BIFHSGO 10 October Meeting

9:00 a.m. Before BIFHSGO Education Talk
Exploring Findmypast
Ken McKinlay will look at an invaluable resource for those researching their roots in the British Isles with search tips and tricks.

9:30 a.m. Discovery Tables
• John D Reid will host a table with resources he used to prepare his presentation about the discovery of Richard III.
• Joyce Phillips-Johansen, wife of  Anthony Johansen who wrote Fair Wind and a Following Sea about his life in England during WWII, will host a table with the book.
• Doug Emmons will offer a selection of his genealogy books for free to members.

10:00 a.m. You Be the Judge: Did DNA Prove the Skeleton under the Leicester Car Park was Richard III?
In 1485 the body of King Richard III, killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field, was buried in nearby Leicester. Over the years the exact grave location and fate of the remains were lost to history. An archaeological excavation in 2012 revealed a skeleton. John D Reid will review the forensic evidence and ask you to be the judge whether the skeleton is the king as the evidence is revealed. We look at how the University of Leicester scientists came to their conclusion using likelihood ratios for non-genetic and genetic data and draw out lessons for genealogists.

This, like all BIFHSGO monthly meetings, is open to members and visitors. Free admission and parking. The venue is The Chamber, Ben Franklin Place,101 Centrepointe Drive, Ottawa, Ontario. More information about these presentations is available at the BIFHSGO website meetings section.

I hope to see you there.

Shannon Lecture – Through Images, Words, and Sounds: Filmic Narration and Public History

This Friday in the second presentation of the Carleton University 2015 Shannon Lectures on the theme Performing History: Re-Staging the Past, Dr. Bruno Ramirez will present “Through Images, Words, and Sounds: Filmic Narration and Public History.”
Dr. Ramirez’s talk will address the dangers and rewards of filmic versions of the past. Drawing from his practice as both academic historian and screenwriter of historical films, with a main focus on the immigrant experience in Canadian history, Dr. Ramirez will discuss the relationship between historical films and public history.
The talk is at 1:30 PM, Friday, October 9, 2015, in the Multi-Media Lab, Discovery Centre, MacOdrum Library.

UK Outbound Passenger Lists from TheGenealogist

TheGenealogist announce the release of five million Emigration BT27 records as part of their growing immigration and emigration record set. These records contain the historical records of passengers who departed by sea from Britain to non-European ports in the years between 1896 and 1909. You can search by name, port of embarkation, port of destination, country of departure, country arrival and nationality. 

What's unique about this collection from TheGenealogist is easier searching for those transmigrating through England in order to then board one of the large transatlantic passenger ships. The preliminary journey has been recorded for many transmigrant passengers within the BT27 records. For the first time these can be easily found using a unique transmigration button. The system also attempts to recognise groups of people on the same voyage as a potential family 

While the whole BT27 collection from the (UK) National Archives under the title Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and successors: Outwards Passenger Lists spanning 1890 to 1960 is available from findmypast.co.uk. It's always an advantage to have another source with different search capabilities.

September 1939, the register, is coming

Release of the register of people living in England and Wales in September 1939 is coming soon. In 2015, for the first time, Findmypast in partnership with The National Archives are publishing the 1939 Register online providing insight into a country on the verge of war. In this blog post product manager Estelle Calfe explains the significance for family historians. There's more than I knew.

Sign up for updates at www.findmypast.co.uk/1939register

Canadians: Get Ready to Vote

Every election is important. Every eligible voter should be able to exercise the right. If you are eligible and haven't received a Voter Information Card from Elections Canada for the Federal election on Monday, 19 October giving the hours and location where you vote, as well as information on advance voting and other ways to vote, please refer to the information below.
Don't forget, to vote you need to take acceptable voter ID with you to prove you're who you say you are -- one piece of government-issued ID with your photo, name and address.
My Voters Guide
Videos (English) (French)
Accessible Voting

A Tale of Two Sisters from the Borthwick Institute Blog

Who doesn't like stories? Jane MacNamara drew my attention to this sad story illustrating how records can work together to tell a story.
Another recent blog post, Shedding new 'Lite' on Atkinson Brierley takes you behind the scenes at the Borthwick Institute highlighting use of the Dino-Lite digital microscope, conservation activities and volunteer training. People like an occasional peek behind the curtain, something public organization could usefully be less reticent about doing.

Toronto Branch OGS: Call for Speakers: Quebec Workshop

Toronto Branch is planning another of their full-day workshop in April 2016 on Quebec Family History. Gary Schroder, long-time President of the Quebec Family History Society, will be the lead speaker.

The branch is seeking other speakers with Quebec expertise who would like to be part of the workshop team.

Read the announcement and access links for further information at http://torontofamilyhistory.org/call-quebec-workshop-apr2016/

Charlotte Gray wants Canada's history to be an election issue

A timely interview of Canada's leading biographer and historian. Charlotte Gray laments that Canada’s history has been sadly neglected and cuts to Library and Archives Canada have meant that preserving and accessing our shared past has become more challenging.

One of the points she makes is that digitization of historical materials in Canada is lagging.

By coincidence I found a blog post with the US National Archives and Records Administration List of Digitization Priorities based on a request for public input on June 15, 2015.

Where is Library and Archives Canada's list? Where is the process that would lead to it?

1665: London's Last Great Plague

I forego mentioning many of the online lectures offered by Gresham College, London’s oldest Higher Education Institution. Although often interesting relatively few deal with topics of direct interest for family history.

Just posted, recognizing the 350th anniversary of London's devastating outbreak of plague in which some 70,000 people died and the royal court moved to Oxford, is a lecture by Professor Vanessa Harding -- 1665: London's Last Great Plague

Understanding of 17th century London would be impoverished if not for regular weekly official handbills reporting the previous week’s deaths and causes of death known as Bills of Mortality.

As Harding points out:

The principal justification for collecting the information was to be able to detect the onset of an epidemic – a sustained rise in weekly death totals in the early summer was a pretty good indication – so that those with responsibilities could plan their strategies. But ordinary Londoners became expert at assessing the implications of the weekly Bill, especially as it charted the spread of plague from parish to parish.

It's a mark of how far we haven't come that, as far as I know, no such regular public source of  current statistics exists today. In Britain the best similar data I'm aware of, lacking detail on cause of death, is the ONS publication of Weekly Provisional Figures on Deaths Registered in England and Wales. The latest is for the week ending 28 August 2015.  Statistics Canada publishes annual Deaths, estimates, by province and territory. There are specialist annual publications in Canada on topics like cancer deaths so the information must exist. If anyone knows of a source, in whatever jurisdiction, please post a comment.

Ontario Burials on Cemsearch.ca

CemSearch is described as "a comprehensive compilation of thousands of burial plots in hundreds of
cemeteries from around the area stretching as far north as Haliburton, east to Napanee, and West to Bowmanville."

With 381,895 cemetery transcriptions there's a good chance of finding a person of interest buried in this 10 county area.

I'd have to classify this as a hidden gem. A useful improvement would be a list of cemeteries (even if only the major ones) and/or communities covered  so they could be captured by Google.

Surrey History Centre adds Hambledon Poor Law Union minute books 1836-1910

Surrey Heritage has placed free online a 164 page pdf index to the Hambledon Poor Law Union minute books 1836-1910, typically 15-20 cases per page. It includes name, date dealt with by the Board of Guardians and nature of relief.
There are several entries referring to emigration to Canada.
John Stanley emigrated through St Josephs Orphanage in June 1906 being placed with "Mr Stephen Farrell, Willington Port Meed? Ontario, Canada."
He is shown on the LAC/BIFHSGO Home Child immigration database, age 15, arriving in Quebec on the Tunisian on July 6 with a Catholic Emigration Association party destined for Ottawa. A single Board of Guardians inspection is recorded in March the following year.
The 1911 census confirms Stephen J Farrell is a farmer in North Wellington, a Roman Catholic and John Stanley is in the household, age 20, a labourer from England born March 1891.

Indexing of other Surrey Poor Law Union minute books is in progress.

Additions to the Canadian Gravemarker Gallery

Six cemeteries in The Canadian Gravemarker Gallery were added, or gained additional entries in the past month:

Nova Scotia, Hants County, Enfield, Elmsdale Cemetery. 7 index pages
Ontario, Central Ontario, Hastings County, Quinte West. Stockdale. 20 index pages
Ontario, Central Ontario, Simcoe County, Midland, St. Margaret's R.C. 26 inex pages
Ontario, Central Ontario, Simcoe County, Tay Twp, Waubaushene, St. John's R.C., 11 inex pages
Ontario, Northern Ontario, Sudbury District, Sudbury, LaSalle Cemetery - Block A. Re-photographed., 7 index pages
Ontario, Southwestern Ontario, Grey County, Hanover, St. George's, 1 index page

Murray Pletsch's Canadian Gravemarker Gallery provides free access to everyone and has over 1,535 completely photographed cemeteries and about 947,200 grave marker photographs online.

FreeBMD October Update

The FreeBMD Database was updated on Thursday 1 October 2015 to contain 249,574,602 (249,116,513) distinct records.
Major updates, more than 5,000 records, are: for births 1963-64, 1966, 1971, 1973-75; for marriages 1966, 1968, 1971-75; for deaths 1973-74, 1976.

Findmypast adds "elite" college registers

Check out the "elite" in these "Public" School registers new at Findmypast

Berkshire, Eton College Register 1441-1698, estimated 6,000 records
London, Dulwich College Register 1619-1926, 18,000 records
Sussex, Lancing College Register 1901-1954, estimated 1,600 records

Entries in the original images are typically 2 to 5 lines with name, father and sometimes mother name, date of entry, sometimes date of birth, brief details of achievements at school and in life.

Also this week, records for Long Island, Staten Island  and some adjacent areas in the state of New York.

New York baptisms 1660-1862
New York marriages 1639-1900
New York deaths & burials 1758-1862

October Backup Nag

Did you check off doing the start of the month hard drive backup? If you haven't done a backup in the past month, and you neglected the first of the month reminders, your backup is overdue. Do it now.

Book Review: 'Til Death us do Part - causes of death 1300 - 1948

This slim volume, published in Australia by Unlock the Past, is one of three of Janet Few's guides I picked up at the BIFHSGO conference.

The table of contents is:

Introduction
Epidemics and infections
Work related diseases
The effects of urbanisation
The effects of poverty
Childbirth
Surgery
Famine
War
Suicide, murder and accident
Why did things change?
Finding causes of death
Further reading
Some British epidemics
Index

It so happened a talk to BIFHSGO on old disease names had been suggested to me recently - this guide has information ample to satiate most genealogist's curiosity without overwhelming medical detail. I came away grateful to be living at a time and a place with 21st century medical knowledge and where the formidable array of barber surgeon tools shown in page 14 are only to be found in museums.

The guide's 28 numbered pages include two pages of advertising and a blank page. It's a slim volume. The introduction starts at page 5, the end material starts on page 22 with suggestions for further reading, followed by a two page list of British epidemics by year and a two page index. A typical page is 21 cm tall, 14-1/4 cm wide, with 5 cm top, 2 cm bottom and 1-1/2 cm side margins.

Information is compacted in what would appear to be 8.5 point type. A larger type would have been welcome in consideration of those of us with declining vision. Fortunately there's a eBook version. You can read a pdf sample at https://www.gen-ebooks.com/downloadable/download/linkSample/link_id/200/.

In Canada 'Til Death us do Part - causes of death 1300 - 1948 is available for $12 from Global Genealogy.

Ancestry.co.uk free access weekend

Another chance to try out the Ancestry British collections free (with registration) for a limited time - that's the news that came in earlier today. This weekend, October 2 -4 gorge on those records you've been curious about. It's a good opportunity as there are no local (Ottawa) genealogy events scheduled.

Celebrate Library Month and support fair Ebook prices for libraries

I'm a strong believer in municipal library service - and a user. The following is a press release from the Ottawa Public Library.

Throughout the month of October, Canadians across our country will be celebrating libraries. From building communities and transforming lives to inspiring learning, sparking curiosity, and connecting people, libraries are pillars of our community. 

Every day this month, the Ottawa Public Library (OPL) will be showcasing a different service or item available to customers that they might not have known about. Follow OPL on Twitter and Facebook to find out more about what the Library can do for you. 

“I don’t think people realize all the amazing things they can access and do for free at their public library,” said Tim Tierney, Chair of the Ottawa Public Library Board and Councillor for Ward 11 Beacon Hill – Cyrville. “We want to raise awareness of our services so that everyone in Ottawa takes advantage of their local library.” 

For example, did you know you can stream music, movies and TV shows for free? Or that you can drop off your old batteries to get recycled at most branches? Maybe you weren’t aware that you can access free business services, where a specialist will meet with you one-on-one?

Celebrate Library Month, and support the campaign for fair Ebook prices for libraries.

Nenshi on Doing the Right Thing

For Canadians only:

If you're thinking none of the major party candidates are offering inspirational leadership in this federal election, and wondering if it's even possible, look to a more junior level of government. Listen to Naheed Nenshi, mayor of Calgary, in this broadcast from CBC Radio's Ideas. It's 55 minutes well spent.  http://www.cbc.ca/radio/ideas/doing-the-right-thing-1.3247353

English Indices of Deprivation

Using statistics for income, employment, health, disability, crime and living standards, the UK Department for Communities and Local Government has published ranks for 32,844 areas of England by local authority according to where they stand in the 2015 national poverty league table.
While 2015 statistics are likely of limited interest for those whose ancestors left England generations ago the areas of poverty do tend to persist. 83 per cent of neighbourhoods that are the most deprived according to the 2015 Index were also the most deprived according to the 2010 Index.
Middlesbrough, Knowsley, Kingston upon Hull, Liverpool and Manchester are the local authorities with the highest proportions of neighbourhoods among the most deprived in England.

While gentrification has meant the London Boroughs of Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Newham and Haringey have become relatively less deprived seven of the 10 local authority districts with the highest levels of income deprivation among older people are in London.
Delve into the statistics in depth at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-indices-of-deprivation-2015 and, reflect that nothing like such statistics are available in Canada owing to decisions of the Harper government.

Benchmarks Update for September

There were 13 gainers, 16 losers in Alexa rank of key genealogy websites this past month. All Canadian-based sites, with the exception of canadianheadstones.com, declined in rank. The colour coding indicates in green those that have gained in rank, becoming more popular; in red are those that have declined. Changes of more than 10% in Alexa rank are bolded.

	30-Sep	31-Aug
familysearch.org	2,801	2,768
ancestry.com	493	499
ancestry.co.uk	4,604	4,746
ancestry.ca	17,597	17,505
myHeritage.com	4,371	4,240
findmypast.co.uk	15,536	15,912
findmypast.com	42,640	53,878
canadiana.ca	697,248	459,587
familytreedna.com	17,276	17,672
23andMe.com	9,518	9,050
isogg.org	214,471	228,388
genealogyintime.com	100,870	106,813
mocavo.com	42,802	37,500
eogn.com	83,060	80,132
lostcousins.com	245,050	229,928
britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk	95,098	95,931
newspapers.com	14,405	14,490
cyndislist.com	67,010	65,025
freebmd.org.uk	60,893	57,569
canadianheadstones.com	446,421	609,532
deceasedonline.com	462,799	502,360
bifhsgo.ca	3,569,788	2,217,161
qfhs.ca	5,128,542	2,855,959
ogs.on.	642,141	575,595
ngsgenealogy.org	356,400	359,631
americanancestors.org	106,248	106,717
scgsgenealogy.com	1,266,232	1,185,654
sog.org.uk	454,710	551,416
anglo-celtic-connections	271,081	269,091

The top rankings of all websites on Alexa are unchanged: Google.com, Facebook.com, Youtube.com, Baidu.com, Yahoo.com Amazon.com, Wikipedia.org, qq.com, Twitter.com, Google.co.in

British Newspaper Archive Additions for September

The British Newspaper Archive now has 11,756,577 pages from 509 titles online. Additions in September, alas nothing for Norfolk, are:

• Alnwick Mercury 1939
• Armagh Guardian 1845 - 1847, 1850, 1852, 1863, 1866, 1868 - 1870
• Banner of Ulster 1844 - 1845, 1849 - 1850, 1854, 1856
• Bedfordshire Mercury 1872 - 1873
• Bedfordshire Times and Independent 1943
• Belfast Commercial Chronicle 1822, 1825 - 1827, 1832 - 1847
• Bell's New Weekly Messenger 1832 - 1855
• Birmingham Daily Gazette 1914 - 1915, 1917
• Birmingham Mail 1871, 1914 - 1918
• Blackburn Standard 1896
• Bristol Evening Post 1939
• Bucks Gazette 1829 - 1849
• Canterbury Journal, Kentish Times and Farmers' Gazette 1836 - 1858, 1860 - 1868, 1870 - 1873
• Carlow Post 1853 - 1855, 1857, 1859 - 1864, 1870, 1872 - 1873
• Chatham News 1939
• Chepstow Weekly Advertiser 1864 - 1865, 1867, 1869, 1872
• Clare Journal, and Ennis Advertiser 1835 - 1847, 1854 - 1867
• Coleraine Chronicle 1844, 1856, 1858, 1860, 1866 - 1871
• Cornubian and Redruth Times 1872
• Cumberland Pacquet, and Ware's Whitehaven Advertiser 1877, 1890 - 1893, 1895 - 1896
• Daily Herald 1945
• Daily Mirror 1939, 1941, 1944
• Downpatrick Recorder 1840 - 1842, 1846 - 1850, 1852, 1855 - 1856, 1871 - 1874
• Dumfries and Galloway Standard 1916
• East Kent Times 1859, 1861 - 1864
• Eddowes's Journal, and General Advertiser for Shropshire, and the Principality of Wales 1843 - 1848, 1853 - 1857, 1859
• Era, The 1939
• Evening Chronicle, The 1835
• Evening Freeman., The 1862, 1864 - 1866
• Evening Mail 1865
• Faversham Times and Mercury and North-East Kent Journal 1939
• Fife Herald 1939
• Framlingham Weekly News 1872, 1887
• Frome Times 1860 - 1865
• Glasgow Free Press 1853, 1856, 1858 - 1861, 1863, 1865 - 1867
• Glasgow Morning Journal 1858, 1862, 1865
• Glasgow Saturday Post, and Paisley and Renfrewshire Reformer 1861, 1864
• Gore's Liverpool General Advertiser 1872 - 1874
• Gravesend Reporter, North Kent and South Essex Advertiser 1862 - 1864
• Grimsby Daily Telegraph 1939
• Halesworth Times and East Suffolk Advertiser., The 1860 - 1865, 1867 - 1870
• Halifax Courier 1939
• Hampshire Advertiser 1888, 1902 - 1907
• Hull Advertiser and Exchange Gazette 1795 - 1802, 1804 - 1814, 1821 - 1822, 1824 - 1825, 1832 - 1834, 1850 - 1851, 1853, 1861, 1864 - 1865
• Ilkeston Pioneer 1866
• Isle of Wight Mercury 1857 - 1858
• Kentish Gazette 1787 - 1796
• Kentish Weekly Post or Canterbury Journal 1794, 1797 - 1809, 1811 - 1826, 1828 - 1831, 1833 - 1837
• Kilkenny Journal, and Leinster Commercial and Literary Advertiser 1833, 1844, 1857 - 1859
• Kings County Chronicle 1845 - 1852, 1856 - 1862, 1864, 1866 - 1871
• Leamington Advertiser, and Beck's List of Visitors 1849, 1851, 1854 - 1855, 1857 - 1861, 1870 - 1871
• Leeds Mercury 1903 - 1907
• Leigh Chronicle and Weekly District Advertiser 1856 - 1860, 1862, 1864 - 1870
• Leighton Buzzard Observer and Linslade Gazette 1939
• Lincolnshire Free Press 1939
• Liverpool Mail 1842, 1872 - 1874
• Llandudno Register and Herald 1873
• Londonderry Standard 1836 - 1837, 1839 - 1852, 1854 - 1855, 1857 - 1859, 1861 - 1862, 1864 - 1869, 1871
• Man of Ross, and General Advertiser 1855 - 1860, 1864 - 1866
• Morning Advertiser 1805 - 1806
• Munster express, or, weekly commercial & agricultural gazette., The1869
• Pilot, The 1839, 1845 - 1846, 1848 - 1849
• Portobello Advertiser 1895 - 1896
• Portsmouth Times and Naval Gazette 1852, 1854 - 1855, 1857, 1861, 1864
• Prescot Reporter, and St. Helens General Advertiser 1939
• Reading Mercury 1939
• Salisbury and Winchester Journal 1863 - 1864
• Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph 1939
• Sherborne Journal 1760, 1774, 1782, 1787 - 1788
• Sherborne Mercury 1748
• Shrewsbury Chronicle 1831 - 1847, 1849 - 1869
• Silurian, Cardiff, Merthyr, and Brecon Mercury, and South Wales General Advertiser 1838 - 1843, 1851, 1854 - 1855
• South London Press 1865 - 1866, 1868 - 1869
• Suffolk Chronicle; or Weekly General Advertiser & County Express., The1827, 1830, 1833 - 1834, 1836 - 1842, 1844 - 1848, 1851 - 1852, 1862, 1865, 1868, 1871
• Sunday Mirror 1939 - 1945
• Sunday Times 1847, 1864
• Tadcaster Post, and General Advertiser for Grimstone 1872 - 1873
• Torbay Express and South Devon Echo 1939, 1948 - 1949
• Tuam Herald 1837
• Walsall Free Press and General Advertiser 1856 - 1860, 1863 - 1871
• Western Courier, West of England Conservative, Plymouth and Devonport Advertiser 1836
• Westmeath Independent 1846
• Wexford Constitution 1858
• Wolverhampton Chronicle and Staffordshire Advertiser 1830 - 1835, 1837 - 1838, 1840 - 1850, 1855, 1857, 1859 - 1866