Sunday, July 27, 2008

ROGERS- mother and daughter trip, California, Summer 1961

Diane on Olvera Street, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., Summer, 1961 - Sophisticated or what! Diane at the hotel in her new outfit, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., Summer, 1961 (bought with her own hard saved money).
Diane at Forest Lawn Cemetery, California, U.S.A., Summer, 1961

Today I'll be participating in the Scanfest for the first time (well, I hope so anyway - if Windows Live Messenger continues to recognize my various identities).


I've pulled out some more of my mum's photos to scan - had to have a good look again last night and mull over some of the family connections, of course. (I think I just found an address for one 'lost' relative by searching with Google this morning!)


Here are a couple of my mum's photos from our trip to California in summer 1961. These three are of me. Funny, I still remember all these outfits; one I still have in my trunk - guess which one.

There are a few photos from Forest Lawn Cemetery which was one of the 'highlights'. My mum wasn't so interested in the burials though, as the art replicas and buildings, including the Wee Kirk o' the Heather church, "a faithful rendition of the village church at Glencairn, Scotland, where Annie Laurie of Scottish lore worshipped". I do remember seeing through this church, but oddly, I don't remember my mum ever mentioning that her cousin, Margaret Agnes DRUMMOND was married there in 1949 (to Andrew Joseph SMITH), although I do have the wedding announcement card here in the 'IRWIN' file. Margaret's mother was my 'Aunty Grandma' (great aunt Maggie IRWIN).

No baby bother along on this trip. Lucky really, as when leaving the cemetery, mum and I were hit by a car and ended up going to hospital in an ambulance. We weren't badly hurt, but we were shaken and bruised. I remember Mum didn't want to call Dad and tell him about it as he'd be sure to tell her to get us right home. She waited a day, and we continued to limp along on almost all our planned excursions.
Why waste our time fussing!

LINKS
Bienvenido to Olvera Street - El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument, Los Angeles, California: http://www.olvera-street.com
And,
For more about Scanfest, see 'AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors': http://ancestories1.blogspot.com

Saturday, July 26, 2008

British Columbia, Canada Heritage Branch - Now On Facebook

Are you on FaceBook?? So is the British Columbia Heritage Branch!

The BC Heritage Branch Facebook group is new -look here for Branch news and event information and participate in the member forum. Members may also post photos, videos,and website links to the page.

"Through its programs, the Heritage Branch encourages and facilitates the protection and conservation of heritage property in British Columbia."

Information on upcoming Heritage Strategy Stakeholder Workshops in Agassiz, Cranbrook, Dawson Creek, Kelowna, Nanaimo, Nelson, Quesnel, Richmond and Smithers is now posted.

Anyone interested in BC Heritage may join the group.

Facebook - BC Heritage Branch Group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=30084510995

Friday, July 25, 2008

1891 Canadian Census On-line - One-Step Search

Back to the new 1891 Canadian census index search -

Stephen P. Morse has added a 1891 census search facility to his other Canadian census search aids. Thanks!

If you are doing a 'difficult' search, especially for a non-English name, in a Canadian (or U.S. or English/Welsh) census on-line, or in any of the other larger on-line genealogy index (e.g. Ellis Island, Castle Garden), or if you'd like to devise your own search application, have a look at his index site to see if he has a solution.


'Searching the 1911 1906 1901 1891 1851 Canadian Census in One Step',
Stephen P. Morse: http://stevemorse.org/census/canada1911.html

List of One-Step Webpages, Stephen P. Morse: http://stevemorse.org/index.html

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

New 1891 Canadian Census Index - Ancestry.com

Well, we have been busy this week at the B.C. Genealogical Society's Library Week (come & meet the volunteers if you're in the Lower Mainland), but I had to have a look tonight to see if I could find anyone 'new' in the 1891 Canadian census, since Ancestry.com has just put up an index today with linked images.

The press release in fact says that:
"The Generations Network Inc. acquired the online rights to the 1891 Census of Canada from the Library and Archives of Canada (LAC) in Ottawa, Ontario. "

'...the online rights'...can this be true? Which specific rights, I wonder... (Yes, I will ask.)

Never mind that - for the moment. I am usually happy to see another index, especially one which is for records not completely indexed before. Yes, parts of the 1891 Canadian census are indexed - British Columbia, for example - although not all these are available on the web.

There's my Na in Manitoba with her parents and siblings - 'Amy Stella' she was then - but I am a bit concerned that my ancestors are indexed as 'Free Church' although I don't seem to see that anywhere on these particular census sheets - 'C Presb' or 'Presbyterian', is what's there most often.

I tried "free church" as a key word search - there are 700,635 of them listed - well, maybe there were one or two 'free thinkers' mixed in? But no - there were apparently 823 free thinkers (or freethinkers, it doesn't seem to matter) and 8,564 'Presbyterians' (they seem a bit of a mixed bag).

Funny, I just went through the tutorial for a big company's new indexing project and heard a reminder to enter the data as shown on the page. Ah, well. Back to my searches...


"World first: 1891 Canadian national census launches online - Ancestry.ca"
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2008/22/c6397.html

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Ancestry.com - Search Webinar - July 30, 2008

LEARN MORE ABOUT ANCESTRY.COM’S NEWEST ‘SEARCH’

Love it or not, almost all of us go to Ancestry.com at least once in a while and Ancestry's offering another free on-line demonstration session, this time on the website's new search facility. (Oops, pardon me, it's a "search experience" now; pretty much the same old search engine still though, isn't it?)

I have attended previous sessions and found them well worth the time. This one includes a question and answer session too which could be very interesting.

You need to register but you do NOT have to be a subscriber to attend Ancestry.com’s July 30, 2008 webinar (on-line seminar) - 8:30 PM Eastern Standard time.

Demonstrator: Kendell Huet, Director, Product Management, Ancestry.com

Especially for intermediate and advanced researchers with examples of: record previews, image snapshots, refined searches, type-ahead tools, global searches and advanced searches.

Registration: http://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?target=lobby.jsp&eventid=112633&sessionid=1&key=F61A5B2CBEC642037CADDF67687EA541&eventuserid=18116620

See you there!

For more about the webinar and the new Ancestry.com search, see recent Ancestry.com blog posts and the comments.

Announcing New Search Webinar

Continuing the Dialogue about the New Search Experience

The Ancestry Insider Discusses the New Search

Follow-up on the New Ancestry.com Homepage

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

World War I Memorial, Volunteer Fire Brigade, Kelowna, B.C., Canada




World War I Memorial


Kelowna Volunteer Fire Brigade


Jack L. McMillan

Leonard McMillan

Walter H. Raymer

Leonard Pettigrew

A. Milton Wilson

Neil Dalgleish

I have been on holiday this week in Kelowna, B.C. with my daughter and we took photographs of this memorial at the #2 Kelowna Firehall on Water Street.

Wednesday, July 02, 2008

BC Genealogical Society - annual free Library Research Week - July 21-26, 2008 - Surrey BC

British Columbia Genealogical Society’s annual free Family History Research Week, July 21-26, 2008, 10 - 3 pm daily
#211 – 12837 - 76th Avenue, Surrey, B.C. (76th Avenue and 128th Street)
Call the Library at 604 - 502 – 9119 or see the B.C.G.S. website for information and Library catalogues: www.bcgs.ca

We’ll be featuring different research areas each day of the week, but visitors are welcome to come any time we are open.

Monday - Scotland; Tuesday - Ireland; Wednesday - England and Wales; Thursday - Canada; Friday - USA; Saturday - all others - Europe, including Scandinavia, also Australia and New Zealand.

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

CARNIVAL OF GENEALOGY - CANADIAN ARMY - S-7 -CAAS. BROCKVILLE - ADMINISTRATIVE TRAINING WING - AUGUST 1944


The theme for this edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is: Independent Spirit - a relative who was feisty, spoke their own mind, was a bit of a free spirit?


Well, for me, that would definitely be my mother - for my kids, it might be me, but, of course, I get a lot of that from her (and I think she got it from her mum and her mum's mum!) Make no mistake - my dad was an independent person too - but he didn't show it in the same way - maybe didn't have to, being a man.


I've written quite a bit about my mum one way or another, so especially because it's Canada Day today, I thought I'd like to post this photograph of her in the Army. My mum joined up during World War II - to the dismay of her mother. The Army wasn't then seen as any place for a 'good girl' - even joining the women's sections of the Navy or Air Force would have been better accepted. My Na later came to defend my mum's choice, and I never heard a word about this till I was long grown up.

I see in the pages I have here copied from her military file that she was said to have an "alert mind" and be "self-reliant and confident"...with "lots of energy and confidence". She started working in the 38th Brigade in Winnipeg and ended up being posted to Washington, D.C. as Personal Assistant and Administrative officer in the Military Attache's office.

"The officer in charge of the Administrative Course which she attended described her as a 'conscientious, careful officer, who knows her work'. "

I think that any of these women chosen as officers for the Canadian Women's Army Corps would have had much the same 'independent spirits' and I would love to know more about the other women in this picture. I hope that relatives of others in the photo will find it (and me). Those in the photograph are identified on the back in my mother's hand - done, I believe, at the time it was taken or close to it. (She has listed 2 Maj Lanes though.) The photographer's name is Murray - however, this appears to be an official Army photograph.



Lt. Hamilton

Lt. Issac

Maj Lane

Capt Stevens

2/Lt Wallace

Lt Slater

Major Dupuis

Lt Warren

2/Lt Quitt (or Quilt?)

Lt Richardson


Maj Lane

Lt Liscott

Lt Cartmell

Lt Golvin

Capt Murray

Lt Entwhistle

Lt Bryant

Lt Grass (or Gross?)

Capt Angers

Lt Rouillard

Capt Olson

Lt Cowan


Lt Scott ** my mum - front row, seated right side of group

S/M Smith

Capt Maguire

Major MacAuley

Lt Col Armstrong

Major Horton

Lt Patterson

Capt Bowers

S/M Gallop

Lt MacGinnis