Author: John Reid

In addition to the Canadian War Museum reopening on Wednesday (UPDATE – NOW POSTPONED) —

• Ottawa Public Library (OPL) offers additional enhanced in-person services in all open locations as of Monday. Enhanced services include reading newspapers and magazines, and limited seating. Masks are required at all times and customers are asked to maintain a distance of two metres inside OPL branches. Also, given limited seating and capacity, customers will be asked to limit their time reading newspapers and magazines so that others can also enjoy this reintroduced service.
• The MacOdrum Library at Carleton University is now open on all five floors. It’s officially for students and staff only, but perhaps you can be persuasive!
  https://library.carleton.ca/feature/what-you-need-know-about-increased-library-spaces-and-services-starting-february-7

The deadline is now past for presentation proposals for the 24-26 June 2022 OGS/Ontario Ancestors conference hosted by Ottawa Branch.  Program lead Gloria Tubman informs me invitations to chosen speakers will be sent in the next week.

On Friday 24 June, one of the major genealogy companies will host sessions under a separate registration. Attendees at the last Ottawa-hosted OGS conference will recall Ancestry held a dedicated day on the Monday following that conference.

On Friday evening the conference proper will commence “with an opening session unlike any you have attended previously.”

Saturday and Sunday you will be able to choose from 28 diverse, inclusive, and educational presentations given by Canadian and international speakers. Each day will offer you two streams with seven sessions each. Attendees will have access to the recorded sessions for 30 days.

Stay current with developments at the Conference 2022 home page at https://conference2022.ogs.on.ca/.

The conference organizers seek volunteers to take on various time-limited roles. See https://conference2022.ogs.on.ca/call-for-volunteers/.

Ages are only in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission database when provided by the next of kin. How many lack age information?

I used as a sample the 666 Canadian airmen buried at Harrowgate (Stonefall) Cemetery as listed in the database.

There are 77 (11.5%) with no age given. Most do have a birthdate on the LAC Service Files of the Second World War – War Dead, 1939-1947 database.

Birthdates for all but one of the others, Joseph Donat Bedard, can be easily found. For Bedard, there’s only a baptismal record.

I wonder if present-day next of kin, who may be two or more generations distant, can have age information added to the CWGC database? Perhaps the CWGC imposes the same limitation that they do in their periodic appeal for relatives, without making it clear they mean grandchildren, nieces, nephews etc and that cousins, including first cousins, are too far removed.

We recognize and thank Queen Elizabeth II on the 70th anniversary of her accession to the throne.

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

An adult view of Boris Johnson (strong language)

Control: the dark history and troubling present of eugenics
A presentation for the Royal Institution by author and excellent speaker Adam Rutherford. Watch on replay, the presentation starts around 11:20 minutes, at https://vimeo.com/663027160/13203d4cc1

The Interactive Map Jigsaw Puzzle

OGS/Ontario Ancestors eWeekly Update
Each free issue, arriving by email around 6 am ET each Saturday, is packed with news from the major genealogy websites and blogs and on forthcoming events.  Subscribe here.

10 facts about Irish gravestones

Canadian War Museum Reopening
The Museum will reopen on February 9, Wednesday through Sunday. You can book a timed admission ticket online. Proof of vaccination for anyone aged 12 and up is required.

Lack of access to data is hindering Canada’s efforts to achieve net-zero targets

Thanks to this week’s contributors. Ann Burns, Anonymous, Barry Read,  Brenda Turner, Brian Narhi, Dena, gail benjafield, Glenn Wright, Mike More, Rebecca Noall, Teresa, Unknown.

This year has seen additions to both the serials and Héritage collections at Canadiana.ca.

As previously, most of the 21 additions to the serials collection are niche with titles like annual report and minutes.  Notable are additions to the Victoria Times, now covering 1895 to 1911.

Two digital microfilms, T-16603 and T-16604 titled Records of entry and other records 1928-1929, were added to the Héritage collection earlier this month. They document Chinese-Canadians leaving, perhaps on business or vacation in 1928 and 1929. The racist intent that caused these 5,600 records to be kept shows how such discrimination can be genealogical gold. — they include photographs,

The latest article from Rebecca Probert, Professor of Law at the University of Exeter, in The Journal of Genealogy and Family History is Escaping detection: illegal second marriages and the crime of bigamy. Here’s the abstract.

Official statistics on the number of prosecutions for bigamy clearly cannot be taken as an accurate guide to the number who went through a ceremony of marriage with a second ‘spouse’ while still married to their first. Nonetheless, when we compare those who were prosecuted with those who were not, the differences that emerge should make us cautious in assuming that the offence was common. There is evidence to suggest that many of the unprosecuted may not have been bigamists at all, given how long they waited to remarry. Even those who did not wait may have believed or persuaded themselves that their first spouse was dead and that they were entitled to remarry. Others adopted tactics to ensure that their bigamous marriage would not be discovered, with most moving considerable distances before remarrying and a few adopting aliases to disguise their identity. The data from the sample suggests that it was the fact that most of these bigamies were undetected, rather than tolerance of bigamy within the community, that explains why they escaped prosecution.

Do you have bigamous marriages in your family tree?

I have two instances. One where the first wife remarried under her maiden name, eight years after the marriage to my great-grandfather, who had a subsequent and long common-law relationship. In a second case, the wife married as a widow nine years after the first marriage, and seven after they broke up. Likely unknown to her and despite significant efforts to track him down in the UK her first husband was very much alive in the USA.

Six two-hour lectures online by renowned military historian Tim Cook on Canada’s Great War and Its Legacy are being offered by Carleton University in the next Lifelong Learning Program.

Series Description: In this lecture series, renowned Canadian military historian Dr. Tim Cook will share his award-winning research on Canada and the Great War, on the home front and overseas, including hundreds of rare photographs, works of art, and archival material. There will be an emphasis on the soldiers’ experience from 1914 to 1918: how they coped and endured, and how they fought and clawed their way to victory. A new sense of identity was forged through the service and sacrifice of Canadians, even as the country was torn apart along existing and new fault lines. Canada was never the same. Together with Dr. Cook, you will also explore the contested memory of the war, including the impact of Canada’s 66,000 dead, the veterans’ experience, memorial making, and why we are still haunted by the war.

• Days: Thursdays, March 10, 17, 24, 31, April 7, 14
• Time: 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time
• Location: Zoom (This lecture series is offered via Zoom, which can be used on computers and mobile devices. We recommend you use a computer/laptop with high-speed internet. A camera and microphone will enable you to participate more fully, but they are not required. See our Support page for details.)
• Fee: $160 (HST included)
• Lecture Series Outline
• Registration opens Tuesday, February 15, 10:00 a.m., Eastern Time

If you don’t participate in genealogy special interest groups you’re missing out on a benefit offered by many if not most family history societies.

BIFHSGO has several SIGs, free and open to all. In alphabetical order: British Colonial America, DNA, Irish Research, London, Scottish Genealogy, Writing. Meetings often feature shorter presentations and an opportunity to seek advice on your knotty problems. Find out more at www.bifhsgo.ca/special-interest-groups/.

The Ontario Genealogical Society has various members-only SIGs listed at https://ogs.on.ca/branchessigs/branch-sig-locator/. They require an additional annual fee of $5 – 10. Ottawa Branch of OGS offers a free user group for The Master Genealogist http://ottawa-tmg-ug.ca/.

If the live interaction of a SIG isn’t your thing, BIFHSGO has a Facebook presence. Gail Dever has a comprehensive list of Canadian Facebook Groups, and links to other Facebook lists, at https://genealogyalacarte.ca/?page_id=10169/.

A further 700,000 records are added to the National Burials Index of England and Wales, bringing the total to 17 million. The additions are for Kent, Staffordshire, Leicestershire, and Rutland.

The top counties and number of records are Yorkshire (West Riding) 1,688,205; Suffolk 1,317,469; Essex 1,277,853; Lincolnshire 886,242 and Staffordshire 882,271.

The National Burial Index began in 1994 as a project of the Federation of Family History Societies (now the Family History Federation) and was first published in 2001 with 5.4 million records. The burial records are derived from parish registers, bishop’s transcripts, earlier transcripts or printed registers by local family history society volunteers.

The version of the NBI sold at the FHF website on CD has 18.4 million records. 

Also added on Findmypast this week are nearly 4,500 records detailing the manumission (release from slavery) records of enslaved Jamaicans between 1747 and 1779.

Updated UK

Essex Parish Indexes 1538-1994

Updated Canada

Canada, Selected School Yearbooks, 1901-2010

New Global

New Zealand, South Anglo Boer War, 1899-1902

South Australia, Australia, Incoming and Outgoing Passenger Lists, 1845-1940

South Australia, Australia, Supreme Court Criminal Records, 1837-1918; Reports to the Police Coroner, 1842-1967

South Australia, Australia, Destitute Asylum Ledgers and Admissions to Industrial and Reformatory Schools, 1849-1913

South Australia, Australia, Select Tax and Financial Records, 1838-1928; Returns of Census, 1841

South Australia, Australia, Select Tax and Financial Records, 1838-1928; Returns of Census, 1841

South Australia, Australia, Prison Registers, 1838-1912

South Australia, Australia, Adelaide Hospital Admission Registers, 1841-1946

Springfield, Missouri, U.S., St. Louis-San Francisco Railway Employee Cards, 1940-1980

Updated Global

United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) Records, 1943-1947 (USHMM)

New South Wales, Australia, Index to Deceased Estate Files, 1859-1958

Kraków, Poland, ID Card Applications for Jews During World War II, 1940-1941 (USHMM)

Stanislav, Ukraine (Poland), List of Residents by Street, 1939-1945 (USHMM)

Ukraine, Applications for ID for the Citizens of Stanislav, 1939-1945 (USHMM)

American Genealogical-Biographical Index (AGBI)

Massachusetts, U.S., Compiled Birth, Marriage, and Death Records, 1700-1850

South Carolina, U.S., Death Records, 1821-1969

Rhône, France, Birth, Marriages and Death Registers, 1793-1917

On Tuesday, much delayed, the government tabled Departmental Results Reports for the period ended March 31, 2021. Included was the report for Library and Archives Canada.

At the start of their introductory material, both the Minister and the Librarian and Archivist reference the exceptional challenges of COVID-19.

Our interest as clients is LAC’s core responsibility of providing access to documentary heritage, while acknowledging LAC’s important core responsibility of acquiring and preserving documentary heritage.

The wordcloud above from the providing access part of the report is notable for the frequent occurrence of the word indigenous. It’s fifth most frequent after LAC, access, also, and collection, and before Canada and heritage. This likely reflects earmarked funding LAC received for indigenous initiatives.

Delving further into the document, the results achieved table reveals that for the departmental result Canadians increasingly access Canada’s documentary heritage, the performance indicator “Amount of LAC holdings digitized” was 2.2 million images in 2020-21 compared to a target of 3.5 million which was the achievement in 2019-20. While the decline could be attributed to COVID-19 impacts it continues a decline — 4.8 million in 2018-19, 10.1 million in 2017-18.

The performance indicator Number of downloads from Library and Archives Canada’s website was 2.7 million, exceeding the target of 2 million. No prior year stats are provided.

Unsurprisingly many other targets were missed, attributable to the exceptionally challenging circumstances.

During the period LAC undertook a pilot project to develop its flagship collection, which will include some 20,000 titles highlighting the scope and variety of Canada’s published documentary heritage. This collection will be accessible to the public on the dedicated shelves of the future LAC consultation room.

I have sent a request to LAC to identify these 20,000 titles, perhaps by class. Will the published genealogies and genealogical reference sources in the present genealogy area, other reference materials, city directories, open shelf microfilms (including newspapers), maps and photographs be available in the new facility?

Finally, there are 23 mentions of histor*, 22 of digitiz*, eight mentions of genea*, and one of newspapers, specifically to indigenous newspapers.

OPINION

Librarian and Archivist of Canada, Leslie Weir includes in her opening statement that “Our strength as an institution resides in our capacity to preserve, promote, reflect and showcase Canada’s past and present in all its diversity, in an equitable and inclusive manner from both within and outside.”
Should we be concerned that LAC aims to “promote, reflect and showcase” material via exhibits and social media? Isn’t the proper role of an archive to preserve and make available original materials, and these days to make a broad selection widely accessible through digitization, enabling Canadians to make their own interpretation?

Canada’s broken Access to Information system is at the heart of the recognition of LAC with a dishonourable mention for the huge delays it has sought for completing requests made under the Access to Information Act.

The 65 year delay, originally 80 years, when one researcher sought old RCMP records is a prominent case. Almost everyone who has made an application to LAC has experienced delays, often months and more.

The dishonourable mention is in a news release from The Code of Silence Awards presented annually by The Canadian Association of Journalists, the Centre for Free Expression at Ryerson University (CFE), and Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE).

The release also mentions that LAC has made cuts that have left its archival reading room open just three days per week.