New from MyHeritage, 362,292 records from the Lancastrian community of Oldham, northeast of Manchester. It includes registers from Hollinwood, Failsworth, Royton, Crompton, Chadderton, Lees, and Greenacres cemeteries, Typically included are the name of the deceased, date of death, age at death and the date and place of burial.From Editor/Publisher Ed Zapletal, here’s detail on the contents of the new issue of Internet Genealogy, now on newsstands. I added a few comments in italics.
Welcome to the late winter/early spring edition of Internet Genealogy 2023. Our cover feature, In Their Neck of the Woods, is from regular contributor Sue Lisk who looks at online local histories and how they can give us a better understanding of how our ancestors lived. Sue has chosen a cross-section of sites such as County and Town Histories, County Historical Society Town Histories, and Town Histories on Ancestry.com. All the exmples are from the US, mostly New England. There are lots of fascinating tidbits of the past to explore, so snuggle up with your computer and then peruse the online pages. In her second article for this issue, Pound Masters, Hog Reeves and Other Common Positions, Sue looks at some of the more obscure job titles that were common during colonial times. Maybe you have an ancestor who was a Path Master or a Tithingman!
David A. Norris’s first of two articles, Cameo Roles in
Pension Files – Sources “Olde” and New – Part One, investigates the information that might be gleaned from those pages if you have ancestors from the original thirteen colonies. David continues with a short piece on a fine collection of records from the Gibraltar Census.
Diane L. Richard returns with the Life of an English Rose – Part One. Diane looks at researching modern ancestors and has chosen her late mother for an in-depth look at how to fill in the missing pieces of a close family member who didn’t leave a lot of the usual clues behind. Diane also reviews a recently released book by Liv Marit Haakenstad titled, A Guide to
Norwegian Genealogy, Emigration, and Transmigration. Diane also pens her usual NetNotes column featuring interesting websites that are sure to be of interest. New author Erin E. Moulton shines the spotlight on Newspaper Wins! Searching Like a Pro, and how to get the most from researching newspaper archives. The subject, a baseball player, was no relative to the author, but some people just cry out to have their live explored! Meredith Young Renard lets the cat out of the bag in “Everything My Dad Said About His Ancestry Was a Fabrication!” and recounts how she learned the truth and the reason for the tale. Leslie Michele Derrough returns with Pass Me a Musket: How Participating in Reenactments Can Help You Better Relate To A Military Ancestor.
Don’t forget to check out our regular columns: Genealogy Questions, Photos & Genealogy, and Dave Obee’s Back Page! I hope you enjoy the issue!
One article not mentioned in Ed’s column is “A Laugh At Our Ancestors’ Expense: The Humorous Side Of Genealogy” by Robbie Gorr. The following epitaph mentioned is part of a collection at https://atkinsbookshelf.wordpress.com/tag/funny-epitaphs/
“Here lies Peter who was
accidentally shot in his 30th year
This monument was erected by
grateful relatives”
—
Are there any people you recognize from the local Ottawa Heritage and City Council elite from this noon-time Heritage Day 2023 event on Tuesday?
Choose from selected 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. Additional mainly US events are listed at https://conferencekeeper.org/virtual.
TUESDAY 21 February
2 pm: OGS Ottawa Branch virtual genealogy drop-in
https://meet.google.com/nvz-kftj-dax?pli=1
2:30 pm: “Internal Migration within the United States”, part 3 of The Making of a Mosaic: European Migrant Journeys during the Age of Steam, by Nicholas J Evans for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Centre.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/7835192
8 pm: The Bengali and English Ancestry of Thomas Chapman: A Case Study with DNA, by Meryl Schumacker from Legacy Family Tree Webinars and BCG.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/the-bengali-and-english-ancestry-of-thomas-chapman-a-case-study-with-dna/
WEDNESDAY 22 February
2 pm: Flying Under the Radar – Discovering Charles Olin’s Alias, by Mary Roddy for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/flying-under-the-radar-discovering-charles-olins-alias/
2:30 pm: Using GEDmatch to Further Your Research, by John Marshall for the Guild of One Name Studies.
https://one-name.org/usinggedmatch/
7 pm: The End of Slavery in Upper Canada, by Glenn Sweazey & June Girvan for Ottawa Historical Society.
https://www.historicalsocietyottawa.ca/activities/events/eventdetail/87/16,17,19,21/the-end-of-slavery-in-upper-canada
7 pm: Rehabilitating the West Memorial Building: conservation in Practice at Wellington Street’s Western Gateway, by Heather McArthur for Heritage Ottawa.
https://heritageottawa.org/events/rehabilitating-west-memorial-building-conservation-practice-wellington-streets-western
THURSDAY 23 February
7 pm: The Four Points of the Compass: Oakville and the Underground Railroad, by Karolyn Smardz Frost for Oakville Public Library,
https://attend.opl.on.ca/event/7920645
7:30 pm: A Community at War: the Military Service of Black Canadians of the Niagara Region, by Jim Doherty for Historical Society of St Catherines.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85137940010
FRIDAY 24 February
SATURDAY 25 February
1 pm: Herchmer’s Secret: The Loyalist Family, the Land and the Kingston Fall Fair since 1830, by Anne Redish for Kingston & District Branch, United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada.
https://www.uelac.org/Kingston-Branch/
http://uelac.org/Kingston-Branch
Both BIFHSGO and OGS Ottawa Branch will be among a host of local heritage and like-minded organizations, such as museums, to have tables at Ottawa City Hall from noon to 2 pm today, Tuesday 22 February, as a celebration of local heritage. This is the first in-person Heritage Day event since 2019.
It will even attract participation from out of Ottawa, the Arnprior and McNab/Braeside Archives.
All are welcome to find out about what’s happening on the heritage front in the City, and to show the mayor, and members of Council the support for heritage in the City.
Be there if you can, I’ll be there.
Genealogy companies save major announcements for Rootstech. MyHeritage is no exception. Several coming are presently embargoed, so we have to wait until the trumpets sound at the event to learn their news.
One development that’s new, and not embargoed, is that MyHeritage is selling their DNA kits on a Hot DNA Sale for $39 US ($57 Cdn) down from $89 US ($129 Cdn). It includes a DNA kit, 30-day complete free trial, and free shipping on 2+ kit.
The letter published by the Globe and Mail copied below is a contribution to a series advancing the issue of the poor state of access to historical information in Canada, particularly at Library and Archives Canada. Any genealogist who has attempted to get a copy of a Second World War service file will attest to the delays.
A service that our genealogical and family history societies could provide to members is to be active with like-minded` researchers from the humanities in advocating reform.
Re “Canada’s leaders know the value of applied history. So why won’t they set it free?” (Feb. 15): As a former longtime investigator with the Office of the Information Commissioner, I couldn’t agree more about having had endless battles with Library and Archives Canada to release relatively mundane historical information.
Before that time, I also worked at LAC as a record-review officer. I witnessed firsthand how arduous the task was for academics, historians and others to access information that should have been routinely disclosed after a certain time period, as is routinely done in Britain and the United States.
There should be immediate action from the government to rectify this unacceptable and, quite frankly, embarrassing situation. Intimate knowledge of our past is essential to facilitate the creation of effective public policy. It is also vital for our general understanding of our past.
Marey Gregory Ottawa
Three projects report progress including one new project for Library and Archives Canada’s Co-Lab Challenges.
Mary Ann Shadd Cary is a new challenge. 3% complete.
Expo67 remains 0% complete.
Summiting Mount Logan in 1925: Fred Lambart’s personal account of the treacherous climb and descent of the highest peak in Canada remains 13% complete.
Women in the War is 1% complete, last month 0%.
Arthur Lismer’s Children’s Art Classes remains 0% complete.
John Freemont Smith remains 93% complete.
Canadian National Land Settlement Association remains 98% complete.
Molly Lamb Bobak remains 93% complete.
Diary of François-Hyacinthe Séguin remains 99% complete.
George Mully: moments in Indigenous communities remains 0% complete.
Correspondence regarding First Nations veterans returning after the First World War remains 99% complete.
Winnipeg General Strike of 1919 remains 96% complete.
Legendary Train Robber and Prison Escapee Bill Miner remains 99% complete.
Japanese-Canadians: Second World War is 3% complete, last month 0% complete.
The Call to Duty: Canada’s Nursing Sisters remains 93% complete.
Projects that remain 100% complete are no longer reported here.
Other unidentified Co-Lab activities not part of the Challenges may have seen progress.
Most of these databases were updated on 16 – 17 February.
Canada had 89,277 additions for the two-month period, a monthly rate almost half that of the previous four-month period.
| Country | February 2023 | December 2022 | Increase |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. | ? | 170,992,351 | ? |
| UK and Ireland | 16,638,739 | 15,329,390 | 1,309,349 |
| Global | 13,874,323 | 13,711,794 | 162,529 |
| Australia and New Zealand | 10,520,324 | 10,351,076 | 169,248 |
| Canada | 9,506,638 | 9,417,361 | 89,277 |
| Germany | 2,354,053 | 2,275,506 | 78,547 |
| Sweden | 363,822 | 356,925 | 6,897 |
| Italy | 309,921 | 287,125 | 22,796 |
| Norway | 215,912 | 206,975 | 8,937 |
| Brazil | 134,615 | 132,690 | 1,925 |
| Mexico | 59,560 | 56,015 | 3,545 |
Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.
Dealing with the Ottawa Public Library administration can feel like this!
Free access on newspapers.com until until 20 Feb. 2023 at 11:59 p.m. MT.
The Ottawa Project
Photos, maps, more…
A Year of War in Ukraine – Articles from The Conversation
Almost a year on, Russia’s war against Ukraine could go in three different directions
Calls for peace in Ukraine a year after Russia’s full-scale invasion are unrealistic
Ukraine 12 months at war: why Kyiv’s western allies must rethink the limits of their military aid
Ukraine war: what the last 12 months has meant for the ordinary Russian soldier
Ukraine war 12 months on: the role of the Russian media in reporting – and justifying – the conflict
Russia–Ukraine war has nearly doubled household energy costs worldwide – new study
Thanks to this week’s contributors: Ann Burns, Anonymous, Brenda Turner, Christine Jackson, gail benjafield, James R Robertson, Nick Mcdonald, Paul Milner, Teresa, Unknown.
Scroll down on this page to find approximately 70 items added to the Canadiana collection this month. As usual, most are annual reports, minutes, proceedings, calendars and the like. Some are obscure, like the 36-page Morse’s Indian root pills almanac.
If you have ancestry in St John (NB) there are three collections likely to be of interest.
Progress, an eight-page weekly newspaper is available for 713 issues from 5 May 1888 to 25 January 1902 where you can read about “The Sunny and Seamy Side of Life in St John.”
Standard (St. John N B.) has 1,048 issues from 25 March 1909 to 6 August 1912. It’s not full-text searchable.
The Saint John Standard has 2,930 issues from 7 August 1912 to 24 June 1922
Civil Service Commission Appointments, Promotions and Transfers 1871-1942
Spanning 71 years, these 872,439 records cover the British Civil Service, from postal workers, prison workers, the admiralty and more. You might find an ancestor’s name, age, occupation, plus details on their appointment, transfer, promotion or certification.
These records are extracted from the London Gazette.
Second World War Civilian Casualties In Britain 1940-1945
This collection comes from multiple sources and includes 64,339 records. It is made up of mostly civilian casualties during the Second World War, in addition to 4,000
servicemen who died on the home front during enemy action. You may find an exact address, standard biographical detail, and even the type of enemy action.
For one case I know of there was additional information in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission database.
