Anglo-Celtic Connections

During the Second World War, over 45,000 Canadian servicemen and women made the ultimate sacrifice. They aren’t just numbers. To truly comprehend the enormity of this loss, examine the impact at a local level.

Shown is an excerpt from a detailed map of Ottawa’s Glebe neighbourhood, a visual representation of the fallen. It’s hard to believe when you see it in the context of a neighbourhood you know! The map uses red to highlight Air Force deaths, black for Army, and blue for Navy. Find more detailed information in an article from the Glebe Report.

Credit to the research of Glebe resident Dave O’Malley.

In his latest weekly Scottish Genes newsletter Chris Paton wrote, “I was a little troubled by a new release from Findmypast… which maybe could have included a wee bit more tact for those recently bereaved.”

Chris wrote on his blog “But I think what bugs me slightly about this is that a commercial company has an index of records including those up to 2024, and from a few test searches, the records appear to go up to January 2024 – in other words, there will be people included in this new database who have literally just passed away four months ago. At least on Ancestry there is a buffer zone of a couple of years for those who may be grieveing.

Perhaps a slight tweak to this might make it a bit more tasteful, FindmyPast?”

The latest issue of the Ottawa Citizen includes obits for about 40 people recently deceased, the latest on 14 May. The family pay a pretty penny to have these published, sharing their grief with the community.

In England and Wales, while entries on the GRO website are  only to 2021, probate register entries for deaths are as late as 12 April 2024. Scotland’s People has 202 entries for 2024 death registrations just for people named Reid.

Is Chris being a wee bit tad sensitive?

Chris will be an in-person speaker at the OGS conference in Toronto next month.

 

 

That’s conference2024.ogs.on.ca/virtual-bundle

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

Stuff The British Stole
A podcast series about the not-so-polite history behind those objects.

A Toolkit for Archivists and Librarians Supporting Research and Teaching in Digital Humanities

NARA – Annual Online Genealogy Series
May 21 and 28, June 4, 18 and 25
Wouldn’t it be a joy if LAC took a leaf from NARA’s book!

A new old book for LAC

1922: A Year Like No Other
In the UK and beyond

Thanks to this week’s contributors: Anonymous, Chuck B, Sunday Thompson, Teresa, Unknown.

Here are this week’s additions

Scotland Deaths, 1855-2024
497,172 Scottish death record transcriptions

England & Wales Deaths, 2007-2024
225,815 Welsh death records

Northern Ireland Deaths, 1980-2024
28,292 Northern Irish additions

AND

45 new and updated newspaper titles…over 400,000 pages.

The source of the death data is shown in the copyright notice at the end of the transcription to be © MiExact Ltd. A British company providing mortality data, MiExact Ltd was founded in 1985.  It was a part of Wilmington plc, that company name was previously given as the source,  MiExact Ltd was sold to Information Services Bidco Limited in January this year, the business to continue to be run by the existing management team.

The company address, 3rd Floor, 100 Wigmore Street, London, United Kingdom, W1U 3RN, is that of Private equity investor Foundation Investment Partners.

The sources MiExact use probably include newspaper obits and probate filings. However, the company is unclear about sources, be cautious.

New Brunswick is one of the provinces that’s fairly open with its recprds of genealogical interest. Now, MyHeritage offers the convenience of accessing  1,130,755 birth records between 1801 and 1921. Records typically include the name of the child, date and place of birth, and the names of the parents.

It’s instructive to explore the contents. How many records are there by year.

There are 33 in 1800, very few until 1860, a double peak at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 20th centuries, and the odd entry to 1950.
As described in the FamilySearch Research Wiki, the provincial government began recording births, as well as marriages and deaths, in 1888. Prior to that date there are a mix of sources, notably County Register of Births, 1801-1920.
In 1850, of the 72 entries there are people with birthplace listed in Australia, England, France, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, Scotland, and United States of America. I’m guessing these are not New Brunswick’s attempt to expand its jurisdiction!

Do you know what’s in a Crown Counsel Procedure Book? The index, from Scottish Indexes, is the latest addition to Ancestry.

This short video gives a excellent explanation.

Here are the new and updated collections from FamilySearch since the start of the month. All but the three with the number of records highlighted have linked images  available at a FamilySearch Centre or Affiliate Library.

Collection Title	Records	Last Updated
Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1740-1900	6,355,328	15 May 2024
England, Cambridgeshire Bishop’s Transcripts, 1538-1983	1,108,130	15 May 2024
England, Bristol, Non-Conformist Church Records, 1777-1936	160,422	15 May 2024
England, Navy Allotment Records, 1795-1812	485,017	15 May 2024
Great Britain, War Office Registers, 1772-1935	1,011,348	15 May 2024
Ireland Civil Registration Indexes, 1845-1958	22,263,368	15 May 2024
Isle of Man Parish Registers, 1598-2009	438,382	15 May 2024
Wales, Glamorgan, Parish Register Marriages, 1837-1922	56,282	14 May 2024
England, Cheshire, Marriage Bonds and Allegations, 1606-1900	451,783	13 May 2024
England, Middlesex, Westminster, Parish Registers, 1538-1912	Browse Images	13 May 2024
England, Warwickshire, Parish Registers, 1535-1963	2,900,867	13 May 2024
England, Norfolk Non-conformist Records, 1613-1901	4,606	13 May 2024
England, Norfolk Bishop’s Transcripts, 1685-1941	1,193,815	13 May 2024
England, Kent, Parish Registers, 1538-1911	576,558	13 May 2024
England, Devon, Parish Registers, 1538-1912	1,055,443	12 May 2024
England, Manchester, Miscellaneous Records, 1700-1916	10,536,245	10 May 2024
Ireland Census, 1851	58,795	9 May 2024
Scotland, Civil Registration, 1855-1875, 1881, 1891	535,643	8 May 2024
England, Derbyshire, Church of England Parish Registers, 1537-1918	2,953,523	8 May 2024
England, Lancashire, Liverpool, Baptisms, 1557-1919	29,838	2 May 2024
England, Lancashire, Liverpool, Banns and Marriages, 1557-1960	11,002	2 May 2024

Collection Title	Records	Last Updated
Canada, Quebec Census, 1861	1,094,774	15 May 2024
Canada Passenger Lists, 1881-1922	3,907,325	15 May 2024
Canada, Prince Edward Island Death Card Index, 1721-1905	16,686	15 May 2024
Canada, Ontario Roman Catholic Church Records, 1760-1923	Browse Images	14 May 2024
Canada, Nova Scotia Church Records, 1720-2001	215,258	13 May 2024
Canada, Nova Scotia Census, 1861	57,453	13 May 2024
Canada, New Brunswick County Registers of Births, ca. 1812-1919	51,575	13 May 2024
Canada, New Brunswick Late Registration of Births, 1810-1899	24,067	13 May 2024
Canada, Upper Canada Census, 1842	20,851	13 May 2024
Canada Census, 1901	5,343,565	11 May 2024
Canada, Quebec Catholic Parish Registers, 1621-1979	79,535	8 May 2024

Projects being funded in the 2024-2025 cycle of the Documentary Heritage Communities Program (DHCP) are now posted.

The total granted is $1.47 million. The media is $47K. The largest is $60K to the Centre d’archives régional des Îles for Building families on remote island regions: commemoration with the theme of health.

The awards cover a wide range of projects, from digitization and preservation of historical documents to oral history projects and increasing digital access to archives. This reflects a comprehensive approach to preserving cultural heritage.

The funding is distributed across all regions of Canada, including remote and underserved areas such as the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon. On a per capita basis the Territories top the list.

Some projects that are national in scope are categorized as Ontario and Quebec.

While several historical societies received funding no genealogical societies are listed.

Steve Little, AI Program Director for the National Genealogical Society (US) who will be at the OGS Conference, posted a review on this new free facility from Open AI.

He terms it a “Game-Changer for Free AI Access, Possible Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR) Advance.” “The most significant beneficiaries of this release are undoubtedly the free users. In a move that disrupts the status quo, OpenAI is rolling out features previously reserved for ChatGPT Plus subscribers.”

In the post on his AI Genealogy Insights blog he tabulates the number of errors in a handwritten probate record transcription. GPT-4o had 9 errors, compared to 17 for GPT-4 and 22 for FamilySearch.

However, on Facebook, Judy Russell recorded getting an entirely different transcription from GPT-4o– of an entirely different document — not the one uploaded. Discussion suggested the document might have been too long or the handwriting difficult. Beware!

This small, 1,474 item, database is a delight for those with nostalgia for cricket. Findout about the careers of Len Hutton, Peter May, Jim Laker and Tony Lock, not forgetting Freddie Trueman. Generations back there’s W. G. Grace and A. N. Hornby.

Choose from selected free online events in the next five days. All times are ET except as noted. Assume registration in advance is required; check so you’re not disappointed. Find out about many more mainly US events at Conference Keeper at https://conferencekeeper.org

Tuesday, 14 May

2 pm: Ottawa Virtual Genealogy Drop-In, for OGS Ottawa Branch.
https://ottawa.ogs.on.ca/events/virtual-genealogy-drop-in-2-2024-05-14/

2 pm: A Closer Look at the 1850-1950 U.S. Census Records, with a Little Extra Help, by Diane Henriks for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/a-closer-look-at-the-1850-1950-us-census-records/

2:30 pm: Discover Your Veteran’s WWII Story (US), by Rebecca Poole for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/10546480

7:00 pm: A New Look at FamilySearch and Online Records, by Julia A. Anderson for OGS Essex County Branch.
https://essex.ogs.on.ca/meetings/essex-branch-may-webinar/

7 pm: Family Tree Maker, by Mark Olson for OGS Lambton Branch.
https://lambton.ogs.on.ca/

Wednesday, 15 May

2 pm: Forgotten Records: The Record and Pension Office (US), by Craig R Scott for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/forgotten-records-the-record-and-pension-office/

2:30 pm: Where there’s a will, there’s a lawyer: using solicitor records for family research, by Trisha O’Reilly for the Guild of One-Name Studies.
https://one-name.org/solicitorrecords/

Thursday, 16 May

6:30 pm:  Cemetery Etiquette and Iconography, by Lillian Wingate for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/10546493

7 pm: On The Wright Track: Memories from C.P.R. School Car #2, by Bonnie Sitter for OGS Sault Ste Marie & District of Algoma Branch.
https://saultanddistrict.ogs.on.ca/events/sault-ste-marie-district-of-algoma-branch-sponsored-on-the-wright-track-memories-from-c-p-r-school-car-2-bonnie-sitter

7 pm: The River Runners, by Daryl Learn for OGS Niagara Branch. 
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0scumvqDoqHtH_l9WaxcfbATQf_JMFCUIO

Friday, 17 May

2 pm: The Mexican National Archive (AGN): A Resource for Genealogists, by Nefi Arenas Salazar for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/the-mexican-national-archive-agn-a-resource-for-genealogists/

Saturday, 18 May

10 am: After You’re Gone: Future Proofing Your Genealogy Research, by Thomas MacEntee for OGS Kingston Branch. Kingston.ogs.on.ca 

1 pm: Reading Handwriting & Creating Transcriptions, by Cheryl Levy for OGS Quinte Branch.
https://quinte.ogs.on.ca/events/reading-handwriting-creating-transcriptions-with-cheryl-levy/