Sunday Sundries

 Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

Canada’s health care expensive and lagging behind OECD countries - based on a report from the Fraser Institute, so treat with caution.

How to search newspaper articles (and more) at BAnQ - a blog post by Dianne Nolin

Kelowna Courier: the paper, from its founding in 1904 until 1949, is now digitized and fully searchable.

Our Migration Story. An education-oriented website dealing with migration into the UK. 

The Ten Equations That Rule The World And How You Can Use Them Too - a podcast from the LSE.

Five CWGC Videos. Exploring the work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and its role in caring for the 1.7 million men and women who lost their lives during the two world wars.

The following two items make one ask ... why not in Canada?

Australia's National Archives signs $4.4m contract to digitise World War II service records

Australian Defence Force turns a page on its paper archives with mammoth digitisation project

Take 4:15: From the Canadian Brass.

Thanks to this week's contributors: Anonymous, BT,  S4Ottawa, Unknown, and Documentary Heritage News.

UK Honours and Awards

As a follow on to yesterday's post which highlighted the database Canadian Army Overseas Honours and Awards Citation Details I wondered if there's a UK Second World War equivalent.

There is, in WO 373 with the title War Office and Ministry of Defence: Military Secretary's Department: Recommendations for Honours and Awards for Gallant and Distinguished Service (Army)

Search and download — WO 373 is also available as part of the Digital Microfilm project.

It's not just for the UK. Searching keyword Canada finds 183 hits, Canadian 2,560. In addition keyword Ottawa finds 11 hits for service with the Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa, 14 for the Toronto Scottish Regiment.

I wondered about duplicates between the Canadian and UK databases. Searching for Gilchrist, the subject of yesterday's post, didn't find him in the UK collection. Information for Capt John Campbell Veits, also from Ottawa who was awarded the Military Cross, is available in both.

Viets, a barrister who went by the name Peter, died in a traffic accident in 1952 and is buried at Beechwood Cemetery.

Findmypast Weekly Update

 Warwickshire, Coventry Blitz, German Air Raids 1940-1941

On the 80th anniversary of the Coventry Blitz FMP adds lists of 2,471 casualties with names, addresses and more in a transcription of key information, plus an image of a contemporary typed casualty listing. 

There are five lists in all covering the air raid dates:

14th/15th November 1940 (568 killed)
7th January 1941 (6 killed)
8th/9th April 1941 (451 killed)
10th/11th April 1941 (101 killed)
4th/5th June 1941 (2 killed)

In each case, names and addresses are given, followed by details about where the person was treated. This might have been at a First Aid Post or at a hospital. Some people were treated and sent home, others were detained in hospital.

British Armed Forces, First World War Soldiers' Medical Records

Additional records giving the names of injured soldiers, military details, and where they were treated with admission and discharge records from over 20 hospitals, field ambulances, and casualty clearing stations during the First World War. The collection now totals 1,333,477 records from The National Archives’ series, MH106, War Office: First World War Representative Medical Records of Servicemen. I noticed several serving with Canadian forces; there is no nationality search.

National School Admission Registers & Log-Books 1870-1914

Over 17,000 more Yorkshire school records sourced from the Calderdale Family History Society are added to this collection which now has 9,246,566 records. Additions are for the following schools:

Brighouse National
Brookfoot
Clifton
Elland Edge
Greetland
Rastrick
Southowram

Yorkshire Baptisms

Over 6,000 new baptism records from St Simon’s Church, Sheffield added to this collection that now totals 9,193,484 baptisms, many with linked images.

Yorkshire Monumental Inscriptions

Over 4,600 more church records from the West Riding of Yorkshire for a new total 206,132 records. The churches covered are:

Charlestown, Hebden Bridge, Mount Olivet Chapel
Langfield, Mankinholes Chapel
Luddenden Foot, St Mary
Lumbutts, Free Methodist Chapel
Midgley, Methodist Providence Chapel
Mount Tabor, Moor End United Reform Church

Ancestry 40% Discount on 6 Month Membership

 

I've been burned before by publicizing Ancestry offers I get via email.

This one states clearly "Offers available until 11:59 p.m. ET on 15 Nov 2020 by following the links in this email only. 

I suspect the link has my information embedded so won't be good for anyone else, except that knowing of the offer you may be able to bargain for the same deal.

 

Lying for Canada

In his presentation last evening to Lambton Branch of the OGS Second World War-Researching the Canadian Fallen Ken McKinlay made mention of a publication that is now a database — Canadian Army Overseas Honours and Awards Citation Details. Its existence was news to me. It has entries for those who survived as well as the fallen.

To test it I tried a name I've recently been researching in the First World War — Gilchrist.

Charles Whitney Gilchrist was awarded the OBE in July 1945. Here's the detail.

However, there's more to the story given in the Brown's Beat column in the Ottawa Citizen of 28 June 1996, shortly after Gilchrist's death. 

In early 1945. some 90.000 battle-hardened troops, mainly Canadians, were quietly moved from Italy to the campaign in Holland. Deception was needed to keep German manpower committed to the Italian theatre. That was Gilchrist’sjob.

With hardly a Canadian left in Italy he labored away at the Maple Leaf for months, creating and publishing stories about the comings and goings of people who were no longer there.

Col. Strome Galloway says the success of Gilchrist’s invented news stories wasn’t fully appreciated until the end of the war. “Until we were identified in the Dutch campaign, the Germans thought we were still in Italy.’’

Gilchrist was given an Order of the British Empire, not just for lying, but for doing it well on a grand scale.

 Charles Whitney Gilchrist is interred at Capital Memorial Garden in Ottawa.

Ken has posted the handout accompanying his presentation at
https://familytreeknots.blogspot.com/2020/11/second-world-war-researching-canadian.html

Widening Horizons Webinar Series

The Guild of One-Name Studies, in cooperation with the Local Population Studies Society, has just completed a series of presentations with the umbrella title Widening Horizons —looking at ways of collecting, analyzing and interpreting data collected in the process of one-name or one-place studies, family history or local population analysis.  The data is based mainly on UK records, but records from other countries are cited where appropriate.

I've viewed two of the six listed at https://one-name.org/widening-horizons-webinar-series/. 

Mortality and Morbidity: a study of National Registration death certificates for two families 1837 to 2009, presented by veteran researcher Elizabeth E Green (don't be put off by a few technical glitches in the first half)

Identifying business proprietors from the census; and using the online Atlas on entrepreneurship by Professor Bob Bennett (University of Cambridge)

I'm looking forward to viewing 

Looking at single trees and whole orchards: how genealogists and demographers can work together, presented by Dr Eilidh Garrett

At present, the archived presentations appear to be available to view by non-members.

Ancestry adds Canada, Newspapers.com Obits Index, 1800s-current

This database consists of facts extracted from obituaries found in 87 Canadian newspapers on Newspapers.com™. 

The major papers are:

Victoria Times (-Colonist), 1885–2014
Vancouver Province, 1894–2020
Calgary Herald, 1888–2020
Edmonton Journal, 1903–2020
Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, 1902 - 2020
Regina Leader-Post, 1883–2020
Windsor Star, 1893 - 2020
Ottawa Citizen, 1846 - 2020
Ottawa Journal, 1885 - 1980
Montreal Gazette, 1857–2020

The 30,877,928 records count the deceased and those mentioned in the obit separately.

As shown by the bar chart for the number of entries in the decennial years, the database is particularly valuable toward the end of the 20th century when official records are not usually available.

Remembrance Day Services in Ottawa

At the National War Memorial, 100 invited guests will attend the ceremony this year. There will be no parade.

TV and radio will have coverage starting at about 10:45 a.m. The Royal Canadian Legion will stream the service at
https://www.legion.ca/remembrance/remembrance-day/the-national-ceremony

The Canadian War Museum will live stream a view of the light shining through Memorial Hall starting at 10:40 a.m. https://www.warmuseum.ca/remember/

The National Military Cemetery (Beechwood) Remembrance Day Ceremony will be streamed live at, facebook.com/NMCBeechwood, also starting at 10:45 a.m.

Workhouses

 

Seven stories about people on British workhouses from The Workhouse Network.

https://artsandculture.google.com/search/exhibit?p=the-workhouse-network

For BIFHSGO members of the London SIG, the topic for the meeting next Wednesday evening is poverty and the workhouse in London. Short presentations, 10 minutes, on the story of your workhouse ancestor(s) welcome.

FamilySearch Updates

Additions to FamilySearch this week include a start on three new Canadian collections.

Collection	New Indexed Records	Total Records
Alberta, Catholic Church Parish Registers, 1865-1916	692	692
Nova Scotia, Church and Civil Records, 1727-1884	870	870
Nova Scotia, Church and Civil Records, 1727-1884	870	870
Canada, New Brunswick, County Register of Births, 1801-1920	10,620	466,989
Manitoba Church Records, 1800-1959	324	11,216
Nova Scotia Church Records, 1720-2001	8,221	125,967
Ontario, Immigration Records, 1862-1897	8,888	8,533
England, Essex Non-Conformist Church Records, 1613-1971	1,070	78,070
England, Herefordshire Bishop's Transcripts, 1583-1898	4,584	1,138,270
England, Middlesex Parish Registers, 1539-1988	16,427	1,331,970

Further afield, 81 collections have a total of over 15 million records added, more than 12 million for the USA. The largest additions, with well over 3 million each, are United States City and Business Directories, ca. 1749 - ca. 1990 and, United States, New York Land Records, 1630-1975.

This week's online genealogy events

Choose from free online events in the next five days. All times are ET except as noted. Registration in advance may be required. Check so you're not disappointed.

Tuesday 10 November, 9 am: Using Discovery. Learn top tips for using TNA's catalogue. Register at
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/top-level-tips-using-discovery-tickets-119875523919?aff=wowp

🇨🇦Tuesday 10 November, 2 pm: Virtual Genealogy Drop-In, from Ottawa Branch OGS and The Ottawa Public Library. Join here.

Tuesday 10 November, 2 pm: Why I Love — and How to Use — the Newspaper Collections at MyHeritage, presented by Sunny Morton for MyHeritage Webinars. 
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar_details.php?webinar_id=1313

Remembrance Day, Wednesday 11 November, 11 am: Remembrance Day Broadcast, with Alex Cox, Paul Nixon and guests from the Imperial War Museum and Commonwealth War Graves Commission for Findmypast.
www.facebook.com/findmypast

Remembrance Day, Wednesday 11 November: 1:30 pm: Live broadcast from Commonwealth War Graves Commission sites across Great Britain.
https://www.facebook.com/commonwealthwargravescommission?mc_cid=fc807364a2&mc_eid=f2aa1b92a1

🇨🇦 Remembrance Day, Wednesday 11 November: 7 pm:  Sacrifice: Researching Canada's War, 1914-194, presented by Glenn Wright for York Branch OGS.  Register at  
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMud-ypqjMiHdLtk9aYxJjpe1Dmco4f4z-l

Wednesday 11 November, 8 pm: Deeds Not Words: Finding Your (US) Merchant Marine Ancestors, presented by Michael L. Strauss for Legacy Family Tree Webinars, Register at:
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar_details.php?webinar_id=1240

Thursday 12 November: 2pm: Newspapers Bring Ancestors Alive", presented by Arlene Courtney for the National Institute for Genealogical Studies. 
http://genealogicalstudies.adobeconnect.com/lecturing

🇨🇦  Thursday 12 November: 7 pm, Second World War-Researching the Canadian Fallen, presented by Ken McKinlay for Lambton Branch OGS. Register at:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZErdeChpzgrEtYhvdoSv4BLy8w74-qHUIKl

Friday, 13 November:  11 am. Fridays Live, with Ellie Overthrow-Jones for Findmypast
www.facebook.com/findmypast

🇨🇦 Saturday 14 November, 10:00 am  Going Down of the Sun, presented by Philip G. Winkelaar for BIFHSGO.  Register at 
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwvdeyopz0oGdPqpeGYPLP2EsD7q7WVi0uw

Looking ahead

🇨🇦 Monday 16 November, 7 pm:  Fighting the Phoney War, presented by AI McGregor for OGS Oxford County. 

Register here

BIFHSGO adds 20 soldier biographies to CCCS database

BIFHSGO volunteers continue to make progress in researching and writing biographies of 879 soldiers treated at No. 1 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station (CCCS) during the First World War. who died from their wounds.  

Biographies for about two-thirds of the soldiers have been completed. They include British, Australian, New Zealand as well as Canadian and Newfoundland soldiers. I even spotted a French serviceman.  

Biographies are added this veterans week for:

Graham, Private William Henry
Dunnicliff, Private George William
Apps, Private Thomas William
Bower, Private John Frederick
Gamble, Private John
McGee, Private Edward Parker
Panther, Private Sidney Edward
Cowan Company Sergeant, Major John James
Dempster, Private Charles Grinling
Feathers, Sapper James
Ferris, Lance Corporal Dalton Edgar
Fisher, Sapper Herbert Oliver
Gray, Private William John
Goddard, Private Walter John
Hourie, Private John Robert
Jackson Sergeant James Henry
Light, Private William Arthur
Maracle, Private Peter William
Thomas, Private William Wilfred
Williams, Driver Christmas

Find the database and explanatory material at https://bifhsgo.ca/cstm_cdnCasClrStn.php

A tip of the hat to the current BIFHSGO volunteers for the project:

Heather Carmody                                   Marcia Clements
Sheila Dohoo Faure (team leader)         Lynda Gibson
Jean Kitchen (editor)                              Nigel Lloyd
Lynne Willoughby

TNA Webinars for November

From the UK National Archives, all times given are UK time, ET is five hours earlier.

Records of railway workers
17 November | 14:00 to 14:30

Do you have an ancestor who worked on the railways? Would you like to find out more about their work and how to trace their employment records? Chris Heather guides you through everything you need to know to begin your research. 

Meet the Author: Rebecca Gowers: The Scoundrel Harry Larkyns
18 November | 19:30 to 20:30

Rebecca Gowers talks about the fascinating story she uncovered within her family tree – that of Harry Larkyns, an attractive cad who fell in love with the wife of noted photographer, Eadweard Muybridge. Our Collections Expert, Katherine Howells, will join Rebecca to showcase some of Muybridge’s pictures.

The Victorian (re)invention of Christmas 
20 November | 14:00 to 15:00

Cards, crackers and carols are just some of the treasured Christmas traditions that the Victorians invented. Find out how different levels of society celebrated Christmas, in our first festive talk by Katherine Howells.

Meet the Author: Roger Dalrymple: Crippen
23 November | 19:30 to 20:30

110 years to the day after the execution of Dr Crippen, Roger Dalrymple will talk about how the murder caused a sensation at the time that still resonates today. Roger will draw on official records to examine the case itself and the public’s fascination with the brutal crime.

Charles Dickens at Christmas
27 November | 14:00 to 15:00

Join Frankie Kubicki (Charles Dickens Museum) for this ultimate festive feel-good event, which tells the story of a lost turkey and the amazing circumstances under which Dickens’ most famous book, A Christmas Carol, was written.

BIFHSGO Members Give Online Presentations this Veterans Week

A special shout out this week for three military-themed presentations.

Remembrance Day, 11 November at 7 pm BIFHSGO past president and former military archivist Glenn Wright will present Sacrifice: Researching Canada's War, 1914-1945. This presentation to OGS York Branch will identify and explore the major resources, online and otherwise, for researching Canada's war dead. Documenting those of our ancestors who have paid the ultimate sacrifice is more than family history or genealogy, it is an act of remembrance and commemoration. 

Register at
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMud-ypqjMiHdLtk9aYxJjpe1Dmco4f4z-l

The following day, 12 November, also at 7 pm, Ken McKinlay presents Second World War-Researching the Canadian Fallen. "Researching relatives and ancestors who fought for Canada in the Second World War can be a challenge, especially since many of the records are not yet available online. In this talk we will be looking at the various resources to help you in researching those that ultimately gave their life in the service of Canada in the Second World War. We will also touch upon additional resources to help you in your research of those that survived that conflict.”

To register click
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZErdeChpzgrEtYhvdoSv4BLy8w74-qHUIKl

On Saturday 14 November, 10:00 am  Philip G. Winkelaar will present Going Down of the Sun for BIFHSGO. He searched school records, memoirs, official histories, church and military records to document the lives of those remembered on brass plaques at Knox Presbyterian Church, Ottawa. He will talk about his research and how he brought to life those who are generally unremarked but who are remembered every Remembrance Sunday. These stories allow us to solemnly declare: “At the Going Down of the Sun, and In the Morning, We Will Remember Them.”

To register, click   https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwvdeyopz0oGdPqpeGYPLP2EsD7q7WVi0uw

Suffolk’s top 10 most common surnames

From the East Anglian Daily Times, an article caught my attention with the mention of Last, a surname in my family tree going back to Mark Last who married in Stradishall, Suffolk, in 1577.

According to the article "you’re 43 times more likely to meet a Last here in Suffolk than anywhere else. There are several possible origins for the name, including it being an occupational name, going from ‘Laster’ to ‘Last’, and in Dutch (in this area, many of our ancestors crossed the sea), it can be a nickname for an awkward character."

https://www.eadt.co.uk/ea-life/suffolk-s-top-10-most-common-surnames-1-6917210

Ancestry UK Updates

Updates on 4 November 

England & Wales, Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers, 1567-1936, now 5,768,013 records.

UK, World War I Pension Ledgers and Index Cards, 1914-1923, now 6,519,330 records.

Sunday Sundries

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

Something completely different (video)

Euston’s lost burial ground - stories behind the now lost St James’s Gardens graveyard and the bodies it held.

Canadians and the military occupation of Iceland (1940–1941): from squalls to the “black death” - LAC blog post by Marcelle Cinq-Mars. 

B.C. woman recounts work on top-secret Second World War project

A graveyard walk counts for a fun family activity these days, right?

141 Optical Illusions & Visual Phenomena

Thanks to this week's contributors: Anonymous, Ann Burns, BT,  Unknown

Findmypast Weekly Update: wartime photos

Findmypast Photo Collection

Rummage through over 5,600 new snapshots from the Blitz, World War 2 front lines and the Findmypast Community. The Findmypast Photo Collection features thousands of old photos, many online for the first time. You can discover vintage military photos, shots from World War 2's Home Front and evacuations, family photos from christenings, weddings and funerals, and much more.

As a premium collection, the Findmypast Photo Collection is excluded from the current FMP free military records promotion.

World War Two Canadian Photograph Collection

Now available in their own distinct record set, these incredible photos bring Canada’s World War 2 experiences to life. Featuring captivating images from Prisoner of War camps, Naval vessels, battlefields, training exercises, and more, you can explore this amazing collection completely FREE from November 5-12.

Note that these are sourced from Library and Archives Canada where they are free. In an embedded video Jen Baldwin explains how to use the collection which is excellent if you can get past her pronunciation of Regina.

United States, Veterans Oral History Index

Dig deeper into US ancestors’ war stories with records from The Veteran’s History Project. Discover indexes to interviews, recordings, photos, and more. This unique collection is also included in our free access promotion. Search and view it free of charge until November 12.

TheGenealogist adds Lambeth Lloyd George Domesday records

The following is a release from TheGenealogist.

TheGenealogist has released the records of 83,498 individuals for the Lambeth area into its Lloyd George Domesday Survey property ownership and occupancy record set. This unique online resource includes maps and field books and gives family historians the chance to discover where an ancestor lived in the period just before and as the First World War began. This is a great tool to use with the 1911 Census giving lots of additional information about your ancestor's home, land, outbuildings and property. 

By making use of TheGenealogist’s powerful Map Explorer™ the researcher can see how the landscape where their ancestor lived or worked changed as the years have passed.

The maps are linked to field books containing descriptions of the property, as well as revealing owners and occupiers, all of which have been sourced from The National Archives and are being digitised by TheGenealogist. With this release it is possible to precisely locate where an ancestor lived on a number of large scale, hand annotated maps for this part of London. These plans include plots for the exact properties at the time of the survey and are layered over various georeferenced historical maps and modern base maps on the Map Explorer™. This resource enables the researcher to thoroughly investigate the area in which an ancestor lived even if the streets were bombed out of existence in the Blitz and the modern redevelopment does not follow the same lines as the previous roads had.

Lambeth records cover the civil parishes of Bishop’s, Brixton, Brixton North, Clapham North, Clapham South, Lower Norwood, Marsh North, Marsh South, Norwood, Prince’s, Stockwell North, Stockwell South, Streatham and Vauxhall.

When they go low, we go high

Some organizations have risen to the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic. Other's just turned the lights off.

TNA is one that adapted and is doing so again in the face or a new lockdown in England. Here's the announcement.

Following yesterday’s announcement that we are suspending our reading room service, in line with new national restrictions, we are pleased to announce that we’re doubling the monthly limit on downloading free digital records from our website, from 50 to 100.

This service, made free in response to the restrictions earlier in the year, has been very popular with online researchers around the world, with more than 84,000 people downloading around 1.1m documents to date

http://orlo.uk/FK9H6