The Workers’ City: Lives of Toronto’s Working People

The 2014 Toronto History Lecture is dedicated to the memory of J. Brian Gilchrist(1956-2014).

THE 2014 TORONTO HISTORY LECTURE
6 August 2014, 7:30 pmCity of Toronto Archives, 255 Spadina Road
Admission is free, but reservation is required.

The 2014 Toronto History Lecture, titled The Workers’ City: Lives of Toronto’s Working People, will offer a rare window on the diversity of working-class experiences in Toronto’s past and highlight their distinctive place in its history. Generations of working people literally built the city and created the goods and services to sustain a large metropolitan population. Yet their stories are seldom told. Historian Craig Heron will explore the opportunities and challenges that members of the city’s working class have faced over the past 150 years, and will share his insights into major changes and common themes during that period, through the lives of eight different Toronto workers.

For more information, see the website here.

Dig Up Your Roots at the Pickering Museum Village - Today!!!

Today from 10am - 4:30pm, our Branch will be manning a table at the "Dig Up Your Roots" event at the Pickering Museum Village. This event is part of their History in Action Saturday series.

Pickering Museum Village - location information

Come out, enjoy the pioneer village, bask in the sunshine and visit the Redmond House to talk to us about family history!!

Ancestry.ca Offers Free Access to all 235 Million Canadian Records

from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter of today:

In celebration of Canada Day on July 1st, Ancestry.ca is offering free access to all its Canadian records. Quoting from the web site’s home page: “Explore our extensive variety of Canadian records – ALL FREE this weekend – and connect the milestones of your ancestors’ lives.”

“Access to the records will be free until July 1, 2014, 11:59 p.m.(Eastern Time). To view these records you will need to register for free with Ancestry.ca with your name and email address. Once you have registered we will then send you a user name and password to access the records. If you haven’t already, you will be prompted to register once you start trying to search and view the records. After July 1, 2014, you will only be able to view these records using an Ancestry.ca paid membership.”

For more information, or to view the records free of charge, go to http://www.ancestry.ca.

“How-To DNA” – A Multimedia How-To Guide for Genetic Genealogy

For those of us who are puzzled about DNA use in our genealogy, this site may help us out:

Blaine Bettinger is a genealogist and a DNA expert with a Ph.D. in biochemistry with a concentration in genetics. He is a frequent author and lecturer with a focus on DNA. He has now announced the creation of a new online how-to guide for genetic genealogy. The site will include short instructional how-to videos for beginners, as well as presentations and webcasts for the advanced genealogist.

How-To DNA (www.howtodna.com) will also provide links to the latest videos, podcasts, and other instructional material created by DNA experts. 

You can learn more in Blaine’s announcement at http://www.thegeneticgenealogist.com/2014/06/20/announcing-dna. 

The site is live now at http://howtodna.com.

This article was originally posted by Dick Eastman at www.eogn.com on June 20, 2014

World-Wide Border Changes

Thanks to FindMyPast.com's page on Facebook:

geacron.com

Search through 3000 years of world border changes - fascinating!

                                 1840 North America

P.R.D.H. - BMD's in EARLY NEW FRANCE

P.R.D.H. - BMD's in Early New France.

Le Programme de Recherche en Démographie Historique

(The Research Program in Historical Demography) 

"In 1966, the Programme de recherche en démographie historique PRDH, (Research Programme in Historical Demography) at the Université de Montréal undertook the exhaustive reconstruction of the population of Quebec from the beginnings of French colonization in the seventeenth century. This objective has been realized in the form of a computerized population register, composed of biographical files on all individuals of European ancestry who lived in the St. Lawrence Valley. The file for each individual gives the date and place of birth, marriage(s), and death, as well as family and conjugal ties with other individuals. This basic information is complemented by various socio-demographic characteristics drawn from documents: socio-professional status and occupation, ability to sign his or her name, place of residence, and, for immigrants, place of origin." ***

"You can navigate on PRDH site and obtain a list of references to certificates, individuals or families, or marriages; this will allow you to check whether our data base contains information on the ancestor(s) for whom you chose to launch a search, but you cannot navigate to take your search further. A subscription will enable you to obtain the complete information of the certificates, families, etc. which interest you."  
 There is an example on their web page to allow you to appreciate the quality and richness of the information a subscription allows you to obtain.***

Good Luck finding French Ancestors,
Guy

*** http://www.genealogie.umontreal.ca/en/public/RechEtatCivilIndividu.asp

ScotlandsPeople to Restore Expired Credits

Did you have leftover credits on Scotlands People? And, did they expire before you were able to use them all up? Well, good news! See the announcement from Scotlands People below:

Reactivate your expired credits!
We are pleased to announce that for one week only, you can reactivate any expired ScotlandsPeople credits at no cost. The validity period at purchase is 365 days, so any credits purchased over a year ago can now be reactivated by entering the special promotional code spring2014. 

To reactivate your expired credits, please enter spring2014 into the 'voucher code' box on the Shopping Basket page. Pleaseclick here for a step-by-step guide to reactivating your expired credits. This promotional code will be valid up until midnight (BST) on 30/4/2014.