Ancestry.ca Offers Mother’s Day Discount

Mother’s Day is this Sunday, and it often means one thing for many moms – quality time spent with her family. This year, give Mom that quality time by working together to create your family tree.

When you make it from Ancestry.ca, it makes it easier than ever to create your family tree and discover the story of your family’s past.

Learning about your family’s history is an enriching and meaningful way to spend time with Mom, and can create memories that will be cherished forever.

Family Tree Maker starts at just $39.99 USD, and for a limited time, Ancestry.ca is offering readers of this blog a special Mother’s Day discount of 25% off.

The discount is at - www.ancestry.ca/mothersday.

Disclosure: I am a paid subscriber of Ancestry.ca, but I am not employed by Ancestry.com, or their various divisions, in any capacity.

UPDATE: Ancestry.com has FREE Marriage Records

I usually don’t write about Ancestry.com (I just concentrate on Ancestry.ca), but if you want to find marriage records of your immigrant ancestors (especially if they were married in the United States before they came to Canada), you have free access until the 21st.

The site is at www.ancestry.com/cs/us/family-marriages

Ancestry.ca UPDATE: Free Access

The publicity department of Ancestry.ca has sent me the news that they will be offering FREE access to their collection of First World War historical records from April 9th to 12th.

This is in recognition of Canada's part in the defeat of the enemy in the Battle of Vimy which was highlighted by me in yesterday's post entitled Pictures and Story of the Week: The Battle of Vimy Ridge at http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2013/04/newupdated-canadian-websites-blogs.html

No Easter Databases

I have checked with Ancestry.ca, and there isn't any free access to their historical databases this weekend for the Easter holiday.

However, on their Facebook page, they do tell us that they still have available their Family Tree Sweepstakes.

If you haven't entered yet, you can start here at www.facebook.com/Ancestry.ca

UPDATE: Ancestry is FREE

In addition to searching for your Irish ancestors as posted in yesterday’s blog, you can now do it for FREE until midnight March 17, 2013.

Whether they began in Ireland or Italy, you can explore your roots with FREE ACCESS to select immigration collections — including some just-added records.

Fascinating immigration stories are here for you to discover. Start now

Go to www.ancestry.com/cs/us/passengerlists

Go to their Facebook page where they have a recipe for Irish stew at http:www.facebook.com/Ancestry.ca

Ancestry.ca UPDATE: Discover your Irish Ancestors

St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner, and now is a good time to go to Ancestry.ca and discover what records they have for Irish immigrants to Canada.

They even have an excellent video for you to watch, and it gives good tips on how to find your Irish immigrants to Canada. It is very good.

So have fun as you look through the records to find Irish people who came to Canada.

The video is at www.ancestry.ca/cs/ca/canadianirish

Ancestry.ca UPDATE: Canada, City and Area Directories, 1819-1906

As of 12 March, 2013, Ancestry.ca has 8,299,563 people in their database of Canadian directories.

TherThere are directories for Kentville, Nova Scotia, and Henry B. Webster is listed there as a barrister in 1867, in the Hutchinson’s Nova Scotia Directory, 1866-1867, and in 1869 in the  McAlpine’s Nova Scotia Directory, 1868-1869.

Henry B. Webster was the son of Henry Webster of Kentville, Nova Scotia, and Edwardiana Barclay, Shelburne, Nova Scotia, who was the only daughter of James Barclay and Catherine Bingay, the brother to my g-g-g-g-grandfather George Barclay.

So go to www.ancestry.ca/search/db.aspx?dbid=3789, put in the name of yout ancestor, and see what come up – you may be surprised.

Set Sail on a Voyage of Discovery

Further to my post on Thursday February the 28th in which I wrote about Ancestry.ca Update: Free Indexes, this morning I checked their Facebook page, and found out more about the passenger lists in Set Sail on a Voyage of Discovery.

The Facebook page contains puzzles, a "Did You Know" section, and a Word Scramble – plus lots of information about immigration to Canada.

The Facebook page is at www.facebook.com/Ancestry.ca

The free indexes are –

Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935 http://search.ancestry.ca/search/db.aspx?dbid=1263

Canada, Ocean Arrivals (Form 30A), 1919-1924
http://search.ancestry.ca/search/db.aspx?dbid=1588

Irish Canadian Emigration Records, 1823-1849 http://search.ancestry.ca/search/db.aspx?dbid=1553

UPDATE! FREE Ancestry.ca

Ancestry.ca is offering FREE access to the Canadian Marriage Collections from Feb. 14 to 18th in honour of Valentine’s Day!

The press release says –

“No matter what your relationship status, Valentine’s Day is a time to reflect on the love shared by our ancestors, without whom we wouldn’t exist today. To celebrate Valentine’s Day, Ancestry.ca, Canada’s leading family history website, has dug deep into its vast collection of historical documents and discovered that Canada has long been a nation of serial romantics.

For some, Valentine’s Day involves a candle-lit dinner, but that isn’t enough for some! Yet records show that many Canadians honoured the holiday in a more committed fashion, with over 13,000 couples between 1608 and 1948 affirming their love with a February 14th wedding.

To commemorate this special day, Ancestry.ca is offering free access to its collection of historical Canadian Marriage records. Records in this collection date as far back as 1621 and contain key information about the newlyweds and their parents; information that can help expand an existing family tree and allow you to better understand the love birds in your family’s history”.

Go to http://search.ancestry.ca/search/group/Canada_Marriages?o_iid=54249&o_lid=54249&o_sch=Web+Property

Ancestry.ca Puts on Web: Manitoba, Birth Index, 1866-1912

The key word here is “Web” Search. It means that Ancestry. ca has put on the index from online vital statistics from libraries, local governments, genealogical societies, universities and genealogists from all over the country.

They have put on 476, 200 birth records from Manitoba.

Ancestry.ca says that they make it easier to “find records from many of these content publishers. To help you find genealogy information wherever it exists, we summarize basic information from freely-available web records and provide a link to the original site where you can view the full record, including any associated images”.

If you want like to ckeck these records, go to http://search.ancestry.ca/search/db.aspx?dbid=70599

The Manitoba government declared in 2003 that The Vital Statistics Act was to provide unrestricted access to the following records

Births more than 100 years ago

Marriages more than 80 years ago

Deaths more than 70 years ago

In particular, the index gives you the first and last names of the person, the date of birth, and the place of birth.

You can order the record from the full birth registration from The Vital Statistics Agency for a fee.

Go to the website http://vitalstats.gov.mb.ca/Query.php

Ancestry.ca Update: Canada and United States Border Crossings

Ancestry.ca has updated its border crossing records from Canada to U.S., and the records are from 1895 to 1954.

There are records from Idaho, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, New York, North Dakota, Vermont, and Washington

Some of the records contain the information on the name, age, birth date, birthplace, gender, ethnicity/nationality, names of individuals accompanied by, name of nearest relative or friend in former country, and name of nearest relative or friend at destination.

So far, there are 4,859, 493 border crossing records etween Canada and the United States so far on www.ancestry.ca.

© Elizabeth Lapointe All Rights Reserved

FREE Access Ends Tonight!

The other day I posted about the free access at Ancestry.ca. Well, that free access ends tonight at midnight – December 29!

By taking advantage of this free access, you can explore their newest, as well as their most popular collections from Canada, the U.S., UK and around the world!

To go to the site for more information, go to http://search.ancestry.ca/search/grouplist.aspx?group=newyearoffer&o_xid=53405&o_lid=53405&o_sch=Email

The Gathering - Ireland 2013

A press release just received -

Toronto, ON (September 28, 2012) – Tourism Ireland is delighted to announce an upcoming collaboration with Ancestry.ca to promote The Gathering Ireland 2013. The Gathering is an open invitation to the world to come and visit Ireland in 2013 for a unique celebration of all things Irish. Ireland may be a small country, but the Irish have put down their roots all over the world. More than 70 million people worldwide now claim Irish ancestry; quite something considering the total population of the island of Ireland is just over 6 million.

Canada’s connections with the island of Ireland go back at least 200 years and today nearly 5 million Canadians claim Irish ancestry 1. Tourism Ireland and Ancestry.ca will work together to reach these Canadians, helping them trace their Irish roots and inviting them to be a part of this unique celebration.

“Ancestry.ca is really excited to help Tourism Ireland invite Canadians to Ireland in 2013,” said Julie Wingate, Marketing Director of Ancestry.ca. “Ireland is a big part of many people’s ancestral journey and The Gathering Ireland represents a natural next step for anyone with Irish roots to take their family history experience to the next level. And of course, anyone who isn’t sure if they have Irish roots can check by visiting Ancestry.ca and signing up for our 14-day free trial.”

“Tourism Ireland is thrilled to work together with Ancestry.ca on the promotion of The Gathering Ireland here in Canada,” says Jayne Shackleford, Manager of Tourism Ireland. “The Gathering is the most ambitious tourism initiative ever undertaken in Ireland and it’s about asking anyone who has Irish blood, a link to Ireland, or even just a love of our country to join the Irish for a series of amazing and diverse events throughout 2013. We can’t think of a more natural fit.”

The Gathering is the people’s party. It will kick off in spectacular style on New Year’s Eve 2012 with an event that will receive world coverage and will then be celebrated through clan gatherings, festivals, special sporting events, music and concerts taking place all across the country, all year long. Many Irish celebrities have put their name behind this citizen-led initiative such as Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan.

How Irish are you? Discover your Irish roots by visiting www.ancestry.ca for a 14-day free trial and to be a part of the Gathering visit www.thegatheringireland.com

Podcasts at BIFHSGO

As I get in the car this morning to go to the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO) monthly meeting at 9:00 am at the Library and Archives Canada, I am reminded of the number of podcasts that are now online on their website.

For example, there is a two-part podcast with Gary Schroder, president of the Quebec Family History Society. He talks about the Cadastral Numbering System, and how they hold the key to the land records in Quebec. Gary calls it ‘the hidden history of Quebec”.

The website is at www.qfhs.ca

There are also interviews with four founding members of BIFHSGO - Fern Small, Gary Bagley, Alan Rayburn, and Bob Campbell.

There are interviews with Malcolm Moody, Canadian Archive CD Books from Ottawa www.archivecdbooks.ca/acdbcanada.html, Ed Zapletal, Moorshead Magazines www.moorshead.com, and Lesley Anderson from Ancestry.ca and Ottawa, who talks about her experiences at "Who Do You Think You Are?". The interview was recorded live in London with Lesley.

There are over 30 interviews to listen to, all of them enlightening. I think BIFHSGO is the only society in Canada which has adopted this method of doing interviews at such a prolific pace.

A big “Thank You” goes out to John D. Reid (who tells us in an interview why he blogs) http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com, Brian Glenn, and Brooke Broadbent for conducting the interviews.

So have fun listening to the podcats.

I have a feeling that BIFHSGO will be doing a lot more podcasts in the future. Another example of how social media is changing the genealogy world!

The BIFHSGO webite is online at http://bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=59

Ancestr.ca is FREE!

To celebrate Canada Day on July 1^st, Ancestry.ca is offering FREE access to more than 40 million historical records that is available now to July the 2^nd.

Free access includes -

 Canadian Passenger Lists and Ocean Arrivals - outlining the masses of people who arrived by ship -- the only form of international travel available to people at the time -- at port cities across Canada

The 1871 Census of Canada - the first Census Canada conducted as a nation, which gives a snapshot of the life of the people living at the time, including who they lived with, their ages, their jobs, the birthplaces of their parents, their neighbours and more

Vital records (i.e. birth, marriage and death records) from British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia - outlining the significant moments in the people’s lives like children born, marriages and deaths.

Visit http://www.ancestry.ca/ to search all of the records being made available for free this weekend.

The Genealogy Corner

I have started writing a genealogy column called "The Genealogy Corner" in The Review – a weekly newspaper in Vankleek Hill, Ontario. The column is geared towards beginning genealogists, but I think anyone can gain a new insight in the views that I have put forward in the column.

The column appears every two weeks in print, but unfortunately, doesn't appear on the website, so if you are interested, you will have to buy the paper or get an online subscription. The website is www.thereview.on.ca.

The columns that have been printed so far this year are -

• March 14 - Finding Your Canadian Roots
• March 28 - A Genealogical Society Is Not Just Another Society
• April 11 - It's Time to go Back to School – Year Round
• April 25 - It’s Time to Start Your Research!
• May 9 - The Year Genealogy Was Reborn In Canada

 The next column on May 23 will be all the changes that are taking place at FamilySearch.org.

FREE Ancestry.ca

Good news everyone - Ancestry.ca announced on May 1^st that they will have FREE access to Canada's Immigration Records over the May 21st holiday!

This weekend is known in Canada as Victoria Day Weekend (when we celebrate Queen Victoria's birthday as well as Queen Elizabeth's official birthday), there will be free access to passenger arrival records, naturalization records, border crossings, emigration records, passports, and convict transportation records.

Good luck in researching your ancestors!

Ancestry.ca Offers FREE Access to Records

I just received this press release from Ancestry.ca. In part, it says -

“Did you know that almost 40 per cent of Ontarians can’t trace their ancestry back more than 100 years, and 40 per cent don’t know when their family first arrived in Canada? Even more surprising, almost 35 per cent don’t know the maiden names of either of their grandmothers.

Family Day is an ideal time to spend with loved ones discovering the ancestors that came before you. With schools and shops closed, not to mention the chilly winter temperatures, there’s no better time to stay indoors and close to the ones you love, and to start to learn about your genealogy.

Lesley Anderson, genealogist for Ancestry.ca, is available to discuss:

· Why Family Day is the perfect time of year to begin your family research
· Tips on getting started and gathering information
.  How to use historic records available on Ancestry.ca to find your ancestors
· How to get family members – including your kids – involved in your family history project
. How to incorporate memories from this year’s Family Day into your family tree

In honour of Family Day, Ancestry.ca (http://www.ancestry.ca/) is providing free access to more than 28 million records. Those wishing to discover their family history this week will be able to explore all Canadian birth, marriage and death records free of charge until Monday, February 20th".

Paul McGrath Memorial Lecture

Last week, the Toronto Family History Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society released information on an upcoming evening event in memory of the late Paul McGrath, a remarkable, accomplished and greatly-missed local and family historian. The inaugural Toronto History Lecture in Paul’s memory will feature a colourful and controversial figure from the city’s past.

The speaker will be local writer and historian Chris Raible, as he presents “Rebel Remembered: The Legacy of William Lyon Mackenzie, 150 Years After His Death”. Chris is an expert in Upper Canadian history with a particular focus on the career of Toronto’s first mayor. He is the author of four books – two on Mackenzie – and has spoken and conducted seminars for many heritage organizations.

Before the lecture, be sure to find out more about the Archives and its spectacular collection of records – including 12 million photographs, more than 3000 maps, and records from the townships, villages and boroughs that form Toronto today.

Free admission but reservations required

Thursday, 4 August 2011

7:30 pm sharp (refreshments 6:30–7:30)

City of Toronto Archives, 255 Spadina Road, Toronto

For more information about this special event and to reserve a seat, visit http://tinyurl.com/6hshhsx

The Toronto History Lecture is organized and supported by an informal group of friends and associates of Paul McGrath and the following organizations:

City of Toronto Archives http://www.toronto.ca/archives/

Ontario Genealogical Society http://www.ogs.on.ca/

Ancestry.ca http://www.ancestry.ca/

Ancestry.ca is FREE for Royal Visit

From June 30th through to July 8th, 2011 when the Royal Couple are in Canada, Ancestry.ca will be offering free access.

To explore the free records and to sign up for a free 14 day trial, please visit www.ancestry.ca/UK.