Tuesday, January 20, 2009

"The British Columbia Genealogist"

The Christmas edition of The British Columbia Genealogist is last one in which "BC 150 Years: The Best Place on Earth" is celebrated.

As usual, it is a good mix of articles, photos, BC Genealogical Events & Activities, and Queries.

Some of the articles include "A Roll of Honor, American Can Co. Ltd, Vancouver, BC"; "Greek Soldiers Off to War, 1912-1913, BC - Cokkins, Dapoulos"; "Canadians World War I War Medals", and "In Quarantine: Life and Death on Grosse Ile, 1832-1937", and the ever- popular "Salt Lake City Research Trips, 2008".

I see where Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak will give an all-day seminar on the 7th of March at the Surrey Arts Centre. She will give four seminars ("Trace Your Roots with DNA" and "Cases That Made My Brain Hurt:, to name two of them). For more, go to www.bcgs.ca/Event-Brochures.htm.

Even though I don't have a relative native to the province, I like to read the Genealogist because it has lots of information in it which interests me.

And which, hopefully, will interest you.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Aboriginal Records Requested

Researcher and writer Janice Nickerson needs help gathering illustrative examples for a soon-to-be published guide to Aboriginal genealogical research in Central and Eastern Canada.

She will pay $25 per document to anyone who can send me a copy of a civil registration, will or estate record, newspaper Item, school record, land and property record, notarial record from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI, Newfoundland and Labrador, in which an Aboriginal person is featured, preferably explicitly identified as such.

She also needs non-church documents from Quebec, and newspaper items, school records, or land and property records for Ontario.

She only needs one of each type of document for each province.

The deadline is January 25th.

Please contact Janice directly for details at janice@uppercanadagenealogy.com, or call 416.920.2206.

She can also be contacted by mail at:

Janice Nickerson
Upper Canada Genealogy
Suite 2807, 33 Isabella Street
Toronto, Ontario M4Y 2P7
www.uppercanadagenealogy.com

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Happy New Year!


To all our readers, thank you for making 2008 a success for the GenealogyCanada blog and website!

We look forward to bringing you more news on the Canadian genealogy front, and hope you will continue to join us in 2009 and beyond!

Elizabeth

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

OGS announces Trillium Grant

The Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) is pleased to announce a Trillium Grant as a starter fund for a project with the OGS to help Ontario to help Ontario heritage organizations digitize parts of their collections.

The funds — granted over two years — will enable OGS to hire a technician, obtain equipment, and travel to the heritage organizations to scan the material.

The project will:
  • provide a digitized version of one-of-a-kind records, increasing security
  • allow small organizations access to digitizing they otherwise could not afford
  • increase the exposure of small organizations
  • increase access to records significant to Ontario's heritage
  • allow an income stream to heritage organizations if they wish so that it can provide a Canadian not-for-profit portal as an alternative to foreign commercial portals
The OGS is working with Ristech Company Inc., a Burlington, Ontario company that specializes in scanning equipment.

OGS President, Don Hinchley, said, "I believe this grant will give many more genealogists throughout Ontario and the world access to materials without the necessity of travelling to the museum or local archive."

This project will help protect the culture and heritage of Ontario, some of which is in delicate condition and could be lost if it is not copied.

Monday, December 29, 2008

LAC Partners with the National Archives of Ireland

The Library and Archives of Canada www.collectionscanada.gc.ca is pleased to announce that the Archives of Ireland www.census.nationalarchives.ie has released the latest phase of "an online research tool for the Irish counties of Antrim, Kerry, and Down for 1911. The census records for all countries for 1911 and for 1901 will be made available online throughout 2009".

"With 70-million Irish diaspora around the world, and up to one-fifth of Canadians claiming Irish heritage, this project will connect even more people to their historical," stated Ian E. Wilson, Librarian and Archivist of Canada.

The LAC and the NAI collaborated on other projects including two Irish studies held in 2006 and 2008 (I attended this one*); the Irish-Canadian Documentary Heritage at the LAC, and the popular website, The Shamrock and the Maple Leaf at www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/ireland.

Making these records accessible online will give genealogists and historians around the world the chance to explore the age, occupation, religion, and marital status of individuals. It will also allow research on Irish on Irish society of the early 20th century. The National Archives of Ireland have provided vibrant historical essays on topics such as social life, government, sport, and religion, and the photographs depicting life in Ireland in 1911.

The census records can search free of charge, and it is searchable by name.

* (For more on the 2008 Irish Studies I attended, please visit these four pages):
  1. http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2008/09/irish-studies-symposium.html
  2. http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2008/10/irish-symposium-2008-at-library-and.html
  3. http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2008/11/library-and-archives-canada-launches.html
  4. http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com/2008/12/450-years-of-fishing.html

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Canada's First Christmas


This year will be Canada's snowiest Christmas ever, says Environment Canada's Senior Climatologist, Dave Phillips. There will be snow everywhere, even including the West Coast in Vancouver and Victoria, and on the East Coast in Halifax.

The first Christmas to be celebrated in Canada was in 1535, when French explorer, Jacques Cartier, and one hundred and ten men observed the holiday in a tiny fort at the foot of Quebec City.

So may everyone have a "Happy Holiday!", and we hope that Santa be most generous when he hands out the gifts!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Canadian Genealogy Centre Has New Look

Sylvie Tremblay, Chief Project Manager of the Canadian Genealogy Centre (CGC), informed me yesterday that a "new look" was in store for their website www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/index-e.html, and this morning when I logged on - there it was - new and improved!

I have chosen my words carefully because it is "new and improved". When the website for the CGC first appeared, its design seemed somewhat haphazard (and with the generous addition of information over the years, it became a bit unwieldy) - but now it is crisp, uncluttered, and divided into readable blocks that makes it easier for the public to follow.

On the left are the major divisions of the site, in the middle of the page are links to the "Most Requested Records", "How to Begin", "What You Can Do" and "Learning Resources" pages, and on the right of this page are links to the "What's New at the CGC" and "That's My Family" sections.

The Centre has come a long way in the five years when it first appeared, due in large part to the hard work of Sylvie and her crew. Many Canadian databases have been put on the site over the years, and it's all free!

Canada is the only county in the world to have such a site, and the Library and Archives Canada is to be commended for putting "our" (Canadian) genealogy online.

In the coming years, emphasis — in part — will be put on wikis, social networking websites like Facebook and YouTube, and other sites. This will help spread the words of the introduction which hangs over their website: "Welcome to a great place to research your family history".