How to add weather to your family history

Today, 23 March is World Meteorological Day as proclaimed by the World Meteorological Organization. While meteorology, the science of weather and the atmosphere, may not feature in your family history it could. There are 3,165 entries in Ancestry’s Canada Voters Lists, 1935-1980 collection with occupation meteo*.

More likely of interest is the weather on a special day, birthday, graduation, marriage or a memorable extreme weather event, like the 1998 Ice Storm, or one that changed the course of someone’s life.

Historical weather data for Canada may be found starting at https://climate.weather.gc.ca/historical_data/search_historic_data_e.html

For the UK check the Daily Weather Report /Daily Weather Summary (METDLA/6/1/1) back to 1860 along with other resources at the Complete Archive from the Digital Library and Archives of the British Meteorological Office.

Internet Genealogy: Feb-Mar 2022

Here’s the table of contents for the forthcoming issue.

Crowdsourcing Revisited!
Diane L. Richard continues her look at this growing phenomena

Courting in Days Gone By
Sue Lisk looks at the courtship traditions of our ancestors

Jehus and Teamsters
David A. Norris looks at the drivers of stagecoaches, wagons, and horse cars

E-Book Review: Sources for Irish Family History 2021 edition
Joe Grandinetti reviews a new e-book for Irish sources!

A Recipe for Romance
Robbie Gorr looks at the origins of our ancestors relationships

Focus: Viewing Images from Multiple Angles
Sue Lisk provides some strategies to help identify relatives in family photos

John Galt and the Huron Tract
Christine Woodcock looks at the colonization of Canada in the early 19th century

Transforming Ancestral Photographs into Digital Art
Lisa A. Alzo offers suggestions for breathing new life into old family photographs

Three Brothers, Three Surnames
Melody Amsel-Arieli looks at how some immigrants changed their names after moving to America

The Ongoing Story of Charles Wood: Australian Lawn Bowling Champion
Gabrielle Morgan investigates the free NLA Newspaper site for more information on her ancestor in Australia

Unusual, but Useful Record Sets at FamilySearch
Karen L. Newman looks to FamilySearch for some unusual but useful record sets

NetNotes
Internet Genealogy looks at websites and related news that are sure to be of interest

Genealogy Begins with a Question!
Experts from the Allen County Public Library’s Genealogy Center offer tips based on questions they receive from visitors

Back Page: What’s in a Name?
Dave Obee Says: Plenty – and Allan vs. Allen gives more reasons to be careful

This issue will be available on 9 February. Find a preview of the longer articles here.

FreeBMD January Update

The FreeBMD Database was updated on Wednesday 12 January 2022 to contain 283,535,186 unique entries, increased from 283,149,543 at the previous update.

Years with changes of more than 10,000 records since the last update are: for births 1987, 1990-92; for marriages 1987, 1989-91; for deaths 1988-92.

If you’re new to family history or would like a refresher from the General Register Office with an emphasis on their services, check out the 24-page pdf  Discover Your Family History.

Internet Genealogy: Dec 2021 - Jan 2022

Here are the contents of the next issue, to be available on 10 December.

COVER: Who's Your Daddy: A Durham DNA Puzzle!

Michelle Dennis offers advice as well as rich resources on searching for ancestors in Durham, England.

Freedman's Savings Bank

Diane L. Richard examines these short-lived, but invaluable records for family historians.

The Winter of Their Discomfort: Coping With the Cold

Sue Lisk looks at how our ancestors coped with the cold before the dawn of the thermostat.

A Yuletide Genealogical Resource: “Dear Santa” Letters

David A. Norris looks at online newspapers and how ancestors’ letters to Santa may shine some light on their holiday wishes.

The Historical Marker Database

Jean King looks at a database project that currently holds over a half-million photos of historical markers in the US, Canada and several other countries.

Death by Waterpik, Or In Search of the Cause of Your Ancestor’s Passing

Sue Lisk looks at sources that may help in revealing the cause of death of an ancestor.

Principles of Relativity

Robbie Gorr looks at correctly identifying family relationships and connections.

Online Repository Assistant (ORA)

Diane L. Richard looks at software designed to help genealogists be more efficient, effective, and diligent with their research.

Jewish Genealogy In New York City: Discovering The Early 1900s TB Epidemic

Michael Chaplan shares his journey to learn about his grandfather’s life and death in the early 1900s.

Finding Heirs for Your Family History

Marian B. Wood looks at how to prepare a succession plan for your valuable genealogical items.

NetNotes

Internet Genealogy looks at websites and related news that are sure to be of interest.

Advice From the Pros:Truth or Troll? Surviving Speaker Evaluations

Lisa A. Alzo discusses how to survive feedback on conference evaluations.

Back Page: Check and Re-Check Your Matches!

Dave Obee says be vigilant about checking your own work, and the work of other genealogists.

Find out more, including access to preview the first page of longer articles and subscription information, at https://www.internet-genealogy.com/index.shtml

CHA gravely concerned about the continuing limits to public access

On Wednesday The Canadian Historical Association penned a statement signed by Steven High, President, and Penny Bryden, Past President, on Reduction in service at Library and Archives Canada. 

They "strongly urge the leadership of Library and Archives Canada to reconsider its decision to further limit the hours of access and, instead, work to improve accessibility for all Canadians. The announced reduction threatens the core mission of this great federal institution."

Read the full text at https://cha-shc.ca/advocacy/reduction-in-service-at-library-archives-canada-2021-10-20.htm

Call for Speakers: The Ontario Ancestors’ 2022 Webinar Series

Kim Barnsdale, OGS’s amazing Webinar Coordinator, drew this presentation opportunity, or rather opportunities, to my attention.

Ontario Ancestors is currently accepting proposals for our monthly 2022 Webinar Series. Our live webinars take place the first Thursday of the month at 7pm ET using the Zoom platform.

In addition, Ontario Ancestors is also looking for guest speakers who are interested in presenting for our new online quarterly mini-conference learning opportunities in 2022.That's the first I've heard of mimi-conferences. Kim says to stay tuned!

All submissions will be considered for both unless otherwise indicated on the submission.

Find further information and the form for sending proposals at https://ogs.on.ca/webinar-submissions/

The deadline for submissions is Thursday 30 September 2021 at 11:59 pm.

Deceased Online Adds Leicester Cemetery Records

All historic burial records from Leicester City Council's cemeteries are now available to view on www.deceasedonline.com.

The records available are for:

Belgrave Cemetery, 15,554 records, from 1881 to 2015, with 49 Commonwealth War Graves.

Gilroes Cemetery, 137,005 records, from 1902 to 2015, with 75 CWG

Saffron Hill Cemetery, 26,250 records, from 1931 to 2015, with 83 CWG

Welford Road Cemetery, 213,400 records, from 1849 to 2015, including 258 CWG.

The records comprise digital scans of all historic burial registers and computerized data for the most recent, maps showing the section in which the grave is located, and grave details for each of the graves and their occupants. Some details on register scans are masked for the last 15 years in order to comply with data protection.

In preparation for Deceased Online are 143,500 records from Gilroes Crematorium dating from 1902.

Who Do You Think Are The Top Tweeters - Update

 Here is the latest survey of top tweeters for #genealogy and #familyhistory in the past few days.

Rank	#genealogy	Count		#familyhistory	Count
1	FamilyTreeTips2	41		FamilyTreeTips2	88
2	Heirs2U	21		Heirs2U	55
3	GeneaStudies	20		CaroleParkes1	55
4	skcgs1	18		chiddickstree	45
5	chiddickstree	16		ConfKeep	41
6	sillymummyft	15		FederationFHS	37
7	GenealogyWise	15		BeyondBrickWal1	29
8	marksology	11		MarianBWood	26
9	ClioVis	11		geneastories	24
10	BgrgSeattle	11		STTBooks	23
11	BeyondBrickWal1	11		GenesBlog	23
12	MarianBWood	10		GenealogyWise	22
13	KentuckySociety	10		karendebruyne	21
14	karendebruyne	10		GeneaStudies	19
15	bonavacantia1	10		YFH_genealogy	18
16	WSGSociety	9		LynnsWPics	17
17	pennysresearch	9		HouseHistoryHr	17
18	ConfKeep	9		GenealogyBank	16
19	AmericanCousin1	9		ClioVis	16
20	CranesfootLance	8		FamilyHistoryUK	14

As previously in April, FamilyTreeTips2 retains the top spot. It promotes items from familytreetips.co.uk which appears to be out of Brighton, England. Topics on that blog are : British Research, DNA Tips, Dutch Research, Freemason Research, French Research, General Tips, German Research, Italian Research, Military Tips, Photographs, Preservation Tips, Researching on a Budget.

Remaining in second place is Heirs2U, a genealogist out of Cramlington, UK (near Newcastle Upon Tyne).

Third is chiddickstree from Paul Chiddicks, who writes a regular column for Family Tree magazine (UK). It replaces ClioVis which drops to 7th overall.

Ancestry Games

I received an email from Ancestry.ca offering a 6-month membership at 40% discount. For the complete, World Deluxe 6-month membership the offer was $77.99 Cdn SAVE 40% off $129.99,

I'd provide the link but I've been trapped before mentioning an email offer only to find out it was exclusive to the addressee!

Interestingly the offer at Ancestry.ca is $129.99 Cdn, SAVE $50.

You can often get a good price by calling and negotiating. It's part of the game. You play better if you know what's been offered to others.

Another part of the game is the terminology.  Are you a member or a subscriber? 

Member: one of the individuals composing a group

Subscriber: a person who pays to receive or access a service.

Do you feel the relationship with Ancestry is best described as a member or a subscriber?

Most people know to never let a membership/subscription renew automatically. Delete the credit card linked and soon after the expiration, you'll get a renewal offer. Sometimes if you wait a few extra days you'll get an even better offer. That's not just a game Ancestry plays. Companies know it costs a lot less to get a previous subscriber back than to get a new one.

NOTE: This is a duplicate post to that at the new blog site at www.anglocelticconnections.ca to keep the old site active with legacy posts searchable.

CEF Beechwood Burial: Alexander P. Menzies

On 14 June 1921 Alexander Pratt Menzies, age 24, was found drowned at Britannia Bay on the Ottawa River. There's little additional information on his death certificate except birth 2-10-1897 in England. Newspaper reports were that he'd been in Ottawa for 3 weeks looking for work and staying at the Union Mission.

His CWGC record indicates "Son of William Menzies, of 34, Summerfield Avenue, Queen's Park, Kilburn, London, England, and the late Emily Menzies".

There is a civil registration of birth index entry giving his mother's maiden name Powell. A baptism on 1 January 1899 at St Mary Magdalene, Hollowell Road, Islington gives parents William James and Emily Elizabeth. 

The 1906 and 1911 censuses show the family living in Winnipeg having emigrated in 1900. His father is the manager of a hardware store in 1911 earning $1,500 annually. His mother died in January 1912 in Winnipeg and a brother in August 1913 following which his father returned to England.

Alexander had enlisted in Winnipeg in April 1916 giving his date of birth 2 October 1898. His personnel file shows he served with the Young Soldiers Batallion having enlisted with the 207th, the 18th Reserve and the 44th Battalions. He had served in England and France, received a gunshot wound and was discharged in May 1919 with defective vision.

A second attestation paper dated September 1919 gives his sister Margaret of Wildwood, Manitoba as his next of kin and his address as YMCA, Main Street, Winnipeg. He was demobilized in December that year.

His service file indicated he has suffered from epilepsy. Perhaps he had a seizure while swimming?

He is buried in Sec. 29. Lots 13 and 14. West. 23 at Beechwood Cemetery, the fourth Ottawa River drowning victim among the 99 CEF burials in the cemetery.