Anglo-Celtic Connections

I’m taking a break. There will be a Sunday Sundries tomorrow, otherwise expect limited posts, if any, resuming after the USA 250 celebrations.

 

The Office for National Statistics has tabulated the top 100 baby names in England and Wales over 13 years, from 1904 to 2024.

There are 287 unique boys’ names that appear at least once in the top 100, according to the ONS tabulation.

The Long-Lasting

James, William, Thomas, George, Edward

Except for Thomas, they are royal names. Edward, never in the top 10, was never lower than #52.

The Meteoric Rise and Fall

Mark, Michael, Christopher, Luke, Joshua

Mark appeared only in the second half of the 20th century, peaking at #2 in 1974.

The Rise

Mohammed, Oliver, Noah

Mohammed entered the top 100 in 1924 and, over the course of a century, rose to the top spot.

The Fall

John, Richard, Robert

John held one of the top two spots until 1954, then fell rapidly, clinging to a top 100 spot only at the start of the 21st century.

Migrations from NY to Canada on the Champlain and Erie Canals: Nineteenth to Early Twentieth Centuries is the topic of Pamela Vittorio’s presentation online at 7 PM on Thursday, 25 June.

The creation of the NYS Canal system in 1825 made many things possible–from moving people and cargo, to transporting language, religion, and ideas. Beyond the census, finding ancestors who did business alongside the canals, owned boats, or worked as labourers may seem like a challenging task. Many families from Canada migrated to New York to seek employment or transport cargo on the canals. Find out how to trace their most likely routes and pathways from Albany to Buffalo, from New York City, up the Hudson River, to the eastern part of NY State and on the Champlain Canal to Canada. Discover how families travelled on canal boat, and where they were likely to stop. Learn about the types of records you should look at, where to find the records, and how to analyze them.

All Ottawa Branch monthly presentations are open to the public at no charge. Register in advance for this Zoom presentation:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/wu1Or43PSXqkmaIEJGagVg

Information Commissioner 2025-2026 Annual Report
The Commissioner found that Library and Archives Canada (LAC) demonstrated measurable improvements in access to information compliance during the 2025–2026 fiscal year, driven by increased funding and leadership commitment. Through initiatives such as enhanced training and a streamlined delegation instrument to speed up request processing, LAC successfully reduced its active complaints inventory from a peak of 266 in 2021–2022 down to 101 by March 2026, while dramatically lowering the number of formal orders issued against it from 109 in 2023–2024 to 16 in 2025–2026. Despite these significant overall improvements and a strengthened collaborative relationship with the Office of the Information Commissioner, LAC still faced some legal hurdles, with 16 cases submitted to the Federal Court in 2025–2026 disputing ordered response dates for delay and extension of time complaints.

Recognition
The Canadian Association of Journalists has specifically recognized LAC for a Dishonourable Mention for declining to release a 40-year-old list of 700 suspected Nazis admitted to Canada after the Second World War. It was claimed it could interfere with international relations. The recognition of LAC was as part of the CAJ once again recognizing The Federal Government as a whole in awarding it the  Code of Silence Award for Outstanding Achievements in Government Secrecy.

Annual Report on Travel, Hospitality and Conference Expenditures
Library and Archives Canada spent $457K on travel, hospitality, and conferences in FY2024-25, down $120K from $577K the prior year. Travel fell the most (-$147K to $413K), driven by the federal Refocusing Government Spending initiative and the end of Federal Pathway funding for MMIWG2S+, with declines across operational travel, stakeholder engagement, and training. Hospitality rose $18K to $31K due to an AI and archives symposium hosted in September 2024, and conference fees increased $9K to $13K from broader staff participation. The report does not identify spending by individual, as in the past.

Guided tour of the LAC Preservation Centre
Friday, 26 June

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, 23 June

2:00 PM: Ottawa Virtual Genealogy Drop-In, for OGS Ottawa Branch.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86956419387 

2:00 PM: Top 10 Canadian Collections at MyHeritage, by Kaye Prince-Hollenberg for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/top-10-canadian-collections-at-myheritage/

7:00 PM: Exploring Family History at the Archives of Ontario, for OGS Wellington County Branch.
https://wellington.ogs.on.ca/events/wellington-county-branch-exploring-family-history-at-the-archives-of-ontario/

Wednesday, 24 June

1:00 PM: The Stories of US: Turning Records into Stories, Ancestry Virtual Event Series.
https://events.zoom.us/ev/Amlc6W-17CEfmJCeBiKQazOIA-Cj7k3CW6AL8dj-nu_Dj6yoA9w8~AtV74yrJV_X4d5jEAMoz4EQcDaofIZKWj8-tkLuAStdFguWfnlLwgb0Hgw

2:00 PM: WWII Internment of Japanese Immigrant “Enemy Aliens” in the San Francisco Bay Area, by Grant Din for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/wwii-internment-of-japanese-immigrant-enemy-aliens-in-the-san-francisco-bay-area/

Thursday, 25 June

7:00 PM: Migrations from NY to Canada on the Champlain and Erie Canals: Nineteenth to Early Twentieth Centuries, by Pamela Vittorio for OGS Ottawa Branch.
https://ottawa.ogs.on.ca/events/migrations-on-the-erie-champlain-canals-ottawa/ 

7:00 PM: ConferenceKeeper: Discovering Genealogical Education and Opportunities, byTami Osmer Mize for GRIP Genealogy Institute / NGS
https://tinyurl.com/2026GRIPThur

Friday, 26 June

3:28 PM: Revolution through a British lens, by Sean Cunningham and Graham Moore for TNA.
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/whats-on/events/revolution-through-a-british-lens/

Saturday, 27 June

Added to MyHeritage on 21 June 2026, these records document members of the British Army who were wounded, killed, or went missing in action during World War II, spanning the full extent of the conflict and its immediate aftermath.

The 1,113,764 records capture casualties from many theatres of operation, including campaigns in Western Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and the Far East. Records typically include the name of the individual, mostly initials and surname, and the date and place of the casualty. Many entries also include the individual’s rank, regiment, army service number, and casualty status. The original document does not include the nature of the injury.

Some entries reflect casualties whose status was later corrected in subsequent records. That was the case for my uncle.

MyHeritage produced the index from scanned images of the original documents held at TNA, Kew.

Is there anything of interest to you in this list of 22 microfilm files, just added? Included are:

11 Western Land Grants files, July 1907 – January 1921
4 Indian Affairs, Annuity Paylists, 1910 – 1933.

The following military files have full-text search capability:

Militia and Defence personnel file, 1910 – 1938
Royal Canadian Air Force courts-martial, 1939- 1945.

Miscellaneous items I found interesting this week.

Reuters Climate Monitor
How do today’s temperatures compare to the historic average? How cool is that?

Deceased Online adds records for Fenland District Council 
70,000 records, dating back to the mid-19th century up to 2014, from Wisbech Cemetery, Walsoken Cemetery and Whittlesey Cemetery.

News is changing dramatically – here’s what the move away from mainstream media means for you as a consumer

The Perley Legacy
A short video featuring Glenn Wright.

London, England, Selected Poor Law Removal and Settlement Records, 1698-1922
Ancestry updated this collection, sourced from The London Archives, now with 1,413,959 records.

At the Drop of Another Hat
I don’t know how I missed this video of a performance by Flanders and Swann in New York. It includes songs you may not have heard previously, as well as their classics.

Thanks to the following individuals for their comments and tips: Ann Burns, Anonymous, Gail, Glenn Wright, Julia, Lesley Anderson, Nadine, Sean, Sunday Thompson, Teresa, and Unknown.

 

 

 

There has been a surge in document requests, and work for professional genealogists, following a December 2025 legal expansion that allows people with distant ancestral ties to claim Canadian citizenship under specific circumstances.

Some who have been through the process and received a certificate of Canadian citizenship are now being asked to return it as the grant is under  review. The problem appears to be that the evidence provided did not meet the legal standard required.

The NYT has an article, Are Your Ancestors Canadian? Here’s What to Know About Becoming a Citizen, which explains the process applicants must follow, and mentions that some people are being asked to return their certificates.

New Records

Britain, Retired Railway Officers’ Society (1902–1963) — 25,330 records

These records document the senior management elite of British and British Empire railways. The Retired Railway Officers’ Society was an exclusive body for high-ranking officials — Chief Engineers, General Managers and the like — making this a rich source for biographical research. Standout items include Member Portrait Albums combining photographs with detailed career histories, service dates, and company positions, covering the golden age of steam into nationalisation.

Fields available: name, occupation, company, birth date, years entered and left service, and death date.

England, Cromford Canal Company (1789–1908) — 8,253 records

The Cromford Canal was engineered by William Jessop and Benjamin Outram to connect Derbyshire’s coal mines and limestone quarries to Richard Arkwright’s cotton mills via 14.5 miles of waterway. This collection covers the company’s operational life through original minutes and permit books, naming the boatmen, carriers, and merchants who powered the Industrial Revolution in the East Midlands before the canal was purchased by a railway company in 1852.

Fields available: name, event date, event type.

England, Ludlow and Clee Hill Railway Company (1860–1892) — 1,338 records

Built to haul “dhustone” (dolerite) from the high-altitude quarries of Clee Hill down to the main lines at Ludlow, this Shropshire mineral branch tackled some of the steepest gradients in British railway history, including a 1-in-6 cable-worked incline. Trade ledgers and administrative minutes document its operations up to absorption by the Great Western Railway and London and North Western Railway in 1893.

Fields available: name, event date, occupation.

Dorset Early Census Returns (1724–1821) — 2,140 records

An index compiled from census returns made by Rev Dawney in 1724, 1725, and 1769, together with records of the Overseers of the Poor researched by M.B. Weinstock for the book Old Dorset. Rev Dawnay’s survey recorded 156 houses and 605 inhabitants, including 30 non-parishioners. The accompanying Poor Law accounts name individual recipients of relief — money, clothing, nursing care — and paint a vivid picture of village life, including an outbreak of smallpox that claimed lives in the Riggs family and subsequently spread to children boarded with Elizabeth Vine. Records courtesy of Dorset FHS.

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New Newspapers

Seven new titles join the archive this week: The earliest is from 1827, the latest 1919.

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Significant Updates (10,000+ pages added)

The following existing titles, with an emphasis on Scotland, received substantial additions this week:

You can subscribe to newspapers.com for 25% off on a six-month subscription until 22 June. That’s $74.99 +tax for the full Publishers Extra version.

To find out about the coverage for your communities of interest before you subscribe, check the browse function at https://www.newspapers.com/browse

It’s a Father’s Day sale, as good a reason as any other!

On 6 November 1943, the HMT Rohna was sunk by a glide bomb off the coast of Algeria. Of the 1,138 on board who perished, 1,015 were US personnel. A US film about the situation and its cover-up is available on several PBS sites at https://www.pbs.org/show/rohna-classified/.

The losses on the Rohna are second only to the approximately 1,177 dead in the attack on the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbour in December 1941.

At least 29 UK personnel aboard the Rohna lost their lives. The UK government also withheld the truth of the loss. Ann Good, a BIFHSGO member, has researched the UK perspective, which is now documented at https://www.rohnaclassified.com/british-perspective.

In the list of British merchant ship losses, there are at least ten with more British fatalities than the Rohna. The worst UK maritime disaster of the war was the RMS Lancastria, lost on 17 June 1940 with over 3,000, and estimates of 4,000 to 9,000 deaths. The ship, hastily evacuating a mixture of troops and civilians from France, was sunk by aerial bombing.

You may also be interested in this YouTube recording of a Zoom discussion, which included the US producer, two researchers (US/UK), and three British Rohna descendants.