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=memorials/ww1mem/beaumonthamel>.
Memorial Day is held in memory of those Newfoundlanders and Labradorians that lost their lives in combat, especially during World War I.
Members of the Newfoundland Regiment fought and died at Beaumont-Hamel in France during the opening day of the Battle of the Somme on July 1, 1916.
Because Newfoundland and Labrador was not yet a part of Canada until 1949, they were still considered a British colony.
They went to war in August, 1914.
The first day of the Battle of the Somme was particularly hard for the Newfoundland Regiment because only 68 of 801 soldiers survived. All of the others were either killed, wounded, or went missing in action.
You can visit the trenches at Beaumont-Hamel and see the statue of a caribou - the Newfoundland Regiment's emblem.
For more on their history, visit the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland Memorial website at <www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=memorials/ww1mem/beaumonthamel>.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Hattie Perry Passes Away
I received word that Hattie Perry died this weekend.
Who was Hattie Perry?
Well, Hattie was a writer in Barrington on the southwestern shore of Nova Scotia.
She wrote about her adopted town, and it happened to be the place where my maternal family lived (the Blades-Hichens family), and they included such notables as Mary Hichens, a savior of many people who shipwrecked on Seal Island ("Mary Hichens and her Namesake"), and Annie Elizabeth Hichens ("Mrs. Mary and Others: Women of Barrington") both originally from England who married into the Hitchens family from Barrington.
Phil Verge—who had done Hattie's website for her—has agreed to keep the site up for an extra few days, and you can go to <http://rootsweb.ancestry.com/~canbrnep/ordeals.htm> to see what she has written.
Who was Hattie Perry?
Well, Hattie was a writer in Barrington on the southwestern shore of Nova Scotia.
She wrote about her adopted town, and it happened to be the place where my maternal family lived (the Blades-Hichens family), and they included such notables as Mary Hichens, a savior of many people who shipwrecked on Seal Island ("Mary Hichens and her Namesake"), and Annie Elizabeth Hichens ("Mrs. Mary and Others: Women of Barrington") both originally from England who married into the Hitchens family from Barrington.
Phil Verge—who had done Hattie's website for her—has agreed to keep the site up for an extra few days, and you can go to <http://rootsweb.ancestry.com/~canbrnep/ordeals.htm> to see what she has written.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Canada Day (July 1) is a Free Day!
Be sure to catch Ancestry.ca's Free Day on July 1st - Canada Day.
Actually, it's free until July 3rd.
The only catch is that the immigration records are the only records which are free - but check them out anyway.
They cover Immigration Records from 1865 to 1935.
This is the press release I received -
Actually, it's free until July 3rd.
The only catch is that the immigration records are the only records which are free - but check them out anyway.
They cover Immigration Records from 1865 to 1935.
This is the press release I received -
Happy Hunting!"Happy Canada Day Elizabeth!
Canada Day is not only a great day to spend with family - it's the perfect time to get together and learn more about how your family came to be Canadian.
For the first time ever, Ancestry.ca is making available The Canadian Passenger Lists Collection, 1865 to 1935, FREE* until July 3rd, 2009.
Don't miss this great opportunity to discover your Canadian story in The Canadian Passenger Lists today."
Friday, June 26, 2009
Pier 21 - Now a National Museum
Yesterday, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that Pier 21 will become Canada's second national museum outside of Ottawa (the first one will be the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, Manitoba).
Pier 21 is located on the waterfront in Halifax <www.pier21.ca>.
From 1928 until 1971, Pier 21 saw 1.5-million immigrants pass through its doors - 50,000 War Brides and 22,000 of their children of the Second World War, and more than 100,000 refugees. Of these, a large number were British Home Children.
And Pier 21 is ten years old this year!
What better way to celebrate than to be named a national museum.
Congratulations, Pier 21!
Pier 21 is located on the waterfront in Halifax <www.pier21.ca>.
From 1928 until 1971, Pier 21 saw 1.5-million immigrants pass through its doors - 50,000 War Brides and 22,000 of their children of the Second World War, and more than 100,000 refugees. Of these, a large number were British Home Children.
And Pier 21 is ten years old this year!
What better way to celebrate than to be named a national museum.
Congratulations, Pier 21!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Tracing Your Irish Ancestors
"Tracing Your Irish Ancestors"
I just received a notice from Margaret Gervais of BIFHSGO that John Grenham from Dublin will be in the city on August 9th to present an afternoon of talks on Irish ancestry.
Here is the press release I received -
==================
The British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa — with the cooperation of the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, the Irish Society of the National Capital Region, and the Monterey Inn Resort & Conference Center — presents:
When: Sunday, 9th August 2009 – 1:30 p.m.
Where: The Chamber, Ben Franklin Place, 101 Centrepointe Drive in Nepean (Ottawa)
Free Parking on site.
Admission: $10/person at the door.
Professional Genealogist, Fellow of the Irish Genealogical Research Society, and well-known author from Dublin, Ireland
Visit: www.Johngrenham.com and www.IrishTimes.com/ancestor
Few large sets of Irish genealogical records are available online; however, there are many highly valuable local or partial record-sets, which can be difficult to track down. The presentation starts with an outline of the main Irish records and where any on-line transcripts can be found.
Brief summary of better-known substitutes, but focuses on more useful and lesser-known records, including: Loan Funds, Charleton Marriage Fund, agricultural surveys, official petitions and electoral records. Since the range is infinite, a complete account is impossible; the aim is to sketch the main areas in which these records are being uncovered, to show how they can be used, and to bring hope to those who have run out of the standard Irish sources.
For more information or queries, contact BIFHSGO at:
Email: queries@bifhsgo.ca / Website: www.bifhsgo.ca / Tel. 613-234-2520
Postal address: BIFHSGO, PO Box 38026, Ottawa ON K2C 3Y7
==================
I'll be there and hope to see you there, too!
I just received a notice from Margaret Gervais of BIFHSGO that John Grenham from Dublin will be in the city on August 9th to present an afternoon of talks on Irish ancestry.
Here is the press release I received -
==================
The British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa — with the cooperation of the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, the Irish Society of the National Capital Region, and the Monterey Inn Resort & Conference Center — presents:
IRISH TALKS
When: Sunday, 9th August 2009 – 1:30 p.m.
Where: The Chamber, Ben Franklin Place, 101 Centrepointe Drive in Nepean (Ottawa)
Free Parking on site.
Admission: $10/person at the door.
"Tracing Your Irish Ancestry" with John Grenham, M.A.
Professional Genealogist, Fellow of the Irish Genealogical Research Society, and well-known author from Dublin, Ireland
Visit: www.Johngrenham.com and www.IrishTimes.com/ancestor
Chasing Shadows: Irish Genealogy Online
Few large sets of Irish genealogical records are available online; however, there are many highly valuable local or partial record-sets, which can be difficult to track down. The presentation starts with an outline of the main Irish records and where any on-line transcripts can be found.
Whatever you’re having yourself: Irish Census Substitutes
Brief summary of better-known substitutes, but focuses on more useful and lesser-known records, including: Loan Funds, Charleton Marriage Fund, agricultural surveys, official petitions and electoral records. Since the range is infinite, a complete account is impossible; the aim is to sketch the main areas in which these records are being uncovered, to show how they can be used, and to bring hope to those who have run out of the standard Irish sources.
For more information or queries, contact BIFHSGO at:
Email: queries@bifhsgo.ca / Website: www.bifhsgo.ca / Tel. 613-234-2520
Postal address: BIFHSGO, PO Box 38026, Ottawa ON K2C 3Y7
==================
I'll be there and hope to see you there, too!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
QFHS Newsletter - Summer 2009
The summer issue is here!
The 2009 Spring/Sumer issue of the Quebec Family History Society's newsletter, Connections, is here, and once again it is full of articles plus notes on upcoming events.
"Of Stones Sheds and Firemen" is another article by Robert N. Wilkins, and this time he writes about the St. Urbain Street Fire of 1877.
"A Basic Guide to Using Quebec Protestant Church Archives" is written by Jody Robinson, the archivist at the Eastern Townships Research Centre, a private research centre in Southeastern Quebec.
I look forward to "Lower Canada in the 1790s and Early 1800s" in every issue because I find that I learn so much every time I read it.
Did you know that the city of Lévis was known as New Liverpool from 1759 to 1850?
In "The Legend of William Doleman" by James Barclay, the article tells of an amateur golfer from Scotland who was the first person to play his game on the Plains of Abraham.
I had a couple of lunches with Gary Schroder, the President of the QFHS while he was attending the OGS Conference '09. At the time, he said that they haven't set a date for their conference in June of next year - but I see by their site they now have the dates - the 11th to the 13th of June, 2010.
Roots Heritage 2010 will be held in downtown Montreal, with all lectures in English.
The list of speakers, topics, events, and registration will be on the QFHS webpage at <www.qfhs.ca>.
The 2009 Spring/Sumer issue of the Quebec Family History Society's newsletter, Connections, is here, and once again it is full of articles plus notes on upcoming events.
"Of Stones Sheds and Firemen" is another article by Robert N. Wilkins, and this time he writes about the St. Urbain Street Fire of 1877.
"A Basic Guide to Using Quebec Protestant Church Archives" is written by Jody Robinson, the archivist at the Eastern Townships Research Centre, a private research centre in Southeastern Quebec.
I look forward to "Lower Canada in the 1790s and Early 1800s" in every issue because I find that I learn so much every time I read it.
Did you know that the city of Lévis was known as New Liverpool from 1759 to 1850?
In "The Legend of William Doleman" by James Barclay, the article tells of an amateur golfer from Scotland who was the first person to play his game on the Plains of Abraham.
I had a couple of lunches with Gary Schroder, the President of the QFHS while he was attending the OGS Conference '09. At the time, he said that they haven't set a date for their conference in June of next year - but I see by their site they now have the dates - the 11th to the 13th of June, 2010.
Roots Heritage 2010 will be held in downtown Montreal, with all lectures in English.
The list of speakers, topics, events, and registration will be on the QFHS webpage at <www.qfhs.ca>.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Canada Has Three of the 101 Best Genealogy Sites in 2009
How about that!
Family Tree Magazine <www.familytreemagazine.com> has just put out its 2009 list — the 10th year of doing so — and Canada has three websites on the top "101 Best Web Sites 2009".
The first one I must mention is the Canadian Genealogy Centre website <www.collectionscanada.gc.ca>.
It came in second on the list for the "10 Best Virtual Library Sites" and it got a special nod for its census work and the other databases it has published online.
And this is the second time the site has been chosen - the first time was in 2003 when the CGC first opened.
A tip of the hat goes to Sylvie Tremblay, Chief, Project Manager, and her crew for doing such hard work. She is always thinking of new ways to present the information they have - and they do have a lot. We all want those databases to come faster, don't we?
Credit: Mario Lapointe, CD
Here is a picture taken of Sylvie two years ago at the OGS Conference in Ottawa. She was there with (now just recently-retired) Librarian and Archivist Canada, Ian Wilson (left), along with Don Harris (right) and Tim Sullivan of The Generations Network (far right) to announce a partnership between the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and Ancestry.ca.
The second on the "10 Best Sites for Vital Statistics" list is the Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics website <www.novascotiagenealogy.com>.
If you have ancestors in Nova Scotia, be sure to check this index because it will give you all sorts of information, and will tell you where you can send for the certificates.
With my family being one of the founding ones for Nova Scotia, I have used it on a number of occasions, and it has not failed me yet.
And the third one is in the "10 Best Sites for International Searches" and it is the Programme de Recherche en Demographie Historique website, and it came 8th in the list <www.genealogie.umontreal.ca>.
It has 750,000 entries from 1621 to 1850, and although you have to pay for a full search, you can search the index for free.
So, there are the winning websites for this year.
Congratulations to all!
Let's wait and see who will be on next year's list!
Family Tree Magazine <www.familytreemagazine.com> has just put out its 2009 list — the 10th year of doing so — and Canada has three websites on the top "101 Best Web Sites 2009".
The first one I must mention is the Canadian Genealogy Centre website <www.collectionscanada.gc.ca>.
It came in second on the list for the "10 Best Virtual Library Sites" and it got a special nod for its census work and the other databases it has published online.
And this is the second time the site has been chosen - the first time was in 2003 when the CGC first opened.
A tip of the hat goes to Sylvie Tremblay, Chief, Project Manager, and her crew for doing such hard work. She is always thinking of new ways to present the information they have - and they do have a lot. We all want those databases to come faster, don't we?
Credit: Mario Lapointe, CDHere is a picture taken of Sylvie two years ago at the OGS Conference in Ottawa. She was there with (now just recently-retired) Librarian and Archivist Canada, Ian Wilson (left), along with Don Harris (right) and Tim Sullivan of The Generations Network (far right) to announce a partnership between the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and Ancestry.ca.
The second on the "10 Best Sites for Vital Statistics" list is the Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics website <www.novascotiagenealogy.com>.
If you have ancestors in Nova Scotia, be sure to check this index because it will give you all sorts of information, and will tell you where you can send for the certificates.
With my family being one of the founding ones for Nova Scotia, I have used it on a number of occasions, and it has not failed me yet.
And the third one is in the "10 Best Sites for International Searches" and it is the Programme de Recherche en Demographie Historique website, and it came 8th in the list <www.genealogie.umontreal.ca>.
It has 750,000 entries from 1621 to 1850, and although you have to pay for a full search, you can search the index for free.
So, there are the winning websites for this year.
Congratulations to all!
Let's wait and see who will be on next year's list!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Ancestry.ca Publishes Canadian Census Records
Today - June 10th - marks the day that the 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901, 1911 and 1916 Canadian censuses are published online at <www.ancestry.ca>.
It includes more than 32 million names, of which 50% of Canadians will find their ancestors in these historical records.
I just did a cursory check on my ancestors to see if they were all there - and they were! It appears that it is quite well done and it contains 1.3-million images. The images matched the names, and the information was correctly transcribed for my ancestors.
Lesley Anderson and Glenn Wright are going to put on a Webinar next Thursday, June 18th at 8:30 p.m..
If you have the chance, you should register for it now. If it is anything like the talk that they gave last month at the FHC in Ottawa, you are in for an educational and interesting talk on the census.
Read my review of the talk they gave on the blog that I posted at <http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2009/05/saturday-was-treat.html>.
P.S. I just received notice from Daniel Rencher, the Chief Genealogical Officer of FamilySearch, that they have put online the 1851, 1861 and 1871 census in addition to the 1881 census already online at <www.familysearch.org>.
It includes more than 32 million names, of which 50% of Canadians will find their ancestors in these historical records.
I just did a cursory check on my ancestors to see if they were all there - and they were! It appears that it is quite well done and it contains 1.3-million images. The images matched the names, and the information was correctly transcribed for my ancestors.
Lesley Anderson and Glenn Wright are going to put on a Webinar next Thursday, June 18th at 8:30 p.m..
If you have the chance, you should register for it now. If it is anything like the talk that they gave last month at the FHC in Ottawa, you are in for an educational and interesting talk on the census.
Read my review of the talk they gave on the blog that I posted at <http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2009/05/saturday-was-treat.html>.
P.S. I just received notice from Daniel Rencher, the Chief Genealogical Officer of FamilySearch, that they have put online the 1851, 1861 and 1871 census in addition to the 1881 census already online at <www.familysearch.org>.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Toronto Branch of OGS Hosts Twenty Ten Conference
At the end of this year's conference, Jane MacNamara gave us all a special presentation on next year's conference.
Dubbed "Essentials, Innovations and Delights", the conference will be held in the Doubletree Hilton at the Toronto Airport. According to the organizers, it is very easy to get to, and the rooms will cost the same as they did in 2004(!), the last time it was held there. It will be sponsored by The Toronto Branch of the OGS.
It will be held from the 14th to the 16th of May, 2010. They have entered an agreement with the Librarian Association of Ontario, and the Association is going to put on a specific day of talks on the 13th of May for genealogical librarians at the same venue as the conference.
Next year, they will also have special lunches hosted by some of the speakers (as they do in the States). There will also be unique presentations for those people with roots in Italy and the Netherlands.
They will present three full days of talks and will have short speeches of 20 minutes each around the venue on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. One of the speakers will be Thomas W. Jones, FASG, the co-editor of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly.
As a special giveaway, Jane presented the winner of the first attendee with a free enrollment to three full days of intensive learning!
Basic information is available at <www.ogs.on.ca>.
They are also starting a conference blog at <www.torontofamilyhistory.org/2010>.
Dubbed "Essentials, Innovations and Delights", the conference will be held in the Doubletree Hilton at the Toronto Airport. According to the organizers, it is very easy to get to, and the rooms will cost the same as they did in 2004(!), the last time it was held there. It will be sponsored by The Toronto Branch of the OGS.
It will be held from the 14th to the 16th of May, 2010. They have entered an agreement with the Librarian Association of Ontario, and the Association is going to put on a specific day of talks on the 13th of May for genealogical librarians at the same venue as the conference.
Next year, they will also have special lunches hosted by some of the speakers (as they do in the States). There will also be unique presentations for those people with roots in Italy and the Netherlands.
They will present three full days of talks and will have short speeches of 20 minutes each around the venue on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. One of the speakers will be Thomas W. Jones, FASG, the co-editor of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly.
As a special giveaway, Jane presented the winner of the first attendee with a free enrollment to three full days of intensive learning!
Basic information is available at <www.ogs.on.ca>.
They are also starting a conference blog at <www.torontofamilyhistory.org/2010>.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Some Closing Thoughts ...
In summary, I came away with the thought that a sea-change had just taken place in doing genealogy.
We have been given the challenge to "fill in the dash" when we do genealogy from now on. We will have to use, as Jane MacNamara so aptly put it, the "whole-family" approach - it will push us to write the family's history, not to merely record the birth and death dates of a person's life.
Some closing thoughts on the conference -
1. On Friday night, we were introduced to our new patron, The Honourable Vivienne Poy, a Senator in the Canadian Parliament, by OGS President Don Hinchley.
She spoke very eloquently about tracing her roots back though Hong Kong to China and she hopes to bring the same enthusiasm to her new position with the OGS.
She replaces Senator Lorna Milne, who did such great work in bringing the 1911 Canadian Census to the people so that everyone can research their family history.
2. On Friday afternoon, I attended the Irish Palatine workshop in which Hank Jones (right) received the first Eula C. Lapp Award in front of a sell-out crowd from Denis Jones for his work on the Irish Palatines.
I learned that the group is putting together a book of genealogies of the Irish Palatines in Ontario, and Ruth Chernia of the OGS Publications Branch is helping out with the gathering and proofreading of the manuscript.
If you have Irish Palatines in your family, would you please contact her at <publications@ogs.on.ca>.
3. On Saturday morning, at the awful hour of 8:00 a.m. (we were tired due to a reception after the Opening Ceremonies), we gathered to hear Brian Gilchirst talk about "Pedigree and Progress: Making connections in the digital age from the printed page".
He talked about the progress that has been made in digitizing the information, but said that indexing it is falling behind. Of what use is it to scan and yet not prepare an index so that people can put in their family names to see if there is anything on them?
He also talked about saving our own research in the local archives or library. How many of us make a copy for our local archives or library?
Right after Brian's speech, we had the AGM, and it was supercharged this year with the request for an increase in membership dues.
After much discussion and various amendments, the vote was taken, and it was a "yes" vote for the increase of the basic membership fee to $60.00 from the current $45.00, starting next calendar year.
The OGS also put out a call for people to index the OGS Library, which is going to be digitized and put online.
It will include over 3,000 family genealogies, but they need to be indexed so that they can be searchable online.
If you wish to help, please contact Dr. Fraser Dunford, Executive Director, OGS at <ed@ogs.on.ca>.
4. On Saturday afternoon, I went to the panel discussion on "From the Printed Page to the Digital Age ... The Professionals' Perspective".
The audience that was there asked many questions of the panel, which included Susanna de Groot, Janice Nickerson, Ruth Burkholder, Tammy Tipler-Priolo, and Brian Gilchist. It was moderated by Sharon Murphy.
It was sponsored by the Ontario Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists <http://ocapg.org>.
From the answers they gave, I gather it's quite a lonely life being a genealogist, looking at a computer screen all day long (something like a writer) and how important listserves are so that genealogists can talk over their research problems.
They talked about how the Internet has changed the way they do research, and people are asking different types of questions these days - more away from, "When was he born?", and more towards, "What can you tell me about his life as a grocer in Toronto in the 1850s?"
5. On Saturday night, we went to a local banquet hall to hear Charlotte Gray talk about what it is like being a biographer - which is where genealogy is heading. She is being introduced by Halton-Peel Chairman, Bob Crawford.
She gave us a sound footing of how to research history to write a biography, and she has written many, including one of Alexander Graham Bell.
At present, she is working on the people of the Klondike and she will be at the BIFHSGO conference this September, and at that time will give a talk on Sir John A. Mcdonald and his women!
6. On Sunday, I spent some time at the OGS Publications table to talk to people as they came by and generally got good reviews of the work I do on NewsLeaf and e-NewsLeaf.
All-in-all, another great conference, and well-worth both the fatigue of doing so much, and the sadness of having to say good-bye to old friends and acquaintances for yet another year.
We have been given the challenge to "fill in the dash" when we do genealogy from now on. We will have to use, as Jane MacNamara so aptly put it, the "whole-family" approach - it will push us to write the family's history, not to merely record the birth and death dates of a person's life.
Some closing thoughts on the conference -
1. On Friday night, we were introduced to our new patron, The Honourable Vivienne Poy, a Senator in the Canadian Parliament, by OGS President Don Hinchley.
She spoke very eloquently about tracing her roots back though Hong Kong to China and she hopes to bring the same enthusiasm to her new position with the OGS.
She replaces Senator Lorna Milne, who did such great work in bringing the 1911 Canadian Census to the people so that everyone can research their family history.
2. On Friday afternoon, I attended the Irish Palatine workshop in which Hank Jones (right) received the first Eula C. Lapp Award in front of a sell-out crowd from Denis Jones for his work on the Irish Palatines.
I learned that the group is putting together a book of genealogies of the Irish Palatines in Ontario, and Ruth Chernia of the OGS Publications Branch is helping out with the gathering and proofreading of the manuscript.
If you have Irish Palatines in your family, would you please contact her at <publications@ogs.on.ca>.
3. On Saturday morning, at the awful hour of 8:00 a.m. (we were tired due to a reception after the Opening Ceremonies), we gathered to hear Brian Gilchirst talk about "Pedigree and Progress: Making connections in the digital age from the printed page".
He talked about the progress that has been made in digitizing the information, but said that indexing it is falling behind. Of what use is it to scan and yet not prepare an index so that people can put in their family names to see if there is anything on them?
He also talked about saving our own research in the local archives or library. How many of us make a copy for our local archives or library?
Right after Brian's speech, we had the AGM, and it was supercharged this year with the request for an increase in membership dues.
After much discussion and various amendments, the vote was taken, and it was a "yes" vote for the increase of the basic membership fee to $60.00 from the current $45.00, starting next calendar year.
The OGS also put out a call for people to index the OGS Library, which is going to be digitized and put online.
It will include over 3,000 family genealogies, but they need to be indexed so that they can be searchable online.
If you wish to help, please contact Dr. Fraser Dunford, Executive Director, OGS at <ed@ogs.on.ca>.
4. On Saturday afternoon, I went to the panel discussion on "From the Printed Page to the Digital Age ... The Professionals' Perspective".
The audience that was there asked many questions of the panel, which included Susanna de Groot, Janice Nickerson, Ruth Burkholder, Tammy Tipler-Priolo, and Brian Gilchist. It was moderated by Sharon Murphy.
It was sponsored by the Ontario Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists <http://ocapg.org>.
From the answers they gave, I gather it's quite a lonely life being a genealogist, looking at a computer screen all day long (something like a writer) and how important listserves are so that genealogists can talk over their research problems.
They talked about how the Internet has changed the way they do research, and people are asking different types of questions these days - more away from, "When was he born?", and more towards, "What can you tell me about his life as a grocer in Toronto in the 1850s?"
5. On Saturday night, we went to a local banquet hall to hear Charlotte Gray talk about what it is like being a biographer - which is where genealogy is heading. She is being introduced by Halton-Peel Chairman, Bob Crawford.
She gave us a sound footing of how to research history to write a biography, and she has written many, including one of Alexander Graham Bell.
At present, she is working on the people of the Klondike and she will be at the BIFHSGO conference this September, and at that time will give a talk on Sir John A. Mcdonald and his women!
6. On Sunday, I spent some time at the OGS Publications table to talk to people as they came by and generally got good reviews of the work I do on NewsLeaf and e-NewsLeaf.
All-in-all, another great conference, and well-worth both the fatigue of doing so much, and the sadness of having to say good-bye to old friends and acquaintances for yet another year.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
"Filling in the Dash"
At the graduation ceremony of the National Institute for Genealogical Studies <www.GenealogicalStudies.com> on Friday afternoon, Todd Poertner gave an entertaining speech to the 40 graduates and their invited guests in which he said his wife, Rebecca, was prone to taking genealogical vacations.When he asked her why she was doing this, she said she was gathering information to "fill in the dash". That is that “-” sign we have all come across in our research that denotes a lifetime spent between birth and death. What type of life did this person live?
And the way to this type of research — filling in the dash — was exactly what Kory Meyerink spoke about in his speech that evening.
Keynote speaker Kory L. Meyerink — during the opening ceremonies of this year's Ontario Genealogical Society's Conference '09 — gave the J. Richard Houston Memorial Lecture on Friday evening."It's time for genealogists to become family 'biographers' and get beyond just names, dates, and places," was how he started in his lecture, "Beyond the Begats: Developing Biographies from Paper and Digital Sources."
He said we call it family history for a reason, and the reason is - because it is not JUST genealogy!
We just don't copy down a series of dates and say, "That's it, I am finished with it now!", or at least he hopes we don't. He encourages us to write a "Family Biography", and he gave us a list of sources to check as we start our biographies.
Continue to use the traditional sources, as we all do, like census records, BMDs, etc, but go beyond them, gathering the "extra" information like local histories, military files, court and civil records, and newspapers.
He said we have to train ourselves to focus on the "what" rather than ask "why". For example, why a person migrated can be somewhat easy to find, but what did they migrate from, and what did they migrate to, can be more difficult to determine.
He also advise us to become "miners" of databases.
This term these days is becoming rather dated in Internet times, but it still applies if you are doing genealogical research.
Some of the databases he suggests in "mining" are <www.Ancestry.com> (they have over 1,400 databases of Canadian records), <www.WorldVitalRecords.com>, <www.Footnote.com>, <www.FamilySearch.org>, and <www.CollectionsCanada.gc.ca>, which includes the Canadian Genealogy Centre.
He left us with a two page bibliography, which I intend to research. I am sure that I will come across some books that will pique my interest, and I will read them - especially the books about immigration histories.
John Becker, the editor of the OGS journal, Families, tells me that this lecture will be reprinted in a future issue. Be sure to watch for it!
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