Newfoundland Military Records

Page images of First World War soldiers' service files from the 1st Newfoundland Regiment, renamed to Royal Newfoundland Regiment in 1917, are online at www.therooms.ca/regiment/part3_database.asp

There are 2,247 soldiers names. Most were born in Newfoundland although 27 were from England, 16 from Scotland, five from Russia and one each from Northern Ireland and Wales. There were two Hoddinotts, both fatalities and 10 Collins' with six fatalities.

I sampled the file for John Vincent Temple, from a family I'd previously researched, and found it had 42 pages including much correspondence.

Thanks to Shirley Crampton for the tip.

NCC developing commemoration plans

At its meeting at the end of June the National Capital Commission Board approved in principle a Military Commemoration Plan for Canada’s Capital. It's the first of three commemoration plans the NCC will develop.
The military plan includes designating a route from the Cartier Square Drill Hall and the Sharpshooter Monument via the National War Memorial and along Wellington Street to the War Museum. That plan should include an appropriate way to remember Cpl Nathan Cirillo.
The second plan will be for social, cultural and scientific commemorations, and the third encompass historical and political commemorations.
Can we hope for a higher profile for social, cultural and scientific commemorations than the backwater defunct bakery housing the Museum of Science and Technology?

NCC Press Release

British Immigrants Undercover

Dr Murray Watson, co-author of the recently released book Invisible Immigrants: The English in Canada since 1945, has written the following guest blog post:

===============

In many parts of the world border security and immigration controls have been visibly and unobtrusively tightened as a result of fears of increased terrorist threats. Politicians of many political persuasions want to appear to be tough - the large and unwelcoming “UK Border” signs at air and sea ports are a distinctly twenty-first century phenomenon. But, is this something new?

In earlier years, the Cold War and the threat of Armageddon arguably created more fear for governments and citizens than modern-day terrorism. How did these fears affect immigrants? Nowhere was the communist threat felt more deeply than in North America. The position of the USA and McCarthyism has been well documented but a new study, Invisible Immigrants: The English in Canada since 1945, revealed that Canadian immigration officials and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, (RCMP), were also active in screening emigrants from the UK.

In 1955 Gordon Jones, a teacher from London, and his wife Sue applied to emigrate to Canada. Sue was informed by her neighbour that they had been visited by the RCMP who asked if the Joneses read the Socialist Worker. The answer was “yes” but in this case landed immigrant status was granted

John King was another immigrant who attracted the attention of the Canadian security services. When King was an undergraduate at Cambridge University he became a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain. With his background in the development of radar during the war, he was offered a position by the Patent Commissioner in Ottawa. King recalled being interrogated by a colonel in the Defence Research Board. King admitted being a member of the Communist Party but only when he was a student. The outcome was that King received a letter saying he “was ineligible for the job.”

Screening of immigrants was common practice. The first stage was by officials at one of the Canadian immigration offices in the UK. These officials were oftentimes supported by UK-based RCMP officers, who conducted their own investigations, sometimes with the assistance of the police and intelligence services. The second screening occurred at the port of entry and a third when landed immigrants applied for Canadian citizenship.

Once settled in Canada, a few immigrants also came to the attention of the RCMP but for completely different reasons. Margaret Baldwin, who left England in 1966, recalled a day when “two huge” RCMP officers knocked on her door in the 1970s. It transpired that the RCMP had been following Margaret and her husband ever since they had met a Soviet diplomat, Vladimir Oshkaderov, and his wife, Olga, at a social function in Montreal. The Baldwins were invited to “spy” on the Oshkaderovs and when they refused the RCMP threatened to make life difficult for their children when they applied for jobs. The Oshkaderovs were later expelled as spies. According to another English-born immigrant, Noel Taylor who became editor of the Ottawa Citizen, it was not uncommon, though rare, for similar approaches to be made to immigrants.

Scrutinizing immigrants is not a new phenomena. It is always there especially when there are perceived threats to a host country’s security.

Immigrant families quoted in this blog have been given pseudonyms.

===============

Dr Murray Watson is an honorary research fellow in the History Department at the University of Dundee and co-author of Invisible Immigrants: The English in Canada since 1945, (University of Manitoba Press, 2015), and author of Being English in Scotland, (Edinburgh University Press, 2003). His most recent interest is the Migration Museum Project at http://migrationmuseum.org/

Findmypast weekly update adds British criminal records

This week Findmypast adds.

Additional Home Office and Prison Commission prison records (PCOM 2)
Now containing 645,193 results, PCOM 2 consists of a variety of documents concerning prisons and prisoners held by the Prison Commission and the Home Office. Be sure to check the image original which may well have much more information than the transcript. "The records are very diverse and cover prisons all over England and Wales including Pentonville, Chatham, Portsmouth, Millbank and Wormwood Scrubs prisons among others. There are also records for Gibraltar prison, army prisoners held in the Savoy prison in Middlesex and a number hulks. Records can include minute books, visitors’ books, order books, and the journals of governors, chaplains and surgeons as well as documents relating to prisoner work parties. The set also contains registers of prisoners and habitual criminals including several photograph albums and Calendars of prisoners to be tried at assizes and quarter sessions."

Treasury Departmental Accounts Convict Hulks (TNA Ref: T 38/310-338)
158,251 results with original images and transcripts, "quarterly accounts covering the hulks Bellerophon, Justicia, Captivity, Laurel, Leviathan, Portland, Retribution, Prudentia, Stanislaus and Savage between 1804 and 1831 as well as departmental accounts from 1558 to 1937." Little personal information.

Check out the Findmypast blog for more on records added during Crime and Punishment month.

This week there are also over 800,000 new British newspaper articles and additions to Anglo-Boer War records, 1899-1902

Ancestry Launches AncestryHealth

The following is a press release from Ancestry.com

Ancestry Launches AncestryHealth

Dr. Cathy Petti Joins as Chief Health Officer to Spearhead Company's Global Health Initiatives
AncestryDNA Database Surpasses One Million People Genotyped

PROVO, Utah, July 16, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ancestry (www.ancestry.com), the leader in family history and consumer genetics, today announced the launch of AncestryHealth (www.ancestryhealth.com), a new entity and resource to empower consumers with important health insights to help promote wellness, prevent illness and support healthier living. The company also announced appointment of Cathy A. Petti, MD, as AncestryHealth's Chief Health Officer. At the same time, AncestryDNA (www.ancestrydna.com) announced the accomplishment of surpassing one million people tested in its database.
AncestryHealth's first offering is a free service, currently in beta, that gives consumers the ability to compile their family health history information with the help of their Ancestry family tree.
(more)

Before proceeding with AncestryHealth you are required to acknowledge informed consent. The website explains

AncestryHealth enables you to track your family’s health conditions and preserve a record for future generations.
As an additional option, you can choose to join the Research Project, an initiative to find new health patterns and further medical research. Anonymous health information from you and other participants may help scientific researchers uncover health connections and this could lead to new cures, preventions, and treatments for other people in the future.
The Research Project is completely voluntary. You can still take part in AncestryHealth even if you choose not to take part in the Research Project. 

Although there is presently no link to AncestryDNA can that be long in coming?

FastCompany notices Genealogy

FastCompany, a business magazine that focuses on technology, business, and design has just posted an article Ancestors, Inc.: Insider the Remarkable Rise of the Genealogy Industry.

The first paragraph reads:

When MyHeritage, a genealogy site with approximately 80 million members, sent out a call to its users several months ago for photographs of members who strongly resemble their ancestors, responses poured in from around the globe. Approximately 110 users sent photos as part of a competition to win a family photo shoot. Many of the pictures looked as if they were of the same person.

Whether or not a 0.0001% response rate quite makes the point, the article is significant in raising genealogy's profile with a magazine readership that likely wouldn't normally give it a second thought.

LAC July update to the Soldiers of the First World War database

As of July 15, 2015 there are 171,771 of 640,000 files available online at the Soldiers of the First World War: 1914–1918 database.

A month ago, on June 15, 162,570 files were available so 9,201 files were digitized during the month, an average of 307 files per day. At that rate the digitization would be complete in another 1,525 days which would be Tuesday, September 17, 2019.

Not found the file you're looking for?

Library and Archives Canada posts that the following files have been digitized :

A to Dagenais (boxes 1 to 2257)
Free to Gorman (boxes 3298 to 3658)

The boxes Dagenais to Fredlund (boxes 2258 to 3297)were skipped in the digitization process, but will be done in the next few months.

LAC Focus Groups

Did you get one of these emails from Renee Harden, Director General of LAC's Communications Branch?

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has retained Nanos Research to conduct qualitative research. You are invited to share your views in a focus group setting.  The focus groups will be between 90 and 120 minutes in duration and will take place in Ottawa. Your views will assist LAC in fulfilling its mandate to acquire, preserve, and provide access to Canada’s documentary heritage by helping LAC plan for the future.

All the views you share with Nanos will not be attributed but grouped in the report for analytical purposes. Likewise, you should consider this project and the issues discussed confidential.
Over the next few days you will be contacted by Nanos in regards to your participation in this very important project.
If you have any questions about the project, please feel free to contact Cheryl McIntyre (LAC) or the senior researcher on the project, Nik Nanos, at nnanos@nanosresearch.com.
Thank you, in advance, for your support in making this outreach a success.

Librarian and Archivist of Canada Guy Berthiaume had mentioned such consultations were coming, saying at that time there would be one dedicated to genealogy interest.

Thanks to Ann Burns for the tip.

Nearly Half of Smartphone Users Can't Imagine Life Without It

You might ask if that means smartphone users lack imagination?

A poll of over 15,000 US residents by the Gallop organization finds that 46% of smartphone users agree with the statement "I can't imagine my life without my smartphone." A bare majority of U.S. adults, 54%, disagree.

Smartphone attachment is higher among women (51%) than men (41%), and among younger than older adults. Even in the over 65 age group 40% of smartphone users agree.

With current smartphone penetration currently near 70% and expanding is your genealogy society ready to meet the demand?  Many of our society websites are not smartphone friendly. That should change as society leaders wake up to the trend.

Life Matters: The invisible history of the human race

A few days ago I mentioned somewhat in passing Christine Kenneally's book The Invisible History of the Human Race: How DNA and History Shape Our Identities and Our Futures. It was the subject of an interview broadcast on Tuesday morning on the ABC (Australia) radio program Life Matters. 

The promo for the program is:

What histories are hidden in your genes?
What surprises are waiting to be unearthed in family tree?
Acclaimed Australian-American science writer  has been delving, and she’s unearthed an extraordinary and sweeping human story ...the twists and turns of global history can be found tucked away inside the twists and turns of your DNA.

Find the hour-long program at http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/the-invisible-history-of-the-human-race/6617158

I so enjoyed the book when I read the library copy, although in places I was troubled by it, I brought my own copy. However, the scope is so broad and content so rich it's a struggle to write a review. Read the New York Times review at http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/19/books/review/christine-kenneallys-invisible-history-of-the-human-race.html?_r=0

You may also be interested by another interview in the Life Matters series How did three sisters help give their dad his identity back? at http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/how-did-three-sisters-help-give-their-dad-his-identity-back3f/6600580

Thomas MacEntee on Extreme Genes Family History Radio

Thomas MacEntee, Rockstar Genealogist and speaker at September's BIFHSGO conference, is interviewed on Extreme Genes Family History Radio: episode 95 just now available on YouTube, Thomas talks about technologies he sees becoming available in the next five years, the benefits and some of the possible issues with them.
Skip to 11:15 in the episode for the start of the interview with Thomas which lasts until 20:30 when the conversation transitions to a promo for his fall on-line class on genealogy do-overs.
Find the episode at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcxfvVX3npE

Shannon Lectures 2015

Every fall, thanks to a major anonymous donation, the History Department at Carleton University mounts a lecture series on a chosen topic. While some topics are of more interest to family historians than others all have lectures of broader interest than academic history.

This year the chosen topic is reenactment. Presentations will start in September and go through to mid-November. The venue will be changed to allow better use of multi-media than in previous years.

The program is not yet available.  Stay tuned for news.

Port Hope Archives Online

Port Hope, on the north shore of Lake Ontario, has a progressive Archives supported by grants, municipal funding, memberships, fundraising and the work of volunteers.
Check out the website at www.porthopearchives.com/. It has lots of information about the collection and, of special note, a YouTube Channel with memories recorded by long-time residents and two history videos.
There's also a new newsletter archives, back to 2007, with individual pdfs. Let's hope they're todo list includes indexing or making them searchable as a collection online.

Promoting a genealogy conference on the web

The conference website is a major means of communicating with potential attendees, and speakers. Certainly it needs to contain "why, who, what, where, when, how much" information about the conference.

Beyond that what message(s) does the site send through its design? Is the information in an easily accessible format? How does it look on a smartphone? Is everything crammed together and what impression does that leave ... that there's lots on offer  ... or ...?

The site for Ottawa's Internet of Things Conference this September struck me. Clear layout, lots of white space, effective use of colour. It doesn't work so well on a smartphone though.

What do you think? If there are conference websites, for genealogy or anything else, you think have done an especially good job promoting the event please leave a comment.

OGS Toronto Branch Events in September

Here's a notice from Toronto Branch regarding forthcoming special events:

• Hands-On Ancestry.ca Library Edition – a three-session afternoon course on Wednesdays September 9, 16 and 23, taught by Carol Nichols on how to make the most of Ancestry.ca Library Edition. For details and to register online, visit http://torontofamilyhistory.org/event/hands-on-ancestry-ca-library-edition/.
  This course will be followed by three drop-in sessions at the Toronto Reference Library, again on Wednesday afternoons, where you can practice your Ancestry.ca skills with the help of volunteers from the Toronto Branch Members Network.
• Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis – a special two-hour family history lecture on Friday September 18 by professional genealogist Chris Paton on his research into the hardships endured by our Scottish ancestors. For details and to register online, visithttp://torontofamilyhistory.org/event/scottish-family-history-lecture/
• Irish Genealogy—Focus on Ulster – a full-day workshop on Saturday September 19 aimed at family historians researching ancestors in the nine counties of the historic province of Ulster, led by Dr. William Roulston and Chris Paton. Learn about the history of Ulster and its people from the 17th to the 20th centuries and the resources available to help you find your Ulster ancestors. Early-bird rates apply until August 22 and OGS members enjoy additional discounts. For full program and speaker details and to register online, visit http://torontofamilyhistory.org/learn/workshops/irish-genealogy-workshop-focus-on-ulster/.

Thanks to Gwyneth Pearce for the tip.

Book review: NextGen Genealogy

Many genealogists weaned on documentary records and information passed though the family have difficulty in interpreting DNA test results. For them NextGen Genealogy targeted as an introduction to genetic genealogy will be welcome.

For US-based author David R Dowell, a librarian by profession, this is his second genealogy book. The first, Crash Course in Genealogy, was on "basic knowledge of traditional genealogical principles."

The book has eight chapters plus end material comprising further reading, a four page glossary and eight page index. An introductory chapter "What is DNA? Family information inside out cells" explains the basics and common terminology.The meat is in the four chapters which focus on Y, mitochondrial, autosomal and X DNA. These are followed by chapters on extreme genealogy (deep ancestry), ethics, and a look ahead.

The explanations are clear, the presentation is well illustrated with cases. especially for the author's Dowell surname and extended family. The chapter on autosomal testing is especially good with explanations of the use of results from all three major testing companies in the US.

Although the publication date is 2015 the field is moving so fast some of the material is already out of date. None of the resources of the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation are presently available having been taken off line by Ancestry.com after they purchased the assets. The AncestryDNA autosomal test is now offered outside the US in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK. There is no mention of the results of the People of the British Isles project, something Christine Kenneally managed to include in her 2014 book The Invisible History of the Human Race.

The author has acknowledged the issue of delay in a blog post explaining that the publisher chosen, Libraries Unlimited, meant a substantial delay was built into the publishing process. It also meant a higher price for the 173 page paperback book, Amazon.ca lists it at $50.30 Cdn with a Kindle edition at $40.24 Cdn.

There are a few errors but nothing I noticed was major. The claim is made that when mutations occur G always interchanges with A and T always interchanges with C and is at variance with the data on Y SNPs on the ISOGG website. One might also question the statement, attributed to Angie Bush that "It (DNA) must be used as another 'record type' and as part of the genealogical proof standard (GPS)." There is no obligation to look at DNA evidence in the context of the GPS, most probably don't while still enjoying benefits from genetic genealogy.

There are references to or quotes from most of the well known social media genetic genealogists: Blaine Bettinger, Angie Bush, Roberta Estes, Maurice Gleeson; Debbie Kennett, Cece Moore, Judy Russell which sometimes point out where opinions differ. On the topic of references, there are plenty to guide those who want to go beyond the book's introduction level.

Overall I can recommend NextGen Genealogy for meeting its introductory objective while written in a friendly non-academic style. Owing to the price you may want to do what I did - borrow it through your local public library.

Music in Canada during the First World War

It was a pleasure to travel to Pinhey's Point on Friday evening for a presentation by recent Carleton University PhD graduate Madelaine Morrison on music and the First World War. In the first part of the talk she spoke of the important part Germany, and particularly Leipzig, played in musical education for Canadians before the war and the adjustments that were made as playing music by enemy German and Austro-Hungarian composers became frowned upon as unpatriotic.

The second part of the talk was on the music industry in Canada, particularly piano manufacturing. The industry declined as materials and skilled labour were in short supply and competitive less costly entertainment by way of recorded music became available. Madelaine described the measures the Canadian piano industry took to counteract these trends.

A lively discussion followed during which I asked whether Canadian piano manufacturers with Germany names, like Heintzman, had seen any decline in their sales due to the name. The King had changed the family name to Windsor and the town of Berlin had its name changed to Kitchener. Madelaine said that she thought the family was long-enough established in Toronto society that the name did not become an issue. It probably helped that members of the family were serving in the CEF.

How many other interesting topics for presentations of community interest by masters and doctorate graduates of local universities never come to wider local attention?

The presentation was in connection with an exhibit at Pinhey's Point to showcase WWI-themed selections from the sheet music collection of Mabel Armstrong Baker (1905-1999), daughter of the South March postmaster.

Another talk, this on World War I Military Nurse: Eastern Ontario's Annie Green will be given at Pinhey's Point on Friday, August 14, 2015, 7:00 pm by Sandra Campbell a retired professor from Carleton University.

Genealogy lead at Main Branch, OPL

The rumour that Sophie Tilgner will shortly be taking over lead responsibility for genealogy at the 120 Metcalfe Street main branch of the Ottawa Public Library is now confirmed. She is moving from the North Gloucester OPL branch. This follows the retirement of Diane Hall.
Sophie is a graduate of the University of Ottawa where she won the 2011 Coop Student of the Year Award for the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. Googling finds her mentioned as presenting a play "Making Deals With Gods" at the Ottawa Fringe Festival.  I understand she comes fresh to genealogy.

Here's to the Crazy Ones

“Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

TNA Display: Newfoundland – Empire in the First World War

If at The (UK) National Archives in Kew until December stop by the Keeper's Gallery to view a display highlighting Newfoundland during the First World War. Read more in the blog post at http://blog.nationalarchives.gov.uk/blog/keepers-gallery-newfoundland/.