Anglo-Celtic Connections

Leslie Weir’s rationale for her purge mentions “texts written about historical events and public figures that offer mainly colonial perspectives.”

Let’s look at an example, LAC’s biography of Nellie McClung.  Then compare it to that in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography.

LAC fails in any way to mention what the DCB points to, that “many scholars now find her ideology insufficiently inclusive, given her assumption of Anglo-Celtic and middle-class leadership, her blind spots about native and non-British peoples, her sympathy for eugenics, and her Christian maternalism.”

The DCB entry, which LAC ignores, is not only more balanced but places Nellie in a historical context.

DCB biographies are exhaustively researched. DCB receives Government of Canada funding through the Department of Canadian Heritage.

At a time of financial pressure, why are LAC funds being diverted to an activity outside its mandate?

And, If LAC is proceeding to clean up its website, perhaps a list of what is being amended or removed, and why, could be posted on the website. Be transparent about it and treat the LAC research community with respect.

 

New from Pen and Sword, Cemeteries and Graveyards: A Guide for Local and Family Historian in England and Wales, by Celia Heritage, a former BIFHSGO conference keynote speaker.

Here’s the publisher’s blurb.

This comprehensive and fascinating guide from genealogist and historian CELIA HERITAGE will prove indispensable for both local and family historians. A wide-ranging examination of historical and archaeological findings means that the book will also appeal to anyone with an interest in death and burial.

Celia throws light on changing social attitudes to death and burial from pre-historic times to the modern day, investigates the origins and evolution of cemeteries and graveyards, and discusses the many different types of graves and memorials as well as looking at how memorial designs have changed.

One chapter takes an in-depth look at the origins of the parish churchyard, while another looks at graveyards associated with nonconformist churches and institutions, including workhouses, asylums, hospitals and gaols.

Celia details a wide range of online and offline sources that will help locate burials and memorials, also offering vital advice regarding good research practice. There is plenty of detail about less well-known genealogy sources such as records relating to re-interment, undertakers’ and stonemasons’ records, together with better known sources such as burial registers and memorial inscriptions.

Throughout, there is a wide range of hands-on case studies which bring the subject to life and put it right into the hands of the researcher. This is far more than just genealogy, and Celia portrays this fascinating subject from the view of both historian and archaeologist.

I’m looking forward to reviewing it.

The following was posted on Twitter just after 4 pm on Tuesday 8 March 2022 by Library and Archives Canada.

Misinformation is circulating that we are censoring or deleting historical documents, library materials or archival records. This is not the case, as doing so would go against every part of our mandate.

Here are the facts: We are not removing any historical documents or publications. You can still search all of our archival records and library materials in Collection Search.

We are making necessary updates and changes to many of our outdated web pages, which are completely separate from our historical collections. Like many interpretive texts written decades ago, older web content often does not hold up to today’s standards.

These are texts written about historical events and public figures that offer mainly colonial perspectives. For example, some fail to include Indigenous perspectives or do not address the legacy of certain policies, such as the Chinese Head Tax.

These web pages did not reflect the diverse realities of Canada, realities that are well preserved and protected in our actual collections.

Many Canadians object to seeing such outdated and imbalanced attitudes on a website of national scope. Web pages are not historical documents and should be updated when times change. This is why we took the step of removing some web pages.

It is worth noting that we manage a recognized Web and Social Media Preservation Program, which collects and preserves Government of Canada websites. Our websites are regularly captured through this program for preservation and research purposes.

Also, to be clear, any of our government-related activity is separate, and it is retained in our corporate repository according to Government of Canada information management specifications.

We are committed to delivering an updated website, so Canadians can access their history with helpful user information on our archival and library systems. We will work collaboratively with you as we improve our web presence to enable discovery of our rich collection.

COMMENT

LAC awoke!

Our past is a foreign country, still called Canada. They did things differently there. LAC has an obligation to preserve and make available all of Canada’s documentary heritage, including the content of its website, through time. That’s in contrast to the LAC view that “Web pages are not historical documents.”  Web pages certainly are historical records, a government “publication” deserving of preservation to document the times, whether or not people now find it distasteful.

For Library and Archives Canada, according to its mandate, there is no more justification for promoting decolonized and woke perspectives through “interpretative texts” than there was for a colonial one.

Read the mandate!

Another celebration, another opportunity for a sale!

www.ftdna.com

Choose from 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.

Tuesday 8 Mar. 1 pm: Genealogy of Place – What it is – house, cemetery, community, by Fraser Dunford for Kawartha Branch OGS. Register via email to TraceyT@curvelake.ca. 

Tuesday 8 Mar. 2 pm: Virtual Genealogy Drop-In, from Ottawa Branch of OGS and The Ottawa Public Library.
https://ottawa.ogs.on.ca/events/

Tuesday 8 Mar. 2 pm: RootsTech Roundup from MyHeritage, by Daniel Horowitz for Legacy Family Tree Webinars,
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/rootstech-roundup-from-myheritage/

Tuesday 8 Mar, 2:30 pm: Irish Jewish Records Are No Where and Everywhere, by Stuart Rosenblatt for Allen Country Public Library Genealogy Center. https://acpl.libnet.info/event/6235188

Tuesday 8 Mar, 7 pm: Basic Scottish Research, by Christine Woodcock for Lambton Branch OGS.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEtceCrrz4pH9E8PgFXYifIYplCQuUIXi1c

Wednesday 9 Mar. 2 pm: ‘Hidden Treasures’: Discovering Local Sources in Your Irish Research, by David Ryan for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/hidden-treasures-discovering-local-sources-in-your-irish-research/

Thursday 10 Mar. 3 pm: Understanding Irish Land Divisions, by Rhonda R. McClure for New England Historic Genealogical Society.
http://www.americanancestors.org/events/understanding-irish-land-divisions

Saturday 12 Mar. 9 am: Tips For Genetic Genealogy DNA Research and Irish Case Studies, by Shirley Monkhouse for BIFHSGO. https://www.bifhsgo.ca/events

Saturday 12 Mar. 10 am: The Irish Palatines in Ireland and Canada. by Carolyn Heald for BIFHSGO.  https://www.bifhsgo.ca/events

The 3rd Annual 24-Hour Genealogy Webinar Marathon is hosted by FamilyTreeWebinars.com and MyHeritage. The marathon will begin on Thursday, 7 April at 5pm ET.

The Lectures

– Everything You Need to Know About the 1950 Census by Lisa Louise Cooke
– Confirming Smart Matches™ and Record Matches by Daniel Horowitz
– What’s New in Jewish Genealogy 2022 by Ellen S. Kowitt
– Smarter Searching: Refining Search Parameters for Genealogists by Cyndi Ingle
– The Geography of Genealogy in Europe by Dave Obee
– Using Macs and iPads for Genealogy by Nancy E. Loe, MA, MLS
– Supercharge your Research Spreadsheets with Airtable by Francine Crowley Griffis, CG
– Writing as You Go is the WAY to Go! by Elissa Scalise Powell, CG
– In Your Ancestor’s Kitchen: Researching the Items You Remember by Gena Philibert-Ortega
– Polish non metrical genealogy sources by Kinga Urbańska
– Analyzing My DNA Matches by Gal Zrihen
– Clans and Families in Scotland by Bruce Durie
– Who were the Scots-Irish? by Natalie Bodle
– Introduction to Swedish Military Records by Kathy Meade
– Searching for My Ancestors’ Records by Moshe Etlis
– Sons of the Soil: researching our British agricultural labouring ancestors by Janet Few
– The Lady of the Scrapbook: A Newspaper Case Study by Mary Kircher Roddy, CG
– Simply using timelines will make a difference in your research! by Shelley Viola Murphy
– Organizing My Photos by Keren Dotan
– Spinsters and Widows: Using Women to Reconstruct Families by Shannon Green, CG
– Doing Time – Prison Records as Genealogy Resources by Judy G. Russell, JD, CG, CGL
– Hard drive and SSD drive failure rates and what to do by Andy Klein
– Family Discoveries in Minutes by Devin Ashby
– Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians–Oh, My! by Sunny Morton

Visit www.FamilyTreeWebinars.com/24 to register (free!)

Two conservative-leaning publications, the Toronto Sun and Western Standard, quote from an investigation by Ottawa-based  Blacklock’s Reporter.

The investigation references Access to Information records showing “Canada’s chief archivist Leslie Weir personally ordered the content removal on thousands of national archives web pages with “offensive content”, “outdated historical content (that) no longer reflects today’s context and may be offensive to many.”

COMMENT:

As outlined in the Preamble to the Library and Archives of Canada Act, LAC’s mandate is as follows:

– to preserve the documentary heritage of Canada for the benefit of present and future generations;

– to be a source of enduring knowledge accessible to all, contributing to the cultural, social and economic advancement of Canada as a free and democratic society;

– to facilitate in Canada co-operation among communities involved in the acquisition, preservation and diffusion of knowledge;

– to serve as the continuing memory of the Government of Canada and its institutions.

LAC would do a better job if it left the interpretation of the past to others and adhered to its mandate of preservation and access, including digitization to enhance access across this vast land. If that was the intention of Leslie Weir’s purge it’s one I can support. If it just switches one type of spin for another it should not be funded.

As mentioned before, I’ve been trying the new MyHeritage LiveStory facility. This is the story of my granduncle, based on a still image of my grandfather who died in 1971 as the presenter, my words in his mouth, and the voice of “Andrew” one of the LiveStory options.

Jonny Perl of DNA Painter presented an update on some useful, and a couple of amusing additions at RootsTech.

He explains more flexibility to WATO, the Shared Cemtimorgan Investigator, updates to clustering on chromosome maps, with more promised later in the year, ability to import and work on segments of one chromosome. Some additional visualization capability on Ancestral Trees may be useful to add context to your family history, even if your interests run to the astrological!

Hot on the heels of those for several western European countries Ancestry now has some more recent UK phone book indexes with 25,993,611 records.
The records typically include name, street address, city and country, but not the phone number.  Frequently there is no first name, just an initial.

There are several options for exploring recent UK phone books found by searching the term.

 

 

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

Adversarial Collaboration
An EDGE Lecture by Daniel Kahneman

ON Stage: Spotlighting the History of Theatre in Ontario
From the Archives of Ontario, a virtual exhibit http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/explore/online/historytheatres/index.aspx.

Local history in The National Archives Library
A blog post on local histories, with examples from TNA’s collection. Check the catalogue,

Ancestral epidemics
A blog post on the 1832 cholera in England by Shauna Hicks for the Genealogical Society of Queensland.

Servicewomen in the Second World War
LAC will post this webinar on its YouTube channel on Tuesday, March 8, 2022, at 11 a.m. (Eastern Standard Time).

Thanks to this week’s contributors. Anonymous, B Bradley,  Brenda Turner, Lynne Willoughby, M. Anne Sterling, Maureen Guay, Paul Milner, Robert Halfyard, Teresa, Unknown.

A year ago at RootsTech MyHeritage revealed animation of family photographs. Some thought it creepy, even scary.

This year they upped their game. With LiveStory there’s not only movement of facial features, it speaks synchronized with a text. Initially, it uses information drawn from a family tree you have on MyHeritage. I found that a rather dull recitation of facts, and it sometimes jumped to conclusions, say that the marriage was happy. However, you can edit the text and change the voice. What you can’t change is pronunciation. Ypres was mispronounced, just as did the BEF soldiers. Passchendaele was a particular challenge.

See the MyHeritage demo here.

I’ve been trying it and hope to have my own demo shortly.