News of The Opening: How to do it. Why not at LAC, AO and others?

Here's the first paragraphs from the informative July Newsletter from the National Library of Scotland

"We hope to welcome you back soon

We are planning to open our reading rooms on a pre-booked basis at our George IV Bridge and Causewayside buildings from Tuesday 11 August. This is in line with the Scottish Government’s route map for reopening services following the COVID-19 lockdown.

We anticipate that we will open the Library at Kelvin Hall, Glasgow on Tuesday 15 September.

As your safety is our main concern, we will be offering a limited service in the first phase of our reopening. Equally, if the situation changes beyond our control, we will of course delay reopening in line with the latest government advice."

Simple, informative.

Why not the same type of information from Library and Archives Canada? On its website, the latest information is from 28 May. Has nothing happened in 45 days?

Why not the same type of information from the Archives of Ontario? On its website the undated information is "Following the guidance of public health and government authorities on the evolving COVID-19 situation, the Archives of Ontario in-person services will be closed until further notice."

Why not the same type of information from the City of Ottawa Archives? The best it can manage is a link to a general city COVID-19 site which has no reference to the Archives. The City of Toronto Archives website is equally uninformative.

The same goes for the museums in the Ottawa  Museum Network with the sole exception of the Diefenbunker.

While nobody wants the facilities we use to open without safety as an overriding concern, for staff and clients, the lack of information makes it appear those organizations are satisfied to not move to institute the type of measures we see at commercial and other facilities so that as much of the full range of services as possible can be provided.

If other organizations are opening up on a new (and hopefully temporarily modified) basis, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Ingenium museums, the British Library and the UK National Archives why no up to date information from our archival organizations?

UPDATE:

The following was posted by the City of Ottawa Archives this morning

COVID-19 Update
The highest priority of the City of Ottawa Archives is the safety and well-being of our visitors, volunteers, and our staff. Consistent with Ottawa Public Health guidance related to the spread of COVID-19, we are closed until September 7. As the City begins a phased reopening, more details will be provided as services resume.

The Week's Online Genealogy Events

Choose from online events in the next four days. All times at ET.

Tuesday 14 July, 2 pm: Virtual Genealogy Drop-In, from OGS Ottawa Branch and The Ottawa Public Library. Join here.

Tuesday, 14 July, 2 pm: Connecting the Dots – Introduction to Auto Clusters at MyHeritageDNA by Paul Woodbury. Legacy Family Tree Webinars, Register here.

Wednesday, 15 July, 11 am: The British in India, by Paul Nixon.  www.facebook.com/findmypast

Wednesday, 15 July, 2 pm: On the Record Trail of My LDS Immigrant Ancestor by Sunny Morton:  Legacy Family Tree Webinars. Register here.

Wednesday 15 July, 7:30 pm: Treasures and The Truth: Vlogging to Record Family
by Lianne Kruger (BIFHSGO). Find out more and register at https://bifhsgo.ca/eventListings.php?nm=127#er532

Thursday 16 July, 10 pm: Royalty in Family History and Society by Michelle Patient and Fiona Brooker, via Ancestry from Australia on Facebook.

Friday 10 June, 11 am: Friday's Live, with Ellie (FMP) www.facebook.com/findmypast

Advance Notice

The first Family Tree Academy: Weekend Conference, in association with FamilySearch, will be taking place right here 24 to 26 July 2020. The free web-based live family history learning experience will comprise of video guides, discussion panels, and downloadable handouts.

Keep updated on Conference news… sign up to receive free email alerts.

Questions for Discussion

Sharing is a valuable aspect of researching our family history. We can learn a lot from other's experiences. These days groups getting together online provides an opportunity to get to know people we might not otherwise speak to. After the introductions, the conversation can often benefit from a stimulus. Here are some topics that might help.

What remarkable thing did someone in your family tree do?

What well-known person is there in your FAN club?

What's the story of a person in your family tree who died in a disaster?

What's the story of someone in your family tree who died in a war?

Tell us about the most long-lived person in your family tree.

On what day of the week were you (a parent or grandparent) born?  What was the phase of the moon? What was the weather like that day? How prosperous was the economy? What was the community like? If you don't know how would you find out?

What was happening in the world on the day you (a parent or grandparent) were born? If you don't know how would you find out?

What role did weather play in your family history?

What are the major news events that happened during your life that you remember where you were when you heard about them? What were those events for your parents and grandparents?

Tell us about a pleasant surprise you had researching your family history?

How did you handle it when you found out about a less than honourable event in an ancestor's life?

Ancestry vs Findmypast vs MyHeritage, which and why?

How has genetic genealogy helped your family history investigations?

Is genealogy software passé?

Citations, who really cares?

Is genealogy a vain attempt at immortality?


If you have other suggestions please leave a comment.

Wednesday BIFHSGO Event: Treasures and The Truth: Vlogging to Record Family

Everyone is welcome. on Wednesday, 15 July at 7:30 pm for a Zoom event. Advance registration required.

Treasures and The Truth: Vlogging to Record Family
with Lianne Kruger

Do you have family treasures that have been handed down through the generations and you have them now? Do you like them? Do your children like them? Do you have room for them? Do you want them out of the house as soon as possible but you can't just throw them away because there are too many memories. Do you want to record history of houses or areas the family has lived? Have you written a family history and realized that no one wants to read it? This session will discuss ways to record these items and history so that future generations will know their family history in a way the next generation will enjoy, through pictures and video.

About the Speaker
Lianne Kruger began genealogy as a youth on family trips to relatives and graveyards; continued as a teenager at the Family Hsitory Library in front of a microfilm reader with a list of names to look for; and as a young mother researching her paternal line back to the first European landowner of Canada. She volunteers with Alberta Genealogical Society, Ancestry.ca advisory board and mitoYDNA.

Find out more and register at https://bifhsgo.ca/eventListings.php?nm=127#er532

Quinte Branch OGS adds new records to Finding Aid free online

Quinte Branch celebrates its 40th anniversary as a branch of Ontario Ancestors, by updating its free online Finding Aid with over 166,000 new records. The total is now over 1,516,000 thanks to the incorporation of a number of major historical works and genealogical transcripts — and the efforts of volunteer indexers.

The database covering the whole Quinte Region including Hastings, Prince Edward and part of Northumberland counties.

Search the names index here.

Disappointing Update from the Archives of Ontario

The OGS eWeekly for 11 July included news from the Archives of Ontario by Jay Young, Outreach Officer.

Regarding reopening of the physical facility:

Although a re-opening date is not set, we have been working proactively on a plan for returning to the AO. For instance, renovations are underway at our public facility to ensure the safety of staff and visitors.

The lack of even a tentative date for reopening is disappointing. How is working proactively different from just working? Why is reopening an archive building, where an appointment system could be put in place to limited crowding, any more difficult than opening a hairdresser, dentist or store?

Regarding digitization:

Since most staff do not have access to original records, digitization of our collections is not currently possible.

Why could staff that could safely have access not be involved in digitization?

AO has a poor record in digitizing legacy records except for "exhibition" type images. When will AO realize it must change the way it does business — understanding that mass digitization will relieve problems with safe access at the physical facility leading to a more equitable service across the province and beyond? It will also save emissions of climate change inducing greenhouse gasses from transportation as people must presently travel to the site at York University to access materials.

Sunday Sundries

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

Red Tape in the Archives
A LAC blog post by Leah Sander.

How to clean up Google Chrome when it’s slow

The Harper's Letter on Justice and Open Debate
We need to preserve the possibility of good-faith disagreement without dire professional consequences.

More progress needed on COVID-19
Ontario reports about 10 new cases per day per million population. A seven day average of one new case per million per day is the level at which the outbreak could be considered under control according to this UK expert report. That was the situation in Ontario in the second week of March.

OPL Tech Cafe: Tech Café : Connecting With Friends and Coworkers Using Your iPhone or iPad
Monday 13 July, 2020 at 10:00am

LATE ADDITION

British Podcast Awards Nominations

And the Winner is

Centre for the History of the Emotions · The Sound of Anger

Thanks to this week's contributors: Anonymous, Bob Dawes, Derrick Johnstone, Glenn W., Karen Prytula, Sophronia, Teresa, Tony Buttler, Unknown, Wayne Shepheard

Family Tree Magazine: August 2020

Wayne Shepheard emailed to let me know about his latest article published in the UK Family Tree magazine.

In 7-pages, with lots of illustrations, he "investigates the significance of castles in the world of our Early Medieval ancestors, exploring their rise and demise, and providing hints to help you trace your family connections."

If you associate Wayne and climate you won't be surprised that he makes a connection to the Little Ice Age and The centuries-long Medieval Warm Period!

Also in this issue:

- The Family Historian’s Guide to Maps – find new online map collections to research from home and explore your ancestors’ worlds

- Research the 1939 Register in-depth – learn how to find new clues from this awesome wartime ‘census’ in the Academy family history training module this issue

- VJ Day remembered – reflecting on the end of the Second World War in Japan 75 years ago, and our ancestors rebuilding their lives in a post-war world

- Improve your research skills – Learn why you should always check the originals. Discover the genealogical gems you may uncover when you take the time to look at original documents

- Reader house history story – A murderer and a fraudster hanged for his crimes were just two of the characters uncovered in this true tale research

- How to use newspapers for local history – a mini guide for swift research results.

Findmypast Additions This Week

Yorkshire Monumental Inscriptions
This exclusive transcript collection with some memorial images has been enhanced with over 25,000 additions from 48 Yorkshire parishes.

Yorkshire Riding	Place	Year from	Year to	Record count
North	Aldwark	1857	1992	96
North	Gate Helmsley	1742	1998	255
North	Hovingham	1680	1989	369
North	Hovingham Cemetery	1829	1992	451
North	Murton	1669	1992	136
North	Myton on Swale	1735	1992	165
North	Nether Poppleton	1651	1992	493
North	Osbaldwick	1645	1992	492
North	Overton	1762	1962	220
North	Sand Hutton	1731	1999	330
North	Saxton in Elmet	1461	1993	522
North	Shipton by Beningbrough	1850	1992	381
North	Slingsby	1731	1991	460
North	St James Murton	1908	1908	1
North	Terrington	1514	1989	406
North	Upper Poppleton	1809	2000	566
North	Whenby	1813	1992	71
West	Blackley, Baptist	1791	1987	1,970
West	Copley, St Stephen	1867	1993	484
West	Eastwood, Congregational	1616	1991	653
West	Elland, Huddersfield Road Wesleyan Methodist	1807	1891	138
West	Elland, Providence Congregational	1821	1899	170
West	Halifax, All Souls, Boothtown	1833	1997	3,950
West	Halifax, Illingworth Moor Methodist Chapel	1804	2006	3,266
West	Halifax, Luddenden Dean Methodist Chapel	1811	1985	745
West	Halifax, Salem	1779	1969	1,237
West	Halifax, Society of Friends	1672	1894	254
West	Halifax, South Parade	1781	1916	1,746
West	Hedbden Bridge, Cross Lanes	1843	1966	394
West	Hebden Bridge, Ebenezer Chapel	1785	1864	186
West	Hebden Bridge, St James the Great	1835	2004	1,638
West	Hipperholme	1841	1870	24
West	Holywell Green, Stainland and H. Green United Reformed	1834	2000	1,429
West	Lightcliffe, Mount Zion Chapel	1853	1907	49
West	Loftus	1487	1905	327
West	Luddenden, Ebenezer	1822	1976	283
Ainsty & City of York	Acaster Malbis	1420	2009	344
Ainsty & City of York	Healaugh	1698	1995	346
Ainsty & City of York	Hessay	1900	1994	47

Derbyshire Deaths and Burials
The addition of  61,838 transcript records from seven parishes brings this collection to 167,231 records. Additions are:

Place	Year from	Year to	Record count
Belper Cemetery	1859	1889	8,135
Brimington Cemetery	1878	1994	7,279
Buxton Cemetery	1896	2011	7,513
Crosshill, Condor & loscoe Cemetery	1876	1994	5,377
Glossop Cemetery	1859	2011	31,086
Hope Cemetery	1835	2017	1,947
New Mills, Thornsett Cemetery	1994	2011	501

National School Admission Registers & Log-Books 1870-1914
Admission records from two Kent schools: Stone, The Brent School (1894-1920) and; St Mary Cray, St Mary Cray School (1867- 1920) add to this exclusive collection of over seven million records from 41 counties in England and Wales.

Findmypast also announces the addition of civil registration records from FamilySearch for Peru, Lima, Births (1874-1996), Marriages (1874-1996), and Deaths (1874-1996); and a major FMP app update allowing record searching.

TheGenealogist releases Battle of Britain RAF Operations Record Books

To mark the 80th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Britain (10 July 1940 - 31 October 1940)  TheGenealogist is releasing over 2 million new RAF records. These records not only cover this important fight for Britain’s survival but also encompass all of the Second World War period for a number of squadrons. This release brings the total Operations Record Books (ORBs) records to 3.7 million, part of TheGenealogist’s extensive Military records collection.

The ORBs are fully searchable by name, aircraft, location and many other fields. Find out more in TheGenealogist's extensive blog post here.

Odds and Ends

This Saturday — Scottish Indexes virtual conference  — www.scottishindexes.com/default.aspx

MyHeritage makes worldwide birth records free — 10-16 July  —www.myheritage.com/research/category-2010/birth-records

National Records of Scotland Annual Business Plan 2020-2021 —www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files//about-us/nrs-annual-business-plan-2020-21.pdf

Progress on Handwritten Text Recognition — https://today.uconn.edu/2020/07/uconn-library-school-engineering-expand-handwritten-text-recognition/.

Ian Wilson and Leslie Weir on Library and Archives Canada

Nigel Beale interviews:

Ian Wilson on Arthur Doughty & his monumental publishing achievement
"On the merger between Library and Archives, about Canada's great Dominion Archivist Arthur Doughty and Canada and its Provinces his monumental, under-appreciated nation-building publishing project, and about the essential role Library and Archives Canada plays, or doesn't play, in cultivating a distinctive national Canadian identity."

Leslie Weir on a brand new Library & Archives Canada
On the merging of Library and Archives, the mandate of LAC, federal government departmental libraries, the Library of Parliament, budgets, acquisitions, fundraising and the new LAC Foundation, author archives, Michael Ondaatje, exhibitions, the new LAC building, partnerships, Access to Information requests, the white diamond building, legal deposit, the Internet, Dominion Archivist Arthur Doughty, gold claims, book collecting culture, Pierre Berton, Kay Lamb, and Winston Churchill.

The interview with Ian Wilson is much more successful than that with Leslie Weir who was only 7 months into the position, just before the pandemic. Nigel Beale came to the latter interview with an agenda instead of listening and learning as in the Ian Wilson interview.

Curiosities of Ancestry's Ontario Death Collection

Searching Ancestry's database Ontario, Canada, Deaths, 1826-1938 year-by-year yielded the data for the blue line in the graph.

The red line is from data in Province of Ontario - Vital Statistics available in annual reports at the Internet Archive - https://archive.org/details/ontariovitalstats.

Why overall does Ancestry have 10.7% more records than in the official record from which it's derived?

The two records track closely until 1900 except for 1889-91 — 1890 was an influenza year.

Through the first decade of the 20th-century Ancestry's database grows, 25% more entries than the official record in 1910, 37% larger in 1914, remaining nearly 30% larger until 1920.

There are two unusual peak death years in the Ancestry database in 1929 and 1944. The latter is likely the result of including overseas war deaths of Ontario servicemen and servicewomen.

It's unusual to find people named in Ontario's annual report of births, marriages and deaths; 1880 is an exception where the following list of centenarians who died is included on page 60.

In only 9 of the 29 could I confidently identify them in the 1871 census where on average they were born 3.5 years later than would be implied by the death information.

Journal of One Name Studies: July - September 2020

Two articles by Canadians feature in the new issue of Journal of One-Name Studies.
Some Perils of Online Databases by Wayne Shepheard, who tackles how to handle transcription and other errors twixt document and online database.
A Comedy of Names by Fraser Dunford, shows the confusion arising when combining a switch of forenames with an error in the original document.

Other main articles are;

The Origin(s) of the Surname Turbott in Ireland by Garth John Turbott
Mr Blix: A Norwegian Engineer in Western Australia and his Photo Album by Edwina Shooter
Measuring Social Change by Surname Analysis: The Tarascan Model by Joel Thurtell, the kind of analysis that keeps me interested in the Guild. Sadly, has some editorial problems.
The Dunsfords of Bradninch and York: A Tale of the Unexpected by Robert Dunsford
Completing the Challenge by Melody McKay Burton
On the Wrong Side of the Law Seminar Report by Alison Boulton
The Pyne families of Somerset: a brief ‘One-Name’ survey by Jeremy Pyne

https://one-name.org/

Lesley Anderson: Secrets and Shenanigans: How DNA helped solve a family mystery

This Saturday, 11 July at 1 pm is an opportunity to attend a Quebec Family History Society Zoom event with Lesley Anderson presenting one of the most fascinating presentations I've heard in the past couple of years.

Secrets and Shenanigans: How DNA helped solve a family mystery is the story of unravelling the origins of an adoptee.

Sign up to receive an invitation by email to qfhs@bellnet.ca

Also free on Zoom from QFHS:

On Friday, 17 July  at 1 pm,  a QFHS Genealogy Question & Answer Session 

On Monday, 20 July at 7 pm, Gary Schroder will present How to Research Wills in England and Wales

Curiosities of Ancestry's Ontario Marriage Collection

Searching Ancestry's database Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1826-1938 year-by-year yielded the data for the blue line in the graph.

The red line is from data in Province of Ontario - Vital Statistics available in annual reports at the Internet Archive - https://archive.org/details/ontariovitalstats.


Why averaged over the length of the records does Ancestry have more records than in the official record from which it's derived?

For the period after 1900 Ancestry is counting the number of marriage partners whereas the official record is the number of marriage events. The curious bump to over 100,000 marriage records on Ancestry for 1911 is unexplained. Any suggestions?

Ancestry includes records from two sources prior to 1900 both of which go back to the official Registrations of Marriages (MS 932). Combined with the difference in counting individuals rather than events accounts for the approximately 4 times as many marriage records as the official count.

As early as 1880 the annual report was praising the clergy for their diligence in reporting marriages, although it isn't clear if this extended to all denominations.

A curiosity in the 1877 report:

The oldest man married in 1877 in Ontario was 88 years; his wife was only 48, there being the extraordinary difference of 40 years between the two. Two youths entered wedlock at the early age of 17 years. They married girls of 17 and 20 respectively. Six girls of 14 married youths from 17 to 20, and 32 girls married at fifteen.

Not in Ancestry's Ontario Birth Collection?

Searching Ancestry's database Ontario, Canada Births, 1858-1913 year-by-year yielded the data for the blue line in the graph.
The red line is from data in Province of Ontario - Vital Statistics available in annual reports at the Internet Archive - https://archive.org/details/ontariovitalstats.

Why does Ancestry have more records than in the official record from which it's derived?

You might think delayed registrations account for the difference. A study Incomplete Registration of Births in Civil Systems: The Example of Ontario, Canada,1900- 1960, by  George Emery estimated that registrations missed 14.1% of births in 1900, declining to 10.1% in 1915 and 2.7% in 1930. The cause was delayed registrations combined with those never registered.
Ancestry's source information for its collection references delayed registrations, but only from sources up to 1913. Emery's study indicates delayed registrations were largely motivated by subsequent events, such as benefits requiring proof of age.
That would explain missing birth entries, not why Ancestrywould have more events for every year. Could it be duplicate entries for the same event when patrons submit alternate information such as spelling variants?
Maybe OGS could advocate for the release to Ancestry, and others, of the delayed registrations for births to 1913.
A tip of the hat to Ken McKinlay for pointing to the Emery article.

The Week's Online Genealogy Events

Choose from online events in the next four days. All times at ET.

Tuesday 7 July, 2 pm: Virtual Genealogy Drop-In, from OGS Ottawa Branch and The Ottawa Public Library. Join here.

Wednesday 8 July, 11 am: Your Ancestor's Childhood, by Aoife O'Connor (FMP) www.facebook.com/findmypast

Wednesday 8 July, 8 pm:  Turning dry facts into exciting narrative, by Carol Baxter. Information and register here

Friday 10 June, 9 am: British Propaganda of the Second World War, by Katherine Howells (TNA). Register here.

Friday 10 June, 11 am: Friday's Live, with Alex Cox (FMP) www.facebook.com/findmypast

TNA to reopen 21 July

"The re-opening will be a gradual process and The National Archives will look and feel very different to what you are used to. We’ll be providing limited access to parts of the building and our services will operate differently for the time being.

In recent weeks, we’ve been busy preparing and introducing new measures.

We will be introducing a booking system. All visits will need to be pre-booked and we will ask everyone to pre-plan and order all documents in advance

 

You will notice a new document delivery process to protect you, our staff and to ensure the correct handling and quarantine of documents

 

A one-way system will be in place around the building with signage to help with social distancing. There will also be rigorous cleaning throughout the day."

Also

"Will digital records still be free to download from your website when you re-open?

Yes, we will continue to provide free downloads of our digital collection for the time being, as we are initially only able to reopen our reading rooms for a very limited number of researchers. We will continue to review this regularly."

Read the complete announcement www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/news/coronavirus-update

Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine: Summer 2020 Issue

This issue has a feature article on getting the most out of the records the UK National Archives has made freely available while the physical site at Kew is closed.

In Getting Married by Certificate Roberta Probert explains another option, aside from banns and less expensive than a licence, available for getting married in England and Wales.

Holiday Camps were big business on the East Coast of Norfolk and Suffolk where I was raised. Caroline Roope's three-page article summarises their history with a call out on Billy Butlin, the best-known personality in the business. It mentions he lived for a while in Canada, he served in the CEF, but not mentioning that Eaton's summer camp for employees was likely an inspiration.

There's also a five-page "Focus On" article on Welsh records and Chris Paton's article on Roman Catholic baptism records.

Canadian Public Libraries that subscribe to PressReader provide free access to the magazine.

Sunday Sundries

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

A new online exhibit from Arnprior & McNab/Braeside Archives
“White Pine College: Gillies Mill and the Village of Braeside”, an exhibit supported by the Virtual Museum of Canada’s Community Stories Investment Program.



100 Years of the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada

Facebook Ads
An advertising boycott of Facebook continues to grow; Mark Zuckerberg shows no sign of backing down. Next time you're checking out Facebook take a look at the sponsored material and recognize the companies that don't care.


Anti-Racism Training Sessions
Crime Prevention Ottawa is holding on-line anti-racism training sessions in July.
Anti-Black Racism - Monday, July 13, 12-1pm
Anti-Indigenous Racism - Monday, July 20, 12-1pm
To RSVP for either event, please visit their website at https://www.crimepreventionottawa.ca/

Police Killings
In the USA, in Canada. In both over 90% of people killed by police are male, and in both the rate is far higher for Blacks and First Nations.

My MyHeritage Canada Day Presentation — My My!
In case you missed it — https://www.facebook.com/myheritage/videos/3956403614434741

Pop culture & your family history
An online article by Moorshead Magazines regular contributor David Norris, but this for the UK Family Tree Magazine.

Thanks to this week's contributors: AGD, Anonymous, Barbara T, BT, Celia Lewis, Emma Carey, Mogan Lae, Nick Thorne, Penny, Sophronia, Steve, Teresa, Unknown

FreeBMD July Update

The FreeBMD Database was updated on Thursday 2 July 2020 to contain 275,618,339 unique records (275,163,471 at previous update).

Years with major additions, greater than 5,000 records are: for births 1982, 1984-89; for marriages 1969, 1986-89; for deaths 1984-86, 1988.

www.freebmd.org.uk/