January 6 Meeting - Storing and Preserving Old Photographs

Tuesday January 6, 2009

Krista Jorgensen
Librarian Archivist
Whitby Public Library

Her subject is "Storing and Preserving Old Photographs" .

For more information our website is:
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~onwob22/

Meetings are on the first Tuesday of each month except July and August, at 7:30 p.m. in the Oshawa Public Library Auditorium 65 Bagot Street, Oshawa. Visitors are always welcome.

Some 'Ancestors in the Attic' Episodes on Global

Ancestors in the Attic is usually broadcast only on History Television, a cable channel, but Global Television is going to be showing some episodes over the next four weeks.

Wednesday December 17th at 10pm: One-hour Cenotaph Special.
Two students go in search of the true stories behind the names of two soldiers on their high school Cenotaph.
Sunday December 21 at 7pm: Mary.
A Korean-Canadian returns to her homeland to find the birth parents she never knew.
Sunday December 28 at 7pm: Missing Pieces.
A Japanese-Canadian goes to Japan for the first time in search of his father's family.
Sunday January 4 at 7pm: Autograph Book.
In 1917 a British nurse and a native Canadian soldier signed their names in an autograph book. This is the story of the love story that bound them and the search for their descendants.

These are in addition to the usual showings at 8 pm on Saturdays on History Television.
Thank you Linda Reid from the Toronto Branch for this information.

Staff Genealogist Required

Ancestors in the Attic – History Television’s Gemini-nominated family history documentary series – is searching for a staff genealogist for its fourth season.
Part personal drama, part forensic investigation and part historical revelation, Ancestors in the Attic provides unexpected, emotional and often life-changing answers to the genealogical questions of ordinary Canadians.
Using the tools of genealogy and family history, the program takes ordinary Canadians on a journey of discovery to solve family mysteries and make emotional connections with relatives, family members or ancestors. In the process, we also examine Canadian history from a very personal and intimate perspective.
The role of the staff genealogist is twofold: assist our research team with the extensive genealogical and historical investigations required to solve the stories we air each season; and appear on-camera with our host, Jeff Douglas, to help our submitters solve their family mysteries.
To succeed, candidates must have experience in the field of family history, be skilled in advanced historical research methods and have experience with online and primary genealogical resources both here in Canada and also, preferably, in the United Kingdom. Candidates must have an intense curiosity, be highly organized, computer literate and capable of thinking outside the box. The successful candidate must also be passionate about family history and genealogy, a talented communicator, and excited about conveying detailed genealogical findings in a simple, accessible and credible way to a television audience.
While experience as a genealogist is an advantage, Ancestors in the Attic is also interested in hearing from anyone in related fields that meet the criteria. And, while our preference is to find one person to fill both research and on-camera roles, we are flexible.

If you are interested in becoming part of the successful Ancestors in the Attic team please send your resume by mail to:
Dugald Maudsley, Producer, Ancestors in the Attic, Primitive Entertainment
585 Bloor Street West
Toronto, ON, M6G 1K5
Or via email to: dugald@primitive.net

Election Results for 2009 Executive

2009 EXECUTIVE

Durham Region Branch

Ontario Genealogical Society

Chair - Guy Lafontaine

1st Vice-Chair - Todd Shrigley

2nd Vice-Chair - Lillian Buhl

Secretary - Vacant

Treasurer - Don Tebble

Past Chair - Don Hinchley

Retired Firefighter Donald A. Heard Dies

HEARD, Donald A. - retired First Class Fighter #76 - Oshawa Fire Department (February 25, 1935 to December 3, 2008) peacefully at Lakeridge Health, Oshawa due to a lengthy illness with cancer, at the age of 73 years. Beloved husband of Ruby (nee Hockley) for 50 years. Loving father of Robyn Daniels (Jim) of Whitby, Scott Heard (Carol) of Oakwood, Donna Short (Kelly) of Bowmanville. Beloved papa of Justin Daniels, Jessica and Aaron Heard, Holly and Becca Short. Dear brother of Bev Heard (Doris deceased) of Oshawa; Ruby Norton (Bill), both deceased, of Oshawa; Irene Nemis (Bill) of Lindsay; Ina Pomery (Don), both deceased, Lorne Heard (Evelyn) of Oshawa; Shirley Wallis (Gord) of Whitby; and twin Ronald (Betty) of Oshawa. Relatives and friends paid their respects at the COURTICE FUNERAL CHAPEL, 1587 Highway #2 (King St. E.), Courtice, 905-432-8484 on Saturday December 6th from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. A Funeral Service was held at Trull's Road Free Methodist Church, 2301 Trull's Rd. S., Courtice on Monday December 8th at 11 a.m. Donations made in memory of Don to the Durham Regional Cancer Centre or Trull's Rd. Free Methodist Church would be appreciated by the family. Thanks to Doctors and Nurses of 6F Lakeridge Health, Oshawa for their loving and special care. Cremation will follow the Funeral Service with interment of cremated remains in the spring. On-line condolences or expressions of sympathy may be made at http://www.courticefuneralchapel.com/

New ONTARIO Births, Marriages, & Deaths INDEX Microfilms added to Whitby Public Library Collection

These reels are the indexes of the B,M,D's for Ontario and are up to date as per what is available. These reels do not have actual event documents.
The local Family History Centre may have all the up to date index reels. They certainly have some (but not all) of the reels of the actual records to go with the indexes. The Archives of Ontario will have all of them. Always check online before striking out for Toronto.
The benefit the reels we have locally is that you can go through the indexes at your leisure and then either order the pertinent B,M,D reels on inter-library loan, or be prepared when you visit the Archives of Ontario in Toronto or the local LDS FHC.
Births:
1910 Reels 22 & 23
1911 Reel 24
Marriages:
1925 Reel 23
1926 Reel 24
Deaths:
1935 Reel 23
1936 Reel 24
Ancestry is about two years behind on what they have available online in this area.
Thank you Stephe Wood for providing this information.

Camp X Historical Society Lecture

Evelyn Davis (Camp X Veteran) on

Friday November 28th (7:30pm) at the

Centennial Building in Whitby.

She and her late husband Les Davis were both veterans of Camp X and Evelyn has put together a presentation that relates her and her husband's experiences working at Camp X during WWII. Opportunities to meet and ask questions of Camp X veterans are getting more rare each year.

The cost is free but there will be a donation box so that we "keep the lights on" this small historical society. Attached is a "flyer" with all the needed information.

Ally Ramsay,

Camp X Historical Society

Click Here to Download Flyer/Poster

Links Referenced at Nov 4 2008 Durham Branch Meeting

1. GED-GEN is short for "GEDCOM Web Page Generator
2. Our Roots - Canadian local histories in French and English
3. Automated Genealogy hosts several projects to index Canadian censuses
4. County Atlas Project based on forty-three Ontario Atlases
5. Worldcat connects to books in 10,000 libraries worldwide

Links Referenced at Oct 7 OGS Durham Branch Meeting

North West Trading Company
HBC Museum - Thunder Bay
HBC Archives - Winnipeg
HBC Records in The National Archives -UK
HBC Records in Manitoba Archives
Genereunited
Family Search (LDS)
Drouin
Tanguay Dictionary (en francais)
Vernon's Directory free, limited cities; also on ancestry
Lovell's Directory
LAC Candaian Directories Project
FotoTagger

Public Roll Call for Canada's War Dead

VIGIL: 1914-1918 - 9,700 names projected each night on buildings from London England to Ottawa
Nov 03, 2008 Mitch Potter, EUROPE BUREAU

LONDON–It will be one long and final march home for 68,000 lost Canadian souls.
When the sun sets over the British capital tomorrow night, an ambitious act of remembrance begins when the first name is projected against the walls of Canada House in Trafalgar Square. One after another, the names of each Canadian to fall in World War I will follow.
As the sun moves westward to Canada, the names will go with it, projected against buildings in six cities, including Toronto City Hall. The sequence continues with 9,700 names per night spread across 13-hour, sunset-to-sunrise vigils until the last name appears at the break of dawn on Nov. 11.
Read the whole TORONTO STAR article at http://www.thestar.com/article/529253

LAC launches "In Quarantine: Life and Death on Grosse Île, 1832–1937"

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is pleased to announce the launch of In Quarantine: Life and Death on Grosse Île, 1832–1937, a project funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage through its Canadian Culture Online Program.
Featuring a variety of documents preserved and digitized by LAC, such as lists of births and deaths at sea, hospital registers, journals, letters, photographs and maps, this virtual exhibition tells the story not only of the quarantine station, but also of the individuals who experienced life on the island.
Immigrants at Grosse Île, a database containing thousands of digitized documents related to individuals who lived on Grosse Île, is now available through this website.
You are invited to visit the site at: www.collectionscanada.ca/grosse-ile.
The contributions of many LAC staff were instrumental in the success of this project, and their efforts are much appreciated. LAC also wishes to thank Parks Canada for its participation and full cooperation in the creation of this virtual exhibition. For more information, please contact project managers Sarah Hatton or Jean-Sébastien Potvin at webservices@lac-bac.gc.ca.

(Thank you Krista Jorgensen, Librarian Archivist, Whitby Public Library who forwarded this to us.)

LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA BRINGS CANADIAN CONTENT TO POPULAR ONLINE COMMUNITIES FLICKR AND YOUTUBE

OTTAWA, October 30, 2008—Library and Archives Canada is pleased to announce that in anticipation of the 2008 Irish Studies Symposium, that will be presented on November 3 and 4, 2008, a selection of digital images related to Irish-Canadian documentary heritage are now available on Flickr.com, a popular photo-sharing community. As well, a selection of video presentations from the upcoming Symposium will be added to YouTube.com in November 2008.
“The objective of the project is to explore new ways to improve access to Canada’s documentary heritage,” said Ian E. Wilson, Librarian and Archivist of Canada. “Library and Archives Canada is excited about the opportunities that social media sharing communities provide for Canadians to discuss and contextualize an important selection of our collective history.”
Visitors to the Library and Archives Canada’s album at Flickr.com are encouraged to explore the interactive image collection which allows for commenting and tagging of content. All images on Flickr.com are tagged with geographic information to allow visitors to explore history in the context of their surroundings by navigating the album on a virtual map of the world. The selection of video presentations from the upcoming 2008 Irish Studies Symposium that will be added to YouTube.com will also allow for commenting and tagging of content.
The mandate of Library and Archives Canada is to preserve the documentary heritage of Canada for the benefit of present and future generations and to be a source of enduring knowledge accessible to all, thereby contributing to the cultural, social and economic advancement of Canada. Library and Archives Canada also facilitates co-operation among communities involved in the acquisition, preservation and diffusion of knowledge, and serves as the continuing memory of the Government of Canada and its institutions.
To learn more about this project please visit the “Flickr/YouTube Albums” section of the Shamrock and the Maple Leaf website:
www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/ireland/033001-3001-e.html

(Thank you to Krista Jorgensen Librarian ArchivistWhitby Public Library who forwarded this.)

New Database on ancestry.ca

Canadian City and Area Directories, 1819-1899

This database contains Canadian city and area directories for various years from 1819-1899.City directories generally contain an alphabetical listing of its citizens, giving the names of the heads of households, their addresses, and occupations. In addition to the alphabetical portion, a city directory may also contain a business directory, street directory, governmental directory, and listings of town officers, schools, societies, churches, post offices, and other miscellaneous matters of general and local interest.

At the end of the list of "Resources of Interest for Canadian Researchers" click on "see all databases" and type in the heading "Canadian City and Area Directories".

Directory of Marriage Notices Appearing in Lindsay Ontario Newspapers Including Parental Information 1900 – 1925

October 8, 2008

For Immediate Release: New Edition of a Popular Local Reference Tool. Hot off the press is a new edition of the most frequently consulted set of index books in the City of Kawartha Lakes Library reference collection.

The latest release,
Directory of Marriage Notices Appearing in Lindsay Ontario Newspapers Including Parental Information 1900 – 1925,
is one of a series of directories that index the birth, death and marriage notices from Lindsay and area newspapers.

The authors, Lois Magahay and Ian Wilson, have been labouring for more than 10 years at indexing The Post, Watchman Warder, Bobcaygeon Independent, Fenelon Falls Gazette, Woodville Advocate, Beaverton Express and Ontario Gleaner (Cannington) notices for various time periods resulting in the publication of 18 different directories. The newspaper notices are indexed in detail and many of the entries have been supplemented with additional information found when the authors compared the information found in the newspaper notices with that of the vital registration records of Ontario.

Lois Magahay and Ian Wilson, both of Lindsay, deserve a medal for their efforts, not just for the amount of work entailed in the production of each directory, but for the lasting contribution these directories will make to our community. Our avid local genealogical researchers are very aware of the existence of these directories and use them often, as will generations to come.

The value of these publications can also be noted by the steady stream of non-resident family historians that journey to our community to consult these publications. Although the directories were created to benefit this particular group of researchers they are very useful in a wide variety of ways for conducting local historical research. The directories are available to purchase from the author or they can be consulted in the reference collection of the Fenelon and Lindsay branch libraries.

To help celebrate
Ontario Public Library Week
Lois Magahay will be conducting
Genealogy Workshops in the
Bethany (Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 2 pm),
Little Britain (Monday, Oct. 27 at 10:30 am) and
Woodville (Friday, Oct. 24 at 11 am)
branch libraries.

Lois is very knowledgeable in this field. She is a graduate of the National Institute for Genealogical Studies, a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists and 5 genealogical societies. No matter what your level of expertise you will find her workshops worthwhile.

-30-

For further information, please contact: Diane Lansdell, South Area Supervisor 324-9411 x265,
or
Communications Officer
City of Kawartha Lakes
26 Francis St., P.O. Box 9000
Lindsay, ON K9V 5R8
705-324-9411 ext. 355
<http://www.city.kawarthalakes.on.ca>

About OGS e-NewsLeaf

e-NewsLeaf is emailed to OGS members eight times a year - January, March, April, June, July, September, October and December. If you have any questions about receiving this email, please contact the OGS webmaster at webmaster@ogs.on.ca.

OGS News about NEW Branch

The Ontario Genealogical Society has established a Special Interest Group for Irish Palatines. They will have the same status as a Branch but will not be tied to a specific geographic region. With the inclusion of the Irish Palatines the OGS has a total of 31 Branches aross Ontario. Anyone interested in this SIG should e-mail SIG-IP@ogs.on.ca.

Library and Archives Canada (LAC )

Free!!
Digitized images of passenger lists 1865-1922. This is a great source if you know the name of the ship, the port and the date of arrival.

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/passenger/

Finding your Scottish Ancestors LINKS

Thank you Stephe Wood!

He provided us with great research hints and excellent web resources to assist anyone researching their Scottish families. Here are the links he referenced in his presentation at our September branch meeting.

USEFUL WEBSITES – SCOTLAND
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/
http://www.commentonline.co.uk/sub-history/breadalbane/BreadalbaneSurnames.htm
http://www.familysearch.org/
http://www.nas.gov.uk/
http://freecen.rootsweb.com/
http://www.nls.uk/digitallibrary/map/index.html
http://www.sctbdm.com/
http://www.genuki.org.uk/
http://edina.ac.uk/statacc
http://www.scotsgenealogy.com/
www.hometown.aol.co.uk/Genealogyscot/Page80.html
http://www.mlfhs.org.uk/
http://www.lyon-court.com/
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~relys4u
http://www.ayrshireancestors.co.uk/
http://www.eastayrshirefhs.org.uk/
http://fp.ayrshireroots.plus.com/Genealogy/Records/Census/1851/1851.htm
http://www.scotsfind.org/

If you would like the same list with explanatory notes on each of these links click on the following link: Stephe Wood's recommended Scottish Genealogy Links

If you would like more genealogy resource links click on the following link to visit that section on our website: Durham Branch Resources

OGS reminder

2008 O.G.S. - Region 7
Annual Meeting

Saturday, Oct 4, 2008

Northminster United Church,

300 Sunset Blvd., Peterborough MAP

9:30 a.m. Registration & BranchTables
10:00 a.m. Annual Meeting (business, reports, and elections)

11:30-12:30 Pot Luck Lunch & Branch Tables

12:30 p.m. Speaker: Catherine Dibben ,
Topic: The Roy Photographic Collection, a collection of old photographs covering most of the Region 7.

Everyone welcome. Hosted by Kawartha Branch O.G.S.
Janice Carter thanks Catherine Dibben

You Could Win a Limited Edition Heritage Print

The Whitby Public Library is giving you the chance to win a limited edition heritage print signed by the artist and a $50 gift certificate towards framing from Imagine That Art Gallery in Whitby.

Local artist Leanne Amyotte used photographs from the Whitby Archives collection to create this print which depicts architectural details from seven historic Brooklin & Whitby buildings. The artist generously donated this print to promote the digitization of historical photographs.

Ballots at the Library!
Go to http://www.whitbylibrary.on.ca/ for more info. Good luck.

Scottish Studies, 40th Anniversary Fall Colloquium, September 27

Scottish Studies, 40th Anniversary Fall Colloquium at the University of Guelph,
Featuring: Duncan Macniven, Scotland's Registrar General, "Scottish Genealogy, the Census, Scotlands People". See poster for full speaker list.
Birthday Cake, Book Sales, Piping, Raffle and Awards Ceremony
LUNCH INCLUDED
$45 for non-members
Advance registration requested
519-824-4120, ext. 53209
scottish@uoguelph.ca
More details - see the poster at:
http://www.uoguelph.ca/scottish/FALL08Flyer.pdf

Something NEW from LDS Family Search

One of our branch councillors gives us this recommendation. Try it out.

The LDS organization has a new 'pilot website*' with lots more info. http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#p=0

This is only a pilot (test) website so sometimes it is busy and hard to get into. I accessed it today and what it does is find information on other sitess and sends you to them. It also has soundex and I found out why I could not find my Great family on the 1841 UK census. It was spelled Graet. Joyce

*Record Search is still under development. This release is considered a PILOT. This means that at times Record Search will not be available while we add additional records and improve some features. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We look forward to receiving your feedback.

Overview of Four Genealogy programs for the Mac

Dick Eastman has just published a newsletter about Overview of Genealogy Software for the Mac at http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2008/09/genealogy-progr.html

Extracts from the Eastman article . . .
"I would contend that Macintosh has MORE genealogy programs available than does Windows. There are four well-known genealogy programs well-known genealogy programs written for the Macintosh:

Reunion 9 appears to be the most popular Macintosh genealogy program in North America. It works on both Intel and PowerPC Macs. It will also export data to an iPod so that you can carry your database with you in a shirt pocket. Reunion focuses on couples, or "family units".

iFamily for Leopard (formally for Tiger) is an excellent genealogy program developed by Keith Wilson in Australia. As Keith wrote on the program's web site, the program "is a family tree program with a difference because Apple users think differently." Unlike most other Macintosh genealogy programs, iFamily for Leopard focuses on individuals, not couples.

MacFamilyTree 5 is perhaps the most popular Macintosh genealogy program in Europe and has a growing customer base in North America as well. Developed in Germany, this program is available in German, English, French, Spanish, Norwegian, Dutch Swedish, Dansk, and Italian. MacFamilyTree includes a 3D Virtual Tree that has to be seen to be appreciated.

Personal Ancestry Writer II is a very popular, free genealogy program that does the basics. However, it lacks many of the more sophisticated features found in today's commercial programs. However, you certainly cannot argue with the price. Free is good! Personal Ancestry Writer II is an excellent selection if you only want the basic record keeping functions and can skip all the multimedia scrapbooks, mapping programs and other whiz-bang features of commercial programs. MacWorld reviewed this program last year.

Census of Canada, 1881

Library and Archives Canada ( LAC ) is pleased to announce the launch of a new online database, Census of Canada, 1881. Through this online database researchers can access digitized images of original census returns featuring the name, age, country or province of birth, nationality, religion, and occupation of Canada's residents at the time of the 1881 Census. The database is available at: www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/census-1881/index-e.html The 1881 Census marked the first regularly scheduled collection of national statistics in Canada. Information was collected for Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, British Columbia and the North-West Territories (which at the time covered much of modern-day Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, northern Ontario, northern Quebec, Labrador, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut).

1891 Canadian Census on Ancestry.ca

• 4.5 million names and 90,000 images of historical records.
• covers all of Canada as it existed on the 6th of April 1891. Alberta, Saskatchewan and northern British Columbia were enumerated as territories. Newfoundland was not part of Canada at the time.
• in 1891 is information about the place of birth of the individual's mother and father.

Also
United States News
Ancestry.com and FamilySearch, the two largest online family history resources, announced today they will exchange records and resources to make more historical records available online. FamilySearch is digitally converting master microfilm copies of the original U.S. Federal Censuses from 1790 through 1930 and, under this agreement, will give these improved images to Ancestry.com. All census images and indexes will be available on Ancestry.com for subscribers. As projects are completed, images will be available for free in NARA reading rooms and FamilySearch's 4,500 Family History Centers.

United Kingdom News
FamilySearch Teams with findmypast.com and Others to Broaden Access to All Censuses for England and WalesFamilySearch announced today that it is joining forces with findmypast.com, The Origins Network, and Intelligent Image Management—companies that specialize in providing online access to British family history resources—to make significant British historical record collections more broadly available online. The first joint initiative seeks to publish online indexes to censuses for England and Wales from 1841 to 1901. The 1841 and 1861 Census indexes are the first targeted under the agreement and are accessible now at FamilySearch.org and findmypast.com.

Employment Opportunity at Provincial OGS Office

September 6, 2008
The OGS Provincial Office has an opening for a part-time Membership and Branch Co-ordinator, 3 days/week, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Please see the position posting on the OGS website for complete details.

2008 Annual General Meeting and Conference

Canadian Friends Historical Association

Saturday September 20, 2008

Grey Roots Museum and Archives, Owen Sound

Contact: Ruth Jeffery-Maclean, letter.b@sympatico.ca

The program includes:

Annual General Meeting & Museum Tour

Bus Tour of Black Heritage Sites in Owen Sound

Exploration of local Quaker history and heritage

Evening Documentary

"Speakers for the Dead"

and discussion with Les MacKinnon,

Jennifer Holness & Karolyn Smardz Frost

OGS

2008 Region 7 O.G.S.
Annual Meeting
Saturday, Oct 4, 2008

Northminster United Church
300 Sunset Blvd.,
Peterborough MAP
9:30 a.m.

Registration

10:00 a.m.

Annual Meeting (business, reports, and elections)

11:30-12:30 Pot Luck Lunch

12:30 p.m.

Speaker

Catherine Dibben ,

Topic: The Roy Photographic Collection, a collection of old photographs covering most of the Region 7 area.

Everyone welcome.

Hosted by Kawartha Branch O.G.S.

OPL Heritage Festival

8th Annual Heritage Festival
held by Oshawa Public Library

Saturday, September 27 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the McLaughlin Branch.

Join us for our 8th Annual Heritage Festival. An amazing showcase of Durham’s heritage resources will be on display FREE to the public. Visit the exhibitors from museums, historical societies, genealogical and military groups, scrapbookers and many others.

No registration required. Free parking all day.

For more information, please contact Nicole at 905-579-6111 ext. 5243.

Durham Region O.G.S. Opening Its Doors

We are participating in
Doors Open Oshawa 2008
September 20-21
Telephone: 905-436-5636, ext. 2108

Ontario Genealogical Society,
Durham Region Branch
1000 Stevenson Road North, Oshawa

Dates/Hours Open:
Saturday: Noon to 4 p.m.
Sunday: Noon to 4 p.m.

Durham Branch Office of OGS is housed at the base of the Oshawa Airport's control tower, the Genealogical Society will assist people to discover their family heritage.
Come in and "Ask a Genealogist" about the society, searches and resources.

Genealogy in London

Genealogy in London:
A workshop about searching for Londoners and other British ancestors

Saturday, November 8, 2008
North York Central Library Auditorium
5120 Yonge Street, Toronto
(North York Centre subway station)

For more information and to register...

“Genealogy in London”, acknowledges our many members with English roots. The presentations will be a blend of information about researching Londoners and using London research facilities covering a much broader swath of the UK. Whether your British ancestors lived in London or many miles away, London’s libraries and archives are rich sources for family history. You'll enjoy this relaxed, information-packed day about London’s records and record keepers—and the twists and turns of finding ancestors there.

A. London’s World of Genealogy by Else Churchill, London, England, has been the Genealogy Officer of the Society of Genealogists since 1998.
B. Tracing Elusive Pre-1837 Marriages in England byPhillip Dunn, Salt Lake City, Utah, is a Senior Consultant at the Family History Library, an heir-tracer and an Accredited Genealogist® in England and Scotland genealogical research.
C. The Time of Cholera by Alison Hare, CG, Ottawa, is an award-winning genealogical lecturer and editor with more than 25 years of experience in family history research.
D. Question and Answer Panel
E. Tour of the North York’s Central Library Canadiana Department
F. I'm Stuck in London. by Else Churchill, London, England
G. The Search for Alban Leaf by Jane E. MacNamara, Toronto, is a long time member of the Ontario Genealogical Society, a founding director of the Friends of the Archives of Ontario, and a member of the Society of Genealogists (London).
Put on by the Toronto Branch of O.G.S.
For more information and to register...

Everton’s Genealogical Helper

Everton’s Genealogical Helper

Online Edition is now available for download. Cost is only $12 per year for the full six issues of the magazine. Traditional Magazine subscribers get FREE access. However, for the next week, the Jul-Aug, 2008 issue will be “in the clear,” and available to anyone that wants to check it out. FREE!!

http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/onlinegh/

Stirling-Rawdon Genealogy Fair 2008

Saturday, 8:30 - 4:30,

August 23 2008

Stirling Senior School,

Stirling, Ontario

Featured Speakers:

Kathy Orr: Who are the United Empire Loyalists?

Paul McGrath: Staff Genealogist for Ancestors in the Attic

Partial List of Vendors:

Global Genealogy, Stirling-Rawdon Hist. Soc., Stirling 150th Anniv. Book Comm.,

Hastings County Historical Society, UEL Bay of Quinte,

Quinte, Kingston, and Kawartha Branches of O.G.S.,

Lakeshore Gen. Soc., LDS Trenton, Tweed Heritage Centre,

Bancroft Gen. Club, Upper Ottawa Valley Gen. Group,

South Frederick Hist. Soc., Linda Croupe, Don Kellaway, Susan Brose

Visit: www.stirling-rawdon.com/srhs.htm

CONTACT

Pat Marshall

5 Wright St., PO Box 743

Stirling, Ontario

K0K 3E0

Phone: 613 395-6243

oldcrone@sympatico.ca

For librarians, archivists, . . .

Genealogy & Local History for All:
Services to Multicultural Communities

Welcome!
Librarians, archivists and those who provide library services to the genealogy and local history public are invited to join us in
Ottawa on August 6 & 7
for a conference that highlights the products and techniques required to accommodate their special needs.
In association and with the support of Library and Archives Canada, the Genealogy and Local History (GENLOC) and the Reference and Information Services (RISS) sections of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) have organized an overview of specific organizations and specialty topics.

Over two days, this conference will explore aspects of genealogical research relating to specific ethnic and cultural communities, such as African-American, First Nations, French-Canadian, Caribbean, Chinese and Continental European.

Library and Archives Canada

New Series of Seven Courses - Fall 2008

Computer Programs for Genealogy
Genealogical Holdings at the Archives of Ontario

Basic Genealogy and Family History
Research in Colonial America
Beyond the Basics
Multimedia Scrapbooking and Digital Imaging
Hands-on Early Ontario Land Records

http://torontofamilyhistory.org/courses.html

Central Dutch Office for Genealogy

The Dutch Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie sends out its newsletters with an option to receive them in English. Today’s newsletter, available at http://194.171.109.12:80/news/305/CBG-Newsletter-June-26th,-2008---English-summary , announces that “the CBG is digitalizing and indexing its so-called 'German records', i.e. excerpts of German birth, marriage and death certificates regarding Dutch citizens who lived in Germany during the Second World War”. Researchers interested in the Netherlands may wish to subscribe to this newsletter.

Free Credits for ScotlandsPeople

Ancestral Scotland (http://www.ancestralscotland.com/), the official genealogy website of the Scottish Tourism Agency, is offering ten free credits on ScotlandsPeople if you register to receive their quarterly newsletter (http://www.ancestralscotland.com:80/signup/register/). When you register, they send you an e-mail with a code. After you sign in on to Scotlands People, click on “buy more credits”. Cut and paste the code in the space marked voucher code.

Blog Postings Directly to Your E-mail Box

The fastest way to receive each new posting to this blog? Request that your e-mail address be added to our group list.

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If you prefer instead to obtain new posts with an RSS feed reader, the direct URL is:

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A more complete explanation about RSS feeds is available here.

Free Access to Ancestry Historical Newspaper Collection until June 19th

Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Ancestry has added 20 million images to its Historical Newspaper Collection—doubling the collection in size! And to celebrate, they’re offering free access to the entire collection through 19 June 2008. Click here to start searching now.

More information on this huge launch is also available on the Ancestry blog.

Death of Muriel Davidson, 1924-2008

Muriel was the co-chair of the Canada Census Committee and worked tirelessly to gain access to the post-1901 historic censuses. After the campaign was won, she continued to work on the www.automatedgenealogy.com initiative to index the censuses.

An online book of condolences can be signed on www.scott-brampton.ca

Transcribing Errors on Drouin Collection at Ancestry.ca

Cooperation between the French-language University of Montreal and Ancestry.ca was called a “significant accomplishment” by U of M senior researcher Bertrand Desjardins. However, Ancestry.ca outsourced the indexing of the Drouin collection to China and the results are as you might expect. The Chinese workers, it seems, have made numerous errors in transcribing the baptism, marriage and burial records.
See:
http://www.foreveryoungnews.com/article/11044

Ancestry Offering Free Online Seminars

Ancestry.com is offering free online ethnic seminars (called webinars) on the next 4 Tuesday evenings. You do not need to have an Ancestry subscription to participate.
You can go to this page to get more information and register for these classes. Links will be immediately e-mailed to you so that you can access the webinars on the days of their showings. You should click on one of the links ahead of time to test your computer's audio and video capabilities.

June 17, 2008 8:00 PM EDT - Irish Ancestry
June 24, 2008 8:00 PM EDT - Polish Ancestry
July 1, 2008 8:00 PM EDT - Italian Ancestry
July 8, 2008 8:00 PM EDT - German Ancestry

Halvor Moorshead Presentation Links

At the Ontario Genealogical Society - Durham Region Branch monthly meeting on Tuesday June 3, 2008 Halvor Moorshead, during an informative, interesting, and entertaining presentation referred to many web sites. We asked him for a ‘link to the links’. That very night after returning home he very kindly sent us the requested URL.
Halvor, thank you again for speaking in Durham and sharing your presentation links.

Brian W. Hutchison Scholarship Award

Brian W. Hutchison Scholarship Award
The Alberta Family Histories Society is pleased to announce the availability of the Brian W. Hutchison Genealogical Scholarship of up to $500. The scholarship is to be awarded annually to a Canadian resident, toward the cost of tuition and books, for the recipient to study the field of genealogy and family history in a recognized educational or accreditation/certification program.
The Brian W. Hutchison Scholarship is funded by an endowment to the Alberta Family Histories Society from Brian W. Hutchison, CG, FSA (Scot), principal of GEN-FIND Research Associates, Inc.
It is Mr. Hutchison's wish to encourage Canadians to pursue formal study of genealogical analysis, research, evaluation, and documentation methodologies and standards.

The deadline for applications is 31 December 2008
The Scholarship will be awarded in May 2009
All residents of Canada are eligible,
except for current members of the Scholarship Committee.
The application must be completed in full and submitted before the deadline.
Candidates will be judged on their responses to the application questions and on the quality of a four-generation genealogy and a short essay, as judged by the Scholarship Committee. The Alberta Family Histories Society reserves the right to publish the genealogy and/or essay of the winning candidate.

Writing a Narrative Family History

Writing a Narrative Family History: A Seminar with John Colletta
When: Saturday, September 27th, 2008
Time: 10:00 AM to 4:30 PM
Where: North York Central Library Auditorium, 5120 Yonge Street, Toronto
(at the North York Centre subway station)
Cost:
CA $45.00 NON-MEMBER OCAPG
CA $20.00 MEMBER OCAPG
Along with the Canadiana Department of the North York Central Library, we are having a day-long seminar on Saturday, September 27th, 2008 in Toronto with John Colletta, popular speaker, educator and author. This is a day to inspire writing your family history.
Register online to reserve your seat today. To register go to: www.genealogystore.com, choose the country in which you reside and click on “Services & Trips” (on the left). Click on “OCAPG” and then click on “Writing Seminar”. (Please note that you will be directed to The National Institute for Genealogical Studies website for the registration process.)

Whitby Library and Archives - Photographs Digital Project

Whitby Library and Archives - Photographs Digital Project
Old Whitby Photographs Available Online
A number of old photographs of downtown Whitby, Brooklin, Ashburn, Myrtle and Myrtle Station have now been made available online. Currently there are over 600 photographs and postcards digitized from the Archives collection - please check back as more content is added each week. Http://images.ourontario.ca/whitby is a collaborative project among several heritage organizations to make cultural heritage and community information available and searchable online.

African Roots in Canada

African Roots in Canada:
Saturday, August 9, 2008
North York Central Library Auditorium
5120 Yonge Street, Toronto
(North York Centre subway station)
The workshop, “African Roots in Canada”, will appeal to the many Canadians, both recent immigrants and many-generation residents, who can trace their ancestry to the African Diaspora in Canada, the US, West Indies, and throughout the world.
Whether you're a seasoned family history researcher or just starting to investigate your ancestors, and whether your family has lived in Canada for 20 or 200 years, you'll enjoy this informal, late-summer day of shared stories and new insights into researching ancestors with African roots, and the opportunity to meet others who share your interests.

Celebrate your Anglo-Celtic Roots

14th Annual BIFHSGO Fall Conference. Celebrate your Anglo-Celtic Roots
19 to 21 September 2008.
This year registration can be performed on-line using a credit card over a secure connection or by mail using the registration form. On-line Membership renewal is also available.
Keynote Speaker - Sherry Irvine, CG, FSA Scot, Past President, US Association of Professional Genealogists, author and specialist in English, Irish and Scottish family history.

The Grey Highlands Digitization Project

The Grey Highlands Digitization Project is a collaboration between the Grey Highlands Public Library and local newspapers, archives, museums, their collections, and the community. Working closely with host site OurOntario.ca, the project aims to do two things:
* create a website and an accompanying digital collection to act as an entertaining and informative resource about Agnes Campbell Macphail,
* and upload and index the Markdale Standard and the Flesherton Advance newspapers for online discovery.

Toronto Anglican Archives Closes for Renovation

From the Toronto Branch e-newsletter:

Toronto Anglican Archives closed for renovation
Janice Nickerson has just notified me that the archives of the Toronto Anglican diocese closed down today for renovations. Apparently they won’t reopen until October.

1866 and 1896 Ontario County Directories Scanned

The old, Ontario County Directories (Indices) for 1866 and 1896 have been scanned and posted on the Durham Region Branch website in the section devoted to RESOURCES.

Ancestry.com's US Military Collection Free Till May 31st

Ancestry released a formal press release today regarding their partnership with NARA. The agreement, which will be signed today at the NARA headquarters in Washington, D.C. and celebrated with a military theme in honor of this Memorial Day, allows for the ongoing digitization of a wealth of historical content, including immigration, birth, marriage, death and military records.

The press release also says that,

To commemorate the NARA-Ancestry.com agreement on the eve of Memorial Day, Ancestry.com is making its entire U.S. Military Collection — the largest online collection of American military records — available for free to the public. From May 20 through May 31, people can log on to www.ancestry.com/military to view more than 100 million names and 700 titles and databases of military records, the majority of which come from NARA, from all 50 U.S. states.

Whitby Archives 40th Anniversary Open House

The Whitby Public Library Board

cordially invites you to the
Whitby Archives 40th Anniversary Open House
Thursday, June 12th, 2008
6:00 -8:00 p.m.
Whitby Archives, Whitby Central Library
405 Dundas Street West, Whitby

RSVP to Rhonda Jessup at (905) 668-6531 x2033
or rjessup@whitbylibrary.on.ca by May 30, 2008

Mr. Halvor Moorshead - acclaimed historian, publisher

Meetings on the first Tuesday of each month except July and August,
at 7:30 p.m. in the Oshawa Public Library Auditorium
65 Bagot Street, Oshawa.
Visitors are always welcome.

Tuesday June 3, 2008

Mr. Halvor Moorshead

"The Internet 2008"And how it can be best used to research genealogy

Mr. Moorshead is the recently retired editor and publisher of
Family Chronicle, History Magazine, Internet Genealogy, and
Discovering Family History. (new)

For more information our website is:

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~onwob22/

Also, a short mini-talk by Dan Delong about RSS Feed Readers - Automatically receive blog postings using a feed reader, like Feed Demon, to receive every new blog posting without needing to visit the blog site itself. Many other web sites offer such feeds).

All Families Back Issues On OGS Website

All 45 years of Families are now up on the Members Only part of the website. Thanks to webmaster Grace Jewell for getting all this material up.

Our next item will be a database, likely a few thousand strays. I hope to have that up this month but it does depend on our web tekkie since we need a front end for it.

Dr Fraser Dunford, Executive Director

www.ogs.on.ca

The Times (UK) Newspaper Archives Free for 3 months

Lynn Heale & Bob Dawes from Quinte Branch share a free website (originally from Lynn in Australia):

Over the weekend I went to the "Who do you think you are" genealogy fair
in London (England). At the fair it was announced that the Times has now made
available its archives online. You can now search from 1787 to 1987 online
free for the next 3 months. The web address is http://archive.timesonline.co.uk/tol/archive/

You do have to register with them but they did not ask for a credit card
number. You have 72 hours to confirm your email address with them or
you must begin the process again.

Lynn put in the name HEALE and there were 2095 hits.

Paul McGrath speaks at Uxbridge Genealogy Group

The Uxbridge Genealogy Group meets tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. at the Uxbridge Public Library.
(there is parking behind the Library)

The speaker is Paul McGrath from "Ancestors in the Attic"

His topic is "Beyond the Death Certificate: Other Resources Available to the Researcher"

Start Writing Your Family History

Want to learn how to turn your family research into readable stories? The Ontario Chapter, Association of Professional Genealogists (OCAPG) announces "Writing A Narrative Family History," a day-long seminar with John Colletta, popular speaker, educator and author. Co-sponsored by the Canadiana Department of the North York Central Library, this is a day that will motivate and inspire your own family history writing: Saturday 27 September 2008 at the North York Central Library, 5120 Yonge Street, Toronto. Visit the OCAPG website at http://www.rootsweb.com/~onapg for full details of the day's schedule, how to register, information regarding book sales, directions to the event and nearby accommodations for out-of-towners.

A faculty member of the prestigious Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (Samford University, Alabama) and Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, John Colletta has planned the day around all the facets of good writing and good storytelling. One of John's own family accounts, Only A Few Bones, is a model for narrative writing but he is also known for They Came In Ships and Finding Italian Roots. Register early to ensure your space!

http://www.rootsweb.com/~onapg/

Date of Easter Tues in 1934?

That was the question that haunted me for years. How would I find out the actual date when my great-grandmother died?
John Reid in the latest Global Genealogy newsletter points us to a great website for calculating dates. It's called Ian's English Calendar.
And the date of Easter Tuesday in 1934 was April 3rd!

Nancy

General Meeting - May 6, 2008 - Famous Events and People of Brock Township

Larry Doble - Famous Events and People of Brock Township. Those interested in local history, or whose family was originally from Brock Township, should not miss this. Larry's information about most early settlers is compiled into booklets, containing 15 family histories, and is sourced from a database of 48,000 names. [School punishments - for the curious]
http://www.brockhistoricalsocieties.ca/

Also: "What if the Web Site Doesn't Speak English?" - a 15 minute mini-talk by Guy Lafontaine.

Who's Your Grandpa?

The most recent free introductory courses have started.

Click on this Poster Address for a larger view.

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April 1 Meeting - Oshawa Library 7:30 p.m.

Finding your English Ancestors - Our panel will both illustrate and describe their experiences doing research in England, and will answer audience questions to the best of their abilities. Members of the panel share many years of genealogical experience in this area. [Sample link from MyTrees.com]

March 4 Meeting - 7:30 p.m. Oshawa Libary

Brian Winter, Whitby Archivist, brings out more letters written by Whitby pioneers to their families back home in the old country. These letters reveal much about local history - its hardships, development, customs, and individual personalities. Some are funny, some are sad, but all are very interesting. Brian has authored books and numerous magazine and newspaper articles during his long career in Whitby.

Introductory Genealogy Courses Have Started

The Education Committee at the Durham Region Branch has planned several Introductory courses to be hosted at Durham Region Libraries.

Please note that these are introductory, not beginner's courses, and have been planned with the general public in mind.

***Please pass this information on to friends, family and neighbours who you think might get interested in genealogy, but have no idea where to start!!

Volunteers needed! At this point, the education committee members are asking for volunteers who could commit to being an assistant at some of these and future sessions to help the attendees with filling out ancestral charts, etc. Note: you do not have to be the lecturer, just an assistant!

Thanks, Nancy Trimble (Click to send email to Nancy.)

February 5 Meeting - Whitby Land Records

Wanda Griffin, Deputy Land Registrar for the Land Records Office in Whitby, will explore the fully automated resources available. [905-665-4007 ext 211] wanda.griffin[AT]ontario.ca
View a few examples of old Whitby deeds at: Nipissing University
e.g.; - a) Alexander Cameron's mortgage on December 7, 1847 established that fifty pound payments were to be made to Abner Nash. b) William Morcombe agreed to pay James Cameron two hundred and seventy-five dollars every October 1st for the use of certain premises near the baseline between Oshawa and Whitby. The document is dated December 2, 1876 .

___________________

Note: Fawne Stratford Devai and Ruth Burkholder (and husbands) have been highly active in finding safe homes for land records under a group called APOLROD.
Association for the Preservation ofOntario Land Registry Office Documents251 Second Street, Stouffville, Ontario, L4A 1B9

January 8 Meeting - Exploring Irish Records

This will be a panel discussion consisting of three members who have been researching Ireland (both the north and south). Have your questions ready because they are willing to help if they can. Sample Link: Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations
Please, bring - empty computer printer cartridges (fundraiser for the Society), - and funeral cards for scanning at the meeting.