Thursday, August 21, 2014

Do You Read Blogs?

Every week, the editors of The Weekly Genealogist—published by the New England Historic Genealogical Society—take a survey, and last week they asked their readers - “How many genealogy blogs do you follow?”

And the answers were quite interesting, as 53 % said that they did not read blogs at all, while only 3% said that they read 10 or more. I would say that I am in the latter category! 

But it goes along with what I have said for the past year or so. People just do not read blogs, but those that do read blogs – read them religiously. It seems that people who write blogs (like me) read them, too. 

So, do you read blogs? How do you keep up with the genealogy news? Maybe there aren't any news to keep up with, or do you prefer podcasts or Google Hangouts on Air rather than blogs? 

To read the rest of the survey, go to http://www.americanancestors.org/wg-vol-17-no-34/#6

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Ontario Genealogical Society Branch Facebook Pages

The Ontario Genealogical Society is made up of 33 branches and SIGs, and besides their web pages, many of them also have their own Facebook pages so that they can keep in touch with members and non-members alike.

The Facebook pages are -

Bruce & Grey Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society Facebook 

Elgin County Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society Facebook

Essex County Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society Facebook 

Halton-Peel Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/HaltonPeelBranchOGS?fref=ts 

Hamilton Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/groups/523462191101234/?fref=ts 

Huron County Branch, Genealogical Society Facebook 

Kent Branch Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society Facebook

Niagara Peninsula Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society Facebook 

Ottawa Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society Facebook 

Perth County Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society Facebook 
https://www.facebook.com/PerthCountyBranchOGS?fref=ts

Quinte Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/QuinteBranch.OGS?fref=ts

Sudbury Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society Facebook 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/sudburyogs/?fref=ts

Toronto Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society Facebook 

Wellington County Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society Facebook 

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry is on Flickr


Did you know this - that the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry is one of three Permanent Force infantry regiments of the Canadian Army? And that it is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year!

The Library and Archives Canada has 40 photos on Flickr and so far, there have been 397 views. 


Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Patricia's_Canadian_Light_Infantry 

PPCLI history is at http://www.ppcli.com/ 

PPCLI Association is at http://www.ppcliassoc.ca/

Monday, August 18, 2014

Canadian Week in Review - 18 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 1896, the discovery of gold in the Rabbit Creek, a tributary of the Yukon's Klondike River, led to the Klondike Gold Rush. After news of the strike reached the outside world, thousands of miners poured into the territory – especially from the United States. It's estimated more than $100 million in gold was recovered in the region during the next eight years.

Go to http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/klondike-gold-rush/
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On August 10th, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell made the first long-distance call from his home in Brantford to his assistant in Paris, Ontario. A call had been previously been made seven days earlier by the first telephone call from one building to another between Bell and his uncle.

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In 1882, the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada merged with the Great Western Railway. The merger was the result of financial difficulties and American competition.

To read more, please go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Trunk_Western_Railroad
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In August 1904, Ford of Canada began building cars in a converted wagon works in Walkerville, near Windsor, Ont. The 17 men who worked there, assembled a total of 114 cars in the first year.

To read more about the history of the Ford Motor Company of Canada, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Motor_Company_of_Canada

Social Media

Vote "Like"' for your favourite site!
   It has been since this past Thursday that this GenealogyCanada blog first appeared on County-Clerks.com, a new American website, as having been nominated as one of the top 200 websites/blogs!
   Since then, we have bounced between 14th and 3rd place, so we still need help.
   You have until September 30th to vote, and you can vote for your favourite website or blog by going to http://www.county-clerks.com/genealogy-blog. (Note: The URLs for these websites and blogs are given, but they are not yet hyper-linked.)
   Vote now, and vote often, for your favourite website or blog!

(VIDEO) Historic church moved for highway
The 150-year-old Tryon United Baptist Church in P.E.I. is being moved as the province realigns the Trans-Canada Highway.

(VIDEO) Declining Newfoundland pony bred on P.E.I.
Darlene Ulvstal grew up on Newfoundland with the special ponies there, and now she is doing what she can to save the dying breed.

(Video) The First World War: Excerpts from the diary of Woodman Leonard
Read excerpts from Woodman Leonard’s diary as he fought in the battles of Ypres, The Somme, and Vimy Ridge.

Newfoundland

Site of shipwreck deep in family history for Marystown man
A Marystown man paid a visit to the steep cliffs of Friday's Cove, where his grandfather narrowly escaped death because of a shipwreck 91 years ago.

Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia sitting on $4M in unclaimed estates
Public trustee scans Christmas cards, records looking for long-lost relatives.

Nova Scotia's stunning waters
Read an Australian writer\s first impressions of Nova Scotia as he tours the province.

Blast from the past: A look back at Kings County's history
Read what happened 25, 50, and 75 years ago in Kings County, Nova Scotia.

Black Loyalist Heritage Centre in Birchtown nears completion
The centre in Birchtown, near Shelburne, Nova Scotia, will the first of its kind in North America. It will present the black Loyalists’ journey as they fled revolutionary America to British Nova Scotia to build a better life during the 1780s.

Heritage Trust withdraws Nova Centre court challenge
A prominent heritage group is not going ahead with a court challenge over the construction of the Nova Centre in downtown Halifax.

Nova Scotia sitting on $4M in unclaimed estates
Public trustee scans Christmas cards, records looking for long-lost relatives.

Ontario

Your marching orders for August
Explore Fort St. Joseph, a national historic site located at the southern-most point of picturesque St. Joseph Island.

Ferris-wheel highs and nauseating lows from 135 years of "The Ex"
A history of Toronto's Canadian National Exhibition – nicknamed "The Ex" – in pictures and text.

Saskatchewan

Cree language camp at Wanuskewin Heritage Park teaches culture too
The camp celebrates its 10th anniversary.

British Columbia

A dark past unearthed
Some 8,500 Canadians, many naturalized citizens, were taken to one of the 24 internment camps across Canada, including a large one in Vernon that ran from 1914-1920. Another 88,000 Canadians were forced to register and report on a monthly basis to officials.

Story of the Week


National Acadian Day


August 15th was National Acadian Day in Canada.

As the Acadian Affairs Minister of Nova Scotia, Michel Samson, said, "National Acadian Day is a time for all Nova Scotians to experience the vitality of life that the Acadian and francophone community brings to the province."

Communities across the province are raising the Acadian flag for its 130th anniversary.

And the celebration continues.

There is the ExpoMONDE, an international showcase of the Congrès mondial acadien 2014, from Aug. 14-23 in Grand Falls, N.B.

More than 15 organizations that specialize in Acadian and francophone genealogy and history expect to greet thousands of people from around the world.

"For generations, the stories and traditions of the Acadian people of Nova Scotia have been enhanced by the many francophones from New Brunswick, Quebec, Louisiana, France, Africa, and many other parts of the world that have chosen to join communities throughout the province," said Mr. Samson. "I thank all of the organizations and volunteers at the genealogy pavilion in Grand-Falls for helping people from around the world to learn about their Acadian roots, many whose lineage began here in Nova Scotia."

To view the presentation schedule at the Genealogy Pavilion, visit http://cma2014.com/images/programmation/Pavillon_Genealogie_Presentations.pdf 

For more information about the Congrès mondial acadien 2014, go to http://www.cma2014.com/en

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 25, 2014.

Sunday, August 17, 2014

Reminder: 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 most up-to-date news items covered History Week in Canada, 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.

An Act of Remembrance: World War I Publicity Posters at the Nova Scotia Archives



Credit: Library and Archives Canada, Acc. No. 1983-28-826 Copyright: Expired 

Before the advent of the radio, television, and the Internet, newspapers and posters were the way that people got their news. 

During the First World War, colorful posters were produced, and soon appeared everywhere that people would see them.

At first, they were produced as a "call to action" by the government to encourage people to enlist, as 620,000 people eventually did, and then to build ‘public support for war industries, food production, and the sale of war or 'Victory' savings bonds. 

The Nova Scotia Archives say that this will be the first in a series of “online exhibits to be developed by the Nova Scotia Archives over the next four years, to commemorate the province's contribution to and losses sustained in 'The War to End All Wars'”. 

To see the posters, go to http://novascotia.ca/archives/virtual/warposters/

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Families - August 2014


The  August 2014 edition of Families, the journal of the Ontario Genealogical Society, has just been published, and there are six articles in this issue.

The first prize in the Keffer Writing Contest this year goes to H. Nancy Holder and her article entitled, Who was Hannah FOSTER?

We find out that the author is from Arkansas, and that much to her surprise, she discovered that her great-grandmother was from Ontario!

This year's winner of the 2014 Mike Brede Genealogical Essay Prize was Chelsea H. Meloche, a graduate student at the University of Waterloo, for her winning essay, Genealogy in the Digital Age: A Beginner’s Commentary.

She wrote this article as a “newbie” who got caught up in the merry-go-round of online databases, and she wondered how new researchers will do in this world of instant genealogy. 

For Mom: With Love and Memories by Marianne Perry is the story of her family’s Italian heritage. The author has made two genealogical research trips to southern Italy, and writes about her Calabrian-Sicilian ancestry, and the new lives of her immigrant ancestors in Toronto and Ottawa. 

How a Toronto Bookbindery Girl Named Lizzie Wyllie Became a National News Headline in 1892 by Richard Deuel is a genealogical  mystery about Lizzie Wyllie, whose family migrated to the Michigan area from Bowmanville, Ontario in the late 1800s, and her supposed suicide which took place in San Diego.

The Petawawa Plains Land Clearances by Robb Gore is a piece about land clearances and the forced eviction of settlers by the Canadian government for the building of a training center in preparation for the First World War. The training centre eventually became Canadian Forces Base Petawawa, as it is today.

And the issue is completed with June Coxon's Family Stories, recollections about her mother growing up in Toronto in the early 1900s.

If you wish to become a member so that you can receive Families, along other benefits, please visit http://www.ogs.on.ca/become_a_member.php