English Family History Workshop

The English Family History workshop will be co-sponsored by the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, and the Canadiana Department of North York Central Library, and will be held Saturday 5 November 2011.

It will feature speakers John D. Reid, a blooger at http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com/, and Lesley Anderson at Ancesrry.ca both are from the Ottawa area. Paul Jones, Jane E. MacNamara and Linda Reid are from Toronto, and will join them in presenting the workshop.

Find out from the experts how to make the most of parish, probate and manorial records, how to track your English ancestors through newspapers, directories and gazetteers and how to use Canadian and British records together to put the puzzle pieces in place.

The early bird registration deadline is 14 October 2011 and OGS members enjoy special rates.

For program and registration details, see http://www.torontofamilyhistory.org/English2011.html.

Biographical Research for Ontario Genealogists

Do you need help in learning the stories behind your ancestor's life? What was the historical events in their life at that time?

Then you need this course to help you answer the questions -

This course is for experienced genealogists who want to learn the stories behind their Ontario ancestors’ names, places and dates. Whether your ancestors were county farmers or city merchants, you can learn more about their lives using the records and techniques taught in this class. This class is ideal preparation for writing the family history book.

Schedule: Tuesdays, 6:15-8:15 PM, September 13,20, 27 and October 4, 2011 (a four week course)

Location: Toronto Reference Library, Learning Centre 1.

Instructor: Janice Nickerson

Janice is a professional genealogist based in Toronto. In addition to her private client work, she assists the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee in locating missing heirs, was the “behind the scenes” genealogical researcher and coordinator for the CBC’s genealogical TV program, Who Do You Think You Are? and is the author of the recent OGS/Dundurn publication, Crime and Punishment in Upper Canada: A Researcher’s Guide (For readers of Families, an excerpt, and review of the book was published in the February 2011 edition.)

Fee: $66 ($60 for OGS members.

Their website is at http://www.torontofamilyhistory.org/courses.html

For further information, to discuss prerequisite equivalents and to check before mailing a late application: email: courses@torontofamilyhistory.org or call (416) 733-2608 (voicemail)

120th Anniversary of Ukrainian Settlement

Over 1.2 million Ukrainian-Canadians are celebrating this year's events in the 120th Anniversary of settling in Canada.

They have completed the Historical Train of Ukrainian Pioneers from Halifax stopping in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Edmonton where they traced the steps of the people who came here in 1891; yesterday they honoured the annual Black Ribbon Day in which they remembered the victims of Communism and Nazism in Europe, and on the 24th of October of this year they will celebrate Ukrainian Day on Parliament Hill.

To view the history of Ukrainian-Canadians, the website is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_Canadian

To view the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, visit the http://www.history.alberta.ca/ukrainianvillage/default.aspx

Happy Thanksgiving!

So, please let me offer a "Happy Thanksgiving!" to our American Cousins! (I have first cousins in Maine, first cousins once removed in Texas, and first cousins three times removed in California).

Canada, in 2005, celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Canadian Society of Mayflower Descendants, and is still going strong <www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~canms/canada.html>.

There are four "colonies" in the country (in Toronto, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, and Alberta), with the Canadian society being the first formed outside of the United States.

They published a book for their 25th anniversary detailing their history, and it has many pictures which cover the events and meeting of their four colonies.

The site, which has had over 20,000 visitors since the website first started eight years ago, has an index on Mayflower Research Articles, Mayflower Families Corrections and Additions, and Upcoming Events & Society Meetings.

There is a List of Mayflower Passengers Who Left Descendants, Society Dues & Fees, and Application Procedure & Documentation Requirements.

They have also put online Reports of our Past Guest Speakers, Mayflower Research Articles (Index), and Mayflower DNA Projects.

For a change of pace, please read this interesting article entitled, "Were Cats and Dogs on the Mayflower?", at <http://www.petplace.com/cats/were-cats-and-dogs-on-the-mayflower/page1.aspx?utm_source=catcrazynews001et&utm_medium=email&utm_content=petplace_article&utm_campaign=dailynewsletter>.

And finally, for a bit of fun, knowing that watching football is paramount in any household this weekend (we watch it, too!), visit our Canadian Thanksgiving page at <http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2008/10/happy-thanksgiving.html> and check the graphic at the bottom.

Vigile 1914-1918 Vigil

Last night while coming home from the hockey game between the Ottawa Senators and the Washington Capitals (which Ottawa won - yes!), we drove past the National War Memorial at the corner of Wellington and Elgin Streets, across from the famous Chateau Laurier Hotel. It was 11:41 p.m.. Although there were no people present, the names of some of the 68,000 First World War soldiers were there on the memorial itself. It was the first night of Vigile 1914-1918 Vigil <www.1914-1918.ca>.

The project is to symbolically "repatriate" the Canadian soldiers who never made it back to their homeland, and to remember them on an individual basis, rather than as a collective during Remembrance Day ceremonies. The display which will be active in the evenings until Remembrance Day on November 11th. This vigil will also be held in Halifax, Fredericton, Toronto, Regina, and Edmonton.

You can look up the names of the dead on the website. You will find their surname, their first name and/or initials, service number, their rank, their regiment, their date of death, and the date their names will be projected on the National War Memorial.

In my case, I never had anyone die in the First World War but I looked up the surname of BARCLAY and found 18 soldiers who had died from 1916 to 1920.

The project was thought up by R.H. Thomson, a Canadian actor, and lighting designer Martin Conboy.