GENE-O-RAMA 2020

Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society has opened registration for the 35th

GENE-O-RAMA

3-4 April 2020

On Friday evening Thomas MacEntee will deliver the Pat Horan Memorial Lecture — Privacy, DNA, and Genealogy: Handling the Double-Edged Sword

On Saturday morning in Session 1 choose between:

How Do I Know What I Don’t Know—Fast Tracking Your Genealogy Education
Thomas MacEntee
and
Researching in Your PJs
Ken McKinlay

In Session 2 the choices are:

What’s Been Done: Using Someone Else’s Genealogy Research
Thomas MacEntee
and
What’s New at FamilySearch
Shirley-Ann Pyefinch

After lunch break, in session 3, choose between:
Great Expectations: Silver Spoon and Short Straw Migrants to Canada
Glenn Wright & John D Reid
and
“Not One of Your Holiday Games”: Personal Name Selection and Usage in Upper Canada
Bruce Elliott

In session 4 the choice is:
You Use WHAT for Genealogy? Wonderful Uses for Unusual Tools
Thomas MacEntee
and
Is There a Federal Civil Servant In Your Family Tree? Sources and Research Strategies
Glenn Wright

Find out more and register at the NEW Ottawa Branch website: https://ottawa.ogs.on.ca/geneorama/

How the Irish Public Record Office burned

A blog post from John Grenham reviews a book by Michael Farmer, The Battle of the Four Courts: the first three days of the Irish Civil War which he assesses as a meticulous work of micro-history that assembles the story hour-by-hour  weighing maps and photographs against eye-witness accounts to reconstruct an utterly convincing version of what happened.

He concludes "The simple fact is that neither side cared a damn about the records. They were young men prepared to kill or die for their beliefs about the future. What did the past matter?"

LAC Co-Lab update

Here's the monthly update on Co-Lab challenges projects as of 19 January.

PROGRESS

Correspondence regarding First Nations veterans returning after the First World War is 26% complete (16% last month)

Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 is 61% complete (57% last month).

The Call to Duty: Canada's Nursing Sisters is 89% complete (86% last month)


NO CHANGE OR REVISED

George Mully: moments in Indigenous communities 0% (new last month)

Legendary Train Robber and Prison Escapee Bill Miner is 98% complete

War Diaries of the First World War: 1st Canadian Division is 94% complete.

Rosemary Gilliat (Eaton)’s Arctic diary and photographs is 40% complete (44% last month)

Japanese-Canadians: Second World War is 61% complete.

New France and First Nations Relations is 33% complete.

Letters from Wilfrid Laurier to Zoé Lafontaine/Laurier is 98% complete.


COMPLETED

The Spanish Flu Pandemic of 1918–1919.

Correspondence between Sir Robert Borden and Sir Sam Hughes.


COMMENT

One of the indicators for the LAC Three-year plan 2019-2022 is the number of records enhanced by user contributions in the Co-Lab crowdsourcing tool. The indicator is to be released quarterly as is the indicator number of images digitized via DigiLab.

TheGenealogist adds to Norfolk Parish Records collection

This release of Norfolk parish records accessible with TheGenealogist’s Diamond subscription includes 330,000 individuals from baptisms, 100,000 from marriages and 95,000 from burial records. The transcripts are linked to images of the original.

The parishes added are:

Aldeby, Ashwellthorpe, Aslacton,
Bacton, Banham, Billockby, Bracon Ash, Brampton, Brancaster, Breccles,
Buckenham, Bunwell, Burgh St Margaret, Burnham
Deepdale,
Caister, Carleton Rode, Castle Rising, Clippesby,
Docking,
East Dereham, East Tuddenham, Eaton Christchurch, Eaton St Andrew, Edgefield, Erpingham,
Gayton Thorpe, Gaywood, Gissing, Great Massingham, Great Moulton St Michael with Little Moulton, Great Witchingham, Great Yarmouth, Great Yarmouth St Nicholas,
Hassingham, Heigham Holy Trinity, Heigham St Philip, Hethel, Hockering, Honingham, Horsham St Faith, Horsham St Faith & Newton St Faith,
Knapton,
Martham, Mile Cross St Catherine, Mulbarton,
New Buckenham, New Catton, New Catton Christ Church, North Elmham, North Lopham, North Tuddenham, Norwich Lakenham, Norwich Pockthorpe St James, Norwich St Augustine, Norwich St Clement, Norwich St John De Sepulchre, Norwich St Paul, Norwich St Stephen,
Poringland, Postwick,
Redenhall With Harleston & Wortwell, Rollesby, Runcton Holme with South Runcton and
Wallington,
Shelfanger, Southrepps, Stoke Holy Cross, Stow Bardolph, Swaffham,
Tatterford, Thetford St Cuthbert, Thetford St Peter, Thorpe Hamlet St Matthew, Thorpe Market, Toft Monks,
Watlington, Winfarthing, Wreningham & Wymondham

Sunday Sundries

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

Impersonating an Egyptian?
From a tweet, a list of 19 crimes for which the punishment of transportation over the seas includes this curious entry as #5. Some commenters suggest Egyptian was the origin of gypsy (traveller), but why impersonating rather than being? Despite the appearance, the list may not be official.

Do You Know What's On Your Phone?
From Free Technology for Teachers, delete unused apps from your smartphone of free up storage, reduce risks and extend battery life.

Environment Tops Risks for Global Economy in 2020
Ahead of the organization's annual meeting in Davos, the World Economic Forum has published its annual Global Risks Report. For the first time, the top five most likely risks are all environmental as are three of the top five risks with the greatest impact. Investors are divesting holdings in fossil fuel companies which once led the economy and world stock markets. They now lag.

Shining a laser through a light bulb can reveal the structure of DNA (video)

Google Research: Looking Back at 2019, and Forward to 2020 and Beyond
A long and fairly technical read. Google Timelapse is one of the projects mentioned.

Thanks to this week's contributors
Ann Burns, Arthur Owen, BT, Btyclk, Claire Santry, CM, G.B. in St. C., judylynne, Mike Stapleton, Shirley, Sophronia, Susan Campbell — as well as Unknown and her cousin Anonymous.

FreeBMD January Update

The FreeBMD Database was updated on Friday17 January 2020 to contain 273,156,074 unique records (272,823,605 at previous update.)

Years with major additions, greater than 5,000 records are: for births 1964, 1984-88; for marriages 1964, 1969, 1984-87; for deaths 1984-86 and 1988.

www.freebmd.org.uk/

Findmypast adds to Kent and British Army Records

Kent Baptisms
Over 3,000 records from the parishes of Saint Peter & Paul in Ash-next-Ridley and Keston are added. There are now records from 503 Kent parishes in this title, over 3 million records from 1192 to 1998.

Kent Marriages and Banns
Search more than 7,000 new additions covering the parishes of: Ash-next-Ridley, SS Peter & Paul; Eltham, St John the Baptist; Keston; North Cray, St James; Plumstead, St Nicholas; Swanscombe, SS Peter & Paul. There are now 498 parishes in this title, over 2.4 million records from 1502 to 1997.

Kent Burials
7,000 records from the parishes of Saint Peter & Paul in Ash-next-Ridley, St Martin in Cheriton and St John the Baptist in Eltham. There are now 485 parishes in this title, over 2.6 million records from 1316 to 2010.

There's are Findmypast Kent parish lists, separate for baptisms, marriages and burials, here.

British Army Service Records
Over 2,000 new Scots Guards service records covering 1799 to 1939 have just been added. For officers the records go back to 1642. Each record in this title comprises a transcript, and most include several black and white images (ranging from 1-100) of the records of your ancestors who served as officers and other ranks in the British Army.

The total Findmypast British Army Service Record collection is over 8.1 million items.

History of English Places App

"The History of English Places is a map-based app for discovering the rich history of places in England. Information is drawn from the Topographical Dictionary of England (Lewis, 1848) and the place-by-place histories of the Victoria County History (VCH), published between 1901 and the present day.

In the free version, you can navigate the historical first-ever edition of the Ordnance Survey map and use the location pins to explore the 13,713 short nineteenth-century descriptions of England’s villages, towns and cities.

A monthly or annual subscription is available that allows access to detailed entries on taken from 175 volumes of histories produced by the Victoria County History project."

Lost Children of the Carricks: Defying the Great Irish Famine to Create a Canadian Legacy

A new documentary film offers a personal story of the gruelling journey made by immigrants who arrived from Ireland in the mid-19th century and how these stories have carried down through the generations that followed those who survived the trip.

Lost Children of the Carricks will premiere at Concordia University's D.B. Clarke Theatre on January 24, as a fundraiser for the Canadian Irish Studies Foundation.

ScotlandsPeople Major Outage

The following notice is posted at ScotlandsPeople.gov.uk

Due to essential maintenance, the ScotlandsPeople website will be unavailable from 16:30 GMT Friday 17th January and will be operational again on Tuesday 21st January.

Largest Canadian Genealogy Databases

Following on Tuesday's post on the Canadian census, here's a list of the largest Canadian "genealogy" databases, arranged by the number of records, for holdings of Ancestry, FamilySearch, Findmypast, Library and Archives Canada (LAC), and MyHeritage. It's for all databases with more than 2 million records. It is possible LAC may have additional databases that could fall within the criteria but there is no convenient catalogue listing.

Title	Records	Organization
Canada, Voters Lists, 1935-1980	95,335,143	Ancestry
Canadian Phone and Address Directories, 1995-2002	37,866,987	Ancestry
Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968	16,789,307	Ancestry
Quebec, Canada, Notarial Records, 1637-1935	16,529,462	Ancestry
Canada Phone and Address Listings	13,326,736	MyHeritage
Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1826-1937	9,357,444	Ancestry
1921 Census of Canada	8,800,634	Ancestry
1921 Census	8,788,483	LAC
1921 Canada Census	8,683,491	MyHeritage
Canada, Obituary Collection, 1898-Current	8,507,084	Ancestry
Canada, City and Area Directories, 1819-1906	8,299,563	Ancestry
Quebec Marriage Returns, 1926-1997	7,901,443	MyHeritage
Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935	7,276,372	Ancestry
Canada Census, 1911	7,246,159	FamilySearch
1911 Census of Canada	7,223,678	Ancestry
1911 Census	7,204,838	LAC
Canada Census 1911	7,157,334	Findmypast
1911 Canada Census	7,157,334	MyHeritage
Ontario, Canada Births, 1858-1913	6,484,503	Ancestry
United States, Canadian Border Crossings	6,150,580	Findmypast
Canada, Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current	6,103,062	Ancestry
U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s	5,430,203	Ancestry
U.S., Border Crossings from Canada to U.S., 1895-1960	5,395,724	Ancestry
1901 Census	5,371,315	LAC
1901 Census of Canada	5,343,565	Ancestry
Canada Census, 1901	5,343,565	FamilySearch
1901 Canada Census	5,213,095	MyHeritage
Ontario Births, 1869-1912	5,200,361	MyHeritage
Canada Census 1901	5,167,205	Findmypast
1891 Census	4,833,239	LAC
1891 Census of Canada	4,790,154	Ancestry
Canada Census, 1891	4,787,225	FamilySearch
Canada Census 1891	4,539,639	Findmypast
1891 Canada Census	4,539,588	MyHeritage
1881 Census of Canada	4,281,168	Ancestry
Canada Census, 1881	4,281,160	FamilySearch
1881 Census	4,278,327	LAC
Canada Census 1881	4,273,931	Findmypast
1881 Canada Census	4,273,931	MyHeritage
Canada Passenger Lists, 1881-1922	3,907,325	FamilySearch
Ontario, Canada, Deaths and Deaths Overseas, 1869-1947	3,888,625	Ancestry
Canada Census, 1871	3,519,941	FamilySearch
1871 Census of Canada	3,516,910	Ancestry
1871 Census	3,485,761	LAC
Canada Census 1871	3,292,788	Findmypast
1871 Canada Census	3,292,788	MyHeritage
1861 Census	3,112,269	LAC
Ontario, Canada, Roman Catholic Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1760-1923	3,071,603	Ancestry
Canadian Headstones	2,982,451	FamilySearch
1861 Census of Canada	2,958,892	Ancestry
Saskatchewan, Canada, Residents Index (SRI), 1800-2012	2,948,436	Ancestry
Canada Census 1861	2,764,253	Findmypast
1861 Canada Census	2,764,253	MyHeritage
1851 Census	2,312,919	LAC
Canadian Genealogy Index, 1600s-1900s	2,255,689	Ancestry
Death, Burial, Cemetery & Obituaries	2,137,853	MyHeritage
Ontario Births, 1869-1912	2,081,426	FamilySearch
Ontario Birth Index 1860-1920	2,076,046	Findmypast
Canada, Prairie Provinces Census, 1926	2,073,271	FamilySearch
Census of the Prairie Provinces, 1926	2,067,393	LAC
Ontario Deaths, 1869-1937 and Overseas Deaths, 1939-1947	2,050,112	FamilySearch
Canadian Obituaries, 1997-2017	2,035,945	MyHeritage

It's entirely possible I missed some, perhaps in other sources — please let me know in a comment.

It's easy to get fixated on large databases. Experienced searchers often find a small database, if it targets the time, place and type of record of interest, can be the one that breaches a genealogical roadblock.

OGS Kingston Branch Monthly Meeting

On Saturday 18 January the monthly meeting of the Kingston Branch is a presentation Aye, Your Roots; What Is "Behind" Your Name by Gord Sly, Curator of the Frontenac County Schools Museum.

Geoffrey Allen will be the speaker for the 9:30am short presentation History of the Working Class.

Visitors are always welcome, and there is lots of free parking available at 56 Francis St. Coffee is on at 9am.

Dick Eastman Celebrates

Congratulations to genealogy uber-blogger Dick Eastman who celebrates 24 years of "blogging" today.

His involvement actually pre-dates blogs — it was originally called a newsletter and he has a 24-year record of posting, continuing week-in, week-out through travel and health issues.

Dick was one of the inspirations for my blog. Read his celebratory post here.

WDYTYA Magazine: February 2020

Here's a full table of contents for the latest issue, just available on Press Reader through the Ottawa Public Library and other subscribing institutions in North America.

FEATURES
Transcription Tuesday
How you can be a family history hero on 4 February
Mayflower 400
Discover your link to the pilgrims who settled the USA
Death Record Success
Transform your family tree with 10 expert tips from Who Do You Think You Are? researcher Laura Berry
Let It Snow
Felicity Day reveals how our ancestors coped


RESEARCH ADVICE
Best Websites
Don't miss these resources for researching the clergy
RecordMasterclass
Explore Victorian London with  poverty maps
Ancestors at Work
Old your relative work as a docker?
Focus On
Paul Bake reveals how you can use the records of local courts quarterer sessions to uncover your ancestors' lives

YOUR RESEARCH
Reader Story
Teacher, balloonist', newsagent. farmer writer of musical comedy Steve Parker's relation Robert Layer-Parker was a man of many trades, but fell foul of the law
My Family Album
Gill Hulse from Dorset shares some beloved family photographs fro, the 19th and 20th centuries.
Eureka Moment
How Martin Gething researched the inhabitants of Lawrence of Arabia's cottage in the early 19th century
Family Hero
"I discovered a high society scandal in my family,” says John Porter of his inspirational Hungarian cousin

REGULARS
Letters
Your ideas, comments and advice
Notes
All the latest developments and recond releases
What's On
Ths morths everts, including a course on heraldry

WDYTYA? Magazine Shop

Back issues, magazine storage and a wall chart

Off The Record

A tale from the archives shows that crime is relative

The Big Picture

Making Britain’s first parking meters, 16 June 1958

Q&A

Our expert genealogists solve your queries

Your Projects

The trails highlighting Woking’s hidden Muslim heritage

Gem From The Archive

Journals from a Cumberland country house, 1908-13

Behind The Headlines

The major events of 1860-1869

Around Britain

Find Kent kin with our guide to the best resources

Behind The Scenes

How WDYTYA? traced Katherine Ryan’s Canadian roots

GUIDE

Books & Digital Picks

This month's family history inspiration

Radio and TV

All the must-see/hear programmes

Which Site for Canadian Censuses?

Which is the best website for genealogy? You're probably fed up to the teeth with being asked the question. It depends on the enquirer's needs. Where are you searching? For what time period? Completeness, ease of use, cost ... all are considerations. You can think of others.

The table below is a year by year compilation of the Canadian census records available for five major organization websites. It shows the number of records available and whether the information is linked to an image of the original. More records is not necessarily more complete. There may be duplicates; some organizations may be counting corrections submitted as additional entries.

Overall Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has coverage of all censuses, and some earlier ones not listed, with images of the original available. And it's free.

Ancestry($) and MyHeritage($) both have complete coverage with image access, except for the 1926 census of the Prairie Provinces. The value added by the commercial sites is the suggestions for other records of interest — based on the record found, and a more reliable website — LAC's was down for a day when I was preparing this post.

There are gaps in both FamilySearch and Findmypast($) coverage.

Not included in the table, but worth considering is automatedgenealogy.com which has 5,665,421 lines transcribed for the 1901 census, 802,230 for 1906 and 7,584,277 for 1911 with links to the images at LAC.

Census	Records	Organization	Images
1926
	2,073,271	FamilySearch	Yes
	2,067,393	LAC	Yes
	0	Ancestry	No
	0	Findmypast	No
	0	MyHeritage	No
1921
	8,800,634	Ancestry	Yes
	8,788,483	LAC	Yes
	8,683,491	MyHeritage	Yes
	0	FamilySearch	No
	0	Findmypast	No
1916
	1,811,736	FamilySearch	Yes
	1,690,193	Ancestry	Yes
	1,686,666	LAC	Yes
	1,590,785	MyHeritage	Yes
	0	Findmypast	No
1911
	7,246,159	FamilySearch	No
	7,223,678	Ancestry	Yes
	7,204,838	LAC	Yes
	7,157,334	Findmypast	Yes
	7,157,334	MyHeritage	Yes
1906
	805,908	MyHeritage	Yes
	804,734	Ancestry	Yes
	802,443	FamilySearch	No
	802,442	LAC	Yes
	0	Findmypast	No
1901
	5,371,315	LAC	Yes
	5,343,565	Ancestry	Yes
	5,343,565	FamilySearch	Yes
	5,213,095	MyHeritage	Yes
	5,167,205	Findmypast	Yes
1891
	4,833,239	LAC	Yes
	4,790,154	Ancestry	Yes
	4,787,225	FamilySearch	No
	4,539,639	Findmypast	Yes
	4,539,588	MyHeritage	Yes
1881
	4,281,168	Ancestry	Yes
	4,281,160	FamilySearch	Yes
	4,278,327	LAC	Yes
	4,273,931	Findmypast	Yes
	4,273,931	MyHeritage	Yes
1871
	3,519,941	FamilySearch	No
	3,516,910	Ancestry	Yes
	3,485,761	LAC	Yes
	3,292,788	Findmypast	Yes
	3,292,788	MyHeritage	Yes
1861
	3,112,269	LAC	Yes
	3,087,518	FamilySearch	Yes
	2,958,892	Ancestry	Yes
	2,764,253	Findmypast	Yes
	2,764,253	MyHeritage	Yes
1851
	2,312,919	LAC	Yes
	1,487,802	Ancestry	Yes
	1,487,802	FamilySearch	No
	1,364,567	MyHeritage	Yes
	1,364,597	Findmypast	Yes

Perth & District Historical Society January Meeting

On 16 January PDHS will welcome back local historian Ron Shaw with a presentation on his recent book, "A Swarm of Bees", the epic migration to Utah, of Lanark Society Settlers, from Glasgow, Scotland via Upper Canada and the central United States.

"A Swarm of Bees" recounts a journey begun in 1820 that, over the course of 50 years, took 18 ‘Lanark Society Settler’ families from the slums of Glasgow to the Great Salt Lake Valley.  These pioneer families, who first settled in what is now Lanark County, were among the earliest converts to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Their story unfolds in the context of the founding and earliest days of the Mormon Church, as they follow their new faith from eastern Ontario, through south-western Ontario, the Ohio and Missouri settlements, to Nauvoo, Illinois, the refugee camps of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and finally along the Mormon Trail to Utah.    

The meeting, at Perth's Royal Canadian Legion, Home of the Hall of Remembrance, 26 Beckwith Street E., Perth, starts at 7:30pm. (Toonie Donation).

Victorian Industrial Library

Before he was fired my great-grandfather was a bank clerk on Oxford Street in London in the 1870s.

What were his responsibilities? While it's unlikely I'll ever know in detail a Victorian-era guide; The banker’s clerk: comprising the principles and practice of banking gives an idea of his knowledge and conditions of employment. Anything like Bob Cratchit's?

Information included is that "For the punishment of frauds by clerks and servants ... every such offender, being convicted thereof, shall be liable, at the discretion of the court, to be transported beyond the seas for any term not exceeding fourteen years, nor less than seven years; or to be imprisoned for any term not exceeding three years; and, if a male, to be once, twice, or thrice publicly or privately whipped (if the court shall so think fit) in addition to such imprisonment." My great grandfather's punishment was much less severe.

A blog post, Industrial Library by Andrew Gray includes links to similar Victorian online guides for bakers, carvers and gilders, confectioners. footmen, gardeners, governesses, grooms, housemaids, joiners and cabinet makers, lady's maids, laundry maids, millers, nurses, nursery maids, printers and, tailors.

The Bytown Museum’s First Century

Robin Etherington, Executive Director of Ottawa’s Bytown Museum, recounts the Museum’s legacy of telling our city’s amazing stories for over a century at OPL (Main) on Wednesday evening, 15 January 2020 at 7 pm.

Behind the thick walls of Ottawa’s oldest stone building (just steps from the locks below Parliament Hill) is the Bytown Museum – exploring our town’s history from the early days of the Rideau Canal construction, through the rough and tumble days of Bytown, to Ottawa’s emergence as Canada’s capital … and beyond.

LAC Scholars: a closed process

Last month I posted on Library and Archives Canada Scholars Awards, "created to recognize the outstanding contribution of individuals who have dedicated their lives to the creation and promotion of our country’s literary and historical heritage."

I contacted the LAC Foundation requesting clarification on the nomination process for the Scholars Program, and how it operates.

Here's the response.

The Nomination and Selection process for LAC Scholars is managed by a jury of experts from various cultural heritage fields, overseen by a committee of the Foundation. The nominations are the product of recommendations and consultations conducted by the various jury members. There is no public call for nominations.

Proposed recipients are recommended to the Chair of the Foundation and the Librarian and Archivist of Canada for endorsement.

With no opportunity for the public to make nominations this first stage of the process is open to abuse. If the Order of Canada can accept nominations why not LAC Scholars?

Sunday Sundries

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

How Victorian Britain anticipated today’s keep fit craze

A Victorian Genealogy

This is the pedigree of the winner of The Epsom Derby in 1890. How many of us know all 32 3-times great-grandparents? Notice the pedigree collapse.

Facebook: a “disinformation-for-profit machine.”

Getting to Know Milton Friedman
The Fraser Institute has now published The Essential Milton Friedman, by Steven E. Landsburg (2019). It's a free e-book, 73 pages long, that offers an intro-level, highly readable nonspecialist overview of many of Friedman's most prominent ideas.

The Old Internet Died
Via Buzzfeed and Documentary Heritage News, many web resources active a decade ago are no longer with us, or shadows of themselves. LAC used to promote items by posting on Flickr — no longer. It was just announced that RootsWeb mailing lists will soon no longer accept new posts; how long will the archived material remain? The web is ephemeral — including this blog.

Kingston Lower Burial Ground Project

Laid out in 1783 in anticipation of the arrival of Loyalists at Cataraqui after the American Revolution, Kingston's Lower Burial Ground is where many early citizens are buried including prominent residents, black slaves brought by the Loyalists and sailors of the Lakes.

Reflectance Transformation Imaging was used to photograph the burial markers.

A database of burials in the cemetery includes names, dates of birth and death, monument inscriptions and photographs, as well as additional information (where present). The website is searchable and an alphabetical listing by surname is provided as well.

Here's the distribution of the 578 burials in the database from 1783 to 1863.

Findmypast Updates: 1939 Register and British FWW Medical Records

1939 Register Update
With over 85,000 'closed records' newly opened up the 1939 Register now contains more than 33.9 million searchable records.

Each record includes the names of inhabitants at each address, their date of birth, marital status and occupation. There is also contextual information, including period photographs, infographics, region-specific newspaper articles and historical and contemporary maps tailored to each record.

The population of England and Wales in 1939 is estimated at 41 million although some, like my father who was in the merchant marine, were not registered at the time. I estimate that some 2.4 million under age 100 will still be alive. Perhaps up to 4 million records that should be open are not. That's a very rough estimate.

British Armed Forces, First World War Soldiers' Medical Records
More than 21,000 additional records from TNA series MH106, a representative selection of the original collection, have been added to the collection. The records include admission and discharge registers from hospitals and casualty clearing stations, field ambulances, an ambulance train and a hospital ship.

In addition, more than 1.8 million transcripts are now available in the United States, National Veterans Cemetery Index. Transcripts may include birth years, death years, service, rank, death date, home town, burial place, father’s name and spouse from the American Civil War and the two world wars through to Afghanistan. However, there is a large number of duplicate records; for instance, Thomas E la Bruyere who died in 2002 has 17 separate entries.

Ancestry Updates

Ancestry lists the following titles as updated on Thursday, 9 January 2020.

TITLE	RECORDS
Canada, Voters Lists, 1935-1980	95,335,143
Essex, England, Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1918	3,939,834
Essex, England, Church of England Marriages, 1754-1935	1,970,323

As usual with Ancestry updates, there is no information posted on how major or minor they are.

The 15 best websites for 18th century UK family history

The first five suggestions from WDYTYA Magazine, January 2020 issue are:

1. London Lives
2. ScotlandsPlaces
3. Apprentices' Indentures
4. The Cause Papers Database
5. Old Maps Online

Go to www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/blog/15-best-websites-18th-century-family-history for the links and the rest.

Thanks to Ann Burns for the tip, and remember with access to the magazine through your Canadian Public Library's Press Reader subscription you can access the full text of the magazine for free.

Genealogists and Historians Use of Digital Cameras: Poll Results

Here are the results of the survey Digital Photography and Research posted on Tuesday. 75 people responded.

The vast majority of genealogists responding, 87%, used digital cameras in archives. A further 8% don't research in archives,  Ian Milligan's results for a similar survey of historians in Canada found 85% used digital cameras multiple times and a further 7% once or twice.

Ian's results were based on 253 responses received, a 17.3% completion rate. The 75 responses to Tuesday's survey came from 223 article views, a 33.6% completion rate.

At the 90% confidence level the results from the two surveys are not significantly different, the margin of error for the genealogists being 6.4%.

French Senate Opens The Way to Genetic Genealogy Testing

Here's good news vis a post on the ‎International Society of Genetic Genealogy Facebook Group.

The Senate adopted this afternoon on first reading the proposal of Senator Olivier Heno submitted on January 2 to allow genetic genealogy tests in France. You will find the full text of the modification at the end of this message.

Here is a crucial first step, although not without limit as you will discover in the text.....

" I. - after article 16-10 of the civil code, an article 16-10-1 is added as follows:

" Art. 16-10-1.-by derogation from article 16-10 of this code and articles l. 1131-1 and l. 1131-1-3 of the public health code, a review of the genetic characteristics of a person can be carried out for family research purposes, with a view to seeking possible close proximity or to estimate geographical origins. It is subordinated to the express consent of the person collected prior to the conduct of the exam, if necessary in a secure and secure format. It cannot give rise to medical information and cannot be covered by health insurance."

UPDATE: This proposal was rejected at a later stage of the process.

The Talk Genealogy Podcast

It's a while since I mentioned episodes of Malcolm Noble's Talk Genealogy Podcast for English family historians. Recent episodes are:

Talk Genealogy Podcast: Episode #46 Tudor Tax Records

What were they? Where can we find the records? What do they contain and, most important, how can they help the genealogist with too much time on their hands. Often you don't need to go to the originals, there are transcripts.

Talk Genealogy Podcast: Episode #45 Rolls of Incumbents

How can these histories of vicars in the family parish help the historian learn more about their ancestors?

Talk Genealogy Podcast: Episode #42 A Golden Age of English Parish Histories

The first half of the twentieth century saw a surge in the publication of parish histories very different from the modern version of the genre. Malcolm Noble looks at these earlier books can be especially useful for today's family historian.

Malcolm informs me that episodes remain “live” for three months before being archived.

BIFHSGO January Meeting

The meeting on Saturday 11 January has presentations by two leading members.

At 9 am: Review of BIFHSGO databases – John McConkey will describe the databases and indexes currently available for public research on the BIFHSGO website. Each of the Home Children,
Military and Migration offerings will be covered in a live demo. The newly released RG17 Index will also be highlighted.

At 10 am:  Using family lore, with a grain of salt – Were you fortunate to have received family lore from your ancestors? Lynda Gibson will describe the family lore she had to work with including a memo written in 1900 by her great uncle Letham Gibson. Of course, such information, while absolutely invaluable, must also be taken with a grain of salt to discover the true facts. Follow Lynda’s search for her second and third great grandparents from Canada back to the home country. But where will she find them?

Meet in the spaciousness of The Chamber, Ben Franklin Place, 101 Centrepointe Dr, Nepean, Ottawa.

BE SAFE: In event of adverse weather requiring cancelling the meeting members with email addresses on file are advised by 8am.

New Records Online at IrishGenealogy.ie

On Wednesday, 8 January 2020 IrishGenealogy.ie added:

• civil marriage records from 1845 to 1944
• birth register records for 1919
• death register records for 1969.  

Over 15.5 million Irish register records are now available to view and research online. Find out more at www.irishgenealogy.ie/en/news/154-update-to-the-civil-records-3

Now Online: ScotlandsPeople Annual BMD Update

ScotlandsPeople announced on 6 January that 129,445 new online images have been released — just over 207,000 birth, death and marriage register entries:  106,268 births in 1919; 37,111 marriages in 1944 and 63,821 deaths in 1969.

Find out more at:

Our Records: Scottish Births in 1919
Our Records: Double Wedding Celebrations

FamilySearch adds Ireland, Poverty Relief Funds, 1810-1887

Transcriptions of this dataset obtained from Findmypast, from archived originals ar TNA record series (PRO) T91 are now free at FamilySearch.

The collection contains minute books, loan ledgers and other account books of the Local Associations and County Committees, together with security notebooks, etc, letter books, correspondence and papers of the Directors, etc. The scheme provided small loans to the 'industrious poor'.

This is an example of the information provided in a random search on FamilySearch.

Name:	Michael Byrne
Event Type:	Flourish
Event Date:	1844
Event Place:	Galway, County Galway, Ireland
Event Place (Original):	Galway, Galway
Residence Place:	Salt Hill
Role of Individual:	Borrower
Occupation:	Fishmonger
Entry Number:	278

The original record on Findmypast showed the loan for £2 was made on 9 September and was marked Paid. 
All the transcripts I checked showed event type Flourish. Does anyone know the significance?

One of London Metropolitan Archives's Most Popular Holdings to be Digitized

Coram, the UK’s oldest children’s charity, will have a major portion of its archive at the LMA digitized. Dating back to before 1739 when it was established as the Foundling Hospital, it was the first home for London’s abandoned babies.

Coram’s Foundling Hospital archive, fragile and vulnerable, consists of over 245 linear metres of records — general registers, inspection books, petitions and other documents revealing the details of the lives of children in its care from the 18th century.  Some 112,000 images over the period to 1900 will be digitized, a quarter of the archive which is unbroken to the present day.

The archive documents will be transcribed with the support of a global community of volunteers and will be made accessible to the general public at coramstory.org.uk along with stories and content from the projects created by care-experienced young people, and an online interactive timeline of care.

Digitization is made possible through a grant of £1.26 million from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.

More at Coram to tell the story of care through digital project funded by £1.26m from the National Lottery.

BIFHSGO Conference 2020 - Call for Speakers

A reminder that BIFHSGO is seeking presentation proposals for its 26th annual conference, 25-27 September.

The themes:
Researching Irish family history
Finding female ancestors
DNA, in particular mtDNA and use of the x-chromosome in autosomal matchings

If you have a great presentation likely to interest Society members that doesn't fit in the themes submit anyway.

The deadline for proposals is 31 January 2020.

Check out the Call for Speakers page for more information.

Changes to Document Ordering at TNA

Good news, just released, is that from Monday 31 March 2020, as part of a six-month trial, readers visiting The (UK) National Archives at Kew will be able to order a maximum of 12 documents for the same day, plus up to 12 documents ordered in advance (a maximum of 24 documents per reader per day). That's more than previously.

As the reading room is open 09:00–19:00 Tuesday and Thursday; 09:00–17:00 Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 24 documents is likely as many as you can handle.

Find the details on scheduling when documents will be delivered at Changes to document ordering.

Digital Photography and Research

As a family historian, when researching in archives do you use your digital camera (including smartphone camera) to capture documents for later viewing?

In a survey of historians in Canada, Ian Milligan, Associate Professor of History at The University of Waterloo found that 17 out of 20 have done so multiple times. See slides for a recent presentation he gave here.

Are genealogists/family historians like those who responded to Ian's survey? Please answer below.

Faster Access to New Records Coming at FamilySearch

Here's good news that caught my eye in the FamilySearch Blog post What’s Coming to FamilySearch in 2020.

FamilySearch is releasing a new tool for viewing recently digitized record images. This feature will help you more easily find images that aren’t yet indexed (or text searchable), which gives you quicker access to new records. FamilySearch has more than 300 cameras working to preserve records worldwide. With the upcoming Explore Images tool, new record images can be made viewable on the site in a matter of days or weeks, instead of going through months or years of processing.

CWGC Beechwood Cemetery Burials: Charles F. W. Dreher

Charles Frederick William Dreher was born in Dresden, Germany of British parents on 29 January 1890. His parents lived in Switzerland, a brother in Italy.

A 1912 graduate of MacDonald College he was employed as an assistant in vegetable gardening at the Experimental Farm before enlisting in December 1914 as a gunner with the 23rd Battery of the CFA. He received a gunshot wound to the wrist and subsequently served with the 8th. He was commissioned Lieutenant early in 1918.

In the first quarter of 1918 he married Ethel Marion Clarke in Leicester, England. They had a daughter Irene a year later.

He died of encephalitis on 7 January 1920; his grave is at Lot 15. Sec. 29. 11. at Beechwood Cemetery.

New Book: The Genealogical Sublime

York University English Professor Julia Creet has a new book appearing in February.

You may recall her documentary film Data Mining the Deceased: Ancestry and the Business of Family which received funding from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

Publisher The University of Massachusetts Press's summary of the book is:

Since the early 2000s, genealogy has become a lucrative business, an accelerating online industry, a massive data mining project, and fodder for reality television. But the fact remains that our contemporary fascination with family history cannot be understood independently of the powerful technological tools that aid and abet in the search for traces of blood, belonging, and difference.

In The Genealogical Sublime, Julia Creet traces the histories of the largest, longest-running, most lucrative, and most rapidly growing genealogical databases to delineate a broader history of the industry. As each unique case study reveals, new database and DNA technologies enable an obsessive completeness—the desire to gather all of the world’s genealogical records in the interests of life beyond death. Archival research and firsthand interviews with Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officials, key industry players (including Ancestry.com founders and Family Search executives), and professional and amateur family historians round out this timely and essential study.

The choice of terminology "aid and abet", "lucrative", "obsessive", "life beyond death" suggests an agenda.

UK Prison History Online

You may not know it but there's a chance your 19th-century UK ancestor spent time in a prison or lock-up.

Prison History, with resources on the practice and experience of imprisonment in the British Isles, hosts two datasets: 19th Century Prisons, a database of 846 English prisons that existed between 1800 and 1899; and Your Local Lock-Up, an evolving collection of sites (mostly in England) used for temporary confinement between 1500 and 1999.



The search capabilities include a map with the sites pinned, extensive sources for many of those sites and a reading list for additional material.

New lower pricing structure at FamilyTreeDNA

As usual, Debbie Kennett posts promptly with news — this about lower prices and other changes for Family Tree DNA tests.

When ordering direct from the FTDNA home page there are now only five tests available:
Y-37 $119 (previously $169)
Y-111 $249 (previously $359)
BigY-700 $449 (previously $649)
mtDNA full sequence $159 (previously $199)
Family Finder autosomal DNA test $79 (no change)

Read Debbie's full post at https://cruwys.blogspot.com/2020/01/new-lower-pricing-structure-at.html

Sunday Sundries

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

It's not often I'm quoted in the Globe and Mail
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-trudeau-governments-promises-on-tackling-climate-change-stymied-by/

The Science of Baby-Name Trends
From JSTOR Daily.

Historic Winchester Press closes after 131 years
There's a message ... the closing was announced on the Facebook page.

The Irish Times view: Neglect of the National Archives

What Canadians thought the future in 2020 would look like, 50 years ago
An opinion piece from the Globe and Mail based on the book Visions 2020: Fifty Canadians in Search of a Future, (1970), Stephen Clarkson (editor). Edmonton : M. G. Hurtig.

The daily mean temperature in 2019: 278/365 days were hotter than the 30-year normal.

Summary of daily global mean temperature in 2019 [OC] from r/dataisbeautiful

Sussex Monumental Inscriptions added at Findmypast

With the addition of transcript records for St Andrew’s in Alfriston (1,219 records) and St Mary the Virgin in Willingdon (1,523 records) there are now 27,896 records in this Findmypast collection.

The transcripts were created by Family Roots (Eastbourne & District FHS) and also cover inscriptions found at Chidingly; East Dean, St Simon & St Jude; Eastbourne, Ocklynge Cemetery; Eastbourne, St Mary, Old Town; Friston, St Mary The Virgin; Herstmonceux, All Saints; Jevington, St Andrew; Litlington, St Michael The Archangel; and Willingdon.

More than 17,000 records are for Ocklynge Cemetery in the old town area of Eastbourne.

Middlesex Monumental Inscriptions added at Findmypast

Monumental inscription is a term used mainly in the UK for the inscription on a grave marker, cenotaph, memorial plaque, church monument or other memorials to the dead.

Findmypast now has 2,189 transcript records for Hillingdon in Greater London. Hillingdon which includes the districts of Hayes and Harlington, Ruislip-Northwood, Uxbridge, and Yiewsley and West Drayton — home of Heathrow airport. Most, if not all are for the church of St. John the Baptist in Uxbridge for the years from 1485 to 2014. Each entry is linked to a description of the projects to record the inscriptions and detailed plans of the layout of the interior of the church and churchyard with monument locations.

These additions take the Findmypast Middlesex Monumental Inscriptions collection to 61,592 records from the communities of Acton, Ashford, Bedfont, Chelsea Old Church, Chiswick, Cowley, Cranford, Feltham, Fulham, Hampton Hill, Harefield, Harlington, Harmondsworth, Heston, Hounslow, Isleworth, Laleham, Northwood, Norwood Green, Poyle, Shepperton, Southall Green, Stains, Sunbury, Teddington, Twickenham and Uxbridge, West Drayton. The West Middlesex FHS website has helpful maps.

There is no comparable collection in Ancestry, MyHeritage or TheGenealogist. The Society of Genealogists online databases include 24 identified as Middlesex MIs, many not in the FMP collection as they are considered to be in London.

Legacy Family Tree Webinars for 2020

Open up your appointment calendar. You'll need it to ensure you don't miss any of these webinars of relevance for your family history being made available for free this year. With about eight to choose from each month, there's bound to be something of interest.

Find the complete program for 2020 at https://familytreewebinars.com/upcoming-webinars.php.

Usually, the webinars are available on replay free for a week after the live streaming. You can also subscribe to view them, and the more than 1,000 previous webinars — one of the best bargains in the world of family history.

Ships Passenger Lists for Canada: 1891 - 1954

They're not all Canadian, but many in this little known collection at GG Archives are. Sadly I found no search by passenger name.

Halifax, NS, Canada
1906-04-05 SS Kensington
1920-08-07 RMS Caronia
1922-02-24 RMS Cameronia
1924-04-15 TSS Rotterdam
1924-05-15 SS United States
1924-05-21 TSS Rotterdam
1924-05-22 SS Pittsburgh
1924-09-04 SS Pittsburgh
1924-09-18 RMS Arabic
1925-05-06 RMS Andania
1926-08-27 SS Pennland
1928-03-17 SS Derfflinger
1928-07-27 SS Pennland
1928-08-07 TSS Veendam
1928-08-18 RMS Laconia
1929-08-13 TSS Nieuw Amsterdam
1929-08-16 SS Arabic
1930-04-05 RMS Scythia
1930-09-27 SS Minnewaska
1931-01-10 RMS Scythia
1933-09-28 SS Stuttgart
1951-05-25 SS Vulcania
1953-01-21 SS Empress of Scotland

Quebec, PQ, Canada  (many also proceeded to Montreal)
1891-09-17 RMS Parisian
1900-08-09 SS Dominion
1906-09-14 RMS Virginian
1908-06-26 Empress Of Britain
1909-08-19 SS Dominion
1909-08-21 RMS Grampian
1910-10-28 RMS Victorian
1911-04-28 RMS Virginian
1911-08-29 RMS Ascania
1912-09-07 RMS Pretorian
1913-06-24 RMS Laurentic
1913-09-10 RMS Victorian
1914-08-29 TSS Cassandra
1919-08-16 SS Pretorian
1920-05-08 SS Victorian
1920-07-28 SS Empress of France
1921-09-06 SS Metagama
1923-06-08 RMS Andania
1923-06-22 SS Montrose
1923-07-13 SS Montcalm
1923-07-13 Montlaurier
1923-08-17 SS Metagama
1924-05-23 SS Marloch
1924-07-06 SS Orca
1924-07-10 RMS Antonia
1924-08-01 RMS Andania
1924-08-14 SS Empress of Scotland
1924-08-23 RMS Caronia
1924-09-05 SS Montroyal
1925-05-08 SS Athenia
1925-07-30 SS Doric
1925-08-15 RMS Ausonia
1925-08-21 RMS Alaunia
1925-09-11 SS Marburn
1925-09-18 SS Canada
1926-06-30 SS Melita
1927-04-16 RMS Doric
1927-07-29 SS Montclare
1927-09-09 RMS Albertic
1928-05-04 SS Minnedosa
1928-05-19 RMS Doric
1928-06-14 RMS Albertic
1928-07-14 SS Empress of Australia
1928-08-17 RMS Laurentic
1928-08-18 SS Empress of France
1928-09-14 RMS Laurentic
1929-07-20 SS Empress of Scotland
1929-09-07 SS Montroyal
1930-07-12 RMS Ascania
1930-08-22 RMS Doric
1930-08-22 SS Megantic
1930-08-22 SS Letitia
1930-09-20 RMS Ausonia
1931-06-12 RMS Antonia
1931-09-04 SS Duchess of Bedford
1932-09-09 SS Duchess of Atholl
1932-09-10 RMS Aurania
1932-10-14 SS Duchess of Bedford
1932-10-15 SS Montrose
1933-05-12 SS Duchess of Atholl
1934-04-28 RMS Antonia
1935-06-12 Empress of Australia
1937-06-16 SS Empress of Australia
1937-08-17 SS Duchess of Richmond
1937-08-24 SS Empress of Australia
1938-08-19 SS Duchess of Bedford
1938-08-27 RMS Alaunia
1938-09-02 SS Athenia
1950-05-30 SS Empress of Scotland
1951-07-31 Empress of Canada
1950-07-21 SS Empress of Scotland
1951-08-21 Empress of Canada
1953-09-15 SS Empress of France
1954-07-17 SS Atlantic

St. John, NB, Canada
1909-04-09 Empress of Britain
1913-04-18 RMS Empress of Britain
1927-02-18 SS Montrose
1946-07-09 SS Drottningholm
1953-12-16 SS Empress of Australia

Vancouver BC, Canada 
1954-10-08 RMS Orion, westbound

Victoria BC, Canada
1934-09-22 SS President Jackson

Good News from LAC's Theses Canada Program

Following up on this recent post, Library and Archives Canada have recently resumed harvesting from university repositories for its Theses Canada Program.

Information received by email is that Laurentian and UPEI were the first universities harvested — in mid-December — several hundred theses were harvested. It will take a couple of months before all universities with harvestable repositories are completed.

These are not yet available online as it will take another month or two to develop the workflows needed to transfer the records to LAC's library catalogue and the Theses Canada search portal.

Thanks to Arlene Whetter for the information.

Ottawa DNA SIG meeting on Saturday

Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke from Pixabay

The next Ottawa DNA SIG meeting is on Saturday 4 January at 9:30AM at the City Archives Building, 100 Tallwood, Nepean, Ottawa.

Susan Courage will give a short technical talk on GEDcom Transfers.

With a session on DNA Painter requested, but nobody stepping forward to give it, a video presentation will be shown followed by a discussion/ responding to questions as time allows afterwards.

Members and guests will be required to sign in and out at the reception desk on the ground floor.

Upcoming DNA SIG Meeting Dates for 2020:

March 7, 2020
May 2, 2020
Aug 29, 2020
October 3, 2020
November 7, 2020

Is Your Society Sustainable?

In 2018, the last year for which financial reporting to the Canada Revenue Agency is available, three of six Canadian genealogical and family histories societies examined showed substantial drops in membership income since 2014.

The British Columbia Genealogical Society, Ontario Genealogical Society and Quebec Family History Society each saw fee revenue drop by more than 10%. Two of the three societies had the highest membership fees and the greatest fee revenue decrease.

The Alberta Genealogical Society and British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa had fee revenue increasing in line with the trend of the Consumer Price Index.

The New Brunswick Genealogical Society saw a large increase in membership fee revenue in 2018 — likely due to a fee increase — at $40 their fees remain one of the lowest.

This blog post, Association Membership Trends, although focussed on professional organizations, contains ideas worth contemplating by genealogical societies concerned about membership:

Dedicating resources to innovation, providing members with the content that they want, offering membership models that meets members' needs ... are all ways that associations can work to ensure their future membership numbers remain solid.

I recognize that sometimes organizations deliberately change their revenue sources, perhaps relying more on surpluses from events such as their annual conference rather than membership fees.

CWGC Beechwood Cemetery Burials: Thomas Henry Moore

Born on 8 May 1895 in Carleton County, Thomas Henry Moore was the son of Thomas Moore and Margaret (Maggie) Collins Moore who pre-deceased him.

He attested on 8 December 1915 giving his occupation as a clerk with the CPR,  joined the 32nd Battery of the CFA, arrived in England on 14 February 1916 and proceeded to France on 13 July. Present at the Battle of Vimy Ridge, he was hospitalized on 16 April 1917 and subsequently could do only light duty.

He returned to Canada and was discharged in January 1919. While working as a passport clerk in the Department of External Affairs he was taken ill and transported to St. Luke's Hospital where he died on 1 January 1920. His CWGC stone is at Lot 24. South-East part. No. 1. Sec. 29 at Beechwood Cemetery.

Yuletide R&R: Special Request

YourGenealogy Today: Jan/Feb 2020

www.yourgenealogytoday.com

HAPPY NEW YEAR

COVER: School Books and Report Cards
David A. Norris looks at resources for researching your ancestor’s school days. He includes textbooks and performance reports that may have survived in the family as well as information to be found in newspapers.
Don't overlook school yearbook, such as those for the Ottawa Collegiate Institute that I'm finding helpful in some of my research on WW1 burial at Beechwood cemetery.

Genealogy & the Law
Judy G. Russell looks at how US law is changing with respect to DNA and criminal investigations

Storytelling – Weaving Yarns into the Irish Family Fabric
Joe Grandinetti looks at the importance of storytelling and your Irish family history. He includes links to websites and Facebook pages for three notable storytellers.

Information Wanted
Diane L. Richard offers tips for finding “lost” Civil War veterans and Irish immigrants via newspapers

More Genealogy Adventuring on Virginia’s Eastern Shore
St. Leger “Monty” Joynes returns to the Eastern Shore for a genealogy adventure vacation

For the Birds: Capturing Stories in Flight
Sue Lisk offers strategies for getting relatives engaged and talking about family history using an interest in birds as an example.

Leaving Your Genealogical Footprint
Robbie Gorr gives tips on leaving a genealogical legacy for future generations — except no mention of writing a biography or family history to be deposited in an archive or library!

Don’t Forget The Most Important Question!
John M. Hoenig advises: If you ask only one question, ask “Where?”
Although I'd put who and when before where there's good advice in this article on finding family locations.

Romance in the Air
Sue Lisk suggests a few ways you might reveal some of the romance in your ancestors’ lives.
Another well-constructed story from Sue.

Researching Church Records in Louisiana
Leslie Michele Derrough reminds us that records at the Diocese in Baton Rouge are not just for Catholics

The Back Page: Cleaning Up Your Data Can Reveal Unexpected Results
Dave Obee corrects geographical names in his database which leads to thoughts of another research road trip.

Thank you — 2019

The end of another trip around the sun is an opportunity to acknowledge those who have been helpful in providing the fodder for the blog.
But first, thank you to all readers. Mostly I don't know who you are, where you are or what especially keeps you coming back. I do know that more than 200 addresses are subscribed. Thank you!
Extra thanks to those who send comments and tips, particularly to BT who contributed most comments this year.

Gifts from MyHeritage include a
throw blanket with the advice
"There is no reason not to follow your dreams."

A special thanks to Findmypast, MyHeritage and Ancestry, companies that provide me free access to facilitate coverage of new resources.
In addition, Ancestry provided prizes for the December draw and hosted breakfast at RootsTech London.
MyHeritage, in the person of Daniel Horowitz, came to Ottawa to give presentations in August — the company gave me a couple of nice gifts during the year. Did you see their year-end wrap-up?
Thanks to FamilySearch for giving me free access to RootsTech London as an Ambassador.
Thanks to the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa, the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, the Historical Society of Ottawa and their volunteers without whom they wouldn't function. Their meetings always provide stimulation.

For a roundup of Canadian genealogy happenings in 2019 see Gail Dever's 2019: A year of Canadian genealogy in review.