Choose from these selected free online events. All times are Eastern Time (ET), unless otherwise noted. Registration is assumed to be required in advance—check the links so you’re not disappointed. For more events, mainly in the U.S., visit Conference Keeper.

Tuesday, April 15

2 pm: Ottawa Genealogy Drop-in, for OGS Ottawa Branch.
https://meet.google.com/nvz-kftj-dax

7 pm: North Bay’s “Pest House”, by Ann Smith for OGS Nipissing Branch.
https://nipissing.ogs.on.ca/events/nipissing-branch-north-bays-pest-house/

Wednesday, April 16

2 pm: Beautifully lay out and print your family history book on any budget, by Rhonda Lauritzen for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/beautifully-lay-out-and-print-your-family-history-book-on-any-budget/

2:30 pm: How Conflicts Around The World Shaped My Family, by Claire Topping for Cambridgeshire and Huntingtonshire FHS.
https://www.chfhs.org.uk/how-conflicts-around-the-world-shaped-my-family-with-claire-topping-487

7 pm: Diseases and Yesterday’s Remedies, by Elizabeth Briggs for OGS Thunder Bay Branch.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/8HGJ8XScTdyJMnVCId-Dsg

7 pm: Kingston’s Kathleen Hammond, the Lusitania and the White Plague, a story of World War I happiness and tragedy, by Sandy Camp gue, a story of World War I happiness and tragedy, by Sandy  Bell for the Kingston Historical Society.

https://kingston.ogs.on.ca/events/kingston-historical-society-16-april-2025-meeting-presentation/

7 pm: A New Museum for the Outaouais, by Jean-Marc Blais and Stephen Quick for Heritage Ottawa.
https://heritageottawa.org/events/seeing-big-new-museum-outaouais

Thursday, April 17

6:30 pm: The Family History That Wasn’t: How an Unexpected Discovery Redefined Our Identity, by Allison Lawrentz Barnhart for Allen Country Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/13226018

Friday, April 18

Saturday, April 19

10 am: Are you a “trust-me” genealogist?”  “Why would anyone believe what your research says? by Heather Oakley for OGS Kingston Branch.
https://kingston.ogs.on.ca/events/kingston-branch-meeting-april-19-2025/

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

Do Inuit languages really have many words for snow? The most interesting finds from our study of 616 languages

From The Conversation. For a bit of fun, try the Concepts across Languages tool.

Twisted Truth: Understanding Robert Carney’s Legacy and Confronting the Dangers of Denialism

The Strategic Exploitation of Conspiracy Theories by Populist Leaders

The hybrid meeting on Saturday, 12 April, focuses on the Society’s 30th Anniversary.

At 9 am, Nigel Lloyd and Sheila Dohoo Faure will give an introduction to the No. 1 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station Project.

Just over 10 years ago, BIFHSGO launched a new research project: transcribing the 879 World War I soldiers’ death records appearing in a diary maintained by chaplains at No. 1 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station. The diary’s information on these deaths was transcribed and added to BIFHSGO’s online Name Index. As a tribute to the centenary of WW I, BIFHSGO volunteers began writing biographies of the 879 soldiers. Nigel Lloyd will present the background and approach to this project, while Sheila Dohoo Faure will identify some of the more interesting soldier stories and present one soldier’s life.

At 10 am, Sue Lambeth presents the 30th Anniversary Spotlight on BIFHSGO’s research and projects.

She will describe initiatives undertaken over the past 30 years that highlight our collective achievements and the important work of our many volunteers. She will also reflect on how past and current initiatives are helping us to develop new innovative projects and connections with others.

Free to explore online until 8 May, Findmypast marks the upcoming 80 year anniversary of Victory in Europe by opening the 1939 Register.

For each person living in England and Wales (and some from the Isle of Man and Channel Islands), it typically includes: name, full date of birth, marital status, occupation, and address. Updates were made after 29 September 1939, mostly for name changes due to marriage.

Scotland compiled its own version not yet publicly available.

Two new military collections are now on Ancestry

UK, WWI Hospital Registers, 1915-1919

The collection is an index of 818,003 British military hospital records from the First World War, including admissions and discharges from facilities such as field ambulances, casualty clearing stations, hospital trains, and ships. While the records are index-only on Ancestry, they may link to original documents on Fold3 and Forces War, which may offer additional details like medical diagnoses, hospital names, and lengths of stay. The collection includes entries for both servicemen and servicewomen, including members of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps and other wartime organizations. It also contains records for non-British individuals treated in these hospitals, including members of the Chinese Labour Corps. It includes nearly 5,000 Canadian service personnel.

UK, Recommendations for Honours and Awards, 1935-1990

An index of 348,129 military personnel recognized for gallantry or distinguished service in the British and allied armed forces. It includes recommendations, award lists, and London Gazette announcements for members of the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force. While the collection primarily covers post-1950 records due to archival practices, it offers valuable genealogical insights such as rank, service details, award names, and in some cases, narratives describing the actions that led to the award. The index is hosted by Ancestry, with access to original documents via Fold3 or Forces War.

These records, held at The National Archives in Kew, span a period marked by major global and regional conflicts. British forces were involved in events like the Spanish Civil War, World War II, Cold War-era conflicts in Asia and Africa, and later engagements including the Falklands War and Gulf War.

Two new large US databases are now on MyHeritage.

New York, New York City Air Arrivals, 1957- 1962
Created by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and related authorities to document the arrival of international airline passengers and crews. . The 3,911,129 records, with images, typically include the name of the passenger, date and place of departure, date and place of arrival, and the nationality of the passenger. Some records include the date and place of birth.

United States, World War II Draft Registrations, 1940-1947
This collection contains WW2 United States Selective Service System registrations. The 42,012,273 cards, indexed with AI,  include personal details such as names, birth dates, addresses, and occupations,

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

The pannotype mystery

Take a Media Vacation
Close your eyes and imagine you’ve travelled to a holiday destination. Do it without leaving home — skip the journey. Enhance the experience by listening to a local radio station via Radio Garden. There’s also TV Garden if you’d rather keep your eyes open.

Finding and Navigating the Old Maps of Ireland.

Ancestry updates Web: Quebec, Canada, Marriage Contract Index, 1761-1941 (in French). Now with 71,094 records.

GLAM Makeover at AO

See also https://ischool.utoronto.ca/news/a-glam-makeover-for-the-archives-of-ontario/. 

This initiative appears to involve presenting existing finding aids in a new visual graph format rather than any full-text digitization of records.

Thanks to Ann Burns, Anonymous, Brenda Turner, Chuck B., Teresa, and Unknown for this week’s contributions.

This March, the mean temperature in Ottawa was -1.0C; the OFA prediction was -2.5C, which is 1C warmer than normal.
SUCCESS

The OFA predicted 95 mm of total precipitation at Ottawa; 25 mm wetter than average. The actual was 73 mm, above the long-term average of 60.9 mm, and 22 mm less than predicted.
FAIL

Choose from selected free online events. All times are ET except as noted. Assume registration in advance is required; check so you’re not disappointed. Find out about a few more, mainly US events, at Conference Keeper.

Tuesday 1 April

 2 pm: Ottawa Virtual Genealogy Drop-in, from OGS Ottawa Branch.
https://ottawa.ogs.on.ca/events/virtual-genealogy-drop-in-2-2025-04-01/

2:30 pm: Ancestors Calling! Luck, Research and Science, by Judy Nimer Muhn for Allen County Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/13054168

7:30 pm: How DNA Can Reveal Truth – A Case Study, by Mags Gaulden for OGS Durham Region Branch.
https://ogs.on.ca/events/durhams-april-1st-virtual-meeting-how-dna-can-reveal-truth-a-case-study/

Wednesday, 2 April

7:30 pm: Breaking Through Brick Walls in Scottish Research, by Christine Woodcock for OGS Huron County Branch.
https://huron.ogs.on.ca/events/huron-branch-2/

Thursday 3 April

5 pm: DNA Meets the Paper Trail: Pedigree Triangulation Strategies for Early 19th-Century Research, by Diana Elder for
for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/dna-meets-the-paper-trail-pedigree-triangulation-strategies-for-early-19th-century-research/

7 pm: Solving Your Picture Problems, by Allyson Maughan for OGS.
https://ogs.on.ca/events/april-webinar-solving-your-picture-problems-allyson-maughan-2/

8 pm: GPTs for Family History: Unlocking the Potential of AI, by Andrew Redfern for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/gpts-for-family-history-unlocking-the-potential-of-ai/

Friday 4 April

4 pm: The Science Behind the Stories: Using Genetic Genealogy in Crime Fiction, by Nathan Dylan Goodwin for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/the-science-behind-the-stories-using-genetic-genealogy-in-crime-fiction/

Saturday 5 April

10 am: Old Family Letters: A Genealogist’s Dream Resource, by Carol McIntosh Small for OGS London and Middlesex Branch.
https://londonmiddlesex.ogs.on.ca/events/london-and-middlesex-branch-old-family-letters-a-genealogists-dream-resource/

Looking Ahead
On Wednesday, 9 April at 7:30 p.m., Ken McKinlay will be the guest speaker for the Lakeshore Genealogical Society. His topic is Exploring Library and Archives Canada Online. Register at LGSregister@gmail.com a few days before the meeting to receive the Zoom link.