Showing posts with label Ontario Genealogical Society. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ontario Genealogical Society. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

A Canadian Genealogist Dies in Scotland

Yesterday afternoon (Monday, October 27th, 2008), Don Hinchley, President of the Ontario Genealogy Society (OGS), wrote to tell a number of us that Paul McGrath, the genealogist on "Ancestors in the Attic", has died in Scotland.

He was the chair of the Toronto Branch, and had given many talks around Ontario on genealogy.

He died last Wednesday of a heart attack.

People who attended Conference '09 in London, Ontario this year heard him give a couple of seminars and the talk at the supper on "Ancestors in the Attic".

This blog send its condoldances to his family for thier personal loss, and to the genealogists of Canada, for they have lost a great family historian.

Monday, October 20, 2008

The Saskatchewan Genealogical Society

The Saskatchewan Genealogical Society <www.saskgenealogy.com> was founded in 1969, and today it is a society with 20 branches throughout the province.

It has done yeoman's work in providing genealogical information on Saskatchewan residents such as the Saskatchewan Residence Index, the Saskatchewan Homestead Index, and the Cemeteries Index.

The organization will be 40 years old in 2009, and as part of its anniversary, it plans to publish a book called the Women Pioneers of Saskatchewan.

But they need more people to submit write-ups of up to 2,000 words and two pictures on each of the women who will be included in the book. If you have Saskatchewan females, and have sent anything in to them - won't you consider sending in their life story, and have it published in a book? The deadline is January 2009.

The president of the society was in London this past spring at the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) Conference this spring to get an idea of how Ontario did its conference. She was very pleased with what she found, with the way it was organized, and in fact has invited some of the people who gave lectures in London to give talks in Saskatchewan.

The 2009 Conference will be held from April 23rd to April 26th, and this year they have invited Ian Wilson, Librarian and Archivist of Canada; Louise St. Denis, Managing Director of the National Institute for Genealogical Studies; and Dick Eastman of Dick Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter fame.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Canadian Census of Industrial Establishments - 1871

After 25 years of studying and working with the 1871 Canada Census, Elizabeth and Gerald Bloomfield of Guelph, Ontario have released the Canadian Census of Industrial Establishments.

They have digitized the industrial census from the 1871 Census of Canada - the only detailed industrial census returns to survive so completely from the nineteenth century. More than 45, 000 industrial establishments are put into databases on the website <http://www.canind71.uoguelph.ca>.

The website provides information for the four provinces - New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Ontario - covered in the 1871 Canadian Census.

I have checked the website and thre are the divisions which cover the businesses themselves, the people who were involved with the business, power (whether it be water, etc.), and the places where the businesses were located.

I discovered that a number of business in Shelburne and Kentville, Nova Scotia where my ancestors are from are mentioned, and I doubt that I would have ever taken the time to look them up on my own - now they are indexed by the Bloomfields!

There are barrel makers and shipbuilding companies that one would expect to find in a seaside town like Shelburne and businesses like agriculture in Kentville, a farming town in 1871. What this census does is that it presents a picture of the town that can help you place your relatives within the industrial mieu of the time.

And it can also provide material for the study of the technology, business and work organization of industrial activity, and the history of families, businesses and communities in 19th century Canada.

Well worth the visit, since it is the first time it has been done on such a large scale, and it does give a snapshot of industrial development in Canada in 1871.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Ottawa Branch Sends "News"

The Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society has just sent out the "News" this week - the August-October, 2008 newsletter.

This issue is 55 pages long, and covers such topics as The Early Carleton County Settlers (Early Medical Practitioners in Carleton County and The Lillico Family Chain Migrants to Gloucester Township, Ontario); Early Residents of Ottawa's Sandy Hill Neighbourhood; Celebrating Beechwood Women! Beechwood Cemetery 14th Annual Historical Tour; and the section titled, Old-Time Stuff covers Early Trangraphs.

They have a section called "News", which really brings you up-to-date about what's going on in the National Capital Region of Ottawa-Gatineau.

In this issue, they have set the date for the Gene-O-Rama conference for March 27 and 28, 2009 and the special focus will be on the census. The Ryan Taylor Memorial Lecture will be held November 1st, with Brian Gilchrist talking about developing a Research Strategy. On Tuesday, September 16, there will be a meeting of the OGS in which Marc St-Jacques will talk about Searching Gatineau Archives.

In the "Electronic Noteboard" is the latest of the websites on the Internet, and Heather Oakley always does an interesting article about places to check on the Internet.

It is interesting to note that Mike More, the Chair of the Ottawa Branch of the OGS, states that their attendance is down 5% per year since the late 1990s.

They, unlike the Nova Scotia Genealogy Society, aren't thinking about cutting back on the number of issues on the newsletter but are looking for a Publicity Coordinator to get the message out about their meetings, etc.

Are you interested?

Contact Mike More at <chair@ogsottawa.on.ca>.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

WorldVitalRecords.com Partners with Canada's Dundurn Press

WorldVitalRecords has just announced that they have partnered with Dundurn Press and will start to post over 400 genealogical and historical books online.

This was an unexpected announcement, as the press had been in existence since 1972, but WorldVitalRecords says that it will bring more publicity to the press and people will know more about it.

Some of the titles that will be put online will be 100 Canadian Heroines, Strangers at our Gates: Canadian Immigration Policy, 1540-2006, and Maps for Family and Local History.

Just by coincidence, June Coxon, also a writer from Ottawa like myself, attended the Conference '08 of the Ontario Genealogical Society in London, and while there, she interviewed some people in the marketplace, and one of the interviews was with Barry Penhale of Dundurn Press.

Barry was with Heritage Books before, and since 2007, has been with Dundurn Press.
==========

A New Role For Natural Heritage Books and Barry Penhale
by
June Coxon


You couldn't miss seeing Barry Penhale if you visited the marketplace during this year's OGS conference, in London, Ontario. His was the first table in the first aisle as you entered the room.

But the large banner sign behind him read 'Dundurn Press' and most people likely associate him or at least his name with Natural Heritage Books, a company specializing in publishing books about Canadian heritage, natural history, and biography. Penhale and his wife, Jane Gibson, established that company in 1983. But since January 2007, it has been a member of the Dundurn Press Group, and Penhale now calls himself publisher emeritus. Obviously, that does not mean he has left the publishing world completely. He's been in the business for some 40 years and is not likely to leave it behind any time soon.

As for his company's new association with Dundurn Press, some people might be leery about the decision to join forces with another publishing company, but not Penhale. "The president of Dundurn, Kirk Howard, has a great appreciation for history," said Penhale. "In fact, he's been a genealogist for years. Also, Dundurn started primarily as a small publisher of Canadian history, military history, politics, current affairs, and biography," he noted. "So becoming part of the Dundurn Group was a good fit for us, especially since I've been assured that my company's signature name will continue to be used in conjunction with that of Dundurn's."

Natural Heritage has published over 200 books, of which approximately 100 are still in print. But Dundurn has more funding and therefore more books (Since it started 1972, Dundurn Press and its associated imprints have published over 1,450 books, of which 650 are still in print They publish about 75 to 80 new titles a year ). "The move we made last year will enable our book selection to strengthen and expand," Penhale said. Both Natural Heritage Books and Dundurn are located in Toronto.

Some of the most popular and successful books published by Natural Heritage Books include the series of eight written by Ottawa-born Dr. Lucille Campey about Scottish immigration to Canada. For those unfamiliar with her books, the one she published in 2005, The Scottish Pioneers of Upper Canada, 1784-1855: Glengarry and Beyond, is 397 pages full of tantalizing information for genealogists like charts, maps, and passenger lists. This book also contains descriptive information about the progress of Scottish settlement in Upper Canada, with details about the 550 ships that made over 900 crossings and carried almost 100,000 emigrant Scots to Canada.

"Dr. Campey's last book, An Unstoppable Force, was on sale at the BIFHSGO conference in Ottawa this year and every one was sold," Pehale pointed out. But he also told me that Dr. Campey has written her last book about Scottish immigration to Canada. Deciding to turn her research and writing to a different part of the British Isles, Campey has signed a contract to write three more books for Natural Heritage Books. But they will be about people who immigrated from England to Canada. Like her last two books, these will bear the joint imprint of Dundurn and Natural Heritage. Her first book in this next series is scheduled for publication in 2010.

Barry Penhale and his books are a familiar site at conferences and fairs. He has been displaying and selling his books at conferences like the one in London for many years. "From a vendor's point of view, it's always a great experience because of the many interesting people I meet as well as the new contacts and connections made at such fairs," he concluded.

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Natural Heritage Books,The Dundurn Group, P.O. Box 95, Station O, Toronto, Ontario M4A 2M8, Canada.
E-mail: <natherbooks@bellnet.ca>
Phone: 416-694-7907 or 1-800-725-9982.
Fax: 416-690-0819

Thursday, August 14, 2008

August 2008 "NewsLeaf" is Here!

The August 2008 NewsLeaf is here! It was delivered last week to my mailbox and it looks good.

The NewsLeaf is the Ontario Genealogical Society's (OGS) four times a year publication of news about the society which one receives if a member of the society <www.ogs.on.ca>.

The OGS has a new president this year, Don Hinchley from the Durham Branch, and a new vice-president, Nancy Trimble, also from the Durham Branch.

In this issue are articles on the Irish Palatines, Finding Cousins, and Ontario Vital Records.

As well as the articles, there are the usual, as in Branch addresses and Branch meetings and what is going on in the Halton-Peel Branch for next year's conference to be held in Oakville (near Toronto) next year from May 29-31, 2009 <www.ogs.on.ca/conference>.

My opinion is rather biased because I am editor of it, as well as being the editor of its electronic sister publication, e-NewsLeaf, also only available to the members of the OGS.

The e-NewsLeaf is sent out by email, or is available onsite, eight times a year (January, March, April, June, July, September, October, December).

Meanwhile, the print NewsLeaf is available February, May, August and November.

Both are full of news about what is happening at the OGS. If you want to know when the next meeting is, or what plans the society has for an upcoming event, be sure to check the NewsLeaf or the e-NewsLeaf.

The Ontario Genealogical Society is the largest society in Canada. It will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2011.