A message via Mike More informed of the passing of Myrtle Johnston “in her 91st year” on 11 January. Myrtle was a mainstay of OGS Leeds & Grenville Branch, most recently as newsletter editor. She was also active in the United Empire Loyalist Association of Canada – https://www.uelac.org/Honours-Recognition/bio/Dorchester-Myrtle-Johnston-2017.pdf

Is there a recent unusual spike in deaths? In the UK, which publishes much more up-to-date stats than in Canada “The number of deaths registered in the UK in the week ending 20 January 2023 (Week 3) was 17,912, which was 11.6% above the five-year average (1,864 excess deaths); of these deaths, 881 involved COVID-19.”

Thursday 2 March is the start of the three-day Rootstech 2023. The program is now posted — it’s an amazing, and somewhat confusing array of presentations — some you’ll surely want to catch online for free.

Go to https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/calendar/.

Then go systematically through the three days and the Main Stage or Sessions presentations. You’ll find great speakers and topics of interest to you in both.

Once you register, use your FamilySearch account to do so, I suggest going systematically through and clicking on the plus sign for all those you think might be of interest. That will add them to your “My Playlist”. Then winnow that down to a manageable number. As many will be available to view after the presentation don’t worry if you can’t fit them all into your schedule live.

Here are the contents of the new issue to be available on 16 February.

COVER: In Their Neck of the Woods
Sue Lisk offers suggestions for exploring online local histories to better understand our ancestors’ lives

Researching Modern Ancestors: Unlocking the Life of an English Rose – Part One
Diane L. Richard shows us that researching close family can be difficult, but also rewarding

Newspaper Wins
Erin E. Moulton steps up to the plate to help you to search like a pro

Colonial American Genealogy – Part One
David A. Norris looks at genealogy sources “Olde” and New

BOOK REVIEW: A Guide to Norwegian Genealogy,
Emigration, and Transmigration
Diane L. Richard reviews a new book by Liv Marit Haakenstad

Gibraltar Census Records
David A. Norris reveals the remarkable resources available for genealogists

My Dad Lied About His Ancestry!
Meredith Young Renard recounts how she learned the truth and the reason for the tale

A Laugh at Our Ancestors’ Expense
Robbie Gorr looks at the humorous side of genealogy

Genealogy Questions: Is My House Haunted?
The Allen County Public Library shows you online resources for researching your home

Pound Masters, Hog Reeves and Other Common Positions
Sue Lisk looks at the unusual names given to the positions of some elected officials

Pass Me a Musket: Military Reenactments
Leslie Michele Derrough looks at how participating in reenactments can help you better relate to your military ancestor

Using Online Cemeteries
Karen L. Newman shows how to research families and their church records using online cemeteries

NetNotes
Diane L. Richard looks at websites andrelated news that are sure to be of interest

Photos & Genealogy
Rick Voight: “Have you captured your COVID story?”

Back Page
Dave Obee recommends regularly searching family trees to identify and dispel misinformation

For the Ireland researcher, Shane Wilson has a personal website, a “collection of digitized historic maps for Ireland and Dublin viewable in Google map format, and other Irish Family History resources, including a revised and improved townland database, scans and extracts from a number of directories, a database of Catholic and Church of Ireland parishes as they were during the mid-1830s, Catholic and civil parish links for over 1,000 parishes, and map coordinates to over to 2,000 churches and chapels etc. All free to access….”

https://www.swilson.info/index.php

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 31 JANUARY
8 pm:  Settlers, Squatters and Selectors: Land ownership in Australia, 1788-1900, by Cathie Sherwood for Legacy Family Tree Webinars. https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/settlers-squatters-and-selectors-land-ownership-in-australia-1788-1900/

WEDNESDAY 1 FEBRUARY
2 pm: Using Mitochondrial DNA Testing for Genealogical Problem Solving, by Michael D. Lacopo for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/using-mitochondrial-dna-testing-for-genealogical-problem-solving/

7:30 pm: Life on the Farm, by Jane MacNamara for OGS Huron Branch.
https://huron.ogs.on.ca/events/huron-branch-life-on-the-farm-jane-macnamara/

THURSDAY 2 FEBRUARY
6:30 pm: Deep Dive into AncestryDNA’s DNA Story (Ethnicity Estimate), by Sara Allen for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/7921465

FRIDAY 3 FEBRUARY
2 pm: Gradual Emancipation and Enslavement in the North, by Ari Wilkins for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/gradual-emancipation-and-enslavement-in-the-north/

SATURDAY 4 FEBRUARY
9 am: “Mother Dead, Father in Prison”, by Kate Keter for Anglo Scottish FHS.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/anglo-scottish-fhs-meeting-mother-dead-father-in-prison-tickets-502542146087

10 am: Some Highlights of the Irish Presence in 19th-Century Middlesex-London, by Dan Brock for OGS London & Middlesex Branch.
https://londonmiddlesex.ogs.on.ca/events/london-middlesex-branch-some-highlights-of-the-irish-presence-in-19th-century-middlesex-london/

11 am: I’m Warning You! The Warning Out System, by Peggy Lauritzen for International Society for British Genealogy and Family History.
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZElc–opj4uGdDVTRpOJxOeriSWO7rct7Ny

The link below is to a pdf manuscript by Jean Paul Farley, written mainly by his father Raymond Farley, who recounts his experiences growing up in Casselman, joining up while underage and serving with Canadian forces in Europe.

His Farley ancestor was an early Catholic Irish arrival who married into a French family.

It is a relatively long piece, 77 numbered pages, mostly about his military experiences, and best read with an excellent European map to hand to follow all of Raymond’s travels through war zones right into Germany.

https://www.anglocelticconnections.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Raymond-Farley-English.pdf

Particular thanks to Brenda Turner, who forwarded it along with the assurance that is not copyrighted and was given with no restrictions.

Approaching the 70th anniversary of the North Sea Flood of 31 January – 1 February 1953, I’m recalling my experience.

The home we rented, shown by the red cross, was on Riverside Road in Gorleston, Norfolk, opposite the Lifeboat Station on the River Yare, about half a kilometre from the harbour mouth to the North Sea. I enjoyed watching ships coming and going, including fleets of herring drifters in the Autumn. Post-war, fresh fish and seafood were readily available to supplement rationed food. It was a short walk to a large sandy beach. 

I was seven years old in 1953 and recall being woken up by my parents putting boxes in my bedroom on the upper floor. I went back to sleep.  Seawater rose to perhaps a foot or more In the house. In the morning I found they’d blocked the top of the stairs to stop me from getting into the muddy mess on the ground floor. Things they couldn’t move upstairs were piled high, and dry, on a table.

Folks nearby in the single-storey prefabs by Bells Marsh Road were totally flooded out. Pre-fabs were an answer to the post-WWII housing crisis. typically 600 sq ft with two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, and bathroom. 

Fireman George Sadd, credited with saving 27 people by carrying them from Bells Marsh Road on his back, was awarded the George Medal.

Water quickly receded in our house but stayed in a crawl space underneath the main floor. Our back garden remained flooded, as did the pre-fabs, it may have been for a fortnight or more. I took advantage by playing boats with two small wooden boxes of the type used for shipping kippers or bloaters that had drifted to the garden in the flood.

I was told the water in our house hadn’t come over the quay but up through the drains that lacked a backup valve.

The sea salt that had permeated into the house plaster walls was expelled as a white powder for a long time. That probably motivated our move inland to Bradwell a couple of years later.

Memory is funny! You remember small things like the can of coffee donated in the name of Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia.

Although flooded we were fortunate. Ten people lost their lives in Great Yarmouth and Gorleston, 5,000 were temporarily homeless.

The flood, resulted from storm surge on top of a high tide. 307 people died along the east coast — Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex. In total more than 2,500 were killed including 1,835 people in the Netherlands.

A video on the event and a later one in 2013 is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkkHBcjtRyM

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

Canada’s new drinking guidelines don’t consider the social benefits of alcohol. But should they?

Forgotten chapter of First World War involves brain of Nova Scotia soldier

Belgium Genealogy
The Belgium State Archives has just published a new site dedicated to genealogy.

The Rise and Fall of Fanny Cradock
An early British celebrity chef.

The 5 Best Free Screen Recording Apps
From Make Use Of, save high resolution videos with no time limit, or watermarks.

The End of Writing

Thanks to this week’s contributors: Anonymous, Brenda Turner, gail benjafield, Nick Mcdonald, Teresa, Unknown.

Journeys into Genealogy is an eclectic mix of genealogy-based topics, stories and people. Sometimes it may stray outside the boundaries of genealogy and include local history and other related topics.

Fifty episodes are online here and through various podcast servers like Apple podcasts and Spotify.

The most recent episode, just posted, is Researching Welsh Ancestors with Gill Thomas. Earlier this month Researching Italian Ancestors with Julie Goucher became available.

Additions and updates this week are for the British Army.

British Army, Honourable Artillery Company, Cardew-Rendle Roll Of Members 1537-1908

This new collection is a printed directory of biographies for 17,000 members of the Honourable Artillery Company, covering nearly four centuries. As the oldest British Army regiment, it received its royal charter from Henry VIII in 1537. Details you’ll find will vary from entry to entry, from birth year and residence to remarkable events and great deeds.

British Army, Honourable Artillery Company Journal 1923-2021

The first issue of this journal was published in 1923, and documented events and activities of the regiment. Make good use of the optional keyword search field here to find mentions of a person, or key events in this regiment’s history.

British Army, Coldstream Guards 1800-1981

Another 48,477 records have been added to this existing collection, now 167,876 records. It includes records for the oldest continuously serving regiment in the British Army. The new records cover attestation books, discharges, casualties and more. You’ll normally find a rank, regimental number and an event year.

John Grenham celebrates (sort of) the Latter Day Saints transcripts of Irish General Register Office marriage indexes 1845-1922 mapped and available on his site.

Give it a try at https://www.johngrenham.com/surnames/