Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

New Minister for Department of Heritage


The now-former Heritage Minister, James Moore, was replaced with Shelly Glover as the new Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages during yesterday’s federal government cabinet shuffle.

Minister Glover, a Métis, is the Member of Parliament for the riding of Saint-Boniface in Manitoba.

Her profile says that “Prior to entering federal politics, Mrs. Glover served as a member of the Winnipeg Police Service for almost 19 years. She had a diverse career in a variety of positions including undercover work, child abuse investigations, youth crime and gang investigations, and general patrol. Mrs. Glover has a high level of proficiency in the French language and was the first female and bilingual spokesperson appointed by her department”.

While we welcome Minister Glover to her new post, you will notice that there is nothing in her profile which would lead anyone to believe that she will be sympathetic to the genealogy community, the Library and Archives Canada, or the 1921 Canadian Census (and its release), as was the impression given by her predecessor Minister Moore, who is now the new Minister of Industry.

But time will tell ...

Toronto Heritage Lecture

The 2013 Toronto History Lecture, titled Mary Mink: The Making of a Myth, will explore the sometimes blurred line between historical fact and historical fiction. James Mink was a successful Black businessman in Toronto in the 1840s and 1850s. His story is one of the best known tales of Black Torontonians in the 19th century, told and retold many times in newspapers and books.

In the 1990s, his story was made into a TV movie, Captive Heart: the James Mink Story, which was broadcast in Canada and the United States. In the screen version of events, Mink arranges for a white man to marry his daughter Mary and then stages a daring rescue when her husband whisks her off to the American South and sells her into slavery. The movie is said to be “based on historical records”, but as Guylaine Pétrin found out through her research, records can lie.

Admission is free, but reservation is required.

Please join us again this year in spreading the word about the Toronto History Lecture. It will be held on August 7th at 7:30 pm at the City of Toronto Archives and is presented jointly by the Archives and the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society.

For further details, including a map and driving directions to the Archives at 255 Spadina Road, visit http://conta.cc/187ZUcY. Questions may be directed to info@torontofamilyhistory.org  or Paul Sharkey (City of Toronto Archives) at 416-392-5561.

We look forward to unravelling the true story of Mary Mink with you on August 7th.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

OGS Conference 2014




The OGS Conference 2014 will be held at Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario (near Niagara Falls) May 1st to May 4th. It will be sponsored by the Niagara  Peninsula Branch OGS.

And already there is a video on the site www.ogs.on.ca/conference2014/index.php, and you can see what is available in the immediate area.

Watch for more news on the conference. It sounds as if it is going to be exciting! 

Saturday, July 13, 2013

First military draft of the Second World War

On July 13, 1940, the Canadian government announced the first conscription of the Second World War for 40 days' compulsory military training on or before September 15 by the first draft under the National Mobilization Bill.

The National Mobilization Bill arose because of the stunning German victories in Belgium and France, and we felt, that as a nation, we should get ready to repel the German Forces, if they ever decided to invade out shores. The act enabled the government to requisition the property and services of Canadians for home defence.

Single men between 21 and 34 would be called up first for training. This would affect approximately 800,000 Canadians.

It was modified in August 1942 to permit the government to send conscripts overseas via an order in council after a plebiscite in April 1942. In 1944, the government passed such an order.

To read about the National Mobilization Bill in the newspapers of the day, go to www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/newspapers/canadawar/conscription_e.shtml

The individual forms are available but they cannot be released until the person has been dead for 20 years. It will cost $40.00 to get access to the record. You also need a death certificate, or an obituary notice can be accepted.

You can send inquiries to Census Pension Searches Unit, Census Operation  Division, Statistics Canada, B1E-34 Jean Talon Bldg, Tunney’s Pasture, Ottawa, ON K1A 0T6  

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics

An additional 25,120 historical vital statistics have been added to the Nova Scotia Vital Statistics website. 

These records were released on 31 December 2012 and since then have been digitized, fully indexed and checked for quality control. 

This year's accruals include 14,378 births (1912), 4,359 marriages (1937) and 6,383 deaths (1962).

As usual, the birth records include some 'delayed' entries for individuals born in 1912 (or earlier) but not registered until a later date.

To search the records, go to https://novascotiagenealogy.com/Start.aspx


Wednesday, July 10, 2013

The Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) has a new postal code!

The use of this new postal code will ensure that all correspondence and packages will be sent directly to CCI's Innes Road location in Ottawa where they can be received and handled by our trained personnel.

Please update your mailing information immediately.

Canadian Conservation Institute
1030 Innes Road

Ottawa, Ontario K1B 4S7

Archive CD Books Canada is having a MID SUMMER MADNESS SALE!!

My friends in the world of genealogy, Malcolm and Chris Moody, for a short period of time, are marking down the prices on most of their CANADIAN CD products by as much as 50%!

Still no shipping and handling charges within Canada.

Malcolm and Chris say that “We predict we won’t be able to keep this going for too long in this heat - so DON’T DELAY”.



Personal Recommendation: I have known Malcolm and Chris over the past years in the Ottawa area, and have used their products. I can say that to have these books on a CD means that they are convenient, and easy to use ... and they don’t take up any room! All pluses in my world of books, books, and more books, and less and less room. 

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

UPDATED: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba & Saskatchewan Update (revised)

The following cemeteries have been revised on the GenWeb Canada website - 

ALBERTA

Camrose:

- Greenview / Rosalind United Church / Methodist Church Cemetery

Edmonton:

- Westlawn Memorial Gardens & Edmonton Crematorium

Mountainview:

- New Bergthal Mennonite Cemetery

Stettler:

- Red Willow Cemetery

BRITISH COLUMBIA

Central Kootenay Regional District:

- Edgewood Cemetery

Cowichan Valley Regional District:

- Ladysmith Indian Cemetery

Peace River :

- North Rolla Lutheran Church Cemetery

- Sorenson / Carpio Cemetery

MANITOBA

Fisher RM:

- Sylvan Public / Transfiguration Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery

Franklin RM:

- Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Cemetery

- Ridgeville / South Ridge Cemetery

Harrison RM:

- Holy Ghost Ukrainian Catholic (New) Cemetery

Ritchot RM:

- St Joseph's Catholic / St Norbert Koscio sw Jozefa Cemetery

- St Norbert Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery

Rockwood RM:

- Polsen St Mary's Roman Catholic / Chapel of the Assumption Roman Catholic Cemetery

- St George's Cemetery

- St Michael's Cemetery

- Windsor Cemetery

St Andrews RM:

- Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery

West St Paul RM:

- Riverside Holy Family Ukrainian Catholic Cemetery

Winnipeg City:

- St James Anglican Cemetery

SASKATCHEWAN

Excelsior RM # 166:

- Rush Lake Cemetery

Remembers to say your “Thanks” to Marilyn Whiting, Cheyenne Kepke, Patricia Green and Julia Adamson for help indexing, and to Carol Wilkinson, Cheyenne Kepke, Chris Pfeifle, Dennis Schultz, Grace Peters, Henry Martin Hamm, Ian Coupland, John Berger, Marilyn Whiting, Myron Masnyk, Patricia Green, Susan Severdija, and Walter Smelski for photos & transcripts.




Sunday, July 7, 2013

Brant OGS Golf Fundraiser

This is a really neat idea!

On Saturday, August 31, 2013, there will be a golf fundraiser held at a local club called Fescue’s Edge, 18 Hagan Rd., Brant at 11:00 am Shotgun Start.

The cost will be $80 and it includes cart, lunch and donation to Brant OGS (Receipt for donation will be provided), and the deadline to register will be August 20, 2013.


You can contact brantogsgolf@gmail.com, or go to the web site at www.ogs.on.ca/brant

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Dick Eastman is coming to Nova Scotia

There is word out that Dick Eastman is coming to Halifax, Nova Scotia to give a full day of talks at the Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia (GANS) on Saturday, October 19, 2013.

Enjoy a day with Dick Eastman, as he present four lectures -

The Organized Genealogist

A look at various methods of organizing record keeping by use of digital techniques. The talk focuses on converting paper based record keeping to all digital records.

Cloudy, with a Chance of Genealogy

A simple and down to earth explanation of what the cloud is and how genealogists can use cloud computing to simplify their own computer usage.

Putting the Genes in Genealogy

A look at the possibility that today’s genealogists may become the lifesavers of family and loved ones in the near future.

Conservation: Keeping up with Technology

How to make sure that your genealogy data is still readable by future generations.
Cost for the Eastman Lectures:

$45.00 for members   includes lunch

$75.00 for nonmembers   includes lunch

Email info@novascotiaancestors.ca to sign up and arrange payment.

The website of GANS is www.novascotiaancestors.ca

The website of Dick Eastman is http://blog.eogn.com

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Free Access to Ancestry.ca

This just came across my desk this afternoon from Ancestry.ca –

TORONTO (June 25, 2013) – Ancestry.ca, Canada’s largest family history resource, is celebrating Canada Day with the launch of a collection of historical records that pre-date Confederation. Dating back to 1743, these are some of the oldest records ever to become available and be fully searchable online. In addition, Ancestry.ca is offering free access, from June 27 through July 2, to more than 40 million Canadian historical records from some of its most popular collections

Among the records being made available for free from June 27 through July 2 are some of the most popular collections on Ancestry.ca, including:

·         Canadian Passenger Lists and Ocean Arrivals – These collections consist of all records of immigration to Canada by ship or overland from the United States between 1865 and 1935, a period of 70 years that saw the largest influx of immigration into Canada ever, from all parts of the world.

·         The 1871 Census of Canada – the first census Canada conducted as a nation, which gives a snapshot of the lives of the people living at the time, including their ages, their jobs, the birthplaces of their parents, their neighbours and more.

·         Soldiers of the First World War – This collection contains the Attestation papers of all 600,000+ men enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force and includes information about the soldier’s birthplace, next of kin, regiment number and more.

To check out the new Pre-Confederation records please visit www.ancestry.ca/150years and to search the records being made accessible for free in time for Canada Day, visit www.ancestry.ca/canadaday.


Happy Canada Day!

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Research: Information needed on abandoned or deserted buildings

Esther Pilon, a journalist and researcher from Quebec, is working on a documentary series produced by Baroque (a production company in Quebec), and she wants information on abandoned or deserted buildings in the province. The series will be broadcasted on the Historia channel in 2015.

She is looking for abandoned or deserted buildings that have either been closed recently or for some time some examples are: farms, houses, factories, country homes, chapels or churches, stores etc…

Her goals is to hopefully be able to show these places in their historic and anthropological perspective. The documentary series will present these places with the input of antique specialists and historians. Also, she would like to meet and talk with people who have worked as employees in the factories or lived in the houses and or country homes, or know the places as past clients, student or attended the churches. 

For every abandoned place there are human stories.

This documentary series is a project of Baroque, a documentary producer from Montreal. Their recent projects include a history of taverns that will be broadcasted on Historia in 2014.

To send your information or to contact Esther, please either write to her at  6255 St-Vallier, Montréal, H2S 2P6, or at estherpilonrecherchiste@gmail.com . Her  . telephone number: 514-967-9541.


Historia TV Channel is at www.historiatv.com

Saturday, June 22, 2013

UPDATE: TONI (The Ontario Name Index)


Since last reporting on TONI (The Ontario Name Index) earlier this spring, nearly 2 ½ million entries have been added.

TONI, as an index, is FREE for everyone the world over. In order to access information found in the databases you must pay a small fee. All proceeds from those fees support Ontario's heritage community.


Go to www.ogs.on.ca/integrated/toni_database1.php to read more about TONI, and to see if the name who are researching, is there.

IRISH COMMUNITY SUMMER PARTY

The Federation of Irish Societies invites you to a Cross Community Get Together and the Special Guest will be Dr. Ray Bassett, Ambassador of Ireland to Canada

Bring your friends and meet new ones. There will be traditional Irish music and it will be provided by SIAMSA. Happy hour prices and complimentary finger food.

It will take place on Tuesday, June 25 at 5:30 p.m. at the The Irish Embassy Pub & Grill, 1234 Bishop Street, Montreal (on the back patio).

The website of the United Irish Societies of Montreal is www.montrealirishparade.com/gallery/index.php


Friday, June 14, 2013

Automotive Heritage Month in Nova Scotia


Did you know Nova Scotia manufactured its own car, the MacKay Touring Car, in   Kentville and later in Amherst, in 1911?

Or that the first Toyotas assembled in Canada was at Point Edward, Cape Breton?

It’s easy to see that “the automobile has had a significant impact on the Province of Nova Scotia over the last century”.

To celebrate this impact, the Provincial Government of Nova Scotia has proclaimed July as Automotive Heritage Month.

Hobby car clubs across the province will be celebrating during the month at show and shines across the area.

To see what the National Association of Automobile Clubs of Canada does, go to their website www.naacc.ca/home.html

To see a picture and short history of the McKay 7-seat touring car, go to

History of Automobiles: The Early Days in Nova Scotia: 1899-1949

Thursday, June 13, 2013

UPDATE: Census of Lower Canada (Quebec), 1825 now available online at LAC

Just received this notice from the LAC - 

"Library and Archives Canada is pleased to announce that Canadians can now access the Census of Lower Canada, 1825 online. The Census of Lower Canada, 1825 is partly nominal and therefore only contains the names of heads of family, their occupation, and the number of residents for each family.

Users can search this new database by the names of heads of family, as well as by geographical information such as district and sub-district names".

They are available in JPG, and PDF, and there are 74,322 records.

The surname, given name(s), occupation, number of residents (classed by age – not name or relationship to head of the household), district name, sub-district name, volume number, page number, microfilm, and reference are listed in the census.

To suggest a correction, click on the Suggest a Correction link to access an electronic form


New Heritage Minute

Remember the Heritage Minutes that we use to see on TV back in the 1990s? They were sixty second shots about important moments in Canadian history.
  
Heritage Minutes have returned to our televisions this year, and for the month of June, "First Nations warriors who were instrumental in the Battle of Queenston Heights, a crucial fight in the War of 1812, has been released to mark National Aboriginal History Month".

To view the Heritage Minute, go to Your Community Blog at the CBC


If you want to read about the history of Heritage Minutes, go to  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heritage_Minute

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

UPDATE: Canada GenWeb Updates Cemeteries

The following cemeteries have been updated in Alberta, Manitoba, and Prince Edward Island -

ALBERTA

Beaver:
- Kinsella God's Acre Cemetery

Edmonton:
- Westlawn Memorial Gardens & Edmonton Crematorium

Smoky Lake:
- Victoria Park Cemetery

MANITOBA

Armstrong RM:
- Immaculate Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Cemetery

Emerson Town:
- Emerson Cemetery

Franklin RM:
- Friedensthal Lutheran Cemetery
- Ridgeville / South Ridge Cemetery

Rhineland RM:
- Rosenfeld Village & District Community Cemetery

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

Queen's County:
- North Wiltshire United Cemetery

All on the cemeteries on Canada GenWeb have been indexed and photographed by volunteers.

Pass along your thanks to Patricia Green & Marilyn Whiting for their help indexing. And to Olga Steinke, Cheyenne Kepke, Patricia Green, Marilyn Whiting, Jim Spence, and Elizabeth Warwick for their photographs.


Tuesday, June 11, 2013

UPDATE: FamilySearch adds more images

FamilySearch has added more images to the British Columbia, Crown Land Pre-emption Registers, 1860-1971.

Pre-emptions are purchased land that has not been fully surveyed. The pre-emption registers summarize the information from the pre-emption certificates. The pre-emptions are listed in registration number order, with an alphabetical index in the back of each volume.


And they have added more images to the Quebec, Notarial Records, 1800-1900.

You can go to the Wiki at https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Quebec_Notarial_Records_(FamilySearch_Historical_Records) to get a full description of the records.

These records are made available because of the work by thousands of volunteers from around the world. These volunteers transcribe (index) information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online.

Thanks to the volunteers!


Heritage Minister not happy with the cuts at the LAC

It appears that the Federal Heritage Minister James Moore isn’t too happy with the way that the layoffs at the Library and Archives Canada has turned out.

One impact that the cuts have had is that the digitization program has been severely cut as the staff has been cut – and the digitization of records was suppose to take the place of inter-library loans, for example.

All of this is in a story carried by the Huffington Post this morning. The online newspaper says that “The heritage minister says speeding up the digitization of records will be a priority for the new head of Library and Archives”.


Read the full report at the Huffington post is at www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/06/10/heritage-minister-conside_n_3414200.html