Ancestry Offer

If you’re one of the few genealogists without a subscription to Ancestry, this half-off offer may be of interest.

Here’s the small print.

Offer ends 9 Jan 2023 at 11:59pm ET. 6-month membership special offer prices: $41.99 Canada Discovery Plus or $64.99 World Deluxe. Excludes current subscribers. Your membership will automatically renew at the end of each 6-month period and at that time your chosen method of payment will be charged $84.99 for Canada Discovery Plus or $129.99 for World Deluxe, plus applicable taxes, unless you are notified otherwise. If you don’t want to renew, cancel at least two days before your renewal date by logging into your Account Settings page or by contacting us. See Terms and Conditions.

A reminder that many Canadian public libraries offer free access to Ancestry Library Edition at their branches.

Looking Ahead

Happy New Year

Here’s a summary of genealogy events for early 2023, focusing on those in Eastern Ontario for the first three months and a few others for the next three months.

14 January: Wesley Johnston presentation Untangling “Family Thickets”: Cornwall to Canada, for BIFHSGO.

21 January: Sherilyn Bell presentation on Unusual Family History– What lies beneath, for Kingston Branch OGS.
21 January: Ken McKinlay presentation on Land Records for Genealogy,  for Quinte Branch OGS
21 January: Sarah Holla presentation Transcribing Goulborn, for Ottawa Branch OGS (OBOGS)

11 February: Dianne Brydon presentation Lust, Lucre and Lybell: An 18th Century Soap Opera, for BIFHSGO
11 February: Ken McKinlay performing Genealogical Miracles, for OBOGS

2-4 March: RootsTech

11 March: Shirley Monkhouse presents “There was a shot, after that everything is confusing.” for BIFHSGO
18 March TBA, for OBOGS

25 March: Gene-o-Rama (OBOGS)
25 March: Ulster Historical Foundation Day (BIFHSGO)

1 May: OPL Genealogy Day 

3-6 May: New England Regional Genealogical Consortium

4 May: Glenn Wright presentation for OGS monthly

31 May – 3 June: NGS Annual Conference

Disclosure

To end the year, an acknowledgement and thanks to the organizations that supported the blog by providing complimentary access to their services during the year. In alphabetical order:

Ancestry for access to full Ancestry.ca, newspapers.com and Fold3 subscriptions.

Findmypast for full access to findmypast.com.

Global Genealogy for review copies of Global Heritage Press publications on request.

Moreshead Magazines for pdf copies of Internet Genealogy.

MyHeritage for full access to MyHeritage.com.

Pen and Sword for review copies of publications in request.

British Newspaper Archive December Additions

The British Newspaper Archive now has a total of  62,101,547 pages online (an increase from 60,154,616  last month).

This month 248 papers had pages added (177 in the previous month). There were 28 (32) new titles. Dates range from 1855 to 1999.

The 35 newspapers with more than 10,000 pages added are:

TITLE YEARS
Hull Daily Mail 1978-1981, 1984-1986, 1988, 1991
Cambridge Daily News 1888, 1890-1891, 1894, 1904, 1906-1907, 1909, 1911, 1913, 1916, 1969, 1972, 1977, 1979-1980, 1996
Liverpool Daily Post (Welsh Edition) 1978, 1980-1985
Newcastle Evening Chronicle 1920-1921, 1925, 1927, 1929-1937
The People 1977-1979, 1981-1987, 1990-1991, 1997-1998
South London Observer 1895, 1901-1962
Gateshead Post 1948-1967, 1969-1976, 1978, 1980-1981
Liverpool Daily Post 1930, 1932-1933, 1935-1937, 1960, 1967, 1975
Birmingham Mail 1925, 1931, 1933, 1962, 1972-1973, 1996
North Wales Weekly News 1992, 1995, 1998-1999
Birmingham Daily Post 1919-1920, 1924-1928, 1933, 1936, 1952, 1982, 1984
Chester Chronicle 1958, 1961, 1974-1975, 1978, 1985, 1997
Daily Record 1996
Irvine Herald 1971-1972, 1974-1975, 1979-1980, 1991, 1999
Rugeley Mercury 1996-1999
Huddersfield Daily Examiner 1881, 1919-1921, 1934, 1996
Grimsby Daily Telegraph 1954, 1996
Heartland Evening News 1996-1997
Echo (London) 1876, 1878, 1880, 1887, 1889, 1891, 1893, 1895, 1901, 1903-1905
Alderley & Wilmslow Advertiser 1926, 1943, 1978-1981
Southwark and Bermondsey Recorder 1868-1884, 1903-1920
Harlow Star 1997-1999
Manchester Metro News 1995, 1998-1999
Middlesbrough Herald & Post 1992, 1995, 1997-1999
Lady of the House 1895-1923
Southport Visiter 1998-1999
Clevedon Mercury 1993, 1998-1999
Harrow Observer 1924-1925, 1928, 1930, 1936, 1941, 1997
Belper Express 1993, 1998-1999
Irish Independent 1932, 1941, 1948
Shields Daily Gazette 1921, 1927, 1932, 1937, 1944
Macclesfield Express 1982-1984
Evening Herald (Dublin) 1913-1914, 1917-1918, 1921, 1948
Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph 1954, 1984, 1987
Burton Daily Mail 1996

 

Gary Bagley R.I.P.

Gary Alan Bagley was one of the 10 founding members of the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa  and a 40+ year member of the Ontario Genealogical Society.

In 1995 he compiled the details for Revenue Canada’s grant of BIFHSGO charitable status. He served the Society as Treasurer during the period from September 1994 to December 1996 and as Auditor from 2001 to 2004.

Gary remained an active researcher until later pre-COVID-19 years working on indexing the Orillia Packet and Times newspaper at Library and Archives Canada.

https://ottawacitizen.remembering.ca/obituary/gary-bagley-1086879031

MyHeritage adds England and Wales Divorces 1858 – 1937

This is an index of 253,123 records that typically include the name of the husband, the name of the wife, the name of the correspondent, and the year of the divorce.

The Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act 1857 established the principle of “no-fault” divorce in England and Wales, allowing couples to obtain a divorce on the grounds of “irretrievable breakdown.” Prior to this act, couples could only obtain a divorce through private acts of Parliament or by proving adultery, cruelty, or desertion.

Between 1858 and 1937, the divorce rate in England and Wales steadily increased. 

After the Divorce Court (Procedure) Act of 1937 established the Divorce Court and set out the procedures for obtaining a divorce the number jumped dramatically.

Ancestry has these records to 1918 with images of the original court proceedings. Findmypast has an index collection to 1903.