Anglo-Celtic Connections

If you have Colonial America ancestors, a new collection of early American historical and genealogical books, bringing more than 200,000 names into the searchable records at TheGenealogist, may be of interest.

Among the records are settlers, soldiers, sailors, landowners, officials, prisoners, emigrants and ordinary families whose lives formed part of a much larger national story. The new release includes material from the Pennsylvania Archives, with records relating to the Revolutionary War, including British prisoners held in Pennsylvania, officers and men of the
Pennsylvania Navy, sick soldiers in Philadelphia in December 1776, and first-hand journals connected to the Battle of Long Island.
Also included are Passenger Lists to Boston and the Bay Colony 1620 to 1640, featuring a study of the settlers, alongside the New Jersey Index of Wills 1705-1901 and Genealogies of the Families and Descendants of the Early Settlers of Watertown, Massachusetts.

These resources are also available elsewhere, just Google.

Ancestry has been drawing on data collected by GreyPower Deceased Data, compiled by Wilmington Millennium, West Yorkshire, since 2019. The latest updates with a focus on recent years, are:

England and Wales, Death Index, 1989-2025, 8,575,941 records, about 80% of deaths in recent years.
Scotland and Northern Ireland, Death Index, 1989-2025, 1,002,447 records, about 45% of deaths in recent years.

Wiltshire, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1975
Electoral registers are great sources to fill in between census years, except for war years when registers were kept, and if the person of interest was entitled to vote. That’s 3,785,767 entries for a county which now has a population of a little over half a million. The original documents are held by the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre in Chippenham, Wiltshire, England.

There have been no updates for Canada since June’s Find A Grave Index update.

 

Miscellaneous items I found interesting this week.

Save the Dates
The 2026 BIFHSGO Annual Conference is scheduled for 17 & 18 October with the theme “Flittin’ Day: Forces That Moved Our Scottish Ancestors.”

Canadians at 1924 Empire Exhibition Wembley London

Irish Railway Stations 1834-2000

Ancestry adds over 14 million records in England and Wales, Tithe Maps and Apportionments, 1775-1936 collection.

YouTube: Flanders & Swann – Documentary by John Amis

Thanks to the following individuals for their comments and tips: Anonymous, Christine Jackson, Gail, Gail Roger, Helen, Julia, Nancy Cutway, Penny, Teresa, and Unknown.

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.