Month: August 2022

Here it is, https://library-archives.canada.ca/eng/Pages/Home.aspx, the top part, in advance of the date LAC thought it would become available. The images make for eye appeal.

You can use the search box at the top or click on Collection if you’re searching for information. Shouldn’t that be Collections?

On that page under Most requested, find Census search, First World War Personnel Records, Ask us a question, and Image credits. Go down another level, under “Help with your research,” to find the page I was expecting to not be as far into the site.

It’s early days yet. LAC will undoubtedly make adjustments as they get feedback directly and from usage patterns.

 

Choose from free online events in the next five days. All times are ET except as noted. Those in red are Canadian, bolded if local to Ottawa or recommended. Assume registration in advance is required; check so you’re not disappointed.

Tuesday  30 August 2:30 pm: Discover Your Irish Family History in Beyond 2022’s Virtual Record Treasury. by Elizabeth Hodges for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/6972108

Thursday 1 September 6:30 pm:  Ethnicity Results Deep Dive by Steven Frank for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/7013013

Thursday 1 September 6:30 pm: Researching Your Metis Ancestors, by Christne Woodcock for OGS/Ontario Ancestors.
https://ogs.on.ca/zoom-meetings/christine-woodcock-researching-metis-ancestors/

Friday 2 September 10:15 am (sic): 10 Best Self-Publishing Tips for Family Historians by Lisa Alzo  for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/10-best-self-publishing-tips-for-family-historians/

Friday 2 September 11:30 am (sic): Changing Places, Changing Borders: Overcoming geographic challenges, by Dave Obee for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/changing-places-changing-borders-overcoming-geographic-challenges/

Friday 2 September 12:45 pm (sic): Tracing migrating ancestors: Who, what, where, when, why and how, by Myko Clelland for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/tracing-migrating-ancestors-who-what-where-when-why-and-how/

 

Digitized files for these WW2 servicemen recently became available online.

NAME	DATE OF BIRTH	PLACE OF BIRTH
WILSON KENNETH READING	07 Feb 1924	MONTREAL CANADA
GODDARD HERBERT CHARLES	01 Jul 1911	TORONTO CANADA
BAILEY WILLIAM JOHN	25 Jun 1906	BRIAR CREST CANADA
PRENTER SAMUEL	23 Jun 1912	ST JOSEPHS ISLAND CANADA
HOPES WILLIAM ERNEST	18 Sep 1914	SHELLBOURNE CANADA
UTLEY LAURENCE GEORGE	20 Apr 1910	TORONTO CANADA
O’LEARY LEWIS ALEXANDER	28 Sep 1915	VANCOUVER CANADA
OWEN ARTHUR	12 Jul 1897	TORONTO CANADA

The same source shows recently available WW2 service files for 1,195 men born in England, 43 from Wales, 352 from Scotland, 107 from Ireland.

They are among 23,123 newly scanned records by the National Archives of Australia in the last month, the majority for men who served with Australian forces during the war. 

BTW, if you don’t find them in other records recall that information given on military enlistment is often problematic. Claiming an overseas birth could be a useful subtefuge to hide an inconvenient truth.

https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ListingReports/NewlyScannedList.aspx

 

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

Records of Britain’s Colonial Office, the government department responsible for Britain’s colonies at various points throughout the 18th to 20th centuries, is the topic of the most recent On The Record podcast from The National Archives. https://pod.link/1460242815/episode/e33774157e1ec15474d531cadf9d9f45

Multiculturalism @50 and the Promise of a Just Society
The latest publication from The Metropolis Institute (Association for Canadian Studies) Canadian Issues series free online.

Commutometer
Select your home on the commutometer interactive map to see how far you can travel in 5 minute intervals.

YouTube: how a team of scientists worked to inoculate a million users against misinformation

Media coverage in times of crises: Lessons from the past and ideas for tomorrow | Timothy Snyder (YouTube)

Thanks to this week’s contributors: Anonymous,  Craig Milne, Dorothy Kew, Glenn Wright, Jane MacNamara, Kim, Linda Stufflebean, Teresa, and Unknown.

Adding to the collections of 616,486 Jersey births and baptisms, and 140,978 marriages come 299,811 burials.

These index records, no images, date from the year 1541 onwards and typically include the name of the deceased, year of birth, the date and place of burial, the names of the parents, and the name of the spouse.

 

Four short videos by speakers at the BIFHSGO conference, 28 September–2 October 2022, previewing their presentations, are added to the four originally posted.

The additions are by Andrea Hetherington, Beryl Evans, Dave Annal and Janet Few. 

Find them at  https://www.bifhsgo.ca/in-their-own-words where you’ll find links to details on their presentations and to register!

Wow! Thanks to a note from Glenn Wright, this most unusual resource has already added some snippets to my family history.

Grace’s Guide, a UK registered charity, is “the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 149,809 pages of information and 235,489 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them.”

A lot of information is free, while there’s a small charge for downloading PDF files. Those include issues of The Engineer – (1856-1940), Engineering – (1866-1930), Autocar – (1895-1915), Automobile Engineer – (1910-1930), Automotor Journal – (1896-1917), Car Illustrated – (1902-1903), Light Car and Cyclecar – (1912-1939) and Motor – (1902-1914).

In the “Search Graces Guide” box, enter the name of a company, a place or, in some cases, a person. I found the history of the company where my grandfather worked and the date the eventual owner of a company, who appears in my extended family tree, apprenticed to the original owner. There was information about major businesses in Great Yarmouth .

Great Yarmouth was among the list of towns on the Smith’s Crisps package. Perhaps you recall the  contents included a particularly tasty blue one! Grace’s Guide will outline the company’s history and what happened to it.

 

Genealogical Society of Ireland: Journals
Six hundred sixty-four articles on all aspects of Irish family history, including transcripts of important sources, published by the Genealogical Society of Ireland since 1992.
Full text searchable, the articles include studies on specific families, locations or search methodology and full transcripts of original records.

Waterford, Grand Jury Presentments 1808-1899 Image Browse
Grand Jury query and account books, assize presentments and contract details throughout the 18th century. The names found in these pages may have been maintenance workers, staff or suppliers or may have paid a fee to the Grand Jury.

Britain, Marriage Licences
Added to this collection are 218,000 Norfolk marriage bonds from 1557 to 1915. The early records, to about 1700, are handwritten and much is illegible. Later licences have the information written on printed forms.

As of 23 August, MyHeritage has 64,274 Canada, Montréal, Non-Catholic Marriages records and 83,217 Canada, Quebec, Marriage records. Both are sourced from  Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ).and free to view. 

The non-Catholic records date from 1770 to 1900—the Catholic from 1725 to 1941.

MyHeritage also updated its free 1950 United States Federal Census searchable index. They now have 16,733,748 records, still a long way short of the 150 million records in the census.

The searchable index currently contains all records from Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Panama Canal Zone, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virgin Islands, Wyoming, Indian Reservation Schedules, and four overseas islands of Canton, Johnston, Midway, and Wake.

Now until Monday 29 August 2022 at 7 pm, there’s a 50% discount on 1921 Census record image and transcript purchases. For 12-month Pro subscribers already benefiting from 10% off all 1921 Census purchases, that discount is automatically increased to 50% during the offer period.

www.findmypast.com or www.findmypast.co.uk

TROVE from the National Library of Australia and hundreds of Partner organizations is a well-known resource, even in Canada, showing Australia’s lead in digitization. 

There’s more.

The State Library of New South Wales has links to 34 freely available family history databases for England, Scotland and Wales, part of a larger collection of databases and websites.
Kudos for including links recognizing the diversity of resources external to the organization useful for their clients.

The amazing Tim Sherratt  @wragge posted some new Australian resources showing what’s possible in making collections searchable.

GLAM Name Index Search (search across 253 name indexes to collections from Australian archives & libraries): https://glam-workbench.net/name-search/

NSW Post Office Directories (search across 54 vols, 1886-1950): https://nsw-post-office-directories-yajhxrvxsa-ts.a.run.app

How has an area in your Canadian family history changed?

Maps from the 1:50,000 scale National Topographic Series, covering the years 1905 (?) to 2012 and representing all Canadian provinces and territories, are now online through Canadiana.ca /.

The nearly 22,000 Canadian maps, digitized by McGill University Library, depict in detail ground relief (landforms and terrain), drainage (lakes and rivers), forest cover, administrative areas, populated areas, transportation routes and facilities (including roads and railways), and other human-made features such as buildings, power lines and dams.
As there are maps for different years you can see changes to the landscape, although there are gaps in the collection.

At the 1:50,000 scale (1 inch to 0.79 miles) roads are depicted but not named.

The Ottawa extracts below are for 1950, the earliest and 1998, the latest I could find for the area. In between are maps for 1958, 1968, 1976, 1983, and 1987.