Is LAC planning on going out of business? With the massive budget cuts resulting in layoffs this year you wonder.
Now it appears that this year's reduction is part of a longer term trend. Here's how we know.
Last June the MP for Vancouver Quadra, Joyce Murray, requested information on Library and Archives Canada's record on annual accessions since 2000. That request was answered this month and the picture is not pretty.
Total accessions of governmental material to 2009, the last year Ian Wilson was Librarian and Archivist, averaged 667 registrations annually. Since then there has been s a drop to 394 registrations.
Even more dramatic is the picture for accessions of private material; plummeting from an average of 358 registrations annually under Wilson to just 126 since.
Of particular note are the figures for electronic information. Under Wilson these had gradually grown so that between 2005 and 2009 the average was 1231 items. Now, despite talk about shifting from hardcopy to electronic, accessions decreased to average 1060 items.
The first object stated under the Library and Archives Canada Act, which the Librarian and Archivist is charged with attaining, is to acquire and preserve the documentary heritage. Is less of such material is being produced? There's no evidence to support that idea. Is LAC relying on other organizations to do that work? It seems like it -- but the legislation does not read that LAC should watch others "acquire and preserve." One can only conclude that LAC is failing to live up to its mandate.
Thanks to WJM for passing along the information.
26 September 2012
Alarming reduction in LAC accessions
Shannon Lecture: Writing Sensuous Histories
This Friday, 28 September, sees the first in this year's series of Shannon Lectures, organized and hosted by the History Department at Carleton University. This year the theme is Making Sense: History and the Sensory Past.
“Writing Sensuous Histories”
Constance Classen
September 28, 3:00pm, 303 Paterson Hall, Carleton University
The senses are cultural, as well as physical, in nature. This is most evident with such auditory and visual modes of communication as speech and writing, music and visual arts. However, it is also true of the so-called lower senses of touch, taste and smell. How we touch, what we eat, and the uses we make of scents are shaped by, and in turn communicate, personal and social meanings.
The cultural dimension of perception is indicated by the differences that exist in the ways the senses are employed and valued across cultures. What is true across cultures is also true of history: different periods developed different ways of sensing and making sense. Even something as apparently basic as the number of the senses varies across periods and places.
To uncover the cultural history of the senses, therefore, we must not only look at what psychologists tell us about how the senses function, or at the practical uses to which they have been put, but at how they were understood and experienced. Relying heavily, as we do, on written texts, this presents difficulties for historians. How may we recover past sensations from lifeless texts? And how may we supplement texts with hands-on research? While engaging in such an archaeology of perceptions is challenging, the end result is the creation of sensuous histories which both bring the past into full-bodied life and reveal the worlds of meaning embedded in our perceptual worlds.
Constance Classen is a writer and researcher based in Montreal. She has a Ph.D. from McGill University and has held fellowships at Harvard University, the University of Toronto, and the Canadian Centre for Architecture. She is the author of numerous essays and books on the cultural history of the senses, including The Deepest Sense: A Cultural History of Touch (University of Illinois Press, 2012) The Color of Angels: Cosmology, Gender and the Aesthetic Imagination (Routledge, 1998), Worlds of Sense: Exploring the Senses in History and across Cultures (Routledge, 1993), and Aroma: The Cultural History of Smell (Routledge, 1994, co-authored with David Howes and Anthony Synnott). Classen is also the editor of The Book of Touch (Berg, 2005), one of seven books in the Sensory Formations series from Berg Publishers of Oxford, and a founding member of the interdisciplinary Centre for Sensory Studies at Concordia University, which is dedicated to promoting research on the social and aesthetic life of the senses. She is currently editing a six-volume series on the history of the senses for Bloomsbury Publishing and is the principal investigator of a research project on art, museums, and the senses.
Kent Genealogy update
Kent Genealogy, a Rootsweb hosted site with "many indexes and transcripts containing over 90,000 names and over 350 links to other useful sites" for the English county of Kent.
It's a site, like many others, where updates fly under my radar. At present Will transcripts are being added little by little. Worth a visit. There's a unified search.
25 September 2012
Canada 150 report
The House of Commons Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, having laboured for a full nine months, has produced a report (pdf) on its study of Canada’s 150th anniversary celebrations. It held a total of 18 meetings, during which it heard from 54 groups and individuals and received 15 written submissions. The committee reviewed the lessons from previous comparable events.
One of the principle recommendations is that the Government of Canada consider the creation of an independent agency or corporation to plan, organize
and implement Canada’s 150th anniversary.
The remaining recommendations are regarding the work of that agency; specifically, explore ways and means for:
- providing special assistance with the marketing of new works of artistic expression created for Canada's 150th anniversary;
- assisting with the touring of Canadian performing arts groups during the 2017
celebrations;
- encouraging communities and donors to assist with the completion of the Trans
Canada Trail;
- projects to digitize Canada’s documentary heritage;
- using information technologies and social media to encourage participation;
- assisting in tourism marketing, with incentives to encourage all Canadians to explore their country during 2017;
- supporting the development of museum projects, travelling exhibits and other museum-related initiatives.
The report is at:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/HOC/Committee/411/CHPC/Reports/RP5614610/411_CHPC_Rpt04_PDF/411_CHPC_Rpt04-e.pdf
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FMP adds Clay Cross, Derbyshire, burial records
Findmypast.co.uk has added 11,576 new parish burial records for the town of Clay Cross in North East Derbyshire for the period 1800 to 1998.
Strange deaths
An offbeat item on the oddest ways people died in Victorian times is at
http://io9.com/5945484/the-oddest-ways-people-died-in-victorian-times
with more at http://thebabydied.blogspot.co.uk/.
British Home Child Day
A British Home Child Day in Ontario Symposium is being held at the South Stormont Municipal Hall on Saturday September 29 from 9 to 4 - come for the day or just a part of it - $10.00 per person, includes lunch, refreshments, speakers, displays and an opportunity to learn about this part of our Canadian history.
The municipal building is in Long Sault right beside the OPP station. They share a common parking lot. There's a Google map here.
If you are planning on coming please inform < carol dot goddard at sympatico dot ca > to assist planning catering.
via Carol Goddard and Ed Kipp
24 September 2012
50th anniversary of The Garden of the Provinces
At the same time the go ahead for the construction of a $12 million building for the National Archives and National Library, just across Wellington Street, was announced.
Staying in London - advice
I'm contemplating making an extended stay in London around the Who Do You Think You Are Live event next February. Various friends have stayed in long(er)-stay accommodations so I asked BIFHSGO colleague Brenda Turner, who stayed earlier in the year, for advice.
"I regularly find it more convenient, cheaper, and much more flexible to rent a cottage or flat than a hotel room, whenever I happen to be staying in one place for more than 5 days. I've rented flats or cottages through these companies, plus others in locations which would not be of interest to you. Even when dealing with owners directly, rather than a company, I have never once been ripped off in any way in two decades of rentals. Most often, I have found the owners very friendly and helpful, and most anxious that I enjoy my stay. In London I find it best to book as close to tube stops as possible, and especially I try to find rentals to which two tube stops on different lines are walkable, for mobility in case one line is down for maintenance, or accidents.
Here are the companies I have used in the UK:
Vacation Rental By Owner: http://www.vrbo.com/
Home Away: http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/
Country Cottages: http://www.english-country-cottages.co.uk/
Cottages4You: http://www.cottages4you.co.uk/
Apartments Apart: http://www.apartmentsapart.com/london_hotels/index.htm
Holiday Lettings: http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/Glenn Wright mentioned http://sabbaticalhomes.com/
The new company I heard about from a chum just a few days ago is called Saco. This chum and family rented a flat just by the Vauxhall Bridge, and were astonished to realize that they had a balcony overlooking the Thames during the Jubilee Flotilla, which they had not planned for at all! They were very pleased with the services they had as well. http://www.sacoapartments.com/"
Please share any experience you have had with these or other similar services in the comments.
23 September 2012
BIFHSGO conference handouts
Handouts listed below from the BIFHSGO conference are now available to all BIFHSGO members, not just those who registered for the conference, in the members only section of the web site.
For non-members -- I have only one suggestion to offer.
Chris Paton
An Introduction to Researching Scottish Family History
Scottish Civil Records, Censuses & Marriages
Scottish House and Land History
The Godly Commonwealth
The Mount Stewart Murder
Patricia Whatley
Scottish Archival and Lesser Known Resources Online
The Archives of the Scottish Poor Law: a Resource for Family History Research
Susan Davis
Digital Descendants: Where to Find Them and How to Connect
Shirley-Ann Pyefinch
What’s New at FamilySearch.org?
Ed Zapletal
Writing for Publication: Pitching Your Family History Story to Editors
Tony Bandy
Tablets, Netbooks, e-Readers and Apps for Genealogy
Dropbox, Evernote and Online Digital Notes - Integrating Digital Resources
Online Books: Are These Really Good Resources?
Jane Buck
McDNA: Genetic Applications to the Scottish Clans
New Avenues in Genetic Genealogy
DNA Testing for Genealogy
Canadian genealogy survey and "Canadians and their Past"
At the BIFHSGO monthly meeting on Saturday Leighann Neilson from the Carleton University Sprott School of Business presented some initial results from the Canadian Genealogy Survey conducted in the Fall of 2011.
First, for context, Leighann used results from a telephone survey of more than 3,000 people on "Canadians and their Past", soon to be published in book form by the University of Toronto Press
In that survey the family past figured in responses to many questions; 74 percent keep heirlooms to give to the next generation; 57 percent had visited places from the family’s past in the preceding year; 56 percent are producing a scrapbook, diary, cookbook, family history or home movies dealing with the past.
One in five survey respondents claimed to have done research on a family tree - based on population that's perhaps 5 million Canadian over age 18 who had done family history research in the past year.
15 percent had visited an archival collection, physical or on-line, for family history.
People were generally more interested in the history of their family as opposed to national, regional, or ethnic history.
Find those figures and more in a 2009 paper in the Journal of the Canadian Historical Association here (pdf).
Switching to results from the 2011 Canadian Genealogy Survey, which was conducted online, there were 2,700 valid responses, 2,000 were from Canadians, the remainder from 27 other countries. Analysis has been delayed owing to the overwhelming number of responses, about 2,500 more than expected!
The results were compared with those of the Ron Lambert survey of Ontario Genealogical Society members from 1995. It did not appear to me that the results were markedly different: respondents were still a little over 60% female, median age over 60, just over 50% with a university degree; a median of 15 years interest in family history. One difference was that the Lambert survey was of OGS members whereas only a little over one-third of those responding to this survey were members of a genealogical or family history society, and non-members were slightly older than members. Stay young -- join a family history society!
The survey found only 2% were interested in heritage societies (despite the survey being given publicity by UEL groups), and only 0.3% were looking for the rich and famous in their ancestry. That caught my attention as OGS is developing a Fathers of Confederation Society for genealogists who can prove they are descended from one of Canada’s Fathers of Confederation.
A lot more figures were thrown at us which I'll try and sort through in the next few days. Perhaps before then Leighann will find time to post some of the results on the project blog at http://genealogyincanada.blogspot.ca/
22 September 2012
London Metropolitan Archives records updated on Ancestry
The large digitized collection of birth and baptismal, confirmation, marriage and banns, and death and burial records from the London Metropolitan Archives available through ancestry.co.uk has been updated. Available now are:
Deaths and Burials, 1813-1980 - 2,616,941 records
Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906 - 6,240,709 records
Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921 - 7,549,376 records
Confirmations, 1850-1921 - 24,827 records.
This collection was last updated in November 2011 so if you're expecting to find someone, and haven't searched since then, try it again.
Records for Charleton cemetery, Greenwich, now on deceasedonline.com
A note from Richard Gray of deceasedonline.com informs that Charlton Cemetery in Greenwich has now been added to their rapidly growing stable of cemetery records from the London area and beyond.
Being in Greenwich located near the Royal Observatory, the site of the Woolwich Arsenal, the Old Royal Naval College, the National Maritime Museum and the Dreadnought's Seamen's Hospital his note characterize Charlton as a "maritime and military memorial treasure trove". He mentions two admirals who served with Nelson; governors of Burma, Malta and Gibraltar; and servicemen who fought in numerous (some obscure) military campaigns including the celebrated Major General Orde Wingate.
When I think of Greenwich I think first of the Greenwich time signal, the pips used to signal the exact time on BBC radio, and second the Greenwich Observatory which marks the zeroth meridian and near which there is a statue of James Wolfe, hero of the British victory at Québec in September 1759.
I wondered if Wolfe was buried at Charlton but a quick Google told me he's interred at nearby St Alfege Church which also contains the remains of composer Thomas Tallis (d. 1585) and English-born explorer of Canada Henry Kelsey (d. 1724).
I confess Henry Kelsey is not someone I recall knowing about previously, confession of ignorance is good for the soul. There's a quick study piece on Kelsey at Wikipedia noting a passing reference in Stan Rogers song Northwest Passage.
21 September 2012
BIFHSGO interview with Ubbink Book & Paper Conservation
During the BIFHSGO conference Brian Glenn spoke with Kyla Ubbink of Ubbink Book & Paper Conservation about her services and the does and don'ts of conserving your personal documentary heritage.
Listen here.
Chris Paton on the BIFHSGO conference
Chris Paton, prolific blogger at British GENES and theme speaker at last weekend's BIFHSGO conference, posts his impressions of the conference and the events surrounding it. Always interesting to see our world as others see it.
http://britishgenes.blogspot.ca/2012/09/bifhsgos-2012-conference-report.html?m=1
20 September 2012
Internet use poll
Saturday's BIFHSGO meeting will hear results of a Carleton University survey of genealogists. The poll was conducted online, so those who don't use the Internet would be excluded. How significant an omission do you think that is? Please answer the poll.
Irish newspaper images new at Ancestry
It's good to see Ancestry getting more into providing newspapers, the latest being a collection of 30 for Ireland, 1763-1890. The collection is a bit hit and miss, with missing years, months and days. It's also a browse collection, no digital searching unfortunately.
The papers and years available are:
Cork Mercantile Chronicle: 1802-1818
Northern Star: 1892-1897
Notes from Ireland: 1886-1890
The Belfast Mercury: 1783-1786
The Belfast Evening Post: 1786-1787
The Cork General Advertiser: 1777
The Dublin Builder: 1859-1866
The Dublin Evening Mail: 1855
The Dublin Penny Journal: 1832-1836
The Freeman's Journal: 1763-1882
The Hiberian Chronicle: 1769-1802
The Irish Builder: 1867-1890
The Irish Felon: 1848
The Irish People: 1863-1867
The Irish Times: 1864-1889
The Irishman: 1819-1825
The Leinster Journal 1800-1828
The Londonderry Journal: 1785
The Meath People: 1857-1863
The Morning News: 1882-1887
The Nation: 1850-1852
The Nationalist: 1886-1890
The Northern Star: 1792-1793
The Roscommon Constitutionalist: 1889-1890
The Tralee Chronicle: 1870, 1875
The United Irishman: 1848
The Waterford Chronicle: 1777
The Waterford Herald: 1792-1793
The Waterford Mirror: 1801-1827
Thom's Official Directory of Ireland
A recent addition to Ancestry is Thom's Official Directory of Ireland for 1904. It's a substantive book - more than 2,200 pages. Ancestry describes it as including:
A Dublin street directory; names, addresses, and occupations for residents of other towns and districts in the country as well; and a wide variety of happenings, institutions, businesses, and departments for Ireland and the UK, including the following:There is a detailed table of contents, which can help, but Ancestry didn't apparently judge the quality of the typeface adequate to meet their OCR standards. You browse it as you would a book.
- county fairs and markets in Ireland
- Parliamentary directory
- civil service and law directory for Great Britain
- navy, army, and militia directory
- colonial directory
- universities, colleges, schools
- churches and ecclesiastical directory
- county and borough directories
- postal directory
- peerage
Thom's Irish Almanac and Official Directory, the original title, was first published in 1844. The company is still in the directory business, www.thoms.ie
There are various sources for older editions.
Google Books has the 1857 edition with 1,116 pages, indexed and free here.
A Dublin Street Directory from Thom's Irish Almanac and Official Directory for the Year 1862, free here.
FindMyPast has indexed versions of the 1884 and 1910 editions at its various commercial sites, including here.
Eneclann and Archive CD Books have various editions between 1868 and 1910, available for purchase through Archives CD Books Canada
The editions for 1894 and 1914 are available from World Vital Records, pay, here.
A few transcriptions for parts of Ireland for some years can be found through your favourite search engine.
You may also be fortunate enough to be close to a library with original volumes.
BIFHSGO interview with Ottawa Stake Family History Centre
In conversation with Brian Glenn at the recent BIFHSGO conference, Richard Hodgson discusses the facilities of the Ottawa Stake Family History Center.
Listen here
BIFHSGO September meeting
Saturday, September 22, 2012
9:00-9:30 Before BIFHSGO Educational Talk
Google Earth for Genealogy by Ann Burns
9:30-10:00 Browse the Discovery Tables and Computer
10:00-11:30 Monthly Meeting Speaker
Why Study Genealogists? Initial Results from the Canadian Genealogy Survey by Dr. Leighann C. NeilsonListen to the pre-meeting interview by Brooke Broadbent.
During the summer and early fall of 2011, over 2,700 family historians completed the Canadian Genealogy Survey online, including many BIFHSGO members. This survey was the first to attempt to capture data about family historians across the nation, and promises to expand our knowledge of the ways that genealogical work is being advanced by new information technologies and increase our understanding of the reasons for undertaking family history research as well as the impact that such research has on issues of personal and community identity. Dr. Neilson will share some of the initial results from the analysis of the survey data and invite feedback from the audience.
The meeting place is, as usual, Library and Archives Canada, 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
19 September 2012
Book launch: Don't Forget to Write
A first genealogy infomercial
I have to admire Family Tree DNA for being the first that I know of in the genealogy business to use an infomercial.
Like most of the genre it's fast-moving, positive and colourful. There are simple repetitive messages sandwiched between examples of the benefits of using Family Tree DNA's product.
An infomercial wouldn't be true to type if it didn't include client testimonials. You hear an explanation of the thrill it was to confirm Native American ancestry.
But wait, there's more.
You hear of an adoptee's struggle to identify his birth father, which he did through a DNA test despite the official record being inaccurate.
Genetic genealogy nerds will recognize some of the most prolific people in the field. Those who attended the DNA sessions at the BIFHSGO conference will recognize Jane Buck.
The infomercial runs for 29 minutes on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_WwNfdPESk
BIFHSGO interview with Gatineau Valley Historical Society
In conversation with Brian Glenn at the recent BIFHSGO conference Harold Reid of the Gatineau Valley Historical Society talks about the activities of the 300 member Society. Recent re-publication of an 88 page book Gatineau River Heritage Paddle: A Guide covering the area from Wakefield to the Chelsea Dam is highlighted. There's more on the Society at www.gvhs.ca
Listen here.
18 September 2012
BIFHSGO interviews with QFHS leaders
Gail Dever, co-webmaster of the Quebec Family History Society, and Gary Schroder, long-time Society president, were among several prominent members of the Society who attended the BIFHSGO conference last weekend.
BIFHSGO interview with Lanark County Historical Society
During the BIFHSGO 18th annual conference Brian Glenn, the Society Director of Research and Projects, recorded conversations with several of the marketplace exhibitors.
Michael Jaques of the Lanark County Historical Society told of the geography of the county, the Society and some of its publications. A recent book is on Colonel Christopher Myers who participated in the War of 1812, was captured, and also arranged aid for the newly settled communities during the winter of The Year Without a Summer (1816) when the crops failed.
Listen here.
OGS Ottawa Branch September Meeting
The Ottawa Branch OGS meeting is on Saturday, 22 September 2012. It will be held at the Diefenbunker, Canada`s Cold War Museum, at 3911 Carp Road. A pre-meeting starts at 1:00 PM with tour starting at 2PM.
The Diefenbunker is a four-level subterranean facility at Carp affording protection against a blast equivalent to 5 million tons of TNT exploding about a mile away. The structure was described as “a monolithic heavily reinforced high strength concrete box,”154 feet on each side, resting on a 5 ½ foot bed of gravel and surrounded by 5 feet of gravel. The walls are 4 feet thick; the floors 2 feet. In total 32,000 tons of concrete and 5,000 tons of reinforcing steel were used.
The bunker became operational in 1961 providing a protected working environment for 535 people for up to 30 days. The Governor General, cabinet ministers, deputy ministers and very limited staff would have found a place in the bunker.
The facility, decommissioned in December 1994, was eventually acquired by a charitable corporation, and operates as the Diefenbunker, Canada's Cold War Museum and, a National Historic Site (www.diefenbunker.ca/).
Go to http://ogsottawa.on.ca/category/events/branchmeetings/ for more information on this event.
Meeting starts at 1:00 p.m. for coffee & announcements.
Tour commences at 2:00 p.m. (1 hour tour)
Please note that there are quite a few stairs. We can make use of the elevator.
We also have a couple of wheelchairs on hand
The Branch is covering the cost of the tour. So no charge for this tour!
17 September 2012
CBC runs edited Don Cherry WDYTYA
CBC, having dropped its American game shows, and needing to fill out the schedule with no hockey available, is running a refreshed version of the Who Do You Think You Are series that originally ran in 2007.
At 8:30pm on Monday the episode with Don Cherry was shown in an edited form. Although it's hard to recall details from five years ago unmistakable was the addition of a voice over by Jeff Douglas. Douglas, who is now one of the regular hosts of CBC radio As It Happens, was at the time the series originally ran hosting Ancestors in the Attic on History Television.
I got the impression the show had been streamlined to accommodate more ads and still stay within the 30 minute time-slot. Allowing for the ads that's only a third the length of WDYTYA elsewhere. It's nevertheless still a welcome addition to the schedule.
Perth Historical Society meeting
On Wednesday, September 19, Clark Theobald, of Perth, will present on his recently published book investigating the truth behind the controversial Daniel Daverne - Storekeeper, Postmaster and then Acting Superintendent of the Perth Military Settlement, 1815 to 1819.
The presentation is at 7:30 pm at the Perth Museum, at 11 Gore Street E. in Perth. (“Toonie Fee”). For further information call David Taylor (613-264 0094) or Ellen Dean (613-264 8362)
BIFHSGO conference in retrospect
The annual conference of the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa goes from strength to strength. With it being Scotland's turn to be the theme, and as I have yet to find my Scottish roots, I spent most of the time in the alternate session where one was offered.
Things got off to a good start for me with a pre-conference 3-hour workshop on Tablets, Netbooks, e-Readers and Apps for Genealogy given by Tony Bandy. I'd known Tony for his articles in Internet Genealogy and was delighted to find he is an expert trainer, with a library background, sensitive to the needs of people with various learning styles. His PowerPoint slides were exemplary in their simplicity. Bringing a collection of devices to the workshop gave the opportunity to try the various equipment. While Tony was keen on the Google Nexus he acknowledged that other equipment strong points might weigh more heavily for one's own application.
Tony also gave conference talks on Dropbox, Evernote and Online Digital Notes, a conference highlight for me, and one on Online Books: are these really good resources, I only caught the tail end but did get the handouts. Plenty to follow up on after the conference in the handouts.
Vic Suthren's talk on the War of 1812 as the opening Don Whiteside Memorial Lecture kept people's attention for his clear recounting of the events of 1812-1814.
I'd interviewed him but not heard Chris Paton speak before, and only managed to catch one and a bit of his four talks. Chris comes with a formidable reputation as a speaker and lived up to every inch of it. No wonder he ranked so high in the Genealogy Rock Star survey earlier in the year.
Jane Buck came from Houston, her airline giving the organizers concern as a scheduled flight was cancelled so she arrived barely an hour before her first genetic genealogy talk. Jane's were both entertaining presentations with excellent slides.
On Sunday morning I had the opportunity to chair two sessions. Lucille Campey always provides content rich presentations - for this session based on her new book on English immigration to Quebec and Ontario which I'd reviewed here.
The second presentation was by Ed Zapletal, editor and publisher of Moorshead Magazines. He and colleague Rick Cree have been regulars at the conference marketplace, as well as all major North American genealogical conferences, but this was his first presentation. Writing for Publication: Pitching Your Family History Story to Editors was a topic Ed could speak to with years of authority. It showed and was appreciated by those attending. Initial nervousness soon passed and by the end he seemed to enjoy the experience and even be contemplating other talks he might give.
I also had time to conduct a few interviews with marketplace exhibitors, as did BIFHSGO Director of Research and Projects Brian Glenn. I'll link to those as they become available.
I found the conference enjoyable from start to finish. Kudos to conference co-chairs Brian Watson and Ken McKinlay; thanks to the volunteers and speakers. I look forward to next year's 19th annual conference.
16 September 2012
Computer hard drive backup
We all know the importance of backing up our computer hard drives; they don't last forever. At yesterday's BIFHSGO conference talk on Dropbox, Evernote and Online Digital Notes by Tony Bandy, to a room at capacity, I asked what system he uses for backing up his computer files. Tony is a self-confessed computer geek so should know. He practices double protection.
Tony has a 2TB external hard drive which makes automatic incremental backups on site. There are several brands, some available for less than $200.
He also uses the online service SugarSync which provides up to 5GB of free storage. I haven't tried SugarSync.
More items for the to-do list which could save you a lot of heartache.
New online genealogical resource from Gale (Cengage Learning)
The following is a press release directed at libraries from Gale (Cengage Learning):
Gale, part of Cengage Learning and a leading publisher of research and reference resources for libraries, schools and businesses, today announced the launch of Gale Genealogy Connect, a new online tool for genealogical research. Focusing on the “how to” of genealogical research along with unique source materials, Gale Genealogy Connect serves as a complement to popular fact, date and people-based genealogy resources already on the market.
Sourced from the publications of Genealogical.com, parent company for Genealogical Publishing Company and Clearfield Company, Gale Genealogy Connect features over 550 reference works at release (formerly only available by print or CD-ROM) on a standalone ebook platform, with a goal of growing the collection to nearly 1,500 works. The content covers a wide range of topics such as genealogy research basics, genealogy methods and sources, colonial genealogy, immigration, royal and Native American ancestry. Gale Genealogy Connect serves both novice and advanced researchers – beginners will learn proper research methods and how to define and organize goals, while powerful search features help advanced researchers make connections among data to uncover a meaningful story behind their family tree.
“With Gale Genealogy Connect we are opening up a treasure chest of resources for current and future genealogists as this is the first time much of this information is available in an online, searchable database,” said Gerald Sawchuk, publisher for public library solutions at Gale. “Instead of spending countless hours scouring a book for mention of a family name, users can quickly search across multiple information sources, making the research experience much more efficient and exciting.”
Additional features of Gale Genealogy Connect include -
- an engaging user interface with translation into 38 languages,
- unlimited and simultaneous 24/7 access,
- seamless cross-searching across all Gale Genealogy Connect collections,
- ability to print, save, email or share articles, and
- multi-page PDF viewing recreating the book experience.
- Content is divided into six convenient bundles, giving libraries a variety of purchase and subscription options to meet their needs.
The 181 volume immigration collection includes: four volumes of Terrance Punch's "Erin's Sons: Irish Arrivals in Atlantic Canada"; Johnson's Irish Emigration to New England through the Port of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, 1841 to 1849; and two volumes of Smith's Nova Scotia Immigrants to 1867.
If you'd like to have this collection available through your public library send them a request.
Heritage Ottawa meeting
Topic: CATHEDRAL HILL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT, OTTAWA
Date: Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Time: 7 pm
Location: Christ Church Cathedral Ottawa
429 Queen Street,
Built in 1872-73 in the Gothic Revival style, Christ Church Cathedral Ottawa is designated a “property of architectural and historical value or interest” under the Ontario Heritage Act. This year, the Cathedral has embarked on a development initiative to intensify Cathedral land use which will see modern condominiums and an office tower erected around the historic Cathedral building and the adjacent Roper House. Join us for a panel discussion on this new urban project with the Very Rev’d Shane Parker, Dean of Ottawa and Rector of Christ Church Cathedral, Sally Coutts, City of Ottawa Heritage Planner and Jonathan Westeinde, Managing Partner, Windmill Development Group.
This presentation will be in English.
Info: 613-260-7113 or info@heritageottawa.org
15 September 2012
Advance notice: Beechwood Cemetery Lecture
Glenn Wright, BIFHSGO President and local Ottawa historian, tells me he's been tramping through some of the remoter parts of Beechwood Cemetery, exploring some of its early infrastructure, all in preparation for a historical lecture he will be giving for the Friends of the Beechwood Cemetery Foundation on Sunday, September 30, 2012.
The event will take place at Beechwood, the National Cemetery of Canada, 280 Beechwood Ave. The talk will begin at 2:00pm, and will be followed by light refreshments.
Space is limited, so please register by calling 613-741-9530 or emailing info@beechwoodcemetery.com.
Your, and your ancestor's, face in five genes
While we cannot yet(?) recreate a person from a readout of their DNA, genetic information can give insights into some of their physical characteristics. Eye colour and whether ear wax is wet of dry are a couple of the traits revealed by tests through 23andMe.
The authors of a recent paper in PLOS Genetics point out that there can be little doubt theat there is a genetic component to facial morphology as monozygotic (from a single egg) twins look more alike than dizygotic twins or other siblings, and siblings in turn look more alike than unrelated individuals.
The paper "A Genome-Wide Association Study Identifies Five Loci Influencing Facial Morphology in Europeans," correlates DNA data and data obtained from three-dimensional head magnetic resonance images (MRIs) and two-dimensional portrait images for almost ten thousand individuals of European descent. Five candidate genes—PRDM16, PAX3, TP63, C5orf50, and COL17A1—were found to be significant for the morphology of the human face.
An author comments "Perhaps at some time it will be possible to draw a phantom portrait of a person solely from his or her DNA left behind." That could be extended to be from a DNA profile reconstructed from those of multiple descendants.
14 September 2012
Deceased Online posts Greenwich Cemetery records
There's more about the cemetery in this blog post and news that Deceased Online will be adding the Council's other three cemeteries at Charlton, Plumstead, and Woolwich later this year. All 210,000 records for Eltham Crematorium are already available at the site.
Ancestry Miscellaneous Warwickshire parish records collection updated
If you know the parish or parishes of a ancestor in Warwickshire this updated collection of miscellaneous parish records from ancestry.co,uk for the 18th–20th centuries may be or interest. They are browse images - no name index.
The records include:
account books
vestry books
marriage licences
letters
rate books
orders of removal
churchwarden’s books
rents
constable records
papist estates
parish addresses
deeds
logs
minutes
orders.
13 September 2012
A flagship institution of Canadian culture unrecognizable
Earlier this month Distinguished University of Alberta History Professor Ian MacLaren added his voice to the chorus calling on the government to reconsider its tragic and incomprehensible plans for LIbrary and Archives Canada in a letter to the Prime Minister.
"My distress issues out of your government’s gradual, imperilling withdrawal of funding needed for the efficient operation of Library and Archives Canada. The resultant restructuring has been so drastic as to render this flagship institution of Canadian culture almost unrecognizable.
Staff have been cut. Service hours have been reduced. The purchase of materials has been brutally curtailed. Loan policies have been cancelled outright. Scholars from other countries coming to Ottawa to conduct research have had their inquiries go unanswered and their trips to Ottawa end in complete failure to access any records because of the dearth of staff available either to reply to correspondence or to fill standard requests to see records. The organization is in utter disarray. The dismal consensus is that, in a space of a half-dozen years, the library has so deteriorated as to be failing to fulfill its legislated mandate."will will will will
Read the letter in full at http://bibliocracy-now.tumblr.com/
12 September 2012
Ancestry adds Great Britain, Masters and Mates Certificates, 1850-1927
There are 280,097 entries in this new database from Ancestry.co.uk containing master and mate certificates issued to merchant seamen by the British Board of Trade.
"The certificates and other documents included in this database were issued to merchant seamen who qualified as masters or mates aboard merchant ships. Records include certificates of competency, certificates of service, examination applications, and other documents. Forms vary, but they may include the following details:The description warns that "Some of the information is included on the back of the certificates, and some documents in a seaman’s folder have not been indexed, so when you find a record, use the arrows to browse surrounding documents to make sure you see all the records available. You may want to browse through an entire roll since the original folders were sometimes filed in random order."
name
certificate number
birth date
birthplace
issue port
issue date
address
examination date
history of service (dates, vessels, occupations, years in service)"
I searched for a couple of people I knew to be active during the period. One was not found. There were 38 entries for the other lots of multiple entries - on 16 people. While it's good to have image originals some of those entries were of a certificate with scant information. Others gave date and place of birth, a physical description, etc.
BIFHSGO conference speaker interviews
Having trouble deciding which of the two tracks you'll choose at the weekend's BIFHSGO conference? Try listening speaker interviews I had the pleasure of conducting. Click on the speaker's name to start the interview:
Chris Paton (6 min)
Ed Zapletal(11 min)
Tony Bandy (12 min)
Shirley Ann Pyefinch (13 min)
Patricia Whatley (13 min)
Jane Buck (9 min)
Susan Davis (8.5 min)
Lucille Campey (9.5 min)
11 September 2012
Something new in family history?
Has any genealogical or family history society tried this before?
On September 13 2012 at 7 pm OGS Niagara Branch, which is gaining a reputation for technological innovation, will be hosting not just a webinar, that's so 2010, but a remote tour of the Buffalo Public Library "LIVE" from Buffalo.
This meeting will be streamed from Buffalo online to Thorold and to branch members worldwide. The Buffalo Library has an extensive collection of genealogical material and online databases which you can only access in their library.
http://www.ogs.on.ca/niagara/
FreeBMD September update
The FreeBMD Database was last updated on Sunday 9 September 2012 to contain 220,463,424 distinct records.
Major additions, more than 5,000 items are, for births: 1939-40, 1942-45, 1955-56, 1958-62; for marriages: 1952-53, 1955, 1960-65; for deaths: 1953, 1956, 1961, 1963-65.
10 September 2012
The financial health of Canadian genealogical societies
Each year organizations federally registered as charities in Canada for tax purposes are required to file T3010 returns with the Canada Revenue Agency. Part of the return, including financial information, is available on the Revenue Canada website.
Below is a summary of some bottom line information from the returns filed for 2011, with a comparison to 2010 in parenthesis. These are taken mainly from Schedule 6 but in some cases where that is not available from Section D. Go to http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/lstngs/menu-eng.html and search for "genealogical" or "family history" to see the complete returns.
Summary
The Quebec Family History Society had the highest annual membership fee ($65), the Genealogical Society of Nova Scotia the lowest ($30).
The Alberta Genealogical Society
Total assets of $536,466 ($148,681), and liabilities of $200,592 ($24,352). The total revenue was $254,380 ($141,098) of which the major component was revenue received from the provincial government of $140,322 ($76,817). Expenditures totaled $218,231 ($142,518), the total expenditure on management and administration being $124,320 ($65,590). The membership fee was $50.
British Columbia Genealogical Society
British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa Total assets for BIFHSGO were $81,491 ($76,722) and liabilities of $30,562 ($28,490). Total revenue was $51,232 ($51,090) of which $18,455 ($17,855) was from memberships. Expenditures totaled $44,638 ($38,964) with $9,595 ($4,764) spent on management and administration. The membership fee was $35 and is increased to $40 for 2013.
Manitoba Genealogical Society
New Brunswick Genealogical Society
2011 return not posted as of 9 September 2012. The annual membership fee was $35.
Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia
Ontario Genealogical Society
Québec Family History Society
Saskatchewan Genealogical Society
Victoria Genealogical Society
New British Columbia civil registration records at FamilySearch
Family Search have updated their collection of British Columbia BMDs. Birth Registrations are now 1854-1903, 11,809 entries. Marriage Registrations are 1859-1932, 124,593 entries. Death Registrations are 1872-1986 with 898,889 entries.
09 September 2012
Music From the Glen
Ancestry adds Dorset, England, Tithe Apportion and Maps, 1835-1850
Lost in the bonanza of documents posted last Thursday by Ancestry, most with a few hundred records, was Dorset, England, Tithe Apportion and Maps, 1835-1850 with 178,292 records.
Search them, they are indexed, for the names of Dorset land owners and occupiers, as well as a brief description of the land. They’re particularly valuable because they can show you exactly where an ancestor lived.
Ancestry resources for Cambridge and Oxford universities
The bonanza addition by Ancestry last Thursday included three items for Oxford university, indicated in bold below. The additions are annotated with the number of records, which in the case non-searchable publications means the number of pages.
Here's a collection of resources of genealogical interest for both Cambridge and Oxford universities in Ancestry collection.
Cambridge University Alumni, 1261-1900, 151,053 records
Register of Admissions to King's College Cambridge 1850-1900, 284 pages
Blue book of Cambridge for 1895, 260 pages
Oxford University Alumni, 1500-1886, 122,726 records
Oxford Men and Their Colleges, 1880-1892, 2 Volumes, 990 pages
Memorials of Oxford, Ingram (3 vols), 953 pages
A Register of the Alumni of Keble College Oxford from 1870 to 1925, 576 pages
Oxford - Brasenose College Register 1509-1909, 364 pages
08 September 2012
Heritage Ottawa September walking tours
Heritage Ottawa is offering three walking tours in September:
Village of Cumberland * (new tour)
September 9, 2:00 pm - MEET: Maple Hall, 2552 Old Montreal Road, Cumberland
$10.00 ($5.00 for Heritage Ottawa members)
Cumberland Village traces its beginnings back to the earliest days of settlement in the Ottawa Valley. Explore how transportation changed village life from when river traffic was king until the coming of the automobile. Heritage Ottawa is pleased to partner with the Cumberland Township Historical Society and Cumberland Heritage Village Museum for a heritage tour of the Village of Cumberland. Extend your tour to view the historic buildings relocated from throughout the Township to the Cumberland Heritage Village Museum site. Tour participants will receive reduced admission to the Museum. Light refreshments will be available for purchase.
GUIDES: Dorothy-Jane Smith and Jean François Beaulieu are local historians and Cumberland Township Historical Society executive members
Info: 613-230-8841 or www.heritageottawa.org
NOTE: Cumberland Township Historical Society members are eligible for the Heritage Ottawa members’ tour rate of $5.00
Clemow Avenue Driveway: Ottawa's Forgotten Architectural Gem (new tour)
September 16, 2:00 pm - MEET: Patterson Creek Pavilion near Linden Terrace and Queen Elizabeth Driveway
$10.00 ($5.00 for Heritage Ottawa members)
A little over a century ago, the Ottawa Improvement Commission set out to beautify Ottawa to make it look more like a capital city. In keeping with the ideals of Frederick Law Olmstead, whose model for architectural and landscape design worked wonders in Washington D.C., the OIC built landscaped scenic driveways along the Rideau Canal and other prominent Ottawa roads. An overlooked feature of the system is Clemow Avenue, first conceived in 1903. The Clemow Avenue Driveway, which included a section of Monkland Avenue, extended west from the Queen Elizabeth Driveway near the canal to Bronson Avenue and Dow’s Lake. Intended as a ceremonial route, it was set up as a wide boulevard, with rows of trees and large houses set well back from the street.
GUIDE: Andrew Elliott, writer, archivist and architectural historian, is working on a community history research project for Clemow Avenue and nearby streets.
Info: 613-230-8841 or www.heritageottawa.org
Lowertown East
September 23, 2:00 pm – MEET: École Secondaire de La Salle, Old St. Patrick and Beausoleil, (#1 bus route)
$10.00 ($5.00 for Heritage Ottawa members)
Lowertown East, bounded by Rideau, King Edward, St. Patrick and the Rideau River, has been home to many important religious, residential and civic buildings. Despite a controversial 1970’s urban redevelopment, it is a walkable neighbourhood with a strong multicultural history, five designated heritage buildings, works by important Ottawa architects and a former city cemetery.
GUIDE: David Jeanes, urban activist and long-time resident of Ottawa.
Info: 613-230-8841 or www.heritageottawa.org
FMP adds St Mary's Rotherhithe and St Paul's Rotherhithe records
Rotherhithe is now part of the London Borough of Southwark.
07 September 2012
Quinte Branch OGS adds over 100,000 names to local index
Those with a family history research interest in the Belleville - Trenton - Prince Edward County area of Ontario may finding new information by searching the OGS Quinte Branch index with over 1.1 million entries. Last month an additional 105,000 entries were added from local histories, directories and genealogies.
"This growing database includes names from the hundreds of genealogies, family histories, pedigree charts, cemetery transcriptions, local newspaper indexes and many of the published works in the Quinte Genealogy Centre research library such as business and residential directories, local histories, parish register transcripts, surrogate court wills and funeral cards."
Go to www.snaphosting.ca/quinteogs/ for further help and to search.
06 September 2012
Ancestry bonanza
After a bit of a famine over the Labour Day weekend Ancestry have posted a feast of new image resources. These are additions to their "rich collections of published resources that can add depth to your family history."
This is such a large addition that the space on their "new collections" page at http://www.ancestry.com/cs/reccol/default only goes down alphabetically to N. Who knows what treasures are lurking between O and Z?
1812 Bristol Poll Book
1818 Norwich Poll Book
1820 Westmorland Poll Book
1831 Edinburgh Almanac - Universal Scots and Imperial Register
1890 Kelly's Handbook to the Titled, Landed and Official Classes
A Calendar of Wills Proved in the Consistory Court of the Bishop of Gloucester Vol. 1 - 1541-1650
A Calendar of Wills Proved in the Consistory Court of the Bishop of Gloucester Vol. 2 - 1660-1800
A Calender to the Feet of Fines for London & Middlesex, Richard I- Elizabeth I
A Century of Birmingham Life, from 1741-1841 - J. A. Langford
A Collection of Curious and Interesting Epitaphs, Compendium Set - Cansick
905
A Rent Roll - Presteigne 1705
A Warwickshire Word-Book by G. F. Northall 1896
Abstracts of Wills 1620 - Soame
Abstracts of Wills 1630 - Scroope
Abstracts of Wills 1658 - Wootton
Acton, Middlesex
After Pretoria: The Guerilla War plus supplement to "With the Flag to Pretoria"
An Account of Exeter’s Merchant Adventurers in 16th century
An Introduction to Heraldry
Ancient Funeral Monuments - 1631
Annals of Ayr, 1560-1692
Annals of Bristol in the 19th Century
Annals of Glasgow 1816
Annals of Nottinghamshire Volumes 1-4
Annals of Rochdale 950-1898
Annual Register for England, Scotland, Ireland & America 1798
Biblioteca Gloucesenstris
Bibliotheca Cornubiensis
Bristol Poll Book 1830
Burke's Extinct Baronetcies 1841
Burke's Peerage Baronetage and Knightage - 1881
Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk. 1803-1856
Bygone Days in Devonshire & Cornwall
Bygone Nottinghamshire, Stevenson 1893
Calendar of Wills Relating to Northamptonshire & Rutland 1510-1652
Cambria Triumphans 1661
Camden's Britannia 1722
Cheddar Rate Book 1865
Children's Employment Commission- Appendix to the Second Report of the Commissioners 1842
Clergy List 1897
County Genealogies - Pedigrees of the Families in the County of Hampshire
Court-Hand Restored - The Student's Assistant in Reading Old Deeds, Charters, Records Etc
Darwen and its People
Debrett's Peerage - Scotland & Ireland 1825
Decisions of the Court of Session 1781-1822
Devonshire Wills and Administrations 1540-1799
Dougal's Unclaimed Money Register 1910
Eastern Division of Kent – Poll for the Knights of the Shire 1832
Eastern Division of Kent – Poll for the Knights of the Shire 1837
Eastern Division of Kent - Polls for the Knights of the Shire 1832 & 1837
Eastern Division of Kent-The Poll for the Knights of the Shire 1857
English Surnames – Essays on Family Nomenclature
English Surnames - Their Sources and Significations 1875
Eton School Lists 1791-1850
Extracts from the Council Register of the Burgh of Aberdeen 1398-1570
Farm Day Book: Glos 1894-1950
Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae
Fleet Street in Seven Centuries 1200-1912
Genealogy and Surnames
Hart's Annual Army List 1908
Historical Memorials of Canterbury (1857)
Historical Records of the 53rd (Shropshire) Regiment 1755-1889
Index to Bristol Wills 1572-1792
Kelly's handbook to the titled, Landed and Official Classes 1892
Kelly's Handbook to the Titled, Landed and Official Classes 1927
Lincolnshire 1818 Poll Book
Linlithgowshire - Claims for enrollment in the 1839 election
Local Records of Northumberland & Durham, Volumes 1- 4
Matriculation Roll of the University of St. Andrews 1747-1897
Memorials of Angus & the Mearns-Castles and Towns visited by Edward I & Fealtys to England 1291-6
Memorials of Bygone Manchester-1880
Memorials of Old Herefordshire
Memorials of Old Middlesex
Memorials of Old Shropshire
Memorials of Old Warwickshire
Memorials of Old Worcestershire
Memorials of Oxford, Ingram (3 vols)
Middlesex County Records - 1549 to 1603
Middlesex County Records - Calendar of the Sessions Books 1689 – 1709
Newcastle Polls 1777-1780
Newgate Calendar
Newport Pagnell Vaccination Register 1909-1927
Norfolk Poll Book 1768
North Nottinghamshire Register of Voters 1885
Nottingham & Derby - Pipe Rolls
Nottingham Corporation Chamber & Bridge Estates 1848
Nottingham Date Book - 1884
Nottingham Poll Books 1846, 1848/9, 1849/50 (3 Vols)
Brookwood Military Cemetery open days this weekend
From http://www.cwgc.org/news-events/events/brookwoodopenday.aspx:
Brookwood Military Cemetery is the largest Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery in the UK. The Open Days will offer activities for all, including Tours and Practical Demonstrations; Commission Gardeners' Question Time; Renovation Work in progress; Free Admission and Refreshments.
Brookwood Military Cemetery, GU24 0BL. The main entrance to the cemetery is on the A324 from the village of Pirbright. There is a direct train service from London Waterloo to Brookwood Station which has an entrance to the cemetery.
How to use probability in genealogy - part 3
The third and final part in this series looks at the situation where the initial belief is high probability that Thomas Jefferson (TJ) was the father of the six children of Sally Hemings. Remember, the objective is to add a quantitative probabilistic overlay to the Genealogical Proof Standard so making it more transparent and convincing, beyond the textual reasoning presently employed.
This example draws on some of the evidence presented in the article "Sally Hemings's Children: A Genealogical Analysis of the Evidence" by Helen Leary published in the NGS Quarterly in September 2001.
Part 1 looked at the case where we started out believing it was unlikely TJ was the father. Part 2 was a middle probability case consistent with DNA findings. This part looks at the case were there is already a strong belief that TJ was the father of Sally Heming's children. The evidence for that might include the statement against Eston Hemings' entry on the 1870 census that "This is the son of Thomas Jefferson"
The prior probabilities ascribed to TJ is 95%, that of his relatives 3% and others 2%.
All the conditional probabilities from part 1 are retained.
In this case the posterior probability, after accounting for the striking similarity between TJ and Eston Hemings, is 99.37%, or extremely probable.
Adding in the coincidence between the times of Sally Heming's conceptions and TJ residence at Montecello increases the probability of TJ being the father to 99.99%, still extremely probable but verging on virtually certain.
Even this 99.99% does not meet the Genealogical Proof Standard. To do so would require looking at each element of the evidence covered in Leary's article. That's quite viable, although assessing the conditional probabilities may lead to healthy debate. You may wish to continue the analysis on this third case adding on the relative's and supporter's opinions (recognizing these may have been expressed with the aim of protecting TJ's reputation) and DNA evidence used as the basis for prior probabilities in the first two parts as conditional probabilities. If you do so, you'll find the probability that TJ was the father decreases a few 100ths of a percentage point.
It takes some slam dunk evidence against TJ being the father to reverse the odds. There is little point in going to the effort to examine additional evidence that does not have the potential to do so, even if that would be necessary for the GPS.
05 September 2012
Scots medieval history put online
The People of Medieval Scotland is a database of all known people of Scotland between 1093 and 1314 mentioned in over 8600 contemporary documents.
It is an outcome of two projects, The Paradox of Medieval Scotland (2007-2010) and The Breaking of Britain (2010-2013), funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
More at www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-19475461 or go directly to the site at www.poms.ac.uk./
How to use probability in genealogy - part 2
Continuing on how genealogical proof could be made more convincing, beyond the textual reasoning presently employed, by adopting a probabilistic approach.
This example draws on some of the evidence presented in the article "Sally Hemings's Children: A Genealogical Analysis of the Evidence" by Helen Leary published in the NGS Quarterly in September 2001 which documents why the evidence now strongly points to Thomas Jefferson (TJ) as being the father of six of the children.
Part 1 looked at the case where we started out believing it was unlikely TJ was the father. This part looks at the case were it is suspected it was either TJ or someone with a direct male line from his grandfather who was the father of Sally Heming's children. The prior probabilities ascribed to TJ and to his make relatives are considered equal at 49% each. The remaining 2% is attributed to some other person or persons. These are the prior probabilities that would be ascribed based on DNA testing which found a good match between a descendant of one of Sally Hemings's children and a descendant to TJ's grandfather but not through TJ. His Y chromosome was of a fairly unusual type, one carried by about only 1% of the British-origin male population.
All the conditional probabilities from part 1 are retained.
In this case the posterior probability, after accounting for the striking similarity between TJ and Eston Hemings, is 83%, or probable.
Adding in the coincidence between the times of Sally Heming's conceptions and TJ residence at Montecello increases the probability of TJ being the father to 99.8%, or extremely probable. This is a greater likelihood than the case for a father named on a birth certificate where the probability of that information being false is typically 1-4%.
If only information on the striking similarity was missing the probability that TJ was the father would be 98.8%. While that's not quite up to the 99% standard for extremely probable it is a significant jump from the prior probability of 49%.
The final part in this series will look at the case where the initial belief is high probability that TJ was the father of the six Hemings children.
Where was that UK historic county border?
You can access a file which shows the historic county boundaries of England, Scotland and Wales to be superimposed on Google Earth at http://www.county-borders.co.uk/. The borders shown are certainly pre-1974 and even pre-1900 in some cases.
Another good option for examining English county, and other borders is the FamilySearch English Jurisdictions 1851 map at http://maps.familysearch.org/
04 September 2012
LAC cuts link to academic libraries
The Canadian Association of Research Libraries strives to enhance the capacity of member libraries to partner in research and higher education, seeking effective and sustainable scholarly communication and public policy encouraging of research and broad access to scholarly information.
Library and Archives Canada has been a member without participating in any CARL advocacy or lobbying decision-making or activities that seek to influence parliamentarians or public service officials on matters of national policy.
Now CARL has been notified this week that LAC is planning to withdraw from membership, apparently signalling that it no longer supports the organization's objectives.
Further information, with rationale, via University of Toronto Academic Librarians, is at http://utlibrarians.wordpress.com/2012/08/31/library-and-archives-canada-lac-to-withdraw-from-the-association-of-research-libraries-arl/
How to use probability in genealogy - part 1
I've blogged previously on how genealogical proof could be made more convincing, beyond the textual reasoning presently employed, by adopting a probabilistic approach. The example here, based on the non-genealogical example in this YouTube video, uses simple arithmetic with calculations done on a spreadsheet.
This genealogical example draws on some of the evidence presented in the article "Sally Hemings's Children: A Genealogical Analysis of the Evidence" by Helen Leary published in the NGS Quarterly in September 2001 which documents why the evidence now points to Thomas Jefferson (TJ) as being the father of six of the children.
This will be a three part post, the first being where the initial believe is that it's unlikely TJ was the father, a view now held by a minority. We'll assign a probability, known as the prior probability, of 1%, or 0.01 that TJ was the father. We'll accept the opinion that it was a relative of TJ descended for the same paternal grandfather who was the children's father. We'll assign a probability of 98%, 0.98. There's also a small probability it could be someone else which we'll give the probability 1%, 0.01, to make the probability total 100%, or 1.0.
Now consider the evidence that Sally's son Eston had a "striking similarity" to TJ. We need to estimate the probability that there was a striking similarity to TJ because TJ was the father. It's called the conditional probability. I'll estimate that 5 in 10,000 sons bear a striking resemblance to their father, 1 in 10,000 a striking resemblance if descended through another male line from the same paternal grandfather, and 1 in 1,000,000 if descended from an unrelated person. These are my estimates. Yours may differ and what matters is the ratio between the conditional probabilities, not the absolute value.
The above values are entered into a spreadsheet in the second and fourth columns.
Now calculate the Joint Probability by multiplying the prior and conditional probabilities across the row. The final stage is to divide the joint probability in each row by the sum of the all the joint probabilities in the column to obtain the posterior probabilities after accounting for the striking similarity. In this case adding the information has increased the probability of TJ being the father from 0.01 to nearly 0.05, and using the Canon of Probabilities mentioned here this is a change from extremely improbable to very improbable. That's because we started off not believing that TJ was the father and the striking similarly evidence fails to provide highly significant discrimination.
Now add additional evidence, in this case the coincidence between the dates Sally Hemings conceived her children and when TJ was present at Montecello where Hemings lived. Analysis by Neiman in "Coincidence or Causal Connection" in William and Mary Quarterly, January 2000, accepted unquestioningly by Leary, gives about 1.5% chance that TJ was not the father of the six children. This is the basis for the conditional probabilities.
The analysis proceeds as before with the posterior probabilities from the "striking similarity" calculation becoming the prior probabilities in this one.
Taking both items of evidence together the probability that TJ was the father has jumped to 83% or probable. The evidence of TJ visits to Montecello is strong but without the striking similarity evidence the probability that TJ was the father would have been 50%, even odds.
If you start out doubting that TJ was the father it takes a lot of evidence to change the probabilities. The same applies if you start out doubting that a probabilistic approach can be useful in genealogy.
In future posts we'll look at starting with other initial (prior) probabilities that TJ was the father.
03 September 2012
Alison Hare re-elected
Ottawa professional genealogist, Alison Hare, has been re-elected as a Trustee of the (US) Board for Certification of Genealogists, the only Canadian Trustee. Although not a member of the Board's Executive Committee Alison spends a lot of time on BCG business, no doubt drawing on her skills as a writer and editor as well as her analytical/research abilities.
Congratulations to Alison.
The future of family history societies
Mike Southwick's British and Irish genealogy blog runs an article "Anyone for the Big [Family History] Society?" eluding to the "Big Society" movement promoted by the present British government.
"As a reader of this blog no doubt you have an interest in family history. But are you a member of a local family history society? Most likely the answer is ‘no’, nor would you consider joining one. This is a shame because family history societies (FHSs) have much to offer.Read the complete article by Mike Sharpe here
My own society, the Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry (BMSGH), celebrates its 50th anniversary next year and I’m currently sorting through their archives for a short publication to mark the event. In doing so I have been reminded all too well about the strengths of FHSs, but also of how these once great institutions have been marginalised over recent years."
His prescription for what ails FHSs is:
- build partnerships with commercial companies;
- partner with local archives and record offices;
- better web platforms, including social media;
- better business skills.
There's an important element missing in the list, the personal factor. Just as people will come out to see a live music performance, even when they can get the same content on a recorded version, so FHSs can attract participation through top rate presentations and face-to-face education.
The official website of BBC History Magazine
Whether or not you subscribe to BBC History magazine, which is available on the iPad as well as in a printed version (expensive outside the UK), a good stop is the free weekly online update at the magazine website. It includes a podcast which this week includes two interviews, on the Spanish Civil War and the Chatham ship HMS Namur.
www.historyextra.com/
02 September 2012
Toronto Trust Cemeteries Indexing Project update
Jane MacNamara sent a note about progress on the Toronto Trust Cemeteries Indexing Project she has been leading for OGS Toronto Branch.
On August 29 another installment of the index to these cemeteries became live and searchable on FamilySearch.org. You can now search:
York General Burying Ground (Potter’s Field) 1826 to 1855The more recent records include plot owners and next of kin names and full addresses. All indexed. You can also search by year or place of birth or death. A wiki entry is at http://goo.gl/Z7ykv
Toronto Necropolis 1877 to 1935 (1850 to 1877 were already available)
Mount Pleasant Cemetery 1876 to 1903
There are 37 people in the index who died in Ottawa including the mother of one of the Ottawa Sharpshooters. 8,276 are identified as born in England, 5,166 in Ireland, 4,677 in Scotland, 76 in Wales, and 24,341 in Toronto
There are more records in progress: Mount Pleasant Cemetery 1904 to 1935, and Prospect Cemetery 1890 to 1935. A lot of names. Your help would be welcome. Please contact Jane MacNamara at fsi@torontofamilyhistory.org if you’d like to participate.
Congratulations to Jane and her team who are now seeing the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel.
British Newspaper Archive additions for August
Coventry Herald (1824 -) 1875 - 1892
Derbyshire Times and Chesterfield Herald 1857 - 1859 (-1903)
Devizes and Wiltshire Gazette 1822 (-1890)
Dundee Advertiser (1861-) 1865 - 1866
Dundee Courier (1844-) 1901 - 1908
Gloucester Journal 1940 (-1849)
Hastings and St Leonards Observer 1867 - 1868 (-1910)
Morpeth Herald (1854-) 1947 - 1948
Police Gazette 1775 -1775
Sheffield Evening Telegraph (1887-) 1904
Shields Daily Gazette 1856 (-1904)
Staffordshire Advertiser 1800 (-1839)
Staffordshire Gazette and County Standard (1839-) 1842
Surrey Mirror (1891-) 1906 - 1914
4908 pages per day were added in August. At that rate it will take 13.6 years to reach the project target of 30 million pages.
01 September 2012
Benchmarks update for August 2012
Here are some benchmarks for genealogy sites as of 31 August 2012. Comparable figures a month ago are shown in brackets. The higher the Alexa ranking the more popular the site.
Most sites have climbed in Alexa rank this month.
Familysearch.org has 1.233 (1,225) record collections: census & lists 114 (114); birth, marriage, & death 779(775); probate & court 99 (96); military 96 (96); migration & naturalization 58 (57); other 87 (87). It has Alexa rank 3,993 (4,234).
Ancestry.com has Alexa rank of 642 (654); ancestry.co.uk ranks 7,972 (8,745) and ancestry.ca ranks 26,585 (28,428). There are 30,773 (30,753) datasets in the collections including 1,932 (1,932) for Canada, 1,236 (1,234) for the UK and, 24,980 (24,962) for the USA.
Findmypast.co.uk has an Alexa rank of 21,929 (25,228). Findmypast.com ranks 110,236 (203,920).
Family Tree DNA has 389,801 (385,070) records in its database. It ranks 36,112 (37,563) on Alexa.
Mocavo.com has rank 47,037 (53,966); GenealogyinTime.com ranks 29,042 (32,493).
Britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk claims 5,614,605 (5,467,345) pages digitized. Alexa rank 127,752 (134,871).
Cyndislist.com claims 320,365 (319.675) total links in 190 (189) categories, with 2,931 (3,294) uncategorized. Alexa rank 82,137 (92,450) .
FreeBMD has219,464,977 (218,542,758) distinct records, Alexa rank 71,635 (85,462).
UKBMD provides 2,328 (2,309) links to web sites that offer on-line transcriptions of UK births, marriages, deaths and censuses. Alexa rank 217,982 (259,611).
CanadianHeadstones.com has over 464,000 (446,000) gravestone photo records from across Canada. It scores 336,363 (464,817) in Alexa traffic rank.
bifhsgo.ca ranks 721,198 (954,738), qfhs.ca ranks 3,750,908 (3,720,520), and ogs.on.ca ranks 214,174 (269,311).
And in case you're curious: Anglo-Celtic Connections has 3,868 (3,789) posts and has recovered a bit in Alexa rank to 203,779 (242,052).
Did I miss something significant? If so please post a comment with statistics.
Reopening of the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa Archives
Closed for nearly a year the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa Archives at Christ Church Cathedral in downtown Ottawa will be reopening on Tuesday September 4 on a limited basis with regular opening on Mondays and Tuesdays only. The hours are 9:00am - noon; 1:00-4:00pm
There is a new entrance off the parking lot near Queen Street. Archivist Glenn Lockwood has consolidated everything from the former vault, now demolished, into the main shelving so space is at a premium. Retrievals may take a bit longer. For the next two years researchers should note that the Archives will not be accessible to the physically challenged, nor will there be access to washrooms. Consider delaying your visit for a few weeks unless your need is urgent.
The archives website is at www.ottawa.anglican.ca/Archives.html
Thanks to Brian Glenn for conveying this information.
