Anglo-Celtic Connections

The British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO) provides a valuable resource by offering free online access to back issues of its journal, Anglo-Celtic Roots. Issues from the last five years remain an exclusive member benefit.

While the online Index of Titles is useful for locating specific articles, it does not allow for a full-text search of the content. This can be a limitation when you recall a piece of information but not the corresponding article title.

A built-in full-text search capability, such as is available for the Historical Society of Ottawa’s Bytown Pamphlets, would be convenient. There is an alternative.

Google’s advanced search capabilities provide access to the publicly available ACR content.

Procedure:

1. Navigate to Google’s advanced search page.
2. Input your search terms in the “Find pages with…” section.
3. In the “Then narrow your results by…” section, specify the search domain by entering the following URL into the “site or domain” box: https://www.bifhsgo.ca/uploads/files/ACR/.

Inaccuracies occur, resulting in imperfect or incomplete search results. It may only be half a loaf, but a powerful tool for locating information within the extensive archive.

Thanks to Ken McKinlay for bringing this facility to my attention.

 

 

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

Dictionary of Canadianisms on Historical Principles
This dictionary, which you may have heard of, has a new version available as of May 15th. From “A-tent” to “zunga” the total content is now over 12,000 words and almost 15,000 meanings. They’ve added 137 new words or updated old ones.  What’s a Canadianism? A word or phrase that’s either from Canada or really common here, even if other places use it too.

3 British Customs and Folklore Associated with July
From Fishwrap, the official blog of Newspapers.com

The Old Farmer’s Almanac for June
This June, the mean temperature in Ottawa was 19.2 °C; the OFA prediction was 17°C, 2 °C below average.
FAIL

The OFA predicted 95 mm of total precipitation at Ottawa. The actual was 65.5 mm.
FAIL

An Historian Beyond the University
Adam Bunch reflects on being an independent public historian.

OGS eWeekly
Every Saturday morning, I wake up to an email with the OGS Weekly. Mentioned several times previously, it bears repeating. There are announcements of family history interest, and regular content: “Updates from our Favourite Bloggers”, “What’s New at The Big 4” and “Calendar of Events.” It’s a simple and free way to keep updated. Go to https://ogs.on.ca/ to subscribe and view an archive of past issues.

Josh Johnson
A US stand-up comedian who keeps turning up in various feeds, including in a recent post by Persephone here. There’s a bonus link to an Ottawa cartoonist.

 Thanks to the following for comments and tips: Anonymous, Patricia & Gerry Mannella, Teresa, Unknown

Findmypast’s latest data supplement comprises two minor United States church collections and an expansion of the newspaper archive:

1. Indiana Births and Baptisms, 1854-1911 – 4,465 records.

2. Maine Baptisms, 1726-1855 – 2,956 records.

Major Newspaper additions — over 10,000 pages, are:

1. Leyland Guardian – 69,418 pages (1986‑2004)

2. Life – 30,118 pages (1879‑1905)

3. Morning Advertiser – 21,768 pages (1873‑76, 1892‑95, 1899)

4. Salisbury Times – 18,954 pages (1910‑37, 1940‑49, 1960‑62)

5. Cork Examiner – 17,790 pages (1856, 1877‑80, 1887‑93)

6. Glasgow Evening Times – 12,594 pages (1882‑93, gaps)

7. Maidstone Telegraph – 10,648 pages (1930‑38, 1958)

Issue 23, the Summer 2025 edition of Irish Lives Remembered, the official magazine of the Irish Family History Centre, is just out and free online.

Articles cover both historical and recent Irish lives, complemented by genealogy tips. There’s Canadian content.

Featured articles cover the legend of St. Brendan, the experiences of Irish Arctic explorers, some of whom played a crucial role in navigating the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, and the significant Celtic lineage of Canadian artist Shania Twain.

There’s a feature article on the Irish background of Alexander Ector Orr, recognized as the “Father of the New York Subway.”

Further content includes an interview discussing Dublin’s AIDS crisis, a profile of Thom McGinty, an examination of historical Irish medical clans, and an account of health and fitness pioneer Kathleen Mary O’Rourke. For genealogical pursuits, articles provide guidance on managing DNA matches and tracing matrilineal ancestry.

Regular columns include a “Heritage Highlight” on Craggaunowen Castle & Crannóg, two “Dear Genie” segments addressing reader genealogy queries, and an “Emerald Roots” interview with Helen Moss, Senior Researcher at the Irish Family History Centre. Concluding the issue are reviews and a book excerpt, featuring Frontier (a series exploring early Canadian history) and Irish Nurses in the NHS: An oral history.

 

Ancestry continues to expand its Birmingham records, adding 52,407 records on June 30 for All Saints Hospital, dedicated to the care and treatment of individuals living with mental illnesses.

Sourced from the Library of Birmingham, the newly accessible collection encompasses both patient registers, which aggregate information for multiple individuals, and personal case files, detailing individual patient histories. Those provide details such as their name, occupation, marital status, and precise dates of admission, transfer, discharge, or demise. Genealogical information, including the names of parents, spouses, and other familial relationships, may be present.

Ancestry now has 12 Birmingham collections, including two added in June, as well as those for Warwickshire and of broader scope, such as the censuses, which incorporate Birmingham information.

 

 Sandwiched between walks, I spent part of Canada Day watching the following YouTube video by Canadian Mark Thompson. Recorded 3 weeks ago for FamilySearch, it makes up in part for the lack of posts to The AI Family History Show, which he shares with Steve Little.

It’s long and recommended.

The following was accidentally posted to an earlier date. It’s reposted here in case you missed it.

Do you have problems locating and understanding historical place names in Scotland? Pre-19th-century spellings were unstandardized, requiring flexible search strategies.

In June, the National Library of Scotland released a comprehensive placenames research guide that consolidates ten searchable placename databases covering 400 years of Scottish cartographic history.

The guide organizes gazetteers chronologically, from Timothy Pont’s pioneering surveys (1583-1600) through contemporary OpenStreetMap data. Notable collections include the Roy Military Survey (1747-1755) with 33,523 names, Joan Blaeu’s complete atlas of Scotland (1654) containing 28,394 entries, and the massive Ordnance Survey database (1888-1913) with 2.5 million transcriptions.

Choose from these selected free online events; there are thin pickings this week. All times are Eastern Time, unless otherwise noted. Registration may be required in advance—please check the links to avoid disappointment. For many more events, mainly in the U.S., visit conferencekeeper.

Today, 30 June, is the anniversary of the explosion and fire which destroyed the building and contents of The Public Record Office of Ireland during the Irish Civil War.
To mark the occasion, the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland project released over 175,000 historical documents, replacing records lost in 1922.
Read about them here, where you can try a search to see if it adds anything for the names and places in your family tree.

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

The Beechwood Stroll – Tuesday 8 July 2025

A guided historical tour through Beechwood National Cemetery of Canada. This tour is rain or shine, and begins at 10:30 AM.
https://beechwoodottawa.ca/en/foundation/events/full-beechwood-stroll-8-july-2025-west-half

Why brands are embracing fantasy: The psychology behind escapist marketing in anxious times

The Real World of the Middle Ages
Helpful for people interested in how our ancestors lived; 172 videos, historically researched and easily digestible.
https://www.youtube.com/@ModernKnight

FreeBMD June Update
The FreeBMD Database was updated on Tuesday, 24 June 2025, to contain 293,415,571 unique entries, an increase from 293,193,549 the previous month. Years with more than 10,000 additions include births from 1993 to 1996, marriages from 1994 to 1996, and deaths in 1995.

The collection comprises 2,113,702 records from court proceedings from both Petty and Quarter court sessions. Petty Sessions adjudicated lesser charges not requiring a jury, such as minor theft, failure to pay train fare, public drunkenness, and paternity cases. Quarter Sessions addressed more serious criminal offences, including manslaughter and major thefts, as well as occasionally civil business matters; these sessions often involved a jury for more severe cases. Both court types operated at the county level. The records are predominantly handwritten, though some later entries are typed.

Key information within these records may include: the defendant’s name and age, the complainant’s name, the date and nature of the offence, the place and date of trial, specific charge details, and trial results, alongside the name of the presiding court official.

My Northwood family lived in Birmingham from the 1700s. I haven’t traced any of them as late as the 1890s, but was interested to see if there might have been distant cousins mentioned. There were 169 Northwood entries,. Eleven people named were classified as defendants, although in one case they were jury members. All five Northwood complainants were in entries after 1912.

 

This week, Findmypast has added three  groups of records:

1. UK Electoral Registers & Companies House Directors (2025 update)

   1,081,193 new records added. These modern entries cover all UK regions and include:

   • Name and address
   • Electoral roll details (occupancy and household members)
   • An “age guide” (broad age range)
   • An indicator of whether the person is listed as a company director

   This dataset is provided via 192.com, which compiles registers going back to 2002.

2. Cheshire Diocese of Chester Parish Registers

   These additions significantly expand coverage for Cheshire Church of England records:

   • Baptisms (1538–1925): 272,555 records
   • Marriages (1538–1935): 211,575 records
   • Burials (1538–1990): 215,879 records

   All come with both images and transcripts. In addition to the historic county of Cheshire, there’s some overlap with parts of Halton and Warrington.

   3. Newspapers

   182,850 pages added to the newspaper collection this week, with six new titles and fourteen updates.

   Norfolk researchers rejoice over the following overdue additions:

   • Norwich Argus (new title):
     Years covered: 1893–1895, 1898–1913
     Covers late Victorian and Edwardian Norwich—excellent for local news, trade notices, and social coverage.

   • Norwich Mercury (updated):
     Year covered: 1827
     Adds rare early 19th-century content for the city and surrounding area—valuable for pre-census research and insight into local affairs.

   • Yarmouth Independent (updated):
     Years covered: 1874
     Adds more from this coastal Norfolk town—shipping, fishing, and tourism stories often feature.

   • Yarmouth Mercury (updated):
     Years covered: 1890–1892, 1897, 1899
     Broadens coverage for late 19th-century Great Yarmouth. Look here for obituaries, court reports, and maritime coverage.

     Longer newspaper runs, newly available or expanded

     • Highland News (Inverness): 1963–1977, 1979–1985, 1987–1990 — a strong run ideal for Highland ancestors or local history

     • Stockport Chronicle: 1891–1892, 1894–1896, 1898–1906 — useful for Greater Manchester/Cheshire border research

     • Bolton Daily Chronicle: 1884–1895 — wide-ranging news from Lancashire.

     • Oxford Journal: 1921–1928 — local coverage from the interwar years

     • Kentish Weekly Post or Canterbury Journal: 1768–1788, 1791–1793 — rare 18th-century material for east Kent

     • Midland Reporter and Westmeath Nationalist: 1897–1910, 1916, 1920–1927, 1937–1939.

     • Newry Telegraph: 1923, 1926, 1929, 1945–1949 — Northern Ireland coverage before and after WWII

     • Louth and North Lincolnshire Advertiser: 1908, 1920–1925, 1940–1949 — extended coverage for east Lincolnshire