Genealogical and Genetic Ancestors

Here is an informative article comparing the number of genealogical ancestors you have at any generation with the number of genetic ancestors. The short answer is you get DNA from about 2 to the power n ancestors n generations back, up to 8 generations, then about 68 additional ancestors for each generation after that.
A section of Miscellaneous observations at the end of the article explains how it's possible for a child to share more DNA with a cousin than either of his parents have in common with that cousin. why it's much easier to not be inbred according to genetic ancestors than by genealogical ancestors.

via Tweet from Debbie Kennett

Dalhousie Libraries’ University Archives Online Collections

Halifax's Dalhousie Libraries’ University Archives has digitized the university yearbooks and calendars.
The yearbook collection, available as pdfs for browsing and searching, runs from 1927 to 1975. If you or a family member graduated from Dal you'll likely find them there, with a photo.
Calendars are from 1855/56 to 1950/51, also as pdfs
Also online as pdfs is the entire archive of Dalhousie Gazette, one of North America’s oldest student newspapers.
Looking for a name? It appears that while you can search across the entire corpus of each collection you need to download the issue identified and then search it using the pdf search.
There are a few other collections, view the list at http://dalspace.library.dal.ca/handle/10222/11480

Findmypast Friday Additions: Essex and Warwickshire

Continuing to build its collection of parish register transcripts, this week Findmypast has added over 845,000 parish records from Warwickshire and over 600,000 from Essex.

Warwickshire baptism Index, 1538-1900, contains 242,700 records
Warwickshire marriage Index, 1538-1900, contains 439,940 records
Warwickshire burial index, 1538-1900, contains 163,200 records although more than 1,200 have no name or identifying information associated. A few others include a description such as A Poore Wayfaring Man, A Stranger, A Traveler Woman From Brooks. More have only a first name.

Essex baptisms index, 1538-1900, contains 247,271 records
Essex banns Index, 1754-1950, contains 25,904 records.
Essex marriage Index, 1538-1900, contains 136,952 records
Essex burial Index 1538-1900 contains 192,135 records and has fewer anonymous entries than Warwickshire, but still with its share of entries lacking a name but with a description such as A Nurse Child, A Poor Man, A Soldier.

This week Findmypast has also released records of Kindertransport, the British scheme to rescue Jewish children from Nazi occupied regions, over 425,000 births, marriages and deaths from Tasmania, Australia and, the Ohio Obituary Index, 1814-2013, referencing over 2.7 million obituaries that were printed in Ohio newspapers.

Newly Digitized City Directories from Library and Archives Canada

Library and Archives Canada announces on their blog availability as pdfs of 152 new directories for the Ontario cities of Hamilton (1853-1900), Kingston (1865-1906)  and London (1856-1901) and for the counties of Southwestern Ontario (1864-1900). They are available at http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/directories-collection/Pages/directories-collection-available-editions.aspx

They form part of a new version of the online database Canadian Directories.

The Legacy of Winston Churchill

Today is the 50th anniversary of the memorial service and burial of Sir Winston Churchill. There's a very nice tribute in the form of a Gresham College lecture by Professor Vernon Bogdanor which opened my eyes to his contributions that go way beyond his WW2 leadership.
A YouTube video of the events of 30 January 1965 is at http://youtu.be/87Xkr8z3lEo

Migration To, From and Within the British Isles

Exodus: Movement of the People was a conference organized in September 2013 by the Halstead Trust. A legacy is a series of short articles on various aspects of immigration, emigration, migration, stories of immigrants made good and on the present Relics of Empire.

You may be interested in the articles on Palatine Migration into England,  Short Sea Migration to the UK, Diaspora in the East End, The Silk Weavers of Spitalfields, Migration to the UK in Pre-history,

Some of those with a Canadian connection are: Newfoundland "the other Ireland", Empire Settlement Schemes After WW1, The Great Migration of Canada, Assisted Emigration from Ireland, Barnado's Emigrant Children, The Female Middle Class Emigration Society, Irish Diaspora and the Typhus Epidemic of 1847, Fur Traders in Canada, the Hudson's Bay Company, Britain's Child Migrants, The Petworth Project, Emigration to Upper Canada in the 1930s. The Absurd and the Brave, From Yorkshire to Nova Scotia: reflections on a Migration ,,, and more

Acid-free, permanent or archival?

All papers are not created equal is a short blog post from Library and Archives Canada that may be helpful when you're standing in the store selecting the paper best for your applications.

Second Reading of Bill C-626 to reinstate the mandatory long-form census

I've previously mentioned Bill C-626, An Act to Amend the Statistics Act, which would reinstate the mandatory long-form census.  That Bill is on the order paper for debate in the House of Commons at second reading on Thursday, January 29.

I read that there is broad support for reinstatement from social science researchers across the country, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, and the Canadian Medical Association.

Nation-wide on Wednesday January 28 a social media campaign is launching aiming to get this issue trending to bring mainstream media attention to the government's cancellation of the long-form census. If you support the aim of the Bill it would be helpful if you'd like or retweet any posts you see, or even better act on some of the suggestions at https://politicsofevidence.wordpress.com/reinstate-the-long-form-census/.

Early English Books Texts Free Online

When I read that "the texts of the first printed editions of Shakespeare, Chaucer, and Milton as well as lesser-known titles from the early modern era can now be freely read by anyone with an Internet connection" I was doubtful about the genealogical relevance. Now available through the University of Michigan Library are the texts of more than 25,000 manually transcribed documents from the first 200 years of the printed book (1473-1700).

It got a bit more interesting when I read the collection includes "thousands of less famous texts which offer unexplored avenues for discovery. Gardening manuals, cookery books, ballads, auction catalogues, dance instructions, and religious tracts detail the commonplace of the early modern period; books about witchcraft and sword fighting document its more exotic facets."

Still not convinced I did some searches and came across this item from 1698:

A BLACK LIST Of the NAMES, or Reputed NAMES, of Seven Hundred Fifty Two Lewd and Scandalous Persons, who, by the Endeavours of a SOCIETY set up for the promoting a Reformation of Manners in the City of London, and Suburbs thereof, have been Legally Prosecuted and Convicted, as Keepers of Houses of Bawdry and Disorder, or as Whores, Night-Walkers, &c. And who have thereupon been Sentenced by the Magistrates as the Law directs, and have accordingly been Punished (many of them divers times) either by Carting, Whiping, Fining, Imprisonment, or Suppressing their Licenses. All which (besides the Prosecution of many Notorious Cursers, Swearers, Sabbath-breakers, and Drunkards, not here incerted) hath been effected by the Society aforesaid.

There is no genealogical information, just the name and the behaviour which earned them a perpetual remembrance in the book.

If your ancestry is more noble you may be interested in this from 1675-6:

The baronage of England, or, An historical account of the lives and most memorable actions of our English nobility in the Saxons time to the Norman conquest, and from thence, of those who had their rise before the end of King Henry the Third's reign deduced from publick records, antient historians, and other authorities. 

Read more about the collection at http://www.lib.umich.edu/news/25000-early-english-books-open-public and search from http://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebogroup/

QFHS: Roots 2015

The 2015 edition of the periodic Quebec Family History Society Roots conference will be held in Montreal from June 19 to 21, 2015.

The keynote speaker on Friday evening is Rick Roberts from Global Genealogy who will speak on
Genealogy: Reflections on a Hobby That Got Out of Control

Featured speakers over the weekend are Lesley Anderson, Teacher and Consultant, Ancestry.ca; Denyse Beaugrand-Champagne, Historian and Archivist; Johanne Gervais, Computer Specialist and Genealogist; Marilyn Gillespie, Professional Photographer; Lorraine Gosselin, Lecturer and Genealogist; Luc Lepine, Author, Military Historian; Ed McGuire, President, Vermont, French-Canadian Genealogy Society; Deborah Robertson,, Librarian and Genealogist; Glen Wright, Author, Lecturer; Edward Zapletal, Publisher, Family Chronicle Your Genealogy Today, Internet Genealogy, & History Magazine.

And, not forgetting Gary Schroder, President, Quebec Family History Society who has done much of the work to organize the conference.

For further information and to register go to http://www.qfhs.ca/cpage.php?pt=174

Microfilm is one of life’s great evils

The title is a line from John Grenham's latest Irish Roots column published as How not to run screaming from the microfilm room.
He's exaggerating slightly. Yet many of us share that detest while being grateful for the documentary resource images that wouldn't have survived if we'd relied on the original hardcopy. Just let's acknowledge microfilm is a technology way past its due date, as are some of the microfilm readers still at Library and Archives Canada -- another candidate for transfer to the Canadian Museum of History.

GENE-O-RAMA Registration Now Available Online

Go to http://ogsottawa.on.ca/gene-o-rama/ to register to attend the 2015 edition of GENE-O-RAMA. See this blog post for detailed program information.

Why is the Ottawa Room Languishing?

The question came to mind while reading about the Niagara Falls Public Library's  Historic Niagara Digital Collections website which currently has over 400,000 records including 30,000 images. Those are to be augmented by thousands of additional images detailing Niagara Falls' history from the 1920s through a partnership between the Niagara Falls Review and the Niagara Falls Public Library. Details are at http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/2015/01/15/review-photo-archives-donated-to-library.

Niagara isn't unique. Two other public libraries showcasing local history online are Kingston and Toronto, Thunder Bay Public Library is a participant in a WW1 project. Please post a comment if your library has online historical content.

So what's the Ottawa Public Library equivalent? Go to http://biblioottawalibrary.ca/en/ottawa-room and you'll read The Ottawa Room provides a centralized information resource about Ottawa and surrounding areas, both past and present, (with) over 15,000 thousand (sic) items that can be consulted free of charge. You'll find a description of how the physical space for the Ottawa Room has been enlarged over the years and a quote from thirteen years ago lauding the Ottawa Room.

What you won't find is any online resources. None. No digital books, no photographs, no newspapers, no city directories. Not even a link to some of those resources that exist online elsewhere.

To be a service these days it's essential to be online. That`s something OPL recognizes  ... except for local history.

In fact the historic collection is languishing. There is currently no librarian dedicated to overseeing the Ottawa Room. The library should be a window on the city's interesting history, not just a public library like any other that happens to serve Ottawa.

Irish Poverty Relief Loans at Findmypast

Those with Irish ancestry will be interested in the new Ireland, Poverty Relief Loans, 1824-1871 database released last Friday by Findmypast.
If you believe the company's words interested doesn't go far enough, they claim  "the importance of this collection for anyone tracing their Irish family history can not be overstated."
The database has 685,980 entries for both the borrower of the micro-loans, typically 1 or 2 pounds, and the guarantor or witness.
The map shows places with data, the Irish counties included (with number of entries in the database) are, Clare (5,320), Cork (61,687), Galway (160,632), Kerry (613), Leitrim (34), Limerick (122,783), Mayo (129,231), Roscommon (184,518), Sligo (11,490), Tipperary (4,029) and Wexford (1,061).
Findmypast has a helpful description of How to use our new Poverty Relief Loans to find your Irish ancestors.

If you want to try this, and all the other databases at Findmypast, the company is currently offering a 1 month World subscription for £1 (usually £12.95). Register using the code JAN2015 typed into the promotional code box found from http://www.findmypast.co.uk/ This offer expires at 11:59pm on Tuesday 27th January.

Call for Speakers Deadline - BIFHSGO Conference 2015

For those who leave things to the last minute, a reminder that next Saturday, January 31, 2015, is the last day for receiving proposals for the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa Conference 2015. There are three main topics: Scotland; Photographs in Genealogy and Technology. Don`t hesitate to propose a talk on other topics likely to be of interest to a BIFHSGO audience.

The conference, will be held September 18 - 20, 2015, at Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa.

See more information about submitting proposals at http://bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=125

A Visit to 395 Wellington

On Friday I took the opportunity of a warmer less brutally cold day to follow up on some research at Library and Archives Canada.
Since BIFHSGO was forced to move its monthly meetings from the building, when the rental fee became excessive, I've had less occasion to visit.
I took the opportunity to see what's changed. On the second floor south, an area that used to house the National Library open shelf reference collection, the shelving has been removed and the carpet replaced. I hope management has plans for better use of this prime space which has been underused for many years.

At the far end of the room above, under the mural, is a set of double door leading to a little, or at least lesser known reference materials area. It too has had attention, the shelves seem less cramped than I remember them being. I was pleased to find the Ayres' and McKim's newspaper directories had been retained.

Some of the space is occupied by old library card catalogues. Judging by this notice they have not been updated since 1980. Is 35 years long enough for a decision to now be made that they should no longer be occupying prime downtown real estate. Perhaps they could be moved to the Canadian Museum of History as another element of inter-organizational cooperation.

Here's another space in the same area which has had some attention but is ripe to reevaluation of its use.











I found LAC staff as helpful as ever and quickly completed my research. Wandering over to the genealogy area where there is a display of recent magazines from Canadian societies and publishers I noticed the selection didn't correspond to the notice posted that these were the latest issues. The Spring 2014 issue of Anglo-Celtic Roots was the last available. Are later issues stuck on a staff member's desk?

A Successful Day for OGS Ottawa Branch

Ottawa Branch organizers were unsure how many people to expect for their Back to Basics - Getting Started session given by Mike More on Saturday morning at Ottawa`s City Archives. When 45 people showed up it was sure they were meeting a demand and that the publicity by Stephanie Dean had been effective. Others in the room also answered attendees questions after the presentation, Gloria Tubman handling home child queries. Dealing with questions on Armenian family history proved more of a challenge -- always a danger with open genealogy sessions.

The afternoon saw about 35 people in the room for the regular branch monthly meeting. Elizabeth Kipp related her experiences, benefits and contributions, as a member of the Guild of One Name Studies (Alexa rank 329,264), the new Surname Society (Alexa rank 963,721) and the Society of One Place Studies (Alexa rank 2,077,107). What's the difference between the Guild and the Surname Society? With the Guild you register to research a surname wherever it occurs and undertake to respond reasonably promptly to queries. You become the world expert. The Surname Society allows members to register their interest in as many names as they care to mention and hope to make connections.
All three societies are making use of social media. Searching on YouTube will bring up recordings of hangouts and other events from each organization.
In addition to these contributions Elizabeth mentioned she is on line parish clerk for Bishops Nympton and Winterbourne Clenstone.
About ten people stayed after the monthly meeting for the Computer Special Interest Group. Doug Grey demonstrated accessing the archives of the Ottawa Journal from the City Archives. Doug also commented how glad he is that Global Genealogy is now making publications available as pdfs mentioning particularly two volumes of The Ontario Photographers List. I had to leave the group early but not before asking about experience with Fences for Windows and receiving advice and a positive recommendation regarding malwarebytes.org.

Toronto Neighbourhood History Online

Toronto Public Library staff have created an interactive map to assist users in discovering resources in the Library’s collections for 107 neighbourhoods.

Included are historical pictures, maps and atlases, ephemera (posters, flyers, etc.) and e-books in the Library’s Digital Archive as well as catalogue records for print books and in other formats. Links to external sites that library staff recommends are also provided from the map.

Find out more at the blog post Find the history (and cool historical images) of your neighbourhood!

Mallorytown presentation Shadows in the Tree

On Sunday Jan.25, 2015 at 2 pm, the 1000 Islands River Heritage Society in partnership with the Front of Yonge Library presents Jennifer Debruin who will be discussing her latest book, Shadows in the Tree, the tale of a United Empire Loyalist and her journey to what is now Canada.

A lifelong resident of Eastern Ontario, Jennifer is interested in exploring the human story within the rich history of the region and writes fact-based fiction that engages readers in “discovering the humanity in the history.”

The event is at the Mallorytown Community Centre, 76 County Rd. 5 Mallorytown, Ontario. This is the first in a series of planned presentations to be given over the next few months. The following presentation is on Sunday February 22, 2015 when BIFHSGO member Gloria Tubman will speak on Researching British Home Children.

Program for the National Genealogy Conference in Canada

Now available at www.visiontravel.ca/heidiwilker/en/conference-schedule is the full three-day program for this conference in Halifax, Nova Scotia, 17-19 July 2015. There's further information under the More option in the black top right hand menu bar.

Thanks to Heidi Wilker for the tip.

FreeBMD January Update

The FreeBMD Database was last updated on Thursday 22 January 2015 to contain 244,124,784 (243,519,549) distinct records. Years with major updates since December are: for births 1943, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1971, 1973-74; for marriages 1952, 1965-66, 1968-69, 1971-75; for deaths 1971-74.

Family Tree: February 2015 issue

The Sherlock Holmes silhouette on the front cover for the February issue of Family Tree highlights an article by Roy Stackdill "Inside a Researcher's Casebook."  A veteran researcher and former journalist who enjoys researching celebrity family trees, in theis article he draws lessons from research on Charlie Chaplin, Colin Dexter (creator of Inspector Morse), Josephine Tewson (who played Elizabeth, neighbour and victim in Keeping Up Appearances) Dame Judi Dench and more, each a tricky investigation.

In other major articles in the issue you can read about tracing WW1 merchant sailors; reckoning old weights, measures and money, finding graves online; reading Scottish wills and testaments, WW1 fashions, and death duties. Shorter articles include those by regular columnists and What Makes a Must Read Family History Blog (thanks to magazine editor Helen Tovey for the mention of Canada's Anglo-Celtic Connections).

Ancestry adds recent British Death Indexes

When the British government ended availability of recent civil registration indexes an opportunity opened up for the private sector. One of the companies that stepped in to the breach is Wilmington Millennium providing a service to help keep company customer databases up to date and avoid fraud by people using a deceased's identity.

Now Ancestry has made some of that data available on two databases:

England and Wales, Death Index, 2007-2013, with 1,492,728 records
Scotland and Northern Ireland, Death Index, 1989-2013, with 413,518 records

I wondered if the data for England and Wales was a copy of the probate index, also on Ancestry. A small sample showed a little overlap. Some deaths I know occurred are missing.

While all the examples I checked used data from Wilmington Millennium the overall sources for the Ancestry database is given as "British Death Indexes. Various sources." Perhaps there are others.

Irish Family History Day Webinar - researching your Irish ancestors

On the 23rd January, Findmypast is celebrating Irish Family History Day and as part of this family historian Brian Donovan will provide his expertise on Irish records in a webinar.

Streaming starts at 5:00pm GMT, that's noon EST

Register in advance at http://goo.gl/AOZjIK

Irish records are the feature additions for this week's Findmypast Friday. Details at http://goo.gl/5QivAl and in Peter Calver's Lost Cousins Newsletter for 22 January.

Historic British Weather Information

The February issue of Family Tree Magazine (UK version) is out. Scanning the contents my eye was drawn to an article by David Norris, a frequent contributor to Internet Genealogy, Whatever the Weather. He mentions sources for weather data for various counties, for Britain it's pdf copies of the Monthly Weather Report from 1884 to 1993 at http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/archive/monthly-weather-report. It's interesting, a one page summary of conditions for the month, but I wanted more.

I lucked out at http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/archive/uk-daily-weather-report, a work in progress. For the years of the two world wars they have data recorded at weather observing stations scattered across the country. Only 15 km from my birthplace and on that day there were observations at 6 hourly intervals of atmospheric pressure, pressure trend, temperature, dew point, predominant weather, visibility, cloud information, etc. There are also weather maps.

If your period of interest isn't online you can contact the Met Office library at metlib@metoffice.gov.uk .

OGS Ottawa Branch January Meeting

Saturday, 24 January, 13:00 – 15:00
Where: City of Ottawa Archives (Room 115)
Description
1:00-1:30:  Networking & Refreshments
1:30-3:00:  One Name Studies

This month the presentation is by Elizabeth Kipp who will be examining several different sites for surname studies and discuss how to choose the best. She intends covering both one name and one place studies and how they are of value to one's genealogical studies.
Elizabeth writes on her blog that this will be her "last lecture as I find it just too time consuming to do lectures."

You can make a day of it with a Back to Basics - Getting Started talk at 10:30 am for 90 minutes given by Mike More, also at the City Archives. And, the computer special interest group will convene in the afternoon after the main meeting.

The Fate of Your Family History Research

Concerned about what will happen to the family history material you've collected over years of research? Do you have visions of it ending up in a landfill?
If your ancestry is locally focused you may find a local archives, museum or similar organization ready to take it. But it will be much more acceptable if it's organized.
In Canada if you've written a Canadian family history consider donating a copy to Library and Archives Canada. You can visit the collection of these book in the genealogy section on the thord floor at 365 Wellington in Ottawa.
If your ancestry is British consider if it would be acceptable to the Society of Genealogists. Take a look at the pdf The Society of Genealogists welcomes your research!
Perhaps your material would meet the requirements of FamilySearch. Check out their pdf Gifts, Donations, and Loans to FamilySearch

Eastville Workhouse Burials

Would you feel at ease in the company of "footballers, artists, techies, drunks, rioters, publicans, ranters, ravers, academics, Cancan dancers, anarchists, stoners and other ne’r do wells.". If so there's a group in Bristol, England, where you'd feel right at home.
This motley crew, known as the Bristol Radical History Group, are placing on their website a data listing by decade of the burials at Rosemary Green where people who died in Eastville Workhouse found their final resting place in unmarked graves. So far data is available for 1860 to 1879. It looks like more will be added very soon.
Data given are date of death/burial, names, age, parish, gave number and comments. Each decade has a listing of those deceased and summary statistics. Number of burials varies, from 56 in 1861 to 131 in 1870.
While at the site check out the free written articles and publications from the Bristol Radical Pamphleteer.

Media Genealogy

Two items.

First, a reminder that the second episode of the current series of PBS' Genealogy Roadshow with Kenyatta D. Berry, Joshua Taylor and Mary Tedesco airs tonight. The series runs every Tuesday until February 24. Check your local PBS station for time, here it's at 8 pm.

Second, via and email from Charles Donohue, The Genealogy Radio Show runs on Raidió Corca Baiscinn, a community radio station based in West Clare, Ireland. Fourteen episodes are presently available for streaming from http://rcb.ie/shows/thegenealogyradioshow/

Episode 1: Drawing Your Family Tree – Lorna Moloney, Merriman Research
Episode 2: Genealogy Graveyards, Michael O’Connell
Episode 3: The Digital Revolution – Brian Donovan, Eneclann
Episode 4: John Hamrock, Irish American ancestry
Episode 5: Probate Genealogy – Eileen Ó Dúill, Heirs Ireland
Episode 6: ‘Painless Facts’ Can they exist in Genealogy research – Fiona Fitzsimons
Episode 7: Aidan Feerick – Primary valuation, griffiths, the nineteenth century Irish property tax
Episode 8: Genealogy of Rich & Poor , David Ryan – Triskel Christchurch Cork
Episode 8 – Listen in background
Episode 9: Irish Jewish Roots, Stuart Rosenblatt – Irish Jewish Museum
Episode 9: Irish Jewish Roots Stuart Rosenblatt – Irish Jewish Museum – Listen in background
Episode 10: Genealogy Brick Walls with Dr Paul MacCotter
Episode 10: Genealogy Brick Walls with Dr Paul MacCotter – Listen in background
Episode 11: Digitising The 1937 Schools Collection – Críosoir MacCarthaig UCD
Episode 11: The Genealogy Radio Show – Listen in background
Episode 12: Jennifer Woods from Queensland Australia–The quest for John Prendergast
Episode 12 Jennifer Woods from Queensland Australia – Listen in background
Episode 13: Kay Caball, The Kerry Girls and the Earl Grey Scheme
Episode13 Kay Caball, The Kerry Girls and the Earl Grey Scheme – Listen in background
Episode 14: WW1 soldiers with Marian Furlong and Ann Marie Coghlan
Episode 14 WW1 soldiers with Marian Furlong and Ann Marie Coghlan – Listen in background
Episode 15: Gerald Rice ‘A Time of Our Lives’
Episode 15: Gerald Rice ‘A Time of Our Lives’ – Listen in background
Episode 16: Nicholas Rynne – Michael McTeigue, Champion of the world from Kilnamona.

First Great War Zeppelin Raid

Today, 19 January 2015, marks the 100th anniversary of an evening bombing raid by German Zeppelin airships on the Norfolk towns of Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn. Four people were killed and damage was more than £7,000, perhaps half a million in today's money.

In Great Yarmouth the victims were shoemaker Samuel Alfred Smith, age 53, and Martha Mary Taylor, age 72. In King's Lynn the victims were Alice Maud Gazeley, age 26, and Percy Goate, age 14. I was surprised to find these WW1 civilian causalities are not commemorated in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission records.

Find contemporary photos of the damage caused in these raids at http://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2015-01-19/zeppelin-raid-on-norfolk-100-years-ago-set-blitz-precedent/ and a couple of ghost composites at http://www.invisibleworks.co.uk/great-war-zeppelin-raids/

King or Queen for a Day

The Guardian is running a series, short essays where (more or less) well known personalities describe how they'd act if King or Queen for a day.
The most recent is by Lucy Worsley, historian and BBC TV presenter who'd send everyone off to their nearest castle, abbey or museum, or anywhere you can see the past for a practical history lesson. Read her royal commands, and why she thinks they'd be a good idea, here.

Other items in the series you may find of interest are linked from the middle column here.

Andrew Motion: If I were king for a day, I'd illuminate our natural beauty and the starry heaven above
Bruce Kent: If I were king for a day I'd have a maximum wage to curb the fat cats
Joanne Harris: If I were queen for a day I would burst the virtual bubble
Jack Monroe: If I were queen for a day I'd want silly hats and Nigel Farage in the Tower
Lizzy Yarnold: If I were queen for the day I would send children into the wilderness
Ann Widdecombe: If I were queen for a day I'd enforce an hour's silence on everyone
Hilary Devey: If I were queen for a day I would enforce old-age selfies for children
Amanda Palmer: If I were queen for a day, cuddles would be declared a weapon of mass affection
Jon Snow: If I were king for a day I'd ask everyone to abandon their car
Ben Okri: If I were king for a day, I'd slow life down to walking pace
Kwame Kwei-Armah: If I were king for a day, I'd end the blight of poverty
Maureen Lipman: If I were queen for a day, I'd give status handbags the handbag treatment
Simon Armitage: If I were king for a day I'd tattoo trolls with their own awful words
Jenni Murray: If I were queen for a day, I'd abolish sex education
Alan Johnson: If I were king for a day, I would ban Coca-Cola
Kathy Lette: If I were queen for a day, female equality would become reality
Jeremy Paxman: If I were king for a day, I would ban open-plan offices

Thanks to Brenda Turner for the tip.

Switched at Birth? Or Something Else?

No matter how assiduously you've followed the paper record it's worth keeping in the back of your mind the possibility that something undocumented happened.

Babies being inadvertently switched  at birth is one of the less frequent occurrences, but it does happen. Twelve such events are given in this article; one relates to Ottawa.

Add:

• undocumented adoptions, 
• mothers claiming maternity of their young daughter's child
• the supposed father not being the biological father (non-paternity rates are typically quoted as 1-2%).

Overall, proof by birth or baptismal certificate is never 100%.

UPDATE

Another case in a well written story at https://strangepilgrimage.wordpress.com/2015/01/22/and-who-wouldve-thought-it-figures/

Too Old for Genetic Genealogy?

I was copied on this email (identifying information deleted) to be filed under "you're never too old."

My age is 93.  I am now in a Senior's home. I have  been deeply into DNA and found I am descended from Donald, Cameron , 19th Chief Clan Lochiel.

DNA is certainly  the defining factor  in our heritage. Unfortunately I am too old to participate in many activities.  Many things  are  currently changing in this enterprise which are making it more difficult to follow on the computer.

I heartily recommend having one's DNA analysed. I used FAMILY TREE  DNA which I have found most satisfactory, but it is changing dramatically. DNA is not the end of searching. There are SNP's which identifyother characteristics, etc. Many new things are surfacing.

Thank you to all who labour on in this field. Don't give up!

In a recent survey nearly 50% of genealogists responded they were interested in genetic genealogy but hadn't taken a test. To those I say, "What are you waiting for -- until you're 93?"

National Genealogy Conference in Canada: Regeneration

If you were interested in the program for the National Genealogy Conference in Canada, July 17 - 19, 2015 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, but previously found the price too steep for your budget you may want to think again. There's been a substantial price drop.
I don't see a full conference program yet -- the major speakers are  Dave Obee, Dr. Terrence Punch, Josh Taylor, Sylvie Tremblay, and Peter Sibbald. There will be networking opportunities, time for round-table discussions and optional tours.
As organizer Heidi Wilker writes "this is more than just a conference – it is a Halifax Experience! Halifax, and its province of Nova Scotia, have played a tremendous role in the history and ancestry of so many people throughout the world.".
If you've been looking for an opportunity to visit Atlantic Canada this may be just the opportunity you shouldn't miss.
Go to www.visiontravel.ca/heidiwilker for information and registration.

Ontario Genealogical Society Conference Survey

Please take a few minutes to take the Ontario Genealogical Society Conference Survey. The OGS Conference Advisory Committee is looking for your input into future Society Conferences.
You don't have to be an OGS member, nor have attended one of their annual conferences, to complete the survey.
OGS is a sharing organization so I'm sure will share a summary of the results which will help not only OGS but other similar organizations.

GenealogyInTime Top 100 Genealogy Websites: hanging in

GenealogyInTime online magazine has just released their 2015, fourth annual, roundup of the top 100 most popular genealogy websites from around the world. What I like about this survey is that there's a transparent methodology, unlike similar lists compiled by various magazines and bloggers.
Ancestry.com heads up the list as it has since the survey started. FamilySearch jumps over Find a Grave to take the #2 spot.
Ancestry.co.uk jumps two places and Ancestry.co.au (Australia) enters at #9 up from #17. Findmypast.co.uk follows right behind at #10, up from #18.

It's great to see some of my favourite sites as new entries in the top 100

Peter Calver's Lost Cousins at #68
Judy Russell's The Legal Genealogist at #86.
Claie Santry's Irish Gnealogy News at #99
Rick and Sandra Roberts Global Genealogy at #100.

GenealoyInTime was kind enough not to point out that Canada's Anglo-Celtic Connections dropped precipitously in the rankings managing to hang in at #97.

Read the full list and Miles' commentary starting at http://goo.gl/QBQD9p

Ancestry adds UK, Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects, 1901-1929

There are 872,395 records in the UK, Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects, 1901-1929. Effects in this case is money owed, not personal effects. Records typically include the name of the soldier, his next of kin and their relationship, the date of death and sometimes the place, plus other details. In some entries the soldier was discharged as insane in which case the place and date of discharge are often recorded in the place and date of death field.
Images of the original register are linked to the index entry, fortunate as there are the inevitable transcription problems.

Findmypast Friday Additions

The lucky dip known as Findmypast Friday continues this week with three additional sets of British records plus additions to the digitized newspaper collection.

London, Docklands and East End Marriages, 1558-1859
92,250 entries are found in this transcription collection of the original registers. Look for: name of bride, bride’s parish, name of groom, groom’s parish, date of wedding, where the wedding took place, marital status of both bride and groom, groom’s occupation. The focus is pre-19th century.

British Army Bond of Sacrifice: Officers Died in the Great War 1914-1916
2,607 officer biographies from two volumes of the Bond of Sacrifice, volume 1 covered the first four months of the war to December 1914, volume 2 the first six months of 1915. Names are in alphabetical order and most of these exceptionally complete entries include a photo portrait and a short biography with parents’ names, educational background, achievements and, when present, spouse’s name and children’s names. The entries also detail the officer’s military career and often include a description about how the officer lost his life. Many include comments from commanding officers about the bravery and gallantry of the officer under their command. No further volumes were issued.

Derbyshire, Derby Railway Servants' Orphanage Registers, 1875-1912
There are just 1,421 transcription entries from these registers and while the amount of information varies but you may find: name, date of birth, whether they were church (Church of England) or chapel (non-conformist Protestant), signature on arrival at the orphanage, father’s occupation, father's date of death, father's cause of death, number and ages of children orphaned, mother’s address, employment prospects, behaviour, departure date, signature on leaving, comments.

Deceased Online Bonus Offer

Until the end of January deceasedonline.com is offering buy one, get one free on their vouchers. Here's the notice I received (if you're not presently a subscriber it's easy to register.)

"As a subscriber to our bulletins, Deceased Online is delighted to offer you, until 31st January, the opportunity to double up on pay-per-view vouchers* used to access records and data on www.deceasedonline.com. *Excludes subscriptions
The 'buy one get one free' offer means that all purchases, which start from only £5.00, will provide double the number of vouchers paid for.
When purchasing vouchers simply click on 'add a promotion code' and enter the special code DOL2015 in the box provided. The number of vouchers purchased will be doubled automatically. View our normal pricing schedule here.
With millions of records added in 2014 and with millions more coming soon in 2015, users will be able to access a wide range of data but at half the usual cost."

British Newspaper Archives Updates

Major updates to the British Newspaper Archive (more than 5 years) in the past month are:

Belfast Mercantile Register and Weekly Advertiser 1843, 1860 - 1869
Bell’s Life in London and Sporting Chronicle 1830 - 1833, 1835 - 1837, 1839 - 1847, 1849 - 1850, 1852 - 1857
Biggleswade Chronicle 1919, 1922 - 1927, 1937, 1944, 1946, 1948, 1950 - 1951, 1953 - 1954
Bristol Times and Mirror 1840 - 1841, 1847 - 1853, 1863 - 1865
Chelsea News and General Advertiser 1865 - 1870
Dorset County Chronicle 1830 - 1842, 1844 - 1851, 1853, 1855 - 1858, 1860 - 1861
Dublin Evening Packet and Correspondent 1836, 1851 - 1855, 1858, 1860, 1862
Dublin Mercantile Advertiser, and Weekly Price Current 1824 - 1837, 1851, 1853, 1865
Dublin Weekly Herald 1838 - 1842
Enniskillen Chronicle and Erne Packet 1827, 1839, 1849 - 1859, 1861 - 1870
Farmer's Gazette and Journal of Practical Horticulture 1850 - 1854, 1861 - 1862, 1864 - 1865
Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate & Cheriton Herald 1892, 1899 - 1900, 1932, 1934
Galway Mercury, and Connaught Weekly Advertiser 1844 - 1847, 1849, 1852 - 1855, 1857, 1859 - 1860
Grantham Journal 1942 - 1943, 1946 - 1949, 1951
Hampshire Chronicle 1851 - 1853, 1861, 1864
Inverness Courier 1822, 1828, 1831 - 1834, 1836 - 1837, 1839, 1841, 1864, 1866
Irish Racing Book and Sheet Calendar, The 1827 - 1833, 1835 - 1837, 1840 - 1841
Journal of the Chemico-Agricultural Society of Ulster and Record of Agriculture and Industry 1852 - 1854, 1863, 1865, 1867
Limerick and Clare Examiner 1846, 1849 - 1850, 1852 - 1853, 1855
Limerick Reporter 1841 - 1848
Lincolnshire Echo 1899 - 1900, 1910, 1912 - 1913, 1915, 1923, 1925, 1944
Newcastle Chronicle 1771, 1774 - 1775, 1779 - 1780, 1831, 1855
Oxford Chronicle and Reading Gazette 1845, 1848 - 1852, 1859
Oxford University and City Herald 1819, 1821 - 1822, 1828, 1846, 1849 - 1852, 1856, 1859, 1862
Roscommon Journal, and Western Impartial Reporter 1829 - 1843, 1845 - 1847, 1849 - 1864
Salisbury and Winchester Journal 1769, 1780 - 1782, 1784, 1865
Sligo Champion 1840 - 1845, 1853, 1856, 1858 - 1859
Sporting Life 1859, 1865 - 1870
Staffordshire Advertiser 1842, 1844, 1846, 1850 - 1855, 1857 - 1858, 1860 - 1870
Tipperary Free Press 1826 - 1827, 1830 - 1831, 1849, 1851, 1860 - 1862, 1864
Waterford Chronicle 1827, 1829 - 1831, 1833 - 1834, 1838, 1840, 1842 - 1843, 1848, 1868
Windsor and Eton Express 1815, 1819, 1821, 1823, 1829, 1831, 1837, 1844, 1849, 1852 - 1858, 1860 - 1862

The dates given are the outside range, not all issues are likely available. The database now has more than 9.5 million pages.

Progress on digitization of LAC Soldiers of the First World War: 1914–1918 database.

LAC blog that 110,260 of 640,000 files from the Soldiers of the First World War: 1914–1918 database are now available online. A month ago that number was 101,452 files, so 284 files per day have been added, substantially less than the 805 per day for the previous month.

Newfoundland 1945 Census on FamilySearch

Following on yesterday's post on the addition of  the 1921 and 1935 censuses, 7,457 images of the Newfoundland Census of 1945 are now on FamilySearch.

Neglect at Ancestry?

Tim Sullivan, Ancestry.com CEO, has released a list of items the company is working on for 2015. It's highlighting DNA. Unfortunately it doesn't include a chromosome browser and although the DNA service is being made available in the UK it's still being overlooked in Canada.

What else?

"Look for exciting additions like 170 million searchable images of probate records and wills that might reveal your ancestor’s dying wishes, all vital records from Virginia since 1900, substantial releases from Germany, and a milestone collection of almost 80 million Mexico Civil Birth, Marriage and Death records spanning from 1860 to modern day."

Nothing for Canada or the UK? Crumbs maybe. Ancestry's World Archives Project has no indexing projects ongoing for the UK; for Ireland there's Famine Relief Commission Papers and for Canada the Ottawa Journal.

What would you like to see added? How about indexing the post 1858 England and Wales probate records with all the names, not just those of the deceased.

OGS Quinte Branch January Meeting

On Saturday January 17, 2015 Quinte Branch of Ontario Genealogical Society presents the annual Crouse-Wannamaker Lecture featuring Bill Hunt discussing his book "Dancing in the Sky" on the topic of the Royal Flying Corps training program in Canada during World War I.
More information at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~canqbogs/meetings.htm

Thanks to Debb Walker for the tip.

Newfoundland Censuses, 1921 and 1935 now on FamilySearch

8,415 images from the 1921 Newfoundland census, and 9,509 from 1935, are now on FamilySearch.

The description says "index and images of the census housed at the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador," but no index was available. I suggest using these images in conjunction with the search and transcriptions at the Newfoundland's Grand Banks site at http://ngb.chebucto.org/.

TNA Podcast: Big Ideas: The shape of time

The presenter, Dr Stephen Boyd Davis examines depictions of history -- typographic, pictorial and diagrammatic in this talk from November 3. He starts by saying:

"Most of what I'm going to be talking about is historical and I've got a wealth of what I think are interesting things for you to look at. So even if what I say turns out to be very dull I hope that what you find to look at on the screen is very interesting."

Fortunately most of the slides used are available under the slides tab, although not synchronized to the presentation. I wasn't especially interested in what he had to say about historical presentation, but found the modern diagrammatic representation for the dates of composition of and first performance of Benjamin Britten's works enlightening.

Find the presentation at http://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/big-ideas/

King and Country Update

A year ago when I reported on the OGS Toronto Branch project to record war memorials in local schools there were 90 in the database. There are now 100: the most recently added are:The Bishop Strachan School, Davisville Public School, Eastern High School of Commerce, George Syme School, Humbercrest Public School, Keele Street School, Maurice Cody School, Roselands Public School, York Memorial Collegiate Institute, and the first post-secondary institution Victoria College.

With 38,428 names recorded the project is a work in progress. Search the database from http://torontofamilyhistory.org/kingandcountry/search_form.php

OGS Kingston Branch January Meeting

This Saturday, January 17, 2015, OGS Kingston Branch Chair Joyce Fingland, author of Seasons on the Rideau, will talk about "The Rathbun Family and the Town of Deseronto". It will be a genealogical perspective on the growth and demise of the Rathbun Company and its effect on the lives of other families in Deseronto and area.
As usual the meeting is in the Wilson Room (second floor) of the Central Branch, Kingston Frontenac Public Library, 130 Johnson Street, Kingston, beginning at 10:00 a.m.

Irish Newspaper News

John Grenham's latest Irish Roots column, Pure Irish Death, points out that "for more than 70 years, a published announcement of the time and place of removal and burial has been a compulsory part of every Irish funeral."
He recommends  the Independent and the Press, full runs of their 20th-century archives being available at Irish Newspaper Archive .
Irish Genealogy News reports the cost of subscriptions to the Irish Newspaper Archive have been cut in half, the annual fee is now €178 (about $250Cdn) and the monthly fee is €30 ($42 Canadian.) And the Irish Newpapaer Archive have recently added the Leinster Express 1950-2007, and Wicklow Newsletter 1900-1926.
Don't forget that the British Newspaper Archive, accessible through a Findmtpast subscription, have a collection of Irish newspapers.

Genealogy Roadshow

The second series of the PBS Genealogy Roadshow gets underway today, Tuesday, January 13, 2015. Hosts are Kenyatta D. Berry, Joshua Taylor and Mary Tedesco. The series runs every Tuesday until February 24. Check your local PBS station for time, here it's at 8 pm.

US Committee Releases Final Draft Genetic Genealogy Standards

The final draft of Genetic Genealogy Standards produced by a grass-roots committee of US genetic genealogists has been published. It is intended to "provide ethical and usage standards for the genealogical community to follow when purchasing, recommending, sharing, or writing about the results of DNA testing for ancestry."
Those who participated as committee members are among the most recognized and respected names in genetic genealogy. However, the committee is unaffiliated so the draft standards have no official standing with any recognized organization.
Katherine Borges is Director of the International Society for Genetic Genealogy but whether that Society has a mandate to adopt such standards, as opposed to publicizing them, is unclear.
Three genealogists certified by the Board for Certification of Genealogists are committee members: Melinde Lutz Byrne, Michael Hait, and Debbie Parker Wayne. Hait is a BCG Trustee so would be a natural to bring the standards to that organization for consideration and possible adoption.  Paragraph 20 of the draft standard, DNA as Part of Genealogical Proof, is evidently written to facilitate BCG adoption. That means it perpetuates the fiction that a methodology standard provides a proof.

1906 to 1912 Records from the Geo Haynes Funeral Home, Shawville, Quebec

Serendipity. Go to a local archives or the local history section of your public library and you're liable to find some unique items squirreled away, virtually forgotten on some obscure shelf. Orphans, neglected and mostly unloved, too small to attract the attention of a digitization project, they can be diamonds in the rough which when polished up lend sparkle to your family history.

Last year Gloria Tubman was poking around in the Pontiac Archives in Shawville, Quebec, when she discovered a box of original records in a fragile state, about 80 pages from the Geo Haynes funeral business. There was information on the deceased, the cost of the burial and payments, where buried , etc. Some pages missing, the handwriting was hard to decipher as some was entered in pencil, some in ink, and some had been written over.

Gloria has completed a transcription, a copy of which is now in the Pontiac Archives. Wouldn't it be great if it, like those other gems in your local archive, became more widely accessible.

TNA Webinar: Using Discovery, our online catalogue

Like all archival aids use of Discovery, the gateway to The (UK) National Archives' holdings for both digitised and physical records, isn't intuitive. This online webinar will look at how to conduct searches, using keywords and filters and will include other useful search tips.

The webinar,presented by Chrissy Peters who works as a Records Adviser in the Advice and Records Knowledge department at TNA will take place at 16.00 (British Time, that's 11 am EST) on 19 January 2015, and it will last for no more than one hour. Book your place on the session. For any queries regarding the format or webinar login process please contact us via webinars@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk.

An archive of past TNA webinars is at http://media.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php/tag/webinars/

LostCousins Newsletter

I had to smile when I read in Peter Calver's first LostCousins newsletter of 2015

Warning: it's very difficult for writers who have a daily genealogy blog to review every site before they write about it, and as a result some simply republish press releases they've received. This isn't a criticism of the bloggers themselves - if I had to produce a daily newsletter I'd have the same problems as they do - but it is something readers should bear in mind.

Please take Peter's warning at face value. I do sometimes wonder about the value of some of the news I cover here, mainly as I'm no expert on everything I know is of interest to the blog readers. While I do usually try to add value to press releases it's up to you dear reader to pass your own judgement. If you think you can add additional perspective please don't hesitate to post a comment, positive or negative. All comments get posted after review except those that are abusive, very few of those, or obvious attempts to publicize an usually unrelated website, far too many of those.

Peter includes an unusually long item in the newsletter MASTERCLASS: Tracking down pre-1837 baptisms and marriage, worthwhile reviewing if you're researching in the pre-civil registration period in England and Wales.

BIFHSGO Survives Transition

The relief was palpable on the faces of the BIFHSGO Board when 199 people came out on Saturday morning for the society first meeting of 2015 in the new location, the old Nepean council chambers at Centrepointe. That's comparable to attendances at the former Library and Archives Canada site, now too expensive. Although the room doesn't seat as many as the LAC auditorium it was more than adequate.
Many people commented the new location is an easier to get to, and benefits from adequate free parking.
The photo was taken during the educational session given by Ken MacKinlay -- it helps to have a popular speaker lead off prior to the main event. Long-time BIFHSGO member Patricia Roberts-Pichette brought stagecraft to her well-researched presentation on a British ancestor's involvement in the life of an Abyssinian prince.

GENE-O-RAMA March 27-28, 2015

The programme for the 31st GENE-O-RAMA is now available.  In summary.

Friday, March 27, 2015
19:45 Pat Horan Memorial Lecture
Castlecomer to Montague: A Case Study  in Irish Protestant Immigration to Upper Canada
Janice Nickerson
======================
Saturday, March 28, 2015
09:00 Session 1
Putting the Flesh on the Bones of Your Upper Canadian Ancestors
Janice Nickerson

The Rideau Canal and Its Workers
Robin Etherington
=======================
11:00 Session 2
The Circle of Life: Ontario Vital Records
Lesley Anderson & Glenn Wright

Finding Military Records on the Portal of FHCs
Shirley Ann Pyefinch
========================
13:15 Session 3
Lorenzo White—Was This Elusive 19th Century Ancestor a Criminal?
Janice Nickerson

Pembroke History Re-Written
Jackie Patterson
=========================
15:00 Session 4
First World War Genealogy and the Military History Research Centre
Carol Reid

The Early Settlement of Glengarry
David G. Anderson
=========================
19:00 Banquet at Algonquin College
(Pre-paid ticket holders)
Speaker
Dave Mullington
“Mischief and Mayhem in Ottawa’s Past”

UPDATE

Online registration is now available at ogsottawa.on.ca/Gene-O-Rama

Findmypast adds Nottinghamshire BMB Transcripts

Sourced from transcribers of the the Nottingham Family History Society, Findmypast now has for many places in Nottinghamshire:

Baptisms, over 847,000 records listing the details of individuals baptised between 1538 and 1980. Each record will usually list the child’s name, religious denomination, parents’ names and father’s occupation. 

Marriages, over 689,000 records, list the details of the couples married between 1528 and 1929. Each record will typically include the names of the bride and groom, their religious denomination, the date of their marriage and where it took place. 

Burials containing over 240,000 records between 1539 and 1905, the records typically containing a transcription of the deceased’s name, religious denomination, date of burial and place of burial.

Celebrate Sir John A Macdonald

This Sunday, January 11, 2015, is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Canada’s first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald.  To mark the occasion Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has released a podcast episode, Let us be Canadians: Sir John A. Macdonald.

Kingston journalist-historian Arthur Milnes recounts Macdonald's history, role in the founding Canada and tells several amusing anecdotes, some from Anecdotal life of Sir John Macdonald by E B Biggar available at  https://archive.org/details/cihm_00133.  LAC art archivist and curator Madeleine Trudeau informs on resources available at LAC.

The Financial Health of Canadian Genealogical Societies

Each year organizations federally registered as charities in Canada for tax purposes are required to file T3010 returns with the Canada Revenue Agency. Part of the return, including financial information, is available on the Revenue Canada website.

In previous years I've posted at summary around September based on reports for the previous fiscal year. Last year (2014) I deferred the reports for 2013 as that for BIFHSGO had not been posted by CRA. As of January 8 2015 the BIFHSGO report for 2013 is still not available at http://goo.gl/M39K4y. Why?

The Alberta Genealogical Society 
Total assets of $606,312 ($540,282), and liabilities of 257,883 ($200,592). The total revenue was $229,344 ($254,380) of which the major component was revenue received from the provincial government of $115,877 ($140,322). Expenditures totaled 250,276 ($218,231), the total expenditure on management and administration being $122,284 ($124,320). The membership fee remained at $50.

British Columbia Genealogical Society
Total assets of $203,542 ($203,016) and liabilities of $9,268 ($10,085). Total revenue was $27,625 ($24,783). Expenditures totaled $24,991 ($22,502). The individual annual membership fee remained at $45.00

British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa 
No report.  The individual membership fee for 2013 was $40, an increase from $35.

Family History Society of Newfoundland and Labrador Inc
Newly incorporated as a charity 2013 was the first report filed. Total assets were $43,130 and liabilities $15,867.  Total revenue of $35,226 and expenditure $32,525 including $3,200 on management and administration. The membership fee is $42 per year in 2015.

Manitoba Genealogical Society
Total assets of $55,341 ($50,743) and liabilities of $19,157 ($22,458). Total revenue was $47,727 ($60,780). Expenditures totaled $48,942 ($59,162) of which management and administration accounted for $6,298 ($4,442). The individual membership fee was $40.

New Brunswick Genealogical Society 
Total assets of $182,016 ($194,048) and liabilities of $13,224 ($21,542). Total revenue was $33,846 ($37,121). Expenditures totaled $39,396 ($36,974). The individual annual membership fee remained at $35.00

Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia
GANS had total assets of $307,796 ($303,274) and no reported liabilities. Total revenue was $45,693 ($32,549). Total expenditures were $44,703 ($30,717). The Association's annual membership fee remained at $30.00.

Ontario Genealogical Society
Total assets of $2,486,135 ($2,324,973) of which 1,751,336 ($1,480,530) was held as cash bank accounts and short-term investments. Liabilities totaled $263,728 ($246,412). Total revenue was $680,411 ($ 621,393) including $283,838 ($297,991) from memberships. Expenditures totaled $602,563 ($617,151) of which $134,835 ($136,994) was spent on management and administration. The membership fee for 2015 is $63 plus fees for any branch or special interest group membership.

Québec Family History Society
Total assets of $53,800 ($65,742) of which $48,537 ($49,056) was held as cash bank accounts and short-term investments. Liabilities totaled $5,111 ($7,899). Total revenue was $44,095 ($ 60,623) the largest component of which, $29,775 ($34,440) was for memberships. Expenditures totaled $50,878 ($47,420) including $25,600 ($28,886) for occupancy costs. There were no costs for management and administration. The annual fee, $65 in 2013, is $75 in 2015.

Saskatchewan Genealogical Society
Total assets of $106,334 ($46,921). Liabilities totaled $125,662 ($65,054). Total revenue of  $256,667 ($261,767) included $160,600 ($146,050) from provincial government sources. Expenditures of $268,140 ($262,316) included $210,702 ($170,572) for management and administration. Basic membership for 2015 is $50.

Victoria Genealogical Society
Total assets of NA ($24,786) and liabilities NA (0). Total revenue was $40,412 (NA). Expenditures totaled $42,629 ($35,790). Individual annual membership remained $50.

Note
The Quebec Family History Society continues with the highest annual membership fee ($75), the Genealogical Society of Nova Scotia the lowest ($30).

Historic NAC Interviews Donated to LAC

The following, from a press release from the National Arts Centre, is yet another example of LAC cooperation with others, making visible an example of acquisitions that are an ongoing aspect of LAC's activities.  .

January 7, 2014 – OTTAWA (Canada) – Over 100 interviews comprising approximately 200 hours of material have been donated by arts journalist and author Sarah Jennings to Library and Archives Canada.  The recordings, along with some supporting documentation, derive from the research for her book Art and Politics: A History of the National Arts Centre (Dundurn Press, 2009). Known as “Fonds Sarah Jennings”, the collection has recently been processed and is now ready for use by other writers and researchers.  
“Ms. Jennings’ gift is an extraordinary contribution because it contains valuable insights into the founding of the National Arts Centre,” said Dr. Guy Berthiaume, Librarian and Archivist of Canada. “It will be a tremendous resource for academics, arts organizations and researchers, as the contents of this archive document the history of Canada’s largest performing arts organization over its first 40 years.”
 Ms. Jennings’ archive contains conversations with leading figures associated with the life of the NAC, including its founder, G. Hamilton Southam; former NAC artistic leaders, ranging from Founding Conductor Mario Bernardi, Robert Lepage (French Theatre), John Wood and Marti Maraden (English Theatre); dance artists such as Celia Franca, Édouard Lock and Brian Macdonald, and many others. The collection also includes interviews with senior government officials and arts administrators, including current President and CEO Peter Herrndorf, chairs and members of the NAC Board of Trustees, and various cabinet ministers responsible for the NAC in its first 40 years.
“I am delighted to donate these interviews to Library and Archives Canada because they  preserve an important part of the history of the performing arts in this country,” Ms. Jennings said. “It is my hope that they will continue to be useful for others researching Canada’s arts in the future.”  Ms. Jennings has suspended her copyright on the collection to enable users, particularly students. It is anticipated that additional material relating to the NAC’s last decade will be added to the collection in the future.

BIFHSGO January Meeting: NEW LOCATION

On Saturday, 10 January, head out on what will be a cold but mainly sunny day to the new location for the BIFHSGO meeting

The Chamber, Ben Franklin Place
101 Centrepointe Drive, Nepean.

9:00 a.m.
Before BIFHSGO Education Talk — Ken McKinlay will explain how to use Dropbox to share photos and genealogy files when email won't do.

9:30 a.m.
Discovery Table  — The OGS Ottawa Branch will host a table to explain what they offer.
10:00 a.m.
The Queen's Photographer, the Abyssinian Prince and My Great-Grand-Uncle Charlie. Patricia Roberts-Pichette will share the story of her great-grand-uncle's adventures in India, Malaysia, New Zealand, and North Africa, how he had his photo taken with an Abyssinian prince, and what became of the two men.

The Ottawa Genealogist: Jan-Mar 2015

OGS Ottawa Branch's quarterly publication for Jan-Mar 2015 is now available to members. In addition to the regular news and columns the feature content is:

- Visiting Some WW II and WW I Sites & etc., French Elegance Tour of France 2014. Elizabeth Kipp, with assistance of Ed, report on a 21 day trip to Paris, Rouen, World War II beaches,Saint Malo ... with three days in Strasbourg and back to Paris.

- Ancestral Homes Mobile app. The Genealogist’s Mobile app for Recording the Memories of
These Old Walls – The Homes of Our Ottawa Valley GreatGrandparents, is a written version of the presentation given by Philip Donnelly at the December Branch meeting.

Genealogy Education in Ottawa

Following on the post a couple of days ago about genealogy sessions being offered by the Ottawa Public Library, here are some other options:

Offered through the Catholic School Board (you don't have to be Catholic)

Genealogy - Level 2
A 6 week course building on the resources discussed in Level 1. Passenger Lists, Online Family Trees, Military Records, Newspapers, Wills and Other Records. Will concentrate on using the Ancestry.ca website and other Internet resources. One class will be taken up with a field trip. Instructor: Lesley Anderson
6 Weeks, 7:00 pm-9:00 pm $78 + HST
Holy Trinity (180 Katimavik Road, Kanata)  Wed Start Jan 28

Searching Effectively on Ancestry
This workshop will provide an overview of Ancestry. Topics include: getting started, membership/logging in; customizing your home page; quick links and message boards;
shoebox; keywords; card catalog; viewing, printing and saving images; Ancestry Member Connect; what’s new and where to find help! We’ll also look at the various searches: global search, category search and websearch, as well as the different search options: exact matches, variations and wildcards. Note: participants will have access to Ancestry.ca/World Deluxe.
Instructor: Lesley Anderson
Workshop, 9:00 am-12:00 pm $25 + HST
St. Pius X (1481 Fisher Avenue, Ottawa) Sat Jan 24

Starting your Online Family Tree
The workshop will cover the following: managing your online tree (privacy settings, inviting others
& viewing); profile pages; tree hints – auto searching; attaching records to someone in your tree; source citation; viewing & printing a family tree – group sheets & pedigree charts; member
connect – merging info from other family trees & contacting other members. We’ll also answer the questions what happens when I leave ancestry as a paying member? Finally we’ll have an overview of Family Tree Maker 2012 Software for computers. Note: participants will have access to
Ancestry.ca/World Deluxe.
Instructor: Lesley Anderson
Workshop, 1:00 pm-4:00 pm $25 + HST
St. Pius X (1481 Fisher Avenue, Ottawa)  Sat Jan 24

Find out more at http://continuingeducation.ottawacatholicschools.ca/content.php?doc=28,
and look for the details on page 23 of the program guide (linked from the top ribbon).

Offered by the Ottawa Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society

Genealogy: Back To Basics
Starting in January 2015, Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society will present a
genealogical education session prior to the regular monthly program. Genealogy: Back To
Basics will include a short lecture from a local genealogist or guest speaker on a relevant topic,
followed by a Question and Answer session with Ottawa Branch members.
Genealogy B2B will start on Saturday January 24, 2015 at 10:30 a.m. in Room 115 of the City of
Ottawa Central Archives at 100 Tallwood Drive. The presentation should last about 45 minutes
and will be followed by a general Q&A session on genealogical topics until noon. Coffee and
tea will be available throughout the morning.
There is no charge for the session and all are invited to return after lunch for the monthly
presentation with Elizabeth Kipp talking about One Name Studies.

The next Genealogy B2B will be held before the February presentation on Saturday February
28th. Check our website at www.ogsottawa.on.ca/.

24-Jan-15 Getting Started:  Mike More
28-Feb-15 Are You a Trust Me Genealogist?:  Heather Oakley
March-15 No meeting due to conflict with Gene-O-Rama 2015
25-Apr-15 Genetic Genealogy:  Richard McGregor
6-Jun-15 Lineage Societies:  Dorothy Meyerhof
27-Jun-15 Ottawa Resources:  Mike More

12-Sep-15 Getting Started:  Mike More

Ottawa Rewind: cool stories about Ottawa

History blogger Andrew King explores stories from Ottawa and area past in this well researched and written blog.

The most recent post is THE LEGEND OF LOST GOLD: Buried treasure on the shores of Lake Ontario tells the tale of French treasure supposed to have been buried during the Seven Years War at what is now Sandbanks Provincial Park, and explores the geography today.

Previous posts are:

IT’S A WONDERFUL TOWN: Exploring what may be the real Bedford Falls from “It’s A Wonderful Life”
Remains Of 140 year old Canadian Pacific Railway Still On NCC Parkway
Spaceships of the 401
FOR OUR EYES ONLY: 007 in Ottawa
Debunking the Bunker: Ottawa's nuclear reactor
The Mystery of the Champlain Stone
Ghost Train to the Airport
Crash of the Canso
Night of the Zeppelin
Ancient Ottawa: Lost relics from 5BC found at Constance Bay
The Jean-Richard: Ottawa's hidden shipwreck
The Orenda Ring

Irish Records Coming This Year

John Grenham starts off 2015 and his Irish Roots column for the Irish Times with The revolution will continue. While waiting for the NLI’s microfilm collection of Catholic parish registers to become available look forward to the return of the Civil Registration indexes at irishgenealogy.ie  and further records from Findmypast and Ancestry.

More Publicity for LAC

The CBC Radio program The World at Six ran an item on Library and Archives Canada digitizing WW1 service files on Monday's edition. It starts at about 18:35 at http://podcast.cbc.ca/w6/worldatsix.mp3 - likely only for the day.

Genealogy at the Ottawa Public Library

Here are the OPL sessions scheduled for genealogy for February and March.

Using Ancestry Library: Saturday, February 7, 2015 - 9:30am for 150 minutes, at the Main Branch, 120 Metcalfe, in the Computer training room

Tracing Your Canadian Ancestors in the First World War: Wednesday, February 25, 2015 - 6:15pm for 120 minutes at the Rosemount Branch, 18 Rosemount in the Meeting Room

Digitizing and Preserving Family Photographs: Tuesday, March 10, 2015 - 6:30pm for 105 minutes at the Stittsville Branch, 1637 Stittsville Main in the Meeting Room

Discovering Genealogy Resources: Thursday, March 12, 2015 - 2:00pm for 120 minutes at Napean Centrepointe Branch, 101 Centrepointe in Room 1B

Information and advance registration at http://goo.gl/448SX5

The Sovereign’s Sovereigns: a royal bounty for triplets

In August 1849 Queen Victoria, while on a visit to Ireland, established the practice of granting a sovereign, a one pound sterling coin, to the parents of triplets, one for each child. The bounty was "to enable the parents to meet the sudden expenses thrown upon them." Who benefited?

To qualify the births had to be live and in wedlock, the parents British subjects. Until 1938 the parents had to be "in necessitous circumstances."  The payment was by application which had to be made within four months of the birth, later relaxed to one year. Parents of quads and quints received proportionally more.

The program was suspended during the reign of Edward VII although a few payments were made. George V revived the program which continued until 1957. In that year Queen Elizabeth instituted several changes for the monarchy, including ending the presentation of debutantes at court. The Royal Bounty for triplets was replaced by provision for sending a congratulatory message instead. Unlike messages for 100th birthdays and 70th wedding anniversaries, which are available through application to the Governor General in Canada, greetings to parent of triplets are no longer advertised.

The program operated throughout the British Empire and Commonwealth. In Canada applications for the bounty relating to 167 cases exist, mostly consisting of letters of transmittal and acknowledgements can be found in archives of the Governor General at Library and Archives Canada.

Many parent did not qualify; in 1920 alone 99 triplets, 33 multiple births, occurred in Canada yet only two applications were considered. Often parents were unaware of the program or became aware too late to get the paperwork processed in time. Many parents were not in sufficiently needy circumstances.

The first Canadian case I found, in 1906 was for triplet girls Mabel, May and Marjorie born to John and Marguerite Matheson of East Nissouri, Oxford County, Ontario. The last, in 1970, additions to the Hjorleifson family of St Vital, Manitoba.

There were two cases of quads. In 1950 the Hargreave family of Sault St Marie, Ontario and in 1954 the Doucet family of Bathurst, New Brunswick. There was no record of an application or payment to the Dionne quintuplets.

The following cases are abstracted from three volumes in the Governor General’s files, RG7, at Library and Archives Canada in a few cases augmented by information from newspapers and miscellaneous sources.

Last Name	First Name	Year	Place	Prov	Birth		Comment
Matheson	John	1906	E Nissouri	ON
Finklestein	John	1907	Toronto	ON	Dec/11
Blair	R J	1910	Finch	ON	Apr/20
King	Harry	1910	Bathurst	NB	Aug/05
Tessier	Maxime	1911	Warren	ON	Jan/01
Hardy	R A	1911					denied
Hache	Pierre P	1912	Robertville	NB
Von Zuben	Adolph	1912	Toronto	ON
May	James	1912	Earlscourt	ON
Thomas	Jessie Jackson	1912	Belleville	ON
Primeau	A de L	1913	Montreal	QC
Couling	A N	1913	Creston	BC	Nov/10		not pursued
Little		1914	Merriton	ON
Matthews	D A	1914	Prince Albert	SK			did not live
Watson	William W	1914	Bathurst	NB	Dec/13		too late
Couture	Charles	1916	Bathurst	NB	Feb/05
Bernstein	M	1916	Montreal	QC	Jun/09
Wiener		1916	Langdon	AB			too late
Harrison	G R	1916
Phelan	Frank	1916	Rover View	ON
Cloaks	Howard Stuart	1917	Montreal	QC
Miller	Charles	1917	York Co,	NB
Gilmour	Joseph	1917	Montreal	QC	Aug/14		denied - not indegent
Tozer	Norman J	1917	Toronto	ON	Dec/19
Thompson-Sawyer	James	1918	Mount Pleasant	QC	Apr/25
Leboeuf	Armand	1918	Valleyfield	QC
Michaelis	Daniel John	1918	McDougall	ON	Jul/30
Nicholson	Adam Alexander	1918	St Catherines	ON	Dec/19
McLachlan	Hugh Alexander	1918	Ramsayville	ON	Jul/01		Too late
Lynch	William W	1918	Belleville	ON	Apr/30		Too late
Haines	Ed G	1919	Elfree	SK
Doris	Albert B	1919	Peterborough	ON
Paige	George	1919	Trenton	ON	Aug/01
Coyetche	M	1919	Petit de Grat	NS	Nov/11
Stevenson		1919	Birch Hills	SK			too late
Phaneuf	J L	1920	Pointe Claire	QC
Larocque	James	1920	Perth	ON			Ineligible  lived 1 hour
L'Ecuyer	Alfred	1921	Valleyfield	QC			2 died
Williams	W M	1921	Saskatoon	SK	Oct/20
McCarter	W J	1922	Decker	MN
Ashcroft	John	1922	Birtle	MB
Dunseith	Frank	1923	Dublin	ON	Jan/22
McManus	Bernard	1923	Smith	ON	Mar/04
Stanley	Richard F	1923	Madison	SK	Jun/01
Rattray	Norman J	1923	Picton	ON	Apr/26
Penner	E F	1923		MB	May/08
Pittman	Thomas	1924	Kemptville	ON			request for $1000 for each baby
Mahaney	T D	1924	St John	NB
Calligan	Peter	1924	Toronto	ON	Apr/23		denied - died
Primeau	George	1924	Cornwall	ON	Feb/29
Tilley	W A	1924	Toronto	ON	Mar/25		application not made
Bowers	F C	1924	Oshawa	ON
Jarvis		1925	Toronto	ON			not necessity
Dillon	James	1925	Kerrobert	SK
Theoret	Osias	1925	St Telesphore	QC
Lennox	Wesley	1926
Patrey	Adrien	1926	Montreal	QC
Loiseau	Joseph	1926	Montreal	QC
Pitre	Alexandre	1926	St Benoit de Matapedia	QC
Kilbride	Percy J	1926	Port Hill	PEI
Keegan	J T	1926	Kimberley	BC
Schlamp	Philip	1926	Regina	SK
Kerr	R Lindsey	1926	Mountain	ON
Brunet		1926	Drummondville	QC
McGill	Clarence	1926	Englehart	ON
Provost	Marguerite	1927
Perras	Thomas	1927	Thurso	QC
Massicotte	Joseph	1927	Montmayny	QC
Kendall	Walter	1927	Elgin Mills	ON	Aug/21
Reddall	Joseph	1927	Toronto	ON	Sep/20
Pettman	William	1927	Tillsonburg	ON	Sep/23
Tully	J	1928	Edmonton	AB	Mar/19
Caswell	J A	1928	Durham	ON	May/11
Guillemette	Arsene	1929	St Dominique	QC
Cameron	W	1929	Toronto	ON
Burling	James	1929	Toronto	ON	Mar/13
Noble	Lorne	1930	Penetanguishine	ON	Jan/06
Kelsey	G S	1929	Walkerton	ON
Thompson	Thomas	1930	Toronto	ON	Dec/16
Scott	Frank	1931	Brechin	ON	Jan/04
Williams	C H	1932	Pennant	SK
Guillemette	Arthur	1932	Richmond	QC	Mar/15		too late
Thomas	Ivor	1933	Mt Denis	ON
McLaughlan	John	1933	Grafton	NB
Dick	Kenneth	1933	Beaver Crossing	AB	Jul/30		too late
Latohman	Philip	1933	Toronto	ON
Aubin	Charles	1933	Lisieux	SK	Nov/22
Chisholm	W H	1934	New Glasgow	NS
Lagace	Joseph	1934	St Didace	QC
McMurray	Jack	1934	Toronto	ON	Sep/15
Cormier	Arthur	1935	Upper Saskville	NB	Oct/01
Bouchard	Amable	1935	St Pascal	QC
Fleet	Henry	1935	Kirkland Lake	ON	May/21
Malloff	Adon	1935	Toronto	ON	Jun/07
Richmond	Alex	1935	Toronto	ON	Sep/16
Lahaye	Real	1936	Cap de la Madanline	QC			not qualified
Tavara	Joseph	1936	Lauzon West	QC	Apr/18
Erich		1936	Torquay	SK			too late
Case	Charles	1936	Vancouver	BC	Dec/12
Wild	John W	1936	Cedar Springs	ON	Oct/19
Jean	J Antoine	1937	St Pascal	QC	Apr/22
Salyha	P N	1937	Hairy Hill	AB
Bull	Stuart J	1938	Minden	ON
Kundsgaard	Laurine O	1938	Rossland	BC
Lynds	Crawford	1938	Emerson	NB
Beettam	H G	1938	Toronto	ON	Dec/17		dropped - not needy
Biron	Emmanuel	1939	Ottawa	ON
Letourneau	Rene	1939	Clarenceville	QC
Herbert	Jacques	1939	Napierville	QC
Salteric	Josephine	1939	Prince's Lodge	NS
Person	E	1939	Melfort	SK
Racicot	Sophie	1939	Fassett	QC
Vogt	George	1939	Waterloo	ON	Jun/29		dropped - not needy
Robbins	Mrs Ivan	1940	Corunna	ON	Feb/05
Smith	Rev and Mrs Stanley	1940	Middleville	ON	Nov/12
Flyer	Leading Seaman Frank	1940			Nov/07
Robbins	Ivan	1940	Corunna	ON
Savard	Mrs Fernand	1941
Thiffault	Mrs Leo	1941
Wettlaufer	Mrs Ezra	1942	Neustadt	ON	Mar/24
Thompson	Mrs R G	1942	Belleville	ON	Feb/25
Morrison	Mrs A A	1942	Collingwood	ON	Oct/17
Griffin	Mrs J F	1942			Not needy
Peeler	Mrs M	1943			Not needy
Hardwick	Mrs C A	1943	Toronto	ON	Jul/09
Strachan	Mrs Donald S	1943	Norwich	ON	Sep/07
Starr	Mrs Clinton E.	1943	East York	ON	Oct/29
Brown	Mrs M A	1944	Haney	BC	Oct/14
Hatt	Mrs Roy F	1945	Tobermory	ON	Mar/07
Staskow	Mrs	1945	St Catharines	ON	Aug/29
Sciarra	Mrs Louis	1946	Thorald	ON	Jul/20
Losier	Mrs Exhibe	1946	Tracadie	NB
Hersikorn	Mrs A G	1946	Doncrest	SK	Mar/09
Holtz	Mrs Wallace A	1946	Powassan	ON
Kelly	Mrs Grace	1946	Winnipeg	MA	May/03
Hislop	Mrs J O	1946	Verdun	QC
Bond	F W	1946	Toronto	ON	Sep/02
Levasseur	Albert	1947	Mont-Joli	QC	Jun/28
Lamontagne	Roger	1947	Iberville	QC	Sep/30
Jones	Morton H	1948	Toronto	ON	Apr/04
Miller	T J	1948	Lakeburn	NB	Mar/18
Dimmock	Percival S	1949	West Hill	ON	Aug/31
Mercille	Adrien	1950	Cap de la Mad	QC	Jul/30
Hargreave	Ozzie	1950	Sault St Marie	ON	Oct/13		quads
Kenny	Mrs Margaret	1951	London	ON	Apr/12
Baker	Mrs D Roy	1951	Hamilton	ON	Feb
Hester	E N	1951	Toronto	ON
Martin	Mrs Arthur	1952	Lac Megantic	QC
Herder	Mrs L W	1953	South Burnaby	BC
Delmaire	Mrs Andre	1953	Wauchope	SK
Robitaille	Mrs Jean-Paul	1954	St Jean	QC
Baker	Mrs R A	1954	Petawawa	ON
Hamilton	Mrs D	1954	Pickering	ON
Zubko	Mrs Peter	1954	Sturgis	SK
Poplar	Mrs John	1954	River Herbert	NS
Bauer	Mrs Arthur Walter	1954	Trochu	AB	Dec/04
Charter	Mrs Norman A.	1954	Three Hills	AB	Oct/15
Perron	Mrs William	1954	Mountain BrookNB
Doucet	Mrs Laurent C	1954	Bathurst	NB	Oct/18		quads
Cockell	Mrs W B	1954	Montreal	QC	Apr/30
Johnson	Mrs John D	1954	Hitchcock	SK	Oct/07
Mueller	Mrs E H	1955	Champion	AB	Jun/05
Palidwor	Mrs Gloria	1956	New Westminster	BC	Apr/03
King	Mrs A F C	1956	Chippawa	ON	Jun/26
Oulton	Mrs Ralph G	1958	Jolicure	NB	Feb/08
Reeve	Mrs Harry	1959	Morden	MB	Nov/06
Hjorleifson	Mrs Ray William	1960	St Vital	MB	Feb/01

Documents for the volumes 1 and 2, to 1941, are located on microfilm reel T-1171 available as a digital microfilm via Canadiana–Héritage at http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_t1171/1?r=0&s=1 starting at page 562. Subsequent years are from hardcopy in RG 7 G-26 Volume 107, File 3450-B KING'S BOUNTY FOR TRIPLETS - APPLICATIONS 1941-1960 at LAC.