Choose from selected 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. Additional mainly US events are listed at https://conferencekeeper.org/virtual.

TUESDAY 31 JANUARY
8 pm:  Settlers, Squatters and Selectors: Land ownership in Australia, 1788-1900, by Cathie Sherwood for Legacy Family Tree Webinars. https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/settlers-squatters-and-selectors-land-ownership-in-australia-1788-1900/

WEDNESDAY 1 FEBRUARY
2 pm: Using Mitochondrial DNA Testing for Genealogical Problem Solving, by Michael D. Lacopo for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/using-mitochondrial-dna-testing-for-genealogical-problem-solving/

7:30 pm: Life on the Farm, by Jane MacNamara for OGS Huron Branch.
https://huron.ogs.on.ca/events/huron-branch-life-on-the-farm-jane-macnamara/

THURSDAY 2 FEBRUARY
6:30 pm: Deep Dive into AncestryDNA’s DNA Story (Ethnicity Estimate), by Sara Allen for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/7921465

FRIDAY 3 FEBRUARY
2 pm: Gradual Emancipation and Enslavement in the North, by Ari Wilkins for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/gradual-emancipation-and-enslavement-in-the-north/

SATURDAY 4 FEBRUARY
9 am: “Mother Dead, Father in Prison”, by Kate Keter for Anglo Scottish FHS.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/anglo-scottish-fhs-meeting-mother-dead-father-in-prison-tickets-502542146087

10 am: Some Highlights of the Irish Presence in 19th-Century Middlesex-London, by Dan Brock for OGS London & Middlesex Branch.
https://londonmiddlesex.ogs.on.ca/events/london-middlesex-branch-some-highlights-of-the-irish-presence-in-19th-century-middlesex-london/

11 am: I’m Warning You! The Warning Out System, by Peggy Lauritzen for International Society for British Genealogy and Family History.
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZElc–opj4uGdDVTRpOJxOeriSWO7rct7Ny

The link below is to a pdf manuscript by Jean Paul Farley, written mainly by his father Raymond Farley, who recounts his experiences growing up in Casselman, joining up while underage and serving with Canadian forces in Europe.

His Farley ancestor was an early Catholic Irish arrival who married into a French family.

It is a relatively long piece, 77 numbered pages, mostly about his military experiences, and best read with an excellent European map to hand to follow all of Raymond’s travels through war zones right into Germany.

https://www.anglocelticconnections.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Raymond-Farley-English.pdf

Particular thanks to Brenda Turner, who forwarded it along with the assurance that is not copyrighted and was given with no restrictions.

Approaching the 70th anniversary of the North Sea Flood of 31 January – 1 February 1953, I’m recalling my experience.

The home we rented, shown by the red cross, was on Riverside Road in Gorleston, Norfolk, opposite the Lifeboat Station on the River Yare, about half a kilometre from the harbour mouth to the North Sea. I enjoyed watching ships coming and going, including fleets of herring drifters in the Autumn. Post-war, fresh fish and seafood were readily available to supplement rationed food. It was a short walk to a large sandy beach. 

I was seven years old in 1953 and recall being woken up by my parents putting boxes in my bedroom on the upper floor. I went back to sleep.  Seawater rose to perhaps a foot or more In the house. In the morning I found they’d blocked the top of the stairs to stop me from getting into the muddy mess on the ground floor. Things they couldn’t move upstairs were piled high, and dry, on a table.

Folks nearby in the single-storey prefabs by Bells Marsh Road were totally flooded out. Pre-fabs were an answer to the post-WWII housing crisis. typically 600 sq ft with two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, and bathroom. 

Fireman George Sadd, credited with saving 27 people by carrying them from Bells Marsh Road on his back, was awarded the George Medal.

Water quickly receded in our house but stayed in a crawl space underneath the main floor. Our back garden remained flooded, as did the pre-fabs, it may have been for a fortnight or more. I took advantage by playing boats with two small wooden boxes of the type used for shipping kippers or bloaters that had drifted to the garden in the flood.

I was told the water in our house hadn’t come over the quay but up through the drains that lacked a backup valve.

The sea salt that had permeated into the house plaster walls was expelled as a white powder for a long time. That probably motivated our move inland to Bradwell a couple of years later.

Memory is funny! You remember small things like the can of coffee donated in the name of Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia.

Although flooded we were fortunate. Ten people lost their lives in Great Yarmouth and Gorleston, 5,000 were temporarily homeless.

The flood, resulted from storm surge on top of a high tide. 307 people died along the east coast — Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex. In total more than 2,500 were killed including 1,835 people in the Netherlands.

A video on the event and a later one in 2013 is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkkHBcjtRyM

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

Canada’s new drinking guidelines don’t consider the social benefits of alcohol. But should they?

Forgotten chapter of First World War involves brain of Nova Scotia soldier

Belgium Genealogy
The Belgium State Archives has just published a new site dedicated to genealogy.

The Rise and Fall of Fanny Cradock
An early British celebrity chef.

The 5 Best Free Screen Recording Apps
From Make Use Of, save high resolution videos with no time limit, or watermarks.

The End of Writing

Thanks to this week’s contributors: Anonymous, Brenda Turner, gail benjafield, Nick Mcdonald, Teresa, Unknown.

Journeys into Genealogy is an eclectic mix of genealogy-based topics, stories and people. Sometimes it may stray outside the boundaries of genealogy and include local history and other related topics.

Fifty episodes are online here and through various podcast servers like Apple podcasts and Spotify.

The most recent episode, just posted, is Researching Welsh Ancestors with Gill Thomas. Earlier this month Researching Italian Ancestors with Julie Goucher became available.

Additions and updates this week are for the British Army.

British Army, Honourable Artillery Company, Cardew-Rendle Roll Of Members 1537-1908

This new collection is a printed directory of biographies for 17,000 members of the Honourable Artillery Company, covering nearly four centuries. As the oldest British Army regiment, it received its royal charter from Henry VIII in 1537. Details you’ll find will vary from entry to entry, from birth year and residence to remarkable events and great deeds.

British Army, Honourable Artillery Company Journal 1923-2021

The first issue of this journal was published in 1923, and documented events and activities of the regiment. Make good use of the optional keyword search field here to find mentions of a person, or key events in this regiment’s history.

British Army, Coldstream Guards 1800-1981

Another 48,477 records have been added to this existing collection, now 167,876 records. It includes records for the oldest continuously serving regiment in the British Army. The new records cover attestation books, discharges, casualties and more. You’ll normally find a rank, regimental number and an event year.

John Grenham celebrates (sort of) the Latter Day Saints transcripts of Irish General Register Office marriage indexes 1845-1922 mapped and available on his site.

Give it a try at https://www.johngrenham.com/surnames/

So far this year FamilySearch has made changes, updated or added records, to eight indexed collections online for the UK and Ireland.

Collection Title	Records	Last Updated
England, Cumberland Parish Registers, 1538-1990	39,798	25-Jan-23
Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1740-1900	1,804,845	23-Jan-23
Ireland, Prison Registers, 1798-1928	3,127,594	23-Jan-23
United Kingdom, British India Office, Births and Baptisms, 1712-1965	713,850	20-Jan-23
England, Military Pension and Service Records, 1702-1933	911,344	20-Jan-23
United Kingdom, Royal Air Force Service Records, 1912-1945	342,823	11-Jan-23
England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975	46,640,642	03-Jan-23
England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991	15,000,390	03-Jan-23
England Marriages, 1538-1973	12,153,070	03-Jan-23

All except the 3 large BMD collections are transcriptions with linked images that are available at FamilySearch libraries and affiliate libraries.

There have been no additions to Canadian indexed records online since last August.

This collection contains 274,226 burial and cremation records from the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley from 1859 onwards. The cemeteries are:

Dudley Cemetery
Stourbridge Cemetery and Crematorium
Gornal Wood Cemetery and Crematorium
Lye and Wollescote Cemetery
Cradley Cemetery
Halesowen Cemetery
Brierley Hill Cemetery.

Records typically include the deceased’s name, year of birth, date of death, and date and place of burial. Information on the type of burial, service, and the grave’s location within the cemetery may also be included.

Today the Drouin Institute launches the 2023 edition of its contest in which 5 participants will win a 1-year subscription to GenealogyQuebec.com worth $129.

Registering for the draw just requires entering a valid email address at https://mailchi.mp/institutdrouin/concours2023en

The contest closes on 6 February.

Good luck.

The following Ancestry collections have been updated.

Web: Scotland, General and Admission Registers for Asylums, 1858-1918
Published on Ancestry9/29/2020, Updated 1/20/2023
Now with 165,561 records.

Web: Scotland, Sheriff Court Paternity Decrees, 1792-1922
Published on Ancestry3/15/2018, Updated 1/20/2023
Now with 128,825 records.

Web: Scotland, Prison Records Index, 1828-1878
Published on Ancestry 9/30/2014, Updated1/20/2023
Now with 173,186 records

Web in these titles refers to https://www.scottishindexes.com/