Anglo-Celtic Roots: Fall 2013

Steam-boat captains, a practical botanist, an NHL star, Benedictines, the illegitimate child of a Norfolk landed gentleman; ACR editor Jean Kitchen has rounded up a motley set of characters to populate the Fall issue of BIFHSGO's quarterly chronicle.
Pride of place has to go to what may be the longest article to have ever appeared in ACR, 16 pages. That includes three pages of reference notes, enough to bring joy to the heart of the genealogical professional, or pedant. In The Cowley Family Saga Christine Jackson recounts a connection to the Champlain astrolabe in this the 400th anniversary of Champlain's voyage on the Ottawa River, tracing a path from a child immigrant orphaned shortly after arriving in Montreal to the NHL, with lots of twists in-between. And it's only the first part of the story; the second will trace the family well back in England, although not likely to Charlemagne as in a recent WDYTYA episode!
The Benedictines come in an article by Bryan Cook, a follow-on to a previous ACR article. He lets us in on an obscure source for information on several congregations of Benedictine monks and more than 5,500 pupils of the schools of the congregations giving surname, Christian name, origin in the UK by county and town, dates of entry and departure.
If you've given up on researching a name that seems too common, although less so than Smith, Gillian Leitch's story of her odyssey, and the reward in pursuing the origins of her ancestor John Cutler may prove encouraging.
The regular columns and information on society activities round out the issue.
Anglo-Celtic Roots is a benefit of membership in the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa.