Monday, August 11, 2014

Canadian Week in Review 11 August 2014

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.

History Week in Canada

In 1930, Canadian runner Percy Williams established a then-world record of 10:03 seconds for the 100 metres. Two years earlier, Williams won the 100 and 200 metres at the Amsterdam Olympics.

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In 1941, Britain's Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrived aboard a British battleship in Argentia, Nfld., for a meeting with U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt. The meeting resulted in the signing on August 14 of the Atlantic Charter for the “final destruction of Nazi tyranny.”

For more on the story, go to http://www.eastwaters.com/atlanticcharter.html

Social Media

Scotch Rood
Janet McLeod is a Canadian blogger who want to begin an “historical journey” through the pages of Scottish history. She wants to do it with “crowd sourcing, together (so) we can get access to original documents, academic research, life stories, and oral histories that bring these stories together”.

Eighteen alumni names complete U of S commemoration from WWI (Video) 
Seven years after the war begun, the University of Saskatchewan had 75% of the faculty, staff and students who left to serve in the First World War.

Elgin County Ontario Canada and Talbot Times Genealogy Blog
On the anniversary of the 100th year of the declaration of World War One, the Hamilton Ontario Lancaster had flown to England to join up with the only other flying Lancaster on tour in Britain.

WW I-era newsboys mark Great War anniversary in downtown Toronto (Video)
Did anyone see this? A group of men dressed in turn-of-the-century newsboy costumes drew curious glances in downtown Toronto Monday as they handed out a fictitious historical newspaper to mark the 100th anniversary of Canada's entry in the First World War.

Canada’s Parliament Turns Into Massive Light and Sound Show (Video)
To go along with the story that was in last week’s Story of the Week in the Canadian Week in Review (CWR) http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2014/08/canadian-week-in-review-04-august-2014.html

Newfoundland

Touring First World War battlefields teaches students more than any history book
Seeing their own family names written among the list of the dead on a war memorial in France brought home the reality of the First World War to Newfoundland high-school students.
They have also added the Virtual Gramophone on the Postmedia site where they put on sound recordings about First World War recollections.

Nova Scotia

Racist graffiti on Cape Breton's Fort Petrie 'an insult'`: Vandals have targeted Fort Petrie three times in a week
Fort Petrie is situated along the Sydney Harbour. It was used during both world wars as an observation post to spot U-boats, complete with gun placements and searchlights, but now it has been targeted by graffiti three times during the past week.

New Brunswick

2014 World Acadian Congress is being held in New Brunswick, Quebec and Maine
Acadian congress celebrates history across 3 borders.
You can see the celebrations at http://www.cma2014.com/fr

Ontario

The Franklin Expedition is still our coldest case
The story of the missing Arctic explorers is as much about politics as about archaeology
They are still searching – 170 years later. Marc-André Bernier and six other Parks Canada underwater archaeologists will search the cold waters of Victoria Strait in Canada’s High Arctic for the lost Franklin Expedition.

Canada’s involvement in WWI began with a telegram from Great Britain
Read how Canada really got involved in the First World War.

Internment camps a dark chapter in Canadian history
In 1914, more than 8,000 immigrants from Austria-Hungary, Germany, and the other Central Powers were rounded up and locked away in internment camps in Canada. They were imprisoned for being “enemy aliens”.

Make August Canada's Black History Month
On the 01 August 1834,Black people across the British world, and that included Canada, were set free from centuries of enslavement.

4RCR has a proud London history
The building, known as Wolseley Hall, is a Canadian National Historic Site. It was erected 1886-1888 as the first-purpose built infantry training school in Canada, designed to house and train recruits for Canada’s first permanent military force.

Manitoba

Valour Road Victoria Crosses united in Winnipeg for 1st time
All three soldiers lived on the same block of Pine Street in Winnipeg's West End. In 1925, the street was renamed Valour Road in their honour.

Saskatchewan

Saskatoon lawyer recalls Great War Tour
Anne Wallace travelled to France, Belgium to see WWI battlefields.

Alberta

Homesteading exhibit comes to Nose Creek Museum
The Nose Creek Valley Museum is hosting the Homesteading Alberta art exhibit from July 30 to Aug. 25, 2014.

New Heritage Marker Unveiled In Big Valley
On Friday, August 1, 2014 a heritage marker was placed St. Edmund’s Anglican Church at Big Valley.

Museum Open House
Canada's important military moments remembered

Anyone wanting to know which battle and war were the most formative for Canada found no shortage of competing interpretations from re-enactors and serving soldiers participating in the annual Canadian Military Heritage Museum open house.

Story of the Week

Are there really Top 10 Genealogical Websites in Canada? 

Family Tree Magazine recently published their "Best Canadian Genealogy Websites" by David A. Fryxell. 

The four sites were -

Canadiana

It noted that is a pay site, and only mentioned the division which is getting all the press lately —Héritage — in passing. Héritage is where all the good genealogical stuff is. That is where the Library and Archives Canada has chosen to park its microfilm, and the site bears watching. 

It is true that researchers will be charged a yearly fee to see the index in the future, but the microfilm, as it now, will always be free. 

But they do say in the last paragraph that “A new Héritage project, including 60 million pages of microfilm images, is free, with a premium plan in the works’’. 


If you press on Library and Archives Canada, it will take you to the old URL of the site, instead of the new address. By the way, I also pointed this out in the new Loyalists post that Ancestry.com put on Friday http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2014/08/loyalist-resources-on-ancestry.html. Apparently, it has now been fixed. Guess I have to do the same here. 

The LAC has much more than was listed. It didn’t even mention the military service records that are going to be put on.


Yes, the Nova Scotia Archives has vital records, but this only one part of the site. It also has land records, early newspapers, census, assessment rolls. No where does it mention that this is a part of the Nova Scotia Archives, and people will think that this is all there is.


This is the last site of the four Canadian websites listed, and although it does summaries it, I think they fail to mention that the years from 1621 to about 1700 is the foundation for French-Canadians. Most French-Canadian can trace their family back to this time.

So there you have it. What do you think? I think that Family Tree Magazine missed the mark on this one. 

In an attempt to create our own list, a number of Canadian bloggers have put on lists, such as - 

Ken McKinlay, in his Family Tree Knots blog at http://www.familytreeknots.blogspot.com/2014/08/top-10-other-genealogy-web-sites-2014.html, published his list last Sunday entitled, My Top 10 other Genealogy Web Sites for 2014.

On August 8 2014, Lorine McGinnis Schulze,  in her blog, The Olive Tree Genealogy at http://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/08/top-ten-canadian-genealogy-websites.html, has put her Top Ten Canadian Websites.

and

Diane Rogers, on her blog, CanadaGenealogy http://canadagenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/07/only-best-links-for-canadian-genealogy.html, writes her views entitled, Only the Best Links for Canadian #Genealogy and Family History - right here at CanadaGenealogy.

So there you have the reaction from some Canadian genealogists. Somewhere there has been a disconnect between us and the people at Family Tree Magazine

Hopefully, it will be fixed for next year, and we can look forward to reading about our best websites … and more than four, please!

Reminder: Check the Canadian Week in Review next Monday for the latest in Genealogy, Heritage, and History news in Canada. It’s the ONLY news blog of its kind in country!

The next post will be on August 18, 2014.

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Reminder: Canadian Week in Review published tomorrow morning


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


It has the most up-to-date news items covered in New/Updated Websites, History, 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.

Friday, August 8, 2014

Cats/Chats


Do you have cats?

The people at the Library and Archives Canada say that there are about 4.8 million domestic cats in Canada, averaging 2.4 per cat-owning households.

They have put some photos on Flickr called Cats/Chats.

My two favorite cats - Bella (age 5) and Charlie (age 2) agree that its a lovely display of photos!

Loyalist Resources on Ancestry

Ancestry.com has put on Loyalist Resources, written, it looks likefrom the American point of view. 

They have a short introduction, a list of records and publications at the UK and Canada, and a list of US records and publications.  

Although it was just put on 06 August 2014, they have put on the old address for Library and Archives Canada at http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/022/022-909.003-e.html and not the new address at http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/Pages/military-heritage.aspx

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Nova Scotia Paving Programme


Starting in 1934 and completed in 1938, the Nova Scotia Department of Highways undertook a major highway reconstruction project known as the Paving Programme. And I know this for a fact, that my father and his brothers* worked on this project as it made its way through the Shelburne-Jordan Falls, Shelburne County area, on the southwestern shore of Nova Scotia. 

When I took a look at the photos at the Nova Scotia Archives site, I even recognized some of the areas that they worked on, and where the paving plant was located in Jordan Falls. 

As you leaf through the scrapbook, do you also recognize the places today? Nothing has changed too much. The highways are wider than they used to be, and there are more houses. From what I understood, it was messy, hot work during that that summer of 1938, but they were happy to get the work. 

Now, nearly eighty years later, those albums have been digitized and are displayed here for Internet visitors to explore. There are 350 black-and-white images to be seen. 

The website is at http://novascotia.ca/archives/virtual/highways/


*My father was Harold Arthur Barclay, and his brothers were Perley and John Barclay of Jordan Falls, Shelburne County, Nova Scotia.

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Historical officer rank insignia reinstated

During a reception at the Canadian War Museum on August 4th, which marked the 100th anniversary of Canada’s entry into the First World War, the unveiling of the historical officer rank insignia took place. 

“The restoration of the Canadian Army’s historical identity reinforces the ties between present-day soldiers and previous generations of warriors, while celebrating our proud Army heritage. Canadian Army officers will wear these insignia knowing that they carry on a strong legacy of service, while standing strong, proud and ready for the future,” said Lieutenant-General Marquis Hainse, Commander of the Canadian Army. 

You can read about the Canadian Army at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Army

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Community. Education. Advocacy.


The Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) recently adopted these three core beliefs – Community. Education. Advocacy. 

The organization is a community of over 3,000 like-minded genealogists who believe in helping people who want assistance in finding their Ontario ancestors. 

They have 33 branches and SIGs throughout the province, and they have a top-notch website, with The Ontario Name Index (TONI), which is free to everyone to use at http://www.ogs.on.ca/toni.php.

The organization believes in education. Each branch holds free meetings you are encouraged to attend. The OGS hold an annual spring conference at various points in the province at a very reasonable price, and they offer courses through the National Institute for Genealogical Studies at a reduced rate if you are a member of the OGS. 

Over the past, the OGS has advocated the Library and Archives Canada on our behalf for the release of the 1921 Census, and the Ontario government for the restoration and registering of cemeteries within the province. Without this action, neither one would have received as much support as they did from members of the public. 

Every day, members are busy gathering information, indexing records, and planning the next conference. Editors are reading another paper to be placed in Families, keeping track of noteworthy news from all over the province to be placed in the various publications, and using these resources, another genealogical puzzle has been solved by a person who just wanted to find their Ontario ancestor. The OGS can help. 

If you have a chance, go to the OGS blog, and take a minute to view two videos that were recently taped. 

The first one is by Alan Campbell, the president of the OGS, and the second one was recorded at this year’s conference in Niagara.