Saturday, March 7, 2009

Canadian Air and Space Museum / Canada Aviation Museum

In February, the Canadian Air and Space Museum www.casmuseum.org unveiled a new $2-million capital campaign which will see the first full-size model of theAvro Arrow onsite , as well as the addition of new galleries and classrooms to the museum. In addition, a home will be made for the Lancaster X Bomber.

The expansion was announced as we celebrate the Canadian Centennial of Powered Flight on the Bras D'Or Lakes in Nova Scotia, when Alexander Graham Bell oversaw the flying of the Silver Dart.

Many supporters were there to launch the "new" museum, and the Honourable David C. Onley, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, said, "This launch celebrates the many achievements of the Canadian aerospace industry. I am pleased to be present for this new chapter in the museum's development and to see it supported so enthusiastically be the aerospace, airline and space industries, as well as the military and other proud Canadian supporters."

After visiting the Canadian Air and Space Museum, go and visit the Canada Aviation Museum in Ottawa www.aviation.technomuses.ca, which is home to over 130 aircraft. It re-opened in November after extensive renovations.

The Canada Aviation Museum has its own library and archives onsite, which you can visit and look at the over 12,000 books they have, as well as over 200 periodicals and the many technical manuals which are there.

They also have photographs and archives from Air Canada, Canadair, and Avro Canada.

The private collections include log books from the aviators of the First and Second world Wars; correspondence from the bush pilot,Stuart Graham; and the collection of Kenneth M. Molson, the first curator of the Canada Aviation Museum.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Ottawa Branch News

A hefty version of the Spring edition of the Ottawa Branch News reached me today.

I say hefty because the last 19 pages of the News is taken up by the listing of surnames in the Index to Names Volume 41 (2008). The list contains the surname, the given name(s), and the page number.

The articles are very included in this edition are "Research at Salt lake City - Preparation", which talks about Elizabeth Kipp's trip to Salt Lake City researching Palatines; "Early Residents of Ottawa's Sandy Hill Neighbourhood"; "Online Genealogy Dictionaries and Lists"; and "The City of Ottawa Archives - a Wonderful Resource".

An intriguing article is one of changes in format coming to the News.

The format is going to change to a 8.5" x 11" journal style and the name is going to change.

Do you have a name for the new newsletter? They have received some suggestions already. For example: Ottawa/Bytown/Carleton - Roots, Genealogy, Ancestors, Families, Relations, Happenings. Suggestions are welcome!

And the editor is looking for someone to design the cover of the new journal. He is looking for someone with layout experience, and he says that it would only take a few hours to do this in consultation with the editor.

If you can help, please contact Edward Kipp at editor@ogsottawa.on.ca.

Monday, March 2, 2009

My "Genealogical" Schedule - Part II

Saturday, I finished writing my "genealogical" schedule for March, and I posted the frist part for you to read. Now is the second part, and maybe you will be able to join me in some of the events I will attend or read some of the happenings that I will write about.

March 21st - The Beginners Course in Genealogy — held at the Library and Archives Canada and sponsored by BIFHSGO and the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) — will be held from 9:00 a.m. until noon. There are four great speakers -

- John D. Reid (of Anglo-Celtic Connections fame) will talk about the Seven Great Rules

- Glen Wright will talk about Census Records

- Allison Hare will talk about Civil Registrations

- Terry Findley will talk about Local Resources

Afterwards, I plan to go to Lansdowne Park to the Green Conference and do a couple of interviews for magazine articles.

March 27th - The opening night of this year's Gene-O-Rama!

Registration will open at 7:00 p.m., and the official opening will take place at 7:30. Like last year, it will be held at Ben Franklin Place in Nepean.

The speaker at the Pat Horan Memorial Lecture will be Dr. Bruce Curtis, and he will talk about "Locating, Identifying, Knowing: Census Making in Canada to 1871".

March 28th - The second day of Gene-O-Rama, with nine lectures, a banquet, a marketplace, and genealogy computing. Phew!

It sounds like a lot of thing to go to, but Mike More, the Chairperson, has everything under control, and it should go off without a hitch.

I plan to attend a lecture on "The Canadian Genealogy Centre in 2009"; "Getting the Most from City Directories and Their Next of Kin"; and "Cold Cases: Hot Tips".

March 31st - I will send in another article to GenealogyToday.com for my column, "Canadian Connections". I hope you will drop by for a visit, and read some of my past articles.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

I'm-a "Twitter"

For those of you on Twitter - I'm on Twitter, too!

I went on last night between periods in the hockey game and came away with a few followers ... but no genealogists.

So I'm asking all those genealogists with Canadian family connections to follow my "comings and goings" on at http://twitter.com/GenealogyCanada, as I intend to use Twitter as a place to post the events I attend and the blogs I write.

So hop on over to Twitter, or to the blog, and get your genealogical fix for the day!

Saturday, February 28, 2009

My "Genealogical" Schedule - Part I

I just finished doing my "genealogical" schedule for March, and here is the first part of it - maybe you will be able to join me in some of the events I will attend or read some of the happenings that I will write about.

e-Newsleaf - The e-NewsLeaf celebrates its first anniversary this month!

It is a publication of the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) for which I am the editor. It is sent out to the members by email for the months that the print edition, NewsLeaf, is not published. This means that it is sent to OGS members every month except February, May, August, and October.

It usually comes out on the 15th of the month in which it is published. This month, the topics include:

• Establishment of Irish Special Interest Group at the OGS

• Simcoe 25th Anniversary

• Online Obituary Index

• Other news items

Ancestry.ca - This is the first month that I will appear on the Ancestry.ca blog with two articles.

The first one will be about tracking down surnames that have a different spelling in the 1891 Canadian Census, and how I solved a problem of my own.

March 14th - This will be the meeting of the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO), and will feature speaker Sharon Moor. It will start at 10:00 a.m. at Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa.

She will talk about all the different resources that helped her crash through three (3) walls in different branches of her family history.

I am excited already! Sounds like an interesting topic!

March 17th - St. Patrick's Day! In honour of this day, I will attend a meeting of the Ottawa Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society to hear Larry Cotton's talk, "Whiskey & Wickedness".

Larry, a retired teacher, is going to tell us stories about the Temperance Movement and the licensing of taverns in the Ottawa Valley.

The talk starts at 7:30 p.m. in Room 156 of the Library and Archives Canada.

I will be back with Part II tomorrow.

Friday, February 27, 2009

Ancestry.ca Posts 1916 Canadian Census Online

Ancestry.ca really surprised me by releasing the 1916 Census for Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta.

More than 1.7-million names and over 38,000 images are in this census, and is well worth the look if you suspect, or know of, anyone there in 1916.

From 1906 to 1950, a separate census was taken of the Prairie Provinces five years after every national census, and according to the law, 92 years had to pass before the census would be released.

If you look at the census, you will find the name of the person, their gender, and marital status.

You will also find their age, birthdate, and place where that person was born.

The place of residence will be given as it was in 1916, and also provide a list of members of the family.

You can also see the image of the actual census return. I learned that a person I had been following from New Brunswick to Manitoba, and to Alberta, listed his wife as being from Manitoba.

But when I checked, her father — who now lived with them — was originally from New Brunswick, as was her husband, the head of the household. Question - answered!

The 1916 Census is free with a 14-day trial from Ancestry.ca for those who wish to take a look at it.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Ancestry.ca and the World Archives Project

Ancestry.ca let us know yesterday that the World Archives Project has already started in Canada with the soon to be released "Ontario, Canada Marriage Registers by Clergy, 1896-1948."

If you go on Ancestry.ca, a mnetion is made that the project is 80% done already, so I guess they are trying to make sure that people know about it and will help them make it over the top.

They have said that it will be free when completed, and will include approximately 24,000 names as registered by the clergy under the Resignation Act of 1896.

No where do they say that this is already available at the Ontario Archives by microfilm (it is) and is also available by the Mormons - but it will be available on the Internet for the first time when it is completed by Ancestry.ca.

You can go to the site to access the download page and for instructions on how to use the indexing tool.

As Karen Peterson, Marketing Director of Ancestry.ca says, "Historical record preservation and access go hand-in-hand so it is important that institutions, business and individuals all play an active role to ensure that as many Canadian records are preserved for future generations as possible."