Anglo-Celtic Connections

• Good News
  Eligible non-profit organizations and charities can now book certain LAC spaces at no cost, subject to specific criteria. Space at 395 Wellington, likely the 2nd floor Alfred Pellan Room, restores the free facility of Room 156 that was heavily used before the ground floor space was taken over by Public Works. Two Gatineau locations are also available. Find out more here. Spaces at Ādisōke will become available once the facility is ready.
• Save the DHCP!
  Documenting advocacy efforts to restore LAC’s Documentary Heritage Communities Program.
• Intellectual Freedom: Compliance
  Following up on LAC’s Intellectual Freedom Statement, I requested information on how LAC’s compliance will be measured and reported. According to a prompt response from LAC Media Relations, “LAC does not currently plan to publish a separate public report on the Intellectual Freedom Statement. Rather, progress related to the statement will be reflected through LAC’s existing planning and reporting processes.”
  Specifically, “Progress will be assessed using indicators already tracked through LAC’s existing planning, performance measurement, and monitoring processes, including our Departmental Results Framework and service standards”. Will this be meaningful accountability, or a ticking the boxes exercise?
• Creative Space at LAC
  Every Wednesday, until 19 August 2026, from 9 am to 3 pm, take part in artistic and literary activities at your own pace in the Alfred Pellan Room at 395 Wellington Street. Could this be a trial of the type of programming to be offered at Ādisōke?

This massive collection, now 45,915,080 records, is likely updated as previously embargoed records move into the public realm.

The 1939 Register is a detailed survey of the civilian population in England and Wales during the Second World War, initially taken for ration books and to issue identity cards. It includes notations that give the married name of women originally registered under their maiden name.

Findmypast’s version of the Register lists 36,688,071 records; MyHeritage has 35,119,597 records. Could it be the Ancestry version includes corrections and married names as separate entries?

The summer edition of this magazine from the Irish Family History Centre is out with a new look and a new name. Remembered is dropped from the title.

Contents include:

Producers Star Nathan Lane’s Irish Roots
Eunice Kennedy Shriver: Founder of the Special Olympics
Maritime Pilgrimage of Saint Sionach MacDara, Lord of Tempests
The Jeanie Johnston Famine Ship: The Emigrant Voyage
The MacCarwells and Other Medieval Musical and Craft Families.

When I tried to follow the READ NOW link on Tuesday evening it landed on the previous (Winter) issue. Patience.

Choose from these selected free online events. All times are Eastern Time, unless otherwise noted. Registration may be required in advance—please check the links to avoid disappointment. For many more events, mainly in the U.S., visit https://conferencekeeper.org/virtual/

Tuesday, 21 July

2:00 PM: Ottawa Virtual Genealogy Drop-In, for OGS Ottawa Branch.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86956419387

2:30 PM: What We Wore: Fashion in Photos, 1850s to 1929, by Heather Register Zbinden for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/16670812

8:00 PM: DNA Helps Identify Parents for James Dolan, by Jennifer Zinck,  for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/dna-helps-identify-parents-for-james-dolan/

Wednesday, 22 July

1:00 PM: How to Find Missing Birth, Marriage, and Death Records on Ancestry, by Ancestry.com
https://www.ancestry.com/c/discover/education

2:00 PM: Solving Pre-1850 Identity Mysteries: The Case of Martha Brown Chandler, by Marian Pierre-Louis for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/solving-pre-1850-identity-mysteries-the-case-of-martha-brown-chandler/

Thursday 22 July – Saturday 24 July

Jenny Ashcraft’s article on the Fishwrap blog explains the ten-step process Ancestry uses in bringing us the 1.2 billion newspaper pages on newspapers.com.

Step 2, Customer Requests, states they’re welcome. But the website has no obvious way to send them! Several people have posted requests as comments to the article.

Don’t expect instant gratification. Contract negotiations may mean substantial delay. Content may be unavailable owing to copyright issues. 

Miscellaneous items I found interesting this week.

There is no conceivable way carbon capture and storage can work.

Don’t change lanes – the maths of holiday traffic jams

New from OGS
Early on Saturday, Patti Mordasewicz, Editor, issued the first version of OGS (or Ontario Ancestors if you will) eWeekly Update using new email distribution software. The format is slightly changed, the content remains substantial. Included was an announcement that TONI, The Ontario Name Index, has new content.

The Archive is Not a Toy: The Hidden Problems of a ‘Vintage’ AI

In the final post on the Active History blog before the summer break, Jacob Polay, Chloë Farr, and Jessica Jack review“talkie”—a pre-1930s large language model framed alternately as a forecasting experiment and a historical chatbot. It was trained on documentation from and pre-dating the era.
They blast “talkie” as automating the worst prejudices of the past and demand a complete foundation which includes un- or under-represented groups.
The complete foundation is a myth where records don’t exist. Falling short is letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.  Vintage language models, such as “talkie”, offer an innovative approach to understanding the past, including societal prejudices. While model developers surely have an obligation to be open about the information base used, it is up to the user to appreciate the context.

500 Ironic Stories!

Thanks to the following individuals for their comments and tips: Anonymous, Gail, Julia, Nick Moreau, Paul, Sunday Thompson, Teresa, and Unknown.

This article by John Kell in Business Insider describes how Ancestry has replaced its manual record-indexing process with AI and large language models (LLMs).
Starting with internal experiments in 2014, the company’s content has grown from 800 million new records in 2021 to over 18 billion in 2023.  By late 2025, over 50% of the historical records published on its site were generated via AI. Automated handwritten document transcription, photo facial recognition, and narrated family history stories have been made available through AI.

Hampshire, Portsmouth Dock Medical Books, 1810–1955

This major new collection comprises 150,038 medical records covering two periods: 1810 to 1815, and 1850 to 1955. If your ancestor worked at Portsmouth Dockyard across any of those years, these records could shed valuable light on their health and working life.

British Royal Navy, Medical Discharge Books, 1786–1801

A smaller but historically rich collection, these 2,792 records document medical discharges from the Royal Navy between 1786 and 1801 — a period spanning the American Revolutionary War and the early Napoleonic conflicts.

Newspapers

Forty titles are mentioned this week, 5 new and 35 updated, the median is 1,700 pages. The earliest date is 1737, the Dublin Evening Post (1737–1741).

New Titles

Updated Titles with Over 10,000 Pages Added

Statistics Canada is discontinuing the monthly release of provisional death estimates introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic. On 9 July, the final monthly update was published, covering the period from January 2024 to April 2026. The release of this data will revert to an annual schedule, with publication expected on 25 March 2027 to cover the 2025 reference year.

Are we going backwards in our access to public health data?

Historically, tracking mortality in real-time is an ancient concept. In London, weekly Bills of Mortality were first compiled in the late 16th century and published regularly from 1603 onward, specifically to monitor outbreaks of the plague. Parish clerks reported burials and causes of death to a central office, which then printed the tallies for the public. While these weekly reports were eventually superseded by systematic civil registration, they proved that timely data can be compiled, and is crucial during public health crises.

While Canada scales back its reporting frequency, the UK Office for National Statistics continues to issue current, high-frequency data, with its latest release publishing the provisional number of deaths for the week ending July 2, 2026.

British publisher Pen and Sword lists six Family History books published this July and coming later in the year.

Starting with the three published this month.

Strange Will Requests and Bequests; Exploring the Vaults of Somerset House, by AJ Griffiths-Jones

From vengeful codicils and heartfelt farewells, to wills etched on eggshells or hidden in hollow bedposts, this book uncovers a trove of bizarre and entertaining bequests. Here are men and women who used their final words to settle scores, impose odd conditions, or deliver one last laugh — sometimes at the expense of expectant heirs.

Tracing Your House History on the Internet: A Guide for Family Historians
by Gill Blanchard

… an indispensable resource for house history enthusiasts of all dwellings, this new and comprehensive guide seamlessly blends those traditional research methods with the vast expanse of online resources. Whether your home is a grand manor, a cosy cottage, or a Victorian terrace, this book equips you with the tools and knowledge to navigate the ever-growing digital archives and databases with ease. From deciphering historical documents to unraveling the lives of past inhabitants, every chapter is filled with invaluable insights and practical advice.

Tracing Your Ancestors Using Newspapers: A Guide for Family Historians
by Chloe O’Shea

… guides you through the process of uncovering, understanding, and interpreting newspaper articles that feature your ancestors. You’ll explore the wide range of stories that can be found, from court proceedings and military exploits to lost pets, acts of bravery, letters to the editor, and unexpected community involvement. Along the way, you’ll learn how to assess the reliability of articles, trace relatives across regions and continents, and make the most of ever-expanding online archives.

Coming in September is Recording the Nations: The Lives, Duties and History of the Census Takers, by Mish J Holman.

In October, Tracing Your Victorian Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians, by Jonathan Oates

And in November, Identifying Cap Badges: A Family Historian’s Guide,
by Graham Bandy

It’s that time of year again. Join us on Sunday at noon at the cafe at Westboro Beach.

The cafe reopened last year after renovations. It’s more or less where it was previously, just shifted a bit more toward the river. You’ll find more sunshades/umbrellas than last year.

Sunday’s forecast is “A mix of sun and cloud with 30 percent chance of showers. High 25.” Check back for a cancellation if the forecast turns rainy.

Here’s a summary of FamilySearch’s  Record additions so far in July 2026:

Roughly 71 million records were added across 39 collections. There was one Canadian update.

Geographical distribution:

• Ukraine – Three collections (Kyiv Confession Lists, Soviet Population Filtration Records, Odessa Census) totaling over 50 million records, dominated entirely by the Kyiv set accounted for over two-thirds of the month’s total so far.
• United States – The largest number of individual collections (roughly 25), spanning immigration/passenger lists (California, Alaska, Maine, Texas, Vermont, South Carolina), military records (U.S. Colored Troops, Massachusetts Revolutionary War, various WWI collections), vital records (Michigan births, Kent County voter registrations), and general resources like the 1940 Census (3.2 million) and GenealogyBank obituaries/births/marriages (6.1 million). Combined, U.S. collections add up to roughly 13–14 million records.
• Philippines – Nine regional civil registration collections (Western Visayas, Calabarzon, Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Ilocos, Mimaropa, Northern Mindanao, Cordillera, Zamboanga Peninsula) plus the national civil registration set, together contributing about 6.2 million records, with the national collection (5.9 million) providing most of that.
• Other countries – Smaller but notable additions from Italy (Firenze Census, 80,800), Canada (Ontario Deaths, 316,331), and France (Réunion Civil Registration, 450,069).

The Full Text Search collection added two titles:
United States, North Carolina, Properties, from 7 January 1027 to 2007,  824,881 records added on 9 July 2026
United States, New Jersey, Properties, from 1600 to 1998, 509,267 records, added on 8 July 2026