Miscellaneous items I found interesting this week.
2025 is double-record breaker: UK’s warmest and sunniest year on record
MyHeritage 2025 Year in Review (long)
Latest MyHeritage news, not in the review, is that parent company, the private equity firm Francisco Partners, hired Jefferies in late 2025 to explore a potential sale of the genealogy giant for around $1 billion, testing an exit strategy after acquiring it in 2021 for $600 million.
New Year Honours
The January 2026 appointments to the Order of Canada include 63 individuals across three levels: 6 Companions (C.C.), 15 Officers (O.C.), and 42 Members (C.M.). While the Order aims to reflect the “tapestry of Canadian life,” an analysis of the 2026 list reveals several distinct patterns and biases:
1. Geographic Concentration
Based on population, there is a significant over-representation of individuals from Ontario and British Columbia. The North. Quebec and the Prairies are under-represented.
2. Institutional and Academic Bias
The list leans heavily toward “elite” professions. A large majority of the recipients hold PhDs, MDs, or Law degrees and are affiliated with major research universities.
3. Career-Stage Bias (Promotions)
The Order of Canada often recognizes lifetime achievement, which naturally skews toward older demographics.
4. Representation of Diverse Groups
The 2026 list shows a conscious effort toward inclusivity compared to historical cohorts, though some gaps remain.
5. Philanthropy
A notable presence as a primary or secondary reason for appointment.
Genealogy
Alamin Proton Rahman, is appointed a Member of the Order of Canada. A renowned genomics expert and Memorial University professor, he is transforming arthritis care in Canada. Notably, he created the Newfoundland Genealogy Database to trace genetic disease links across generations. As a provincial scientific advisor, he played a key role in shaping Newfoundland and Labrador’s COVID-19 response, and in advancing public health and medical research.
In the UK New Year Honours, the British Empire Medal was awarded to William Macfarlane Lawson, Genealogist, for services to the community in the Western Isles.
Researching an Atlas of London in 1666
The British Association for Local History presents a talk exploring the research behind the Historic Towns Trust’s London on the Eve of the Great Fire project. Find out how historians reconstruct the city’s built environment just before 1666. It offers insight into the sources, methods and challenges involved in mapping streets, buildings and placenames across the early modern metropolis.
Backadder – the final scene
Blackadder – the making of the final scene
Thanks to the following individuals for their comments and tips: Anonymous, Alison, Basil Adam, Brenda Turner, Charles Godwin, Christine Jackson, Dianne Brydon, Gail, John Estano DeRoche, Nancy Cutway, Teresa, Sunday Thompson, Victor Badian, Unknown.
Two hundred years, from a colonial perspective. On 16 August 1826, General George Ramsey, 9th Earl of Dalhousie and Governor General of British North America, wrote to Lieutenant-Colonel John By advising of his “purchase” of land for the Crown that contained the site of the head locks for the proposed Rideau Canal on the Ottawa River. <
The FreeBMD database was updated on 29 December to contain 294,843,900 unique entries. Years with more than 10,000 additions are: births (1993-96); marriages (1995-96); and deaths (1991, 1994, 1996-97).