OGS revives CanadaGenWeb's Cemetery Project

The following is good news extracted from an Ontario Genealogical Press Release.

Due to security issues with their current hosting provider, portions of CanadaGenWeb’s Cemetery Project have been offline for more than three months, with no solutions in sight. Recognizing the value of these genealogical resources, OGS stepped in to offer a solution. CanadaGenWeb’s Cemetery Project has been working over the last month preparing for the changeover. The site is back up and operating with a new look and feel. Work will continue to evolve over the next few weeks as the website settles into its new server.

The CanadaGenWeb's Cemetery Project (http://cemetery.canadagenweb.org) debuted in October 2004 as the first Canada-wide, Canada-only cemetery project.
At present they offer a free and searchable directory of more than 21,000 Canadian cemeteries, including locations, histories and links to repositories and genealogy organizations that offer further information and/or assistance.
Plus, a 1.5 million (and growing) names index of volunteer contributed photographs, indexes and transcripts.

Subscribe to the update blog: http://canadacems.blogspot.ca/
Join on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/CanadaGenWeb-Cemetery-Project-150618738362392

Thanks to Steve Fulton UE, the Vice President of The Ontario Genealogical Society, for forwarding this information.

British Newspaper Archive additions for March

The British Newspaper Archive now has  24,710,849 pages (24,209,059 pages last month).
The 58 papers (108 last month) with new pages online this month include 28 papers new to the collection.
Papers with more than 10,000 pages added are:
Common Cause
Coventry Evening Telegraph
Daily Telegraph & Courier (London)
Globe (London, booksellers’ trade journal)
Mansfield Reporter
Newcastle Evening Chronicle
Vote (organ of the women's freedom league)
Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer

LAC Signatures: Spring/Summer 2018

If you have an opportunity over the long weekend I suggest browsing the new issue of Library and Archive Canada's magazine, available online.

Read about acquisition, preservation and access, particularly how LAC has increased its outreach activities to meet the demands of the documentary community.

That finds continuing motivation from a Nanos survey in December 2015— 54 percent felt that access should be LAC’s priority, compared with 21 percent support for preservation and 18 percent for acquisition.

Much is being achieved.

But opening LAC branches in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Halifax still leaves many clients and potential clients hundreds of kilometers from the nearest facility—Prince George, Fort McMurray, Saskatoon, Thunder Bay, Saguenay, and St John's? That's not to mention Iqaluit,Yellowknife and Whitehorse. Despite the good work it's falling short.

It doesn't have to be that way.

Take for example basic LAC resources consulted by the largest client group, genealogists. Not available online.

Newspapers remain trapped on microfilm.

Original directories deteriorate with every use.

As well as celebrating its achievements will LAC explain its approach to broader, more convenient and affordable access for those fortunate enough not to live in major centres, and for those in LAC branch communities who find the hours inconvenient?

Thanks to David Hook for correcting the link.

Frederick Twiss Thomson: CWGC Beechwood

The Ottawa Journal on 4 April 1918 reported, "one of the most impressive military funeral held in Ottawa for long time was yesterday accorded the late Lieut Frederick Tomson, formerly assistant paymaster in the Imperial office of the Navel Service." He had served in naval forces since July 1914. His father was reported to be living in New Zealand.

An article in the New Zealand newspaper, The Bruce Herald, has information about his earlier life.

"On Tuesday morning Mr David Thomson, of North Branch, Milton, received a cable from the Canadian naval authorities announcing that his youngest son, Paymaster Fred Twiss Thomson, had died in hospital at Ottawa, on April 1st from some internal trouble. Although several years have elapsed since Mr Thomson left Milton he is still remembered with deep respect by a large circle of friends throughout Otago. 
He was born at North Branch 32 years ago, and received his earlier education at Tokomairiro High School. On leaving the school be joined the service of Milton branch of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Co., being transferred about twelve months later to the firm’s head office at Dunedin, and whilst there be studied accountancy at the Otago University. He remained seven years with the firm at Dunedin (until February, 1910), and attained the position of auctioneer for the firm.
Inspired with a desire to see more of the world he left on a trip to the Old Country early in 1910. After visiting relatives there he crossed over to Vancouver at which place he took up his residence, and followed his own particular line of business until the war broke out. The desire to serve his country occasioned him to join H.M.S. “ Rainbow ” almost immediately after war was declared. He remained on this ship until transferred to shore duty at Montreal and Ottawa, at which latter place he died on Monday.
Paymaster Thomson was a man of many parts, and had a bright career before him. He was interested in many social activities, and was a keen student of political economy. Perhaps his chief hobby was in debating societies —more particularly in Vancouver—where at times he represented the Y.M.C.A. in open debating competitions, and won the first prizes. He also wielded a facile pen, and some years ago contributed a number of interesting articles to the Bruce Herald on life in Vancouver and elsewhere in Canada.

This detail on the man who gave his life in service to Canada was only found because the National Library of New Zealand pursued a national program of newspaper digitization. Library and Archives Canada please note.

.

Who do you think is coming to the BIFHSGO conference?

Coming to Ben Franklin Place, 101 Centrepointe Drive in Ottawa on 28 – 30 September , 2018 to be part of the 24th Annual BIFHSGO Family History Conference.

The headline speakers are:
Bruce Durie, one of Scotland's top genealogists, has written more than 30 books, including the best-selling “Scottish Genealogy,” developed an online Masters Genealogical Studies program, teaches genealogy, documents and heraldry courses, and has received many honours for his work.
Diahan Southard, lectures and advises worldwide about genetic genealogy; she also produces a video tutorial series, writes DNA quick guides, and contributes to several genealogical magazines
and the Genealogy Gems website.
Lynn Palermo, author of her own family history book, The Waters of My Ancestors, is a genealogy research and writing coach and host of The Armchair Genealogist website, offering webinars, workshops, workbooks and one-on-one coaching.

My personal pick:
Linda Reid has 35 years of genealogy experience and now teaches genealogy, administers dozens of family DNA kits, facilitates an Advanced Genetic Genealogy SIG, and speaks at various Ontario genealogy conferences.

Our local stars:
Leanne Cooper is a federal public servant, BIFHSGO member, and blogger (leannecoopergenealogy.ca) whose roots are mostly in New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, with English (and a few Scottish) ancestors.
Shirley-Ann Pyefinch oversees the operations of the Ottawa Family History Centre, lectures on family history and has enjoyed finding her own roots for over 40 years.

And new to me
Sam Allison, (Don Whiteside Memorial Lecturer) a long-time educator who has written educational books and articles. His latest book is Driv’n by Fortune: The Scots’ March to Modernity in America, 1745–1812.
Sadie De Finney has a long-standing passion for the Celtic nations, their history and folklore. She enthusiastically applies research skills gleaned from graduate studies in cross-cultural communication to genealogy and family history.
Mark Olsen (who I've met several times but never had the opportunity to hear speak) works worldwide as the Family Tree
Maker Ambassador to support users of the genealogical software. He has a degree in family history from Brigham Young University and has worked in the genealogy industry since 2007.

Everything you need to know is in the convenient conference brochure (pdf). Registration is scheduled to open on 4 May.

New on Findmypast

Prerogative Court Of Canterbury Administrations 1660-1700
Over 88,000 transcripts and images of Index slips and related documentation created from original Prerogative Court of Canterbury administrations held by The National Archives at Kew in PROB 6 and PROB 15/72.
This work was undertaken by the British Record Society and Friends of The National Archives.
Approximately a third of the records refer to a mariner. Each record will reveal the date of the will, value of the will, the archive reference number and any additional notes.

Ireland, Alphabetical Indexes To The Townlands and Parishes 1851-1911 Browse
Browse through 2,900 records taken from indexes of townlands and parishes in Ireland every ten years from 1851 to 1911. In addition to townlands and parishes, there are details of baronies and electoral divisions in Ireland. There is no information on individuals.

Leicestershire Burials
New records from the parish of Thrussington have been added to the collection of Leicestershire Burials. The collections span over 400 years from 1538 to the 1991 and covers 279 parishes across the county.

Free Ancestry access this weekend

Ancestry.co.uk is offering a free access weekend. Four full days from 30 March-2 April. Search millions of UK, Ireland, Canada and Australia –  Commonwealth records – all weekend and free—with registration.
It is also offered on Ancestry.ca.

Ancestry adds Yorkshire, England: Church of England Parish Records, 1538-1873

Find 1,192,245 new to Ancestry records from 94 parishes compiled from the printed parish registers.
Ancestry's description mentions "transferring the transcripts to this electronic medium" which likely means an OCR process.
Don't forget to view the original document linked under "View Images" which likely has more information than under "View Record" such as witnesses names.
There's more to come. "Records from various parishes throughout Yorkshire will continually be added to this database for the next couple of months."

Ancestry updates England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916-2005

Ancestry's version of this index was updated on 27 March, and now contains 71,311,367 entries. You can also browse the index records from 1916 to 1983 as published.

Family Tree April 2018

Here, with publisher's permission, is a full listing of the contents of the April issue of Family Tree magazine (UK):

Family history news
Latest news with Karen Clare, including the launch of a WW1 nurses resource and historical climate website, plus a major digital project to recover Ireland’s lost historical and genealogical records, destroyed in 1922.
(Comment: One of the initiatives mentioned, funded and just getting off the ground, is the Beautiful Burial Ground Project.)
Dear Tom
Get your monthly fix of genealogical gems and funnies with Tom Wood.
International Bomber Command Centre Archives
Angela Youngman investigates the significance of these archives and memorial for those who served in Bomber Command and their descendants to this day.
Family Tree Academy
Improve your family history research skills with our Family Tree Academy, which has case studies to research, old documents to decipher and answers to last issue's challenges. Tutor David Annal takes you through your genealogical paces.
Techy tips for family historians
Make the most of digital devices, websites, apps and gadgets, with genealogical web guru Paul Carter.
The lunch-hour genealogist
Squeeze just 60 minutes of family history into your daily routine and you’ll soon see your tree start to blossom. Get cracking with Rachel Bellerby’s suggested projects and genealogical crossword fun.
A history of houses in miniature
When researching our ancestors’ homes, detail is very important. Here Sadie Brown explores a creative way to add a new dimension to family history, exploring and creating their former dwellings at a tiny scale.
Hot off the press
Keith Gregson pays homage to the online British Newspaper Archive, which could hold the key to solving your family mysteries.
Researching French records in 7 steps
Here Keith Hayward shares some steps to help you get to grips with the genealogical records of France.
Books
Enjoy some of the latest genealogical reads with Karen Clare.
Headstone hunter
Simon Wills examines a valuable project set up by a family historian to record memorial inscriptions for fellow researchers today, and for many years to come.
(Comment: Profiles Colin Ashworth and his website Find That Memorial Inscription which includes a directory of sources for memorial inscription transcripts for counties in England.)
Celebrating the centenary of the RAF
Over the decades, hundreds of thousands of our ancestors will have had connections to this indomitable organisation. Here Helen Tovey runs through some of the records to help you ace your research and discover your family hero.
(Comment: Included is information on where to get a more recent British military service record, and not just for the RAF, at www.gov.uk/get-copy-military-service-records/)
What no one tells you about publishing your family history book
If you’re writing a family history book that you hope will be read as widely as possible, you'll need to acquire some skills to sell it. Belinda Griffin is here with a publishing bootcamp to get you on the road.
How to start doing your family history 
June Terrington has been researching her family history for years and it's a hobby she truly loves. If you’d like to begin tracing your family tree, read on, and she’ll show you those steps you need to take.
Researching a WW1 prisoner of war 
Using treasures from the family archive, alongside some wonderful digitised records, Judith Russell traced the tale of a WW1 prisoner of war who lived to tell the tale.
Spotlight on Doncaster & District Family History Society 
Dave Valentine introduces a South Yorkshire family history society, which, through its events and outreach work, helps hundreds of people to find their roots every year.
City of spires
This issue in her monthly website spotlight, Julie Goucher delves into the diverse records of the Oxford Archivists’ Consortium.
Different strokes
Sally George paints a rich picture of the lives of her ancestors from all over the British Isles - and it’s a tale that continues to echo down the decades.
Your Q&As: advice
Get top family history help with Mary Evans, David Frost, Jayne Shrimpton and guest experts.
Diary Dates
Find family history exhibitions, courses and events for your calendar this April.
Twiglets
Latest exploits from our tree-tracing diarist Gill Shaw.
Mailbox
Your entertaining and informative letters and Keith Gregson’s Snippets of War, plus crossword answers.
Thoughts on...
Diane Lindsay loves and hates her computer...

Family Tree paper editions are sold from: https://www.family-tree.co.uk/store/buy-the-magazine/ and the  digital edition from: https://pocketmags.com/family-tree-magazine/. These are not affiliate links.

The Best DNA Testing Kits of 2018!

PCMag, known for computer and related tech reviews, recently published a review of Living DNA. It was rated Excellent, which means four "stars" out of five.
That makes six DNA testing services now compared at the PCMag The Best DNA Testing Kits of 2018 page, 23andMe, AncestryDNA, Living DNA, National Geographic Genographic Project, HomeDNA and MyHeritage DNA.
Beware.
Despite the page being published 27 March with the exception of Living DNA the other reviews were published between 30 October and 7 November last year.
Family Tree DNA's Family Finder test isn't even reviewed!!!!
DNA testing services are rapidly evolving. For instance in the five months since it was reviewed MyHeritage DNA, which was rated Good—three out of five—has greatly improved its capabilities, including adding a chromosome browser.
Despite the title the comparisons are NOT valid for 2018.                                                                                             

Ancestry First World War Pension Claim Project

Scanning of First World War pension records that The Western Front Association saved from destruction is underway.
According to a post from the WFA "records comprise upwards of six million cards relating to soldiers' (and sailors and members of the RFC/RAF) pension claims relating to their service in the First World War."
This is a major project. The information will eventually be available to Ancestry subscribers (UK or World) and WFA members.

Indefinite Closure of Toronto Family History Centre

Toronto Family History Centre at 24 Ferrand Drive, North York, is closing 3 April 2018 until further notice according to a note on their website.
There are Family History Centres in Etobicoke and Brampton, and numerous Toronto Public Library branches which are FamilySearch affiliate centres.
Thanks to Linda Reid for letting us know.

IGRS Updates Early Irish BMD Indexes

The following is a notice from the Irish Genealogical Research 

Society

The latest update of 11,000 additional entries to the Society's Early Irish Birth, Death & Marriage Indexes includes some 7,500 death entries from newspapers published between 1740 & 1810. The combined number of names now found in the three databases is 278,334.

The data is drawn from a wide number of Irish newspapers, but particularly from Walkers Hibernian & Gentleman's Magazine, Pue's Occurrences, the Leinster Journal, Faulkner’s Dublin Journal and the Hibernian Chronicle. Despite the too often generally held view that early newspapers do not note details about "ordinary" people, this update proves to the contrary. It is full of references to such people as farmers, publicans, innkeepers, butchers, bakers, printers, brewers, apothecaries, tailors, seed merchants, drapers, painters, grocers, sailmakers, clerks, confectioners, cutlers, saddlers, haberdashers and tallow chandlers, to name but a few. And all are from places right across the island of Ireland.

For instance, in Faulkner’s Dublin Journal in November 1761 we learn that Mrs Esther Hodgson died, from George’s Quay in Dublin and she was the wife of a measurer. In the same newspaper in March 1764 the death of Mrs Lysaght is reported. The notice goes on to record that she was the widow of Charles Lysaght, of Craigmore, Co. Clare and her maiden surname was Hogan. In Pue’s Occurrences in March 1756 the demise of Mrs Hutchinson is noted. She was from Fleet Street, Dublin, and was reportedly aged 110 years!

One particularly tragic entry from Walker's in September 1807 relates the sad tale of the drowning of an English couple in Dublin. The news item reads: "Mr and Mrs Greaves, the unfortunate couple whose bodies were found drowned in the dock near Ringsend-bridge, on Friday morning, were natives of England; they had been brought to Ireland by Messrs. Lindsay, of Parliament-street, and by them employed in making artificial flowers, which they had brought to great perfection and elegance....they had been in Dublin, and were returning to their lodgings at Irishtown, but in the extreme darkness of the night they missed their way and fell into the water, where they were found next morning locked in each other's arms; they were persons of great worthiness and industry."

For genealogists, the importance of these news reports is that they are very likely the only record now existing of each person’s death. Civil registration of deaths only began in Ireland in 1864 and before then the majority of parishes maintained no form of death or burial register.

Roz McCutcheon, the project leader, and her dedicated team of indexers, intend to add much more such data drawn from Irish newspapers over the coming months and years. As usual, she and her team should be thanked for their work.

Search the databases here:

Marriage Index      – Free to all

Birth Index              – Name search only for non-members

Death Index             – Name search only for non-members

Thanks to Steven Smyrl for the advance notice.

Origin and Distribution of English Surnames

Howard Mathieson, a retired University of Winnipeg Geography instructor and administrator, demonstrated the approach used by surname researchers to trace a surname to its origin in a recent Guild of One Name Studies webinar. It's now available at http://one-name.org/2018-webinar-series-no-4/.

Howard's presentation includes surname case studies that reflect the regional geography of England. He looks at the underlying regional character of the English landscape, examining the pattern of Saxon and Scandinavian place names, the distinctive surnames which resulted as well as the types of surname origin.

 I'd never heard of the Banwell Index that compares the relative frequency of the population in a sub region with that of the national population. It and the other techniques discussed might be helpful looking at surnames in your family tree – wherever they originated in the world.

The History of the British Isles: Every Year

Instructive and entertaining. Lots of work obviously went into this. I can't comment on the accuracy.

See also:
The History of Western Europe: Every Year
The History of the World: Every Year

All credited to Ollie Bye.

Irish Research: A Practical Guide

New in the Moorshead Magazine's Tracing Your Ancestors series, due for release 1 May, is a second publication from Maurice Gleeson.
The contents are:
How to find where your Irish ancestor came from; a strategic approach to finding records; census records (free online); civil registration records (free online – almost); church records (many online, many free); gravestone and burial records (Ireland specific websites, and global websites); wills and probate; land records; streets; schools; workhouses; newspapers; court records; military records; DNA testing as an additional genealogical tool and more!

While I've not seen it I've never known Maurice to disappoint!

The print edition, 68 pages, is $9.95 Cdn plus $4.50 Cdn shipping/handling. There's a PDF Edition at $8.50 Cdn.

You can order in advance direct from the publisher here.

Deep Roots, Promising Future

Digging round for sources for my presentation at the Secret Lives conference I came across the website of the United Farmers of Alberta (UFA), a cooperative, and more particularly the United Farmer's Historical Society.

It has browse copies of the U.F.A. newspaper, 1922 to 1934; the UFA Co-operator, 1963 to 1967 and; the United Farmer, 1967 to 1984. Unfortunately they're not OCR'd and digitally searchable.
There's also a imaged copy of Deep Roots, Promising Future, by Gord Tolton, published in 2009 in celebration of UFA's centennial.

If you're into the history of farming (and ranching) in Alberta, and it's influence in the Province's development, Deep Roots, Promising Future will be of interest. Toward the end the book gets to be more like a celebration of the great and good UFA officials.

I found the earlier parts more interesting, especially the first section, the pre-1900 period, more relevant to my conference presentation, which starts out with a description of the development of the cooperative movement in the UK.

The Lost Villages of the St. Lawrence River

The following notice is posted at the request of the Sir Guy Carleton Branch, United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada.

The Branch Spring Social and Annual General Meeting will be on 28 April, 2018, 11:30 am, at the Best Western Ottawa City Centre,
1274 Carling Ave., Ottawa, ON

The speaker,  Jennifer de Bruin will present on “The Lost Villages of the St. Lawrence River”

On the shores of the mighty St. Lawrence River, one of Canada's most historic regions – settled by United Empire Loyalists in the 1780s and renowned for its beauty – can now only be brought to life through the memories of its one-time residents.
The ‘Lost Villages,’ once vibrant and bustling, now lie under dark waters.

Menu
Garden salad with buns and butter
Entrée – your choice of:
Roast beef au jus with potatoes and vegetables
Chicken breast with white wine sauce, potatoes and vegetables
Poached salmon with dill sauce, rice and vegetables
Dessert.

The price is $30 per person. Please send a cheque made payable to "Sir Guy Carleton Branch, UELAC" (address below), indicating your choice of entrée. The Branch must be advised in advance of your attendance and meal choice.
Sir Guy Carleton Branch
P.O. Box 5104
19 Colonnade Rd.
Nepean, ON
K2C 3H5
Canada
CarletonUEL@hotmail.com

Advance Notice:  The 2019 UELAC conference is scheduled for Ottawa, 30 May - 2 June. Follow developments at www.uelac.org/SirGuyCarleton/conference19.php

Findmypast British additions

A small haul of additions to Findmypast this week:

• 1,584 monumental inscriptions found in the parishes of Gloucestershire, recorded in Ralph Bigland’s publication Historical, Monumental and Genealogical Collections Relative to the County of Gloucester.
• 6 volumes of Rev Frederick Brown’s Abstracts of Somersetshire Wills. They cover the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteen centuries. Each result typically gives residence, marital status, relatives, will date and details relating to their estate.
• 63,845 additions to the Hue and Cry Police Gazette Index for England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, most is London content. Total index records are now 80,716. These are index entries. The British Newspaper Archive also holds digitised scans of 739 issues under the title Police Gazette. They are for 1773-1776, 1829, 1858, 1880, 1898, 1916-1918 with plans to add 1797–1810, and missing issues from 1825 to 1918.
• 419 new records in Britain, Knights of the Realm & Commonwealth Index for a total of 36,907 records.

Ancestry adds Kent, England, Extracted Parish Records, 1539-1876

The 149,928 records in this new collection from Ancestry are created from publications of parish and probate records. Ancestry gives warnings about the reliability "These records are a finding aid", "it is difficult to absolutely verify the completeness and validity of the data", and more.

The entries are from:

Kent: Canterbury - St. Dunstan - Christenings, Marriages and Burials, 1559-1800
Kent: Canterbury - Marriage Licence allegations, Dean of Westminster, 1558-1699 and Vicar-General of the Archbishop of Canterbury, 1660 to 1679
Kent: Boughton under Blean - Parish Registers, 1558-1626
Kent: Lullingstone - Parish Register
Kent: Horton Kirbie - Parish Registers
Kent: - Register of Marriages, 1538-1837 a
Kent: - Register of Marriages, 1538-1837 b
Kent, Surrey, London: - Canterbury Marriage Licences, 1751-1780
Kent, Surrey, London: - Canterbury Marriage Licences, 1781-1809
Kent, Surrey, London: - Canterbury Marriage Licences, 1810-1837.

Discover Your Roots: Ottawa Genealogy and Local History Fair

On Saturday 21 April, The Ottawa Public Library and British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa are cooperating to offer a drop-in event.

• Learn more at genealogy and local history presentations
• Meet community organizations from Ottawa and area
• Bring your questions for one-on-one consultation with genealogy specialists

Expect a couple of talks about genetic genealogy, online resources, and more.
10 am - 3 pm at Nepean Centrepointe, 101 Centrepointe
Chamber, Ben Franklin Place.

Now we are 37 million?

On Thursday Statistics Canada posted that Canada's population on 1 January 2018 was 36,963,854. With the latest growth rate we should now be at 37 million—not as easy to celebrate in song as the 20 million Bobby Gimby used in 1967.
There will be adjustments as Stats Can used the 2011 census as the baseline, not the 2016 census.
People are living longer, the birth rate is shrinking and net migration is 220,000. It could easily be higher.
 According to Worldometer Canada's population <http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/canada-population/> declined from 30th globally in 1955 to 38th today and is projected at 46th in 2050.

Two genetic genealogy success story videos

Genetic genealogy success stories are coming thick and fast.
Maurice Gleeson has posted the presentation Breaking down Brick Walls using Triangulation he gave at Genetic Genealogy Ireland (Belfast), sponsored by FamilyTreeDNA. He discusses his experience of "Messy Triangulation", working with shared autosomal matches which opened up a connection to Welsh nobility and British royalty.
If you use MyHeritage DNA have a look at the Legacy Family Tree webinar Hands-On with MyHeritage DNA by Geoff Rasmussen and Ran Snir, with an assist from Geoff's cousin, yet another story of connections made through DNA testing. And if you've autosomal test results from another company MyHeritage is still accepting uploads of results and the ability of make matches for free. The free bit may not last!

TheGenealogist adds Meritorious Service Medal Roll.

The roll of names for 29,000 individuals who were decorated with the Meritorious Service Medal (MSM) British honour in the First World War have been released by TheGenealogist.
According to the release note the medal was first awarded in 1845 to non-commissioned officers in the British Army who had a record of long service in the forces. The First World War saw it awarded to those who performed acts of non-combatant gallantry in the performance of their military duty, not necessarily while the serviceman was on active service and may have been in the saving or attempted saving of the life of an officer or an enlisted soldier.

Honouring Sir Arthur Doughty

22 March 2018 is the 158th anniversary of the birth of Sir Arthur George Doughty in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England.
Arriving in Canada in 1886 he was the longest serving Dominion Archivist and Keeper of the Public Records of Canada, from 1904 until 1935. He died in December 1936 and is buried with his second wife in Ottawa's Notre Dame Cemetery.
Sadly the Dictionary of Canadian Biography has yet to publish his biography. There are short articles in Wikipedia and The Canadian Encyclopedia.
Researchers live in hope that as ever more documents are digitized facts behind mysteries of Doughty's life might be revealed. A January 1881 newspaper from Berkshire reports that Mr Arthur Doughty was responsible for decorating the National School Room on the occasion of a meeting of the Juvenile Branch of the Maidenhead Church of England Temperance Society. Not everything that comes to light will be enlightening!

OGS Ottawa Branch March Meeting

This Saturday, 24 March at 1:30 pm Fraser Dunford will be in Ottawa speaking to OGS Ottawa Branch on Municipal Records.

Ontario’s municipal history is complex.  Finding municipal records is even more complex, yet they contain significant genealogical and historical information. 

Fraser Dunford is a retired professional engineer and university administrator, and former OGS Executive Director. He is author of several books and articles before and in life as a genealogist including Municipal Records in Ontario, covering the history and growth of Ontario municipalities, the sorts of records municipalities kept, and where you may find these records.

In the morning Back to Basics session, starting at 10:30 am, Heather Oakley will discuss Citing Your Sources.

The Computer special interest group is scheduled to meet following the main event in the afternoon, nominally at 3 pm.

All events are at the Ottawa City Archives, 100 Tallwood in Nepean.

TNA tests handwriting recognition in PROB 11 will collection

A post on The (UK) National Archive's blog Machines reading the archive: handwritten text recognition software reports encouraging results on a pilot project assessing the feasibility of using the handwritten text recognition facility Transkribus on TNA's collection of PROB 11 wills.
Transkribus requires an original collection in a fairly uniform hand and a good sample of human transcribed material to train the recognition process. Training on roughly 37,000 words produced a transcription with a word error rate of 28% and character error rate of 14%.
Although no statistics are given the error rate for proper names (capitalized) appears to be much greater. If they occur a number of times in the document the chances of finding a name at least once is improved. This will be especially useful where the name of interest occurs not as the deceased, already indexed for PROB 11, but an executor, beneficiary or witness.

HSO March Meeting

The Historical Society of Ottawa meets on Friday 23 March, 2018 at 1 pm for a presentation by Dan Mackay -- Lillian Freiman: The Poppy Lady

Lillian Bilsky Freiman (1885-1940) nicknamed “The Poppy Lady”, was designated a Person of National Historic Significance by the Canadian Government. During the First World War, Lillian worked tirelessly for the benefit of our soldiers overseas by setting up sewing circles which would become a Disraeli Chapter of the Daughters of the Empire. She also co-founded The Great War Veterans Association which would become the Royal Canadian Legion. Lillian crafted the first Canadian poppies in her living room in 1921. This presentation will look at this fascinating woman.

Dan Mackay has had an extensive career in the military, and is now a Friend of the Canadian War Museum, and as a volunteer, is guardian and custodian of the military artifacts in the Museum. He has been deeply engaged in conserving the history of our Armed Forces holding such positions as Army Heritage Officer at NDHQ; Deputy Director, Directorate of History and Heritage at NDHQ and, in earlier days, served in senior positions as a geographer and cartographer with Energy, Mines and Resources and on secondment to the Department of External Affairs.

MyHeritage DNA features in two of three Legacy webinars this week

Confused about results of genetic genealogy testing?
On Wednesday at 2 pm ET Ran Snir, Product Manager of MyHeritage DNA will give Legacy Family Tree Webinars' Geoff Rasmussen a guided tour through his personal ethnicity estimates, DNA matches and more. Free registration here.
On Friday at 2 pm ET Mike Mansfield, Director of Content Operations at MyHeritage, will give  a brief refresher of human genetics and review the different types of DNA tests available, with a focus on autosomal DNA tests. and look at genealogical problems solving with DNA results. Free registration here.
The focus in both will be on the MyHeritage product which is gaining ground in the the competitive genetic genealogy field, a tribute to rapidly advancing capability and marketing.
An example of the marketing, facilitated for MyHeritage DNA by the company acquisition of Legacy, is the webinar True Stories of Families Reunited Thanks to Genetic Genealogy telling the stories of favorite heartwarming reunions.
If these don't quite match your needs a search for genetic genealogy on YouTube returns 142 items posted just in the past month.

Canadian Centre for the Great War

The Montreal-based Canadian Centre for the Great War exists to preserve and protect artifacts and archives related to the Canadian experience of the First World War, and inform Canadians of the same.
Although the physical centre has limited opening hours, Fridays and Saturdays, there is a website that may prove useful in exploring the likely experiences of your Great War warrior.
Look under Special Presentations, Exhibitions, and Centennial Stories for items of possible interest. The Catalogue leads to various photos and other images, conveying the dreariness of the situation, any one of which could be pertinent to your Canadian Great War soldier.

Irish Origins on YouTube

Irish Origins: Archaeology, Genetics and Linguistics, by James Mallory, Emeritus Professor at Queen's University Belfast, is the most recent presentation posted on YouTube from Genetic Genealogy Ireland, Belfast, last month.
It looks back to times well before those of interest to most genealogists, well before surnames. Did you know Newgrange was not built by the Irish (meaning Irish speakers)?
This longue durée approach  may be an interesting diversion toward understanding Irish heritage

Birmingham Burial Records

There's a new website for Birmingham burials since last mentioned here in February 2017.
Burial records are for Brandwood End Cemetery, Handsworth Cemetery, Key Hill Cemetery, Kings Norton Cemetery, Lodge Hill Cemetery, Lodge Hill Crematorium, Quinton Cemetery, Sutton Coldfield Cemetery, Sutton Coldfield Crematorium, Sutton New Hall Cemetery ,Warstone Lane Cemetery, Witton Cemetery, Yardley Cemetery and Yardley Crematorium.
Search from www.birminghamburialrecords.co.uk/.
The site, from the Birmingham City Council, includes burials from 1836 with a free search returning name (first and last), cemetery, month and year of burial; about 1.5 million entries.
The 490 results returned for the last name Reid included 45 were Reid was part of the name, such as Goodreid, 14 with no first name indicated as stillborn, and 5 with an unknown first name. The earliest was in 1841, the latest 2016.
Wilton Cemetery, followed by Handsworth Cemetery and Lodge Hill Crematorium had the most Reid burials.
For £5 you can download and image of the page from the burial register which  may (although not always) show:

Number of Entry (Burial/Cremation Number)
Description of person buried/interred
Rank or profession (occupation)
Age
Sex
Marital Status
Late residence/place where death occurred
Date of burial/cremation
Date of death
By whom the ceremony/service was performed (Officiating Minister; Sometimes including Funeral Director)
Registrars signature
By whom the certificate was given (persons signing certificates)
Grant or reference number
Place of Burial/Cremation (Section/Class within the Cemetery)
Number of Grave (Plot number within the Section/Class within the Cemetery)
Whether the deceased is in consecrated or unconsecrated ground (occasionally including Special, Free Church and Roman Catholic ground)
Description of grave and charges (occasionally including grave depth)
If Pauper – The Union
Fees
Receipt Number
Parish/District
Method of disposal of ashes
Remarks

Help determine priorities of the National Heritage Digitization Strategy

It's an easy seven step process. Please take five minutes to help ensure the genealogy community voice is heard. Complete a short anonymous National Heritage Digitization Strategy survey to help set its priorities.
Here's how and my recommended responses for those with genealogical interests.

Step 1: Open the survey form here.
Step 2: For the first question, on PUBLISHED MATERIAL, select Newspapers as the highest priority. Fill in the remainder as you wish.
Step 3: For the second question on ARCHIVAL MATERIAL, select Archival material of genealogical interest as the highest priority. Fill in the remainder as you wish.
Step 4: For the third question on FORMATS, select Textual documents as the highest priority followed by At-risk material, then Microfilm and microfiche. Fill in the remainder as you wish.
Step 5: In response to Why would you prioritize this material and these formats? respond Of most interest to my community.
Step 6: In response to the request for comments respond Give priority to material of widest interest.
Step 7: Compete the survey by selecting your role from the list given and click Submit.

The survey is open until April 6th, 2018 but don't hesitate - do it now. Thank you.

Gilbert Ross Slack: CEF Beechwood

Signaller Gilbert Ross Slack of the 32nd Battery, Canadian Field Artillery, died on 19 March 1918 of a shrapnel wound which had severed his spine. He was buried at Beechwood Cemetery the following day.
A 57 page service file shows he was in France for about a year. The wound was received while serving as a cyclist at the Somme, France, on 25 March 1917. Paralyzed below the wound he spent time in hospitals in France and England before being returned to Canada on the Hospital Ship Llandovery Castle.
His family subsequent took him to New York for consultation with a specialist, but he could not help. He was reported to have maintained a cheerful disposition.
The second son of John Henry Slack and Jennett Baxter Slack he was born 8 October 1895.

Adding to the Irish Records at Findmypast

The most recent additions to Findmypast are:

Irish Tontines Annuitants 1766-1789, over 153,000 (15,388?) results
Annuity statements, accounts of deaths, death certificates, and marriage certificates relating to the subscribers and nominees of the English tontine of 1789; the Irish tontines of 1773, 1775, and 1777; and the life annuities of 1766 to 1779.
Although the announcement claims over 153,000 results a search with nothing entered in the form, which usually provides a more exact figure, finds just 15,388!

Ireland, American Fenian Brotherhood 1864-1897, over 125,000 records.
The 125,001 search results are based on correspondence between members of the British Foreign Office regarding the activities of the American Fenian Brotherhood during the years from 1864 to 1897. Records include newspaper cuttings, letters, telegrams, lists of prisoners, and a number of photographs.
The newspaper cuttings are particularly interesting; reports on the Fenian raids show that spinning the news is not a new phenomenon.

Other Irish resources added are:

Church of Ireland Histories & Reference Guides, over 300 records from ‘The National Churches: The Church of Ireland (1892)’ and ‘Some Worthies of the Irish Church (1900)’.
Armagh Records & Registers, over 600 pages of the ‘Historical Memoirs of the City of Armagh for a Period of 1,375 years’.
Antrim Histories & Reference Guides, over 600 records from ‘A History of the Town of Belfast from the Earlier Times to the Close of the Eighteenth Century’.

Ireland population and migration

The second most amazing thing, after the growth of the population of England shown in this graph recently posted on Twitter by Myko Clelland, is the decline in the population of Ireland that started, but didn't end with the famine of the 1840s.
Through the 18th century to the famine the population trend in Ireland was following much the same trajectory as in England.
What would have happened if the potato blight had not struck, famine had been avoided and parallel population growth continued?
In 1840 England's population was 15 million, Ireland's 9 million—60 per cent of England's.
In the year 2000 England's population was 50.3 million. 60 per cent of that is 30 million. Compare that to Ireland's actual population that year of 6.2 million.
30 million living Ireland with an area of 84,421 km² would mean an average 354 people per km²—about the same as Belgium today. The UK has 255 people per km².
Would there have been a development path to sustain a population of 30 million? Is there a hint in the censuses of 1841 and 1851 which, in addition to showing the population decline, records a widespread if small increase in the ability to read and write (see https://irishfamineproject.com/)? The National School system had been introduced in 1831.
Or would there have been continued major migration, as was the Irish experience before the famine and after it? Ireland may be thought of as green, but through the ages many have seen the grass to be greener on the other side of the hill.

OGS weekly eNewsletter

Along with the regular content of OGS-interest news in today's St Patrick themed weekly eNewsletter comes a shout-out on the 12h anniversary of Canada's Anglo-Celtic Connections earlier this week. Thanks OGS, and to others who also sent greetings and appreciation.
One of the other OGS eNewsletter items this week is about TONI, The Ontario Name Index, an OGS name-based index to Ontario records which continues to grow—now more than 5.2 million name references. The news item highlights three new TONI sources, some of which are pending the implementation on the new OGS website.
The free OGS weekly eNewsletter is—free—excellent value—you don't need to be an OGS member to receive it. Subscribe from the form near the bottom of the page at https://ogs.on.ca/
Organizations with news of genealogical interest, particularly for Ontario genealogists, are invited to send it for possible (likely) inclusion by sending it to eWeekly@ogs.on.ca

The Irish in Upper Canada, 1819-1840

A tip of the hat to blog reader Patrick Doyle for bringing to my attention a recent University of Toronto PhD thesis, "Unsettled Settlers: Irish Catholics, Irish Catholicism, and British loyalty in Upper Canada, 1819-1840" by Laura Smith. It examines the role of Roman Catholicism in the process by which Irish Catholics integrated into Upper Canadian society in the first half of the nineteenth century.

Patrick writes that the manuscript has enabled him to gain a much better appreciation of the socio-religious context of his 19th century Irish Catholic ancestors' early lives in the Ottawa Valley.

Theses are an often overlooked resource for the family historian and the literature search required for such academic studies can also bring to light obscure sources.

The text is quite long - nearly 400 pages - so to read it be prepared to set aside a good chunk of time.

However, lacking the time you can still browse the references, and having it online means you can search words or phrases, names and places of personal interest.

St Patrick's Day 1838

George Cruikshank's illustration for the 1838 editions of the Comic Almanack shows a St Patrick's Day brawl.

Two additions to GGI Belfast 2018 on YouTube

In DNA, Clans & Monarchy, the most recent You-Tube post from Genetic Genealogy Ireland Belfast 2018, Brad Larkin explores the DNA of Irish Clans and Kings and, starting at about 28 minutes, what is known about the DNA of the Royal Houses of Britain. The focus is Y-DNA. You need to be well into the history to absorb the detail, especially where the presentation skips over and around slides.
In a single stream event it's good to have the speaker link back to previous presentations. Brad Larkin does that referring to James Irvine's presentation Y-DNA of a Scots-Irish Diaspora, the second new YouTube post.  The one-name study which is the basis is another case where the detail of the surname and variant lines is more than most need to know—the value is in learning from the techniques developed and employed should you choose to embark on the slippery slope of a one-name study.

FreeBMD March Update

The FreeBMD Database was updated on Thursday 15 March 2018 to contain 266,897,565 (266,393,467 last update) distinct records. Major additions this month are, for births 1963-4, 1978-83; for marriages 1965-6, 1979-80, 1982-3; for deaths 1858, 1981-2.

CEF Service Files Update for March 2018

As of 15 March 2018 there are 568,203 (555,443 last month) of 640,000 files available online in the LAC Personnel Records of the First World War database.
The latest box digitized is 9,700 (9,467) and last name Timson (Swindells).
At the last month's rate the last file will be online in September.

LAC posted a creative graphic for Pi Day showing how the digitization has progressed year by year.

Gene-O-Rama 2018

I final reminder that Friday, 16 March is the deadline for discount registration for Gene-O-Rama 2018. Read all about it at http://ogsottawa.on.ca/gene-o-rama/.

$1 million to support Canadian digitization

The National Heritage Digitization Strategy (NHDS) has issued a progress report dated 14 March 2018. Read it here.
A significant announcement is that thanks to an anonymous donor NHDS will be launching a funding program in the near future. The program will distribute $1 million to cultural heritage organizations in Canada to support digitization.
Also the first set of newspapers from the Salamander Foundation funded pilot project has been digitized, almost 600 issues of Windspeaker, a weekly publication or the Aboriginal Multi-Media Society of Alberta.  They are from 1986-87 to 2015.
At present the issues are available through a spreadsheet listing as searchable pdfs. Each must be searched individually. LAC is developing a search interface to provide better browsing and full-text search of the material. It also continues to digitize another 1000 issues from two other publications in the pilot project.
I wondered how good the digitization is. Here from an issue chosen at random using a search for "weather" are the first three paragraphs from the article found

FISHING LAKE - The
horseback poker rally
postponed because of the
weather was held on May
24th. It was a wonderful
success.
Organized by the Fishing
Lake Recreation committee,
the rally was the first of
it's kind in the part of the
country.
All 29 riders who participated
in the ride were from
the settlement making this
a good fun community
event.

Looks pretty good.

Finally, the NHDS has released a draft content strategy (3 pages) to help guide potential funding projects, a discovery platform and organizational decision-making. NHDS is seeking feedback to help in determining priorities through response to a survey by April 6th, 2018.

Here are the survey questions and my recommended priority responses. It doesn't take much time.

1. What PUBLISHED MATERIAL most urgently needs digitization in your community?
RECOMMENDED highest priority Newspapers.
2. What ARCHIVAL MATERIAL most urgently needs digitization in your community?
RECOMMENDED highest priority Archival material of genealogical interest
3. What FORMATS most urgently need digitization in your community?
RECOMMENDED highest priority Textual documents followed by At-risk material, then Microfilm and microfiche.
4. Why would you prioritize this material and these formats?
Response: Of most interest to my community.

I recommend priorizing material of widest interest.

Churches of East Anglia

In the four years since last profiled this site has continued to expand.
Cambridgeshire now includes 280 churches; Essex 308; Norfolk 910 and Suffolk 704. There's also a shorter list of London City Churches.
If you have any connection to a church profiled take a look at Simon Knott's description. The Eastern Daily Press magazine comment they are "Beautifully written, but insightful and entertaining, in a similar vein to Bill Bryson."
Start at http://www.simonknott.co.uk/

Kingston Branch OGS March Meeting: Irish Settlement of the Ottawa Valley

Dr. Bruce Elliott will speak on "Irish Settlement of the Ottawa Valley" to the Kingston Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society on Saturday, March 17th.
His award winning book Irish Migrants in the Canadas is a standard work in the field.
The meeting starts at 9:45 a.m. sharp at the Kingston Seniors Centre, 56 Francis St.
Visitors always welcome.
Further details at www.kingston.ogs.on.ca

AncestryDNA St Patrick Offer

You can order an AncestryDNA test during the St Patrick Day sale here.
The price is $99 CAD which includes taxes but excludes shipping. The offer ends March 18, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
While this is not as good a deal as the FTDNA sale you also have to take into account that AncestryDNA has a much larger database and that you can transfer results from AncestryDNA, but not to it.

Celebrating 12 Years Blogging

There are now over 9,000 posts on this blog since it started on this date in 2006. They're fully searchable. That's often how I find information I don't quite remember!
Thanks for your continued support, especially to those who pass along tips on family history events and items of interest.

Predicting places from names in the UK

You've probably looked at distribution maps for surnames in your family tree. http://worldnames.publicprofiler.org/ is freely available and for the UK there's http://gbnames.publicprofiler.org/
There's an interesting new site, part of a University College London research project, which looks at the distribution of two names together showing where a couple or friends with those two surnames might have met. It's an alpha quality product and they're asking for feedback.
I tried with two names, one strong in parts of Scotland, one mainly from the London area. The resulting map highlighted both areas -- hardly surprising. London happened to be where they met.
You can also look at the distribution of single surnames on a database which may be more current than available elsewhere.

Quinte Branch OGS March Meeting

On Saturday, 17 March at 1 pm accept an invitation to hear Cheryl Levy, PLCGS, speak on Using Census Clues to Build a Blended Family.

Census records provide many clues to further our research. Each column contains valuable information essential to identifying the household members listed on census night. Learn to uncover the details needed to confirm their identities.

The meeting is at Quinte West Public Library, 7 Creswell Drive, Trenton, ON.

Further Quinte Branch information is at https://quinte.ogs.on.ca/

YouTube: Using autosomal DNA to maximum effect

Now posted, the video of a presentation at the Genetic Genealogy Ireland event in Belfast last month by Scottish genealogist Michelle Leonard.
I found this to be a particularly clear presentation. The video and audio quality on the YouTube recording are excellent. Most will not have a problems with the accent or fast pace delivery because of the accompanying slides. Recommended.

Family Finder $59US

Family Tree DNA has a St Patrick's Day sale on their autosomal, Family Finder, test. It's at $20 US discount from the regular price, so $59 US during the sale. Act quickly if you want to take advantage, the sale ends at 11:59 pm PST on Sunday 18 March.

DNA distinguishes French-Canadians from different regions of Quebec

A study published in Nature Communications includes a finding that there is regional structure evident within the French Canadian population consistent with Quebec settlement history and local ancestry.
This result is a small part of the results published in Gene-by-environment interactions in urban populations modulate risk phenotypes. It shows how pollution exposure in the area of residence overwhelms French Canadian regional ancestry in several health measures.
A result I found most surprising is "the regional effect on the gene expression is mostly associated with ambient air pollution, and less so, or not at all, with diseases, smoking, or the socio-economic factors that were measured."
The article is based on the Quebec regional cohort, CARTaGENE, of a larger Canada’s precision medicine initiative, the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow Project (CPTP: http://www.partnershipfortomorrow.ca) which has a cohort comprising over 315,000 Canadians. While the motivation is medical let's hope analysis for regional ancestral DNA variability will not be overlooked and become available to genetic genealogy interests.

OPL helps in Finding Birth Families

The final scheduled presentation, on Monday next week, in the Ottawa Public Library Winter series is on how adoptees and birth families can find each other. 
Monica Byrne will discuss adoption in Ontario and the resources available through Parent Finders Ottawa.
Mags Gaulden of Grandma's Genes will illustrate the use of DNA testing for adoption research.
The session is at 7 pm on Monday, 19 March at the Cumberland Branch of the Ottawa Public Library at 1599 Tenth Line.
Registration in advance is required at https://biblioottawalibrary.ca/en/event/finding-birth-families-genealogy-and-adoption-research

FamilySearch adds to Oldham Cemetery Registers, 1797-2004

Another 50,000 entries supplement the collection of cemetery registers from Hollinwood, Failsworth, Royton, Crompton, Chadderton, Lees, and Greenacres cemeteries in Oldham, Lancashire originally added in August 2016.

The Wright Papers

The Gatineau Valley Historical Society has a collection of over 600 documents concerned primarily with the business affairs of Ottawa Valley pioneer Philemon Wright (1760-1839) and his son Ruggles Wright (1793-1863). They include land transfers, court documents, collections letters, ledgers, wills, family correspondence, etc. in their original, handwritten format and go back to before Wright moved to the Ottawa Valley.
The 100 pages of catalogue and 50 pages of indexes (names) transcribed in 2017 are online as searchable text. The names in the index link to the related catalogue items which has a link to the scanned document.
To view them follow the link under "New to the GVHS" at http://www.gvhs.ca/,
Thanks to Susan Courage for bringing this early resource to my attention.

Findmypast adds to Monmouthshire Electoral Registers 1832-1889

With the addition of 43,230 early entries in Wales, Monmouthshire Electoral Registers 1832-1889 the collection now contains 54,032 records.
The additions are handwritten electoral registers (1832-1839) available as images and transcripts; the later printed registers are PDFs.
The entries are for the single constituency of Monmouthshire until 1885 when it is split into North, South and West Divisions.

Findmypast has some indexes to Irish births and marriages

It's good to see transcripts of these Irish civil birth and marriage records created independently by Findmypast from those at IrishGenealogy.ie, with links to the images of the original.
I cross-checked my Marmon interest. IrishGenealogy.ie found 16 births (excluding those that shouldn't have been delivered in an exact search) and 4 marriages. Findmypast delivered 7 births and 1 marriage. One of the FMP births included a stab at the mother's maiden name which IrishGenealogy.ie declined to guess at.
FMP's information is that further entries will be added, but fails to state what's already included. That's a point well made by Claire Santry in a comprehensive blog post who checks for her Santry interest.

Ottawa Branch OGS Funding for Genealogical Projects

The Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical society is offering grants of up to $2,500 each to support genealogically related projects within the geographical area under the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, which includes the amalgamated City of Ottawa, the Russell part of the United Counties of Prescott & Russell, the County of Lanark and the County of Renfrew. The total grant money available for 2018 is $5,000.

Acceptable projects will contribute to the knowledge of genealogical techniques and to the knowledge of genealogy relating to names, places, dates and family histories. This can include
creating publications, developing databases, digitization of archival material/collections, hosting training sessions and workshops, and the preservation of archival material/collections.
This grant is not meant to fund employees, or other in-house labour wages, but can be used to contract services and goods.

Only non-commercial entities may apply for this grant money including genealogy societies, museums, archives, libraries, schools, historical societies, and community groups. An eligible
applicant may submit more than one project proposal in any given year, and may apply in any year the grants are offered regardless of previous proposals or grants issued.

Successful applicants will be required to prepare and deliver a presentation related to their funded project at either a Branch Meeting or Ottawa Branch Conference. The support and
funding given by the Ottawa Branch must be acknowledged with the logo, web address, and name of the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society appearing on all promotional
material and/or physical aspects related to all projects receiving funding. Successful applicants must agree in writing to these conditions.

Application Deadline: May 1, 2018

Find a grant application form at http://ogsottawa.on.ca/grants/ along with additional information.

Help Release the 1926 Irish Census

You can help the Irish government keep to its 2011 commitment to release the 1926 census by signing the online petition.

Find the petition and background at http://bit.ly/2nyILep

RootsIreland discount

News from Claire Santry's Irish Genealogy News

RootsIreland offers 25% discount on its 12-month sub
http://www.rootsireland.ie/2018/03/special-offer-from-rootsireland-get-one-quarter-off-a-12-month-subscription/
RootsIreland.ie is offering a 25% discount on its annual subscription. Unusually, this offer is not only available to new subscribers. Researchers with a current subscription can also take advantage of the price reduction; the special deal subscription will begin when the current sub runs out.

The discount reduces the cost of the 12-month subscription from €225 to €169 | £198 to £148 | US$278 to US$208.

The saving will remain on offer until 11:59pm on Sunday 25 March. 

Read the rest of Claire's item here.

TheGenealogist adds UK Outbound Passenger Lists for the 1940s

The following is a notice from TheGenealogist.

TheGenealogist has just released 1.4 million Passenger Records covering the 1940s. This expands our Outbound Passenger Lists to over 25 million and form part of our larger immigration and emigration collection on TheGenealogist. The new records feature passengers who sailed out of United Kingdom in the years between 1940 and 1949 these newly transcribed BT27 images are from The National Archives. The passenger lists released today will allow researchers to:

• Discover potential family members travelling together using TheGenealogist's SmartSearch

• Find ancestors sailing to Africa, Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and other destinations

• View images of the original passenger list documents

• See the ages, last address and intended permanent residence

• Fully indexed records allow family historians to search by name, year, country of departure, country of arrival, port of embarkation and port of destination

Researchers who had ancestors that travelled abroad from Britain in the 1940's will find these records a fascinating addition to the vast collection of records on TheGenealogist.

Read our article on the new records here: https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2018/1940s-passenger-lists-reveal-evacuated-children-war-brides-and-service-personel-crossing-the-atlantic-758/