Findmypast adds to British and Canadian Collections

England & Wales, Electoral Registers 1920-1932

Nearly 17 million new records are added to this collection which now totals approximately 220 million names of voters. Each record is displayed as a PDF document containing name, address or abode, nature of qualification or a description of property, Name, description and residence of landlord or other person to whom rent is paid. This is an ongoing project with the British Library. I was unsuccessful in finding any Welsh entries.

Britain, Histories & Reference Guides

The newest title in this collection is A General And True History Of The Lives And Actions Of The Most Famous Highwaymen, Murderers, Street-Robbers, Etc. published 1742

Canadian Directories & Almanacs

433 additional volumes with over 353,000 images covering Newfoundland, Ontario, and Toronto have been added. Dates range from 1853 until 2010 with best coverage in the 20th century.

Canada, Ontario, Toronto Emigrant Office Records Index

Taken from four volumes of assisted immigration registers created by the Toronto Emigrant Office (series RG 11-3) held at the Archives of Ontario which record information about some of the immigrants who arrived in Canada between 1865 and 1883. The database is freely accessible at www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/db/hawke-search-help.aspx

Artists on Deceased Online

A blog post from Deceased Online celebrating some of the artists recorded in their database, and their art.

British History Online

All transcribed BHO content is freely available for individual users until 30 September.

The extra 200 volumes now available are predominantly made up of two important series:

the Calendar of Close Rolls, covering the reigns of Henry III to Henry VII (1244 to 1509),

the Calendar of State Papers Domestic, covering the reigns of Edward VI to Anne, 1547 to 1704)

For eight other calendars now available see https://blog.history.ac.uk/2020/03/british-history-onlinemakes-all-research-content-free-to-individual-users/.

Some of these resources were mentioned in the webinar Sources for Landed and Titled People in England and Wales given by Paul Milner which is available free for a few more days.

LAC 2019-2022 Three-Year Plan: Mid-Year Report 2019-2020

One-quarter of the way into the 2020-2021 fiscal year Library and Archives Canada has posted a report for mid-year 2019-2020 on its 2019-2022 Three-Year Plan.

While the Three-year plan 2019-2022 - Indicators calls for quarterly reporting on five strategies LAC has apparently decided to report semi-annually instead. It took down the second-quarter report, which I blogged about in December.

If the one-quarter delay in producing the second-quarter report holds for the semi-annual reports then the next one is due now. Will the pandemic delay it further?

WDYTYA Magazine July 2020

Featured in the July issue of Britain's best-selling family history magazine is Rosemary Collins's updated region-by-region guide to the baptism, marriage and burial records available online. She points to significant additions in the past year for Bristol from Ancestry, and Surrey from Findmypast while not overlooking the free records from FreeReg and various Online Parish Clerks.

A second feature has Nick Peers revealing how to curate your photos, getting your pictures digitized, organized, backed up online and shared with the family.

In Fighting Fire, Felix Rowe tells the story of the long struggle to establish a national fire service, from 1666 and the Great Fire of London, through fire services that only served those with fire insurance on property, to the standardization and expansion of service beyond fighting fires after the Second World War. Names of firefighters are likely to be found in local archive records.

There's much more including, as usual, news I hadn't come across before. This issue it's that the Postal Museum has a new website, GPO War Heroes listing the more than 10,000 General Post Office staff who died while serving in the First and Second World Wars. 

The magazine is accessible free through PressReader from the Ottawa and many other Canadian public libraries.

BIFHSGO June Meeting Online: Great Moments

At the online meeting on Saturday, 13 June,10:00 to 11:30 am three members will speak about their “Eureka!” moments in genealogical research. Find out what they did, and just as important, how they did it.

 

Registration for this webinar is required. Please register HERE.

 

The Elmer-Leonard James Brickwall: Were they related?

 

Brian Glenn spent his formative years growing up in Mechanicsville with two sets of James “cousins”. One family was definitely related through marriage to Brian’s father’s sister but the relationship of the other James family was not so clear. A Christmas conversation in 2018 with his cousin Susan James started his quest to solve the relationship between the two James families.

 

About the Speaker

Brian had the honour of becoming a BIFHSGO Hall of Fame member in 2016. He has been involved in many aspects of the Society including Education, Research, web support and Conference online registration. He continues his family research with recent explorations of ancestors that migrated from Pontiac County, Quebec to western Canada and South Dakota, USA.

 

What is small, antique and eventually only belongs to just one person?    

 

A postcard! Sally Doherty will share stories she unearthed through a collection of postcards her maternal grandfather, Alexander Yuill Laing, sent to his children while on the high seas (1903-1920).  It is her hope that this presentation will make people dream of far-away places which we cannot visit right now.

 

About the Speaker:

Sally (Carlisle) Doherty... is unlike her grandfather in that she has been afraid of large bodies of water since childhood.  However, sharing his passion for international travel, she enjoyed a wonderful 36-year career in the airline industry, in three countries and on three continents. Early retired, she volunteers with a bereavement support group for survivors of victims of homicide after her mother fell victim. Sally has tutored French, was a family counsellor for a funeral director, volunteered at the Info desk at YOW Airport, dabbles in genealogy and is an international cat-sitter. Her interest in postcards began when she found one postmarked Buenos Aires, written by her grandfather to his infant daughter Esther, Sally’s mother, living in Montreal; baby Esther was only 7 months old at the time.

 

A Battle of Wills

 

In 2008, Marianne Rasmus received from an extended family member a 1951 newspaper clipping about the death of her paternal grandfather.  Marianne will share how receiving that tiny piece of paper opened a door of possibilities: unearthing a passion and leading to discoveries about a family line she knew little about, including one particularly noteworthy conflict.

 

About the Speaker:

Born and raised in Vancouver, Marianne spent most of her life in BC, experiencing life on Vancouver Island, in BC’s north and in the Fraser Valley.  But when the opportunity for a mid-life adventure came, Marianne and her husband, Bill, took the plunge and moved to Ottawa in 2013. 

 

After reluctantly taking Canadian History as a “filler” course in college, Marianne discovered an interest in history she never expected. That interest took on new meaning, and some might say became an obsession, when she began her family history journey in 2008, and began to uncover long forgotten stories in both her, and her husband Bill’s family trees. Since becoming a member of BIFHSGO in 2014, Marianne has been active in the Society.  She has served on the Conference Planning Committee, is currently the Board Treasurer, and is a co-facilitator for the British Colonial America Special Interest Group.

OGS Annual Report 2019

The Annual Report of Ontario Ancestors - The Ontario Genealogical Society for the year 2019 was sent to members on Wednesday. In addition to a year in review from Society President, Steve Fulton U.E., it includes reports from Branches and Special Interest Groups related to their activities. 

President Fulton acknowledges the work of volunteers and staff. He highlights formation of a new Special Interest Group (the first in many years), attending a bigger Fergus Scottish Event and "building relationships with valuable partners like the Archives of Ontario, Corporate Genealogical Organizations and other National/Provincial Organizations that make Ontario research important to their patrons - along with corporate partners."

Membership trend and the financial reports were not included and advocacy activities not mentioned.

The word cloud is formed from all words mentioned six or more times in the branch reports. You perhaps notice Facebook which is mentioned 11 times. Digital gets 10 mentions, scan* 8, DNA 7, newspaper 5, YouTube 4, Twitter 2, genetic 2.

Some of the interesting branch membership numbers reported are:

The Bruce and Grey Branch had 283 members in 2019, 43 of which resided in the county, and 1,039 members in its Facebook Group.  

Kent Branch has stable membership and a Facebook group of 500 members. 

Kingston Branch reported over 300 members. 

Lambton Branch had 222.

Simcoe over 200 active members.

London and Middlesex reported steady membership numbers.

Sudbury reported a membership increase to 111 with 600 members of the Facebook Group.

With the approval of a new by-law expanding the Board of Directors it would appear the following candidates for election will compose the Board following the AGM scheduled later in the year owing to the pandemic.

President - Heather McTavish Taylor of Milton, Ontario

Vice-President - Julia Scott of Thornbury, Ontario

Ben Dawson of London, Ontario

Dianna Fulton of St. Catherines, Ontario

Vito Giovanetti of Thornhill, Ontario

Kathryn Lake Hogan of Windsor, Ontario

Heather Oakley of Ottawa, Ontario

The following will continue as Directors

Steve Fulton, UE - Past President (2020-2022)

Ray Wright - Vice-President Finance (2019-2021)

Debbie Tibando - Corporate Secretary (2019-2021)

Joe Wilson (2019-2021)

Outgoing Board Members are

Heidi Deschenes - Vice President 

Patti Mordasewicz - Past President 

Clare Cook Meulbauer

Survey: Your Favourite International Family History Databases

Not in Hibernation

While many organizations give the appearance of having gone dormant during the pandemic that's not the case with at least one. In the past month there have been 22 posts on the Derbyshire Record Office Blog.

Before you move on because you don't have Derbyshire ancestry, be aware that many of those posts have information of more general value.

Electoral Registers

Bishops' Transcripts

Adoption

Building History _Next Steps

Civil Registration

Derbyshire Burials

Historic Maps

Other posts include about John Franklin, Florence Nightingale, and an overview of Online Resources for Derbyshire.

Death of Societies

A family history organization you probably never heard of, The International Society of Family History Writers and Editors (ISFHWE), is no more. 

According to a blog post by Paul Gorry the demise was not anticipated by members. Out of the blue came the message:

"The board members and staff regretfully announce that, as of 15 April 2020, the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors no longer exists as an active society."

Organizations, just as the people in our family trees, are born, marry (amalgamate), have offspring and die. There aren't too many genealogical societies that survive to be centenarians, the New England Historic Genealogical Society, established in 1845, is the outstanding example of longevity. 

At meetings and in newsletters it's routine to hear pleading from nomination committees for volunteers to fill key roles. It's well known that only a few percent of members are ever prepared to step forward. Few respond, fortunately, only a few are needed. It saves the trouble of an election but is not a sign of health.

Just as a species is likely to go extinct once the population falls below a critical number so an organization is likely to die if membership is sub-critical. Societies that adapt to change thrive and grow. An organization can continue, kept on life support with the same people filling the leadership roles, until they no longer can. Not healthy? 

That seems to be what happened to ISFHWE which despite the International in the name never worked to reach out much beyond the US to grow membership. 

We may be sad to lose an organization but should acknowledge there is a natural lifespan. When that happens should we hold a celebration of life and move on?

Webinar: Mapping Enlightenment Edinburgh

Today: Tuesday 2 June at noon ET

Mapping Enlightenment Edinburgh

This half-hour fully illustrated talk by Map Curator, Chris Fleet, will look at the most important maps showing the development of Edinburgh between 1750 and 1850. During this time, maps underwent a major transformation in form and content reflecting the new values inherent in the creation of Edinburgh’s New Town. Who made these maps, why, and for whom, and how far we should trust these maps as a true reflection of the reality down on the ground?

When you book this event, your personal information will be held and used by the National Library of Scotland and Zoom for the purposes of allowing you to join the event. For full information about how the Library will hold and use your personal information, see our privacy pages, in particular our event booking privacy notice.

To register visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mapping-enlightenment-edinburgh-tickets-105225145242

via Scottish GENES

Ontario Civil Registration Deaths Updated for 1948 Show Remarkable Longevity

You likely saw announcements that Ancestry added records for 1948 to its collection Ontario, Canada, Deaths and Deaths Overseas, 1869-1948. There were 42,839 records for deaths in Ontario. A search by gender finds 23,731 were male, 19,130 female. Apparently, there were 22 that were both!

Two transcript records, one a man, one a woman show remarkable longevity. 

Name: Thomas Charles Drake

Gender: Male

Race: English

Age: 48

Birth Date: 2 May 1800

Birth Place: England

Death Date: 10 May 1948

Name: Vera Olive Barrett

[Vera Olive Weston] 

Gender: Female

Race: English

Age: 53

Birth Date: 10 Sep 1804

Birth Place: SARNIA, Ontario

Death Date: 27 Feb 1948

For Drake the year was corrected to 1900 from 1800 on the original certificate, for Barrett the birth on the original certificate is 10 September 1894 so clearly a transcription error. These stand out as anomalous serving as a reminder to always check the original records even when the transcription seems reasonable. Expect errors like misreading 7 for 1 and 8 for 9 owing to unclear handwriting. Less obvious errors are not uncommon. 

MyHeritage "Ask the Expert"

The MyHeritage “Ask The Expert” sessions continue throughout June, every Tuesday and Thursday at 1:00 PM EDT. To learn more about each session and register, visit https://bit.ly/MyHAskTheExpert.

View some previous sessions at http://education.myheritage.com/, where you can find plenty of additional resources on genealogy and DNA.

And advance notice, on Canada Day there may be a special edition for the occasion. Stay tuned.

Webinar: Jonny Perl on WATO

"What are the Odds?" An online tool that can help solve DNA puzzles" will be presented by Jonny Perl in the Legacy Family Tree Webinars series at 2 pm ET on Wednesday 3 June.

When working with DNA for family history research, there are many scenarios where a "mystery match" will emerge. This person will share DNA with several people within a known tree, while their genealogical connection to the tree is not known. They could be someone with unknown or mistaken parentage, or simply an uncommunicative match. This webinar will show how "What are the Odds?" (WATO) can guide you towards answers to puzzles like these.

City of Ottawa seeking donations of cloth masks for vulnerable residents

The City’s Human Needs Task Force is seeking donations of cloth masks for vulnerable residents.

The City is seeking cloth masks:

Made with two layers of tightly woven but breathable cloth such as cotton

Without any seams over the mouth and nose through which air may leak

Ideally with horizontal pleats to help fit a variety of faces.

How to donate

Please email donations@ottawa.ca to set up an appointment for drop-off. 

via Councillor Riley Brockington River Ward Community Update for June

MyHeritage: Search Exclusive Canadian Newspaper Collection

Internet Genealogy June/July 2020 Delayed

The following is posted on at www.internet-genealogy.com/IG_Special_Notice.htm

Due to the Covid-19 outbreak and the unprecedented measures taken over the recent months, we are on a revised schedule that will see the June/July 2020 issue of Internet Genealogy printing later than usual resulting in a delay in delivery of subscription copies until around the middle of June. We apologize for the inconvenience. With respect to our newsstand customers who have supported us for many years, we regret that Internet Genealogy will not be available on newsstands for the foreseeable future. PDF edition copies (always available by subscription or single-copy), and a limited supply of print copies are available for purchase at our online store later in June.

Sunday Sundries

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

The OGS/Ontario Ancestors Conference, this year a virtual event, starts on Monday 1 June and runs through Sunday 7 June. For more details and to register, visit: https://ogs.on.ca/ontario-ancestors-2020-virtual-conference.

Canada's Subsidies to the Fossil Fuel Industry

Canada has lavished at least C$13.8 billion per year in public financing on oil and gas projects since signing on to the Paris climate agreement, making it the fossil industry’s highest per capita source of public finance in the G20



AncestryExtra

#AncestryExtra webinars are taking a short pause on their regular biweekly sessions. Expect more webinars in the future. If you want to view some of the previous episodes find them at https://www.facebook.com/pg/AncestryCA/videos/?ref=page_internal

Bruce Cockburn 75th

It hardly seems possible that advocate for a more just and peaceful world, and for a healthy environment, best known for Lovers in a Dangerous Time has just marked his 75th birthday.  

Virtual Genealogy Drop-In

A reminder about the Ottawa Branch OGS weekly drop-in, every Tuesday 14:00 - 15:00.

Share research strategies & discover what resources are available for your research. Volunteers from The Ontario Genealogical Society, Ken McKinlay, Gloria Tubman and a supporting cast will answer questions & help you get the most from on-line resources.

Join the meeting via Google Meet with this link: https://meet.google.com/nvz-kftj-dax

 

Webinar: Sources for Landed and Titled People

On Tuesday, 2 June at 10 pm Paul Milner will discuss the original, published and internet sources available for tracing your “upper crust” ancestors, those who are titled and/or owned land. This is part of the Legacy Family Tree Webinars Down Under series.

 

The 27 Best Websites for Wasting Time on the Internet in 2020

Thanks to this week's contributors: Anonymous, Brenda T, Bruce, Btyclk, Carolyn Lumsden, Celia Lewis, David Hook, E. Gail Benjafield, Kyla Ubbink, Mike More, reflective thoughts by barbara, Ruafoodie, Sharon Allen, Sophronia, Teresa, Unknown, Wendy Croome

British Newspaper Archives additions for May

The British Newspaper Archive now has a total of 37,141,188 pages online (36,920,238 last month).

6 papers (23 last month) had pages added in the past month. There were 2 (7) new titles. Dates ranged from 1875 to 1999. The Sunday Mirror, with editions from 1919 to 1999, lacking the war years, is the major addition.

The complete list of additions during the month:

Stan Magwood RIP

Sad to record the passing earlier this month of Stanley George Andrew Magwood (1934-2020) from COVID-19. Stan will be well remembered by long-time BIFHSGO members.

 https://ottawacitizen.remembering.ca/obituary/stanley-magwood-1079257267.