Tracing the History of your Ottawa Property

One of the most frequently asked questions at the City of Ottawa Archives is regarding researching the history of a property.
Now the archives have a useful  23-page research guide available free at https://documents.ottawa.ca/sites/documents/files/Tracing%20Historical%20Properties_en_0.pdf

After the introductory material, it covers land records, by-laws and minutes, directories, voters lists, assessment and collector rolls, maps and plans, architectural and construction records, newspapers, photographs and manuscripts.

This would be a most worthwhile resource to consult before venturing to research property at the City Archives. While other resource locations are touched on the guide would be of greater value if it gave them greater attention, especially the Ottawa Public Library which is only mentioned once.

NEW: MyHeritage Canadian Newspapers

Within a day of posting my last YouTube newspaper video, I discovered something new. MyHeritage has added Canadian newspapers to the collection, and they're full text searchable. There are many, not all the Canadian papers in Google News Archive — 6,961,070 pages in 345 newspaper titles.

The search includes options for first and last name, publication title, date and place, and keywords. There are options for exact searches and translations. An advanced search adds flexibility on publication date. Hits are returned with the newspaper title, date and page number along with a section of the transcribed text around the hit. Click through for a full-page image.

It helped me — I discovered two articles about my great uncle in Tisdale, Saskatchewan.

If you use newspapers in your family history research this addition substantially increases the value of a MyHeritage subscription.

I've updated the video linked from here.

WW 2 Era Photos at Findmypast

Photos from the Findmypast Photo Collection are available FREE (with registration) until 7 am ET on Friday15 May.
It includes subjects: Armed Forces/War (4,733), Evacuees (62), Life Events (433), Other (841), School (626), Sport (485), Work (270), World War 2 Home Front (1,065).
Search by keyword; such as war, boxing, 1920s, Home Guard, Arsenal, women, etc. or just by year, subject or country. There are 520 photos for keyword Canada sourced from Library and Archives Canada.
Use the arrows on either side of the photo to discover more. Search FREE Photos.

OGS/Ontario Ancestors Opens Webinar Library

Now, until August 31, many of the webinar presentations in the OGS/Ontario Ancestors 5-year webinar library are freely accessible to all.

The 23 webinars for which consent has been received are live linked at https://ogs.on.ca/past-webinar-recordings/ along with listing for those for which permission is yet to be received.

Thanks for OGS/Ontario Ancestors, and Director David Thompson for letting me know.

Life in Occupied Holland

Commemorating the seventy-fifth anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, Spitalfields’ Life published an account of life in occupied Holland.

https://spitalfieldslife.com/2020/05/08/ali-touws-war-x/

World War II Canadian Army photographs

Canadian military personnel en route to Canada aboard
R.M.S. MAURETANIA,
 Gladstone Docks, Liverpool, England, 5 December 1945. 
Library and Archives Canada / PA-131774

So timely, photographic albums, known as the “Army numerical” series, are now available to the general public online for the first time from Library & Archives Canada.

In total, 110 albums (8441 photographs) on 8327 album pages, about 62,000 b&w  photographs and negatives taken between 1941 and 1946, have been scanned and converted into 103 separate PDF files, along with OCR (optical character recognition), to allow each of the .pdf albums to be text searchable.

What's in the collection?

The photographs are arranged numerically, chronologically and by region. Volumes 1-58 depict operations in the United Kingdom; volumes 59-73 are designated generally as DND; volumes 74-107 show North West Europe; the last three albums of the 110-volume series are titled: Secret 1; Secret 2; and Secret 3. United Kingdom albums include such subjects as: Army training; troop arrivals and departures; invasion exercises; hospitals; Royal visits; Dieppe survivors; Investitures at Buckingham Palace; mail ships; War Brides; funerals; mining in Wales; Canadian Forestry Corp in Scotland; sports meets; etc. DND albums consist of mainly Canadian troops in North Africa, Canada and Australia, Sicily and Italy. North West Europe albums are comprised of mainly Canadian troops in Belgium, France, Holland, and Germany. The many subjects depicted in this sub-series include: Canadians in action; Invasion Operations; refugee evacuations; CWACs; Victory Loans; tanks; mine-clearing school; POWs; Landing Beaches; German prisoners; Royals inspecting troops; Canadian General Hospitals; Nursing Sisters; cemeteries; mines; snipers; Amphibious Operations; Dieppe Raid; Red Cross; sweeping the shipping channel; Russian Generals; evacuation of Belgium children to Switzerland; D-Day Landings; Churchill visit; pipeline construction; liberation of concentration camp; surrender of Nazis to Foulkes; official delivery of surrender terms; liberations of Utrecht and The Hague; Montgomery meets Rokossovsky; peace celebrations; disarming program; bomb damage seen from air; Food and Surrender Conference; Victory Parades; Germans removing minefields; Canadian repatriation; Canadian War Art exhibition; etc.”

Read the details at https://canadianfilmandphotounit.ca/2020/04/12/library-archives-canada-army-numerical-series-110-albums-now-available-online/where you find a link to search the collection.

WW II: those who served in Europe

Even after 75 years there is no database of Canadians who served in Europe in the Army, Navy and Air Force.

One source that is (somewhat) available is lists of soldiers repatriated.

According to the official history on VE Day the strength of the Canadian Army in the United Kingdom and on the continent of Europe was 281,757 all ranks.  Repatriation started in the following month when 15,665 men and women of the Army left the UK. In July, 33,775 Army personnel moved towards Canada. By the end of December 184,054 Army men and women had returned. The period of the largest movement was December 1945 and January 1946 when 82,474 of all ranks returned. The strength of the overseas army on 31 January 1947 was down to 630 all ranks.

The records are described at Library and Archives Canada as "Directorate of Movements" and are in the National Defence records, microfilm only, originals likely destroyed after filming. The marine activities rail and air activities are on microfilms C-5547 to C-5568 and C-5589 to C-5741.

Many of the reels are on Heritage/Canadiana but none I could find had the repatriation passenger lists. There were some images like that below, many are fuzzy, that document where individuals in a Corps which was on leave would be -- often the wife.

I'm told that when Canadiana acquired "Directorate of Movements" microfilm from LAC many were not open, but they are now. When LAC reopens we'll see if we can get them made available to Canadiana. A step toward a searchable list.

Another source is lists published in newspapers. Some Ottawa examples are:

List of Names of Ottawa Cameron Highlanders and Other Troops Aboard Mauretania
The Ottawa Journal (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) 07 Dec 1945, Fri Page 7

List Names of 558 Ottawa and District Troops Expected to Arrive at Halifax January 2
The Ottawa Journal (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) 31 Dec 1945, Mon Page 8

Families Jam Ottawa Station to Welcome Returning Glens
The Ottawa Journal (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)31 Dec 1945, Mon Page 9

Today: Snowbirds Operation Inspiration

Hopefully, they can dodge the showers in the forecast.

Vernon Directories Project Update

At the last mention of this project on 21 March, there were 754 Vernon Ontario directories digitized and searchable online. Extracting the entries from the FamilySearch catalogue, and removing what appear to be duplicate listings, there are now 827 entries.

County	City	Volumes	Date Range
Wentworth	Hamilton	118	1901-2010
Brant	Brantford	99	1912-2012
Middlesex	London	92	1912-2009
Ontario	Oshawa	60	1929-2001
Kent	Chatham	47	1902-2004
Wellington	Guelph	42	1901-1979
Hastings	Belleville	40	1909-2009
Ontario	Whitby	38	1960-2001
Perth	Stratford	31	1902-2011
Leeds	Brockville	29	1923-1907
Grey	Owen Sound	29	1928-2006
Halton	Burlington	28	1977-2008
Waterloo	Galt Preston	25	1910-1972
Simcoe	Barrie	21	1937-1999
Renfrew	Pembroke	17	1938-1995
Waterloo	Berlin - Kitchener	15	1903-1986
Welland	Fort Erie	14	1973-2006
Peterborough	Peterborough	14	1922-1985
Hastings	Trenton	11	1976-1999
Kent	Wallaceburg	11	1975-2004
Lambton	Sarnia	10	1920-2012
Cochrane District	Timmins	9	1979-1998
Algoma District	Sault Ste. Marie	6	1908-1943
Simcoe	Orillia	4	1939-1984
Simcoe	Barrie & Orillia	3	1937-1950
Waterloo	Bridgeport	3	1903-1913
Norfolk	Simcoe	3	1977-1983
Lambton	Point Edward	2	1920-1921
Wentworth	Ancaster	1	2011-2011
Wentworth	Dundas	1	2011-2011
Brant	Paris	1	2012-2012
Algoma District	Steelton	1	1908-1908
Wentworth	Stoney Creek	1	2011-2011
Wentworth	Waterdown	1	2011-2011

QFHS Free Events on Zoom

Visit www.qfhs.ca for more information on these events and others. To sign up to receive an invitation to the Zoom sessions send an email.

Friday, 8 May
Free and Virtual Story of the 1855 ROBERT CORRIGAN MURDER with Steve
Cameron  (Community Events)
1:00 pm to 2:00 pm
Murder at the fair!! Ribbonmen in the hills, armed Orangemen on the roads, a body-snatching, a train derailment, a lost cemetery and soldiers searching for the hidden accused. This 1855 flare-up almost caused the downfall of the government at the time. It is a complex and fascinating story of early social tensions in the area.

Friday, 22 May
Free Virtual Guest Lecturers (Community Events)
1:00 pm to 2:00 pm
Gary Schroder will speak on What's New in Irish Genealogy.

Sunday, 24 May
Free Virtual Lecture: A Journey with Elsie  (Lectures)
2:00 pm to 3:00 pm
“A Journey with Elsie”
Speaker: Helene Jasmin, Author
This is the story of a pioneer horticulturist who designed her English gardens (Reford Gardens) for 30 years She was an activist for the voice of women, cofounding the still active club WCCM (Women Canadian Club of Montreal). Elsie Meighen was born in Perth (ON) in 1872. When her family moved to Montreal’s Square Mile, her personal life changed. In October 1918, she inherited the estate of her uncle, George Stephen, in Grand-Metis, halfway between Quebec City and Gaspe.
This is a personal invitation to meet ELSIE, an icon in our Canadian heritage. The author will also provide links with PHOEBE Nobbs Hyde from Greenwood House in Hudson, an icon in our area. Two outstanding women.

Thursday, 11 June
Free Virtual Genealogy Question & Answer Session  (Community Events)
7:00 pm to 8:00 pm
A group of researchers will be available to answer any genealogy-related question you might have.

Sunday, 28 June
Free Virtual Lecture: The 1833 SUITOR/LANE MURDER with Steve Cameron  (Community Events)
2:00 pm to 3:00 pm
Free land, a fight for turf and a shot in the early morning. The story has many surprises: no oral tradition, a public hanging, transportation to Van Diemen’s Land and a discovery of the ancestor!

AND

What's New
One-to-one Virtual Genealogy Sessions
Cost is $25 per hour. Once your payment is received our researcher will contact you to set up a session. All fees go toward QFHS operating costs. qfhs@bellnet.ca

BIFHSGO May Meeting Online

The next BIFHSGO monthly meeting is online via Zoom on Saturday 9 May at 10 a.m.

Hitch, Hockey's Unsung Hero: The Story of Boston Bruin Lionel Hitchman

Hitch, Hockey’s Unsung Hero, is a biography by Pam Coburn about her grandfather, Lionel “Hitch” Hitchman, who played hockey in the NHL for 12 seasons (1923-1934).

The story follows the Hitchman clan through the hardships of the second industrial revolution in England to “sudden” respectability in Toronto. After WWI, the family relocated to Ottawa where Hitch became the most talked-about newcomer, excelling at every sport he tried. The Ottawa Senators took notice, and he turned pro, helping them win the 1923 Stanley Cup. But Hitch was later sold to the Boston Bruins under cloudy circumstances. He flourished as captain, leading his new team to their first Stanley Cup and to the greatest NHL season of all time. Pam’s talk will focus on the first three chapters of her book, detailing the research that went into the discovery of the Hitchmans’ life in England, their move to Canada and the raising of a hockey superstar.

About the speaker

Pam Coburn spent two years researching and chronicling this untold story of her grandfather, "Hitch". In her younger days, Pam was a figure skating coach and also played varsity basketball at the University of Ottawa. Transferring to LaSalle College in Philadelphia, she continued to coach skating while completing a business degree. After returning to Canada, Pam took on progressively complex management positions and spent nearly ten years at Skate Canada as Executive Director and CEO. She currently specializes in digital communications. In her spare time, Pam enjoys being with her partner, Andre, and the four adult children who grace their lives.

The webinar is open to the public; pre-registration is a must.  Register at: https://bifhsgo.ca/

CWGC: #SHAREYOURTRIBUTE and CWGC Live

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission invites us to submit a tribute for a loved one or to leave a message of remembrance using the form on this page.

On Thursday at 9:30 am in the next CWGC Live presentation Director of Works, Jon Gedling, explains care for the historic global estate of 23,000 cemeteries and memorials.

Watch CWGC Live here

If you can't watch live recordings of past live-streams are here. 

YouTube: Family Secrets Revealed in Free Archival Canadian Newspapers Online: Canadawide Initiatives

Explores Google News Archive, Canadiana.ca, the Canada Gazette and more newspaper resources useful for exploring your hidden or forgotten Canadian family history. It ends with my wish list for improvements.

Who Do You Think You Are? June 2020

Feature articles from the June issue, just out are:

Records Of The Poor 
Stuart A Raymond tells you how to make the most of the key online documents that reveal your family's struggles

Interwar Photographs
Catherine Troiano reveals the trends in photography
between the world wars, and offers photo-dating advice

Historical Pageants
Paul Readman explains why historical pageants were so popular with our ancestors during the 20th century

The research advice category includes a record masterclass on tracing an officer's career with free online Navy Lists and; new ways to search unindexed FamilySearch records.

There's also the latest in Who Do You Think You Are's complete county guides, this one for Derbyshire.

The magazine is available free to patrons of the many public libraries in North America that subscribe to PressReader.

FamilySearch Updates for England

On Monday FamilySearch issued a list of new and updated records for the week of 4 May 2020. It detailed the collections involved in the addition of 6 million new, free, historical records. Here's an extract of the result table detailing the English records.

Collection	Indexed Records	Comments
England, Cumbria Parish Registers, 1538-1990	221,041	Added indexed records to an existing collection
England, Essex Non-Conformist Church Records, 1613-1971	48	Added indexed records to an existing collection
England, Gloucestershire Non-Conformist Church Records, 1642-1996	30,752	Added indexed records to an existing collection (Some Restrictions Apply)
England, Index to Register of Passport Applications, 1851-1903	376,488	New indexed records collection
England, Northumberland Non-Conformist Church Records, 1613-1920	22,249	Added indexed records to an existing collection
England, Yorkshire Marriage Bonds and Allegations, 1613-1887	16,762	Added indexed records to an existing collection

Notice the collection, England, Index to Register of Passport Applications, 1851-1903, with the largest number of records is also the sole new one. Its index is from FindMyPast and includes the name and passport issuance date for individuals who applied for a British passport before they were mandatory for travel. Like all the other additions this week there are no associated images.

Two Irish additions this week are Ireland Civil Registration, 1845-1913 with 78 added indexed records to an existing collection; and Ireland, Medical Directory for Ireland, 1858 with 2,373 new indexed records.

MyHeritage Ask The Expert Sessions

Do you use MyHeritage, or thinking of using it? If so there's a series of short expert sessions available in at 1 pm ET on Tuesdays and Thursdays in May.

5 May: Profile Page: More than Just Names and Dates
The profile page on MyHeritage allows to see not only all of an individual's details, but also their close family, matches, and images as well as a summary of all the information you have on them. Learn how best to take advantage of this page.
Register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/677266583705323788

7 May: Sharing and Interacting with Others on MyHeritage
Contacting other users can help you make new family connections and fill in gaps in your research. Learn to use the MyHeritage messaging system and to invite family members to view and collaborate with you on your family tree.
Register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1683409883073914380

12 May 5 Tips for Managing DNA Kits
Learn how to navigate and organize your DNA Matches, use the Chromosome Browser to explore your connections, and manage multiple DNA kits on MyHeritage.
Register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4618836548887040524

14 May: Watch Webinars at Your Leisure with MyHeritage and Legacy
Discover a world of knowledge and expertise that you can access at your leisure on MyHeritage and Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
Register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5912615388616652556

19 May: Family Tree Builder: Free Software for Documenting Your Genealogy
MyHeritage offers a free downloadable software that you can use to build your family tree offline, with unique features and capabilities. Learn to harness the power of Family Tree Builder.
Register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8782880597321268748

21 May: How to Manage Your Raw DNA Data from MyHeritage
When you test with MyHeritage DNA, your data belongs to you. Learn to manage your raw DNA data so you can use it however you like.
Register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1038208763313631756

26 May: Organizing Family Photos on MyHeritage
Learn to upload and organize your photos on MyHeritage: utilize folders and albums, tag your family members, and share your photos with your loved ones.
Register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4958277778614179852

28 May: Honing Your MyHeritage Skills with the Knowledge Base
Every day is a new day to learn. Learn to leverage the wealth of articles, webinars, and how-to videos on the Knowledge Base to improve your knowledge about MyHeritage at your convenience.
Register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/9161533710229764364

O/T: social risks during the COVID-19 pandemic

Two graduate students at the University of Toronto penned Why it's not OK to take small social risks during the COVID-19 pandemic: U of T experts. One of a range of articles on the pandemic posted on U of T News it was widely circulated.

It states plainly their opinion that taking a risk-reduction approach to social distancing for COVID-19 won’t work.

The reason? "every close contact with someone else – even if they are asymptomatic – risks transmitting the virus" and "loosening social distancing measures, despite how safe it might seem, can increase the number of people who will require admission to hospital or tragically die from this infection."

No risk is not an option. Get out of bed and increase your risk of falling. Stay in bed and suffer bed sores, loss of muscle mass, strength and bone mass.

Prudence, and authorities, recognize that even in these times we occasionally need to get groceries, with precautions, accept deliveries at home, pass each other on the street at 2m separation, and go to work if it's deemed essential. All of those constitute a prudent risk reduction approach, not zero risk, which according to the article won't work.

We'll see.

Royal Flying Corps: People Index

Compilations of resources for those who served with the Royal Flying Corps (May 1912 to March 1918), Royal Naval Air Service (July 1914 to April 1918) and the successor RAF are available in spreadsheets organized by surname. These are large files. Surname B comprises 41,981 lines, the surname P file has 22.113 lines.

There are often multiple entries for each individual, officers and non-officer aircrew. Depending on the source information available is surname, rank, initials, forename(s), date of birth, regiment, squadron, source, reference, and more. The database does not give a complete history of each individual, download the Military record from the AIR 76 series in the (UK) National Archives for the full-service history of an Officer.

There are many Canadians. The B surname file has 670 entries for Canad*, the P list 416. William Avery (Billy) Bishop has 25 lines of information, Lester Bowles Pearson just one line.

Access these lists at www.airhistory.org.uk/rfc/people_index.html, and the parent site airhistory.org.uk for the early history of aviation from a UK perspective based upon original research material.

Thanks to Glenn Wright for alerting me to this resource.

Sunday Sundries

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

In the new normal will OCTranspo be fit for purpose?

COVID-19 and the Blitz

In London the most recent four week period had as many deaths as the worst four weeks of the Blitz, and will exceed it when the next weekly figures are issued next Tuesday.

It could take two years for the economy to recover from the coronavirus pandemic

Literally, letting off some steam (audio)

Ancestry Extra

On Tuesday, 5 May at 10:00 a.m. EDT
Researching Your WWII Commonwealth Ancestors
Ancestry ProGenealogist Simon Pearce will share advice and guidance on how to tackle your WWII research, highlighting resources available to discover the stories of your ancestors that served in the Canadian military and across the Commonwealth. He’ll then be conducting a live Q&A. This session is free and no registration is required.

On Thursday, 7 May at 12:00 p.m. EDT
Finding the Unknowable
Jewish families often think that records of their Eastern European families prior to the Holocaust, or prior to their emigration from Eastern Europe were all destroyed during World War II. Although many records did not survive, many did, and can, with diligent searching be found. Janette Silverman will be discussing some research techniques and resources available digitally and visiting ancestral towns to find out more about your family before they emigrated.

Find these on the Ancestry Canada Facebook Page (www.facebook.com/AncestryCA/)

Problem, Opportunity ... both?

Some have spent the time sequestered at home on the couch binge-watching Netflix and BritBox.

Some have seized the opportunity to work on their family history, taken advantage of resources opened up for free for a limited time, contributed to online indexing, learned from the increasing number of educational opportunities (webinars) and got down to writing up aspects of their family history.

Some genealogical and family history societies have laid back: annual conferences cancelled without any thought to a replacement; monthly and special interest group meetings cancelled or replaced half-heartedly with online presentations.

Some genealogical and family history societies have seized the opportunity: opened up what would have been branch meetings free to all online; promoted online indexing and other opportunities to contribute productive time. Layers of London has the Tracing Charles Booth's poverty maps project involving no transcription.

The pandemic is leaving many people with time on their hands. Societies that present meaningful opportunities to fill the void stand more chance of thriving. Those that sit back will likely see the result when the time comes for membership renewal and people consider whether they get value for money.

Family Tree Webinars
Otherwise, Legacy Family Tree Webinars, are seeing a huge leap in attendance in their free genealogy webinars. I wonder why!  Here's what on tap in May:

Smarter Search Strategies for Genealogy by Thomas MacEntee
Crčme de la crčme: Targeted Autosomal DNA Testing to Isolate Pertinent Genetic Cousins by Paul Woodbury
Fridays in May: Your Questions Answered LIVE—Tech with Thomas by Thomas MacEntee
Leveraging MyHeritage's German Resources Effectively by James M. Beidler
The Ultimate Family History Interview by Nicka Smith
Fridays in May: Your Questions Answered LIVE—DNA with Diahan by Diahan Southard
Discover the Holdings of German Archives by Teresa Steinkamp McMillin, CG
Timesaving Apps for Busy Genealogists by Lisa Alzo
Fridays in May: Your Questions Answered LIVE—Legacy software with Geoff by Geoff Rasmussen
Enlightened Design with the MyHeritage Chart Creation Tool by Janet Hovorka
Mistrust Transcriptions: And Here's Why by Dr. Bruce Durie
Fridays in May: Your Questions Answered LIVE—More Tech with Thomas by Thomas MacEntee

Sale of defective parrot

Thanks to this week's contributors
Anonymous, Bruce Elliott, Bryan Douglas Cook, BT, Btyclk, Carol Graham, Celia Lewis, delynnpar, Gail Benjafield, Jane Down, Jenna Bruno, Kenneth R Marks, Romaine Honey, Wayne Shepheard

Ottawa Citizen Archives at the Ottawa Public Library

The Ottawa genealogical community has been pushing for access to the historic Ottawa Citizen through the Ottawa Public Library for several years. Now it's here and free. Check out the announcement at  https://biblioottawalibrary.ca/en/resources/ottawa-citizen-proquest-historical-newspapers-0