Wednesday, October 5, 2011

The Leduc Genealogy Club

The Leduc Rep, the online newspaper which serves the town, has a story in it that the Leduc Genealogy Club is asking the city to preserve it's history by looking out for the cemeteries that are in the city.

the Group says that the cemeteries have trees and weeds growing out of -- in the summer, and now it is clear that the grave are stating to sick into the ground.

Read about what the city father's said when this was brought to their attention last month http://www.leducrep.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3290214

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

The Nova Scotia Archives Asks for Your Help

I recently received from the Nova Scotia Archives a notice that they have digitized a large number of old, and fragile nitrate negatives, and they need your help!

A selection of 150 negatives of "turn-of-the-last-century black-and-white photos showing Nova Scotians having fun at home and far away, including the Canadian West, Italy, Japan, maybe Russia and some places we cannot identify. Perhaps you can help us?"

They can be seen on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/nsarchives/

They are looking for details such as locations, landmarks, the identity of those photographed, the year or decade, and other pieces of information that will add useful context.

We look forward to your contributions! Tags added to the photos will be
screened by Archives staff for accuracy, and then used in the next few
months to create a permanent virtual exhibit.

Monday, October 3, 2011

New/Improved Canadian Websites and Blogs Week 5

Here are some of the websites, and blogs that I have come across the week ending Ocotber 2nd, 2011 -

Sherratt Family - From England to Canada http://sherrattfamily.com As the website says, "The main focus is on the paternal side, surname, SHERRATT dating back to the mid 1700s from Brown Edge, Norton in the Moors and Talke Pitts, Audley, Staffordshire, England to Ontario and British Columbia, and Hillcrest, Alberta area, Canada".

1837 Toronto - Home District Directory www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~onyork. You can search the surnae database of The Home District - that is the old name for the area - and it covers not only York County but also much of Simcoe, Peel and Ontario (now Durham) Counties.

Canadian Great War Project www.canadiangreatwarproject.com The website says that this site is "The Canadian Great War Project is intended to promote interest in Canada's participation in World War 1, commonly referred to as the Great War, to research the Canadians who participated in the Great War 1914-1919 or other nationalities who served in the CEF".

Provincial government has legislated Sept. 28 as British Home Child Day www.innisfilscope.com/news/2011-09-28/Front_Page/KIDS_Up_to_70000_children_settled_in_Ontario.html A news story about the British Home Children, and how they served in the First World War.

Eagle River Ontario Historical Image Gallery www.spruce.ca/eagleriverpic/gallery The Eagle River Ontario Historic Gallery has a collection of images and other items from the early settlers and their families of the Eagle River area.

Kahn Family Genealogy:A History http://kahngenealogy.wordpress.com "This is about the history of our line of the Kahn family. Our roots are in Germany, but branches spread to Luxembourg, France, England, Canada, the USA and, perhaps, elsewhere. "

The Forest City: A look at the history and genealogy of London, Ontario www.forestcity.blogspot.com I came across this blog the other day, and what a nice blog it is about the history of London, Ontario.

Updates – The Canada Gazette (1841-1997) www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/canada-gazette/index-e.html As the website says, the "Library and Archives Canada (LAC) commemorates the 170th anniversary of the Canada Gazette by making accessible the digitized back issues, from 1841 to 1997, on its website dedicated to this official publication."
I wrote about this site on Saturday http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2011/10/update-canada-gazette-1841-1997.html, and gave examples of genealogy you can find within The Canada Gazette.

Durham Genealogical Resources www.durhamgen.com The website says that they are starting to digitize all the cemeteries in the area, and you are advised to check back often.

Upper Canada Genealogy www.uppercanadagenealogy.com/index.html A commercial site offering research services by Janice Nickerson, as well as some free Upper Canada resources. She also has a new book, Crime and Punishment in Upper Canada: A Researcher's Guide. $

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Update - FamilySearch Records

The monthly figure has just been released from FamilySearch.org for the Saskatchewan Provincial Records, 1879-1987.

Currently, there are 192,459 records browsable, with another 13,864 has just been added. The website is https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/show#uri=http://hr-search-api:8080/searchapi/search/collection/1916143

The website says that the "Various documents housed in the Provincial Archives of Saskatchewan, including homesteads, voter lists, pioneer questionnaires, biographies, military and municipal records, teacher registries, township registers, and Henderson Directories. This collection is being published as images become available".

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Update – The Canada Gazette (1841-1997)

This past Monday (September 26th), the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) commemorated the 170th anniversary of the Canada Gazette by making accessible the digitized back issues of this official publication at www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/canada-gazette.

A Nation's Chronicle: The Canada Gazette is also available at www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/canada-gazette/index-e.html

The press release says that it is often referred to as “the official newspaper of the Government of Canada.”

The database is searchable by keywords (for example – keywords such as divorce, immigration, and naturalization), and not by a person's name.

For example, from 1867 to 1968, the website says that "a person wishing to obtain a divorce was first required to place a notice of intent to petition the government for an Act of Divorce in the Canada Gazette and in two newspapers in the district or county where the petitioner resided. It was to appear for a six-month period".

An explanation of the Divorce Laws in Canada is given at www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/022/022-906.008-e.html

Here is a sample of the divorce records found in the Canada Gazette -

"NOTICE is hereby given that Dame Beatrice Evelyn Tutill, housewife, of the City and District of Montreal, in the Province of Quebec, wife of Walter Joseph Bobineky, taxi driver, of the City of Montreal and District of Montreal, in the Province of Quebec, will apply to the Parliament of Canada, at the next or following session thereof, for a bill of divorce from her husband, the said Walter Joseph Bobinsky, on the ground of adultery.
Dated at Montreal, in the Province of Quebec, this 9th day of July, 1947.
N.W. JACOBS,
Solicitor for the Applicant"

Source: A Nation's Chronicle: The Canada Gazette, Library and Archives Canada. APPLICATIONS FOR DIVORCE Part I (1947-1997), volume 81, number 30, 26 July 1947, p. 7

Information about Immigration and Citizenship at the Library and Archives Canada is at
www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-908.011-e.html

An example from the Canada Gazette is -
Vanderveen, Clarence- certificate of naturalisation No. 72000, series A, granted at Ottawa, Ontario, on July 28, 1930.

Source: A Nation's Chronicle: The Canada Gazette, Library and Archives. Canada DEPARTMENT OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE OF CANADA,THE CANADIAN Citizenship ACT Part I (1947-1997), volume 83, number 29, 16 July 1949, p. 4

Friday, September 30, 2011

The National Holocaust Monument

Canada is going to erect The National Holocaust Monument in the National Capitol Region (Ottawa-Gatineau) of Canada. .

Although construction has yet to start on the Monument, as the press release says “it will bring Canadians of all faiths together to remember the millions of innocent men, women and children counted among its victims. The Monument will help ensure the memory of the Holocaust is never lost. The hope is that by teaching current and future generations of Canadians the roots and causes of this atrocity, future acts of genocide will be prevented”.

Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research in Canada http://www.holocausttaskforce.org/memberstates/member-canada.html

The Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre http://www.mhmc.ca/en

The Vancouver Holocaust Centre Society http://vhec.org/index.html

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Holy Cross Roman Catholic, Halifax, Nova Scotia

The ChronicleHerald.ca, an online newspaper http://thechronicleherald.ca/HCW/1265125.html, has a story in the paper about Halifax’s oldest Roman Catholic cemetery.

The story says “Five years ago, Holy Cross, which is a final resting place for 25,000 people, had reached a state of disrepair. Many of the 2,500 tombstones near the corner of South and South Parks streets had been toppled and broken as a result of vandalism, weathering and neglect. In addition, the cemetery’s 150-year-old chapel was crumbling”.

The cemetery had been established in 1843.

The project was helped by the Charitable Irish Society of Halifax and An Cumann, a non-profit Irish association.

Holy Cross Cemetery Trust http://www.holycrosscemeteryhalifax.ca/history/index.html A volunteer organization which has worked over the past years to restore Holy Cross Cemetery and its historical Chapel, started and completed on the 31st of August, 1843 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Find a Grave http://www.findagrave.com/php/famous.php?page=cem&FScemeteryid=639382 There are two records on this site – the burial of Charles Robertson, and Sir John Sparrow David Thompson.