Le Droit Online

It is now possible to search a good run of 'Le Droit' by keyword making it much easier to access francophone reporting and opinion on Ottawa's past, and so much more.

"BANQ links to the scans of the paper from 1913-1953 (lacking 1930 and 1946) as well as 2005-2016.  You click on "Calendrier" at right to get the years, months, and dates, and then click on the date to bring up the issue.  But if you insert a keyword in the box at the top, to the right of where it says "Dans cette publication", and click on the magnifying glass, it searches the entire run for the keyword."

http://numerique.banq.qc.ca/patrimoine/details/52327/3749301?docsearchtext=Le%20Droit

Thanks to Prof Emeritus Bruce Elliott for the tip.

British Newspaper Archive Additions for October

The British Newspaper Archive now has a total of 39,633,926 pages online (39,007,826 last month). At that rate the project will be complete to 40 million pages in November.

This month 44 papers had pages added (39 in the previous month). There were 12 (12) new titles. Dates range from 1830 to 1999.

Those with more than 10,00 pages added were:

TITLE	PAGES	DATE RANGE
Halifax Evening Courier	45770	1914, 1921-1922, 1931, 1935-1937, 1944-1958
Kinematograph Weekly	113528	1904-1922
Daily Mirror	95406	1918, 1945-1946, 1952, 1976, 1994, 1997-1999
British Australasian	28962	1884-1900
Retford and Worksop Herald and North Notts Advertiser	13540	1889, 1893-1897, 1899-1902, 1904-1911, 1913-1929
Winsford Chronicle	12944	1942-1958, 1960-1963
Eastbourne Chronicle	15560	1932-1949, 1951
Civil & Military Gazette (Pakistan)	49562	1884, 1891-1894, 1906, 1910-1912
Burton Observer and Chronicle	337722	1911-1949, 1951-1979
Weekly Dispatch (London)	44278	1820-1829, 1831-1850, 1852-1868
Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper	17370	1894, 1901-1912
Peterborough Standard	36702	1904-1908, 1913-1962
Port Talbot Guardian	20380	1961-1980

Find A Grave Updates

Ancestry regularly updates the Find a Grave database. The past couple of months has seen a large increase in records.

Find A Grave Title	30 October	30 August	Increase	% Increase
Australia and New Zealand,1800s-Current	7,630,773	5,151,146	2,479,627	48.1
Canada,1600s-Current	7,081,243	5,979,203	1,102,040	18.4
UK and Ireland, 1300s-Current	7,826,266	6,343,674	1,482,592	23.4

There are now 14,331,840 records in the collection Global, Find A Grave Index for Burials at Sea and other Select Burial Locations, 1300s-Current

Advance Notice: St Andrew's Day Scottish Webinars from FamilySearch

A four-lecture series on Monday 30 November 2020:

10:30 ET:  Using the Wiki and Scotlands People for Scots Research

noon ET      Scotland’s ‘Lost’: Researching Non-Church of Scotland Ancestry

13:30 ET     Och Aye! Understanding Scottish Words and Phrases

15:00 ET     Scotland Probate Records.

Find out more about these and other FamilySearch offerings for November at https://media.familysearch.org/free-family-history-classes-and-webinars-for-november-2020/

Reopening LAC – Reservations for Ottawa to open on November 2 at 10 a.m.

Having pressured LAC about reopening at 395 Wellington I'm pleased to see it finally happening.

https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/news/Pages/2020/Reopening-Library-and-Archives-Canada.aspx

Findmypast Weekly Update

For 30 October the additions are:

Greater London Burial Index
Spanning 1583-1665, the latest additions to this collection come from St Olave's, Southwark with 60,269 records. The total collection now has 2,070,607 records.

Bahamas life events
Over 470,000 new birth, marriage, and death records from The Bahamas. You can explore the entire collection or focus on each record set separately:

Bahamas Birth Index 1850-1959 - over 291,000 new records added
Bahamas Marriage Index 1868-1959 - brand new with over 80,000 records
Bahamas Death Index 1850-1958 - brand new with over 99,000 records

The deaths include Sir Harry Oakes, the topic of Charlotte Grey's Book Murdered Magnus.

You Know It's Serious When ...

Reluctantly, a decision has been made to temporarily exclude observers from the playing of the Last Post at the Menin Gate at Ypres / Ieper. That's according to a Facebook post by the CWGC. The Last Post will continue to be played, just without the risk of spreading the infection.

As of today, 29 October, Belgium is a hotspot for COVID-19 with the world's highest number of new cases and the third-highest deaths per million population.  https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/belgium/

Zooming

A shout out for a blog post by Chris Paton and his next book, Sharing Your Family History Online, which will be out in January 2021 (see https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Sharing-Your-Family-History-Online-Paperback/p/18718). 

From the publisher's blurb:

In Sharing Your Family History on the Internet, genealogist and best-selling author Chris Paton will explore the many ways in which we can present our research and encourage collaboration online. He will detail the many organsiations and social media applications that can permit co-operation, describe the software platforms on which we can collate our stories, and illustrate the many ways in which we can publish our stories online.

Along the way, Chris Paton will also explore how we can make our research work further for us, by drawing in experts and distant cousins from around the world to help us break our ancestral brick walls, not just through sharing stories, but by accessing uniquely held documentation by family members around the world, including our very own shared DNA.

He will discuss the use of platforms such as Zoom and GoToWebinar. It's so timely, one I'd hope to review on the blog.

https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2020/10/zooming-on-and-thanks-belfast.html

Leslie Weir Responds on Reopening 395 Wellington

UPDATE

"On November 17, eight months after they closed, our consultation and research rooms in Ottawa will partially reopen to the public. Strict sanitary measures have been implemented, and a very limited number of spaces will be available."

Sharing an email exchange with Librarian and Archivist of Canada Leslie Weir.

Good day Leslie

People in my circle are very puzzled regarding the situation regarding public access at 395. The video showed all kinds of preparations being made months ago. The other LAC locations have been open for months. Other GLAM institutions in Ottawa reopened on a limited basis. What is holding back limited reopening at 395?

I hope you can provide updated information I can share with my blog community.

On Wednesday I received this response.

Good afternoon John,

As you point out, we have been working at planning and implementing a gradual and very cautious reopening of the services we had to close on March 14th.

On August 12, a limited number of staff began to return to the worksites, and we started to gradually resume the onsite and online public services we had to close. We resumed copy services (online orders only) and responses to Access to Information and Privacy (ATIP) requests, although at a reduced capacity. We are now also able to provide enhanced remote reference services, as staff are on site and have greater access to the collection. We reopened our Vancouver Research Room (September 1st), followed by our Winnipeg and Halifax services points on September 15.

We have recently been putting the final processes and protocols in place to be able to reopen onsite services at 395 Wellington in a limited and safe manner. You can expect a public announcement shortly, should the health situation in Ottawa remain stable.

2020 Death in Canada in Perspective

On Wednesday Statistics Canada released a report Provisional death counts and excess mortality, January to August 2020. 

The data are provisional (i.e., they include only deaths occurring over the reference period that have been reported to Statistics Canada by the provinces and territories), In StatsCan's view "they provide an important benchmark for understanding the potential impacts of the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic on communities across Canada."

According to StatsCan "Despite differences in how the data are collected, results from the first wave of the pandemic indicate that surveillance figures from public health authorities are comparable to provisional counts of deaths attributable to COVID-19 from the Canadian Vital Statistics Death Database—the official source of data on deaths in Canada. The weekly trend was similar for both data sources, with the greatest proportion of COVID-19 deaths occurring in April and May, followed by a significant decrease in the summer months. Overall, provincial and territorial vital statistics offices have reported 8,145 deaths attributed to COVID-19 from March to June, about 5% more than the surveillance figures (7,755) reported for the same period."

Digging into the data, it's notable that excess mortality is dominated by deaths in Quebec and Ontario, and to a lesser extend British Columbia, with those 65 and older accounting for the vast majority of deaths. For others, deaths are within the normal range of variation from year to year.

Once again Ontario is a laggard in compiling statistics. Whereas provisional estimates for the first 36 weeks of 2020 are available for Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Alberta, British Columbia, and Northwest Territories for Ontario only 31 weeks are available. 

To explore trends check out the Weekly death counts: Interactive tool.

For a longer-term perspective see https://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com/2020/02/how-deadly-is-2019-ncov-century-long.html, one of many posts on the topic that can be found by searching this blog.

23andme Abandons Genealogy

In More Losses at 23andMe – Including No Ethnicity Update for V2, V3 or V4 Chip Customers Roberta Estes explains how 23andMe is abandoning customers who tested with earlier versions of the current chip. 

That includes the data from some of my deceased family members. 

As Roberta documents, the changes made by the company go further including restriction in the number of matches and that you can no longer search by common surname or ancestral location.

This is no encouragement to respond positively to the company's endless requests to "contribute to research", which means enhance their ability to profit from your DNA result.

Last Minute: Passchendale to Peace — Did the War End in 1918?

In case you missed the update yesterday, this webinar from the East of London FHS is this afternoon, Wednesday 28 October at 3:30 pm

The speaker is Melanie Gibson-Barton who will provide an overview of the events of the last year of the war and set the scene for Hitler’s rise to power and the Second World War.  In Hitler’s opinion the war did not end in 1918 but only paused, and Foch himself saw the Treaty of Versailles as ‘just an armistice for twenty years’.

It promises to be an interesting talk

Join at https://zoom.us/j/99542488854. No Meeting ID or Passcode is required.

FamilySearch Update: Devon Apprentices

There's a new title in the list of updates to indexed records for Canada and the UK from FamilySearch as of 26 October 2020. 

Devon, Plymouth, Apprentices, 1570-1910 uses an index provided by FindMyPast, which also has images of the originals, from a collection archived at the Plymouth & West Devon Record Office.

Most transcripts include the following details.

Name

Age

Birth year

Apprentice date

Address

Master’s name

Master’s occupation

Master’s place

Event type and year range of records

Place and County

Here's a list of all updates this past week.

Collection	New Indexed Records	Total Indexed Records
Canada, New Brunswick, County Register of Births, 1801-1920	50,988	423,422
Canada, Nova Scotia Church Records, 1720-2001	10,609	114,999
England, Essex Non-Conformist Church Records, 1613-1971	5,435	75,906
England, Herefordshire Bishop's Transcripts, 1583-1898	4,928	1,129,743
England, Middlesex Parish Registers, 1539-1988	13,714	1,303,349
England, Devon, Plymouth, Apprentices, 1570-1910	5,320	5,320
Wales, Marriage Bonds, 1650-1900	15,543	206,842

Thie week's online genealogy events

Choose from free online events in the next six days. All times are ET except as noted. Registration in advance may be required. Check so you're not disappointed.

🇨🇦Tuesday 27 October, 2 pm: Virtual Genealogy Drop-In, from OGS Ottawa Branch and The Ottawa Public Library. Join here.

Tuesday 27 October; 2 pm: Jumpstart Your MyHeritage Family Tree with Instant Discoveries, presented by James Tanner.  https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar_details.php?webinar_id=1297

Tuesday 27 October; 3:30 pm: Sylvia Pankhurst: Natural Born Rebel. Author Rachel Holmes in conversation with Shami Chakrabarti. From the British Library, https://www.bl.uk/events/sylvia-pankhurst-natural-born-rebel-october-2020

🇨🇦 Tuesday 27  October, 7:00 pm: An Introduction To Researching Eastern European Ancestors. Speaker: Eva Kujawa. Wellington County Branch Presentation. https://wellington.ogs.on.ca/next-meeting/

Wednesday 28 October, 2 pm: In Black and White: Finding Historical Newspapers From Around the World, presented by Gena Philibert-Ortega. Legacy Family Tree Webinars. https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar_details.php?webinar_id=1268

Wednesday 28 October, 3 pm: Scantacular! Best Family Photo Scanning Tips LIVE and IN ACTION!, with Thomas MccEntee for MyHeritage. https://www.facebook.com/events/368964884450032/

Wednesday 28 October, 3:30 pm: Passchendale to Peace, Did the War End in 1918? presented by Melanie Gibson-Barton for Hackney Archives. https://zoom.us/j/99542488854 No Meeting ID or Passcode is required for this meeting.

Thursday 29 October, 1 pm: Ancestry Extra session with ProGenealogist and military expert Simon Pearce, as he answers your most pressing military family history questions LIVE. https://www.facebook.com/AncestryCA/

Friday, 30 October, 11 am: Friday's Live, from Findmypast www.facebook.com/findmypast

O/T: The Walrus Talks at Home: Inclusion

The Walrus Talks at Home: Inclusion (Part 1)

October 27 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm EDT

Flexible working styles benefit people with disabilities and society at large

Featuring five-minute talks and Q&A with:

Sajel Bellon, professor, psychotherapist, and founder of Mind Armour & SOS Psychotherapy

Maureen Haan, president and CEO, Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work

Dianna Hu, software engineer, Google

Emile Tompa, director, Centre for Research on Work Disability Policy

The Q&A session will be moderated by Aimee Louw, TD fellow on disability and inclusion, The Walrus

The Walrus Talks at Home: Inclusion (Part 2)

October 29 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm EDT

Creating access and opportunity through community, design, and the arts

Featuring five-minute talks and Q&A with:

Sarah Jama, community organizer

Darby Lee Young, principal accessibility strategist, Level Playing Field

Gift Tshuma, musical artist

Dorothy Ellen Palmer, writer

The Q&A session will be moderated by Aimee Louw, TD fellow on disability and inclusion, The Walrus

Halloween Book Notice: Murder Maps: Crime Scenes Revisited; Phrenology to Fingerprint 1811–1911

Publisher's Overview

The most captivating and intriguing 19th-century murders from around the world are re-examined in this disquieting volume, which takes readers on a perilous journey around the world’s most benighted regions. In each area, murders are charted with increasing specificity: beginning with city- or region-wide overviews, drilling down to street-level diagrams and zooming-in to detailed floor plans. All the elements of each crime are meticulously replotted on archival maps, from the prior movements of both killer and victim to the eventual location of the body.

The murders revisited range from the ‘French Ripper’ Joseph Vacher, who roamed the French countryside brutally murdering and mutilating over twenty shepherds and shepherdesses, to H.H. Holmes, who built a hotel in Chicago to entrap, murder and dispose of its many guests. Crime expert Dr Drew Gray illuminates the details of each case, recounting both the horrifying particulars of the crimes themselves and the ingenious detective work that led to the eventual capture of the murderers. He highlights the development of police methods and technology: from the introduction of the police whistle to the standardization of the mugshot and from the invention of fingerprinting to the use of radiotelegraphy to capture criminals. Disturbing crime-scene photographs by pioneers of police work, such as Alphonse Bertillon, and contemporary illustrations from the sensationalist magazines of the day, including the Illustrated Police News and the Petit Journal, complete the macabre picture.

Here's the contents list.

Introduction: Sensationalized Murder & the Rise of the Detective • Part 1: London, England • Suffolk, England • Liverpool, England • Glasgow, Scotland • Paris, France • Auvergne, France • Bavaria, Germany • Vienna, Austria • Budapest, Hungary • Prague + Polná, Bohemia • Emilia Romagna, Italy • Madrid, Spain • Part 2: New York City, USA • Massachusetts, USA • Indiana, USA • Chicago, USA • Kansas, USA • San Francisco, USA • Part 3: New South Wales, Australia • Victoria, Australia • Criminology Matrix

Comment: Currently on order at the Ottawa Public Library. No Canadian content. Maybe in a subsequent book.

Last Minute: OGS Toronto Branch October Meeting

All are invited to the Toronto Branch meeting which will take place on Monday 26 October, beginning at 7:30 p.m. (Eastern Daylight Time).  It will be entirely online and open to all—but you must register in advance. 

Tracing the history of ancestors who went into service in the First World War with an arm of the British forces can be challenging but, as historian David Fuller will explain, also very rewarding. In his talk, Researching Imperial Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen of the First World War, David will outline the different paths Canadians could take in an Imperial military career and show us how to trace them in archival records.

We invite you to stay with us after the presentation… and have your say. We’ll be setting up virtual “break-out rooms” so that you can talk with your fellow attendees in small groups. Bring a cup of tea or the beverage of your choice and let’s chat!

More information and registration here (required). You'll also find other branch news and opportunities.

After registering, you’ll get an email message with a link to join the webinar. This link will be unique to your registration. 

Welsh Anglican BMBs online

There's been a rush of Welsh Anglican baptism, marriage (and Banns), and burial records online this week.

As of 22 October Ancestry lists the following 14,657,428 Welsh Anglican transcript records as newly available.

Title	Date Range	Records
Anglesey	1547-1994	765,279
Brecknockshire	1538-1994	613,664
Caernarvonshire	1541-1994	800,329
Cardiganshire	1633-1993	627,649
Carmarthenshire	1560-1994	1,086,426
Denbighshire	1538-1994	1,657,612
Flintshire	1538-1994	1,368,531
Glamorganshire	1570-1994	2,949,196
Merionethshire	1568-1994	510,239
Monmouthshire	1551-1994	1,805,836
Montgomeryshire	1569-1994	1,205,155
Pembrokeshire	1599-1994	981,931
Radnorshire	1538-1994	285,581

As of the same date, MyHeritage lists new availability of transcript records of:

Wales, Parish Births and Baptisms, 8,242,549 records

Wales, Parish Marriages and Banns, 3,480,047 records

Wales, Parish Deaths and Burials, 3,149,924 records.

That's 14,872,520 records in total.

On 23 October The Genealogist announced the release of "8 million Parish Records, listing over 14.5 million individuals, with images of the original registers."

Findmypast had Welsh parish records online much earlier, both transcripts and images. They don't include the more recent years from the other companies.

	Baptisms	Marriages	Burials	Total
Anglesey	228,938	98,048	179,929	506,915
Breconshire	116,307	123,035	125,592	364,934
Caernarvonshire	234,024	96,635	197,385	528,044
Cardiganshire	128,749	115,359	164,717	408,825
Carmarthenshire	208,173	225,802	210,393	644,368
Denbighshire	342,444	228,937	396,796	968,177
Flintshire	287,781	177,536	274,812	740,129
Glamorganshire	564,882	120,443	459,837	1,145,162
Merionethshire	117,579	60,717	125,047	303,343
Monmouthshire	353,598	304,441	374,312	1,032,351
Montgomeryshire	481,497	237,302	402,416	1,121,215
Pembrokeshire	200,040	170,426	179,602	550,068
Radnorshire	61,394	38,655	52,227	152,276
Total	3,325,406	1,997,336	3,143,065	8,465,807

FamilySearch has a transcript version of the Findmypast collection.

Don't overlook the transcripts at FreeReg which might include nonconformist BMB events.

Sunday Sundries

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

In & Out The Eagle - from Spitalfields Life

Religion in Norfolk at the Time of the Mayflower - from the Norfolk Record Office 

Then and Now: counting and control in time of epidemic, and Fighting the Plague in Tudor Norwich - from the Norfolk Record Office, how things have hardly changed.

Shannon Lectures - YouTube has recordings of lectures from this year's series on "Human Rights in the History of Canada" from the Department of History at Carleton University

A History of the Window Tax -  the initial section of an economics paper.

CBC Television’s Interpretation of Canadian History - a podcast interview with Monica MacDonald (Manager of Research at Pier 21) in the Champlain series Witness to Yesterday. Sadly there's no mention of the sole Canadian season of WDYTYA which was partially funded by Library and Archives Canada.

The 6 best free websites for London family history - from WDYTYA magazine.

Thanks to this week's contributors: Anne Sterling, Anonymous,  Barbara, Unknown, 

Back Again: MyHeritage Canadian Newspapers, 1752-2007

When MyHeritage added a Canadian searchable newspaper collection earlier this year it was a significant contribution for Canadian subscribers. I was dismayed when it went away shortly after I said how great it is on a webinar on Canada Day.

Now, unannounced, it's back and every bit as good. You may not need a separate subscription to newspapers.com to access archives of many Canadian newspapers.

Findmypast Weekly Updates

Warwickshire Burials

Spanning 1874-2016, over 90,000 additional burial records from Birmingham.

The Birmingham cemeteries and crematoriums covered in these latest updates are:

Handsworth Cemetery, 2008-2011

Key Hill Cemetery, 1937-2009

Lodge Hill Cemetery, 1905-2011

Lodge Hill Crematorium, 1951-2011

Quinton Cemetery, 1874-2011

Sutton Coldfield Cemetery, 1906-2011

Sutton Coldfield Crematorium, 2012-2016

Warstone Lane Cemetery, 1950-2007

Yardley Cemetery, 1894-2011

Yardley Crematorium, 1952-2008

See the locations on a map here.

Scotland, Forfarshire (Angus), Dundee Death Index 1990-1993

This collection of 6,539 entries is an incomplete list from the City of Dundee, Invergowrie, Longforgan, Lundie, Liff & Benvie, Birkhill, Muirhead, Auchterhouse, Mains and Strathmartine, Tealing, Kellas, Murroes, Monifieth North, Burgh of Monifieth, however, Monikie is not included.

Scotland, Ayrshire Census & Population Lists 1801-1831

5,089 transcript entries from pre-1841 censuses found in kirk session records with a few in Old Parish Registers.

O/T: The Problem with Pedestals

Here's a series of tweets on the tribulations of teaching a daughter about one flawed achiever, https://twitter.com/SaltyMama10/status/1318016011589726208?s=03

Man or woman, black or white, settler or aboriginal — in an imperfect world everyone is imperfect. 

Celebrate achievement.

FreeBMD October update

The FreeBMD Database was updated on Wednesday 21 Oct 2020 to contain 277,287,378 unique records (276,869,850 at the previous update.)

Years with major additions, greater than 5,000 records are: for births 1982, 1985-89; for marriages 1969, 1986-89; for deaths 1980, 1984, 1986, 1988-90.

www.freebmd.org.uk/

Did Ancestry update Antigonish Catholic records?

UPDATED

(On Thursday evening Ancestry was listing as an updated collection

Nova Scotia, Canada, Antigonish Catholic Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1823-1905. 

However, the total number of records 273,570 was exactly the same as in December 2017.

I thought maybe more of these transcripts were to come imminently.

As of Friday morning, that update no longer appears!

As a reminder:

Baptism records typically include the following information:

Date of baptism
Place of baptism
Names of parents
Names of godparents

Marriage records typically include the following information:
Date of marriage
Place of marriage
Name of groom
Name of bride
Names of witnesses

Burial records typically include the following information:
Date of burial
Place of burial
Date of death
Place of death
Name of deceased
Age of deceased
Cause of death
Name of cemetery

Devon Family History Society Zoom Talks

Are you taking advantage of the COVID bonus, the opportunity to attend online talks on the programme of family history societies in distant locations? They'll generally welcome you to attend a couple of sessions for free -- until you wear out your welcome.

Here's part of the program for the remainder of the year from the Devon Family History Society,

Sat 24 Oct
Researching a West Devon parish: Bratton Clovelly - Kim Baldacchino
7.30pm BST 

Tues 27 Oct
A Family Story – Chris Robinson
7.30pm GMT 

Fri 13 Nov
Exeter Cathedral Yard Fire and Exeter’s Ancient Buildings – Dr Todd Gray 
7.30pm GMT 

Tues 24 Nov
Devon in the 1920s – Julia Neville
2.00pm GMT 

Sat 5 Dec
The Devon DNA Project - Debbie Kennett
2.30pm GMT 

Sat 12 Dec
Mixed blessing, missionaries and a missing person - Paul Scott
2.30pm GMT 

For further information contact virtualtalks@devonfhs.org.uk

If you like the presentations be aware the DFHS offers an eMembership for £12 (about $20) which includes four Devon Family Historians downloaded from the Society’s Members’ Area and all the other benefits of membership.

MyHeritage Family Tree Builder

The following is an announcement from MyHeritage about their standalone genealogy software Family Trree Builder for versions of macOS.

We’re happy to announce that Mac users with operating systems Catalina and High Sierra can now download and use MyHeritage Family Tree Builder, for free! Enjoyed by millions of users around the world, our family tree software combines innovative technologies with easy-to-use features.

We have received frequent requests from users who have one of the two Mac operating systems and wanted to continue using Family Tree Builder, their favorite genealogy software. It was important to us to enable these users to continue their family history research, build their family trees, add photos, access historical records, and more within Family Tree Builder. We thank you for your patience as we worked on this version. 

This version of Family Tree Builder for Mac, like the previous one, is a Family Tree Builder Mac version that looks the same as our desktop software for Windows, and does not require Windows or any additional setup or configuration when downloaded. It uses a system for porting Windows software to Mac called CrossOver by CodeWeavers.

Family Tree Builder’s main features run the same in the Family Tree Builder Mac version, including Sync with MyHeritage, Smart Matches™, Record Matches, the Consistency Checker, charts, etc. However, there are several minor features not compatible with the Mac OS X that will be unavailable for Mac users. 

Once you have downloaded the file, double click on the downloaded file to open the Disk Image. On the window that appears, simply drag the MyHeritage Family Tree Builder icon to the macOS Applications folder.

Comment: I don't use macOS so can't comment on the functionality. What genealogy software to use is a FAQ and Family Tree Builder is a free option for PCs as well as macOS you might want to try.

Who Do You Think You Are? November 2020

Here's the lineup of feature articles in the November WDYTYA magazine issue, available free through public library Press Reader subscriptions.

Series 17 Interview
WDYTYA’series producer Sarah Feltes explains how Covid-19 has affected the production of the programme.

Ancestry DINA Tests
Debbie Kennett reveals how you can harvest more information from your matches and grow your tree.

Wedding Photos
Discover key clues for dating your family photographs. A collection of photos from as early as 1859 to 1944 showing the evolution of dress.

Before The NHS
Many pioneers shaped our healthcare before the NHS, including the grandfather of WDYTYA star Ruth Jones. A hodge-podge of coverage existed, including self-help and mutual organizations.

If you're researching French ancestors there's a Best Websites article.

There are lots more useful articles: nautical apprentices, lacemakers, gallantry awards, and a focus article on East Sussex.

CWGC Beechwood Cemetery Burials: Frederick A. Wylde

Private Frederick Arthur Wylde (454164) died on this date in 1920 and is buried at Beechwood Cemetery.

Born in Leyton, Essex on 25 December 1870 to Charles William and Clara Ann (nee Manley), when he enlisted in June 1915 he gave his sister of Ilford, Essex, as his next of kin.

He appears to have arrived in Canada after 1900 and made at least one visit back to England, in 1907.

Hw was hospitalized in England with asthma in March 1916, discharged back to Canada in July as unfit for further service and granted a pension. He stated he would return to his occupation as cab driver in Ottawa. 

His death certificate gave his occupation as civil servant. There was no notice in the Ottawa newspapers and the informant for the death was a military officer.

The Jessup Case and privacy concerns over genetic genealogy

From CBC Radio The Current

A forensic technique called genetic genealogy helped police identify the man they now believe killed nine-year-old Christine Jessop in 1984, but some people have concerns about the investigative tool's privacy implications. Host Matt Galloway speaks with Anthony Redgrave, who worked with Toronto police on Jessop's case, and Brenda McPhail, with the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-63-the-current/clip/15803813-privacy-concerns-genetic-genealogy?onboarding=false

I'm hoping the success in this case will FINALLY motivate DND to use state of the art genetic genealogy techniques in investigating unidentified human remains.

TNA Presentation: 'A Huge Pack of Witches': A Witch scare in 17th Century Lancashire

In November 1633, a little boy telling tall tales about witches in his local community in Lancashire sparked a witch hunt so shocking that no lesser body than the Privy Council decided to investigate.

Records of the examinations, of both the accused and the accuser, are held at The National Archives. Using these and other documents, this talk will tell the story of this witch hunt and set it within the context of witchcraft in the Early Modern period.

This talk will be delivered by Jess Nelson, Head of Collections (Medieval, Early Modern, Maps & Legal).

There are two opportunities to attend this live talk. Friday 23 October 2020 at 9 am ET and Saturday 31 October 2020 at 06:30 am ET

Find out more, with information on other talks, at https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/visit-us/whats-on/events/online-talks/

Last Minute Webinar: How to Use Autoclusters to Analyze Your DNA Matches

Wednesday 21 October at 2pm ET.

Roberta Estes of DNAeXplained will show how MyHeritage’s AutoClusters tool along with the Theory of Family Relativity can help solve DNA Match mysteries and break through brick walls.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1806547599502096

This Week's Online Genealogy Events

Choose from free online events in the next six days. All times are ET. Registration in advance may be required. Check so you're not disappointed.

🇨🇦Tuesday 20 October, 2 pm: Virtual Genealogy Drop-In, from OGS Ottawa Branch and The Ottawa Public Library. Join here.

Tuesday 20 October: 2:30 pm: Mayflower Research, presented by John Beatty, Allen County Public Library. 
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEpceqorTwrHNay0ulMKTfhzH7vGOJQMrmH

Tuesday 20 October, 8 pm: Using DNA Test Results to Confirm a Pedigree, by Angela Packer McGhie, Board for Certification of Genealogists    https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar_details.php?webinar_id=1285

Wednesday 21 October, 2 pm: Comparing the Genealogy Giants 2020: Ancestry, FamilySearch, Findmypast, and MyHeritage, by Sunny Morton. Legacy Family Tree Webinars https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar_details.php?webinar_id=1266

Wednesday 21 October, 3:30pm: Caribbean Migration, with Pooran Bridgelal from Findmypast www.facebook.com/findmypast

🇨🇦Thursday 22 October, 7 pm: Ireland Research – A Refresher!, presented by John Noble for Sudbury Branch OGS. Pre-register from http://www.sudburyogs.com/

Friday 23 October, 11 am: Friday's Live, with Myko Clelland of Findmypastwww.facebook.com/findmypast

Friday 23 October, 2 pm: How Old Did He Have To Be, presented by Judy G Russell. Legacy Family Tree Webinars. https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar_details.php?webinar_id=1359

🇨🇦 Friday 23 October, 6 pm: Barrie Public Library Online Genealogy Fair, Start of 2-day event. See https://www.barrielibrary.ca/programs-events/genealogy-fair. Note Mags Gaulden keynote presentation The Power of DNA, at 1:40 pm on Saturday.

🇨🇦 Saturday 24 October, 1 pm: Ottawa Branch OGS AGM followed at 1:30 pm by Ottawa Public Library Genealogy Services presented by Romaine Honey. See https://ottawa.ogs.on.ca/events/ottawa-public-library-genealogy-services-ottawa-branch/

🇨🇦 Sunday 25 October, 2 pm: "Canada Land of Opportunity” Why did Scots leave their land to emigrate to Canada?, presented by Christine Woodcock for Halton-Peel Branch OGS. See https://haltonpeel.ogs.on.ca/

CWGC Beechwood Cemetery Burials: Edward Fingiand Hastings

Private Edward Fingiand Hastings was born 17 December 1872 and died 20 October in 1920. A native of Thornhill, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, he was the son of James and Mary Fraser Hastings.

On enlistment on 29 January 1917 he was living at 249 Percy Street, occupation dry goods salesman, with his wife Georgina Weston Hastings with whom he had a daughter May Elizabeth and sons John (Jack) and Edward (Eddie).

He served with the 280th Canadian Forestry Corps for two and a half years, then with the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps.

He is buried in Section 19. Lot 169. South-East at Beechwood Cemetery.

Following his death from stomach cancer, the family address was 16, Empress Avenue, Ottawa. His widow survived to age 91.

He is in the large Silas/Gillissie Family Tree on Ancestry.

John Snow and the Soho Cholera Outbreak of 1854

BIFHSGO has a new member's only special interest group for London which will have its inaugural meeting this week. 

Googling around to see what's new for London I came across a long blog post:   https://alondoninheritance.com/london-characters/john-snow-soho-cholera-outbreak-1864/

It made me recall one of the most memorable presentations by a BIFHSGO member whose ancestor died in the cholera outbreak. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to attend that presentation again some day.

You may also want to explore this interactive map.

Co-Lab Update for October

A new challenge has been added:  Molly Lamb Bobak

She was the first female official war artist overseas, a Second World War painter who captured Canadian women’s experiences of military life. 

For the ongoing LAC Co-Lab challenges, as of 18 October 2020, there continues to be no progress reported/

Here is the status as it has been since the lockdown.

Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 is 71% complete

Correspondence regarding First Nations veterans returning after the First World War is 96% complete

Diary of François-Hyacinthe Séguin is 16% complete

Women Lightkeepers: heroes by the sea is 96% complete.

George Mully: moments in Indigenous communities is 2% complete.

Legendary Train Robber and Prison Escapee Bill Miner is 98% complete

New France and First Nations Relations is 78% complete

War Diaries of the First World War: 1st Canadian Division is 94% complete

Japanese-Canadians: Second World War is 61% complete

The Call to Duty: Canada's Nursing Sisters is 97% complete.

The projects that are 100% complete are no longer reported here.

YouTube: Surname Origins: Why? When, Why Then

Calgary genealogist Wayne Shepheard gave a presentation to the Virtual Genealogical Association's 2020 conference joining his interest in historic climate change to the adoption of surnames.

He draws on a variety of English sources since Domesday to show when surnames were adopted and links the timing to the transition from the Medieval Warm Period to the Little Ice Age.

It's supposed to be viewable only by those registered for the conference but appears to be available publicly on YouTube. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKKQfLSITkE&feature=youtu.be

If you can't see it you can sign up for the conference through www.virtualgenealogy.org where you'll find some interesting-looking presentations by speakers, both well-known and hidden talents.

Sunday Sundries

 Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

Smithsonian - Digital Jigsaw Puzzles: Fall Edition
Beware, eats up your time!

Billions of Digital Images and Associated Text Metadata Created Through the United States National Archives and Records Administration’s Digitization Partnership Program: we want it all back!

Oxford County Archives Online Exhibit - Oxford County Gaol: 1854 - 1977

The Nobel Prize: Milgrom and Wilson

LAC Blog: Henry Ash and why internet connections are still underwater

A Brief History of the Women's KKK

Mike Pence’s fly

Thanks to this week's contributors: Anonymous, Arthur Owen, BT, btyclk, egailb, Unknown, and a special shoutout to David Rajotte and Documentary Heritage News.

CWGC Live: The civilian dead of the Blitz

A recording on Facebook of last Thursday's CWGC Live session with CWGC Historian, Lynelle Howson and University of Essex Professor Lucy Noakes. 

A search tip for looking for Second World War civilian dead in a location is to search under Cemetery of Memorial with the name of the community followed by a comma, (e.g Great Yarmouth,). All those buried by the municipality and in the database will be displayed.

Recommended presentation at

https://www.facebook.com/commonwealthwargravescommission/videos/660783128209480

Diving into English Records: An Essential Guide for Tracing English Ancestry

From Family Tree Geneaalogists, a review blog post on the most requested English records and tips for using these records to build an accurate family tree. 

https://www.legacytree.com/blog/english-records

O/T: What developing countries can teach us about how to respond to a pandemic

As industrialised countries have struggled, much of the developing world has quietly shown remarkable levels of preparedness and creativity during the pandemic. Yet the developed world is paying little attention.

Act decisively, act together and act now.

https://theconversation.com/what-developing-countries-can-teach-us-about-how-to-respond-to-a-pandemic-146784

Documentary Heritage Communities Program: 2021-22

As of today, applications are being accepted for projects to access this Library and Archives Canada $1,5 million program.

2021-22 will be the seventh year of the program, one which has been of some limited success for genealogical applicants. 

In the last most recent round the Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia, leading five provincial heritage groups, received nearly $25K for the Three County Geographical Genealogy (GeoGen) Mapping Project. Work on the Halifax county map, the most populous region then and now, is just complete despite COVID issues. Adjustments to geo-reference the maps for small errors in topography have been made using the road system along with heritage buildings. An additional project benefit has been enhancing relations between the cooperating groups.

The DHCP has benefitted some other projects of family history interest, although not directly to other genealogical organizations in recent years.

Could your organization benefit from DHCP funding? It would be good if more genealogical and genealogically-relevant projects could take advantage of the opportunity. 

The 2021-22 call is open until 12 January 2021 so you don't have to rush to submit a proposal.  However, success only comes to projects that are thoughtfully developed respecting the program guidelines linked from https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/services/documentary-heritage-communities-program/Pages/dhcp.aspx.

Findmypast Weekly Update

There are modest updates to Kent Baptism and Burial records this week.

- over 7,000 baptism records from Sutton-at-Hone, Woolwich and St Mary Cray. 

- over 5,000 burial records from Eltham and Thames & Medway.

Caribbean Rolls of Honour WW1 lists 3,623 soldiers from Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago who served with the British Armed Forces during World War 1.

Newspaper additions this week, as the project nears it's 40,000,000 page goal, are:

Civil & Military Gazette (Pakistan) covering 1884 and 1891-1893
Indian Statesman covering 1876
Weekly Dispatch (London) covering 1820-1829, 1831-1850 and 1852-1868
Kilrush Herald and Kilkee Gazette covering 1879-1880, 1889-1899, 1901-1919 and 1921-1922

Also additions to papers already in the collection, including  Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper from 1894 and 1901-1912, the Daily Mirror from 1994 and 1998-1999, and  Sligo Chronicle from 1880-1891.

News from Ancestry

 The following were mentioned during a briefing from Ancestry on Wednesday.

1. Updates to Ancestry's apps for both records and DNA are coming soon. More than half of clients access Ancestry through mobile devices

2. Ancestry added 600 million records so far this year and expects to reach 1 billion by year's end.

3. There are a total of 27 billion records in the collection.

4. An index of marriage records from newspapers, similar to the obituary collection from newspapers is coming for the US on the 20th. Similar collections for Australia and Canada are coming.

5. Expect more UK parish and electoral register records before the end of the year.

6. Ancestry declined to answer a question about records from handwriting recognition.

Ancestry Membership 40% Off

 

My gmail inbox contained a Thanksgiving 40% off offer from Ancestry this morning valid until end of day 16 October,

I've been burnt before advertising Ancestry discounts on the blog and then finding out it's exclusive to me. 

Ancestry should offer you this discount or more on a new subscription, meaning you haven't an active paid account, even if it's only just expired.

Here are some things to consider.

1. Ancestry Library edition is currently free at home through many public libraries during the pandemic.

2. If you've taken an AncestryDNA test explore the result page and you'll likely find a great offer on a subscription.

3. To avoid auto-renewing cancel at least 2 days before your renewal date by visiting My Account or calling 1-800-958-9073. Once your account is expired you can resubscribe at a discount. You may have to wait a few days, or call them to see what they offer. Don't accept an inferior offer (20%). A better offer will soon be available.

4. Try googling Ancestry discount which may surface a hidden offer. Make sure you're subscribing to the World Deluxe if you want more than just Canadian records.

Norwegian DNA?

Like many people of British ancestry maybe you have a small Norwegian ethnicity estimate in your AncestryDNA results.  For me it's  3% with a range of 0—6%. 

If in your case it's a larger amount, perhaps your Norwegian ancestry is not so far back, there are new databases online.

On MyHeritage find Norway Church Records, 1815-1938 with 42,248,250 records.

Is it a coincidence that Ancestry has a database Norway, Church Records, 1812-1934 with 41,391,903 records?

I'm wondering if this might have been a cooperative project between the companies.

COVID-19 restrictions

The Canadian Museum of History (CHM) in Gatineau announces that it will be closed to visitors and all other groups until further notice. All on-site events and programs have also been cancelled.

This closure is in response to the latest public health directives from the Government of Quebec, which has declared that Gatineau is in the “red zone,” as well as from local public health authorities.

So far on the Ontario side of the Ottawa River similar facilities remain open, including the Canadian War Museum which is administered in conjunction with the CMH.

At Tuesday's Ottawa Public Library Board meeting the CEO stated that there was no evidence of COVID transmission within its branches. Trustees expressed concern that despite that success the Ontario government might require library closures.

Library and Archives Canada facilities at 395 Wellington remain closed with no explanation as to why when other branches of LAC, and similar GLAM facilities in Ottawa, have reopened. 

Meanwhile, other organizations are more communicative, this tweet from The (UK) National Archives for example.

Two months on from our reopening, we know that some of you are frustrated at not being able to book a visit to our reading rooms, and we share your frustration - we’re so disappointed not to be able to help more of you with your research.

FamilySearch Weekly Update

The following titles have indexed records added. There are no digital images available from FamilySearch, however, see below.

Collection	Indexed Records
Canada, New Brunswick, County Register of Births, 1801-1920	17,583
Canada, Nova Scotia Church Records, 1720-2001	11,374
England, Essex Non-Conformist Church Records, 1613-1971	5,232
England, Herefordshire Bishop's Transcripts, 1583-1898	3,502
England, Middlesex Parish Registers, 1539-1988	4,313
Great Britain, War Office Registers, 1772-1935	108,527

The War Office Registers collection appears to be new to FamilySearch which describes it as:

regimental descriptions, succession books, commissions, appointments, descriptions, returns of services, casualties, half pay, pensions, gratuities. The records are held at The National Archives (TNA) in Kew under WO 25.

These are transcription index records for the late 18th and early 19th centuries. TNA is still offering free images of originals online at https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4397528

This Week's Online Genealogy Events

Choose from online events in the next five days. All times are ET. Registration in advance may be required. Check so you're not disappointed.

🇨🇦Tuesday 13 October, 2 pm: Virtual Genealogy Drop-In, from OGS Ottawa Branch and The Ottawa Public Library. Join here.

🇨🇦 Tuesday 13 October,  2 pm:  Canada Bound: Discovering Your Family's Immigration Story with Ancestry, by Lesley Anderson. Lesley informs the presentation "magically appears on the Ancestry Facebook page feed at 2:00 EDT!"

Tuesday 13 October, 2 pm: Use MyHeritage Records to Quickly Discover and Write the Story of Your Ancestors, by Devon Noel Lee, MyHeritage Webinars. https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar_details.php?webinar_id=1311

Wednesday 14 October, 11 am: Tracing Australian Cousins, by Myko Clelland of Findmypast www.facebook.com/findmypast

Wednesday 14 October, 3 pm: One-Place Studies – thinking laterally:  how a one-place study can support surname and population studies, by Paul Carter and Pam Smith, Guild of One-Name Studies. https://one-name.org/seminar-events/

Wednesday 14 October, 7 pm: Finding Unknown Fathers or Grandfathers by DNA, by Sara Allen, sponsored by the Allen County Genealogical Society of Indiana. Pre-register here.

Wednesday 14 October, 8 pm: Dealing with endogamy, by Paul Woodbury. Legacy Family Tree Webinars. https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar_details.php?webinar_id=1292

Thursday 15 October, 8 am: Commonwealth War Graves Commission Live. The Civilian Dead of the Blitz, with Lucy Noakes.. https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=cwgc%20live

🇨🇦 Thursday 15 October, 7 pm:  ” Mary Kinder (1776-1876) Ireland to Ontario a remarkable life" by Deb McAuslan. OGS Lambton Branch. Preregister via https://lambton.ogs.on.ca/calendar/thurs-oct-15-lambton-branch-month-webinar/

Friday 16 October, 11 am: Friday's Live, with Ellie Overthrow-Jones of Findmypast www.facebook.com/findmypast

🇨🇦 Friday 16 October, 7 pm: Branch Website and Other Little Known On-Line Research Tools. by Steve Fulton. OGS Niagara Branch. Register at https://niagara.ogs.on.ca/events/branch-website-and-other-little-known-on-line-research-tools/

🇨🇦 Saturday 17 October, 10 am:  Using Land Records for Historical Property Research, with Patti Mordasewicz, Julienne Lee, and Lorna Johnston.  Register for the meeting at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIvfuivrTgsGtZBargRyx6EvXCuY8WFus27

Internet Genealogy Highlights

The table of contents for the October/November 2020 issue was posted at https://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com/2020/10/internet-genealogy-octobernovember-2020.html.

My issue has now arrived in the mail; here are a couple of highlights.

Sue Lisk in Hats Off to Hats! mentions an online exhibit "Hold onto Your Hats!" at the Canadian Museum of History at www.museedelhistoire.ca/cmc/exhibitions/hist/hats/hat00eng.html/. Fashion and Image with sections for 1890-1920, 1920s, 1930-45 and 1945-1965 might be helpful in attempting to date a Canadian photograph.

Robbie Gorr's article The Star Trek Approach to Genealogy is a creative look at applying standard principles while doing genealogy research. May we all live long and prosper! 

Ed Storey In Reach Out and Touch Someone somehow overlooks using a search engine like Google or broad social networks such as Facebook in locating living relatives.

I usually turn first to Dave Obee's Back Page article when the magazine arrives. Following his prescription in Don't Discard Those Documents ... Just Yet! to "hang on to documents until you are sure they do not matter" is in contrast to the advice of Marie Kondo to only retain things that spark joy.

BBC History Magazine: November 2020

Happy Thanksgiving.

The most recent issue of BBC History Magazine, likely available free through your local public library subscription to PressReader, has these feature articles those I particularly enjoyed are highlighted:

Sparta’s last stand
Did 300 warriors really defy a mighty Persian army in 480 BC? Andrew Bayliss investigates

Belgian refugees
Alison S Fell relates the experiences of the thousands of Belgians who fled to Britain during the First World War

Medieval genius
Seb Falk argues that the Middle Ages were a hotbed of scientific ingenuity

Sherlock Holmes in skirts
Elizabeth Evens on the pioneering policewomen who snared criminals in turn-of-the-century New York

Europe’s nightmare
Michael Rowe argues that the Franco-Prussian War had an immense impact on the modern world

Fake news and Nazis
Richard J Evans considers what Nazi conspiracy theories can tell us about the Third Reich

Black trailblazers
Angelina Osborne profiles seven black pioneers whose contributions to British history deserve a wider hearing

An Unusual Canadian CWGC Headstone Inscription

Thursday's presentation by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission was on Personal Inscriptions.

The standard for inscriptions was up to 66 characters, less than a tweet. There was a charge per character although it was rarely collected. For Canadians, the government paid.

Several unusual inscriptions were mentioned with the sole Canadian one being on the gravestone of David Ronald Hardy. Interred at the Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery, he died of wounds on 12 August 1944, age 21. 

Many burials in the cemetery were from death during the later stages of the battle of Normandy, the capture of Caen and the thrust southwards to close the Falaise Gap, and thus seal off the German divisions fighting desperately to escape being trapped west of the Seine. 

His inscription reads

"Dave knew, and died because,

The love of money is the root of all evil"

I. Tim. VI. 10

The assessment of his character on enlistment as recorded in his service file, found on Ancestry, may hint at the motivation for this unusual inscription.

"Big, strong-looking chap (5’ 10", 189 lbs) Of very superior intelligence, is alert and co-operative. Plays rugby & was swimming instructor at school. Has 2 brothers overseas. Has widely diversified interests including model boat & airplane building and studying history & the classics. Appears to be a serious-minded lad, interested in learning and very ambitious to get ahead. His habits are moderate and stability seems excellent. Should be watched as potential officer material."

Sunday Sundries (Delayed)

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

The Monty Hall problem with many doors (goats)

The law that helps citizens pry information from government is near collapse

Conversations Between the German National Library and Library and Archives Canada: Exploring Digitization Practices and Priorities
Part of a series exploring the effects of digitization on their national documentary-heritage institutions and their current priorities. Thursday, 15 October 2020, 10 am live on Library and Archives Canada’s YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/LibraryArchiveCanada.

COVID-19 spreading rates
Get an intuitive ‘feel’ of new COVID-19 cases spreading rates. This simulation shows you the average rate of newly reported COVID-19 cases between 29 September 2020 and 6 October 2020 for each country.

Face Masks, Public Policies and Slowing the Spread of COVID-19: Evidence from Canada
...mask mandates are associated with a reduction of 25 percent in the weekly number of new COVID-19 cases.

TheGenealogist adds 1.54 million individuals in Norfolk Parish Records with images

This latest addition brings the total number of individuals in the parish records for Norfolk on TheGenealogist Diamond Subscription to over 11.5 million.

This new release covers the following parishes:

Acle, Alby, Aldborough, Aldeby, Alderford, Antingham, Ashwellthorpe, Ashwicken with Leziate, Aslacton, Aylmerton, Aylsham, Babingley, Bacton, Banham, Banningham, Barford, Barney, Barton Bendish St Andrew and St Mary with All Saints, Bebingley, Beechamwell (alias Beachamwell), Beeston Regis, Belaugh, Billingford, Bixley, Blakeney, Blickling, Blofield, Bodney, Booton, Boughton, Bracon Ash, Bradfield, Brampton, Brancaster, Braydeston, Breckles, Briston, Brooke, Brundall, Buckenham, Bunwell, Burgh St Margaret and Billockby, Burgh St Peter, Burlingham St Edmund, Burnham Deepdale, Caister next Yarmouth, Caistor St Edmund with Markshall, Calthorpe, Carleton Rode, Castle Acre, Castle Rising, Castleacre, Caston, Chedgrave, Clippesby, Cockley Cley, Cockthorpe, Colkirk and Colkirk with Oxwick, Colney, Coltishall, Corpusty, Costessy, Cromer, Crownthorpe, Croxton, Denver, Dersingham, Dickleburgh with Langmere, Didlington, Diss, Docking, Downham Market, Drayton, Dunston, Earlham St Anne with St Elizabeth, Earlham St Mary and Earlham with Bowthorpe, East Carleton, East Dereham, East Tuddenham, Eaton St Andrew and Christchurch, Eccles, Edgefield, Edingthorpe, Erpingham, Fakenham, Felthorpe, Fersfield, Field Dalling, Filby, Flitcham, Flordon, Fordham, Foulsham, Framingham Earl, Freethorpe, Fundenhall, Gately, Gayton, Gayton Thorpe, Gaywood with Bawsey and Mintlyn, Geyton Thorpe, Gimingham, Gissing, Glandford, Great Ellingham, Great Hautbois, Great Hockham with Little Hockham, Great Massingham, Great Melton, Great Moulton St Michael with Little Moulton, Great Plumstead, Great Snoring, Great Witchingham with Little Witchingham, Great Yarmouth, Great Yarmouth St Andrews, Great Yarmouth St Nicholas, Great Yarmouth St Peter, Gresham, Grimston, Griston, Guestwick, Hackford, Hackford with Whitwell, Haddiscoe, Hales, Hampstone, Hapton, Hardley, Hargham, Hassingham, Haveringland, Heacham, Heckingham, Heigham Holy Trinity, Heigham St Barnabas with St Bartholomew, Heigham St Philip, Heigham St Thomas, Hellesdon, Hempnall, Hempstead by Holt, Hempton, Hevingham, Hickling, Hillington, Hingham, Hockering, Hockwold cum Wilton, Holme Hale, Holme next the Sea, Holt, Honingham, Horning, Horsford, Horsham St Faith and Newton St Faith, Howe, Howe with Little Poringland, Hunstanton St Edmund, Ickborough, Illington, Ingworth, Itteringham, Kelling, Kempston, Ketteringham, Kilverstone, King’s Lynn St John the Evangelist, King’s Lynn St Margaret with St Nicholas, Kirby Bedon, Kirstead with Langhale, Knapton, Lakenham (old) St John, Lakenham St Alban, Lammas with Little Hautbois, Langley, Limpenhoe, Lingwood, Little Barningham, Little Cressingham, Little Ellingham, Little Massingham, Little Plumstead, Little Snoring, Little Walsingham, Little Witchingham, Ludham, Martham, Mattishall, Mautby, Merton, Mile Cross St Catherine, Morley St Botolph with St Peter, Morningthorpe, Morton, Morton On The Hill, Moulton St Mary, Mulbarton, Mundesley, Narborough, Needham, New Buckenham, New Catton Christ Church, New Catton St Luke, New Lakenham St Mark, Newton Flotman, North Creake, North Elmham, North Lopham, North Tuddenham, North Walsham, North Wootton, Northwold, Norton Subcourse, Norwich St Andrew, Norwich St Augustine, Norwich St Benedict, Norwich St Catherine Mile Cross, Norwich St Clement with St Edmund, Norwich St Etheldreda, Norwich St George Colegate, Norwich St Giles, Norwich St Helen, Norwich St James with Pockthorpe, Norwich St John de Sepulchre, Norwich St John Timberhill with All Saints and St Michael at Thorn, Norwich St Julian, Norwich St Martin at Oak, Norwich St Martin at Palace, Norwich St Mary Coslany, Norwich St Mary in the Marsh, Norwich St Mary Magdalene with St James the Great with Pockthorpe, Norwich St Michael Coslany, Norwich St Paul, Norwich St Peter Mancroft, Norwich St Peter Parmentergate, Norwich St Saviour, Norwich St Stephen, Oby, Old Buckenham, Old Catton, Old Lakenham (St John with All Saints), Ormesby St Margaret with Scratby, Oulton, Overstrand, Oxwick All Saints, Paston, Poringland, Postwick, Pulham St Mary Magdalene Alias Pulham Market, Quidenham, Rackheath, Raveningham, Redenhall with Harleston and Wortwell, Reepham with Kerdiston, Ridlington, Ringstead St Andrew, Ringstead St Peter, Rollesby, Roughton, Roydon, Runcton Holme with South Runcton and Wallington, Runton, Saham Toney, Sandringham, Saxthorpe, Scottow, Scoulton, Sea Palling, Sedgeford, Seething, Shelfanger, Sheringham, Shimpling, Shingham, Shipdham, Shouldham, Shropham, Sidestrand, Snetterton, Snettisham, South Lynn All Saints, Southrepps, Spixworth, Sporle with Palgrave, Sprowston and Beeston St Andrew, Stalham, Stanhoe with Barwick, Stiffkey, Stoke Holy Cross, Stow Bedon, Stradsett, Strumpshaw, Suffield, Sutton, Swaffham, Swafield, Swainsthorpe, Swannington, Swanton Abbot, Tacolneston, Talconeston, Tharston, Thetford St Cuthbert, Thetford St Mary, Thetford St Peter, Thompson, Thorpe Abbotts, Thorpe Episcopi, Thorpe Hamlet, Thorpe Market, Thorpe next Haddiscoe, Threxton, Thurlton, Thurne with Ashby and Oby, Thwaite All Saints, Titchwell, Tivetshall St Mary and St Margaret, Toft Monks, Toftrees, Tottenhill, Tottington, Trowse, Trunch, Watlington, Watton, Weeting, Wells next the Sea, Wendling, Wereham, West Lexham, West Lynn, West Newton with Appleton, West Tofts, Westacre, Weston Longville, Weybourne, Wheatacre, Wickmere with Wolterton, Wilby, Winfarthing, Winterton with East Somerton, Witton (near Blofield), Witton (near North Walsham), Wolferton, Wood Dalling, Wood Norton, Woodton, Wormegay, Worthing, Wreningham, Wymondham.

Findmypast Weekly Update

New this week "thousands" of new Surrey Methodist records. 

In total for Surrey in the England & Wales Non-Conformist Births and Baptisms collection, there are 6,228 Methodist records. That may not include a small number of other branches of Methodism such as Calvinist Methodist, Independent Methodist, Wesleyan Methodist and others.

This week also sees improved search features as the Jamaican collection continues to grow, now with over 780,000 new birth, baptism, marriage and death records.

Newspaper additions this week include nearly 41,00 new pages of the Weekly Dispatch (London) and nearly 12,000 pages of Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper.

Deceased Online adds Exeter City's Higher Cemetery

Deceased Online is working on Exeter City's cemeteries. With 73,779 records from 1862 to 2019, Higher Cemetery, located 2 Km ENE city centre, more than doubles the number of Exeter burials included. 

The others added recently were:

Exwick Cemetery, 23,387 records from 1877 to 2019
Topsham Cemetery, 6,747 records from 1856 to 2019

The cemetery holds the graves of 406 war dead including 6 Canadians from the First World Waar and 9 RCAF from the Second.

The Higher Cemetery records comprise computerised burial records, section maps showing the approximate location of graves in the cemeteries, and details of other grave occupants.

Burials in all three cemeteries, except the more recent, can be viewed without charge on index cards in Adobe Acrobat PDF format at https://exeter.gov.uk/people-and-communities/bereavements-services/burial-index-cards/.

Oxfordshire District Valuation records

Oxfordshire History Centre has digitized its holding of The District Valuation survey, sometimes called the Lloyd George Domesday survey, carried out between 1910-1915. Access is via an interactive map that can be searched by modern place name, panned and zoomed. Once zoomed in to the right area, click on the map to bring up a popup window with links to the DV records for that point.

https://www.arcgis.com/apps/Styler/index.html?appid=5bc0995b04c04f289870d984af64b2bf

New Genealogy Books at OPL: Thin Pickings

In the past 180 days, only one genealogy book was added to the Ottawa Public Library collection.

Finding Your Scottish Ancestors: Techniques for Solving Genealogy Problems
by Wilkinson, Kirsty F.

It's available in hardcopy and as an eBook.

On order is

NEW Pocket Guide to Irish Genealogy
by Mitchell, Brian

Looking at new genealogy books at the Toronto Public Library, there are several I'm surprised are not being acquired by the OPL, including:

Bois-Brûlés: the untold story of the Métis of western Québec
by Bouchard, Michel

BIFHSGO October Meeting

Soldier, Settler, Sinner: The Remarkable Journey of Charles MacDonald 

Saturday, 10 October  / 10:00 am to 11:30 am

 Jane Simpson will tell the story of her ancestor Charles MacDonald, an officer in the British Army, on his journey of chance, spanning three continents and experiencing a number of precarious circumstances.  Jane one day stunned her grandmother by asking an inconvenient question and the answer was not altogether convincing.  Fifty years later, she had her answer, finding many surprises and shocks for her MacDonald relatives.

Jane Simpson attended elementary school in Ottawa.  She completed her baccalaureate at the University of Ottawa and Masters at McGill University.   A retired nurse, she lives in Kanata, researching and writing, in addition to singing in choirs.  Her book about the MacDonalds in Belleville, Soldier, Settler, Sinner:  The Remarkable Journey of Charles MacDonald was selected as staff pick in Chapters/Indigo in Belleville.  Jane enjoys talking with other family historians through attendance at and presenting at workshops.  Archives are some of her favourite places.  She holds memberships in the United Empire Loyalists Association of Canada – Quinte Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society – Quinte Branch, Hastings County Historical Society and the 7th Town Historical Society in Prince Edward County.   In Ottawa, she is a member of the Ottawa Independent Writers Group and Capital Crime Writers.

 Click here to register.

MyHeritage: Ask the Expert

MyHeritage is continuing its Ask the Expert series throughout the end of 2020, now via Zoom & Facebook. The upcoming sessions will take place every Thursday at 1:00 PM EDT, and you’ll have the opportunity to ask questions live. To learn more and register, visit https://bit.ly/MyHAskTheExpert.

If you missed any of the previous sessions, or you just want to view it again, we are posting the recordings on http://education.myheritage.com/, where you can find a wealth of additional resources on genealogy and DNA.

Library and Archives Canada Reopening in Ottawa?

I've been away for two weeks and there's no news about reopening at 395 Wellington.

Before I went away LAC posted in a video "We’ll announce the opening dates soon."

When is soon?

The video showed all kinds of preparations being made at 395.

I followed the instructions "Be sure to check our website and social media for updates on the public service point near you and to book your visit." Nothing new. No ability to book at 395.

When will LAC follow up on its own promise, even if it's that owing to the resurgence there will be no imminent reopening?