23andMe Special

The following is a press release from 23andMe (via Hao-Odnla)

23andMe, Inc., the industry leader in personal genetics, today announced it is offering a Multiple Kit discount through December 31st. Customers who purchase three or more kits in a single order will save $200 on the first three kits and $70 for every additional kit.

By offering this discount, 23andMe hopes to encourage families, in particular, to explore the unique features of the 23andMe Personal Genome Service™ that are of special interest to people who are related. These features allow family members to learn how genetically similar they are and how genes were passed down from grandparents to grandchildren. Some of the special features that are of particular interest to relatives include:

Genome View - a visual comparison of two individuals' chromosomes. Siblings can see where they're 100% or 50% similar. Distant cousins can see where their genomes overlap.

Grandtree - a pedigree view showing how genes pass through the generations by comparing data from grandparents to grandchildren.

Global Similarity - a mapping feature that places individuals in a global context. Over a thousand reference populations provide ancestral perspective and a plot to compare how family members cluster together.

"Family members who enroll in our Personal Genome Service get a richer experience," said Linda Avey, co-founder of 23andMe. "We've designed tools that enable fascinating comparisons for our customers who join 23andMe along with their relatives."

The 23andMe™ service also enables its customers to:

Discover how their genes associate with over 95 diseases and traits.

Actively participate in an innovative research approach by answering 23andWe surveys.

Join discussion groups around areas of interest, including health and ancestry.

Joining the 23andMe Community

To learn more and embark on your own personal genetics journey, please visit: www.23andme.com.

23andMe is now available to consumers in the following locations: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vatican City State.

Is Longevity Genetic?

A study published last week in the journal Science showing 150 genetic variants associated with extreme longevity received a lot of attention in the popular press.

I was skeptical about the findings, they looked too good. Now further investigation is surfacing the problems.

Newsweek has an article exploring some of the technical problems relating to the DNA chip used, manufactured by Illumina, the same company that manufactures the chip used by 23andMe, and condeming lax editorial review on the journal's part ... www.newsweekinteractive.net/2010/07/07/the-little-flaw-in-the-longevity-gene-study-that-could-be-a-big-problem.html?from=rss.

23andMe also posted on the company Spittoon blog Uncertainty Surrounds Longevity GWAS http://spittoon.23andme.com/2010/07/07/snpwatch-uncertainty-surrounds-longevity-gwas/.
The posting sumarizes a study the company conducted using its own customer base to see if they could replicate Science paper results and conclude that "based on our data, performance of this (the Science article) model is not significantly better than random."

Genetics is making amazing contributions to health and genealogy studies. Without DNA evidence genealogical studies may be nothing but documentary mythology, but neither should DNA evidence ever be taken uncritically.

British Film Institute YouTube Channel

In celebration of the World Cup have a look at the short vintage films from the British Film Institute available at www.youtube.com/BFIfilms#p/p. The football films, including a snippet of an early 1900s Manchester United game, are found under On the Pitch near the bottom on the right hand side.

There's footage of a variety of other sports including notable cricketer A. N. Hornby who toured in Canada and whose son, John emigrated to Canada and died while over-wintering in the Arctic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hornby

A collection under Land, Sea and Air that includes early 20th century street scenes and a 1895 snippet of fishing boats leaving the harbour less than a mile from the house where I first lived, although my sojourn was a bit later!

Thanks to Bryan Cook for the suggestion.

Is your genome geo-tagged?

James Wilson of the University of Edinburgh, co-author of a short report "Genes predict village of origin in rural Europe" in European Journal of Human Genetics is quoted by the New Scientist saying "It might be possible to take mixed urban individuals and work out which parts of their genome came from which rural places."

The EJHG article looked at the genomes of people whose four grandparents originated from the same rural villages in either Croatia, Italy or Scotland. In the case of the Italian and Scottish villages, while geographically close there were physical barriers to communication, mountains and ocean.

At present the only such geo-tagging I know of is a coarse (Europe (blue)/Asia (yellow)/Africa (green) ) classification of client results by 23andMe. There were indication from presentation at the SCGS Jamboree had more detailed resolution classification is coming. It will need a lot more people taking tests before resolution gets down to the village level.

New sources of information cannot be ignored

I returned from listening to Dave Brubeck on Saturday evening at the Ottawa Jazz Festival, a little bit of most enjoyable nostalgia, and turned on the TV catching the end of a crime detective program. It was stereotypical. Bright young (female) Assistant District Attorney fights to clear young (male) arson suspect already convicted in the minds of older (male) District Attorney and grizzled older (male) Fire Marshall. Based on the advice of knowledgeable but renegade (male) fire expert she clears the accused based on new information, not the dogma.

Could, or does, the same thing happen in the genealogical profession? How can you be sure that the professional genealogists you hire is up to date with developments? Do they know about developments in DNA? Do they keep up-to-date on the newly available databases online? To what extent can you rely on the person being certified by some accrediting agency meaning that they're up-to-date. They can hardly be tested on everything! Caveat emptor.

One new piece of information just coming online, letters relating to pre-Confederation British Columbia, is the subject of an editorial in the Victoria Times Colonist, which inspired this blog post, by well-known West Coast genealogist Dave Obee. www.timescolonist.com/travel/Douglas+letters+open+door+history/3234500/story.html. He writes:

"Gazing through the mists of time gets easier every year, thanks to the Internet. More and more original material is being placed online in readily accessible form, which means more people can get lost in history. And the efforts save wear and tear on the original documents.

As more material is released, our view of our history -- and ourselves, for that matter -- is bound to change. Easier access to original documents means that some research will need to be done again, because new sources of information cannot be ignored."

TNA Podcast: Identity and identity theft

In the latest podcast, a talk was given at TNA on 17 February, Steve Hindle of the University of Warwick considers 17th century parish migration including begging licences, vagrant's passports, settlement certificates, and the parish badge. He looks at how authorities throughout British history used different technologies to try to stop forgery and control migration. www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/podcasts/identity-andidentity-theft.htm

You won't find much of genealogical interest in this presentation. Nevertheless, the content is worth listening to, perhaps if you're missing presentations at your local FHS during the summer break, or wondering about how the problems of those times compare to those of today

Genhound

Chris Paton's renamed blog Scottish GENES (http://scottishancestry.blogspot.com/) mentions Genhound (www.genhound.co.uk), a website new to me with a long list of eclectic sources. Chris lists the Scottish resources. Below are the English ones, a long list with the county highlighted for the first entry in each.

Genhound will be grist for the mill for "Some lesser-known websites for British family history", my second scheduled presentation for the Comox Valley Family History Research Group (CVFHRG) Seminar on Saturday, 25 September 2010 ( http://www.cvfamilyhistory.org/Seminar2010.htm). I'm delighted to be sharing the presentation honours with colleague Leslie Anderson from Ancestry.ca. It should be a good and lively time.

Chester (Cheshire) Archdeaconry Marriage Licences, various 17th century
Chesh & Lancs Record Soc Members 1910
Pigot Derbyshire Directory 1835
Glover Derby Directory 1842
Dartmouth (Devon) Royal Naval College Staff 1928
Sherborne (Dorset) School Staff 1550-1937
Sketchley Bristol (Glos) Directory 1775
Pigot Gloucestershire Directory 1822
Hampshire Who's Who 1935
St Albans (Herts) Borough Officers 1307-1889
Bishops Stortford Vicars and Parish Officers 1332-1881
Bishops Stortford Monumental Inscriptions 1411-1882
History of Watford 1545-1883
St Albans Corporation Minutes PtC 1585-1686
St. Albans Grammar School Accounts 1587-1635
Hertfordshire Taverns 1636
Bishops Stortford Church Accounts PtA 1640-1785
Bishops Stortford Inhabitants 1642
St. Albans Grammar School Accounts PtB 1646-1685
St Albans Corporation Minutes PtB 1687-1834
Herts dissenters and papists rolls 1689-1812
Hertfordshire signatories - loyalty to King William IV 1696
Herts Sessions Records Vol2A 1699-1790
Herts Session Records 7A 1700-1718
Herts drover & badger licences 1700-1710
Herts JPs 1700-1752
Herts Sacrament Certif. 1702-1706
Misc. Herts Rolls - Oaths of Allegiance1702-1732
Herts Gamekeepers 1711-1752
Herts Session Records 7B 1719-1752
Herts Oaths of Allegiance 1723
Hertfordshire Rebellion Association 1745
Herts Session Records Vol 8A 1752-1774
Herts Session Records Vol 8 Misc Appendices 1752-1799
Herts Register Gamekeepers 1752-1798
St Albans Sessions Records Pt A 1758-1800
Herts Sacrament Certificates 1761-1795
Herts Session Records Vol8B 1775-1799
Herts Game Licences 1784-99
Herts Sessions Records Vol2B 1790-1814
Barnet Association 1792
Universal Hertfordshire Directory 1793-8
Hertfordshire JPs 1799-1833
Hertfordshire Game Licences 1799-1805
Hertfordshire Sessions Vol 9 PtA 1799-1816
Hertfordshire Gamekeepers 1799-1805
Hertfordshire Misc. Docs. Relating to Roads 1799-1830
St Albans Sessions Records, Pt B 1800-1840
Hertfordshire Dissenters & Papists 1800-1831
Hertfordshire Non-Conformist Chapels and Meeting Houses 1805-1832
Holden Hertfordshire Directory 1811
Hertfordshire Petty Sessions Convictions 1812-1818
Herts Sessions Records Vol2C 1815-1850
Hertfordshire Vagrants1816-1820
Herfordshire Sessions Records Vol 9B 1817-1826
Hertfordshire Sacrament Certificates 1825-1828
Herfordshire Sessions Records Vol 9C 1826-1833
St Albans Corporation Minutes PtA 1835-1889
Pigot Hertfordshire Directory 1839
Williams Watford Directory 1883-4
Pigot Huntingdonshire Directory 1830
Kent (West) Poll Book 1837
Preston (Lancs) Mayors 1327-1898
Lancashire Worthies 1399-1821
Whittington Parish Register part B 1538-1692
Aughton Parish Churchwardens 1552-1893
Liverpool Officers 1568-1789
Preston Hearth Tax 1663
Whittington Parish Register part A 1691-1764
Everton levies 1692-1724
Preston Court Leet Extracts 1700-1813
Lancashire Catholic Estates Register 1715
Everton copyholders 1715
Lancashire Wills PtB 1748-1792
Manchester Court Leet PtE 1756-1786
Heaton Norris Baptisms 1769-1845
Heaton Norris Burials 1769-1845
Lancashire Manufacturers and Whitsters 17721
Raffald Manchester and Salford Directory 1772
Manchester Court Leet PtD 1787-1805
Lewis Manchester & Salford Directory, 1788
Lewis Lancashire Traders & Magistrates 1788
Universal Lancashire Directory 1793-8
Lancashire Wills 1793-1812
Bancks Manchester & Salford Directory 1800
Manchester Court Leet PtC 1806-1820
Holden Lancashire Directory 1811
Rogerson Bolton Directory 1818
Manchester Court Leet PtB 1820-1832
Pigot & Dean Bolton directory 1821
Baines Lancashire Directory 1824
Baines Liverpool Directory 1824
Baines Manchester & Salford Directory 1825
Baines Lancashire Gentry & Traders 1825
Baines Lancashire Directory 1825
Pigot Lancashire Directory 1828
Everton inhabitants 1830
Manchester Court Leet PtA 1832-1846
Pigot Bolton directory 1836
Slater Bolton directory 1843
Rossall School Staff 1844-1938
Whellan Bolton directory 1853
Bennett's Lancashire North Business Directory 1909
Manchester Grammar School Roll of Honour 1914-1917
Lancashire Biographies 1917
Lincoln Mayors & Sheriffs 1864-1925
Lincolnshire Ads 1923-1927
Kelly Lincolnshire Directory 1926
Pigot Lincolnshire Directory 1830
London Marylebone Marriages 1809-1813
Pigot Middlesex Directory 1839
Harrow Hearth Tax 1675
Harrow & Environs Taxpayers 1642
London & Middx Taverns 1636
Edmonton Survey 1650
Barnet Association 1792
Middx Session Records Vol3 1615-1616
Middlesex Judges, Justices & Jurors, 1615-1616
Middx Session Records Vol3C 1603-1616
Norfolk Who's Who 1935
Chase Norwich Directory 1783
Pigot Northamptonshire Directory 1830
Nottingham Officers 1625 - 1701
Nottingham Burgesses PtB 1760-1800
White Nottinghamshire Directory 1832
Nottinghamshire Marriages Vol19 1558-1837
White Nottinghamshire directory 1832
Nottingham Borough Records Vol4A 1547-1625
Nottingham Burgesses 1702-60
Nottingham Borough Records Vol6A 1702-1734
Nottingham Borough Records Vol6B 1734-1760
Nottingham Borough Mayors, Aldermen, Councillors etc 1702-1760
Pigot Rutland Directory 1835
Middleton Scriven (Shropshire) Parish Register 1728-1811
Great Ness Parish Register Part D 1788-1837
High Ercall Parish Register Part 1 1585-1651
Great Ness Parish Register Part A 1598-1640
Great Ness Parish Register Part B 1651-1699
Great Ness Parish Register Part C 1700-1787
Deuxhill & Glazeley Parish Register 1654-1812
West Bromwich (Staffordshire) Notes and Extracts 1400-1882
West Bromwich Prominent Families 1086-1881
West Bromwich Churchwardens' Books 1678-1872
West Bromwich Churchwardens 1678-1771
Lapley Parish Register PtB 1668-1756
Lapley Parish Register PtA 1538-1668
Wednesfield Parish Register 1751-1837
Birmingham Gazette 29 October 1931
Surrey Advertisements 1880
Church's Sutton Directory 1880
Sussex Who's Who 1935
Lewes Town Book, Vol.3B 1872-1900
Sussex Deeds 1419-1865
Lewes Town Book, Vol3A 1837-1872
Lewes Town Book, Vol2B 1800-1837
Chichester Minute Book 1783-1826
Lewes Town Book, Vol2A 1702-1800
Warwickshire Monumental Brasses 1401-1748
Warwickshire's Eminent Men 1554-1781
Birmingham Blue Coat School Benefactors 1722-1859
Showell's Birmingham Obituaries, 1740-1885
Birmingham Directory 1777
Birmingham officials 1805-1817
Holden Warwickshire Directory 1811
Wrightson Birmingham Directory 1818
Pigot's Warwickshire Directory 1835
Pigot's Birmingham Directory 1835
Warwickshire Gentry & Officers 1840-1850
Rugby School Masters and Trustees 1851-1891
Birmingham Deaf & Dumb Institution Report 1860
Birmingham Blue Coat School Report 1860
Kelly Warwickshire Directory 1863
White Warwickshire Directory 1874
Warwickshire Gentry, Clergy & Officers 1874
Warwickshire Directory 1874
Warwickshire Adverts 1880-1889
Kelly Warwickshire Directory 1884
Warwickshire Magistrates 1884
Warwickshire WWI War Graves 1914-1920
Warwickshire & Birmingham Trade Directory 1939
Bennett's Westmoreland Business Directory 1909
Marlborough (Wiltshire) College Staff 1843-1933
Kirk Ella (Yorkshire) Parish Register PtD 1558-1695
Leeds Grammar School Register Pt1 1566-1815
Pickhill-cum-Roxby Marriages, Part 1 1567-1705
Pickhill-cum-Roxby baptisms Pt1 1571-1688
Pickhill-cum-Roxby Burials 1576-1606
Collingham Parish Register PtA 1579-1695
Eston Parish Register 1A 1590-1637
York, St Mary Castlegate Parish Register PtE 1604-1650
Pickhill-cum-Roxby burials, Part 2 1607-1670
Hickleton Parish Register 1626-1812
Leeds Grammar School Masters and Teachers 1626-1896
Eston Parish Register 1B 1638-1720
Heslington Parish Register, PtA 1639-1759
Blacktoft register extract 1639
Eston Ministers 1645-1919
York, St Mary Castlegate Parish Register PtD 1650-1705
Settrington Parish Register Vol2&3 1653-1757
Brantingham Parish Register PtB 1653-1720
Scorborough Parish Register 1653-1800
Leeds Hearth Tax 1663
Pickhill-cum-Roxby Burials, Part 3 1671-1750
Yorkshire North Riding Oaths Allegiance 1689-1702
Pickhill-cum-Roxby baptisms, Part 2 1689-1794
Rothwell Parish Register PtA 1690-1716
Kirk Ella Parish Register PtC 1695-1721
Blacktoft Parish Register 1700-1812
Yorkshire North Riding Oaths Allegiance 1702-1714
York, St Mary Castlegate Parish Register PtC 1705-1774
Pickhill-cum-Roxby Marriages, Part 2 1707-1812
Huggate Register PtA 1708-1812
Yorkshire North Riding Oaths Allegiance 1715-1716
Brantingham Parish Register PtA 1717-1812
Sheffield Parish Register Vol6A 1720-1736
Sheffield Parish Register Vol6B 1720-1736
Eston Parish Register 1C 1721-1788
Collingham Parish Register PtB 1721-1837
Kirk Ella Parish Register PtB 1722-1782
Bolton-by-Bolland Parish Register PtB 1725-1773
Yorkshire North Riding Indentures PtA 1740-1754
Yorkshire North Riding Sessions Orders 1750-1753
Pickhill-cum-Roxby, Burials Part 4 1751-1812
Bolton-by-Bolland Parish Register PtA 1754-1812
Settrington Parish Register, Vol4 1754-1812
Heslington Parish Register, PtB 1759-1837
Yorkshire North Riding Oaths of Abjuration 1766-1791
Yorkshire North Riding Sessions Minutes 1769-1778
York, St Mary Castlegate Parish Register PtB 1773-1812
Kirk Ella Parish Register PtA 1775-1842
Yorkshire North Riding Catholic Oaths Allegiance 1778-1808
Eston Parish Register 2 1788-1812
Yorkshire Dissenting Protestant Preachers, North Riding 1791-181813
Pickhill-cum-Roxby Baptisms, Part 3 1795-1812
Leeds Directory 1798
Pickhill-cum-Roxby Terriers 1799-1853
Holden Yorkshire Directory 1811
York, St Mary Castlegate Parish Register PtA 1813-1837
Leeds Grammar School Admissions, Part A 1820-1859
Baines Yorkshire Directory 1822
Baines Yorkshire Directory 1823
Hull Poll Book 1830
Pigot Yorkshire Directory 1834
Yorkshire West Riding Poll Book 1835
Hull Poll Book 1835
Yorkshire Bankers and Yeomanry Corps 1845
Walker Halifax & Surrounds Directory 1845
Leeds Grammar School Admissions, Pt B 1860-1900

Canada Census Concerns

Gordon Watts in an article "Federal Government Destroys Value of Future Census", at http://globalgenealogy.com/globalgazette/gazgw/gazgw-0122.htm, expresses concern about the short form being adopted for the 2011 Canadian census, and the fact that there was no prior consultation with the historical or genealogical community.

In the 2011 short form you will be required to supply:

• Telephone number
• Address

For each resident

• Family name, Given Name
• Sex
• Exact date of birth, and age
• Marital Status
• Whether living common law
• Relationship to first person in household
• Language first learned (English, French, other)

Complaints about the census are hardly new and have usually been about it being too intrusive. Some early UK objections are recounted in "Why did some Victorians object to the census?" at http://quezi.com/11321 . Neither have complaints been restricted to the UK.
Many native groups rejected participation in the census in 1986, and reportedly had done so on previous occasions, http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=dL8yAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lO8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=1208,4449277&dq=census&hl=en.
In a 1983 column Don McGillvray opined on overly intrusive questions http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=6aMyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-u4FAAAAIBAJ&dq=census&pg=5836%2C3481262
In 1961 there was concern in Quebec about the ethnic origin question, see http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XPsxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3-QFAAAAIBAJ&pg=7282,867180&dq=census&hl=en.
We also have the Jedi census phenomenon, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jedi_census_phenomenon which brings the census into disrepute.

You're likely to be comfortable giving someone your name and address, and less comfortable telling them your salary or your religion, whether Jedi or not. The less intrusive the census the more likely people are to agree to the data being released, and in 2011 Canadians will have the option to decide whether they want their census responses to be released after 92 years.

Those protesting the government's decision should consider the likelihood that our descendants may well have more, not less information available as a result of adopting the short form.

Canada, Militia and Defence Forces Lists, 1832, 1863-1939

Ancestry.ca has released a searchable compilation of the publications:

• Canada. Department of Militia and Defence. The Militia List. Ottawa: Queen’s Printer, 1863–1929. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
• Canada. Department of National Defence. Defence Forces List, Canada (naval, military, and air forces). Ottawa: King’s Printer, 1930–1939. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
• Liste de la milice du Bas-Canada pour 1832. Quebec: Fréchette, 1832. Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

"The publications included in this data collection make up a fairly comprehensive list of Canadian military officers for almost 80 years. The books are primarily printed lists of Canadian officers—no enlisted men are included—and note details such as name, rank, unit, dates and places of service, and dates of promotion, transfer, and possibly retirement. Some may also include a date of birth and other personal details, and some have indexes in the back. The lists are an excellent resource for following a military ancestor’s career and are also useful for tracing the careers of British officers in Canada or a Canadian officer serving in England."

ACC Omnibus Edition: Canada Day Special

Happy Canada Day

In this omnibus issue:

WVR Australia taken over by FMP
The Times Digital Archive via BANQ
London Lives (1690-1800)
Attn LAC: Being Accountable
Family Chronicle: July/Aug 2010
Self Publishing
Canada's Constitution on Display

WVR Australia taken over by FMP
As of the end of May the website for World Vital Records (Australia) is taken over by Find My Past (Australia). The new FindMyPast.com.au website has 35 million records for Australia, New Zealand, Pacific Islands and Papua New Guinea. Look for Australian directories, government gazettes, post office directories and other publications.

The Times Digital Archive via BANQ
A surprise to me is that residents of Quebec who register with the Library and Archives of Quebec (BANQ) gain free remote access to the Times Digital Archive, 1785-1985, something not accessible at Ontario libraries, or even Library and Archives Canada. The digital archives of the Globe and Mail are only available at BANQ physical locations.

London Lives (1690-1800)
If you had ancestors in London prior to 1820 try a search on the free fully searchable London Lives database www.londonlives.org/of 240,000 manuscripts from eight archives and fifteen datasets, giving access to 3.35 million names. Crime, poverty, and illness; apprenticeship, work, politics and money; how people voted, lived and died; all this and more can be found in these documents.

Attn LAC: Being Accountable
At a telephone conference call of the former LAC Services Advisory Board members we learned that the organization intends re-instituting the Board, with a goal of having the new and renewed members in place by September. That reflects the organization view that the Board has been helpful.
The imperative for the composition to be Politically Correct, with regions and client groups adequately represented, means that the Board grew to more than 30 members, which is both expensive and unwieldy. It was all too easy for client issues that LAC management deemed to be lower priority to be buried. An example is the issue of Canadian Pacific employee files held in Calgary, raised as something LAC should attempt to acquire on numerous occasions, only to be repeatedly ignored.
Further, because the Board met infrequently the agenda tended to the strategic. That's not necessarily bad although deliberation sometimes got lost in governmental gobbledygook. What was missing was a mechanism to deal with smaller more operational, and sometimes niggling, issues. At TNA this is addressed through a Users Forum, with minutes and supporting documents placed on the organization website www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/get-involved/user-forum-meetings.htm. If LAC wants to be more responsive to its clients this is the model for a mechanism it might well adopt.

Family Chronicle: July/Aug 2010
The new issue of Moreshead Magazine's flagship publication arrived on Tuesday. The feature article, highlighted with a cover photo, is "Researching Civil War Ancestors: locating records for lesser-known battles and skirmishes". The issue has articles on the US Federal Census, Revolutionary War Service, and Social Security Applications so should sell well from US news-stands.

On US records, I notice that Ancestry have updated their U.S. Compiled Revolutionary War Military Service Records, 1775-1783 database, and added the Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files, 1800-1900.

Self Publishing
Popular Ontario genealogist-entrepreneur Rick Roberts spoke on self-publishing at the Upper Canada Book Fair last weekend. You can review his slides at http://globalgenealogy.com/pdf/perth2010.pdf along with additional information on ISBN and CIP. Rick will likely be repeating some of the information in a pre-conference session he is giving at the BIFHSGO conference, 10-12 September 2010, www.bifhsgo.ca.

Canada's Constitution on Display
On Canada Day Canada's constitution goes on rare display from 10am to 3pm at 395 Wellington. Could this be a prelude to a permanent display of this and other national historic documents, in the same way that TNA exhibit the Domesday Book and other historic documents.

ACC Special: Ancestry FREE offer

If you're not an Ancestry subscriber, consider taking advantage of this offer which appears to be restricted to the 1911 census. www.ancestry.ca/canadaday?o_xid=37725&o_lid=37725
You do have to register.

More Chelsea Pensioner Records Online

In this omnibus issue:

More Chelsea Pensioner Records Online
Ice Cream for ALL, please
More on Western Canadian Directories
Welsh Immigrant Makes Good
Summer Birth Lucky!

More Chelsea Pensioner Records Online
This week findmypast.co.uk added 96,464 Chelsea Pensioners records for the period 1855-1872 to the almost 507,000 Chelsea Pensioners records in total on the site.

Ice Cream for ALL, please
Have you seen the ad running on TV where new client kid is offered an ice cream, but it's refused to existing client kid? Apparently that's the tactic being employed by Ancestry in the UK in offering 25% discounts for Ancestry subscriptions to National Trust members, but only for new subscriptions.

This is one of many items, including a link to this blog (thank you Peter), in the latest Lost Cousins newsletter available at http://lostcousins.com/newsletters/latejun10news.htm

More on Western Canadian Directories
For those wondering about Saskatchewan and Manitoba directories, not mentioned in my last blog posting, take a look at the listings linked from www.daveobee.com/.

Welsh Immigrant Makes Good
Australia has a new Prime Minister. Julia Gillard is that country's first female prime minister. Her parents, John and Moira Gillard, left Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan as "Ten Pound Poms" with their two daughters in 1966 when she was age five.

Summer Birth Lucky!
From the My Heritage blog comes a posting http://blog.myheritage.com/2010/06/can-date-of-birth-affect-personality/. The abstract of the original article reports the finding that "In both genders and in all age groups, birth during the summer half-year was associated with significantly higher belief in being lucky, as compared to birth during the winter half-year, with a maximum around birth in May and a minimum around birth in November."

ACC: Historical Canadian Directories Online, and more

In this omnibus issue:

Ancestry Adds Historical Canadian Directories
British Columbia City Directories
Alberta City Directories
FreeBMD Update
British Soldiers in the Boer War and at Waterloo
Drouin Collection Free
Upper Canada in 1832
Which Browser
Measure Distance on Google Maps
New Ottawa City Archives Update

Ancestry Adds Historical Canadian Directories
Ancestry.ca has issued a press release announcing "the completion of Canadian City and Area Directories, 1819-1906, a rich collection of more than 150,000 pages of historical records, the largest collection of historic Canadian directories available online. The collection includes the names of more than 7 million Canadians who lived during this 87- year-period of national growth.

The first release of City and Area Directories by Ancestry.ca in October of 2008 contained nearly 20,000 pages of records and 5.2 million names. Today’s completion adds a staggering 134,000 pages of records.

Almost anyone with an ancestor who lived in a Canadian town or city during the period from 1819 to 1906 will find an ancestor in the collection."

The breakdown of records by region with the number of original pages for each is: Ontario (84,059), Quebec (33,201), Nova Scotia (12,566), New Brunswick (11,051), National and Multi-Province (6,201), Manitoba (2,514), British Columbia (2,016), Newfoundland (1,194), Prince Edward Island (927), Alberta (16). For Ontario the collection is vastly expanded from just seven directories previously, to more than 50 for Toronto alone.

British Columbia City Directories
A post on the CanadaGenealogy, or, 'Jane's Your Aunt' blog http://canadagenealogy.blogspot.com/2010/06/bc-digitization-session-june-2010.html sent me off looking at projects underway in the BC History Digitization Program at www.ikebarberlearningcentre.ubc.ca/ps/BCDigitInfo.html

While not all of the project were that inspired I was pleased to note some newspaper digitization projects and the Vancouver Public Library's collection of digitized British Columbia city directories dates from 1860 up to and including 1915 at www.vpl.ca/bccd/index.php
That's a nice complement to the Ancestry collection which has only five Vancouver directories.

Alberta Directories
The Ancestry release only has one Alberta directory, for Calgary in 1885. There is a good collection of the province's directories, although for a later period, at peel.library.ualberta.ca/henderson.html. A tip of the hat to Heather Oakley for including this in her Interesting Websites column in The Ottawa Genealogist; it's one of the few things I miss in not being an OGS member.

FreeBMD Update
The June FreeBMD database update was installed on Monday. The database currently contains 186,909,894 distinct records (238,405,388 total records). There is the usual sprinkling of corrections and additions throughout the database. The main additions are for the 1930s and 1940s with work starting on the 1950s.

British Soldiers in the Boer War and at Waterloo
Ancestry has added "UK, Casualties of the Boer War, 1899-1902" with Force, Regiment, Battalion, Battery/Corps, Rank, Name, Casualty type, date, and place information on over 65,000 soldiers who either died or were wounded during the conflict. Information on 453 Canadians is included.

UK, Waterlpo Medal Role, 1815, contains information extracted from the Waterloo Medal Book (original at The National Archives, reference MINT 16/112) on soldiers who fought at Waterloo, as well as to those in preceding actions at Ligny and Quatre Bras. It was given to approximately 39,009 men and effectively forms a roll call of Wellington’s army. Information in this database includes: Name of soldier, Title, Rank, Regiment, Sub Unit, Fate.

Drouin Collection Free
Ancestry.ca is giving three days of free access to the fully searchable indexes for the historic Drouin Collection on the occasion of Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day. Many people of UK origin living in Ontario as well as Quebec may be found in Drouin.

Upper Canada 1832
If you're looking for contextual material you may find something of interest in "Statistical sketches of Upper Canada: for the use of emigrants (1832)" www.archive.org/details/cihm_32368

Which Browser
Is your web browser up to date? If not you may have problems with some of the genealogy sites you visit. Ancestry recommends Firefox 3 for both Windows and Macintosh as well as Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 for Windows. As of June 2009 Ancestry is no longer optimized for Internet Explorer 6, and support for Internet Explorer 8 is not yet complete. 32 % of visitors to this blog use Firefox3.6; 28% use IE7.0 and 17% use IE8.0.

Measure Distance on Google Maps
I use Google Maps a lot for locating places in my family history and examining the geographic context. One thing I've missed is a distance measurement tool which is available on Google Earth. Now Google Maps Labs has added a tool which when activated adds a small ruler at the bottom of the map. Click on the ruler and you'll be able to use the distance measurement tool by clicking on the map and tracing the path you want to measure.

New Ottawa City Archives Update
I took pictures at the new building on 22 June. Unfortunately it's not quite as well along as depicted in this artists impression on a billboard at the site.

TNA Labs, and more

In this omnibus edition:

TNA Labs
Lost Cousins Newsletter, census edition
LAC Awards
UK WDYTYA celebrities
OGS Blog
BIFHSGO News
The Upper Canada Book Fair

TNA Labs
The (UK) National Archives Labs is a new test area for prototypes of online resources. Currently it includes three areas:

UK history photo finder allows you to search and view digitised historical photographs of the UK and Ireland. Starting with the Dixon-Scott collection, which holds more than 14,000 photographs taken in the 1920s-1940s.

Valuation Office Survey maps of England and Wales from 1910 to 1915 allows you to search for a particular name within a large number of records from the TNA collection. You can and identify and order items from nearly 50,000 Valuation Office Survey maps.

Person search, still in development, permits searching for a particular name within a large number of records from the TNA collection including a number of First World War records, Royal Navy records, criminal registers, law suits, wills and pension records.

LostCousins Newsletter, census edition
The latest newsletter from LostCousins includes items on:What DID happen to the 1931 Census? Is the 1921 Census in good condition? When will the 1911 Scotland census be released? Read it at
http://lostcousins.com/newsletters/jun10news.htm

LAC Awards

National Public Service Week, was June 13 to 19. Congratulations to the publicly anonymous front-line employees of Library and Archives Canada who were recognized at a ceremony at the Gatineau Preservation Center last Thursday for providing exceptional service.

UK WDYTYA Celebrities
If you've never heard of most of the celebrities who will be appearing in the eighth series of the BBC TV program "Who Do You Think You Are?" you're not alone. The BBC announcement talks about "TV legend Bruce Forsyth", hardly a household name in North America. Others are film star Rupert Everett, gardening presenter Monty Don, soap star turned pop singer Jason Donovan and actors Robert Penry Jones and Alexander Armstrong. The lack of name recognition is undoubtedly why the British series hasn't been picked up in North America.

Putting the shoe somewhat on the other foot, here's a British perspective on the US version of WDYTYA, the Sarah Jessica Parker episode, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/7826465/Who-Do-You-Think-You-Are-BBC-One-review.html

OGS Blog
As of 14 June the Ontario Genealogical Society has a new blog. There are lots of postings. Can they keep up the pace? Check it out at www.ogs.on.ca/ogsblog/

BIFHSGO News
The Society Annual General meeting held on Saturday 19 June 2010 saw the presentation of awards and election of a new Board.

The award for best article in Anglo Celtic Roots was presented to Carol Annett. Best presentation by a member at a monthly meeting during the year, based on a vote by the membership, went to Glenn Wright for his presentation at the February meeting "Just Names on a List? Let's Take Another Look at Passenger Manifests"

Glenn Wright was also named to the BIFHSGO Hall of Fame in recognition of his many contributions to family history and the society.

Four new directors and the new president were elected. The new President is ... you guessed it ... Glenn Wright.

The Upper Canada Book Fair
The 26th and 27th of June will see the Upper Canada Book Fair, held at the Ecoty Education Centre, near Perth, Ontario. A full schedule of talks and panel discussions is set for both days, including lectures by most of the 20 or so authors who will be attending with copies of their books for sale. Author/speakers in attendance include Rick Roberts, Janet Uren, Edwinna von Baeyer, Dianne Graves, Charlotte Gray and more. Admission is $15 for one day, $25 for both http://ecotay.com/upper-canada-book-fair-programme/

ACC Special: 16 June 2010: SCGS Jamboree Wrapup

In this issue:

Pier 21
BIFHSGO Monthly Meeting and AGM
Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree Wrap-up

Pier 21
On Monday, the House of Commons voted unanimously to designate Pier 21 as Canada’s national immigration museum. More at: http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/1187383.html

BIFHSGO Monthly Meeting and AGM
Starting at 9am on Saturday June 19 at Library and Archives Canada the meeting will highlight
GREAT MOMENTS IN GENEALOGY presentations by BIFHSGO Members:

"Miracles Do Happen" by Shirely-Ann Pyefinch
"Finding Uncle Bernard or How Not To Do Genealogy" by George Swift
"Lily, Thistle, Fur and Feather: The Ancestry of Flore Couvrette" by Carol Annett
"The Importance of Being Ernest" by Chris McPhail
"Albert Edward Weir, Adopted Son: The Search for His Parents" by Patricia McGregor

Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree Wrap-up
Here are thoughts on the talks I heard at the Jamboree held in Burbank from 11 to 13 June 2010.

Friday

Kathryn Hope Borges, who is director and co-founder of the International Society of Genetic Genealogy, spoke on "Exploring Your Surname" including formation of surnames, understanding the surname, one name studies, and DNA studies. I was fortunate to be able to sit down with her after the presentation to discuss DNA, and especially autosomal DNA analysis. She helped establish a link to a DNA cousin of mine.

Arlene Eakle, a founder of the Association of Professional Genealogists, spoke on migration patterns into the central US showing how ethnic migration was often highly geographically circumscribed, otherwise termed chain migration. Her's was the only presentation I attended that did not use PowerPoint.

Saturday

Suzanne Russo Adams from Ancestry.com in a crowded session spoke on what's new on Ancestry.

Bennett Greenspan, founder of Family Tree DNA gave an overview of the company autosomal test called Family Finder. By the first week of July he expects to provide a percent origin figures for DNA, later an X-DNA browser, and in the fourth quarter a new analysis tool - likely one that will identify people who match on a specific DNA segment. Unlike 23andMe he was unwilling to give information on the number of clients the company has for its autosomal testing.Throughout the Jamboree the company exhibit was always busy.

Joanna L Mountain spoke on 23andMe's autosomal testing for genealogical purposes. The company now has about 40,000 clients, about 20,000 of North European origin, that's for health and genealogical interests combined. They will soon be providing more refined analysis on ethnic and national origin.

Shelley Talalay Dardashti lectured on DNA projects showing many Ashkanazi Eastern European Jews were of Iberian Sephardic origin.

Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak gave a new presentation "Neglected History" on some of bit players in American history that she has been researching.

Sunday

Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak spoke on her research on unclaimed persons, people found dead whose relatives are being sought by county coroners. See www.unclaimedpersons.com, www.unclaimedpersons.org, and two year old Facebook group which has tackled 240 cases in two years with 185 of them resolved.

Lisa Louise Cooke reviewed strategies to find living relatives. She mentioned that social networks are fast becoming a prime source for tracing the living. In a separate conversation with Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak she commented that the greater availability of state civil registration records, despite the pressures of overzealous privacy advocates, was the greatest advance in this field in the past year.

Ron Arons, who appeared for most of the conference in a convict suit, told a "putting flesh on the bones" story about researching his great-grandfather who served in Sing Sing convicted of bigamy.

Curt Witcher from the Allan County Public Library spoke on WorldCat.

I'd have to judge the jamboree a significant success. Well over 1600 people registered, and with speakers and exhibitors the number was probably close to 2000 making it the second-largest family history event in the USA. There was a considerable blogger presence, many of them sitting together blogging. Presentations from the two major providers of autosomal DNA analysis services for genealogy was a significant attraction. Genetic genealogy has suddenly come of age. Words are from vendors was that they generally had a successful event, commercially encouraging following similar success at the NGS and OGS conferences

ACC Special: 13 June 2010

I'm attending the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree in Burbank and enjoying the company of other genealogy bloggers, DNA enthusiasts and other family historians. About 1600 people are attending in a facility which allows for at least eight parallel sessions, a large marketplace and lots of casual meeting areas.

The meeting is exceptionally well organized by the Southern California Genealogical Society, which has no paid staff, yet puts on this large conference each year. I suspect that profits from the jamboree allow the Society to keep membership fees low, much lower than, say, the Ontario Genealogical Society.

Several Canadians are participating including Ed Zapletal and Rick Cree from Moorshead Magazines; and multi-talented Dave Obee who is most recently author of Destination Canada. Louise St-Denis from the National Society for Genealogical Studies is giving several presentations on Canadian topics.

As is common with US conferences I have attended the basic registration fees are kept low by not offering free refreshments, minimizing and generating revenue from additional cost lectures, breakfasts, banquets, advertising, etc.

Amongst the most interesting topics were two talks by rival autosomal DNA testing companies, 23andMe and Family Tree DNA. Both announced no cost extensions to their offerings giving new or additional information on geographic or ethnic origin.

Free access to Findmypast: World Cup Special

An interesting announcement of a very limited time offer from Findmypast. The first England game is Saturday against the USA. We all know who we want to win don't we!

CALLING ALL WORLD CUP WIDOWS AND WIDOWERS!

The World Cup is now upon us and we thought it would only be fair to provide some entertainment for any non-football fans out there:

Whenever England play a match, you'll be able to access all our records for free!*

What you need to know about this fantastic offer:

- When England play, you don't pay: 30 minutes before each England game kicks off, all the records on findmypast.co.uk will be free to view for 3 hours

- You can view original images and transcriptions of all our records for free including birth, marriage and death records 1538-2006, census records including the 1911 census and our Chelsea Pensioners British Army Service Records 1760-1913 - to name just a few

- Normally you would need a subscription or PayAsYouGo credits to view our records - some of which normally cost 30 credits each - so to be able to see them for free is a rare opportunity

- Keep an eye on our blog for a competition question to enter during each England match. You'll need to answer all the questions correctly for a chance to win, so make sure you don't miss any. The prize is a goodie bag containing a digital camera, vouchers for a year's Full subscription plus much more

All you need to do to make use of this unique offer is register on findmypast.co.uk as you'll need to sign in to view the records. Visit our World Cup page for more information.

If you need a helping hand with your research, take a look at our video tutorials or our Getting Started page which provide clear advice on how to use our records.

We'd love to hear about any discoveries you make while our records are free to view - post anything you'd like to share with us and our readers on our Facebook page.

Please pass this on to friends, family or anyone else you think might want to make the most of our free family history records.

*All records available using our Full subscription (including the 1911 Census) will be free: Living Relatives searches and Memorial scrolls are not included.

ACC Omnibus Edition: 9 June 2010 Nova Scotia Vital Records .. and more

In this issue:
Family Tree DNA special offer on Y-DNA tests
Deceasedonline.com adds more than 50,000 English records
Nova Scotia Vital Record Indexes at Ancestry
How Time Flys
arti-FACTS: Antiques and Heritage Preservation Day
Beechwood Cemetery Walking Tour

Family Tree DNA Special Offer on Y-DNA tests
FTDNA has promotional prices for the following tests until June 25 in conjunction with the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree. Kits need to be paid for by June 30, 2010.
Y-DNA37 for $119 (Regular price would be $149)
Y-DNA67 for $199 (Regular price would be $239)
Y-DNA37+mtDNA for $159 (Combined test would cost $238)
Info is at www.familytreedna.com/group-join.aspx?code=D37109&Group=SCGS

Deceasedonline.com adds more than 50,000 English records
Before the end of July, around 243,000 burial records going back to the late 18th century will be added to www.deceasedonline.com comprising computerised records, digital scans of burial registers and details of grave contents. As well as additions in Aberdeen already mentioned look for:

• In Salcombe in the South Hams district of Devon, 2,100 records from Shadycombe Cemetery, opened in 1879, and 1,000 burial records from Bonfire Hill Cemetery, opened in 1941.
  
• 40,000 records from Newark Cemetery in Nottinghamshire, opened in 1856, which includes a large area and memorial dedicated to Polish soldiers and military stationed in the UK during WW2.
• From the London Borough of Brent, Carpender’s Park Cemetery, located near Watford in Hertfordshire, approximately 10,250 burial records for this relatively new cemetery opened in 1954.

Currently 12 councils have placed their records onto Deceased Online and it is expected that this will rise to over 20 by the end of the year. It is estimated that there will be approximately 4 million burial and cremation records on the website by the end of 2010 and this is expected to grow to around 10 million at the end of 2011.

Nova Scotia Vital Record Indexes at Ancestry
Indexes to Nova Scotia Births, 1836-1907, Marriages, 1763-1932, and Deaths, 1864-1877, 1890-1957 are now available to Ancestry.ca subscribers. To use the facility you have to agree to additional non-disclosure terms. As with England and Wales, indexes only are available. Full certificates have to be purchased from the government agency which can be done through a direct link from Ancestry.

How Time Flys
On 10 June 2009 Ancestry.ca announced the world-first online launch of the historical Canadian Censuses, 1851-1916, with 32 million names.

arti-FACTS: Antiques and Heritage Preservation Day
On Saturday June 12, 2010, from 11am to 3pm, the Canadian Association for Conservation is holding an event at Library and Archives Canada. Attendees will learn how to store, handle, and care for antiques as well as what conservation and restoration treatments are available. Bring in your antiques for a personalized consultation by a professional conservator. More than half a dozen experts with various specialities will be available. Appraisals are not being provided. Admission is $5.

This event is being held on the final day of the Canadian Association for Conservation annual conference, this year being held in Ottawa from June 10-12. There is more information on the conference at www.cac-accr.ca/english/e-CAC-conference.asp

Beechwood Cemetery Walking Tour
Sunday, June 13, 2010 2:00 p.m.
Theme: Photographers of Ottawa
Admission is free

ACC Omnibus Edition: 6 June 2010: Beyond Google, and more

In this issue:

Search Engines for Genealogy: Going Beyond Google
Most Popular Genealogy Software
1901 Irish Census Now Online
Yet More Chelsea Pensioners Records
Lancashire Businesses Online
Ancestry Adds Dunfermline Journal, 1851-1931
Re-activate ScotlandsPeople credits
Abbreviations Used in Canadian Military Service Files

Search Engines for Genealogy: Going Beyond Google
A useful article from the new My Heritage blog covers search engines Wolfram Alpha, Blinkx, Boardreader, and Colleacta. They won't supplant Google, but do supplement it for some specialized searches.
http://blog.myheritage.com/2010/06/genealogy-search-engines-going-beyond-google/

Most Popular Genealogy Software
The Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree gets underway on Friday and as a prelude the organizers collected a variety of information from registrants. Family Tree Maker remains the most popular genealogy software, mentioned by 21.5% of registrants responding. Next amongst the stand-alone dedicated genealogy programs is Legacy Family Tree (10%) and RootsMagic (7.4%). However, Ancestry Online Family Trees, word processing and spreadsheet software were each mentioned more than Legacy. See the full result at:
http://genealogyjamboree.blogspot.com/2010/06/jamboree-factoid-software-programs-used.html


1901 Irish Census Now Online
Long awaited, the complete name indexed 1901 census of Ireland is now available at: www.census.nationalarchives.ie
According to www.rte.ie/news/2010/0602/1901census.html since the 1911 Census was put on the internet three years ago, just under seven million visits have been recorded to the website.

Yet More Chelsea Pensioners Records
Almost 100,000 new Chelsea Pensioners British Army Service Records, for 1855-1872, are added to findmypast.co.uk. You can now search 96,434 records and 437,825 images for this period. This new batch of records brings the total amount of Chelsea Pensioners records and images on findmypast.co.uk to 506,870 records and 3,196,935 images.

Lancashire Businesses Online
The University of Manchester has placed the records of 3000 small businesses between 1760 and 1820 online- most relating to Manchester and Liverpool. You can search via name, business and document for your grocer or wheelwright ancestor and read documents related to them. www.northwestfamilybusiness.arts.manchester.ac.uk/Intro.aspx

Ancestry Adds Dunfermline Journal, 1851-1931
This is a page image database for the Dunfermline Journal, the main local newspaper of Dunfermline, Scotland, dating from 1851-1931. There is no full text search capability. The issues available are monthly from 1851 to 1862. 1863 to 1871 is missing, and the subsequent issues are weekly.

Re-activate ScotlandsPeople credits
ScotlandsPeople is offering all customers who have existing credits in their account the opportunity to re-activate and use the credits at no cost through the use of a voucher code. Use the free voucher code SCOTLANDSPEOPLE which will re-set the credit expiry to 90 days in their account. Customers may use this voucher any time until 1.00 p.m. on Thursday 17th June, 2010. The voucher may only be used once in each account. For information on how to use the voucher code go to www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/content/help/index.aspx?1359

Abbreviations Used in Canadian Military Service Files
Puzzled by a military abbreviation? If its in a Canadian Military Service file a new webpage developed by the Genealogy Services of Library and Archives Canada can likely help. See: www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-909.011-e.html.

ACC Omnibus Edition 2 June 2010

In this issue:

A.COM May Update
FindMyPast adds to Chelsea Pensioners' Service Records Online
TNA Podcast: Lost London Pubs
Local Studies: Historical Content - Ottawa and Environs

A.COM May Update
Ancestry.com followed the rest of the market down in May, falling from $20.20 at the start of the trading month to close the month at $16.87. It fell as low as $15.49 on May 25. There was some favourable market comment on May 23 which may have helped the stock rebound. http://seekingalpha.com/article/206507-ancestry-com-the-future-of-history?source=yahoo

FindMyPast adds to Chelsea Pensioners' Service Records Online
findmypast.co.uk now have records for more than 500,000 Chelsea Pensioners' of the British Army between 1873-1900 available to search online . The records include servicemen born in the UK and throughout the world, including India and Jamaica.

TNA Podcast: Lost London Pubs
'Lost London pubs', recorded on February 20, 2010, looks back at the changing nature and purpose of pubs over the past 250 years, illustrated through speaker Jack Adams' own collection of books about pubs published during this period. This talk was recorded live at a conference; we apologise for any resulting distortion in sound quality.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/podcasts/lost-london-pubs.htm
The book "The Mysteries of London" mentioned toward the end of the talk can be read free online at www.victorianlondon.org/mysteries/mysteries-00-chapters.htm

Local Studies: Historical Content - Ottawa and Environs
Well hidden but worth finding in the new Ottawa Public Library website is a section compiled out of the Ottawa Room with resources categorized under the headings: Arts & Entertainment; Community; Economy; Festivals; General; Historical Buildings;Immigration/Settlement; Miscellaneous; People; Religion; Sports & Recreation; Transportation.

http://biblioottawalibrary.ca/en/main/interest/learn/local/workshop/historical