Saturday, November 28, 2009

Have you come across some genealogy news beneficial to those tracing their Canadian roots? If so, please send it in!

It's been awhile since we've offered a round-up of genealogical news that could affect Canadian research. Some of these articles are a bit outdated but the information they offer is still well worth the read.

  • U.S. Bares ‘Alien Files’ Kept on Immigrants
  • Newspaper Index for Barrie Ontario Canada online
  • Ontario, Canada Marriage Registers by Clergy, 1896-1948
  • Ancestry.com in Arbitration over the Drouin Collection
  • Ancestry in arbitration over the Drouin Collection
  • A Virtual Schoolhouse
  • Whence the Drouin Collection?
  • Is there Genealogical Life without Drouin?
  • Historical Toronto: Berkeley Castle and Lost Buildings
  • Message from the Librarian and Archivist of Canada: Modernization
  • Wolfe descendant defends controversial Quebec event
  • Portrait Gallery of Canada Program Continues to be Accessible to Canadians
  • 250 years ago today
  • Historic Windsor church denied funds for repairs
  • The Vancouver Exhibition, 1927 - Carnival of Genealogy
  • Canada: A Literary Tour
  • What's New? Improving Services at Library and Archives Canada (LAC)
  • Ancestry.com and the Drouin Genealogical Institute Reach Agreement
  • Ukrainian Pioneer Monument - Winnipeg Manitoba Canada - 1891-1943
  • 2009 - Year of the Home Child
  • Frasers Part 8: Infiltrating the Cadastral System
  • OGS student essay competitions
  • French-Canadian Newspapers: An Essential Historical Source (1808-1919)
  • Finding Sources For IGI Records
  • Thieves Take Hundreds of Cemetery Bronze Nameplates and Vases
  • Barnardo's Family History Service
  • FamilySearch.org Canadian Projects - Update
  • Searching Immigration Museums
  • Graves Found at Former Poor House Site in Simcoe, Ontario
  • Great Canadian women
  • Ancestry.ca Reveals the Most Interesting Baby Names in Canadian History
  • Do you need research at Library and Archives Canada?
  • Frasers Part 9: Quebec Land Records
  • Frank Binette of Laconia Named Genealogiste Emerite (Genealogist Emeritus) by the Federation Quebecoise Des Societes De Genealogie
  • Disease and Distress in Toronto
  • Share Documents You Find at Ancestry With Your Relatives - Instantly
  • New Project to Digitize Ship's Logbooks
  • The Great Miramichi Fire
  • Long Point Settlers
  • A Change in the Weather - 1899-1900 in Manitoba, Canada -Blog Action Day 2009
  • FamilySearch Indexing Update: New U.S., Canada, and Argentina Projects
  • Toronto Cemetery Records, 1826-1935
  • Records of 82 Years Of Canadian Immigration To The UK Now Online
  • Groundbreaking for new Ottawa City Archives building
  • Northeastern Ontario Family Histories
  • Library and Archives Canada Audiovisual Migration Strategy
  • Using Land Petitions to Learn about an Ancestor
  • Thematic Guide to Sources Relating to the Grosse Île Quarantine Station, in Lower Canada, the Province of Canada and Canada, 1832 - 1937
  • Canada at War: A Guide to Library and Archives Canada's Websites Recalling the Canadian War Experience
  • Headstones toppled in Winnipeg cemetery
  • Royals tour historic N.L. sites
  • The Victoria (B.C.) Genealogical Society Loses Their $17,000 Annual Grant
  • Heroes Remembered
  • CanadianLetters.ca
  • New Remembrance Days video magazine
  • Historical Canada Gazette searchable online
  • Modernization @ LAC
  • Canadian Naturalization Database
  • Ontario Genealogical Society Conference 2010
  • Photos of East Elgin World War I veterans needed
  • Belgian Red Star Line Museum looking for emigrant photographs, memorabilia & stories
  • Canada's Home Children - Still Waiting for Recognition
  • Canada doesn't plan child migrant apology
  • Saskatchewan Provincial Government Wants to Preserve Forgotten Cemeteries
  • NB and NS archives database additions
  • TV movie on Sir Sam Steele in development
  • FamilySearch Indexing Update: Indexing Projects for 25 Countries
  • With the first Canadian contingent (1915)
  • Progress on the new Ottawa City Archives
  • Tales From Beyond the Grave in Montreal
  • Naturalization Records, the often overlooked way to find a Ships Passenger List
  • TNA podcast: The Metropolitan Police
  • Treasured Ontario Rural Histories to be Formatted for Online Access
  • Individual manifests (Form 30A) added to Ancestry database of Canadian immigration
  • LAC retreats on databases
  • Canadian Genealogy Centre Web Site Updated
  • Ontario Rural Histories to be Placed Online
  • Online Access to Tweedsmuir Histories
  • Get your family history fix [Ancestors In The Attic returns!]
  • Ancestry.ca Completes Canadian Passenger Lists with New Collection: Ocean Arrivals, 1919-1924
  • A handy reference on the British Army pre-1901
  • Microform Digitization
  • New Digitized Content Online: British Admiralty Charts of Canadian Waters
  • LAC Shares Images of First World War on Flickr

    Credits for these articles go to:

  • Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter
  • Olive Tree Genealogy Blog
  • Library & Archives Canada
  • The Ancestry Insider
  • Brenda Dougall Merriman
  • Anglo-Celtic Connections
  • CBC News
  • Canada Genealogy
  • Genealogy Canada
  • Ancestry Magazine
  • GenealogyBlog
  • GenealogyToday
  • Cnews
  • Elgin County Ontario Genealogy
  • Global Gazette

  • Friday, November 27, 2009

    Cemetery Project Update

    CanadaGenWeb's Cemetery Project has been updated!
    http://cemetery.canadagenweb.org

    The project now has its own update blog: http://canadacems.blogspot.com/

    Updates were made to cemeteries in all provinces, and new photos were added for Quebec, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario cemeteries.

    Please stop by our website or update blog for more information.

    Wednesday, November 18, 2009

    OntarioGenWeb Updates

    Dufferin County
    Added the 1902, 1903 and 1904 death indexes to the site.


    Lanark County
    Lanark County is rolling along with approx 1678 hits for October.
    Updates:
  • More cemetery pictures for Bolingbroke cemetery.
  • Pictures of #21 Platoon "D" Coy, C.A.(B). T.C.H. #31.


    Manitoulin District
    Fixed some broken links on the Museums section


    Prescott County
    Added some new links to cemetery transcriptions


    Russell County
    Since the last report, the site had 194 visitors [32623]. Four new queries were posted [995]. I have answered another four queries by email concerning Russell and Dundas counties. I have added a link concerning the Russell village historical society. During the calendar month of October, this GenWeb site was viewed 222 times.


    Wentworth County
    Some links were fixed in October.

  • Wednesday, November 11, 2009

    CanadaGenWeb's Roll of Honour


    In honour of our country's veterans, of all who served, we are pleased to present CanadaGenWeb's Roll of Honour Project.

    If you are a veteran, or want to honour a related veteran your submissions are welcome.

    Our thanks & gratitude to all those who served in the Canadian military past & present, as well as to their families who shared their brave relations with us in order to obtain and keep our freedom.  Thank you.




    Nov 11-13 - FREE access to military records of 200,000 Canadians who fought for American Forces

    The following is a press release from ANCESTRY.CA

    Search records of 200,000 Canadians who fought for American Forces free this Remembrance Day
    Records span 144 years and include those from the American Civil War and the two World Wars

    TORONTO, Nov. 10 /CNW/ - Over the course of two centuries, hundreds of thousands of Canadians have taken up arms with their U.S. neighbours by enlisting in the U.S. Forces, in battles including the Civil War and the two World Wars. Now, Ancestry.ca, Canada's leading family history website(1), honours those brave soldiers by providing free database access to 144 years of U.S. military records, from the 11th to the 13th of November.

    The U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914; U.S. World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 and U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942, collectively represent the registration and enlistment records for more than 193,000 Canadian-born men who fought bravely alongside their American comrades.
    Whether it was to help friends and family against a common enemy, to seek adventure, to answer a moral calling or, in some cases, simply the pursuit of financial riches, there are many reasons why so many Canadians fought with the U.S. military over the years. Some reasons were noble, some misguided, and some purely selfish.

    For Family:
    Many of the soldiers listed in these records were Canadian-born but children of one or more American parents. Others were born in Canada but lived in the United States at the time of enlistment. Either way, many may have felt duty-bound to serve in the armies of their parents' homes, or to defend their new homes.

    For Money:
    For many, money was clearly a motivating factor in their enlistment. For example, during the Civil War, wealthy Americans who did not wish to serve in the Forces could hire substitutes to enlist on their behalf. In spite of the inherent danger, fighting in the war during this time could yield far greater riches than heavy labour and was, perhaps sadly, a preferred way of life for some.

    For Good:
    Some of the soldiers joined in search of adventure, but many joined for moral reasons, be it to fight Nazi Germany or defend the Union and support the fight for the abolition of slavery. In fact, many of the United States Colored Regiments during the Civil War found their squadrons bolstered by black Canadians who enlisted for this very reason.

    Karen Peterson, Marketing Director, Ancestry.ca, comments: "To fight against racism, fascism, to escape poverty or discover adventure - many reasons led brave Canadian men to join the U.S. Forces, which these records help bring to life.

    "These records also remind us that no matter which side of the border Canadians fought on, they all made a sacrifice fighting for freedom and democracy and so should be remembered for their courage."
    In addition to the Canadians listed in these collections, millions of Canadians with U.S. heritage will be able to find American ancestors within these records. The three collections combined capture the records of almost 32.5 million enlistees.

    By the numbers:

    U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942
    - This database is an indexed collection of the draft cards from the Fourth Registration, the only registration currently available to the public. It contains 7.1 million records, 93,844 of which are for Canadian-born soldiers.

    US World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918
    - Between 1917 and 1918, around 24 million men aged 18 to 45 in the United States were required by law to register for war service. Of these, 78,551 stated that they had been born in Canada.

    U.S. Army, Register of Enlistments, 1798-1914
    - Canadian-born men account for 6,985 (nearly 5 per cent) of the total of 148,844 records of registrants in the American Civil War who enlisted between 1861 and 1865 - a significant percentage considering that there was no official involvement by the government in the war.
    The content will be available for free beginning Remembrance Day, November 11 through November 13 at www.ancestry.ca/remember.

    ABOUT ANCESTRY.CA
    Ancestry.ca has 125 million Canadian family history records in such collections as the complete Historical Canadian Censuses, 1851-1916, Ontario and British Columbia vital records from as early as 1813, Quebec Vital Records (The Drouin Collection), 1621-1957, Canadian Passenger Lists, 1865-1935, and U.S. / Canada Border Crossings, 1895 -1956.

    Ancestry.ca was launched in January 2006 and belongs to the global network of Ancestry websites (wholly owned by Ancestry.com Operations Inc.), which contains four billion family history records. To date more than 11 million family trees have been created and over one billion names and 22 million photographs uploaded. 8.2 million unique visitors log on to an Ancestry website every month (comScore, June 2009).
    The Ancestry global network of family history websites - www.ancestry.ca in Canada, www.ancestry.com in the US, www.ancestry.co.uk in the UK, www.ancestry.com.au in Australia, www.ancestry.de in Germany, www.ancestry.it in Italy, www.ancestry.fr in France, www.ancestry.se in Sweden and www.jiapu.com in China.

    Sunday, November 01, 2009

    Canadian Genealogy Events in November

    ALBERTA

  • November 12, 2009: Calgary, AFHG Beginners SIG, Meeting, 7-9pm
  • November 14, 2009: Calgary, AFHG Computer SIG, Meeting, 9:30am-12pm
  • November 21, 2009: Calgary, AFHG English SIG, Meeting, 10:30am-12pm
  • November 25, 2009: Red Deer, Red Deer Branch AGS, 7pm
  • November 26, 2009: Edmonton, Edmonton Branch AGS, Meeting, 7:30-10pm
  • November 7, 2009: Calgary, AFHG Quebec SIG, Meeting, 12-2pm
  • November 7, 2009: Edmonton, Tracing Your Family Tree 2009, 10am-3pm


    BRITISH COLUMBIA
  • November 4, 2009: Burnaby, BC Genealogical Society, Meeting, 7:30-10pm
  • November 5, 2009: Penticton, South Okanagan Genealogical Society, 7:30pm
  • November 14, 2009: Burnaby, BCGS Quebec Group, Meeting, 10am-12pm
  • November 17, 2009: Abbotsford, Abbotsford Genealogical Society, Meeting, 6:30pm
  • November 21, 2009: Victoria, Victoria Branch UELAC, Meeting, 12pm
  • November 5, 2009: Campbell River, Campbell River Genealogy Society, Meeting, 7pm


    NOVA SCOTIA
  • November 24, 2009: Halifax, Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia, Meeting, 7:30pm


    ONTARIO
  • November 7, 2009: Barrie, Simcoe Branch OGS, Meeting, 2-4pm
  • November 10, 2009: Sarnia, Lambton County Branch, OGS, Meeting
  • November 2, 2009: Brantford, British Isles Study Group, 7:30pm
  • November 3, 2009: Toronto, Toronto OGS Workshop, 7-9pm
  • November 3, 2009: London, London & Middlesex Branch OGS, Meeting, 7pm
  • November 4, 2009: Goderich, Huron County Branch OGS, Meeting, 7:30pm
  • November 4, 2009: Toronto, Jewish Genealogical Society of Canada, 7:30pm
  • November 10, 2009: London, London & Western Ontario UELAC, Meeting, 7pm
  • November 11, 2009: Toronto, Toronto OGS Workshop, 7-9pm
  • November 11, 2009: London, PAF Users Group, Meeting, 7pm
  • November 11, 2009: Richmond Hill, York Region Branch OGS, Meeting, 7:15pm
  • November 12, 2009: Woodstock, Oxford Branch OGS, Meeting, 7pm
  • November 12, 2009: Kitchener, Waterloo Branch OGS, Meeting, 7pm
  • November 13, 2009: Chatham, Kent Branch OGS, Meeting, 7pm
  • November 14, 2009: Toronto, Toronto OGS Workshop, 2-4pm
  • November 14, 2009: Ottawa, British Isle Family History Society, Meeting, 10am
  • November 15, 2009: Ottawa, Ottawa TMG Users Group, Meeting, 2-4pm
  • November 17, 2009: Toronto, Toronto OGS Workshop, 7-9pm
  • November 17, 2009: Simcoe, Norfolk Branch OGS, Meeting, 7pm
  • November 17, 2009: Ottawa, Ottawa Branch OGS, Meeting, 7:30pm
  • November 19, 2009: Brantford, Family History Study Group, 10am-12pm
  • November 19, 2009: Ottawa, Genealogy Computer Special Interest Group, Meeting
  • November 21, 2009: Toronto, Toronto OGS Workshop, 2-4pm
  • November 21, 2009: Kingston, Kingston Branch OGS, Meeting, 10am
  • November 21, 2009: Trenton, Quinte Branch OGS, Meeting, 1pm
  • November 22, 2009: Brantford, Brant Branch OGS, Meeting, 2pm
  • November 22, 2009: Oakville, Halton-Peel Branch OGS, Meeting, 2pm
  • November 23, 2009: North York, Toronto Branch OGS, Meeting, 7:30pm
  • November 24, 2009: Toronto, Toronto OGS Workshop, 7-9pm
  • November 24, 2009: Owen Sound, Bruce & Grey Branch OGS, Meeting, 7:30pm
  • November 24, 2009: Guelph, Wellington County Branch OGS, Meeting, 7pm
  • November 25, 2009: Toronto, Jewish Genealogical Society of Canada, Meeting, 8pm
  • November 25, 2009: Stratford, Perth County Branch OGS
  • November 26, 2009: Thorold, Niagara Peninsula Branch OGS, Meeting, 7pm
  • November 28, 2009: North York, Toronto Branch OGS, Workshop


    SASKATCHEWAN
  • November 14, 2009: Regina, SGS Workshop, 10am-12pm
  • November 21, 2009: Regina, SGS Workshop, 10am-3:30pm
  • November 24, 2009: Moose Jaw, Moose Jaw Branch SGS, 7pm
  • November 28, 2009: Regina, SGS Workshop, 10am-12pm

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