Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Fort Howe – Fort-Howe on Flickr

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

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

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

Over 200 people have viewed Flickr already. 

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Canadian Week in Review


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

It has the latest news covered in New/Updated Websites, Social Media, and Newspaper Articles. 

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

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

Saturday, April 5, 2014

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Friday, April 4, 2014

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

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

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

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

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

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

The event is free to everyone. 

Thursday, April 3, 2014

LAC to outsource national catalogue

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


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

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

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



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

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

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

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

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

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


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

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

They have produced a short video at the MyHeritage blog