Friday, October 20, 2006

Lost Cousins in Canada?

LostCousins.com has just this morning added 1881 Canada to its search system! If you have English, Welsh or Scottish families listed in an 1881 census, LostCousins already covers those.

Enter the names & details of your family members as shown in the 1881 census & you may find other lostcousin members who are related to the same people. The more relatives you enter, the more likely you will find connections. You can use the free 1881 Canadian census index available on-line from the LDS church.

I like LostCousins myself because it's focused on actual census entries in a particular place & time---not just surname interests. (I have so many relatives with really common surnames--- 'ROGERS' in Canada & England, for instance.)

I've found LostCousins easy to use. There's help available, even a 'buddy' system with live people! It's free to register, but there are advantages to subscribing.

See the website for details & for an overview of the system.

LostCousins: www.lostcousins.com
1881 Canadian Census Index: http://www.familysearch.org/

Saturday, October 14, 2006

NEWSPAPER RESEARCH FOR FAMILY HISTORIANS

This is posted as information for anyone attending my session on newspaper research at the LDS Tri-Stakes family history seminar, October 14, 2006 in Surrey, B.C.

NEWSPAPER RESEARCH FOR FAMILY HISTORIANS
QUICK TIPS

IN A HURRY TO LEARN ABOUT A PARTICULAR EVENT?

1. Is there a searchable newspaper database that covers your area? No? Then check to see where film or bound copies are available & ask if there are local indexes or clipping files---search on-line & contact the local library, genealogical & historical societies. No luck? Post a query on your locality’s genealogical mailing lists. Someone may be working on a local index.

2. Read at least 10 days before & after the event, if you can. Look at the paper’s publication pattern---two weeks may only include four newspapers, if a semiweekly. Always keep track of the dates you’ve searched with the items found & cite your sources---note the front of page copies with source details.

3. Look all through each issue---a birth, marriage or death could be covered as news, as a social event, or in advertising. Watch for interesting associations--- what was the weather like the day your grandmother was born? Were there ads for baby clothes that month or was concern expressed about infant deaths?

4. Searching electronically? Remember searches can’t always ‘read’ your key words. Try different combinations of search queries, not just one. Watch your language! It could be “girl’s hockey” or “ladies’ curling”, not” women’s hockey” or “women’s curling”. And remember, interesting articles could be reprinted coast to coast---don’t just search one newspaper.

5. Copy your find exactly as you see it in the paper. Don’t abbreviate or paraphrase. Check any words you don’t recognize or remember.


HAVE MORE TIME?

6. Didn’t find your event the first time? Check to see if there were other newspapers in the surrounding area or urban paper coverage. Might your event be covered in a non-English or specialized paper? Still no luck? Especially for a wedding or death (or even a birthday if you know the person involved was prominent or lived to an advanced age), read the newspapers for a week or ten days around a significant anniversary of the event. For deaths & marriages, check classified ads for anniversary & memorial notices.

7. Read over an issue or two first to see what’s usually included (& what’s not) & to get a feel for the paper’s layout. You will see more in the paper if you’re prepared. Check local histories for information about the Editor or newspaper owners & to see if any special issues are mentioned, perhaps for a town incorporation or centennial.

8. Don’t neglect letters to the editor, municipal notices & the classified ads. Auction notices, building permit lists, tax sales, legal notices & rewards offered for lost articles or fines assessed for stray animals could provide valuable information. Ads from merchants in other towns could mean that these places had closer economic & social ties then than now. Articles on world issues & events will give you a sense of what people may have been talking about.

9. Even if searching in a rural area, always check to see if an urban paper covered rural issues or province wide activities, for e.g. the Vancouver papers often list all B.C. high school graduates.

10. Write down your ideas for following up the information you’ve found. Was there a legal notice about an estate? You will want to check for a will & probate file. Don’t believe everything you read in the paper!


And, consider sharing the information you’ve found. Write an article for a genealogical journal, or post your new information on a locality or surname message board or at one of the volunteer websites.

RESEARCHING HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHS

This is posted as information for anyone attending my session on researching photographs at the LDS Tri-Stakes family history seminar, October 14, 2006 in Surrey, B.C.


Here is a draft of my research ideas for one set of photographs that I've discovered among my family collections. These are referred to by me as the 'Miss P.' photographs:


SURNAME: ROGERS; SAGGERS

“Photographs: MISS P’s visit 1925” RESEARCH STRATEGIES

Objective: To identify the “Miss P” shown with Sarah (Saggers) and Joe Rogers and their sons, George & David.

Questions: Had she been, as George Rogers thought, a child that Sarah looked after as live in help before coming to Canada? Who is the unidentified man in the one picture? Could this be Viola’s wedding trip? (Wouldn’t there be mrs/mr photos then? Is “Miss P” what David & George were to call her?

Evidence seen:

Sarah Rogers identified this page of pictures in her album as “Taken Aug st 1925 during Viola Visit (Miss P)” Note: nothing in notebook with addresses looked related. Cousin has seen album already. See notes-no information this set.

Five Photographs on ROGERS’s album page 7: See separate description for sizes. Amateur.
Note* glued to black paper page. Scan & post on-line? Try dead.fred.com?

1. Viola? & unidentified man. Snow on ground. Rustic cabin or lodge behind. Is this at Grouse Mountain? Viola in 20’s? Coat/hat. Can’t make out if rings. * Flat shoes. Man possibly booted.

2. Viola? & George & David in front of very large tree stump. Probably Stanley Park. Viola same coat/hat as 1, but front top bows on shoes. David holding a bundle?

3. Young child standing in water. Dusk?

4. Sarah & Joe Rogers with David & George (holding cat) and Viola? Possible Chester St. back yard. Boys wearing T-shirts? shorts. Different socks than other pics. *Who took the photo?

Viola? No hat, nice summer dress. Ankle strap high shoes; plain. No ring left hand. Bracelet or watch left arm.

5. George and David Rogers sitting on Oppenheimer monument (Stanley Park, Vancouver) Both wearing shorts/shirts/ties/caps as in #2. Floral arrangement on monument pedestal? A bundle at George’s feet (towels?)

Other: have evidence that Sarah Rogers lived in these places in England before coming to Canada. (censuses/photos/book inscriptions) Little Hadham, Herts.; London; Stansted, Essex. Also connection with Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire.

Initial Strategies (No order)

a. Search both BC births c. 1900 –Viola, etc. P. Also free English BMD 1925 marriages for Viola (also Violet, Vera, etc.)

b. Search 1901 Canadian & English census for Viola & variants (especially BC, Canada & Herts, Essex, London, England)

c. Read September-August 1925 Vancouver World/Sun (& also Province 1925?)
Especially social notes/news/hotel guests & anything re Stanley Park & Oppenheimer monument (why flowers-maybe Decoration Day?) Note* check BC Newspaper Index re Stanley Park, Oppenheimer
[SFU PN 02 12]

d. Check Oppenheimer’s dates; also date of park opening, etc. re flowers.

e. Post picture on web?---as “Miss P. visit to Canada from England 1925”

f. Check civil registration -1st two quarters 1925---marriage for a Viola?

Related? pictures:

1. page 21 Sarah Saggers in back of a car with a young girl. Single photo of same girl alone. No identification. Also pasted into album. Car & approximate year might be identified? **Could post these photos too.

2. page 15 Professional portrait?---woman alone, 30’s? Possibly Viola? Glued in.

3. page 31 Two women-professional photo? Possibly Viola & mother? Glued in.

Ideas---make up a ‘timeline’ of these---ask people to have a look. Are these the same woman?

*****************************************************************

These photographs are now posted on www.deadfred.com
Search for ROGERS in Vancouver, BC, Canada or check under mystery photographs, Vancouver, BC, Canada