Ancestry.ca wins recognition from Canada's History Society

The following is a press release via Canada Newswire.

McGill University Professor Desmond Morton Wins 2010 Pierre Berton Award

WINNIPEG, Nov. 3 /CNW/ - Steady scholarship, dry wit and an appetite for public debate are the qualities that have made Professor Desmond Morton this year's winner of the Pierre Berton Award, Canada's History Society announced today. Desmond Morton's incisive analysis and quiet chuckle have raised interest in and knowledge of Canadian history from coast-to-coast. 

The author of over 40 books on military, political, and labour history in Canada including two enduring popular works: A Short History of Canada and A Military History of Canada, Desmond Morton has also been an active and generous mentor, contributor, and advocate within the historical community.  He continues to be a sought-after media commentator providing historical context for contemporary events and public policy debates. 
The Award selection committee noted that the Pierre Berton Award particularly recognizes Desmond Morton's tireless advocacy of accessible Canadian history. He once facetiously suggested that Canadian history be banned from schools as 'unfit for young minds. Then, of course, those "young minds" would grab a flashlight and read it avidly under the covers.'
"We are delighted to honour Desmond Morton," said Deborah Morrison, president and C.E.O. of Canada's History Society. "He cares deeply about how history is taught in our classrooms and how it is remembered in our communities.  His career reflects his strong commitment to helping bridge between academic research and popular understanding of our past."
In accepting the honour Desmond Morton commented, "This is a gratifying award to receive, since Pierre Berton was the master of history performances as well as popular writing. I am humbled to be put in the same category."
The Pierre Berton Award is Canada's top history prize, recognizing excellence in bringing Canada's history to a wider popular audience.  Past awards have honoured the initiatives of writers, filmmakers, television broadcasters, and non-profit organizations. 
The History Society also acknowledged the work of four other exceptional nominees who were short-listed for the prize:
Ancestry.ca as a part of the world's largest online aggregator of historical records provides Canadian families with an unprecedented breadth of resources to begin their exploration of Canada's history with the stories that intrigue them the most - those of their own families and descendents. Lively, participative, and personal, Ancestry.ca is quite literally weaving more connections between Canadians and their pasts.
Dan Francis has been a freelance writer exploring for over 35 years all aspects of Canadian cultural history, and publishing for children and adult audiences alike. Among many notable projects he's been involved The Encyclopedia of British Columbia remains one the most important books written about the province. Indeed Dan Francis is one of the most important historical writers in Canada today.
J'ai La Memoire Qui Tourne is an unprecedented multi-media project developed by Les Productions de la Ruelle in collaboration with the French television network Historia. Rooted with a television documentary series that traces the history of 20^th century Quebec by weaving together family films and videos, the project culminates with a vast website, coproduced with Turbulent Media and the support of the Bell Fund, featuring more viewer-contributed content and a robust set of educational resources.  J'ai La Memoire Qui Tourne is a game-changer for how Canada's stories are told in popular media.
Bernard Zukerman's curiosity about the Canadian people and events has brought some of Canada's best historical drama to film and television screens. His filmography includes features about Dieppe, the Dionne Quintuplets; Victor Davis, hockey player's rights in Canada, Colin Thatcher, as well as the forthcoming CBC television movie about political rivals John A. Macdonald and George Brown. A natural story-teller, Zukerman's contributions to bringing Canada's history to movie theatres and television are unparalleled.

TNA Podcast: The London Gazette - not just the brave and the bankrupt

Audrey Collins, genealogy specialist at the (UK) National Archives, in a presentation from last August, speaks on the many ways the London Gazette may be helpful in researching family and local history.

Listen from here.

London as you never saw it before

Having spent the day on Friday at the UK National Archives in Kew and the British Library I was more than interested to come across an amazing 80 gigapixel London panorama, "so big it would measure 35m long and 17m tall if printed at normal photographic resolution" according to http://newslite.tv/2010/11/17/london-skyline-becomes-largest.html.

View it at http://www.360cities.net/london-photo-en.html

The book of Glasgow anecdote (1912)

This book by Malloch, D. Macleod (Donald Macleod) has been digitized to the Internet Archive by the University of Toronto Library.

In his introduction the author hopes that "any who read this book will find in it much information about Glasgow which is interesting, and many stories of Glasgow citizens which are amusing." Can it achieve this in 2010, 98 years after publication? It should certainly be interesting if you have Glasgow roots. Amusing is a matter of taste, Try this sample.

An Englishman and a Scotsman chanced to meet at a football match, and, contrary to tradition, the Englishman had a bottle while the Scotsman had none.  A few minutes after the game had started a good run was made by one of the visiting forwards. " Good run,"  said the Scotsman. " Fine," said the Englishman, and applied his lips to the bottle, ignoring Sandy's thirsty glances. Later on a goal was scored. " Fine goal," said Sandy. " Grand," said the Englishman, taking another draught, but still not offering it to his neighbour. " I presume you're a bit o' a fitba' player yoursel' ? " said Sandy. " I am," was the proud reply. "I thocht sae," said Sandy. "You're a grand dribbler, but you're no good at passing."

Book reviews by BBC History Magazine

If you're considering a book on British history a source of inspiration is the free book review archive available at the BBC History Magazine website at www.bbchistorymagazine.com/, click on Books in the horizontal menu strip. They review many books I didn't know, and won't likely find in North American bookstores. Google the title for a supplier or check out Amazon.co.uk.

Other content at the BBC History Magazine site includes a podcast, blog, email newsletter and features.

Family History for the Older and Wiser

Checking Waterstones in the local shopping centre where I'm staying in England I found a new 340 page paperback genealogy book, published by Wiley, for the University of the Third Age. If you're not familiar with Britain's U3A movement it comprises "self-help, self-managed lifelong learning co-operatives for older people no longer in full time work, providing opportunities for their members to share learning experiences in a wide range of interest groups and to pursue learning not for qualifications, but for fun."

Family History for the Older and Wiser: find your roots with online tools by Susan Fifer is an August 2010 publication. Divided into five sections, it takes you through the steps required to research and write your UK family history using online sources. The organization is familiar: Getting Started; Basic Genealogy (civil registration and census); Online Sources (FamilySearch, Ancestry, the National Archives, other sources), Recording Your Research (spreadsheets, genealogy software and especially Personal Ancestral File, family photos); Sharing Your Research (presentations, publishing).

The strong computer orientation of the book, evident from the title, continues right from the start of chapter one which gives the equipment needed as a computer, printer, Internet access. It assumes little computer background, for example, giving information on how to use a web browser for those who have avoided that to date. The treatment of civil registration emphasizes FreeBMD and for the census the FamilySearch 1881 transcription and the information you can get for free by manipulating the 1911 census site. It takes you through step by step using examples.

There is a glossary, including some terms you don't expect in a genealogy book like tag and ppi, and an index.

One failing is some uneveness in how up-to-date it is. There is no mention of the Irish 1901 or 1911 censuses being free online although some more recent resources are covered. Also, not a failing but an inevitability for anyone writing about Internet resources, one the author mentions, is that websites change.

This is one of a series of "older and wiser publications," very much in the style of familiar "Dummies" books, all similarly computer-oriented. For the complete list of their books, and to preview part of the genealogy book, go to www.pcwisdom.co.uk/view/0/index.html

The cover price is £12.99 with online stores selling at a near 40% discount, and a Kindle edition at £7.83 or $9.99 in the US Kindle store. However, the images are too small to permit seeing any detail on the Kindle.

Unless you're familiar with the UK situation, or have read the book, you may not be sure about some of the questions. For example:
 
Which of the following is the best proxy (in genealogical terms) for a birth certificate?
a) Credit card
b) Driving licence
c) Passport
d) School leaving certificate

Anyone struggling to get going on the computer researching English family history will find this book valuable, but one can't help but reflect that an instantaneously editable web-based presentation would be better adapted to the changing nature of the online world.

Kith and Kin Blog and Links

The Kith and Kin blog only started very recently but Luke Mouland already has 42 followers for what he terms "genealogical wafflings."  There is also a list of links, some of which were new to me.

Modernizing Textual Reprography Services at LAC

An announcement is posted by Library and Archives Canada that as of November 15, 2010, a service providing copies of various textual records in digital format for download from the website will be offerred. In certain cases the digital image will then be made freely available.

As I recall, this has been the subject of a trial using WW1 service files for some months. While there will be a saving to the client on shipping costs it appears the reproduction cost will remain unchanged as will the time to deliver --- 6-10 weeks for regular service.

LAC New Tools for Immigration Records

The following is an announcment from Library and Archives Canada.

Ottawa, November 18, 2010 – Library and Archives Canada is pleased to announce the launch of new tools to facilitate the consultation and use of its immigration records, one of the largest and most consulted by genealogists. Transcriptions of headings of different forms used to record the names of immigrants arriving in Canada between 1865 and 1935 are now accessible on the Library and Archives Canada website. Links to different databases and websites offering nominal indexes or digitized images of immigration records have been regrouped on a single web page.

These pages can be accessed at the following addresses:

Immigration Records Headings:

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-908.012-e.html

Immigration Records Indexes:

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-908.013-e.html

Over 14,000 memorial inscriptions added by findmypast.co.uk

Findmypast.co.uk have added 14,262 Middlesex memorial inscriptions from 1399 to 1992. Find them in the Middlesex parish burials collection.

More British Library Records for WorldCat

After you've checked your local library catalogue where do you look next for that elusive book? Mayve Amazon, or ABEBooks if you want to buy it, but increasingly the answer is WorldCat.  To find out why, and about 12 million new bibliographic records added from the British Library, read the press release.

DUBLIN, Ohio, USA, 17 November 2010—OCLC is pleased to announce that the British Library has added 12 million bibliographic records to WorldCat, the world's largest online resource for finding library materials.
OCLC staff worked closely with British Library staff to add the records over a four-month project. As a result of the cooperative effort, OCLC and the British Library have enhanced the process to add these valuable records to WorldCat for the benefit of researchers worldwide.
According to the British Library, WorldCat is an increasingly important resource used to expose its holdings worldwide, and for supporting a number of its core services including resource sharing and document delivery.
"We are delighted to be able to display the richness and diversity of the British Library's collections via WorldCat," said Neil Wilson, Head of Metadata Services, British Library. "Increasingly, users want to start their research by searching as many library resources as possible and WorldCat addresses this need. By making our resources visible via such systems we can greatly increase awareness of the Library's services and reach a far wider audience."
Prior to this latest data load, some 4.5 million British Library records had been added to WorldCat over the last 25 years. Not only has this volume now effectively tripled, but the quality and accuracy of the records has been significantly enhanced. Ongoing automated batch loads will further improve the quantity and quality of British Library records in WorldCat.
"OCLC is very proud of its relationship with the British Library," said Jay Jordan, President and CEO, OCLC. "The ongoing cooperation between this prestigious research institution and OCLC over the years continues to yield enormous benefits for library users and scholars around the world."
WorldCat is a database of bibliographic information built continuously by OCLC libraries around the world since 1971. Each record in the WorldCat database contains a bibliographic description of a single item or work and a list of institutions that hold the item. The institutions share these records, using them to create local catalogs, arrange interlibrary loans and conduct reference work. Libraries contribute records for items not found in WorldCat using the OCLC shared cataloging system.
Since 1971, 200 million records have been added to WorldCat, spanning more than 6,000 years of recorded knowledge, from about 4800 B.C. to the present. This unique store of information encompasses records in a variety of formats—books, e-books, serials, sound recordings, musical scores, maps, visual materials, mixed materials and computer files. Like the knowledge it describes, WorldCat grows steadily. Every second, library members add seven records to WorldCat.
Once records have been added to WorldCat, they are discoverable on the Web through popular search and partner sites, and through WorldCat.org.
The OCLC cooperative has a long tradition of working with national libraries around the world to facilitate shared cataloging, record exchange, digitization, resource sharing and document delivery. A map displaying national libraries with records in WorldCat is on the OCLC Web site.
About the British LibraryThe British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and the world's largest library in terms of total number of items. The library is one of the world's major research libraries, holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats: books, journals, newspapers, magazines, sound and music recordings, patents, databases, maps, stamps, prints, drawings and much more. While it holds more items in total, its book collection is second only to the American Library of Congress. The Library's collections include around 14 million books, along with substantial additional collections of manuscripts and historical items dating back as far as 300 BC.
About OCLCFounded in 1967, OCLC is a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world’s information and reducing library costs. More than 72,000 libraries in 171 countries have used OCLC services to locate, acquire, catalogue, lend, preserve and manage library materials. Researchers, students, faculty, scholars, professional librarians and other information seekers use OCLC services to obtain bibliographic, abstract and full-text information when and where they need it. OCLC and its member libraries cooperatively produce and maintain WorldCat, the world’s largest online database for discovery of library resources. Search WorldCat on the Web at www.worldcat.org. For more information, visit the OCLC Web site.

Find out more about OCLC

OCLC, WorldCat and WorldCat.org are trademarks/service marks of OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. Third-party product, service and business names are trademarks/service marks of their respective owners.

Looking Ahead

Last week was my final speaking commitment for the year. I don't anticipate being on my hind legs before an audience until early April, in June for the Quebec Family History Society Roots 2011 event, and then in August with a couple of talks for the Toronto Branch of OGS.

A major commitment until September is as co-Chair of the BIFHSGO conference, 16-18 September. The theme is England and Wales, and especially London. I'm taking the lead in developing the program. More news as things develop, major speakers are already identified but nothing is confirmed yet.

The door is also open to proposals for other presentations likely to hold the interest of members including: writing and preserving family history; social networking; technology and genetics/DNA discoveries; case studies that illuminate social trends and illustrate good genealogical practice. More information here. The deadline for submissions is the end of January.

Another conference commitment is serving on the program committee for the OGS 2012 conference in Kingston.

One or two genealogical events away from Ottawa are in my plans. The RootsTech meeting, Feb 10 - 12, 2011 in Salt Lake City and Who Do You Think You Are Live, Feb 26-28 in London are both tempting but a bit too much to do both in the same month.

I'm also considering either a non-genealogical project or writing a book I've been contemplating for some months.

Anglo-Celtic Connections, passing 2,000 posts this month, will continue indefinitely.

The Internet Archive and the World in 1880

I was surprised to find that only one out of ten people in a class I recently spoke to admitted to knowing about the Internet Archive. For city directories and parish register transcriptions alone its worth knowing about, and replete with other useful resources for the genealogist.

Try it out by going to www.archive.org/details/texts and searching on a town name of your interest.
The search doesn't get into the body of the text. Do do so click on the title of the book of interest, then click on "Read Online" in the left hand column, then search from the box at the top of the right hand column.

The University of Toronto continue to add digitized books to the Internet Archive. I recently found The universal assistant and complete mechanic : containing over one million industrial facts, calculations, receipts, processes, trade secrets, rules, business forms, legal items, etc., in every occupation, from the household to the manufactory (1880). This was the world our ancestors lived in.

The Genealogy of British Pub Signs

Here's something a bit different, patterns in the names and signs of British pub. Read the article here, from the culture site The Dabbler which is worth browsing, or go straight to the pdf of the "family tree"

MAPCO completes Stanford’s Geological Library Map Of London And Its Suburbs 1878

I've pointed before to the detailed London maps available free online from MAPCO. The latest is a reproduction and adaptation for convenient web access of Stanford's Library Map Of London And Its Suburbs; Or, Geological Library Map Of London 1878 available at http://london1878.com or through MAPCO's London Map page at http://archivemaps.com

Don't be confused by the colouring on the map which is the Geological, not Genealogical.

Please Thank Your Volunteers

The British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa has been seeking a new editor for its quarterly Chronicle called Anglo Celtic Roots. Chris MacPhail, who's been doing that job for some years, and winning awards in the process, is wanting to step down. I was pleased to hear that the board has accepted Elizabeth Kipp's offer to guest edit the spring issue in a trial run. I know few people who work harder and more deliberately on the family history tasks they take on, as evidenced by Elizabeth's blog.

Not-for-profit organizations, which most genealogical and family history societies are, rely on volunteers like Chris and Elizabeth to fill all kinds of roles. A very few larger societies have paid staff. Mostly societies run through a combination of a long-term volunteer effort by the few, very often board members and a handful of others. We treasure the people like Jeanette Arthurs, Doug Hoddinott, and Betty Warburton in BIFHSGO, who have served as board members and continue to contribute over many years.

I learned the other day that Mike More, who first became Chair of the Ottawa Branch of OGS when Bill Clinton was President, has announced he is relinquishing that position next year. Mike took on the role of OGS Regional Chair earlier in the year, in which capacity he sits on the OGS Board and has much to contribute at the provincial level.

Most people, for various reasons, choose not to contribute in a continuing role. However, short-term, often event oriented, contributions from a larger number of society members are just as valued. An hour or two a month, or half a day a year, is a fine way to make the organization that much more successful, and has real impact in helping keep fees down.

 Our friends in the US are approaching their Thanksgiving celebration. Whether you're in the US, Canada, Australia, the UK, and a few other places this blog is read, why not take the next available opportunity to thank a volunteer in your local society. Thanks are infectious. The more you give, the more you get.

TNA Podcast: Royal Hospital Chelsea: Soldiers' service documents

TNA military records specialist William Spencer gives a short overview of the Royal Hospital Chelsea: Soldiers' service documents in WO 97, one of The National Archives' most popular record series now digitized on findmypast.co.uk.

This series holds detailed and comprehensive military records of over 1.5 million soldiers who served in the British Army between 1760 and 1913. This talk, recorded on November 9, reveals the enlightening information found in the records, for anyone with ancestors who served in the army during this period.

The average file has four pages. FMP has discovered one of 54 pages which details the bureaucratic and long winded case of Matthias Quinton’s pension claim.

Quinton was born in Limehouse, London and joined the Royal Artillery on 28th October 1889 aged 18 years and seven months. He saw service at home and in Gibraltar and was discharged after three years because of medical unfitness. During his service, Quinton was tried and imprisoned for 42 days for ‘using insubordinate language to a superior officer’. His record states that ‘when brought before Major W H Smart RA, his commanding officer, and when asked what he had to say in his defence, he replied “Sweet FA” in a highly disrespectful manner’.

Heritage Ottawa Free Public Lecture

The History of Kanata

Wednesday, November 17th, 2010 at 7:00 pm

Ottawa Public Library Auditorium, 120 Metcalfe St., corner of Laurier Ave. West 

William Teron, the founder, planner and builder of the first major phase of Kanata, will present his garden city and Silicon Valley concepts and their development within Canada’s national Capital.

Info: 613-230-8841 or www.heritageottawa.org

Oxfordshire Wills Online at Origins.net

Over 300 years of indexes to Oxfordshire Wills are now online at Origins.net

This dataset indexes all the surviving probate records of the bishop and archdeacon of Oxford for the period 1733 to 1857, and of the Oxfordshire Peculiars for 1547-1856.

The digitised images are presently not online. They will be available within the National Wills Index in early 2011, but meantime hard copies may be ordered online on Origins.net.

Information typically found in wills is:

• Names of heirs and beneficiaries
• Relationships
• Places of residence and origin of testators
• Places of residence of the heirs and beneficiaries
• Properties and whether freehold, copyhold or lease
• Occupations
• Debts owed and due
• Business arrangements
• Executors
• Witnesses
• Inventories of personal property
• Personal comments about heirs and beneficiaries

See subscription options here starting at 7 pounds for 72 hour access.

Lost Cousins Canada Special

The following is from the latest Lost Cousins Newsletter:

Were any of your relatives in Canada in 1881? Until Christmas you will be able to contact anyone you're matched with through the Canada 1881 census (normally you'd have to subscribe, wait for our next free weekend - which won't be until the end of the year).

Tip: it doesn't matter where your ancestors came from or what language they spoke - so long as you have relatives who were recorded on that census I can search for your living relatives.

Entering people in the database is fairly easy once you've got the hang of it. You may find someone else has already claimed your relative and you can connect. Otherwise just sit back and forget about it -- until someone else enters a match. That's what I'm doing.

I've entered 122 relatives (none in Canada) and so far no matches. It's likely I don't have many to find. My ancestral families seem to have been smaller than average. I only had two first cousins, whereas most people seem to have more. One person at my talk in Vancouver in September said they had 81 ... wow.

New Ottawa City Archives Update: 12 November 2010

While most of the windowa are now in place there are still a few at the lower level and a column at south end, dark in the photo, to install. 

The parking lot to the west of the building is already paved and in use by the construction team.

The exterior finish remains to be installed on the east face of the archives wing.







 




Here's a reminder of the appearance of the site 12 months ago.

RIP Suddie "Bill" Mumford

Calgary-based genealogist Suddie "Bill" Mumford passed away yesterday. I only knew him through his widely-read Genealogical Software Report Card. Dick Eastman has an appreciation, and link to an official obit, here. 

ACOM (Ancestry) first anniversary and stock offer

ACOM, the stock of Ancestry.com, has now been listed for trading for one year. From an issue price of $13.50 it has risen to close on Friday at $26.49, a 96% increase. It traded as low as $12.80 and up to a recent high of $28.38.It now has a market capitalization of $1.18B

Compared to ACOM the performance  of the stock of Google looks anemic.

On Friday Ancestry announced it will be making a secondary offering of 3,795,955 shares of common stock at a price of $26.00 per share.  These are not new shares.

"... certain of the Company's stockholders intend to offer 3,564,842 shares of common stock for sale and grant the underwriters the right to purchase up to 534,726 additional shares, solely to cover over-allotments, if any. Ancestry.com is not selling any shares of common stock in the offering and will receive no proceeds from the sale. The secondary offering will not result in dilution of shares currently outstanding. Ancestry.com expects to incur non-recurring professional fees and costs of approximately $1 million in connection with this offering, which will negatively affect the company's adjusted EBITDA for the quarter and full year ending December 31, 2010."

This suggests to me that a major shareholder sees the major gains in the stock to have occurred and that they can best use their funds elsewhere.

On the other hand, website Motley Fool, sees Ancestry as a potential takeover target for Google.

"Subscription revenue for an online service would be welcome at Google, and if there's a free ad-based model to be had, there's no one better than Google to make it happen."

Ottawa Scottish Genealogy Group Meeting

Monday, November 15th sees the next meeting of the Ottawa Scottish Genealogy group.  Irish expert Jim Lynn will be joining the group to talk about the Ulster-Scots. The meeting will start at 7:00 pm in Room 154 at the Library and Archives Canada. 

There will also be a Silent Auction of Scottish books.

Cumbria BMD

There's a recent addition to the growing list of Register Office websites with indexes of locally registered births, marriages and deaths. Cumbria BMD presently contains data for the Barrow-in-Furness Registration District, 258,958 births, 84,845 marriages and 145,401 deaths. Further districts are promised "in the near future."

People sometimes ask why they should bother going to the local district site when the GRO has compiled an index for all of England and Wales, and much of it is now available at FreeBMD. 

First, there are well documented deficiencies in the GRO index. It's one step further removed from the registration with the consequent scope for errors and omissions. Always go to the local index, where available if you can't find an event you expect.

Second, the information available is slightly different. On the upside, entries are available for more c=recent events than on FreeBMD, and for marriages you get the names of the marriage partners and the church or register office where the ceremony occurred. On the downside, you don't get the quarter, only the year the event occurred, and no age at death is given in the index.

Cumbria BMD is part of the UKBMD group of Family History and Genealogy web sites.

Ottawa Branch OGS November Meeting

Bruce Patterson, Saint Laurent Herald & Registrar, Canadian Heraldic Authority, Government House, Ottawa will speak on "Heraldry in Canada and how to obtain a Canadian Coat of Arms" on 14 Nov 2010, 7.30 p.m. at Library & Archives Canada, 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa: Room 156

Worth Watching - the Muninn Project

An international, interdisciplinary project to investigate innovative uses of First World War Records, the Muninn project launched the web interface to its catalog on November 11, 2010.

As described here, the project aims to take as many digitized First World War records as possible to create a huge database, then extract the written data using advanced computer technology, and turn the resulting information into structured databases. Data from Library and Archives Canada is already ingested.

For genealogy the interest is in exploring computer extraction from handwritten records, initially from forms of which there were lots in WW1.

While you can search the database online the results to date are primitive.

Some of the research projects identified are:

• Institutional Reconstitution – create a digital model of the armed forces
• Social History Database – providing useful datasets for social historians of the early Twentieth Century
• Modelling Infectious Disease – using medical records pertaining to the Spanish Flu and STIs we could model the transmission of infectious diseases through the armed forces
• Crises and Medical Language – linguists would like to analyse the impact of medical emergencies on bureaucratic language.

This project involves the universities of Western Ontario, Cambridge, Waterloo, Hull, and Carleton and Brown Universities.

1801 and 1811 Nominal Censuses for Ealing

They're almost as rare as hen's teeth - pre 1841 nominal censuses in England and Wales. Occasional examples do survive usually in local archives and libraries.

The parish of Ealing. Middlesex, is a case where the original schedules of the 1801 and 1811 census survive and are held by the Ealing Local History Centre.

Over 5,000 people are counted in each census. As usual in early censuses only the heads of households are named.

View a transcription, and comprehensive analysis of the data, at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~jonga/census1intro.html

Toronto Branch of OGS launches new database of war memorials

The following is information received from OGS Toronto Branch:

The Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society is honoured to mark Remembrance Day 2010 with the launch of For King and Country, a new on-line database of war memorials in Toronto schools.

Many Toronto schools display lists of former students and teachers who volunteered for active service during the two world wars. A much smaller number of memorials exist for other conflicts. Some name only those who died, but most include all who enlisted.

The Toronto Branch of the OGS has taken on the ambitious project of transcribing and indexing these memorials. The product of this work is a searchable database, For King and Country, which will be a valuable resource for students of local, social, military, educational and family history.

The Toronto school memorials take a wide variety of forms, including books of remembrance, bronze plaques, photo displays, sculptures, stained glass, bronze bells and special plantings, but most are hand-lettered lists, framed under glass. Many of these lists were designed by Group of Seven artist A.J. Casson and are headed "For King and Country". This heading inspired the title of the Toronto Branch project.

While other records exist to document military service, school memorials connect the young men and women who volunteered to their family and friends, and show us the impact of war on their communities. For King and Country also offers a new source of information about the history of the schools themselves, with links to other useful school and community websites.

For King and Country is a work in progress. The database now includes just over 20,000 names, drawn from memorials in 50 elementary and secondary schools, and those numbers will continue to grow. At the moment, the focus of the project is on the nearly 600 schools of the Toronto District School Board, but memorials from Catholic schools, private schools and post-secondary institutions will be added in the future. Users can search the database by surname, forename, school and/or keywords and access a full transcription for each entry.

To explore this new database, visit www.torontofamilyhistory.org/kingandcountry/.

For more information about the For King and Country project and how to contribute, contact: Martha Jackson at kingandcountry@torontofamilyhistory.org.

For more information about the Toronto Branch and how to become a member, e-mail info@torontofamilyhistory.org or leave a message at 416-733-2608.

Catholic Registers Online from SOG

The Society of Genealogists’ family history library in London contains a large number of Catholic register transcripts. One, a baptismal registers of the Portuguese Embassy Chapel, 1663-1844, is now available on the Members’ Area of the Society’s website,

A free basic search of the registers can be made here  but you will need to become a Society member to view the full entry.

BIFHSGO November Meeting

The feature presentation this Saturday, 13 November, 2010  at 10am is "In Flanders Fields: Researching and Remembering the Dead of the Great War" by Society President Glenn Wright. 

The presentation will take a look at some of the common, and not so common, resources for documenting those who died in the First World War, as well as information on the creation of cemeteries and the major Canadian and British memorials to the missing in France and Belgium.

As usual, the presentations will be in the auditorium of Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington Street. Discovery tables and refreshments will be available prior to the meeting.
 
Another of the popular "Before BIFHSGO" education talks will also be given , starting at 9:00am, with
Hall of Fame member Doug Hoddinott demonstrating merging online Ancestry data into a Family Tree Maker file

Poppy Paranoia

CBC News is reporting that The Royal Canadian Legion has told an Ottawa-based internet news site to stop using its poppy image to commemorate Remembrance Day. Read more at http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2005/11/08/legion-bourque-poppy051108.html#ixzz14sz9lY3s

To me that is most regrettably short sighted. It would seem that to mark the day online one needs to go further afield, Fortunately the British Legion is not so myopic, and using their image is a reminder of the large number of CEF servicemen who originated in the UK.

A New Genealogy Magazine

There's been so much contraction in the family history magazine market this year, it's good to read of a new entry in the market. Inside History is published in Australia for the ANZ market.

You can read about it at the Inside History Blog at http://insidehistorymagazine.blogspot.com/

The 100th Carnival of Genealogy

In our decimal world 100 holds a certain distinction. It's satisfying to reach that milestone, one I'd like to achieve when just one more person becomes a follower of this blog. Look left.

Another person in the genealogy blogosphere working on 100 is Jasia of the Creative Gene blog who runs the Carnival of Genealogy. If you're not familiar with the Carnival have a look here. Jasia is asking for blog postings for the 100th issue, and has set a goal of 100 of them.

Although I once, many moons ago, submitted an item for the Carnival it's oriented more toward family history stories, not niche news which is my aim at Anglo-Celtic Connections.

So can we help Jasia? She's looking to those who've already contributed to previous Carnivals. While I doubt she'd reject newcomers with their own blogs I'd be happy to host a guest post here.

Persephone -- that includes you as you're already blogging this month. You may already have it with your story on Harry Grattridge although not every family has one so notable.

Here's the call from Jasia.

Call for Submissions! As I mentioned in a previous post, I am asking all who have participated in past editions of the COG to participate in the 100th edition. It's a FAMILY REUNION! There will not be the usual cap of 30 submissions for this edition. Instead there will be a floor of 100! I will not attempt to write comments nor choose a featured author this time around. I'm asking all of you to help me out here and make my dream come true. I would like to have 100 or more submissions from my friends, my COG family members, for this 100th edition. It's a tall order, yes. It hasn't been done before and therein lies the challenge. Can it be done? Only your time and efforts will determine that. I know there are many more than 100 authors who have participated in the previous 99 editions of the COG. I need at least 100 of you to step up and write a blog post to submit to the COG to make my day, my week, my month, and my blogging career. I don't know how many past participants are reading this edition so I'm hoping you'll help me get the word out. Please share this info on FaceBook, Twitter, GeneaBloggers, Second Life, your own blogs, mainstream media, the 4 major TV networks, genealogy conferences, and wherever past COG participants may gather!

And the topic for the 100th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is... "There's one in every family!" Bring your stories of colorful characters, unique heirlooms, mouth-watering recipes, most dearly beloved pets, whatever! Interpret as you like. Every family has "special" individuals, you know, the ones with a green thumb, the black sheep, the lone wolf, the blue-ribbon cook, the story-teller, the geek! I know you have treasured recipes and amazing heirlooms you've yet to share! Tell us about them and become a part of history in the 100th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy! The deadline for submissions is December 1st.

Submit your blog article to the 100th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using our carnival submission form. Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any articles you plan to submit and/or write a brief description/introduction to your articles in the "comment" box of the blog carnival submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

UK Medals Rolls Online

 Here's another selection of databases made available by Ancestry in the lead up to November 11.


UK, Military Campaign Medal and Award Rolls, 1793-1949
Lists of more than 2.3 million officers, enlisted personnel and other individuals entitled to medals and awards commemorating their service in campaigns and battles for the British Army between 1793 and 1949. It excludes WWI or WWII medal and award rolls.


UK, Naval Medal and Award Rolls, 1793-1972
Lists of more than 1.5 million officers, enlisted personnel and other individuals entitled to medals and awards commemorating their service with the Royal Navy and Royal Marines between 1793 and 1972, and including WWI or WWII service.
UK, Citations of the Distinguished Conduct Medal, 1914-1920
25,000 citations for recipients awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. Includes Canadians awarded this, the second highest military honor for non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel. If you don't have Ancestry access try searching gazettes-online.

Findmypast.co.uk adds 233,000 new Australian burial records

The following an announcement from findmypast.co.uk is noted here as many people born in Britain, and likely more than a few in Canada, are likely to be found in this large database. Run those searches for your strays.

We have just published 223,160 burial records for Rookwood Cemetery in Sydney, Australia, on findmypast.co.uk 

These records cover the period 1798 to 1999. This information has been made available online thanks to a mammoth project by the Society of Australian Genealogists, a member of the Federation of Family History Societies.

In 1981, SAG began a project to publish online the details from all the gravestones in Rookwood Cemetery. The scale of this task can be appreciated by the fact that the cemetery covers more than 777 acres and is widely regarded as the largest cemetery in the southern hemisphere.

Find your ancestors in these records by searching our parish burial records. Select 'New South Wales' from the county list.

What will these records tell me?

When you search these records, in most cases you will be provided with the following information about your ancestors:

First and last names
Date of death
Age at death
Inscription on gravestone
Plot
Plot No
Size
Cemetery, place, county and country

A bonus feature of these records is that in many cases, your results will show you any associated records. This means that you can often find other family members and make family connections that may not otherwise have been possible.

In most cases, the associated records will comprise the following information: name, date of death, age at death and inscription on the gravestone.

Find out more about these Rookwood Cemetery records, including the history of the cemetery and the records.

Search the Rookwood Cemetery burial records today to find your ancestors.

TNA Podcast: Forgotten WW2 tragedy

More casualties than in the Titanic, Lusitania and Empress of Ireland disasters combined. More than killed on 9/11.

As we approach Remembrance Day TNA is timely in posting a podcast from a talk given on the anniversary of the 7 June 1940 sinking of HMT Lancastria while evacuating troops from St Nazaire in France.

The talk, by Janet Dempsey, recounts the circumstances and attempts to explain why so many who were lost will never be accounted for.

It's one of the more memorable TNA podcasts I've heard. Listen at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/podcasts/loss-of-lancastria.htm

More on "Lest We Forget" Workshops

The following is a press release from Library and Archives Canada.

OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 11/08/10 -- Today, Library and Archives Canada, the Canadian Urban Libraries Council, and the Canadian War Museum are officially announcing a collaborative agreement for the delivery of Lest We Forget workshops across Canada. These workshops allow students to consult and research primary source documents by looking through the military service files of Canadian soldiers, doctors or nurses who served in the First World War or who were killed in action in the Second World War.

Under the terms of the collaboration, librarians and other trained individuals across Canada will be able to organize and deliver Lest We Forget workshops using the online tools provided by Library and Archives Canada.

On November 8, Library and Archives Canada and the Canadian Urban Libraries Council will be making a launch announcement at the Burlington Public Library. Additional announcements will be made at the Canadian War Museum on November 9 and at Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington Street on November 10.

The workshops will be held in four libraries across the country as well as at the Canadian War Museum. Current collaborating libraries include the Burlington Public Library, the Fraser Valley Regional Library, the Winnipeg Public Library, and the Toronto Public Library.

"We are delighted to see that our Lest We Forget project is being expanded," said Dr. Daniel J. Caron, Librarian and Archivist of Canada. "This new collaboration with the Canadian Urban Libraries Council and the Canadian War Museum will allow students from across Canada to experience a Lest We Forget workshop with a trained facilitator."

"The opportunity to bring the popular Lest We Forget workshops and have access to these historical files in our buildings is one we are most excited about," notes Carole Lague, Chair of the Canadian Urban Libraries Council.

"Educating museum visitors and students about the service and sacrifice of Canada's servicemen and women is a vital part of our mandate," stated Mark O'Neill, Director General of the Canadian War Museum. "We are pleased to be part of this collaboration, and to make our resources available to the Lest We Forget project."

Plans are already under way to expand the workshops to other public libraries and to school boards that wish to participate in the Lest We Forget project.

The general public can visit Library and Archives Canada to access or to request copies of the military service files of Canadians who served in the First World War. Library and Archives Canada is in the process of forming collaborative agreements to digitize the remaining military service files and to enhance the overall accessibility of these documents for the general public.

Comment: The initiative is announced, although apparently no workshops have yet been held, for four institutions plus the War Museum. LAC is not mentioned as a venue, something that the organization came under criticism for earlier in the year.

Ancestry.ca adds 1914-1919 burial and war graves registers

The following is a press release from Ancestry.ca

 

TORONTO, ON (November 8, 2010) - In honour of Remembrance Day, Ancestry.ca, Canada’s leading family history website[i], today announced the first ever online launch of the largest collection of Canadian military records related to the death and burial of soldiers who fought in the First World War. The company has also announced that select Canadian, US and British military records will be available for free from November 11 to 14, 2010.

 

The collections, Canada, CEF Commonwealth War Graves Registers, 1914-1919, and Canada, CEF Burial Registers, First World War, 1914-1919 will be of immense interest to the millions of Canadians with ancestors who fought in the Great War. For the 30 per cent of Canadians[ii] who claim not to know whether their ancestors took part, the collections can help them potentially make discoveries about previously unknown military heroes in their family tree. 

Individual records contain rich information about the soldiers, such as their unit number, religious affiliation, date of death, circumstances of death, burial and name of nearest relative (next of kin).

The new collections will add to what is already the largest online collection of Canadian military records; one that includes Soldiers of the First World War, which contains the original Attestation Papers of all the 600,000 Canadians who enlisted. Soldiers of the First World War, along with all US and select British military collections, will be free to access from November 11 to 14.

Canada, CEF Commonwealth War Graves Registers, 1914-1919 contains more than 43 thousand records detailing the circumstances of death of more than two thirds of the 60,000 Canadian soldiers who fought and died in the First World War in Belgium, France and the United Kingdom.   

Canada, CEF Burial Registers, First World War, 1914-1919 detail the temporary and final resting place of Canadian soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in the First World War. The authorities at the time kept track of the name and place of temporary burial locations. After the war, remains were brought together in the vast national military cemeteries.

 

Of interest in the collections is the date April 9, 1917, which stands out not only as the first day of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, but also as the date with the most Canadian deaths recorded in this collection, with records of death for 4,344 Canadian soldiers.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge was fought against the Germans in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of France from April 9 to 12, 1917. The brave Canadian troops managed to capture the ridge within three days - a key turning point in the War in spite of the massive casualties suffered by the Canadian troops.

September 15, 1916 was another day of infamy, which is reflected in the death records for 1,832 Canadian soldiers. This date marked the last great Allied effort to achieve a breakthrough in the Somme Offensive, in the Battle of Flers-Courcelette. Two Canadian divisions were part of the battle that is remembered historically for being the first ever to feature tank warfare.

The collections also provide opportunities for Canadians to learn the details of the death and final resting grounds of some of the key figures of the war, including:

·         John McCrae (1872-1918) - soldier and poet; author of the famous poem recited by Canadians of every age at Remembrance Day, In Flanders' Fields
·         George Lawrence Price (1898-1918) - the last Commonwealth soldier killed in the First World War. Price was shot and killed at 10:58 a.m., November 11, 1918, just two minutes before the armistice ceasefire that ended the war went into effect at 11:00 a.m.
·         Henry Norwest (1884-1918) - the most famous sniper in The Great War, he held a record 115 fatal shots and was often selected for special missions due to his superb stealth tactical skills and expert use of camouflage

These collections were created by the Ministry of the Overseas Military Forces of Canada, predecessor of the Department of National Defense. Along with all of Ancestry’s military collections, they can now be accessed at www.ancestry.ca/Remember. Members can also visit our tribute page at   Facebook.com/ancestry.ca. 

Access to this collection, along with the other 128 million historical Canadian records available at Ancestry.ca, is part of the reason the company was recently short-listed by Canada’s History Society for the 2010 Pierre Berton Award, Canada’s top history prize, recognizing excellence in bringing Canada’s history to a wider popular audience.

LAC Performance Report 2009-2010

It's that time of year when Canadian government organizations report on their progress during the previous fiscal year. Exactly a year ago I blogged on Library and Archives Canada's performance report 2008-2009. The report for 2009-2010 is now at  http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/dpr-rmr/2009-2010/inst/BAL/BALtb-eng.asp#so_8503_04  and I could well comment on the inconsistency between these two reports. What's mentioned one year is ignored the next. The way financial figures are segmented is changed with no way to track changes from year to year.

This year's report is important as it reviews progress for each of the five Strategic Choice LAC set for itself between 2006 and 2010.

 

1. LAC will adjust all aspects of its activities to adapt to the needs and benefit from the opportunities of the digital information environment.

The evaluation was Somewhat met - 60 to 79 percent of the expected level of performance

 

2. LAC will increase the relevance of and accessibility to its collection and expertise for Canadians outside the National Capital Region (NCR).

Mostly met - 80 to 99 percent of the expected level of performance

3.  LAC will focus its role in Government of Canada information management on the development of effective recordkeeping.

Met all - 100 percent of the expected level of performance

 

4. LAC will make systematic use of collaborative arrangements and will increasingly deliver on its mandate through or with others.

Somewhat met - 60 to 79 percent of the expected level of performance

 

5. LAC will ensure that client research and evaluation results are built into management decision making.

Somewhat met - 60 to 79 percent of the expected level of performance.

There's more in this report than would constitute a healthy meal. Let's focus on the effort to "increase the relevance of and accessibility to its collection and expertise for Canadians outside the National Capital Region (NCR)."

 

Judging by the figures quoted the Portrait Gallery has been achieving this since the development of a physical National Portrait Gallery was derailed. Kudos.

 

On the other hand the report admits that not as much progress has been made on digitization of materials and making them available online as was planned. The report states that:

• Working in a new field means facing problems that no other institution has resolved.

• Introducing new technologies and services that depend on technology has proven to be more complicated than anticipated.

Given the progress being made in digitization in other similar institutions I don't find these reasons persuasive. 

However, in addressing this strategic choice, and its organizational mission, LAC does not appear to be giving adequate consideration to secondary consumers. If LAC provides information to an author or researcher, even one who chooses to visit 395 Wellington, who then uses that information to produce a book, film or television program isn't the end result LAC doing more to meet its mandate to make knowledge accessible to a greater degree and more broadly than it could ever hope to do on its own? 

 

By marginalizing secondary impact LAC is underestimating how well it is meeting its mission.

Beware Genealogy e-books

An Amazon Kindle was the latest gadget to arrive at home a little over a week ago. I was getting fed up with throwing out so much of the newspaper delivered to my door that didn't interest me. The online format hasn't won me over yet but it's early days.

Although I didn't buy the Kindle to read books I was curious to see what was available on genealogy. Searching the word genealogy found 502 titles ranked by "relevance".

The first is "How To Do Everything Genealogy" by George G Morgan. It gets a five star rating from six of the seven customer reviewers, the other awarding four stars. By sales rank it is 108,064th in the Kindle store. The price of $14.84 is a 41% discount off the list price. There is a warning that the download time is greater than usual due to its large size.

Second on the list is "Family Tree Cemetery Research on the Internet (A Genealogy Guide)" by Nancy Hendrickson. The publication date is given as June 23, 2010 and the publisher Green Pony Press Inc. It has no customer reviews, a sales ranking of 57,240 and sells for $2.99.

Third on the list "The Genealogy Guide: How to Trace Your Family History" is by Pink Panda Publishing. The publishing date is October 15, 2009 and sales rank 48,559th in the Kindle store. The price is $0.99 and it had no customer reviews.

Going further down the list there are publications with four or more stars ratings by Barbara Renick, Christine Rose, Carter Fleming, Jack Simpson, Kimberly Powell, Carolyn B Leonard. A typical price is $9.99 and they mostly have sales rankings in the Kindle store over 100,000.

There are also many publications with no star ratings and only a corporate author including e-Book,  e-Business Master, Little White e-Book, New Century Books, and eBook Media Ventures. The most popular price was from $0.99 up to $2.99 and with Kindle store sales rankings above 50,000 except for some very new publications.

For most of the individual named authors, many well-known by reputation, Google searches showed credible involvement in the genealogical community. What about the corporate authors?

I Googled for "Pink Panda Publishing" and found nothing on the company, although many "how to" type ebooks. At least one of the companies has a checkered history.

This set me to recalling a blog posting I'd seen earlier, http://bit.ly/br9z8Z about searches on the Barnes and Noble's site showing "32-page compilations of Wikipedia articles about John Scalzi’s work" listed ahead of his actual books.

I didn't actually check out the full text of any of those corporate author publications. Downloading the preview for one crashed my Kindle and when I did get it working again showed only a preface.

The bottom line is an old story, "you get what you pay for." The sales rankings are practically worthless being dominated more by price than quality.

FreeBMD November Update

The FreeBMD Civil Registration Index Database for England and Wales was updated on Sat 6 Nov 2010 and contains 192,776,782 distinct records (245,537,239 total records). Major updates are between 1937 and 1951.

Searching Genealogy Magazine Archives

"I remember a magazine article about that, but don't remember where or when." Have you ever said that?  I have. Is there a way to conduct a search of all genealogy magazine contents, in the same way that WorldCat is a single site to search many library catalogues?

The question came to me recently as I was working on a list of my genealogical publications. I remembered an article I'd published in Family Tree Magazine, the UK version, but couldn't recall the year or exact title.

My thoughts turned to PERSI, the Periodical Source Index, "the largest subject index in the world to genealogy and local history periodicals written in English and French (Canada) since 1800." That's according to its creator the Genealogy Center of the Allen County Public Library (ACPL) in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

With "more than 1.8 million index entries from nearly ten thousand titles" it seemed like a good bet. The library website at http://www.acpl.lib.in.us/genealogy/persi.html suggests that if you are not at one of the library's locations access is through HeritageQuest Online. That's not available to me.

Ancestry has a version of PERSI, but without the scope of search described by the ACPL. I tried a variety of searches but only one of my articles surfaced. I gave up the quest on PERSI and tried searching magazine-by-magazine focusing on British genealogy magazines.

Fortunately ABM, the publishers of Family Tree Magazine have a basic search capability at http://family-tree.co.uk/index/index_list.php. It works for the soon to be defunct Practical Family History magazine as well. Searching for "Reid" in the "Additional Info" field found 14 hits including my article. One provided the information I needed. Giving the year of publication would be helpful.

Moving over to Your Family Tree, the other UK magazine in which I've published, I already had bibliographic information on two articles published there. I seemed to rccall another. The magazine home page at www.yourfamilytreemag.co.uk/ had a promising looking search box but back issue tables of contents don't appear in the database.

A complete listing of major articles, but not authors, for the now defunct and lamented Ancestors magazine is here.

Listings of the contents of the  Genealogists' Magazine, published by the Society of Genealogists, by issue and surname mentioned, from the first issue in 1925 to 1996, are at http://www.sog.org.uk/genmag/genmag.shtml where you will also find images of the contents pages for issues from 2006 to 2008.

Post-WW1 Airborne Video

Here's a view of the devastation in Ypres, and remains of its Cloth Hall after WW1. Pilot Jacques Trolley de Prévaux took the shot from a camera strapped to a French airship in summer 1919 while following the Western Front.

It's part of a short video on the BBC website to be broadcast on Nov7 and available, I'm not sure how legally, at:  http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=297_1288902355

Lincolnshire 1837+ Marriage Indexes

A nice volunteer church marriage register transcription project for Lincolnshire in Excel format.  They contain the names of bride and groom, their fathers, full date and the name of the parish.

These registration entries start in 1837, some go to 1870, others to 1911, with transcription ongoing.

These should all be included in the civil registration of marriages, as in FreeBMD with the additonal of exact marriage date, church and father information.

Find it at http://mi.lincolnshiremarriages.org.uk/

via the Toronto Family History Centre Bulletin

Online Dublin Graveyards Directory

A new edition of the Dublin Graveyards Directory, researched and edited by John Grenham for publication by Dublin City Library & Archive, is now online at http://dublinheritage.ie/graveyards/


The Directory covers all graveyards in the Dublin area (i.e. Dublin City; Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown; Fingal; and South Dublin) and gives information on:

1. The location of graveyards
2. Contact details for those in charge of graveyards
3. Titles of published gravestone transcripts (available in most research libraries)
4. Links to on-line gravestone transcripts
5. Location of surviving burial records
6. Other information of interest about the graveyard.

Unfortunately it does not include information on MIs or burial records for individuals, .

Irish Catholic Parish Records To Go Online

John Grenham's Irish Roots column in the Irish Times is not-to-be-missed for avid Irish genealogists. In a recent column he wrote: 

The National Library has recently put out a request for tender for the digitisation of all of its Roman Catholic parish register microfilms. These microfilms cover 98% of the pre-1880 baptism, marriage and burial records kept by local parishes on the entire island, and are the single most important source of family history information for the vast majority of researchers. Indeed, in most cases they are the only source of family information before the start of state registration in 1864. 

 You can read the full story at http://www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/magazine/column/oct25_10.htm

More options for 1911 census of England and Wales coming

According to the press release below the exclusive arrangement with findmypast.co.uk for online access to the 1911 census for England and Wales is coming to an end.

Ancestry.com, Inc, parent company of the UK’s number one family history website Ancestry.co.uk, in collaboration with UK website Thegenealogist.co.uk, is pleased to announce that an agreement has been reached with The National Archives to acquire and publish online the 1911 England and Wales Census.

The two family history companies will work together to transcribe the 1911 Census, creating a searchable database which enables users to type in a name and go directly to the full colour digital image of the actual census document, handwritten in their ancestor’s home a century ago.

The complete set of 1911 Census records go live on Ancestry.co.uk and Thegenealogist.co.uk by county, starting in late 2010 and completing in 2011.

Part of the archival holdings of The National Archives, the 1911 Census is the largest and most recent census available to the public.  A crucial genealogical resource, it offers a detailed insight into how people lived in the years leading up the First World War, showing who lived where, with whom, their age at the time of the census, their place of birth and what they did for a living.

Olivier Van Calster, Vice President of Ancestry International, comments: “We are thrilled to acquire the 1911 Census and look forward to the moment members can access these valuable records on our site. “The addition of this vital genealogical material means we will be able to offer our members the complete set of England, Wales and Scotland Censuses, as well as the only fully searchable England and Wales Birth, Marriage and Death Indexes and exclusive online access to the World War One British Army Service and Pension records.”

Nigel Bayley, Managing Director of Thegenealogist.co.uk comments: “The 1911 Census is a crucial step for many in finding their roots and we feel this is a vital resource that will benefit family historians everywhere. Our members voted this resource their number one dataset in a recent survey.“The 1911 census will be added to our Diamond subscription to accompany our complete set of English & Welsh Census and Birth, Marriage and Death indexes, Official Nonconformist records, Parish Records, Wills, Roll of Honour and Military records.”

Britain's 9/11 of 1605

Today, 5 November, is known as Guy Fawkes Day, when people in Britain take to the streets and fields lighting bonfires and setting off fireworks to remember the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Terrorist Guy Fawkes (13 April 1570 – 31 January 1606) and accomplices were captured in the cellars of the Houses of Parliament with enough explosive to send King James I of England and VI of Scotland and members of Parliament to the next life a few hours later at the opening of Parliament.

No doubt, had there been planes at the time, that's a method the conspirators might have used. Remember, a few years prior to 9/11 there was an attempt to blow up New York's World Trade Centre using explosives beneath it

Over the years the Gunpowder Plot remembrance morphed into an annual tradition sustained by the economic benefit in the manufacture and sale and of fireworks (money up in smoke). The bonfires were a useful means of disposing of the year's detritus and anything else flammable. Traditionally the fire would be topped with a Guy made of straw and old clothes which had previously been paraded in a handcart round the community by kids asking for "A Penny for the Guy."

How will 9/11 be remembered in the year 2406?

Free Association of Professional Genealogists Videocasts

Feeling an education gap? Interested to learn about the professional world of genealogy? Would you like to attend a conference presentation or two, but don't fancy the time commitment and expense of jumping on a plane? The (US) Association of Professional Genealogists has an attractive option. In a trial partnership with FamilySearch, APG is making available eight presentations from the 2009 and 2010 APG Professional Management Conferences. They're free and online.

The lectures are:

A Key to Success: Your Online Presence - D. Joshua Taylor

Expand Your Revenue: Produce and Sell Your Lectures in Video Format - Donna M. Moughty

Niche Planning and Marketing - Paula Stuart Warren

Choosing the Best Continuing Education Opportunities - Elissa Scalise Powell, CG

Get Published in Magazines! - Leslie Albrecht Huber

Bull's Eye! Planning and Delivering a Winning Mark by Heather Henderson

The Bachelor: Reconstructing a Solitary Life Using Obscure & Far-Flung Records by Mary Penner

Get Paid for Your Passion: Becoming a Professional Genealogist by Elissa Scalise Powell, CG

The Association of Professional Genealogists doesn't use the qualifying term US. Be aware that APG is very largely US oriented and the focus in these lectures is the US situation. That should not deter you from dipping into this pot of goodies as there's content that is more widely applicable.

For more detail on these lectures go to http://www.apgen.org/publications/pmc_webcast.html

Remembering Canada's War Dead

The names of 68,000 Canadian First World War dead will be projected in sequence, one by one, in the centre of Ypres overnight from November 4 - 11. I have witnessed and been moved by a similar act of remembrance at the National War Memorial in Ottawa.

For those of us not able to get to Ypres, a journey I commend to anyone who's ancestor served, the vigil will be streamed live at www.1914-1918.ca and at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.

LAC Management Changes

There will soon be a new face in the senior management ranks at Library and Archices Canada. Cecilia Muir, presently Assistant Secretary to the Cabinet in the Privy Council Office, where she led a team responsible for Public Service Renewal, will be joining LAC as Assistant Deputy Minister responsible for the Resource Discovery Sector. That includes responsibility for the services you and I receive as clients.

In 2008 Cecilia Muir is listed as Vice-President of the Public Service Renewal Task Force; in 2006 as Director General, Public Service Renewal and Diversity with the Public Service Human Resources Management Agency of Canada; and in 2004 and 2005 as Director General, Office of Disability Issues with Social Development Canada. Prior to that she held positions in Health Canada. She has a Master's Degree in Library Science and started her Public Service career at The National Library of Canada.

Cecilia Muir takes over from Jean-Stéphen Piché who filled the role as Acting ADM for over a year and will move over to lead the Acquisitions Sector. Doug Rimmer, who at one time was in the ADM role to be filled by Cecilia Muir, will become Assistant Deputy Minister of the Collections Management Sector.

These changes will become effective on 22 November, 2010.

I'd like to thank the Office of the Librarian and Archivist, and Alison Bullock, who confirmed and clarified these changes when the LAC Communications group was unable to do so.

Blandford Forum Burials

I missed the addition of Blandford Forum, Dorset, to the deceased online collection in September. 

 

The database consists of approximately 7,600 burial records and includes access to burial register scans. These are dated 16 June 1856 to 6 July 2010 with 8 to 20 entries per scanned page. Maps showing the exact locations of graves are to be added.

City of London Cemetery Data Online

Burial registers for the City of London Cemetery and Crematorium have been available for viewing online for some while, and more are gradually being added. In total 600,000 people have been interred there, and the remains of over 30 London Church yards also placed on the site making a total approaching 1 million,

Only the first eight registers covering the dates 24 June 1856 to 23 January 1864, not 2 June 1861 as stated on the website, are currently available for viewing. They are not indexed so it you need to have an idea of the burial date, especially as the register images are large.

You can read more about these burial registers at www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/LGNL_Services/Community_and_living/Deaths_funerals_and_cremations/burial_registers.htm or go directly to view the burial registers online.

Hertfordshire Records Online

Hertfordshire Archives & Local Studies have several county databases searchable from a single form. They are: 

	Apprentices (1599 - 1903)
	Archive Catalogue (1100 - 1999)
	Fatalities (1827 - 1933)
	Miscellaneous Names (1753 - 1942)
	Marriages (1538 - 1922)
	Newspapers & Magazines (1758 - 2010)
	Newspaper Pictures (1890 - 1952)
	Removals (1688 - 1908)
	Settlements (1679 - 1865)
	Wills (1413 - 1857)

Click here to carry out a free search. To get an image of a newspaper obit costs 5 pounds - reasonable compared to a trans-Atlantic flight, or even the cost of a ticket from central London to Hertford.

This is one of the items in the latest issue of the favourite LostCousins newsletter. Find it at

http://lostcousins.com/newsletters/autumn10news.htm

Last Post: Death Notices

Looking for death information on Canadian servicemen and servicewomen?

Four years ago I wrote about the Canadian Royal Canadian Legion Magazine's Last Post database. At that time it contained 109,000 names going back to February 1990.

Today it contains 181,723 names with data on the site at http://www.legionmagazine.com/en/lastpost/ going back to January 1987. I found a few earlier entries, as far back 1984, and many where no date of death is given. The Legion promises the database will be extended "as resources permit."

As the magazine first started publishing these short death notices in 1928 there's a continuing challenge ahead for the 3-4 volunteers who tackle the task of correcting OCR'd magazine copy to make it ready for the database.

Another Casualty in the Genealogy Magazine Market

Practical Family History will cease publication with the December issue. That's a news item from the Scottish GENES blog.

Apparantly the publisher, ABM Publishing, will continue with "Britain's oldest and best selling family history publication" Family Tree Magazine.

Family Chronicle: Nov/Dec 2010 Issue

The lead article in this issue is "Kirk Sessions of the Church of Scotland" by Marian Press. Kirk sessions concerned themselves with all aspects of parish life including those encompassed by today's social safety net, education, public order, church maintenance and even suspected witchcraft.  Marian's examples include clandestine marriages and fornication. You may find minutes of these meetings starting as early as the mid-16th century up to the present day. Marian is involved with a project of the National Archives of Scotland to index and abstract these records and put them online as part of the ScotlandsPeople website.

There were quite a few articles in this issue that I scanned and skipped because they contained nothing new or relevant for me. Although I have no known ancestors who were involved, David Norris' "Searching for Ancestors of the Great Fire of London" is interesting for the variety of resources referenced in the British History Online collection at: www.british-history.ac.uk.

An extract from Leslie Albrecht Huber's book "The Journey Takers" tells a tale that tugs at the heartstrings.

See the full table of contents for the issue at www.familychronicle.com/current3.htm