Anglo-Celtic Connections

I missed posting this last week.

England, Calder and Hebble Navigation Company
The larger of this week’s two Yorkshire canal collections, with 90,905 records covering 1796 to 1949, documents one of England’s earliest successful canal navigations. The Calder and Hebble Navigation Company was established in 1758 to improve navigation on the River Calder between Wakefield and Sowerby Bridge in West Yorkshire, with the navigation opening officially in 1770. Its staff included engineers, clerks, labourers, lock keepers and many others, and the records — drawn from The National Archives RAIL 815 series — encompass company minutes, letter books, and accounts. If your ancestors lived and worked in West Yorkshire during the Industrial Revolution, this collection is well worth exploring.

England, Huddersfield Canal Company
This collection of 10,473 records documents the workings of the Huddersfield Canal Company from its establishment in 1794 through to the 19th century. The company was founded to build a canal linking Huddersfield with Lancashire across the Pennines — a formidable engineering challenge that resulted in the highest canal stretch in Britain when completed in 1811. The records, drawn from The National Archives RAIL 838 series, include shareholders’ records, committee minutes, appointments, and records of payment, and may name anyone from company shareholders to labourers carrying out work on the canal.

Both canal collections shine a light on working life during the Industrial Revolution, and the gradual decline of the waterways as railways expanded from the 1830s onwards.

Newspapers: 261,496 New Pages
Five new titles were added and 46 existing publications updated this week. A review of BNA additions and changes in July will follow soon.

Originating from Manx National Heritage, the Manx Museum in Douglas, Isle of Man, come 949,781 BMB records new to Ancestry. There are riginal record images linked. The collection covers 36 parishes; some records were lost “due to fires, destruction, and inconsistent record keeping.”

Until 1757, any resident of any age could marry without a marriage license or a banns publication. Residents on the Isle of Man tended to marry at younger ages than elsewhere in the British Isles.

FamilySearch also has a similar collection with images.

Findmypast has a larger set of transcription records extending into the 21st century.

Record Set	Category	Subcategory	No. of Records
Isle Of Man, Births and Baptisms 1600-2010	Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records	Parish Baptisms	538,532
Isle Of Man, Deaths and Burials 1598-2011	Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records	Parish Burials	292,322
Isle Of Man, Marriages 1598-1979	Birth, Marriage, Death & Parish Records	Parish Marriages	252,118

MyHeritage also has a transcription collection.

Choose from these selected free online events. 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 https://conferencekeeper.org/virtual/

Tuesday, 4 August

2:30 PM: Raízes: Discovering Your Roots in the Iberian World, by Suzana Vieira Stucka for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/events

7:30 PM: A Grocery Store, a Library, and the Struggle for Space: Black Community-Building in Toronto, 1920s–1960, by Melanie Knight, The Toronto History Lecture for 2026.
https://torontofamilyhistory.org/toronto-history-lecture-for-2026/

Wednesday, 5 August

3:00 AM: Why Did They Leave? Motivations for Leaving 19th Century Britain, by Jenny Joyce for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/why-did-they-leave-motivations-for-leaving-19th-century-britain/

10:15 AM: Introduction to New Hampshire Genealogy, by Robert Weir for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/introduction-to-new-hampshire-genealogy/

11:30 AM: Uncovering Pre-1900 New England Church Records, by Bonnie Wade Mucia, for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/uncovering-pre-1900-new-england-church-records/

12:45 PM: Mining Your Ancestry: Coal Mining Records at Federal & State Levels, by Peggy Clemens Lauritzen, for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/mining-your-ancestry-coal-mining-records-at-federal-state-levels/

2:00 PM: Forgotten Records: U.S. Treasury Records, by Craig R. Scott, for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/forgotten-records-u-s-treasury-records/

Thursday, 6 August

7:00 PM: The Top 5 Websites You Need to Know About, by Natalie Bodle for the Ontario Genealogical Society (Ontario Ancestors).
https://ogs.on.ca/events/august-webinar-the-top-5-websites-you-need-to-know-about-natalie-bodle-2/

Friday, 7 August
2:00 PM: Essential Skills for New Genealogists 4 of 12: Read All About It! Newspapers, Periodicals, by Dave McDonald for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/newspapers-periodicals/

Saturday, 8 August

Ancestry’s new Midlothian, Scotland, Burials, 1834-2025, contains 75,602 records for about 40 cemeteries sourced from the Midlothian Council Archives.
The collection contains mostly cemetery registers, and some minute books, maps, and lair books detailing burial plot purchases and ownership. Details include names, marital status, age, death and burial dates, cemetery sections, and specific lair numbers. The original register page images linked can reveal details such as interment fees and former addresses. The name and address of the laidholder is frequently redacted.

Miscellaneous items I found interesting this week.

Even though Yorkshire Day was yesterday, it’s never too late for this Yorkshire comedy classic.

Canada Keeps Calling Itself a Middle Power. It Isn’t
From The Walrus. Confronting a comforting illusion.

MyHeritage updates French Vital Records
On 31 July, MyHeritage added Church Baptisms and Civil Births, now 204,183,653 records, Church Marriages and Civil Marriages, now 171,841,549 records,  and Church Burials and Civil Deaths, now 193,580,033 records.

101 Best Genealogy Websites
An article in the US Family Tree Magazine for July/August 2026, which I was able to access through a public library online subscription, lists their view of the top genealogy websites. The headings are:
The BIG Genealogy Websites (4) – no prize for guessing!
The (13) US, Canadian and Caribbean Websites – including Canada’s LAC and PRDH.
Genealogy Advice and News (6) – all US
Genealogy Tech Tools (10) – including WorldCat
FamilyTree and Sharing Websites (8)
Genetic Genealogy Websites (4) – including DNA Painter
Historical Newspaper Websites (8)
Geography and Historical Map Websites (7) – not including Scotland’s People maps!
Cemetery Websites (3)
African-American Genealogy Websites (5)
US Military Record Websites (5) – including Fold3, which is not just US
UK and Irish Genealogy Websites (10) – 6 Irish
European Genealogy Websites (15)
Genealogy Websites for Australia and the Philippines (3)

I was able to access the magazine through a public library online subscription.

RIP
The heading may be premature; I hope it is. Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter was last posted on 5 March following technical problems. Dick was a highly respected pioneer in online genealogy. No posts to Steve Little and Mark Thompson’s The Family History AI Show have been made since 5 April.  I’m sure I’m not alone in missing these contributions to the genealogy/family history community.

Thanks to the following individuals for their comments and tips: Anonymous, Gail, Linda Reid, Sunday Thompson, Teresa, and Unknown.

 

Earlier this week a NewsLeaf update arrived by email from the Ontario Genealogical Society. Three things stood out to me.

1. A survey found that three-quarters of the membership would be comfortable with a fee increase to at least $70. The current basic Society membership fee has remained $63 for 15 years. Expect an increase.
2. The biggest benefit of membership, according to two-thirds of those surveyed, is access to online records and databases. There’s a long list of databases available through the Society. A close second is webinars and educational events, although the live feed is available free to all. The member benefit is the on-demand replay. Connecting with other genealogists through the Society is a priority for fewer than 20% of members. Social media fill much of that role.
3. Government cutbacks, federal and provincial, are hurting the Society, especially its digitization initiatives. Members would be well served if the Society took a more active stance, jointly with other heritage, historical and cultural societies, in advocacy?

 

To mark Yorkshire Day, TheGenealogist released more than 378,000 names  with digitised page images from original published parish register books.

A mixture of Anglican parish registers and Nonconformist records, this release includes communities from the West Riding, except Kirkleatham, which is in the North Riding.

Harrogate Christ Church & Knaresborough (1560–1812)
Leeds (1572–1612, 1695–1722, 1722–1757, 1724–1763)
Leeds Baptisms and Burials (1757–1776)
Kippax (1539–1812)
Mirfield (1559–1700)
Kirkleatham (1559–1812)
Carlton-juxta-Snaith (1598–1812)
Rothwell (1763–1812)
Bradford Society of Friends / Quaker Registers (1650–1926)
Northowram Nonconformist Registers (1644–1752).

 

This collection, new to MyHeritage on 30 July, has 622,109 records. They typically include the name of the deceased, the date and place of death, extracted from cards at the Provincial Archives of Alberta using AI technology.

Ancestry has a similar database, which starts at 1870.

AI can make mistakes, so check the corresponding record at the Provincial Archives website at https://provincialarchives.alberta.ca/how-to/find-birth-marriage-and-death-records/death-indexes /.

Did you notice? 100 years ago, on 17 July 1926, the Canadian Legion was officially incorporated. Queen Elizabeth II granted it the title of “Royal” in 1971. The Legion remains active in Ottawa with branches across the city, from Orleans, to Richmond, to Stittsville.

Ottawa commemorated the occasion with a web post including a curated selection of photographs from the City of Ottawa Archives. Do you recognize any of the men and women in the photos?

I received Issue 7 of Helen (Tad) and Terry Findlay’s Many Families series at the June BIFHSGO meeting. It’s in magazine format, you can dip in to read any article that catches your eye. That’s what I did. There are 18 family stories in this issue, leading with a Loyalist.

Daniel Erwin, Terry’s 2 times great-grandfather, is in the story “She Could See the Giant’s Causeway from Her Cottage.” Illustrated with images from their visit, the article shows how close the claim is to the truth as explained in one of eight accompanying “Researching” articles; all have good advice. Here are the first four “Researching” items in this issue.

VERIFYING JOHN JENKINS’S MILITARY SERVICE
​Seven years of military service appears unaccounted for. Could the Records of Service be wrong? Readers can decide for themselves.

IT NEVER HAPPENED THAT WAY!
​Sometimes an illustrator can embellish a drawing for “dramatic effect.” Was this the case in the illustration depicting the attack at Ogdensburg, New York on 22 February 1813? You decide.

​JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS
​Researching after someone has died may yield more than just a date. Here the author finds numerous references – and all with the same incorrect date. With extra sleuthing, the correct date is found.

​WHAT IS YELLOW FEVER?
​The first recorded epidemic was in 1647 on the island of Barbados. A simple bite by an infected mosquito can transmit this deadly disease to humans. There is no specific treatment other than supportive care.

As with all the previous issues, the professional design, layout and production are by Kelly Findley.

Copies of some of the previous issues are deposited at Library and Archives Canada, the FamilySearch Library at Salt Lake City. There are some issues at the OGS Ottawa Branch Library at the Ottawa City Archives.

The complete lineup of names in each issue is:
#1 Findley, Pursel
#2 Llanos, Cuenca
#3 Wickham, Durham, Rotton
#4 Mason, Girling
#5 Rostant, Kayne
#6 McAllister, Milks, Moore
#7 Jenkins, Bradley, Wilson, Erwin
#8 Borrett, Olley, Goffin
#9 Dowser, McCooey, Weatherall, Clements
#10 Pantin, Ganteaume
#11 Busby, Lacasse
#12 Carige, Mariño, Meany

If you’re interested in exploring further, contact manyfamilies@rogers.com.

 

 

Sub-titled, Britain Between the Wars, I purchased this 2026 book from Waterstones on a recent trip to England.

If you have parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and others in your family tree who were alive between the wars (1918 – 1939), this book will provide insight into their lives and times. Demographics. Economics. The political situation. Pejudices. Art – films, books and music did they enjoyed. Did they do the Lambeth Walk? Who was famous and why?  Strikes. The BBC. About the only thing missing is the weather.

While much of the content was familiar, I grew up with the legacy, there was something new to me on almost every page.

Despite mostly favourable reviews, if I were packing just one recent British history book to bring back now, I’d examine the popular in British and Irish history books from Waterstones; there a list here.

On a drizzly Wednesday morning I made my way from the Lyon OCTranspo LRT station to the Library and Archives Canada building on Wellington Street in Ottawa. I signed in — my user card had expired — and, after depositing my jacket in a locker (not allowed upstairs, no matter how fierce the air-conditioning), took the lift to the second floor. Then I learned that user cards no longer expire.

• I wanted to order a series of London (England) city directories that I’d consulted many years back. It took the second-floor help desk a while to find the right catalogue entry. The desk staff placed the order for me specifying the years I needed. There was a hiccup, the helpful reference technician got back to me so the items had to be reordered on Friday.  As of Tuesday the order is “Not ready for pick up”.

• I next went to the south side of the second floor, to the Alfred Pellan Room, to see how the Creative Space initiative mentioned last week was faring. There were activities laid out for kids and families, but no clients when I looked in. A helpful staff member told me as many as ten people had dropped by at once. Not pictured is a table with two typewriters that, apparently, youngsters can’t resist. The whole thing is a trial run for a proposed feature at the new Ādisōke facility.
• On the third floor, in the genealogy consultation area, there were three clients. I was told the plan is to move all of that area’s holdings to its counterpart at Ādisōke, a shared space with the Ottawa Public Library.
• What won’t be making the move is the full city directory collection, along with many of the open-shelf microfilms. These will have to be ordered in. Anyone trying to follow a person through a run of successive directories can expect delays in retrieving several volumes at a time from off-site storage, to say nothing of the wear on materials in transit. Perhaps, in time, they’ll be digitized, copyright permitting.
• My last stop was the north side of the third floor, the document and microfilm consultation areas, where I counted fifteen clients in all. Everyone I dealt with was helpful, if constrained by uncertainties about the client experience at Ādisōke.
• Nothing about us without us.
  Serious academic, professional, and individual researchers remain concerned research efficiency will suffer with the move to Ādisōke when resources are no longer available self-serve. Has that community been consulted, and listened to? Could LAC be open about the cons as well as the pros of the move, and how they will address the cons?