CanadaGenealogy, or, 'Jane's Your Aunt'

Symbolising 2012

2012-01-29T08:32:00.000-08:00

babygenie started an image meme this week - choose an image or icon that shows how you want 2012 to go. Who else would like to join in?

Since I said my 2012 'word' is OPPORTUNITY, and I did mention lemons, here is a photo that illustrates my personal hopes and intentions for this year.

Photograph taken November, 2011, in Hawai'i. Posted on Flickr by Bytemarks (Burt Lum) in the 'Lemonade Alley' photo set. More here about Bytemarks Cafe on Hawaii Public Radio. Creative Commons - CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Lemonade Alley is a "business literacy competition" for students in Hawai'i. A cool idea indeed. And one which perfectly illustrates - When life gives you lemons, it's time to take a break and learn to juggle! (You've always wanted to - right?)

Opposing SOPA

2012-01-17T22:57:00.000-08:00

I too am opposing the US bill - SOPA.

This is an issue for Canadians too. For more information, see Michael Geist's posts on his blog, especially his post today, "Why Canadians should Participate in the SOPA/PIPA Protest".

Genealogy Resolutions - 2012

2012-01-17T12:43:00.000-08:00

I know, January 2012 is half over and I've not even set out my New Year's Resolutions yet.

As far as last year went, I did keep up with most of my resolutions, but sometimes that meant running, running, running, and sometimes my resolve just got left behind. And looking back at 2011's Resolutions, I see 2010 went a bit too fast for me too.

So I'm only making a couple of resolutions this year, however, since many of the previous years' resolutions were designed to instill and enhance good genealogical habits, wherever possible, I'll continue following up with them.

1. This first resolution I did make early in December, and asked a friend to repeat it to me this year as needed:

" I will not promise/volunteer to do 3 things at once. I will not promise/volunteer to do 3 things at once. I will not..."

Not that I can't still do 3 things at once, but it's usually that news-to-me 4th thing that just has to be done that gets my schedule tied up in knots.

2. Pick my one practical genealogy project for 2012 to focus on. Usually that's been a family line or sometimes just one individual.

This year, because the 1940 US census will be released in April, I decided I'd focus on the family of Alfred White and Emma Cox/Cocks. Originally from England, they emigrated to Canada in 1871 with their 2 children, Alfred, and Eliza Imray, in an East-End Emigration (London) group. While living in Ontario, they had several more children (Mary Elizabeth Miles, Ernest Albert, Joseph Floyd, Florence, and John), then emigrated to the USA where they had at least one more child, Harry.

First I'll be gathering and assessing all the information I do have on the family; then I'll be preparing myself to search for them in 1940. I'm hoping to find some descendants yet.

3. Pick one personally pleasurable genealogy project for 2012.

I've chosen to 'index' my oldest books, the ones that belonged to other family members first. I'll scan and describe the covers and any inscriptions or other finds, I'll do a little writeup and print these out and I'll do at least one a week. This should get me through these by the next new year.

Most of these books have been in my personal library since I was a girl and I've used them in my family genealogy sometimes. For example, where someone, like my mum, wrote her address in various books, I've listed and investigated those.

Not all inscriptions are as straightforward as addresses though. I thought I'd start with one of those in a book once my Na's - The Golden Book of Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, Selections for the Year (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, Ltd., 1935). Seemed an appropriate start as this includes a selection for each day of the year. More about this book later.

And yes, for my faithful readers,

4. I promise to blog much more (and more regularly) in 2012.

Like some others, I've chosen a word for 2012. That word is OPPORTUNITY, to remind me to look for those, when things don't go the way I expect. I do hope I won't be drinking only lemonade this year.

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T08:28:00.000-08:00

Here are some New Year's thoughts from Agnes Deans Cameron, one of British Columbia's famous women.

We are men, now, and women, in a world of work. Let us do that work as well as we can, without stopping to ask if we were once slugs or will one day be angels. And have a kind word and a smile for the next one you meet; he too is fighting a hard fight.

Victoria, January 1, 1903.
Published in The Province, Vancouver, Friday, 2 January, 1903, page 12.

Agnes Deans Cameron (1863-1912) was an educator and a journalist - and an adventurer and an activist. Read about her in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online.

Medical Family History and Genealogy

2011-10-18T12:09:00.000-07:00

I just picked up the latest issue of Prevention magazine (November 2011) and to my surprise, found an article entitled "But It Doesn't Run In My Family: Closing the Gaps in your knowledge of Your Family Tree can quite literally save your Life" by Carol Withers (pp. 42-50). The article is a timely one for USians as since 2004, November's Thanksgiving holiday has been National Family History Day. (It's time we did something similar in Canada.)

It's a nice starter article, but sadly, nowhere does it refer to knowledgable genealogists or family historians, or genealogy/family history/personal DNA testing. And although a caption suggests family photographs might hold medical secrets, there's no discussion of this in the article.

Joann Boughman of the American Society of Human Genetics is quoted as saying that every family has "an aunt or a cousin who's the keeper of the secrets." Well, that same auntie or kissing cousin might well be the family historian. If so, she likely already has much of the family medical information handy. She's been tirelessly working away in the archives for years, and would be so happy to hear from you.

A sidebar in the article does direct readers to several on-line United States websites with good information - the United States Surgeon General's Family Health History Initiative, The U. S. Centres for Disease Control Family History section, The U.S. National Institutes of Health and the U.S. National Society of Genetic Counselors.

Each site has information on the medical reasons to research your family history and often includes an easy to use on-line guide or tool. The U.S. National Society of Genetic Counselors, for instance, has brief instructions on drawing out a genogram as your family tree. If you'd like a computerized way to do that, I can recommend the GenoPro programme which has a free version and a guide on-line for using its customizable medical symbols. Genograms are particularly useful when drawing up trees that include medical conditions, causes of death, adoptions and fostering situations, and aunts, uncles and cousins, etc. or even important non-family relationships.

But don't neglect genealogical and other historical and medical sources for further information. An 'antique' term for a cause of death for one Prevention editor's long ago relative is questioned - "nightmare" (page 50). This was likely startling information to a 21 century family, as other old causes of death might be, 'visitation of god', for example, or 'rising of the lights' or 'surfeit' or 'nostalgia'. ¹

Like other terms for causes of death, 'nightmare' may historically have had, in different cultures and over time, different meanings than our modern idea of a 'bad dream'. One suggestion is given in this article by a medical historian, Janet Golden, as death during sleep,"gasping from a stroke or arrhythmia" (page 50), a diagnosis that does have quite modern connections.

The person named was Amaziah Branch who I take to be the same Amaziah Branch, teacher, preacher and poet, mentioned in an 1875 book as a former resident of Pompey Village in New York, USA.

"The last named, was the first school teacher at this place and at La Fayette Village. He died at Dr. S. W. Park's, of nightmare, in about 1818. He is said to have been one of the good men of the earth. He was poor, but well educated. He came from Massachusetts." ²

The medical historian's "guess" (page 50) could be correct, but a genealogist would be on the hunt for any more contemporary records or mentions of his death. A note from 1875 concerning a death "about 1818" gives a clue, but it's not the best evidence.

The text makes it clear Dr. Park was a medical doctor. If there was evidence Amaziah Branch was staying with him under medical care that might suggest a critical or chronic illness, but you might think a doctor would have given a more specific cause of death. Could 'nightmare' relate to a medical treatment? Or fever? How old was Amaziah? (The fragmentary information on-line suggests about 1741 for his birth which would make him about 77 at death.) What happened to other family members? His wife also apparently died suddenly but just a few days after childbirth, so that cause might be quite different.³

And most importantly, might there be something more specific shown in a burial or other church record? And, in the burial records for around 1818, or in any medical records (Dr. Park's?) or publications from that time and area, what other causes of death are seen? Did anyone else die of 'nightmare' ?

¹ See first Antiquus Morbus, Rudy Schmidt's website, for old medical terms and their explanations.

² From the Internet Archive, 18 October 2011, digitized for the Making of America Project, Re-union of the sons and daughters of the old town of Pompey: held at Pompey Hill, June 29, 1871 : proceedings of the meeting, speeches, toasts, and other incidents of the occasion : also, a history of the town, reminiscences and biographical sketches of its early inhabitants. Published by Direction of the Reunion Committee, Pompey, 1875. Printed at Syracruse, New York: Courier Printing Company, 1875. Quotation from printed page 205, .pdf version.

³ Amaziah Branch wrote "An elegiac poem, on the death of Mrs. Sarah Branch;: who died suddenly, August 2, 1784: leaving an infant of eleven days old" (Bennington, Vermont: Haswell & Russell., 1789, 19 pages). See Open Library for reprint details.

Another Genealogy/Family History Survey....

2011-08-09T23:21:00.000-07:00

This time it's a Canadian genealogy survey by students at Carleton University in Ontario led by Professor Leighann Neilson, Sprott School of Business and Emeritus Professor Del Muisse of the History Department.

Here's an article about the project from the Cape Breton Post, 26 July 2011, written by Ken Macleod. Carleton researchers launch Canadian genealogy survey in Cape Breton

I've already submitted my answers, and yes, I knew right away I couldn't agree with some of the broad assumptions apparently being made. Has there been a recent "surge of interest" in genealogy/family history as the Cape Breton Post put it? If so, when, where and what forms has it taken? Or are some paying more attention to television ads than perhaps is wise. Remember how long the widely heralded show 'Who Do You Think You Are' lasted in Canada?

Are libraries and archives and museums reporting more visitors doing family history and genealogy? I would be very interested in those statistics myself. It's true, I think, that over the last few decades some institutions have started to pay more attention to their users, and some, like Library and Archives Canada (LAC) now realize we genealogists and family historians are their largest group of users. But wait, almost everywhere I go, services, on-line and off, are being cut back, and that's certainly true at LAC, as well as at local archives and libraries.

This survey is partly concerned with the mix of on-line research and on site research we do. For most of us, I think this is an 'it all depends' question. Research goals and timelines, finances, convenience, availability, and just how determined (or desperate) we are to track down the evidence all play a role here.

If there is an upsurge in interest, but fewer of the services we've all depended on for Canadian research are available, that could lead to more commercial genealogical opportunities. Not something I think most Canadian genealogists and family historians really want to see, particularly if it's at the expense of volunteer and community organizations.

Still some of the information collected by these students could be useful to the genealogical community so I hope you will take the time to fill this out. This on-line survey was originally tested in Nova Scotia as the Cape Breton Post explains, but now all Canadian family historians and genealogists are invited to participate no matter where they are researching their families, as long as they're over 19.

Have a look at the project's blog: http://www.genealogyincanada.blogspot.com
They seem to be welcoming comments. Suggestions for the bibliography they've been compiling would seem appropriate since there doesn't seem to have been any review of the genealogical literature yet, and up to date DNA genealogy references are lacking.

More information is at the survey introduction page: htt p://www.cusurveycentre.ca/gensurvey (And don't mind the spelling; remember in genealogy, at least for names, spelling doesn't count.)

BC Genealogical Society - Open House & Free Library Week - July 17-23, 2011 in Surrey BC

2011-07-12T08:40:00.000-07:00

It's almost that time of summer - recharge your genealogical batteries with this annual event! (This year, there are door prizes too.)

The BC Genealogical Society (BCGS) is having its annual Open House this Sunday, July 17th, from 2-4 pm at the Walter Draycott Library. All are welcome. Free, refreshments. And, the very first BCGS Family History Book awards will be presented at this Open House - an author or two will be there. Come and chat, and see the Library.

The Library will be open all next week 10 am-3 pm, Monday to Saturday, July 18-23, 2011, free. Different research sessions each day for different geographic areas. The Library holds over 13,000 international genealogical publications, indexes, microfilms, etc. Access to Ancestry Library Edition and to the New England Historic Genealogical Society databases at the Library, as well as to all the BCGS own indexes and publications. And the Library is an affiliate of the FamilySearch Library so films may be ordered in from the Salt Lake City FamilySearch Library.

BCGS Walter Draycott Library - Unit 211, 12837 - 76th Avenue, Surrey, BC. Telephone 604 502 9119 or e-mail: bcgs@bcgs.ca

Directions, maps on the BCGS website: www.bcgs.ca

Have a look at the BCGS Library Week schedule on the BCGS website: www.bcgs.ca Look for the What's New page on the home page menu.

And, if you can't come this month, the Library is open all year, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 10-3 pm. For special openings and group tours and visits, contact the Library.

Canada - How Will You Remember? 11 November 2011

2011-06-08T10:36:00.000-07:00

Last year, I sponsored a contest for Remembrance Day. Although several people contacted me about it, no one actually entered. Sad, but this year I'm giving more notice, so please have a look.

In 2009, Veterans Affairs Canada sponsored 'How Will You Remember' as part of its Veterans' Week activities. challenging people to use the historical photographs and videos available free on the Veterans Affairs website to create webpages, mashups, fan pages, etc. to commemorate those who've served Canada in the military, then to share those on-line and, as well, to link them to the Veterans Affairs website.

I want to continue to encourage more commemoration of British Columbians' military and peacekeeping contributions.

If you create a public British Columbia related web page, photographic blog post, or website, or post your family's British Columbia military related photographs on Flickr, etc. before Remembrance Day 2011, or, if you live in BC and you create such a remembrance on-line (no matter if it's BC related or not) and if you advise me by commenting on this post or by e-mailing me a short description and the web link, you'll be entered in a random draw for a prize of $50 (Canadian).

You should also submit your link to the Veterans Affairs Remembrance Feed, and, if you can, tag your site, post, etc. with one of Veteran's Affairs suggested tags in the official poppy cloud below.

More contest conditions:

- All entries must relate in some way to military or peace keeping service. The person concerned might be born in BC, or have lived or died in BC, and not necessarily served in the Canadian forces OR the remembrance must be produced by a British Columbian. See above. (Confused? Contact me.)
- This contest is for individuals, not for government, academic, or professionally produced websites, although I will be happy to help promote those.
- You should be willing to have your entries archived on-line in some appropriate way.

I still hope the contest will be an annual one.

Useful web links:

How Will You Remember, Veterans Affairs Canada: www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=feature/remember

Veterans Affairs Canada offers a number of free photograph and video collections on its site: www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has military related research guides, information and photographs, etc. Some LAC photographs can be used with credit to LAC. Check the descriptions for more information.

Military and Peace Keeping collections, LAC: www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/military-peace/index-e.html

Researching Military Topics, Canadian Genealogy Centre, LAC: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-909-e.html

The Canadian War Museum's on-line exhibitions: www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/online-exhibitions

Local museums and archives often have local military related research collections. Start by searching Memory BC and The West Beyond the West for information and photographs or contact your local museum or archives directly.

Poppy Tag Cloud, courtesy Veterans Affairs Canada.

AutomatedGenealogy, a Canadian Genealogy Gem

2011-05-29T04:40:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it seems we don't appear to truly appreciate things until they're broken...

AutomatedGenealogy, the free website with indexes and links to Canadian censuses, hasn't been working for a few days and there have been many comments on genealogy e-mail lists and queries about this.

There is a note on a couple of lists that Lindsay Patten, AutomatedGenealogy's owner, is away till mid-June. His mum's aware there's a problem with the site and has said he'll fix it when he's back. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nscumber/message/40006

When Lindsay returns, we should make sure he knows how much appreciated this free website is to all of us! Many volunteers contributed to the indexing, but Lindsay's the one responsible for initiating, developing, encouraging and maintaining these projects.

Automated Genealogy, 1852, 1901, 1906, 1911, Canadian censuses, 1851 New Brunswick and more: http://www.automatedgenealogy.com

DISCOVERING FIRST NATIONS HERITAGE - Vancouver - 24 May 2011

2011-05-17T21:16:00.000-07:00

RESOURCES FOR DISCOVERING FIRST NATIONS HERITAGE

With Laurie J. Cooke, genealogy librarian, Cloverdale Branch, Surrey Public Library.

Another genealogy event at Vancouver Public Library, 24th May 2011, Tuesday, from 2-3:30 pm.
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Pick up tips and find out how Vancouver and Surrey Public Libraries' genealogy collections and services can help you on the path to finding out about your First Nations ancestors.

Seating limited. Free.
Alma VanDusen Room, Lower Level, Central Branch, Vancouver Public Library, 350 West Georgia St., Vancouver.

VPL events: http://www.vpl.ca/events

Canadian War Bride talks - May 2011 Burnaby & Maple Ridge

2011-05-09T19:50:00.001-07:00

Is there a World War I Canadian war bride in your family?

Thousands of brave young women crossed the Atlantic during and after WWI to start new lives as brides of the Canadian Expeditionary Force Soldiers. Annette Fulford will describe the life of her grandmother, Grace Clark, a war bride who sailed from England to Canada on the RMS Melita in 1919. Learn more about the war brides at Annette's website and blog: http://wwiwarbrides.shawwebspace.ca/blog

Annette Fulford, who's been researching war brides for some years now, will be speaking twice this month in the Lower Mainland. I'm looking forward to hearing her talk this week in Burnaby, and she'll be at the Maple Ridge Library, May 19th.

May 11th, 7:30-10 P.M. Sponsored by the British Columbia Genealogical Society: www.bcgs.ca
Edmonds Community Centre, 7282 Kingsway, Burnaby BC

May 19th, 2-3 P.M. Sponsored by the Maple Ridge Public Library: http://www.fvrl.bc.ca
130-22470 Dewdney Trunk Road, Maple Ridge, BC
This presentation is part of the library's Always Remember - Not Just in November series.

History Away - BC Historical Federation conference

2011-05-08T06:25:00.000-07:00

This weekend I've been attending the British Columbia Historical Federation (BCHF) conference in Powell River, BC, Canada. It's been a great few days for everyone with lots of tours exploring the history of this area, meeting up with old friends, and even relaxing a bit.

Last night's banquet was in the charming and spacious Dwight Hall, built by the Powell River Company in 1927, in the company townsite. Originally the dance floor was meant for 800 people! and a library and lodge rooms were below. The townsite itself is now designated as a Canadian National Historic District. Learn more about it from the Townsite Heritage Society of Powell River.

I can certainly recommend you visit the Laughing Oyster Restaurant, if you're up this way. Chef David Bowes gave us a fabulous banquet! We've had great food before at BCHF conferences, but this dinner will certainly stand out in our history.

Discovering First Nations Heritage - May 24, 2011 - Vancouver BC

2011-05-05T22:09:00.001-07:00

This genealogy session should be of interest to many. I know Laurie Cooke and I'm sure this will be well worth going to. I hope to attend myself.

Resources for Discovering First Nations Heritage
Tuesday, May 24
2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Free. Seating is limited and will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

Alma VanDusen Room, Lower Level
Central Library
350 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, BC

Finding out about your First Nations ancestors is not something covered in most genealogy books. Whether you are exploring your heritage, you need to prove your genealogy for First Nations status, or you are following up on an aboriginal ancestor in your family story, finding out about specialized resources can be a good first step. Pick up some tips and find out how Vancouver and Surrey Public Libraries' genealogy collections and services can help you on this path.

Laurie Cooke graduated from the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies at UBC 2004 and became a Librarian, at both SFU and Surrey Public Library. She found a permanent position in the Surrey Public Library's Cloverdale Genealogy department shortly afterwards and has never looked back.

Seating is limited and will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more information please contact VPL - Fine Arts and History at 604-331-3716

Vancouver, 1951 - After the Election - Ready for Work

2011-05-03T08:53:00.000-07:00

Well, it's the morning after....election day in Canada, that is, and it seems a great time to post this ROGERS family news clipping.

George Rogers (George William Rogers) ran as a member of the Vancouver Civic Non Partisan Association.

"Ready for Work is Vancouver School Board's only new member elected in last week's civic vote. George Rogers (centre) won't be officially installed until Jan. 7, but that didn't stop Chairman Mrs. H. N. [Jessie] Hollis and J. E. [Edwin] Eades from giving him some advance tips. " From The Vancouver Daily Province, British Columbia, Canada, Wednesday, 19 December 1951. No photographer's name given.

That particular Vancouver election marked a change in civic politics as on the ballot was a question on extending the vote to all Canadians over 21. That passed handily.

A plebiscite to allow Sunday entertainment in the city did not, but some quickly forcasted it would pass the next year when they 'young' would now be able to vote, not just Vancouver's property owners. I'll have to have a look to see if there's evidence that the next city elections did show a change. (See voting results, The Vancouver Daily Province, 13 December, 1951, pp. 1-2).

Newspaper clippings, private collection. The Vancouver Daily Province clipping is posted with permission from The Vancouver Sun/The Province Library.

Tracing Your Ancestors in British Columbia - May 5th, 7pm, Vancouver Central Branch Library

2011-05-02T20:39:00.000-07:00

The British Columbia Genealogical Society (BCGS) and the Vancouver Public Library (VPL) are co-sponsoring this free genealogy session.

Tracing Your Ancestors in British Columbia with M. Diane Rogers and Wendy Graham - Learn how to find your BC families in vital event records, obituaries, cemeteries, newspapers and more, using the many free resources available on the Internet and in local libraries and archives.

Thursday, May 5 at 7 pm, Peter Kaye Room, Lower Level, Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street, Vancouver. Free.

For more info, see the VPL event calendar: http://www.vpl.ca/cgi... or contact the BCGS by e-mail: bcgs @ bcgs.ca or call: 604 502 9119

1948 in Vancouver - A Spencer's Garden Book. 52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy & History - Weather

2011-04-30T22:58:00.000-07:00

I happened to come across this 1948 Spencer's Seed Store catalogue yesterday in my files and thought - seeds=Spring!

And 'Weather' is the topic for this week's Personal Genealogy & History blogging prompt (Week 18 of 2011).

We've had much liquid sunshine here all year; that's pretty usual. This year, it's been quite cold, so now this sunshine outside is quite welcome.

But this is nothing like 1948 when the lower Fraser Valley near here flooded causing all kinds of damage and destruction, including at least 10 deaths. There was a long period of warm weather that spring, causing heavy snow melts and subsequent flooding in June. Much of the area was cut off from travel or assistance the month as bridges, roads and railways were affected.

That's a bit early for me to remember, although I've heard many people talk about the '48 flood.

This catalogue is in fairly good shape, although it was obviously well read. Likely it was my mum that ticked off certain choices in the listings - Alyssum-Carpet of Snow, an Annual Cut Flower mixture, Antirrhinum-Maximum, Early Giant Mixed Asters, Asparagus-Plumosus Nanus, and All Colours Mixed Stocks.

I wonder what the family garden did look like in 1948. I'm sure there were roses already too, as that was always my dad's favourite flower. And likely a good sized vegetable garden, along with colourful flowers. That's part of Spencer's message to customers for 1948.

"....History repeats itself, and we now have the dollar-saving austerity programme which deprives Canada of many of its imported vegetables. ...'Eat what you can, can what you can't and let Canada's surplus go to Europe.

While in 1948 we urge the growth of vegetables. In this country of ours, where we can obtain most of the essentials of life even though some are hard to get, food alone is not sufficient for a happy life, one must have beauty, color and fragrance, and where can one find more of these essentials than in a packet of seeds...."

Sadly for Spencer's, 1948 was to be its last year. Founded in 1873 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, Spencer's opened its first Vancouver store in 1907. In 1948, the company was acquired by Eaton's.

Scottish Kings and Saints - SFU course, Vancouver, May-June 2011

2011-04-29T08:31:00.000-07:00

News about a course at SFU in Vancouver on Scottish Kings and Saints.

The Centre for Scottish Studies is offering a four-week non-credit extramural course at the Harbour Centre campus on the early history of Scotland, taught by Dr. Antone Minard. The course will cover notable individuals who shaped the culture of Scotland, including the early kings such as Kenneth MacAlpin, Malcolm III, and Macbeth, and important early Scottish saints: Ninian, Columba (Colum Cille), Kentigern, Mael Rubai, and others.

The focus on this course will be on the connections, tensions, and intersections between royal, ecclesiastical, and spiritual power in early Scotland. This course is designed to complement the Medieval Scottish History course being offered through SFU’s Continuing Education program planned for Fall, 2011.

The course will meet Wednesdays, 7:00 - 9:00 pm. for four weeks (May 11, 18, 25 and June 1) at SFU Harbour Centre (515 West. Hastings) in the Graduate Liberal Studies library (Room 2400).

Cost is $80.00. Cheques can be made payable to SFU's Centre for Scottish Studies.

To register or for further information, please contact Dr. Antone Minard
email: mminard@sfu.ca
phone: 778–246–0242

Francophones of Early Vancouver - Guided Tour, this Saturday, 30 April 2011

2011-04-27T04:34:00.000-07:00

The Francophones of Early Vancouver - A Guided Tour

News of an upcoming event from Maurice Guibord, one of my favourite Vancouver historians. I've been on his tours before and hope to be along on this one - always fun and you will learn so much about the city's 'hidden' history.

I am presenting this week my second and last presentation at Simon Fraser University in the context of the City Program, this year focussing on the history of Francophones in Vancouver. My last activity in this program will be a walking tour of Gastown and the Downtown Eastside where we will visit the historical sites and places of memory that highlight the history of Francophones in our city. This visit is open to the public, at 10$ a person. Since it is part of the City Program series, it will be offered in English. I will offer a version in French later this summer.

For those who wish to join us, the tour takes place this Saturday, April 30, at 10am, at the SE corner of Victory Square, at Pender and Cambie.

Those wishing to stay for lunch will dine at the Salty Tongue, at 213 Carrall St., in the building where was conceived in 1886 the first social and literary group for Vancouver’s French-Canadians. We’ll toast to their memory.

Visite guidée : Les Francophones de Vancouver

Je présente cette semaine ma deuxième et dernière présentation pour S.F.U. dans le contexte du City Program, sur l’histoire des Francophones dans la ville de Vancouver. Je termine ma participation au programme ce samedi avec une visite guidée du Gastown et du Downtown Eastside, pour faire valoir les lieux historiques et de mémoire qui rappelleront la Francophonie de Vancouver. Cette visite est ouverte au public, au coût de 10$. Puisque le programme est offert en anglais et comme la visite en fait partie, la visite sera en anglais. J’offrirai une version française plus tard cet été.

Pour ceux et celles qui veulent se joindre à nous ce samedi, le 30 avril, à 10h, au coin SE de la Place de la Victoire, à Pender & Cambie.

Si les gens veulent prendre le lunch ensemble par la suite, nous irons au Salty Tongue, au 213 rue Carrall, dans l’immeuble où la première association sociale et culturelle canadienne-française de la ville a vu le jour en 1886. On y portera un toast à nos origines en ville.

Contact Maurice: 604-253-9311, e-mail: mguibord@shaw.ca

For genealogical researchers - A Survey

2011-03-07T12:21:00.000-08:00

This opportunity to participate in a student study on genealogical research just came across my desk. If you are a genealogical researcher, please participate. It's not a long survey and it's painless to take. At some points, there's room to explain your answers too. DianeR

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

My name is Lindsay Szymanski and I am a Masters of Archival Studies Candidate at the University of British Columbia.

I am conducting an informal study on the way in which genealogical researchers and family historians conduct research both online and in person at archives.

If you are interested in taking this short survey, please go to:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/genealogical_users

Thank you for taking the time to participate in this short survey. Your contribution not only solidifies the University of British Columbia’s strong commitment to research endeavours, but also illustrates how relevant the topic is amongst archival scholars, students and family historians.

Eaton's Women's Club - Winnipeg Manitoba 1940 - Amanuensis Monday

2011-01-10T08:50:00.000-08:00

For 2011, I've decided to participate in Amanuensis Monday at least once a month. This is a blogging theme created by John Newmark at Transylvanian Dutch and it's meant to encourage the transcription on-line of family letters, journals, audiotapes, etc. I'll be interpreting this quite liberally as I have a number of projects on the go.

Today in the interests of family research, I'm sharing a 1940 article about the Eaton's Women's Club that I've transcribed from Contacts, an employee newsletter published by the T. Eaton Company. This includes some photographs and a number of names of women who worked for Eaton's including my mother who worked at the store in Winnipeg before she joined the Canadian Women's Army Corps. She had saved a few issues.

When I first read this newsletter, I was interested to see on the front page a piece about the opening of Eaton's in Vancouver BC, where I live. In 1940, my mother wouldn't have had any idea that she would end up living here and shopping in that store. (But by 1940, my mother had been to the coast here several times and she had liked it.)

I had known she was active in the Eaton's Women's Club but she had never said much about it. She did mention the curling club though. The Women's Club's activities are sometimes mentioned in Winnipeg newspapers, although I haven't found an article relating to this event. (In case you are wondering, yes, there was an Eaton's Men's Club too.)

Of course, I was happy to see my mum's photos and to read about the club's activities. However, I was specially excited to see that this newsletter piece was initialled by my mum, JMS = J. Muriel Scott.

Hazel Bailey to Head Eaton Women's Club
Marjoria Moore Tells of Family Bureau's Activities

The Eaton Women's Club sat down to a gleaming flower-decked table to partake of a tempting and delicious turkey dinner in the Grill Room on Thursday, January 18th .This was the annual general meeting and despite the number of reports presented the atmosphere of enthusiasm was not dulled.

We were thrilled to have Mrs. Reid of the D.A. office, sing several numbers for us. She was ably accompanied by Miss Goodman of the Music department.

Miss Marjoria Moore, Executive Director of the Family Bureau, was our guest speaker. She gave us a very interesting account of what the Bureau is and what it does. She said that while they had no authority behind them they were backed by the Federated Budget, the Winnipeg Foundation and the Junior League. For this reason they could only help those who came to them or called them. Their work comes mainly under two headings:

1. To Cure Social Illness. She said social illness knows no favorites. Their work lies in helping people to help themselves and to help us and others to help people find themselves.
2. Preventative Work. They make every effort to make home life stable and avoid breaking up homes.

We were particularly interested in Miss Moore's talk because it was through the Bureau that we were able to do some welfare work through our club at Christmas. We were thrilled to hear a little about the distribution of our stockings and to know that it was really “Santa Claus” in several homes.

The New Slate of Officers Brought in for 1940

Hon. President ....................Miss K. M. Kerr
President..............................Miss Hazel Bailey (40)
First Vice-President.............Miss Hazel Scarle (236)
Second Vice-President.........Miss Norma Douglas (1203)
Secretary..............................Miss Muriel Scott (291)
Treasurer..............................Miss Eva Stewart (Life Assurance)

Convenor of the Membership Committee—Miss Sarah Bragg (205). Members—Miss M. Wylie (7), Miss G. Lyons (1203), Miss J. Marshall (206), Mrs. M. Stacey (2).
Convenor of the Entertainment Committee—Miss Elsie Linley (221). Members—Miss M. Barber (147), Miss M. Hoffman (1203), Miss S. Lay (206), Miss I. Sutton (161).

The retiring president expressed her thanks to the 1939 executive for their loyalty and co-operation, and particularly to Miss Kerr for her untiring effort and enthusiasm. Miss Kerr then voiced the sentiments of the members when she thanked Miss Morrison for all the work she had done in her quiet way during the two years she acted as president of our club.

We would like to express our thanks to Mr. Elders and his staff for the exceptionally fine dinner and service.
—J. M. S.

Photograph descriptions:

1. Left to right—Misses Muriel Scott, K. M. Kerr, Lillian Morrison, past president; Marjoria L. Moore, guest speaker; Ida Bailey.
2. Left to right—Misses Mary Otto, Eleanor Harvey, Jean Marshall, Helen Goodman, Mrs. Reid.
3. Muriel Scott takes over the secretaryship.
4. Misses K.M. Kerr, honorary president; Lillian Morrison, retiring president.
5. The new president, Miss Hazel Bailey (40).
6. Retiring president Lillian Morrison calls for suggestions to further 1940 activities.
7. Misses Margaret Kirkpatrick, Gladys Ham, Irene Sutton.
8. Wouldn't it be great if all vice-presidents had a smile like this! Miss Hazel Searle (236) first vice president.
9. Too bad the girls didn't turn round so we could see their faces, but in the back row, left to right facing camera, can be seen Misses Margaret Bowering, Sarah Bragg, Bessie Lucas. In the foreground, left to right, are the Misses Sigurdson, Thornton, Amison, Beavis.
10. Also smiling at you is Mabel Barber, entertainment.

The numbers after some names are for the departments the women worked in.

From Contacts, Published weekly by The T. Eaton Co. Limited of Winnipeg, Manitoba. For distribution to the Co-workers of the Organization. Monday 29 January, 1940. Vol 11, No. 5, page 4.

Eaton's was a major department store in Canada from the 1880s to 1999 when the company went bankrupt. CBC Archives has more about its history, Eaton's, A Canadian Institution. Sears Canada bought the Eaton's assets and the Archives of Ontario now has some of the company's archival records ( T. Eaton Co. Fonds F-229). Some of the records relating to employees are restricted however. See the Fonds description for the full note on restrictions. There are other records at the Archives of Ontario relating to Eaton's as well.

2011 Predictions for the Genealogy Industry

2011-01-06T21:31:00.000-08:00

Posted by CanadaGenealogy's special guest, Wilhemina Catrina McQueen.

Genea Dixon at GeneaBloggers posted a long list of predictions for 2011. A few look very similar to things that happened (or were rumoured to have happened) in 2010 – eerie, eh?

Anyway, the amazing Thomas MacEntee then proposed this as a topic for Open Thread Thursday.

So CanadaGenealogy has conjured up the famous and somewhat opinionated Canadian psychic, Wilhemina Catrina McQueen, who has agreed to give just a few predictions of her own for 2011.

Her predictions seem a bit tongue in cheek (or wishful thinking?), but no disrespect is meant to any organizations, companies or bloggers or politicians, living or dead, and, no betting is allowed!

First off, some background predictions:

Canadians will continue to be concerned about their own personal economies despite encouraging words from the Bank of Canada, etc. etc. This will affect at least some of the decisions Canadians make about their own genealogy research and their projects in 2011.
Subscriptions to the more expensive databases and long distance travel may be replaced with trips to local genealogical libraries, archives and Family History Centers. Access to these will be enhanced by better hours and better on-line catalogues and ordering systems for films, etc. encouraging a significant number of genealogists to take advantage of these free or low cost facilities.
FamilySearch, after a few fits and starts, will return to its former premier place in on-line genealogy.
In turn, a small, but significant percentage of genealogists will volunteer at facilities near their home, or on-line, if opportunities are readily available.
Immigration patterns to Canada have changed greatly over the last 144+ years. Immigrants are more likely now to be well educated, to settle in urban areas, to be from Asian countries, and, if of wage earning age, perhaps to be younger than in previous decades.

These and other recent changes in Canada's demography may mean genealogical societies will be expected to widen their perspectives and to sharpen their genealogical skills and tools to assist newer Canadians to research more current Canadian records and records overseas.

Ancestry will advertise its digitised Chinese jiapu collection widely in Canada in both English and Chinese and will propose other Asian record source projects late in 2011.
Young Canadian families have apparently almost wholeheartedly taken to the Internet and to mobile phones to keep connected (according to an Ipsos Reid poll for Telus in 2009). Some 75% of women have Facebook accounts (61% for men) while in British Columbia, Canada, 65% of women used social networking sites to keep in touch with family (no matter what Canada's Privacy Commissioner thinks). A more recent survey in 2010 found Canadian women were among the most likely in the world to share their children's lives on-line, starting with sonograms before birth.

In 2011 familiarity with social networking sites and with mobile phones will be expected by young and old Canadians in any group or organization they commit to.
Canadians are crazy for Canada – no matter who they are and no matter what complaints they have about this and that. Witness all those official and un-official red mittens last February and March and ever since! These will continue to be seen at outdoor genealogy events in Canada when it's at all chilly.

And by summer 2011, most Canadian genealogists will have caught a Canadian history fever – some will be cramming for the War of 1812 anniversary or the 95^th anniversary of Vimy Ridge in 2012, others will be preparing for Canada's 150^th anniversary in 2017.

And some Technological Predictions:

Copyright,and digital rights, especially to do with digisation, will continue to be a thorny issue in Canada in 2011.

A decision about the Google Book Settlement case will leave some genealogists unhappy – depending on whether they are authors, publishers, Canadian readers or Google share owners.

Faced with unhappy genealogists when a commercial database listing Canadian voters from 1935 to the 1980s is released, Library and Archives Canada (LAC) will post copies of its agreements with all commercial and non-profit groups and individuals.
A 1916 Prairie Census index will be made available free on-line at LAC, but not till late in 2011.
And public consultations and the Services Advisory Board will be revived. Genealogists from across Canada, as the major users of LAC, will be proportionately the largest group involved.
(This one is for Diane R – WCMcQ)

Real books will NOT die in 2011 or anytime thereafter.

But as Canadian universities and school move more and more into e-books and open access publications to avoid Access Copyright fees, the use and acceptance of e-book formats for manuals, guides, current newsletters, and for airplane reading while on research trips will increase exponentially as will digital archivists' headaches. (Does loving paper books make Diane R a bookie? Oops, no, that would be to do with betting.)
As Canadian universities and governments move towards using and developing more open source software, so will home and other users test it out. One USian genealogist will move straight from using ancient transparencies to using Open Office's Impress.
The price of projectors, tablets and digital frames will continue to drop. These will become a popular means of displaying photographs temporarily to family just before or after the December holidays in 2011.
As CanadaGenealogy predicted long ago, mobile phones will become increasingly more and more useful to genealogists who will be looking first for reliable basic information on current genealogical events and activities (genealogical societies and speakers, take note) and for better and better programmes for their family files, but soon, the cry will be for 'more apps, please. More apps!'
And, by the close of 2011, only a tiny percentage of Canadians (none under 25) will remember PDAs, once the 'bee's knees' of portable devices, and Canadians will still be divided about the usefulness of netbooks versus tablets.
A significant proportion of Canadian scrapbookers who travel less in 2011, will also decide to spend less on embellishments and will happily turn to family history to fill their pages. Genealogical societies and on-line genealogy communities should both take note.
Genealogists will continue to embrace on-line and off-line opportunities for learning whether in formal courses, netcasts or seminars and the like. Since many newer genealogists will be working and juggling young families, or working part-time to pad their pensions, the intensive short term and non-credit courses at the National Institute for Genealogical Studies will be very successful. And several well known Canadian geneabloggers will offer classes in community educational facilities. Genealogical societies take note.
Genealogical DNA test prices will be lower again by the end of 2011, but the value of DNA testing, including autosomal DNA, will continue to be debated by many until the price is greatly reduced (under $50US) and the raw results available to individuals, and there are free comparative databases on-line open to all. Then genealogists will make the leap to have themselves and any appropriate (and willing) relatives tested and their results compared with others. This is unlikely to happen in 2011.
Geneablogging, geneabloggers and the GeneaBloggers site will thrive in 2011. Although a few, of course, will see ups and downs, the geneablogger community will continue to support its members as always. Thousands of ancestors will be found, cited and filed; thousands of photographs and documents will be scanned, cited and filed, and with a few small exceptions, all the genealogy research/writing plans made and posted for 2011 will be fulfilled.

All the best for 2011,

WCMcQ

My genealogy research/writing plan for 2011 - Carnival of Genealogy #101

2011-01-01T17:48:00.000-08:00

Carnival of Genealogy #101. Carnival Poster by the always amazing FootnoteMaven.

The topic for the 101st edition of the Carnival of Genealogy hosted by Carnival Founder and Host Jasia at Creative Gene is:
My genealogy research/writing plan for 2011.

As I mentioned in my post about my New Year's Genea-Resolutions 2011, I have one important-to-me writing project I want to finish in 2011. (Well, really two, but the other is an on-going one.)

First project:

On my research shelf already bundled together is material, mainly from newspapers and government reports, relating to a family death in the 1920s, along with some books for background information. I did have a plan for this project, however, as there was no deadline, I've never written much of this up. (I'm usually very good with deadlines!)

* This year, I'll make finishing this research project and writing it up with my conclusions a goal.

Again this year, I'm setting aside some 'Anti Procrastination' personal time once a month for genealogy. Last year, this was usually a Thursday evening once a month, but this project still needs some more research time at local and provincial archives, so I will set aside one day a month when I will devote a set number of hours to it, depending on what I need to do.

I need one day at least to review this material, go over my notes and write up an outline.

Then I feel I will need about 2-4 days more in local archives in Vancouver and Victoria, and as a bonus, I'd like at least 4-5 days reading more newspapers from the period. I may be able to fit this in around doing lookups, etc. (I love old newspapers. This will keep me enthusiastic, I'm sure.)

Depending on what new information I turn up at the archives or in the papers, I may need to review other sources again. And as I go I need to review my notes and my outline continually.

Then I need to set aside the time to review and write! I found it helpful last year to take myself and my research notes off to a genealogical library to do this. Likely I will do this again - fewer distractions. Depending on how the writing goes, I may need more than one day per month for this, but I will schedule my time for it.

Second Project:

I've been very slowly scanning or photographing my treasures, and writing up a story about each one. I mentioned this recently in a comment on Jasia's post at her blog, Creative Gene, about downsizing. I feel my children are unlikely to keep all these bits and pieces, but they would (I hope) keep a book or binder with my stories. (Reading the stories might even get them to keep a few treasures. Who knows?)

Sometimes I've been sharing family treasures on my blog but this is another personal genealogical project without a deadline, so I've decided to make myself one.

* I'll do one Family Treasure writeup by the end of each month in 2011.

That way I will feel I'm getting somewhere with this project, and I'll even have something to show for it.

And a really personal Third Project:

Last year I typed up some of my maternal grandfather's diary notes - mostly they were about the weather and crops, or visitors. How I wish I had them all, and that the rest of the family had done the same. I once kept journals, but haven't done so for years.

Then I noticed that Kevin Savetz, of FreePrintable.net has a 10 year journal with 4 lines for each day. Seems a very nice idea, and very doable, which is important to me now. (And there's a free version if you want to write by hand, or for $4.US a version which you can type in on your computer.)

* So for 2011, I'll do a brief journal entry every day - by hand as I hope someone else may want to read them someday and even if they have to work at it, they'll likely appreciate that it's my handwriting. And I'm printing pages out on archival paper.

Likely it will get to be a habit again. (Thanks, Kevin.)

Genea-Resolutions 2011

2011-01-01T16:21:00.000-08:00

Resolve - a poem by Charlotte Perkins Stetson (also known as Charlotte Perkins Gilman).
Postcard, unused. Private collection. Her 1898 book,Women and Economics: A Study of the Economic Relation Between Men and Women as a Factor in Social Evolution, republished in the 1960s, was the first feminist text I ever read. Although I didn't agree with her entirely, it's one of the books I consider shaped my life.

It's a New Year again - 2011, already!

Time to write out the New Year's Genealogical Resolutions and to begin make monthly and weekly plans to follow them up.

Last year, my personal genealogical goals in brief were:

1. to finish scanning my photos
2. to have local research plans ready for each month, and for long distance trips
3. to continue blogging, and host one Carnival, if possible
4. to get Newdale, Manitoba information on-line
5. to continue working on organization and energy saving

Although I didn't do as well as I hoped - 2010 turned out to be a very busy year for me - I certainly kept going with these goals all year, and I expect to continue with these in 2011. And I met new friends and new-to-me cousins on-line - that's always rewarding.

Someday, I will finish the photograph scanning, identifying and tagging and I do now have a Newdale website up. I got in a very respectable amount of research time in at local archives and libraries, although I wasn't able to get to Ontario last year as I had planned.

One of the best things I did for myself last year after I reviewed my progress in the summer was to institute an 'Anti-Procrastination Evening' once a month in the fall. I took myself to a genealogical library and worked on one particular personal writing project for a number of hours at a stretch. That's finished thanks to that dedicated work time, and I intend to do the same this year with another project, although I'll start earlier this year. (I'll write a bit more about this later.)

Organization must surely be almost every genealogist's (and historian's) bugbear. I did make filing a priority last year, but when we tidied up for holiday visitors, the number of boxes that ended up in my Library made me realize how much there is still.

Several boxes are full of magazines. I find it hard to give them up, but this year I'll make certain to pass most on to new readers. (I already have a group in mind to give them to.)

Then there are two boxes of papers I was pretty sure must be duplicates and should be disposed of. Checking and removing those I will make a priority early in the new year when I'm still energised!

Backing up my computer data is something I try to take seriously. Wednesday each week is still my backup day and in 2010 I began using Carbonite on two of my computers as an on-line 'cloud' backup. Although my idea of organizing the computers last year was to put personal genealogical and other info on one, and 'work' on the other, this didn't always pan out. So in 2011, I will work on synchronizing my computers instead, perhaps using Dropbox. I'll be looking at alternatives for this in January.

I attended a number of genealogical and historical events last year, and am looking forward to doing that this year. Being with like-minded people always promotes enthusiasm and ideas. And I'll be participating and hosting Carnivals again this year. That's always fun.

Warm Holiday Wishes

2010-12-25T00:03:00.000-08:00

Warm holiday wishes from the Rogers-Scott family to all.
Family photograph, 1962, Vancouver, BC. George and Muriel (Scott) Rogers, Amy (Irwin) Scott, Diane and Dave Rogers, and family friend, Marg Hyslop.

Finally - my Newdale Manitoba Family History Site.

2010-12-21T16:38:00.000-08:00

Well, I've finally done it - started up a Newdale, Manitoba genealogy website. This is for my grandmother, my Na, Amy Estella (Irwin) Scott and her daughter, my mum, Muriel (Scott) Rogers - both of them were born in Newdale - and for my children too, of course.

For now, the site's called Newdale, Manitoba Genealogy and its address is: www.newdalembgenealogy.wordpress.com

Don't memorize that though as I expect I'll be moving it soon enough and maybe changing the name. I'll be gradually posting my Newdale related family photographs and information there, as well as my collection of historical Newdale snippets and more.

I've connected with a number of cousins on the 'Net so far; perhaps I'll meet a few more!

There's One In Every Family - My Na - Amy Estella Irwin

2010-12-01T23:13:00.000-08:00

Amy Estella Irwin and sister Minnie, Newdale, Manitoba, Canada. (The other lady may be Mrs. Cook.)

Creative Gene is hosting another Carnival of Genealogy, the 100th! Her theme this time is: There's One in Every Family!

My Na - my maternal grandmother - Amy Estella (Irwin) Scott - was the one family person who 'stood out' for me when I was young. Of course, I didn't know many of our relatives and my parents were usually 'just my parents'. I took them much for granted, I'm sure.

But my grandma Scott didn't seem like other grandmas. Not that she didn't bake cookies. She did! Not that she didn't have a tidy house or wasn't a churchgoing woman. She was all that. But she was also a very active woman all her days, liked word games and (clean) jokes, and happily flirted with the veterans at Shaughnessy Hospital's Red Cross Lodge in Vancouver where she was a volunteer for many years.

And in the years I remember her best she was already in her 70s. Then she was the one who took my brother and I out walking - scrambling down steep paths and climbing right back up them again. She never hesitated to get on a bus and ride off somewhere she'd never been, just to see what was there. So she's always been a role model for me.

Not necessarily for the baking and cleaning, but for her continued enjoyment of life and her interest in things new. Now I know she'd had some bad years, but it doesn't seem that they'd dimmed her interest in people and places around her. I think some of that at least did rub off on me.

Although we didn't always see eye to eye, she loved me, I know, and in later years, she was absolutely crazy about my son. So this Carnival of Genealogy is for her. (And I bet she'd be blogging if she were here today! She'd have loved the memes and carnivals.)

Amy Irwin, sister Minnie, and mother in law, Mary Janet (Wood) Scott in Newdale, Manitoba.

Cloverdale Library - Family History Show & Tell - 13 November 2010

2010-11-10T07:22:00.000-08:00

You are invited to attend this upcoming event at the Cloverdale Library:Second Annual Family History Show and Tell!

Last year people who document their family history brought in their creations – there were family quilts, artfully done scrapbooks, storyboards, digital collages and much more. Join in this year and take whatever you’ve made to honour your ancestors. Perhaps you’ll find an excellent Christmas gift idea too.

You are welcome to share by describing your project or by just showcasing your wares. It might be something simple, something elaborate or even a work in progress. A laptop with the Internet and a projector will be available to demonstrate online projects such as family history websites or digital collections.

Visitors without projects are welcome and light refreshments will be available.

Saturday, November 13, 2010, 10:30am – 12:30pm

No charge, donations welcome
Please register at 604-598-7328, or email familyhistory@surrey.ca

The Surrey Libraries' Canadian Family History Collection is housed at the Cloverdale Library. Located in the heart of Cloverdale, Surrey's historic town centre, this modern 10,000 sq. ft. two-storey facility is fully wheelchair accessible.

The Family History department, on the second floor, includes seven microfilm/fiche reader/printers, a photocopier, three dedicated computers for Ancestry Library Edition and Heritage Quest, a CD ROM station, and a general use meeting room for Family History programmes, including the Family History Show and Tell.

Cloverdale Library - Location - 5642 - 176A St., Surrey, BC V3S 4G9

Domestic Medicine in Scotland - lecture - Nov 25, 2010 - Vancouver BC

2010-11-08T12:39:00.000-08:00

Here's an event of interest to genealogists, historians and those interested in Scotland. Sponsored by Simon Fraser University's Scottish Studies.

St. Andrews and Caledonian Society Lecture: “William Buchan’s Domestic Medicine: An International Scottish Best-Seller”.

7:00-8:30, Thursday, November 25, 2010: Room 1420, SFU Harbour Centre, 515 W. Hastings St. Vancouver, BC.

For nearly a century after its initial publication in Edinburgh in 1769, Domestic Medicine, by the Scottish physician William Buchan, was by far the most popular home health guide in Britain and North America. Families passed it down from generation to generation, and some of them are reputed to have organized their lives around its teachings. Yet precisely because Domestic Medicine empowered ordinary people to make their own decisions about medical matters, it placed Buchan into a confrontational relationship with some members of the medical profession. At the same time, the book’s extraordinary commercial success, coupled with Buchan’s desperate circumstances, created tensions between the author and his publishers. In this illustrated lecture, Dr. Richard B. Sher uses the methodology of book history to achieve new insight into these issues.

Simon Fraser University's Scottish Studies Department: http://scottish.sfu.ca

Electric Scotland's biography of Doctor William Buchan: http://www.electricscotland.com/history/other/buchan_william.htm

Is It Still Halloween?

2010-11-04T23:24:00.000-07:00

Very strange...very strange indeed...

This week out of the blue two people far apart have each sent me just the right kind of link to info I was looking for - yet they had no way of knowing how timely their help would be.

First Susan Smith-Josephy, who is writing 'the' book about Lillian Alling (aka the woman who walked to Russia), sent me a link to Anne Morddel's The French Genealogy Blog about researching in France. I thought that was nice timing, as I'm looking for someone who was born in France.

But now tonight, Marina Antunes of Row Three and Lower Mainland BookCrossing fame sent me a link to the State Library of New South Wales's Flickr collection, not knowing I'm soon doing a talk on Australian and New Zealand war records. There's a set of photos there I really like - women Knitting for "Our Boys" - complete with a song. Have a look (and a listen).

Very cool, but a little spooky, don't you think?
But don't stop sending me those links! (And maybe you have a James or John Battice...born about 1860...I still need the 'right' one.)

Vintage Photos: People and Their Pets

2010-10-26T16:47:00.001-07:00

Well, it's been a busy fall, perhaps too busy, but one of the genealogical highlights of this season is always the Finding Your Roots all day seminar co-sponsored by the Abbotsford, Surrey and Vancouver Stakes of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the three local Churches with Family History Centers. This year again the Seminar was well attended and very well organized. Everyone I talked to seemed energized by the many sessions given on a wide variety of topics and the opportunities to meet and talk with others - both beginners and experienced researchers. Save the date for next year - Saturday 15th October 2011!

One of my talks this year was about researching family photographs and, since one of my aims is to get people to 'make their own history' with family images, I was most interested to learn that one of the attendees already had a photographic project of her own underway.

Anna Camporese is collecting vintage black and white photos of people with their pets for an future exhibition - a fund raiser for animal welfare. This sounds to me like a great idea. I'm really looking forward to seeing her exhibit. The audience was enthusiastic too. To submit your photographs, contact her at Anna.Camporese @ shaw.ca (delete the spaces in the e-mail address first) or at 604 760 5235.

I do have a number of photographs of family with pets - mostly they had cats, I think, on my father's side, but more dogs on my mother's. Wish I'd asked my mum why we never had a dog. Probably there were some practical reasons, but maybe our cat Twink just wouldn't have stood for that! (I'm a cat person myself, in case you hadn't guessed.)

Now here is one of my family pet photos. I've posted this one before but it is my favourite - Dad with Blackie the cat, his younger brother, David, their mum and dad, Sarah (Saggers) and Joe Rogers, and (the mysterious) Viola on a visit to Vancouver in 1925. You'll see this one on Dead Fred too with some additional photographs taken during the visit.

Who To Blame? Saturday Night Genealogy Fun

2010-10-16T21:26:00.001-07:00

It's time for Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun over at his blog, Genea-Musings.

Here is this week's SNGF task and the questions we're to answer -

1) Read Brenda Joyce Jerome's post Who or What Do You Blame? on the Western Kentucky Genealogy blog. She asks these questions:

* Can you identify person or event that started you on this search for family information?

* Did you pick up researching where a relative had left off?

* Did your interest stem from your child's school project on genealogy?

So....

I don't think there was any one event or person that started me on my family history research and no, when I started, I knew very few doing genealogy research, certainly no one in my immediate family, although a cousin quickly 'found' me. And my children did no 'family trees' at school, although my grandson did.

Anyway, I wouldn't be blaming anyone, that's for sure. It seems to me that my genealogical interests were a natural outgrowth of my interest in Canadian history, particularly women's and British Columbian and prairie history. After researching historical individuals and families in the census and directories, etc., it was comparatively easy to start looking for my own family.

I can say, however, that my mother was always interested in Canadian and women's history, especially in western Canada, and also, that being a child in school during several centennial celebrations gave my interest in history a early and healthy boost - 1958 British Columbia centennial; 1966 centennial of BC mainland and Vancouver Island colonies merging; 1967 Canada's centennial; 1971 centennial of British Columbia's joining Canada; later there was the 1986 Vancouver BC centennial. (And, my father took me to Mountain View Cemetery regularly too where most of his Vancouver relatives were buried.)

My mother never did any family research, although I know she tried to check out some of her own memories of visits to 1930s Vancouver, but when I started 'doing genealogy' in the late 1980s, she quickly came up with lots of questions she hoped I'd answer (like what ever did happen to Samuel WOOD's first family and to that cousin, James SCOTT, who went to the US...) as well as some topics she might have wished me to forget (like that SCOTT d-i-v-o-r-c-e).

As for the centennial celebrations, I still remember going to City Hall in 1958 to talk to the legendary Vancouver City Archivist, Major James Skitt Matthews, about Vancouver, British Columbia's early history while doing research for a class project at Simon Fraser Elementary.

My parents knew him and Dad was the first to say 'you need to ask the Major, Diane' when I started reading and talking about the 1880s in Vancouver. (My Dad was born in South Vancouver so I thought he should have known all about the city's history. )

The Major was very tall - of course, I was little - and he was both very enthusiastic about Vancouver and very patient with my questions, as I recall, pulling open filing cabinets to show me things - a great introduction to archives research. And he gave me a pamphlet to use - my first citation!

So, thanks Mum, thanks Dad - and special thanks to the Major! Both my historical and genealogical interests have shaped and enriched my life.

City of Vancouver Archives, history: http://vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/archives/about/history.htm

Great Art at Great Prices - The Retro Show, Vancouver, Oct 23-24 2010

2010-10-13T08:51:00.000-07:00

The Retro Show - Art @ retro prices!
23-24 October 2010 at W2 Storyeum, Vancouver BC.

Art by a friend of mine, Mary Blaze, will be for sale at
THE RETRO SHOW, October 23-23, 2010 in downtown Vancouver at W2 Storyeum, 151 West Cordova Street in Gastown.
The show is open from noon to 5 pm, both Saturday and Sunday.

Read a bit about artist Mary Blaze and see a few of her pieces at the Coast Art Trust website.

Other artists participating will be Florence Debeugny, Valerie Arntzen, Pat MacBain, Sharon Burns and Bernadine Fox.

British Columbia Historical Vital Statistics - Frustrations and Praiseworthy Enterprises

2010-09-18T18:54:00.000-07:00

I spent today at the British Columbia Genealogical Society's seminar featuring John D. Reid of Anglo-Celtic Connections. Although the weather was drab early this morning, John kept us thinking (and smiling too) the whole day through - long past the time the sun came out. (Thank goodness! We wouldn't want him only to remember our liquid sunshine here in Greater Vancouver.)

Of course, all day we thought about genealogy, then some of us went out for a bite. On the way there - what did we talk about? Genealogy! (There was even a BMD joke that got us going, but I think you really would have had to be there.) Then at dinner - more genealogy!

It was that way all summer for me really, although it wasn't all as positive as today. First, there was the still thorny issue of the continuation of the Canadian 'long form' compulsory census. No, I won't get into that again - suffice it to say that as I predicted, many from a wide variety of backgrounds and interests continue to champion the census's survival.

There was the BC Historical Digitization Update session in June, which I've written a bit about before. I have very real worries that the needs of users, particularly non-academic researchers, and of the smaller historical and genealogical organizations who have collections that might be digitized are not being addressed in this area.

And even before that many of us were concerned about researchers' future access to British Columbia's historical Vital Statistics registrations of births, marriages and deaths (BMD). This is a fundamental source for genealogical and historical researchers in the province, and I was initially very apprehensive about what changes might be made. We have a very good system now. If you live near a larger public library in British Columbia, or the British Columbia Archives, or if you take advantage of the very helpful services of volunteers at Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness or one of the groups, like the BC Genealogical Society, you can get copies of released historical registrations very cheaply, sometimes just for the price of a photocopy.

Right now, we have public access to BC births over 120 years ago, marriages over 75 years old, and deaths over 20 years. There was some discussion at Vital Statistics, however, that public access to marriage registrations might be further restricted. I was assured by Vital Statistics in August that this is not being changed.

Previously each year, a new year's worth of birth, marriage and death registrations become available on microfilm, for example, this year, we were waiting for the 1989 deaths. Around the same time as the microfilms are available, usually the BC Vital Events index on the British Columbia Archives website is updated with the newly released registration details. The Vital Events index project was originally co-ordinated by the Genealogical Society of Utah, with the co-operation of British Columbia's Vital Statistics Agency and with the assistance of many volunteers from the Victoria area. In later years, staff at BC Vital Statistics have been indexing the registrations and that information has continued to be made available. Although there was a long delay this year, the index information was released in early August, and I have been assured that that process will continue.

What is being changed though is the mode of access to future releases of birth, death and marriage registration copies. Microfilms are apparently too expensive, and future releases to the BC Archives and to libraries will be digital, on CD. (There will still be preservation microfilm copies made.) Although I have hopes that this new mode may allow for increased access in libraries throughout British Columbia, apparently there will be more delay till the digital copies will be available. Many of us are certainly very anxious to see these, and anxious to see that these new procedures are set up as quickly as possible now. As yet, I haven't heard that libraries have been advised of how long this will take. Currently, to our dismay, to see a copy of a 1989 death registration, we must order this from BC Vital Statistics and pay $50 - the highest price in Canada for this type of information. (For more about Canadian Vital Statistics information, including basic prices and access conditions, see this draft Canadian Vital Statistics chart at the BC Genealogical Society website. )

I do want to make it clear that I commend the British Columbia Vital Statistics Agency and its staff for continuing to provide the free public index information for BC Vital Events and for the Agency's continued support for this project. I believe it is very important that this continues, even if other indexes are available now or later. There are few days in the week when I don't use this excellent resource - the BC Vital Events Index.

FamilySearch volunteers have now re-indexed BC birth, marriage and death registration copies and those indexes are available free on-line at theRecord Search pilot and beta FamilySearch sites. Ancestry.com has what is apparently a copy of the BC Vital Events index available on its website for some registration years. But as we have seen before, databases on a commercial or institutional website may disappear, or become available later only for a price. I believe this information should remain available free on-line (and off) in British Columbia through a government agency like the BC Archives or BC Vital Statistics.

Indexes are not enough for historical researchers, of course, but they do give us an entry point to the whole collection of provincial birth, marriage and death registrations. Newspaper BMD collections and indexes inevitably favour some communities and geographic areas more than others, but provincial registration should include (almost) everyone.

And, whether we are looking into the birth, marriage or death of a family member, or whether we're researching a historical event or a health issue, like the impact of disease in a community, we need to see original documents for all the information contained in them and for all the details shown - wedding witnesses' names and addresses, a grandmother's signature perhaps, or a note that the parents refused permission for an autopsy on their dead son, for instance. And, of course, nowadays, there's little question that we would like these copies of registrations to be both on-line and free.

As I have said before in discussions about Library and Archives Canada, although I am not necessarily against agreements with non-government bodies, even foreign ones, I believe strongly that any arrangements or agreements regarding historical resources made with institutions, commercial companies or even volunteer organizations and the like, must involve community wide consultation beforehand, the terms and conditions must be open and be transparent, and these arrangements or agreements must benefit Canadians, or in this case, British Columbians. For example, if one group is allowed to digitize British Columbia BMD registration copies (as FamilySearch has apparently already done, in its indexing project), then surely as part of any agreement, these copies should then be freely available to British Columbian specialized or general historical projects (like the commendable Vancouver Island VIHistory website, perhaps).

Although these are my personal opinions, I know that they are echoed by genealogists and family historians, and by academic and local historians and other researchers in British Columbia. I know that many are discussing this issue right now and many feel frustrated.

At the last BC Genealogical Society meeting, we started a Vital Statistics 'wish list', but right now we have mostly questions.

Still - we'd like to make it very clear to Canadian Vital Statistic officials how important access to these documents is to historical and other researchers.

We'd like to see the BC index extended (as in England and Wales) to include almost current years, and, to see the price of a 'restricted' registration copy decrease. Very seldom would I pay $50 for a registration, unless I felt it absolutely necessary, but if the price were $20, I am sure more would be ordered.

And, the digitization and indexing of British Columbia newspapers, especially for obituaries and the like, needs to be standardized and expanded to include many more years and geographic areas, and more non-English and labour or political newspapers.

(So here's a last bit of very good news - the Coquitlam Public Library now has a Coquitlam obituary index 1911-1949. My personal thanks to the Library for this. It will be well used. I'm signing off now to look up a few more people. Research, after all, always smooths my ruffled feathers.)

Canada - How Will You Remember? 11 November 2010

2010-09-11T05:08:00.000-07:00

Our Boys in Flanders. In and Around Sadly Shelled Nieuport. Unused postcard; black & white. From the back: Issued by the Y.M.C.A. Hut Fund. To provide Comforts, Shelter and Recreation for our soldiers. Collect the full series of 312 cards, they form a historical collection.

In 2009, Veterans Affairs Canada sponsored 'How Will You Remember' as part of its Veterans' Week activities. challenging people to use the historical photographs and videos available free on the Veterans Affairs website to create webpages, mashups, fan pages, etc. to commemorate those who've served Canada in the military, then to share those on-line and, as well, to link them to the Veterans Affairs website.

This year, I want to encourage more commemoration of British Columbians' military and peacekeeping contributions.

If you create a public British Columbia related web page, photographic blog post, or website, or post your family's British Columbia military related photographs on Flickr, etc. before Remembrance Day 2010, and if you advise me by commenting on this post or by e-mailing me a short description and the web link, you'll be entered in a random draw for a prize of $50 (Canadian).

You should also submit your link to the Veterans Affairs Remembrance Feed, and, if you can, tag your site, post, etc. with one of Veteran's Affairs suggested tags in the official poppy cloud below.

More contest conditions:

- All entries must relate in some way to British Columbians' military or peace keeping service. (So someone might be born in BC, or have lived or died in BC, and not necessarily served in the Canadian forces.)
- This contest is for individuals, not for government, academic, or professionally produced websites, although I will be happy to help promote those.
- You should be willing to have your entries archived on-line in some appropriate way.

This is the first time I've done this, but I hope the contest will be an annual one.

Useful web links:

How Will You Remember, Veterans Affairs Canada: www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=feature/remember

Veterans Affairs Canada offers a number of free photograph and video collections on its site: www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has military related research guides, information and photographs, etc. Some LAC photographs can be used with credit to LAC. Check the descriptions for more information.
Military and Peace Keeping collections, LAC: www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/military-peace/index-e.html
Researching Military Topics, Canadian Genealogy Centre, LAC: www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/military-peace/index-e.html

The Canadian War Museum's on-line exhibitions: www.warmuseum.ca/cwm/exhibitions/online-exhibitions

Poppy Tag Cloud, courtesy Veterans Affairs Canada.

Vancouver's Herstory Cafe Picnic - Sunday August 22, 2010

2010-08-21T10:13:00.000-07:00

It's time for the Herstory Cafe's Annual Picnic!

Sunday, August 22, 2010 starting at 11 am at Trout Lake.
(Cancelled if raining.)

Bring your favourite women's history book or photograph to share or discuss.
I''ll be bringing a 'new to me' book my sister in law just 'kindly found for me - Famous Sisters of Great Men by Marianne Kirlew.

Meet at Trout Lake in Vancouver at the South East corner (by the washrooms).
Look for the "Camp Vivian" banner.

Bring your own lunch, chair, blanket, or other picnic necessities and comforts.

Locomotion - Festival of Postcards 9th Edition

2010-08-19T20:12:00.000-07:00

This edition of Evelyn Yvonne Theriault's A Festival of Postcards is dedicated to LOCOMOTION.

Here's a postcard that qualifies in a good number of ways, combining references to both water and rail transportation, and to transportation necessary for making a living and - making war. This is the kind of postcard that a collector like me loves to find - one with a great image and an interesting personal message with historical dimensions.

Fishermen in boat, New Westminster, on line of C.P.R. [Canadian Pacific Railway]. Views like this seem to have been very popular in the early twentieth century, combining a glimpse into the modern fishing and canning industry and the 'exotic' - First Nation cannery workers and fishers in their dugouts, working in and around the Fraser River canneries.
Publisher: A.L. Merrill, Toronto. #201336. Divided back; coloured card. Postmarked twice in 1917 at Halifax and Campbelltown in Nova Scotia and at North Vancouver, in British Columbia.

Addressed to: Mrs. J. J. Woods cor 2nd & St Patrick North Vancouver BC.
Back of postcard: 230 P.M. Saturday April 7th
We are about 2 hours out from Halifax. Have been on the train for 180 hrs. just a little over a week. It has been raining all day. Do not yet know when we will leave Halifax. Finished the box at noon. Jack.

John Jex Jr. (Jack) of North Vancouver, British Columbia, born in 1895, was then a soldier on his way to Europe. I can imagine that "the box" he refers to was filled with home cooked and home baked food that his mother had packed with a heavy heart for her son's long journey east.

J.J. Woods had signed up for the Canadian Expeditionary Force in 1916. At the time he was a bank clerk, but after returning from the war, he became a horticulturist on the Agassiz Experimental Farm in British Columbia's Fraser Valley. While working in Agassiz, he researched and wrote a history of the area (History and Development of the Agassiz-Harrison Valley, printed by the Agassiz-Harrison Advance, 1941.)

Soon after in 1941, John Woods was appointed Superintendent of the Experimental Farm at Saanich on Vancouver Island. He retired in the 1960s and died in 1981.

John D Reid - Anglo-Celtic Connections genealogy blogger - speaking in Burnaby Sept 18, 2010

2010-08-09T23:59:00.000-07:00

John D. Reid of the Anglo-Celtic Connections blog is coming to British Columbia. He'll be speaking Saturday, September 18, 2010 all day in Burnaby.

His topics will include:
Early 20th Century British Immigrants to Canada, Find Your Family History in Newspapers Online, and, DNA Testing for Genealogy: not Just for Men.

John D. Reid is the author of Researching Canada`s Home Children, editor of The Ottawa Sharpshooters, author of magazine articles in Anglo-Celtic Roots, Families, Your Family Tree (UK), Family Tree (UK), Family Chronicle, Internet Genealogy and The Ottawa Genealogist, and he is a frequent speaker on topics in family history. He was President of the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa from 2004 to 2006, is a member of the Society of Genealogists and, since 2007, a member of the Library and Archives Canada Services Advisory Board. He blogs regularly at Anglo-Celtic Connections on British (and Canadian) genealogy.

Sponsored by the British Columbia Genealogical Society: www.bcgs.ca

This all day seminar will be at the Scandinavian Community Centre,
6540 Thomas St., Burnaby, BC.

The BCGS Boutique will be there too with books, charts, maps and genealogy novelties for sale.

Doors open at 8:30 am. Seminar 9:00 am to 3:30 pm.

Early Bird Prices until September 8, 2010.
Tickets $40.00 for BCGS & Affiliate Society Members; $50.00 for non-members.
Lunch & refreshments included.

After September 9th, the prices increase:
$50.00 for BCGS & Affiliate Society Members; $60.00 for non-members.

To register, please contact Susan Snalam at 604-273-8209, email domers4 @ shaw.ca OR Eunice Robinson at 604-596-2811, email eunice @ dccnet.com. (T0 e-mail, please delete the spaces around the @ symbol.) Then send your cheque, made out to the BCGS, to PO Box 88054, Lansdowne Mall, Richmond, BC V6X 3T6 or you can pay at BCGS meetings. We will also accept payment by Visa by phone, mail or in person.

Call or check the BCGS website for more information: www.bcgs.ca

BC Genealogical Society - Free Library Week - Surrey BC

2010-07-20T06:57:00.000-07:00

Free BCGS Library Week continues - July 19th to 24th, 2010.

From July 19th to July 24th, the BCGS Walter Draycott Library will be open each day from 10 to 3 pm. Free.

Different geographic areas are featured each day, but visitors are welcome any day.

Monday was Scotland; Tuesday, Ireland; Wednesday, England, Thursday, Canada; Friday, USA; Saturday, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

This year there are talks and demonstrations each day by BCGS Special Interest Group facilitators and volunteers.

For the week's schedule, see the BCGS 'What's New' page on-line or follow this link for a printable pdf file:
http://www.bcgs.ca/Documents/Archived%20files/Library%20Week%20Schedule%20July%202010.pdf

BCGS Walter Draycott Library: #211, 12837 - 76th Ave., Surrey, BC.
Telephone: 604 502 9119

BCGS website: www.bcgs.ca Library catalogues, information on Special Interest Groups, directions to the Library and a map link, etc.

The Genealogical Clerihew - Saturday Night Genealogy Fun

2010-07-10T22:33:00.000-07:00

Over at Genea-Musings, Randy Seaver is asking for poetry this Saturday night. Not just any poetry, mind you, it's a genealogy Clerihew he's looking for.

He has a good number of examples already. Here's mine about my great great great grandfather who lived in Somerset, England.

Rope maker Lancelot Rogers,
Didn't spend much time with old codgers,
Home in Backwell, he said, was the best,
Except when Evans and Nott disturb our rest.

Notes:

One of Backwell's church bells has an inscription that may have been referred to in local jokes.

"Bilby and Boosh may come and see
What Evans and Nott have done by me 1758"

Backwell, [Somerset, England] by John Brain, History In Our Church Towers, Pennant Reprints #7, Nailsea and District Family History Society, 2002, 2005.

www.ndlhs.org.uk/ebooks/History%20in%20our%20Church%20Towers.pdf

I tried to stick to the Clerihew 'rules'. If you're interested, read this article from Anu Garg's Word A Day.

What I Do - GeneaBloggers Meme

2010-07-09T08:18:00.000-07:00

Over at GeneaBloggers.com, Thomas MacEntee has started a genealogy meme called "What I Do". It's all about the various kinds of technology (hardware, software and services) we use for genealogy.

Depending on what we each do regularly, of course, we may have different needs (and wants). Go to his post to see his original categories and to see a list of recently posted answers from other genealogists.

And, since Thomas is a genealogy technology specialist and has just started a new business venture - The Connected Genealogist - I'm sure we'll see a summary, and some good advice, from him later after he's had a look at the meme results.

Here are my answers. Some you will see relate closely to my genealogy writing, editing and teaching and speaking lives.

“What I Do”

Another interesting exercise!

Here I've mentioned my ‘most-used’ and even with those, I’ve had to look some makes, etc. up. I like to test things out, especially software, if there is a trial offer, but often these don't turn out to be something I find helpful enough and I stop using them quickly.

* Hardware: 2 Toshibas - Amy, a notebook - 266 GB (most) available, Windows 7 - she travels. And Maggie, a laptop, nickname 'Bookworm', but she used to travel a lot – 74 GB available originally, Windows XP. And Minnie, a Gateway Netbook, Windows XP – she goes on short trips and at home, she sits near me much of the time! Also a very old, patched together desktop computer – the less said about her the better now. I have thought about adding another monitor, but MS Windows 7’s Snap may do for now.

Router, etc. for the 2 laptops and Minnie. Computers wireless, but not networked. Lots of bits and pieces of hardware – e.g MicroSoft Presenter 3000 for talks; borrowed projector; but some things are seldom used now, e.g. webcam (as Amy has her own webcam).

* External storage: Iomega drive – 232 GB originally available and an older Bytecc drive (123 GB?) used with a Clickfree Transformer for backup. [Edit: Nope, the Bytecc is 232 GB. It's partitioned; confused me.]

* Online storage: not often – must look into this again. Use GoogleDocs now for class handouts, etc. I do have a free Mozy account. Also an account at Arcalife.

* Backup: see external storage. Also CDs, DVDs for special purposes (especially for publications I work on) – usually use Nero to burn CDs. Also LightScribe.

* Firewall: through router

* Virus protection: Norton, Avast

* Spyware:

* File cleaner:

* Printer: Epson Stylus C88 (ready to retire) and Epson Stylus Photo Printer R380. (I have a separate fax line and a separate (old) fax machine. Works fine – but I might swing to a multi-use general printer later.)

* Phone: land line & a pretty basic Sony Ericsson cell phone – but with Internet access for the few times I do want/need it. (It will work with my computer if I need that and no other Internet available. I have both cordless and (old, but not vintage) corded phones for home.

* Mobile media: Clié PDA – hardly used at all now. (I always call her Clio.) Edit: See my comment way below - I use MyRoots software for genealogy on the PDA.

* Music player: Oh! I have an mp3 player right here ...and portable players for CDs and cassettes. I use these for travel only now.

* Car audio: NONE – it's public transit for me.

* eBook Reader: NONE, unless the eBook is readable on my computer.

* Browser: IE 8 and Firefox

* Blog: Blogger. Have used WordPress in the past for a group blog.

* RSS: various – but for a long time, I've used a personalized Yahoo home page with RSS feeds from many of my favourites and from my own blogs, etc. and a few gadgets. Still like this!

* FTP: Ipswitch WS_FTP Home

* Text editor: usually Windows Notepad

* Graphics: Photoshop Elements/GIMP/Windows Picture Manager/Paint/Picasa/Ifranview/FotoTagger. Also Flickr on-line.

* Screen capture: usually I just use Windows PrtSc.

* Social media: Twitter, Facebook; also GenealogyWise, etc.

* Social bookmarking:

* Social profile:

* URL shortener: tinyurl.com

* Office suite: MS Office Professional 2003 (with 2007 patch). Most used – Word, Publisher, PowerPoint. But I also use Open Office and Scribus (and would like to use an open source presentation software).

* E-mail: Outlook Express (also multiple personal e-mail accounts – gmail, etc. And I have to use Horde for one group purpose.)

* Calendar: Here paper rules! I have a mini 'Reading Woman' calendar on the fridge for 2010 and a weekly paper To Do list I print from my computer. But I use a Google calendar for one group website and for myself, I’ve signed up for regular Hassle e-mail messages – Clean off your desk, Diane! Backup your data! (http://www.hassleme.co.uk/). I sign up on-line for various event reminders, and, of course, for a good number of Google Alerts.

* Accounting: Excel (And for Spending – PayPal! And I make good use of alerts from favourite shopping site – eBay and Abebooks.)

* PDF generator: PDF Converter Professional 6

* Genealogy database: Legacy is now my main programme. Also Family Tree Maker for some reports and demos. And The Master Genealogist.

* Genealogy tools: For cemetery info, indexing, etc.: CemEditor (www.ovs-genealogy.com), MS Excel, OpenOffice Base. Also GenoPro for genograms. FreeMind for mind mapping. (Like iMindMap though.)

* Digital camera – smaller Olympus with four or five spare memory cards. (For the BIG cemeteries, you know.) I’ll move up in this department soon.

* Other tech stuff:
- Lots of flash drives – various capacities – 'assigned' by me to certain portable tasks- like one for library visits - to take with me newspaper library research plans, inventories, and bring home article images (from scans/microfilm).
- Canon scanner CanoScan 4200F (Also use OmniPage SE – OCR, etc.)
- Logitech headset

* Website stuff – hosting services - Shaw and Zenutech (green); also WebServe.ca for one group; domain names, etc. at Webnames.ca. Software – FrontPage 2003 and Drupal (still learning this). Also – genealogy webpages at Tribal Pages and groups at Yahoo and Google Groups and MyFamily.

* DNA - SMGF and GeneTree

* NON-Tech stuff
- A wide array of paper notebooks and binders and my favourite purple pen. A notebook is in my backpack/purse most of the time. Love the ones with several separate sections and I love 'cute' little bitty ones – better than bus transfers and receipts for quick notes, but I'll use any bit of paper in a pinch.
- Magnifiers; including 2 differently sized lighted ones. (They are techy, I suppose.)
- Preservation file folders, envelopes, sleeves, etc. Coloured file folders and coloured sticky bits, file cards, etc. for non-preservation needs.
- Personal library of books, CDs, journals, maps, etc. I use LibraryThing to keep track of many of my genealogy books. And I also guard my academic and other library cards and my copy cards.

That's about it!
Edit: Oh, no, it isn't - I forgot to say I use MyRoots on Clio, my PDA (http://www.tapperware.com/MyRoots).

CanadaGenealogy, or, Jane's Your Aunt - Now Print Friendly

2010-07-08T12:03:00.000-07:00

Following along after Thomas at Geneabloggers.com, and, of course, DearMYRTLE, I've added the Print Friendly button to my blog posts.

DearMYRTLE's great post explains all about it.

If you don't have your own blog or website, you can still add a Print Friendly button to your own tool bar, if you like. I just did.

I'm hoping this saves lots more trees!

Family Portrait - All the Family - Wordless Wednesday

2010-07-08T10:51:00.001-07:00

This family portrait, dogs and all, is a favourite among my stray photograph collection. Although it's clearly a posed photograph, everyone looks quite natural, even great grandmother (?) who might be almost asleep.

There's no identifying information with this image. "3" and "40" are the number plates on the building (2 plates for "40"). No men - was 'Papa' far away, I wonder, or no longer there?

Someone treasured this; it was hung up as there's a pin hole at the top of the mat. (I cropped part of the mat to make the file smaller. It's about twice as wide as what you see.)

Posted for Wordless Wednesday, on Thursday. I didn't get near enough done yesterday, so today, Thursday, is my Wednesday. (I will catch up, I will catch up, I will ....)

Gordon A. Watts on Canada's Censuses

2010-06-30T08:59:00.000-07:00

"Federal Government Destroys Value of Future Census" Gordon A. Watts, Gordon Watts Reports.

As an update to my article yesterday, "Are Canada's Historical Censuses in Jeopardy", please read Gordon A. Watt's article today at Global Genealogy.

Gordon is writing to his Member of Parliament about the federal government's decision to strip the Canadian census of much of its value, and I hope all my Canadian readers will do the same. He will also be filing appropriate Access to Information requests. I'm sure he will keep us updated on the responses and information he receives.

In addition, he is calling for genealogical, family history, historical and associated societies to "band together" to make our views about the importance of the census known to the government.

I also urge you to make your feelings known.

Please read his article here - Gordon Watts Reports.

Are Canada's Future Historical Censuses In Jeopardy?

2010-06-29T18:09:00.000-07:00

Will Canada's family historians, genealogists, academic and independent historians, and even perhaps her statisticians, again have to take time away from their personal, academic and other research to defend Canada's historical censuses?

Many will remember the successful efforts of Canadians to ensure that Canada's 1901 and 1911 censuses were accessible to all, and that post-1911 censuses would be available to future researchers. Compromises were made, and not everyone was quite happy, but in the end, agreement was reached that later censuses would be available to researchers after 92 years had passed successively, and that in 2006, and likely 2011, the census would include a consent clause for future access.

Today, however, there is news about very quiet changes to the census process which would affect historical and genealogical research far into the future. In a CanWest News Service article, today, Shannon Proudfoot's article "Genealogists slam new restrictions on census information" says that Canada's 'long form' census will no longer include the usual broader questions which give a snapshot of the lives of Canadians. Instead, these questions will be included in a "new, voluntary National Household Survey" for selected households which will never be accessible to historical researchers. Presumably the bare statistics will be available, but Statistics Canada's effectiveness will surely be immediately affected by these changes, as data collected from voluntary Household Surveys could never replace that broad collection of data from the national, mandatory census.

Erik Waddell, a spokesman for Canada's Industry Minister Tony Clement, apparently said that this was a government decision, not a Statistics Canada one, and that this was prompted by privacy concerns.

It does not appear, however, that there was any consultation about these changes, nor does there appear to be evidence of any privacy complaints concerning the census.

On the contrary, thousands of Canadians - more than 75,000, petitioned the federal government to guarantee that Canada's historical census information would be available in the future. And as Gordon A. Watts, co-chairman of the Canada Census Committee, the grassroots campaign for census access, is quoted as saying in this article: "The census is the single most important documented information available to the historical and genealogical community."

Almost on the eve of Canada Day, and at a time when many genealogists and family historians are considering how to best celebrate and document Canada's upcoming 150th anniversary in 2017, this is sad and sobering news. Without access to historical census information, Canada's future history would be poor indeed.

"Genealogists slam new restrictions on census information" by Shannon Proudfoot, Canwest News Service. Posted 29 June, 2010 7:02 PM, Canada.com:
http://www.blogger.com/www.canada.com/technology/Genealogists+slam+restrictions+census+information/3217316/story.html

Billie Who? The Annual Swimsuit Edition - Carnival of Genealogy

2010-06-25T00:15:00.000-07:00

This edition of Creative Gene's Carnival of Genealogy is: The Annual Swimsuit Edition! Here are three 1910s photographs from my collections.

These two photographs show my mother (in the middle) and an unknown friend at the shore, probably at Clear Lake, Manitoba, Canada. As you can see, as a child my mother had a very bad habit of writing on photographs in crayon. "ME" she says... (I think the "J. ?" is meant to be her initials, JM.)

From the same album, though is this photograph of a young boy in his bathing costume. Likely he too was from Newdale, Manitoba, where my mother lived. "Billie", I think, it says,

but - oh, dear, Mother dear - Billie Who?

Happy Father's Day, Dad - Vancouver BC

2010-06-20T06:53:00.000-07:00

A sunny Vancouver day! Dad and his mum, Chester Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada, 1920s.

Snapshot from album in personal collection. George William Rogers 1917-1993; Sarah (Saggers) Rogers, 1877-1954.

Before the Internet - Treasure Chest Thursday

2010-06-17T17:57:00.000-07:00

The Pocket Household Encyclopedia: What To Do - How To Do It, compiled and edited by N.H. and S.K. Mager. Pocket edition, 1951, 1953, 1954. (New York: Pocket Books, Inc.) Twelve Big Manuals in One Big Volume, 1000+ charts and illustration, 10,000+ "helpful hints on how to save time, effort, energy and money".

As you can see from its condition and from the repairs, this was an often called for book in our family home - with information on all kinds of topics. From home decorating to first aid, spot removal, etiquette and cooking, insects or vegetables, it was all in here.

I know 'it's all on the Internet' now, but really - wasn't this convenient - and no added expense - no batteries, no power needed - after bringing it home from the bookstore. Sadly, this book is no longer as useful. Its pages are torn, its index has fallen out, it's ready for reincarnation, but not, I hope, in a computer manual. That would be sad!

Now the Magers, I would think, must have been an interesting couple. I wonder if they were both handy? Did they test all their tips? Did they have encyclopedic memories or card files full? Nathan H. Mager and Sylvia (Kornmehl) were their names. (Nathan H. Mager, obituary, The New York Times, published April 3, 1986.)

BC DIGITIZATION SESSION - JUNE 2010

2010-06-16T19:59:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I attended the BC Digitization Update session in Vancouver, BC. This was a follow-up to the BC Digitization Symposium of 2008 which I wrote about then.

Speakers were:

Lynne Copeland, President, Canadiana.org, also University Librarian and Dean of Library Services, Simon Fraser University

Carolyne Presser, Chair, Canadiana.org Marketing & Membership, previously Director of Libraries, University of Manitoba

Simon Neame, Chair, BC Digitization Coalition, and Assistant Director, Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, University of British Columbia

Gordon Coleman, Project Co-ordinator, BC Electronic Library Network

Chris Hives, University Archivist, University of British Columbia Library

There was a good range of participants from Lower Mainland academic and public libraries and larger museums, and a few from outside the region, as well as representatives from the British Columbia Genealogical Society. the British Columbia Historical Federation and the Union of BC Indian Chiefs Resource Centre, the Sto:lo Research and Resource Management Centre and the Pacific Newspaper Group (a division of Canwest Publishing Inc.).

The first presentation was about Canadiana.org's current membership and outreach approaches, next was an update on the BC Digitization Coalition's work, a look at the Digital Collection Builder (DCB) software, and then information on the BC History Digitization Program and its 2010 grants.

There were good questions asked throughout and the session wrapped up with a discussion centred around the participants' comments on the 'Components' document published in the Spring by the BC Digitization Coalition.

I have a lot of ideas and concerns about strategies for digitizing British Columbia and Canada's historical resources, so I'll be posting those and more about these presentations over the next few days.

LINKS

BC Digitization Coalition

BC History Digitization Program

Canadiana.org

Find My Past.com - Free FIFA offer

2010-06-11T05:24:00.000-07:00

When England play, you don't pay!

Are you a football fan? Or is it the others in your family that are? (Many Canadians call it soccer, in case you're wondering.) It's time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup - in South Africa this year. (FIFA - Fédération Internationale de Football Association)

Here in Canada, we'll be able to watch it live on CBC, and hear all the news and analysis, but if you're not that big on the game, DON'T LET THE FAMILY FANS USE YOUR COMPUTER.

During England's games only, from 30 minutes before kick-off, FindMyPast.com will be free for 3 hours. Even the 1911 English and Welsh census records will be free. Only the 'Living Relatives' searches and Memorial scrolls aren't included. (And why is that? But I digress. Never mind, it's a great offer.)

FindMyPast is one of the very best sites for researchers of English and Welsh genealogy and family history and includes the censuses from 1841-1911, a complete on-line index for births, marriages and deaths (BMD) from 1837-2006, overseas BMD indexes, parish records from 1538, a wide array of military records, outbound United Kingdom passenger lists 1890-1960, an electoral roll search, and more.

And, even if you know no one from England and Wales is in your family tree, have a good look at those outbound passenger records as many from Europe 'stopped over' on their journeys to the Americas or Australia, etc. Others may have visited the UK on holiday too.

You will need to be registered first, and I do recommend that you have a look ahead of time at FindMyPast's guides and tutorials, so you'll be ready to run! Follow this FindMyPast link to see the announcement.

I believe the first of England's matches is tomorrow - 12 June, 2010 at 20:30 South African time. Then the others are June 18 at 20:30 and June 23 at 16:00. Check the FIFA schedule to make sure. And check on-line to convert the time. (I usually go to TimeAndDate.com for this.)

FindMyPast wants to hear about your finds - post them on the Facebook page and there will be prizes too. Watch for a competition question for each game on the FindMyPast blog. Recently, there was a cute FindMyPast blog post about animals listed in the census - keep an eye out for anything like this. (And I would sure like to hear about any suffragettes!)

A little hint too - if you are a football fan, and don't want to miss England's games, you can use the free indexes at FindMyPast anytime. After that, you can subscribe, of course, or if you need just a few things, you may be able to use the 'Pay as You Go' options. FindMyPast has a very efficient website and is one of the few genealogy companies that offers 'loyalty' discounts. And, check with your local Family History Center or a local library. You may find that FindMyPast is available for free. (It is at my local Family History Center in Burnaby, BC.)

Movie Poster Restoration event - June 9, 2010 - Moberly Arts & Cultural Centre, Vancouver

2010-06-07T11:14:00.000-07:00

The City of Vancouver Archives is inviting the public to see what they do – on a grand scale.

Archives conservators will be piecing together a huge - 81 inch by 81 inch - 1924 movie poster that was discovered in the Orpheum Theatre during renovations in the 1980s. The poster, Western Luck, offers a glimpse into popular culture in Vancouver in the 1920s. The Orpheum Theatre itself is one of my favourite Vancouver buildings - many happy hours were spent there - and now is a Canadian national heritage site.

Western Luck is a movie poster that is made from six separate sheets of paper, known as a ‘six sheet’, and relatively rare. Staff will join the sheets, flatten the poster and provide information to the public about the process.

When: Wednesday June 9, 2010 between 10:30 am and 2 pm.
Where: Moberly Arts and Cultural Centre, 7646 Prince Albert Street, Vancouver.

Student interns with the Archives have already put in about 100 hours of work to restore the poster. This poster was in very poor condition when received by the Archives in the early 1990s, but if stored properly, the restored poster can last 300 to 500 years or longer. Discussions are underway on long-term storage options.

Conservation started with surface cleaning, removal of the acidic paper backing and separation of the six poster sheets. Each sheet was then specially washed and lined onto Japanese backing paper. Washing removes the soluble acid from paper and increases its life expectancy.

For my 'film-crazy' friends, according to the OMDb, Open Movie Database, and a few other sources, Western Luck was a western (as I might have guessed), directed by George Andre Beranger. The writer was Robert N. Lee and the film starred Charles 'Buck' Jones, Beatrice Burnham, Pat Hartigan, Thomas G. Lingham, J. Farrell MacDonald, Edith Kennick, and Bruce Gordon.

This was written with information from the City of Vancouver Archives: http://vancouver.ca/ctyclerk/archives

The Orpheum Theatre, Vancouver, History & Heritage: http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/cultural/theatres/orpheum/index.htm

Moberly Arts & Cultural Centre blog: http://moberlyartsculturalcentre.blogspot.com/

The Heartfelt - Graveyard Rabbits Carnival, June 2010

2010-05-24T21:03:00.000-07:00

Vedder View Gardens Cemetery, Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada

The topic for the June 2010 edition of the Graveyard Rabbits Carnival is: The Interesting, The Odd, The Beautiful. This topic was submitted by Gail Wall, who authors the blog, Digital Cemetery Walk.

One of the more unusual cemetery headstones I've seen in British Columbia, Canada is this very individual one which is in Vedder View Gardens Cemetery, a family owned cemetery in a beautiful setting in Chilliwack, BC.

With Memories in our Minds and Love in our Hearts.

Jason Michael FRAESS memorial, born 7 August, 1980; died 24 October, 1998. Vedder View Gardens Cemetery, Chilliwack, BC , Canada.

Snowboarding...

"My Prayer" handwritten on the back of the FRAESS memorial.

At the time these photographs were taken, in 2006, there were a couple of other very personal memorials at this cemetery, and, as you can see, many graves with more traditional markers had been decorated with various tokens and momentos, as well as flowers and plants.

This memorial, however, stood out.

The love that went into this marker was impossible to miss.

Recently I attended a seminar on 'The Final Disposition' at Mountain View Cemetery in Vancouver. Some of the discussion there centred on how families might mark the graves and the deaths of loved ones in more meaningful ways in the future.

Although it may not weather as well as a commercial one, and may mean the cemetery has to adapt its landscaping practice, this heartfelt, handmade memorial certainly shows a family commemorating a death in a cemetery in a very personal manner.

Now there are less tangible options too - on-line memorials which might even last much longer than a tombstone. And indeed there are now two digital memorials for Jason Fraess - one on a Facebook page with photographs and one at Making Everlasting Memories with photographs and many memories.

Many families I know are now participating in these kinds of on-line memorials. Cemeteries are often firm on their standards for permanent memorials. Could gravestones become almost a 'thing of the past' or might we see a trend towards more personal, artistic memorials in local cemeteries?

Note: The Abbotsford Genealogical Society has a listing of the burials at this cemetery on-line. (These are not listed in the British Columbia Cemetery Finding Aid.) Unfortunately, perhaps due to the condition of the writing on the memorial now, the dates on the Abbotsford listing are currently incorrect. These photographs were taken by M. Diane Rogers in July of 2006.

This post was written for the Graveyard Rabbits Carnival. To learn more about the Association of Graveyard Rabbits, please have a look at the Association's website.

British Columbia History Journal - Now On-line Free

2010-05-07T09:34:00.000-07:00

Cover photograph showing the sternwheeler 'Nasookin' almost at the Gray Creek wharf in about 1942. Since I usually travel by bus, I love this quirky British Columbian image! Just imagine how exacting those bus drivers must have been to 'balance' the bus just right every time so it would fit. British Columbia History, published quarterly by the BC Historical Federation (BCHF), Spring 2010, Special Transportation issue, Volume 43, Number 1.

Here I am at the British Columbia Historical Federation's annual conference. And right now I'm at the Book Fair which is open to the public today.

Available here is British Columbia History, the BC Historical Federation's journal, which is available to individual subscribers, or on some newstands, and at events like the BCHF Book Fair. British Columbia History is an excellent journal - if you have an interest in British Columbia's history and/or British Columbia families, you should be reading this regularly and checking back issues for articles of interest.

One of the most exciting things to happen recently in BC history and genealogy is the announcement that earlier issues of British Columbia History are now available free on-line.

On-line now are:

Full BCHF publications from 1923-2007 - including the BC Historical Association Annual Reports 1923, 1924, 1929, the BC Historical Quarterly 1937--1958, and BC Historical News/BC History 1968—2007 , together with indexes for the years from 1968-2005, all hosted on the University of British Columbia (UBC) Library's website.

You can browse by year and issue or search by keywords and date. Check the Help section for search operators you can use, like + or -. Note that the advanced search offers 'reversed stemming' searches, so, for example, you can enter the letters - wom - (the search is not case sensitive) and you will find results for passages with any words beginning with those letters - women woman women's, womanly, etc.

Since many of these are quite large files, you often will be prompted to choose the text version which is smaller and faster to load. You can then move back and forth in the text pages.

Also on-line are:

Covers and Tables of Contents for the most recent years - from 2008.

Indexes for Volumes 1-38 (2005).

For access to all these publications and indexes, go to the British Columbia History webpage.

This digitization project was done in partnership with the University of British Columbia Library as part of the BC History Digitization Program and it's intended that British Columbia History will continue to be digitized at five year intervals. The same UBC Library website also hosts British Columbia Reports, a law publication with the texts of legal decisions from 1884 to 1948, which will also be of great interest to genealogists and historians. For more about UBC's BC History Digitization Program, see the Program website.

The Editor of British Columbia History, Andrea Lister, is inviting submissions for future issues. Guidelines for authors are on the BCHF website. (Don't forget though if you are writing an article on British Columbia family history, you might like to submit that to The British Columbia Genealogist, the quarterly journal of the British Columbia Genealogical Society. Contact me for more information on that.)

The BC Historical Federation has been actively promoting interest in the history of British Columbia since 1922. Today the BCHF is the collective voice for over 177 member organizations, from local history groups and museums around the province like the Horsefly Historical Society, the Fort Nelson Historical Society and the Kitimat Museum and Archives to more specialized ones like the Historical Map Society of BC and the Women's History Network of BC. A list of all BCHF members is on the BC Historical Federation website: www.bchistory.ca

Vancouver Postcard Show - May 30, 2010

2010-05-05T23:27:00.000-07:00

Natural Gallery, Nanaimo, BC. - 102,792 J.V. - Souvenir Post Card. The Valentine & Sons' Publishing Co., Ltd. Montreal and Toronto. Published in Great Britain.

Another event for a genealogist to look forward to!

Annual Postcard Show and Sale

Vancouver Postcard Club

Sunday, May 30, 2010

10 am - 4 pm

Hastings Community Centre,

3096 East Hastings St.,Vancouver, BC.

Vancouver Postcard Club website: www.vancouverpostcardclub.ca

For details, call 604 922 9688 or e-mail: dsteele1@shaw.ca

I'll be there. While I'm not expecting quite as many finds as last year - 1910s postcards of my mum's home town in Manitoba, including two from relatives - I'll still be happy to spend most of the day looking at postcards, and talking about postcards.

There'll be other postal history items and ephemera there too. And postcard displays. Always a great show. In fact, last year, attendance was so good, the refreshment stand ran out, so get there early!

Back of Nanaimo Natural Gallery postcard:

Dear Aggie, Just a line to say all G.K. Just had a tremendous rainstorm for 2 1/2 days. No trains in or out of Vancouver for 4 days as the tracks are washed away. E. Gelson leaves tomorrow I have asked him to come to see you. he promised to so look out for him. Please send by return Wellcomes Photographic Diary for 1910 as I keep an account of every days work in them. Don't forget. Best love to you Jess and all. Fred. XXX

Do these names - Fred, Aggie, and Jess - or E. Gelson - sound familiar to anyone?

And, there's some information here on the Photographic Memorabilia website about Wellcome's Photographic Diaries.

BC Historical Federation Book Fair - May 7, 2010 - Vancouver BC

2010-05-04T08:25:00.000-07:00

Authors, heritage organizations and publishers will be on hand May 7th, 2010 to meet the public at the Plaza 500 Hotel in Vancouver at the British Columbia Historical Federation's Book Fair.

This event is a feature of the Federation's annual conference. Don't miss it!

Open to the public from 10am to 5 pm, Friday, May 7th, 2010 at the Plaza 500 Hotel & Convention Centre, 12th and Cambie, 500 West 12th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V5Z 1M2

Easy access by public transit; also parking available. See the Hotel link for a map.

The Book Fair is organized by the British Columbia Genealogical Society (BCGS).

The British Columbia Historical Federation (BCHF), encourages interest in the history of British Columbia through research, presentation, and support and the Federation provides a collective voice for its 177 member societies, representing 23,316 individuals.

How To Budget Your Genealogy $ - Part 3 - Carnival of Genealogy - 93rd Edition

2010-05-01T23:04:00.000-07:00

By now you have a research plan (or plans), you know how much money overall you have to spend on genealogy, and, you've got recommendations from other genealogists or others about appropriate products or services for your planned research. For Part One and Part Two of this discussion, see here (Part 1) and here (Part 2).

Especially if it's a long term subscription to a genealogy website you're considering, here are even more questions to consider.

#4. For a genealogy or related site that’s recommended, or one you’re looking at:

First – does it really have the service, records, indexes, etc. that cover the area, types of records, and dates you need or want? What proportion of its collections do you think will be useful to you?

–are the collections or services growing, or are they static. (And, how long has it been since it’s been added to). Do the claims seem overdrawn? Or, is there specific information about future plans.

–are these collections or services unique or are they available elsewhere - on-line or off, at a library or Family History Center, for $ or free, on microfilm, or even in print?
Could you make a special trip to a library that has access to try the website out? If you feel the price is too high right now, can you tailor your research plans to make use of free access at a library or Family History Center for now or to use a published or filmed source for now? If your research is in a single area, many genealogical societies have developed indexes to local censuses, BMD and other records. Could you use these at a local library or genealogical library, or could you purchase microfiche or CD copies of indexes to use?

–are there special features or benefits associated with the website subscription or membership? Are there free features or is payment required for everything?

–will you need to download special software? How often is that updated? Is the site/service compatible with your technology?

–what kind of options for payment are there? For example, pay for view, credits to purchase (look for a chart to explain this), day pass, tiered memberships or subscriptions, deluxe versions, 3-6 month subscriptions, full year. Membership versus subscription? Does the company offer any 'loyalty' discounts or specials for members or previous subscribers?
What special offers or free trials are there? Might there be a regular month for trials or special offers so you can test the site out first? If not, I usually recommend a short term subscription or the purchase of a reasonable number of credits first.

–what do the Terms and Conditions say? What uses are allowed, special rules, can you share images freely, use them in your own family history publications, do lookups for others? Are you allowed to share a subscription?

–is there a secure payment system? Automatic renewals? What is the Privacy Policy? If you will be uploading data to a website or ‘cloud’, what protection is in place for your information and for your privacy?

–how long has the website/company/society been in business? Check domain name, ‘about us’, ‘our history’. Look for press releases as usually have this info. (But being brand new isn’t necessarily bad.) Who are the owners/investors/volunteers? Are they associated with other groups/companies? What’s their reputation? How ‘big’ is it? Where is it located? Contact information?

What kind of reputation does the company/individual have currently (again look at dated reviews and comments on-line or in genealogy magazines and journals.) Has the website won any awards?

–does it appear there’s good ‘Help’ on the website? Is there a users group on-line or do you already know a number of people using the website or service? Are there help videos available on CD/on-line?

All these questions may sound discouraging, but having these in mind may keep you from signing up for something you just don't need or won't use. Genealogy doesn't have to break the bank! And, if you manage your genealogy $ carefully, you may be able to afford that special genealogy trip you've been dreaming of. (Start a fund for that too.)

And once you do decide to join a website or purchase credits – keep copies of any e-mail or paper receipts, help information, user names, passwords, and ‘keys’ for software. As you research, keep track of credits used, subscription dates, and membership renewal dates. Just in case there is a problem, you'll have the information you need to deal with it quickly.

Happy genealogy shopping!

This was Part 3 of 3. I'm very interested in your comments and ideas about genealogy budgeting. I'll be writing more about this topic in the future.

This post was written for the 93rd Carnival of Genealogy! Hosted by Jasia at Creative Gene.

Lady Mary Teviot, Genealogist, Speaking in Burnaby, May 12, 2010

2010-04-30T11:16:00.000-07:00

The British Columbia Genealogical Society

Is pleased to present

LADY MARY TEVIOT, International Speaker and Genealogist

Speaking on: UNDER USED SOURCES FOR FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH

Wednesday, May 12, 2010, from 7:30-10 pm, Burnaby, BC, Canada

Lady Teviot has been involved with Family History Research for over 35 years. She has undertaken lecture tours in Canada, Australia, South Africa, USA and New Zealand and is an accredited speaker for Surrey, East and West Sussex Women's Institutes. Her company is Census Searches Ltd. which undertakes research into family history, probate and media research.

She is President of the Federation of Family History Societies. She is also Vice Chairman of the Friends of East Sussex Record Office and a Member of the Council of the British Records Association.

BC Genealogical Society and Affiliate Members – free admission.
Non-members - $5.00 at the door.

At the Edmonds Community Centre,
7282 Edmonds Street (corner of Edmonds and Kingsway)
Burnaby, BC

How To Budget Your Genealogy $ - Part 2 - Carnival of Genealogy - 93rd Edition

2010-04-30T10:02:00.000-07:00

This is Part 2 of How To Budget Your Genealogy Money. Part 1 is here.

With your genealogy research plan(s) in hand, and with the realistic total of your overall genealogy budget in mind, now look to see what other genealogists recommend.

Those already savvy in genealogical 'social networking', on-line or off, will have a definite advantage, I'm sure, so you might want to work on those skills - join your local genealogy group! Or if there isn't a group near enough, look into sites like Facebook and Twitter. (Don't forget to include society memberships and any internet expenses in your budget.)

#3. For the geographical area you're interested in or the record types or services, etc., you believe you need and/or want, what do other genealogists recommend? What do they think is the best value for your money (or, in some cases, your time).

Don't enter that credit card number just yet.

Start by using your favourite search engines to look for 'best genealogy' lists and reviews. You might want to create a Google Alert to keep you posted on new on-line articles or comments on something you're looking for. For example: 'online backup reviews'

Look for fuller reviews – especially on genealogy websites and blogs and in magazines and journals, or, if you are looking for a broader service, for backup, for example, look in ‘techy’ websites and publications.

If you're interested in a British or North American genealogy, look in relevant British or North American magazines, but remember genealogists all over the world can have similar interests. Don't restrict yourself to just one area. Your Family Tree, one of the British magazines I read, just published "Computing For Family Historians", a special packaged with Issue 87 which has reviews and great information. (There used to be another British computing and genealogy magazine I liked, so I hope we see this new one again.)

Always check Dick Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter for technology related to genealogy (the free version is good!) and I recommend subscribing to Tara Calishain's Research Buzz e-mail update too. All free!

When you find a review or on-line information about a product or service – ask yourself some hard questions:

- is it written by someone with an affiliate (paying advertisements) or other relationship with the company? Have they declared an interest in the company? Or does the information seem to be written from a press release? (This happens even on otherwise well regarded websites.) Has the reviewer obviously tried out the product or service? Is the review current or is it very dated?

and
- does the review cover the features that you feel matter most to you at this time?

Read recent blog posts or e-mail lists written by people researching your areas. If it's software or a service you're interested in, is there a users' group or specifications or manuals on-line? Check to see if you can participate or read these before purchase.

**Remember to browse or search the Archives of e-mail lists and forums first. Your question may not be as new or as unusual as you think.

Then ask specific questions if you don’t see information. Twitter and Facebook are good for this on-line. Offline, ask in the genealogy and family history groups you meet with. You may find there's an expert in the group, or your questions may spark an invigorating session on 'the best of...' websites or publications. Ask if an expert in your group would hold a session on how to use a website they recommend too. Our BC Genealogical Society just had a well illustrated talk on using the New England Historic Genealogical Society's on-line databases which our Library subscribes to, for instance.

On-line, here are some sites to start out your 'genealogical consumer research' with:

Family Tree Magazine, 101 Best Web Sites 2009: www.familytreemagazine.com/article/101best2009

50 Most Popular Genealogy Websites for 2009. Kory L. Meyerink, MLS, AG, FUGA, ProGenealogists: www.progenealogists.com/top50genealogy2009.htm

40 Best Genealogy Blogs, Family Tree Magazine: www.familytreemagazine.com/article/Fab-Forty

25 Most Popular Genealogy Blogs. Heather Henderson, ProGenealogists: www.progenealogists.com/top25blogs2009.htm

Family History, The 50 best websites The Guardian, 2007: www.guardian.co.uk/news/2007/apr/14/guardianspecial4.guardianspecial226

Digital Librarian: www.digital-librarian.com/genealogy.html

Don't forget Cyndi's List: www.cyndislist.com

Sources of news, reviews –

Geneabloggers.com (not only for bloggers): http://geneabloggers.com

Geneablogger's List of genealogy blogs – with a technology theme:
www.geneabloggers.com/genealogy-blogs-type/technology-blogs

One of my most reads - Modern Software Experience, Tamura Jones, GeneAwards 2009 – Best, worst, dishonourable, not-so-special: http://tamurajones.net

GeneaMusings, Randy Seaver – for hands-on genealogy website reviews: www.geneamusings.com

Top Ten Reviews, Genealogy Software: http://genealogy-software-review.toptenreviews.com

Digital Inspiration (personal technology): www.labnol.org

And these sites with information on evaluating websites, etc. on the ‘Net –

Criteria for Evaluating Internet Resources by Aleteia Greenwood and Professor Douw Steyn, UBC Library, University of British Columbia: www.library.ubc.ca/home/evaluating

Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask, UC Berkeley Library, University of California: www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html

And for good measure:

Dick Eastman's posts on various scams related to genealogy: http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/scams

Kimberly Powell, About.com, How to Identify & Avoid Genealogy Scams: http://genealogy.about.com/od/basics/tp/scams.htm

Domain Tools, domain lookups: http://whois.domaintools.com/

Better Business Bureau of Mainland BC (look for tips, alerts, BBBOnLine): http://mbc.bbb.org/consumers (Look for your own local BBB.)

Guide to Online Security, Consumer Reports: www.consumerreports.org/cro/electronics-computers/resource-center/cyber-insecurity/cyber-insecurity-hub.htm

This is Part 2 of 3. Part 3 - 'before you pay' - is coming very soon. I'll be very interested in your comments and ideas about genealogy budgeting.

This post was written for the 93rd Carnival of Genealogy! Hosted by Jasia at Creative Gene.

How To Budget Your Genealogy $ - Part 1 - Carnival of Genealogy - 93rd Edition

2010-04-30T08:12:00.001-07:00

Some of the more frequently asked questions in genealogy sessions I teach are variants of:

How come every index search I try for genealogy on the Internet leads to a page asking for my credit card information? Shouldn't information be free?

and then,

How can I decide what I should pay for? I don't want to pay for something that's free elsewhere or that I won't really use.

So I sometimes include a session focused on these questions.

Lately I've noticed several magazine articles on 'free genealogy' and some forum discussions too, so this seems a timely topic.

I do feel that much of the very best information for genealogy and family history on the Internet has always been free and I am happy to recommend these sources - RootsWeb.com for example, and FamilySearch.org. Then there are the specialized reference websites, like the Canadian Genealogy Centre for Canadian genealogy and family history and Genuki.org.uk for British. Even the standard version of my favourite genealogy software is free to download - Legacy at Legacyfamilytree.com.

Nothing is really altogether 'free' though - after all, someone is paying the expenses involved in gathering information, compiling indexes and databases and programming and maintaining computers and websites. It might be with volunteer donations, it might be government, or it could be a commercial company like Ancestry.com (for RootsWeb) or Millennia Corporation (for Legacy) paying. We need to let them know how much we appreciate their efforts. (Thank you to all the above from me! )

I believe it's important to emphasize that putting information and services on the Internet does cost money. Genealogy and family history societies, for instance, need to generate some income from their indexes and publications, so that new ones can be developed or older ones updated. Individual genealogists too may be paying all the cost themselves - doing it 'for love'. Here's an article by Lorelle on WordPress that outlines the costs for a genealogy blog, for instance, The Blog Budget. (Sometimes you do see a 'donate please' button on an individual or group's genealogy site. Please consider 'clicking' if you found the website or service helpful.)

Even with all volunteer labour, there are always bills to pay. Sometimes, in the heat of discussion, this is forgotten. I do love getting information for free, but I hope I won't ever begrudge paying for services, publications, or access to indexes, etc. that are worthwhile to me.

Here are some of the questions I ask, and some things I consider when choosing how I will spend my ‘on-line genealogy’ dollars to purchase genealogy and family history services, subscriptions, etc.

#1. What kinds of research are you doing right now or planning to do very soon? Consider: geography, time periods, the types of records you need.

Write up a new research plan for each on-going or future project. (Here's an article by Kimberly Powell about genealogy research plans with an example: Think Like a Detective - Developing a Genealogy Research Plan.)

Can you ‘save up’ research to make a short term subscription ‘pay’? This is what I often do for my on-line Swedish research - which still necessitates using pay sites. After all, a subscription is much cheaper than a trip to Sweden. And when I do get there, I'll be visiting the 'right' places and ready to do more research - parts that can't be done on the Internet or at home.

What services or tools do you feel would be helpful to you?

Do you have any time restrictions? Are you preparing for a reunion or a genealogy trip, perhaps, and need or want to do all you can from home first?

How important is convenience to you right now; how much time do you have (and when)? How important is ease of use; and accessibility. If you have time during the week to visit a library or Family History Center, for example, you may be able to use commercial databases there, but if your genealogy time is 'middle of the night', personal subscriptions make sense.

What type of computer, browser, firewall, etc. do you use? How comfortable are you with computers and the Internet? Do you have a technology ‘guru’ of your own? (Some sites require you to use specialized software, for example. More on this later.)

#2. What’s your $ genealogy budget? Be realistic here :-)

Be sure to think about both on-line and off-line genealogy. Do you plan to order a number of English marriage certificates, soon, for instance, or is there a genealogy seminar or conference coming up? Would you like to take a special class in the fall? Or are you determined to have an autosomal DNA test done?

Think about adding in at least a small $ cushion for those unexpected opportunities, maybe that hard to find book that pops up in an e-Bay listing.

You'll notice that I put the $ question second. That's because I feel if you don't have a research plan, and haven't thought about your own research preferences and restrictions, then no matter how many dollars you have, you won't get the best results.

This is Part 1 of 3. Part 2 - how to find genealogical recommendations and reviews - is coming very soon. I'll be very interested in your comments and ideas about genealogy budgeting.

This post was written for the 93rd Carnival of Genealogy! Hosted by Jasia at Creative Gene.

A Festival of Postcards - Ocean Falls British Columbia Canada

2010-04-25T18:55:00.000-07:00

View from Clara Marian Mountain, Ocean Falls, BC. (See below.)

Coloured photographic postcard, unused. Made in Canada by the Gowen, Sutton Co. Ltd. Vancouver, BC. The principals of Gowen, Sutton Co. Ltd. were Frank Henry Gowen and Alfred James Sutton "and their wives". (Originally Lillian Sutton and Gertie Gowen. Quote from Frank Gowen's Vancouver, 1914-1931 by Fred Thirkell and Bob Scullion, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada: Heritage House, 2001, page 9.)

It's time for A Festival of Postcards, the 8th Edition.

The topic this time: GEOGRAPHY

A Festival of Postcards is an online showcase of the best postcards in the blogosphere from family and local historians and deltiologists. Everyone is welcome. There’s just one condition – you must love postcards!

This was my chance to pull out all those landscape, map and other vintage postcards depicting Earth’s natural features and take another look at them.

I chose this card showing Ocean Falls, British Columbia, for three reasons

First, because this image of Ocean Falls illustrates one part of my home province's very varied geography - the Pacific Coast. Ocean Falls, at the head of Cousins Inlet, north east of Bella Bella, was first developed as a sawmill operation in the 1900s. The nearby lake, the source of the falls for which the area was named, was soon dammed for power, and from the 1910s, a pulp and paper operation was established here. This was closed down in the 1970s and the town almost abandoned.

Over the years, many, many families lived and worked at Ocean Falls, some for a short time, others for decades. The Ocean Falls Museum is collecting stories about life here. At one time the town was a busy, thriving community, but this was always a remote area, accessible from the sea by boat or by float plane, and although British Columbia's Pacific Coast is 'renowned' for its plentiful rainfall, Ocean Falls has apparently the greatest annual rainfall in Canada.

The second reason I chose this card was because it mentions a landmark named for a woman, or women, - I collect cards like this - and because it illustrates that you shouldn't always believe what you read in print. The mountain at Ocean Falls is and was commonly and officially named Mount Caro Marion, (not Clara Marian), likely for two young women who climbed it early on - although there isn't the best evidence about those details. (See the British Columbia Geographical Names site.)

And thirdly, because it's almost the end of Earth Week - and the history of Ocean Falls reminds British Columbians, no matter their politics, of the social and environmental challenges we face. This video brings that home, I think.

Ocean Falls Musimentary

Directed by Tony Papa of Avanti Pictures. Winner of Much Music Video award, 1995.

Family History Talk - WW I War Brides - Maple Ridge, April 22, 2010

2010-04-21T11:08:00.000-07:00

CANADIAN WAR BRIDES
OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR
with family historian Annette Fulford

Thursday, April 22, 2010
7:30 pm
St. Andrew’s Heritage Church
22279 116th Ave, Maple Ridge
Presented by the Maple Ridge Historical Society
Members free, visitors $2.00

Annette Fulford's website: Canadian War Brides of the First World War

Canadian Genealogy Carnival - 9th Edition - Fashion Fads

2010-04-16T19:50:00.000-07:00

It's time for the 9th Edition of the Canadian Genealogy Carnival.

The theme is: Canadian Fashion Fads.

Here's another of my 'favourite' family photographs. Most people would dress up, if they could, for a family portrait as this family did. The mother's dress is made in a very 'plush' fabric with an apron-like front and ruffled skirt, applied decoration and buttons, and she shows off her lace cuffs and a polka dot collar or tie, and jewellery. I don't believe this style of dress was fashionable that long. The little boy is certainly well outfitted too; his father and the baby look quite plain in comparison.

I hope that this photograph was taken in late fall or winter, as that dress, fancy as it is, looks very warm!

The photographer, W. B. (William Berthour) St. John, was active in Minnedosa, Manitoba, Canada, from 1884, when he opened up a portable photographic gallery, to about 1925. I have copies of other family photographs taken by him. I have only tentatively identified this photograph - but I'm sure it's of an IRWIN family. If you recognize this photograph, please get in touch with me.

I read an IRWIN joke a few days ago in an old Manitoba newspaper - the Daily Nor-Wester, March 20, 1897, page 3.

May Irwin, an actress, (originally from Whitby in Ontario, Canada) explained to a reporter that she had "received a bushel of letters from people named Irwin who want to claim me as a relative. They tell me that I am the perfect picture of Cousin Betsy or Aunt Mary. The joke of it is that Irwin is only my stage name." (May Irwin, Georgina May Campbell, Wikipedia.)

This week I spoke with someone who thought we might be related through our Irwin lines. If so, we decided it must be a long way back, but never fear - I am happy to hear from possible (and known) IRWIN relatives.

Miss M. YOUNG, Arran, Scotland - Photograph

2010-04-06T10:58:00.000-07:00

For Canada's Tartan Day!

A charming image, I think, of Miss M. YOUNG, Kinloch Cottage, Lochranza, Arran. Stray photograph, bought in British Columbia, Canada; private collection.

For Arran, Scotland genealogy queries, contact the Genealogy Section, Isle of Arran Heritage Museum.

Could their Hands be Clues? Family Photographs

2010-04-05T15:06:00.000-07:00

Amy (IRWIN) SCOTT and Muriel SCOTT, my Na and my Mum, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, 1930s. Snapshot, private collection. Photographer unknown.

I’m always interested in information about the history of photography and photographers, especially in Canada, and in identifying family photographs.

We often see photographs with someone's hands prominently positioned, particularly in modern wedding photographs, but also in older photos like that above that seem meant to illustrate a close relationship between the subjects. Could these photographs be of help in identifying the same parties in other photographs?

While searching for a newspaper article the other day, I came across an article in the Victoria Colonist from 1909¹ that caught my eye, titled “The New Test For Criminals”.

According to this, an Italian scientist, Professor Tamassia, had suggested that photographs of the back of the hands of criminals could be substituted for their fingerprints. Photographs were to be taken with the hands hanging down – the veins would then be more obvious. Actual fingerprint patterns might be damaged or even destroyed by criminals with acid or burning, but according to the article, the pattern of the veins on the back of the hands and on the surface of the foot is unique to each individual. Photographs of the feet could even be used to identify individuals who had lost their hands.

A similar article in the New York Times² gave many more details of the idea, identifying Tamassia as a Professor at the University of Padua and quoting from an article in The Scientific American Supplement. I found a number of newspaper articles about this from the 1910’s to 1914. In the Fort Wayne Sentinel,³ for instance, 4 December 1913, a report from New York says that the Professor had said “the merest novice” could identify differences in vein patterns on the hands, whereas “long training” was needed before fingerprints could be identified. Almost the same information appeared in The Washington Post, 5 December, 1913.⁴ This article was identified as from a “Special Cable” to the Post from Rome.

The Professor’s system even figures in a mystery story in a book by Arthur Benjamin Reeve, The Poisoned Pen, Chapter XI, “The Invisible Ray” (1912) but was it ever used by any police departments, I wonder?⁵

I couldn’t help but connect the Professor's 100 year old idea with the biometric identification methods used, and proposed, today – like scanners which match the patterns of veins on an employee’s hands. ⁶ (His must have been another idea before its time.)

But, of course, being a genealogist, I thought more about the possibility of identifying or confirming information in old family photographs, and then I had to have a look for some family photographs with hands shown fairly clearly, like this one, which so far I'm unable to confirm as James Irwin (born 1821, County Cavan, Ireland; emigrated and lived at Cambray in Victoria County, Ontario, Canada; migrated and died 1910, Neepawa, Manitoba, Canada).

Believed to be James IRWIN of Cambray, Ontario, Canada. Photographer E. (Eli) Williamson, Lindsay, Ontario. From the back of the card - "Photographs and Pictures of all kinds taken in the Latest and Best Style. Prices Low. Satisfaction Guaranteed." Private collection.

Notes
1. Victoria Colonist, Sunday, 13 June 1909, page 10: http://www.britishcolonist.ca/
2. “Identify Criminals By Veins On Hands” New York Times, Monday, 5 September, 1910, page 3: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D02E0D61E39E333A25756C0A96F9C946196D6CF
3. “May Supplant Finger Print” Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA, Thursday, 4 December, 1913, page 12.
4. The Washington Post, District of Columbia, USA, Friday, 5 December, 1913, page 12.
5. See the mystery story on-line at Classic Reader: http://www.classicreader.com/book/1909. See also the Wikipedia Italia article, "Arrigo Tamassia": http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrigo_Tamassia
6. “Subway Anti-Terror Scanner At Hand” by Patrick Gallahue, 18 June, 2008 http://www.nypost.com/seven/06182008/news/regionalnews/subway_anti_terror_scanner_at_hand_116051.htm

Swedish Genealogy - Arkiv Digital free this weekend

2010-03-20T10:48:00.000-07:00

Swedish postcard, dated 1908.

If anyone is doing Swedish research, Arkiv Digital (aka AD Online) is free till Sunday night (but Swedish time, I think): http://www.arkivdigital.net/

See this link first: http://www.arkivdigital.se/download/images/nyhetsbrev/719/AD_Newsletter_20100319_english.pdf

'My Own Swedes'
AXNER, BROSTRÖM, ERIKSSEN, JOHANSON, LOFHOLM, RYDBERG & ZETTERBERG: SWEDEN TO CANADA: http://www.tribalpages.com/tribes/swedesinbc

Genealogy/Family History Events Coming Up in BC - Free Draw

2010-03-18T07:48:00.000-07:00

The sun is shining, spring is almost here, and so many genealogical and family history events are coming up soon in British Columbia. All are reasonably priced or even free.

Since these will be great events (and I'm involved in a number of them - one way or another), I want to highlight them. And already there are several interesting events scheduled for the fall, so watch for more about those later.

The first event, sessions on using the One-Step Webpages for genealogy research with Stephen Morse, is SOLD OUT!

But I have two tickets to give away. If you're a local reader, and you comment on any of my blog posts, including this one, by Sunday, March 21, your name will go in this draw. No spam though! Let me know you're interested in attending the seminar, and let me know how to reach you too. (You can e-mail me at canadagenealogy@shaw.ca with contact info, but be sure to comment on the blog too.)

UPCOMING EVENTS

March 28, 2010, Sunday, Stephen Morse Seminar, BC Genealogical Society and the Jewish Genealogical Institute of BC, Vancouver, BC.

SOLD OUT! Afternoon seminar with Stephen Morse, creator of the One-Step Webpages searches for genealogy. His One-Step Webpages are a must for many kinds of genealogical research, for instance, passenger lists and census searches, as well as for more specialized searches, for example, in Eastern European research. Information: http://www.bcgs.ca/

April 8, 2010. Thursday, "Destination Canada", Victoria Genealogical Society.

"Destination Canada: A genealogist’s guide to immigration records". Dave Obee will discuss his new book, (now available from the BC Genealogical Society Boutique), and Victoria material not in the book. 7:30 pm. Visit Dave Obee’s website at http://www.daveobee.com/ and the Victoria Genealogical Society: http://www.victoriags.org/

April 13, 2010, Tuesday, Canadian Church Records, Central Branch, Vancouver Public Library.

Canadian Church Records - learn about a very useful source of information in Canada, especially for research before civil registration begins in Canadian provinces. Tuesday, April 13, 10:30 am-12:30 pm, Central Branch, Vancouver Public Library, Meeting Room 492, Level 4. Register ahead; telephone 604-331 3716. More information - www.vpl.ca/cgi-bin/api/calendar.cgi

April 10, Women’s History Fair, Vancouver, Women’s History Network of British Columbia. Free!

Over 20 displays illustrating British Columbia women’s history – with participation from museums and archives, women’s organizations, historical societies and cultural groups. The BC Genealogical Society will be there with a display on Researching Female Ancestors. Free; no registration needed. 1-4 pm. Promenade, Central Branch, Vancouver Public Library. Co-sponsored by the Vancouver Courier newspaper, the Special Collections Department of the Vancouver Public Library and the Herstory Cafe. More information: http://www.whnbc.ca/

April 10, 2010, Saturday, Ukrainian Cultural Afternoon, Cloverdale Branch, Surrey Public Library.

Ukrainian Roots session with speaker Vera Shpolyansky. 12:30 to 2 pm. Pre-register. Call 604-598-7328 or see more information at: www.spl.surrey.bc.ca/Programs+and+Services/Programs+and+Classes/Genealogy

April 17, Saturday, Finding Your Female Ancestors, Cloverdale Branch, Surrey Public Library.

Finding Your Female Ancestors: Paper Trails and DNA.

Morning seminar - speakers M. Diane Rogers and Laurie J. Cooke. Diane Rogers, President of the British Columbia Genealogical Society and Secretary of the Women's History Network of BC, is a well experienced sleuth when it comes to tracking down elusive female ancestors. Laurie J. Cooke, Cloverdale Genealogy Librarian, is quite obsessed with DNA for Genealogy – especially if it can help establish maternal lineage without the advantage of surnames.
Learn how to locate and honour your own female ancestors with some excellent research tips and the latest on using DNA for maternal lines. 10:30 am-12. Pre-registration required. Call 604-598-7328 or see more information at: www.spl.surrey.bc.ca/Programs+and+Services/Programs+and+Classes/Genealogy

April 17, 2010, Saturday, Family History Fair, Nanaimo Family History Society.

Family History Fair with speaker Else Churchill of the Society of Genealogists, London, England, and as well a session on Legacy Family Tree software. More than 20 exhibitors from BC including the BC Genealogical Society’s Boutique. All day, Beban Park Social Centre, Nanaimo. Register now – details: www.members.shaw.ca/nfhs

May 2-4, 2010, Family History Weekend with Dave Obee, at Painter's Lodge, Vancouver Island.

A three day course with Dave Obee, well known British Columbia genealogist and regional historian. Dave will teach you how to add to your family history with research in local history and social history, as well as how to use a wide variety of family history sources. At Painter’s Lodge on Vancouver Island near Campbell River. May 2 – 4. Register now – see www.painterslodge.com/specials/live-and-learn

May 6-8, 2010, BC Historical Federation Conference, Vancouver.

Family History in British Columbia Workshop, with Dave Obee.
Be better prepared to research the rich history of British Columbians. Of interest to
historical researchers as well as genealogists, this workshop will identify the most important sources for family historians, and help to explain some of the differences between British Columbia and the rest of Canada, as well as the differences between regions of the province. It closes with a session on how to compile information, making it more accessible to others.
To register, see the BC Historical Federation conference webpages: http://www.bchistory.ca/ or call 604-466-2636. See Dave Obee's website as well: http://www.daveobee.com/

Conference - May 6-8. Transportation is the theme! Streetcar tour, behind the scenes visits to museums and archives, Mountain View Cemetery tour. Plaza 500 Hotel, Vancouver. To register, see the BCHF conference webpages: http://www.bchistory.ca/ or contact Barbara Coles:
info@vancouver-historical-society.ca or 604-878-9140.

Free conference Book Fair, featuring authors, book sellers, publishers and heritage groups. Co-ordinated by the BC Genealogical Society, Thursday, May 6th from 6-10 pm and Friday, May 7th from 8 am-5 pm, Plaza 500 Hotel. See http://www.bchistory.ca/ for more details.

May 8, 2010, Saturday. Learn to make Digital Collages. Cloverdale Branch, Surrey Public Library.

Fast and Easy Digital Collages using Picasa, with Laurie J. Cooke, 10:30-11:30 am. Call 604-598-7328 or see more information at: www.spl.surrey.bc.ca/Programs+and+Services/Programs+and+Classes/Genealogy

May, 2010, Victoria Genealogical Society Seminar, Victoria.

Featuring Lady Teviot of Census Searches, and a Fellow of the Federation of Family History Societies. Details soon: http://www.victoriags.org/ Census Searches website: http://www.census-searches.co.uk/

June 3-6, 2010, United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada conference, Vernon, BC.

The UELAC conference includes a look at British Columbia’s pioneer history and the role of United Empire Loyalist descendants in the province. Conference webpage:
www.uelac.org/BTM2010.html

Mum's Secrets - Treasure Chest Thursday

2010-03-04T11:58:00.000-08:00

Long ago, when I was a youngster, this book of my mum's was in our house. At some point, like most of the books in our house, it ended up in my room on the bookshelves Dad made for me. As far as I remember, it was in poor shape then, and at some point was taped together as you can see now. (Not by me, I swear!)

My Mum was already 31, almost 32, when she had me, and I never heard many stories about her as a young woman. Her possession of this well worn book on palmistry added a bit of mystery to her personality for me. I always knew her as quite a practical, clear-headed, little nonsense type person, although we did have a Ouija board - all for fun - and I remember we had our fortunes told in the tea leaves at a tea room on Granville Street in Vancouver once when I was a child . Now I don't even remember what was said. I just remember us having tea out together, maybe as this was something a little unusual.

The pressed flowers were hers. Now I wonder what they meant to her...

Cheiro's last words of 'Advice To The Student'

Lastly, do not be for ever on the look out for faults and failings in the subject whose hands you may be examining, remember no one is perfect, and that faults and failings may in the end be as stepping stones "by which we rise from our dead selves to higher things."

Palmistry For All by Cheiro (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, Limited, 1920).

Cheiro, aka William John Warner, Count Louis Hamon, biographical information at the Astrologers' Memorial, developed by Donna Cunningham.

Some of you know me; I just have to look people up. I took a quick look, but didn't see a mention of where Cheiro was buried (or not). I wondered if he had an interesting gravestone. Does anyone know?

Irwin-Carmichael at Newdale Manitoba - Wordless Wednesday

2010-03-03T14:25:00.001-08:00

Wordless Wednesday - almost! IRWIN-CARMICHAEL Family, Newdale, Manitoba, Canada

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Two Tickets for Sweden, please!

2010-02-27T23:02:00.000-08:00

Over at Genea-Musings, it's time for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun.

This time Randy Seaver asked

If you won the grand prize in the Ancestry.com Ultimate Family History Journey Sweepstakes of $20,000 for genealogy travel to places of your choice, where would you go, and what would you do?

Well, I don't think there's any question in my case - the Dear Daughter and I would start packing for Sweden!

We'd look for some help planning our trip first though as there's so many ancestral places we'd want to visit, for instance, Axmar Bruk and Gåsholmen, Hamrånge; Woxsäter and Bollnäs, Gävleborgs; Gallivare, Norrbotten; Brunflo and Hallesjo, Jämtland.

And I'd want to visit the major Archives sites in Sweden and the Swedish Emigrant Institute, if possible. And there seem to be a good number of genealogical events in Sweden, mostly organized by member groups of The Federation of Swedish Genealogical Societies.

Of course, if our trip was like the television shows and the commercials, we'd find all the info we're seeking in a very short time, so we might even get to see lots of museums, the Swedish Northern Lights and, of course, we'd have time to visit a real IKEA and buy a souvenir or two (Orrefors for me).

Ancestry.com's Grand Prize is $20,000 travel money for one lucky person, but also an eight hour consultation with an expert genealogist. (Might that be Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak? Way Cool!) And five experts in fields relevant to your personal family history (Swedish military records and bouppteckning/estate inventories...) to help you learn even more and Annual World Deluxe Subscriptions for you and five family members.

Now that last prize is interesting. I often do wish I had five relatives that were that interested in genealogy, but maybe that last prize might bring a 'new to us' relative or two out of the woodwork. Like winning the big lottery, eh?

Our Swedish Surnames:
AXNER, BROSTRÖM, ERIKSSEN, JOHANSON, LOFHOLM, RYDBERG & ZETTERBERG: SWEDEN TO CANADA: http://www.tribalpages.com/tribes/swedesinbc

Winter 2010 Geneabloggers Games!

2010-02-27T22:18:00.000-08:00

From a Newdale, Manitoba snapshot album. Believed to be Mary Janet WOOD of Nottawa, Ontario, Canada. Damaged; poor condition. Private collection.

These were very challenging Games this year, as the 2010 Geneabloggers Games schedule involved 2 out of town visits and then visitors to my home. Since those Other Games are going on in my own home town, there's been a lot going on all around us even when I was home.

So, as many may have expected, I did much better in the categories that allowed me to compete on-line and late at night and far from home.

Here are my results:

#3. Organize Your Research

Here I did well – Platinum! completing almost all the tasks.

Mostly these items organized were from my mother’s collections or were Newdale, Manitoba, Canada photographs. The Master List was not completed. I do have a list, but since many of my things have recently been moved and re-organized, this is now out of date. This will be a priority in March.

#4. Expand Your Knowledge

Here I won a Bronze, but I did teach a class on Maps. Coaching like that should get me a little bonus 'warm fuzzy'.

#6. Reach Out and Perform Genealogical Acts of Kindness

Again, Platinum! In this category, I had intended to post some more cemetery photographs at the BC Genealogical Society’s Cemetery Committee Flickr group, but just didn’t make that finish line. That too will be a priority in March. But I certainly did comment on-line and I encouraged several groups of genealogists to join Facebook and Twitter! I did two lookups and I indexed 2 cookbooks as well.

All in all good exercise! Thanks and congratulations to all the participating, and cheering Geneabloggers. We all appreciate the enthusiasm!

GIRVIN SASKATCHEWAN FLASHLIGHT PHOTO - A CARNIVAL OF POSTCARDS

2010-02-22T20:58:00.000-08:00

Divided back postcard, black and white. Postmarked Girvin, Saskatchewan, 1911. 'Stray' postcard, from private collection.

The theme for the upcoming Festival of Postcards is:

Light!

Here's my submission - a Saskatchewan, Canada postcard showing a 'real photograph' - a flashlight photograph.

Addressed to: Miss Gertrude Walker, Earl Grey, Sask.

Postmark: Girvin, Sask, Fe 21 [??]

Message:

Girvin Sask Feb. 21st, 1911
Well old girl how are you? Still in the land of the living? This is a flashlight we had the other night after the carnival – printed a little dark but I guess you can find me asleep. Yours, L. Doull [?]
Know the parson?

In the 1900s, ads in newspapers appeared offering flash sheets and flash powders to amateur photographers. Professional photographers too offered their services in photographing interiors of houses or offices, or party or family groups at home.

For more about some of the techniques, see Chapter IX. Flashlight Photography by F. J. Mortimer, F.R.P.S., (Editor of the Amateur Photographer and Photographic News.) in The Sinclair Handbook Of Photography edited by James A. Sinclair (London, England: James A. Sinclair & Co., Ltd., 1913). Text on-line at Chest of Books, developed by Stas Bekman of Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Girvin was part way between Regina & Saskatoon in Saskatchewan; now apparently it’s not quite a ghost town. See some photographs at Mike Stobbs' Girvin Saskatchewan "The Street's are There But The Signs are Gone" website.

Immigrants in Canada's West - 1898 - Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy

2010-02-18T08:23:00.000-08:00

Titled: "John Klatt family. Emigrated from Tubitz, Galicia, about 1893." Vicinity, Lemberg, Saskatchewan, Canada, c. 1906. Theodor Nickel collection / Library and Archives Canada / C-089684. (Note: there are other KLATT photographs at Library and Archives Canada - some can be viewed on-line.)

"Immigration Statistics - Canada, 1899

The Heterogeneous Mass of Which the Future Populations is to be Composed - Nineteen Nationalities Represented.

... the Canadian Pacific land department last year sold parcels of land in Manitoba and the Northwest to 289 foreigners. The nationality of the purchasers being as follows:

Austria 71

Russia 62

France 22

Belgium 20

Sweden 19

Iceland 12

Norway 9

Hungary 6

Denmark 3

Bohemia 2

Findland 2

Galicia 2

and one each from Holland, Switzerland, Roumania, Italy, Turkey, Poland and Prussia.

During 1898, purchasers from the British Islands numbered 221 divided as follows: England 208; Scotland 74; Ireland 36; and Wales 3."

From the Morning Telegram, January 30, 1899, page 1. Spelling shown is as in the article. Found at Manitobia.ca - http://www.manitobia.ca/

Third Annual iGene Awards - Academy of Genealogy and Family History

2010-02-15T20:54:00.000-08:00

It's time for the 90th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy:

The Third Annual iGene Awards, The Best of The Best!

It's Academy awards time... time for the Academy of Genealogy and Family History, aka AGFH, to honor their best blog posts of 2009 in the following 5 categories:

Best Picture - Best old family photo that appeared on your blog in 2009. Tell us which you liked best and why.

The best family photograph of 2009 is the IRWIN family reunion group portrait that appeared in the Carnival of Genealogy - IRWIN Family Reunites - Manitoba Canada. Although it is a nice photograph of a handsome family, you will have to see the photograph to see why it deserves special recognition!

Best Screen Play - Which family story that you shared in 2009 would make the best movie? Who would you cast as your family members?

Remembrance Day 2009 - Muriel Scott - George Rogers, Vancouver BC Canada was 'almost' a movie. It's a slide show about my parents and their service in the Canadian Army during World War II. I'd certainly like to do more with the information I have.

Maybe a movie would be good... let's see, I have to be historical, of course, perhaps Norma Shearer could play Mum as the young 'Scottie', and who as Dad? Well, I know who Mum would want playing opposite herself, Ramón Novarro!

Best Documentary - Which was the best informational article you wrote about a place, thing, or event involving your family's history in 2009?

The Vancouver Exhibition, 1927 - Carnival of Genealogy, written for the 80th Carnival of Genealogy, is the winner here. Although I have no specific details about the Rogers family's experience at the 1927 Fair, I researched in historical newspapers and in publications to see what their Fair visits might have been like. Sometimes we need to do this, to flesh out the few details we have left to us.

Best Biography - Which was the best biographical article you wrote in 2009?

The winner in this category is They Worked - Smile For The Camera - Beekeeping in Ontario Canada, a short piece about Samuel Wood of Nottawa. Ontario, Canada.

Best Comedy - Which was the best funny story, poem, joke, photo, or video that you shared on your blog in 2009?

No question - the funniest thing I shared in 2009 was Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Famous (?) Look-alikes. Wow! Me and Burt Reynolds together, well, sort of. (Thank you, Randy Seaver!)

The IGene Award spotlights all Geneabloggers' efforts at recording their genealogy and family history in 2009. For a look at all those recognized by the AGFH for 2009, go to Creative Gene where the winners will be seen very soon.

Winter 2010 GeneaBloggers Games

2010-02-15T19:00:00.000-08:00

In keeping with the spirit of the season, I'm participating in the Winter 2010 GeneaBloggers Games which began Friday, 12 February 2010 and go right through Saturday, 27 February 2010.

The Summer 2008 GeneaBloggers Games were a great success in attracting both new and experienced genealogists to blogging and gave established bloggers a chance to meet others and to promote their research and writing. Here is a link to my own 2008 Summer Sports posts.

These Winter 2010 GeneaBlogger Games will be the same - and they will be a neat spectator sport! There is no pressure on participants or viewers to participate in all the games, but I hope many will and look forward to seeing the results and cheering all the medal winners.

Opening Ceremonies, including a parade of heritage flags, is already up at Geneabloggers and the Closing ceremonies will be there too. And, once again this year footnoteMaven has designed the badges and medals. Thank you footnoteMaven! And thanks to Thomas MacEntee for all his organizing work behind the scenes.

My own 'Current Genealogy Research' heritage banner which you see displayed here includes the flag of Scotland, for my maternal DNA line back to Islay, Scotland (and beyond), the flag of Sweden for my research on my husband's family, and the flag of my own country, Canada, where I'm always researching someone.

I've qualified to participate in these three Competition Categories this year:

#3. Organize Your Research
#4. Expand Your Knowledge
#6. Reach Out and Perform Genealogical Acts of Kindness

For my first run down the slope this week, I'll be re-organizing my scanned photographs into a new computer and tagging a certain percentage of these as well. I have been practicing for some time for this event, and I got a good workout at the January Scanfest too, so I hope to make good time in this run. No more bunny hills for me! (The Apres-ski part is always fun though.)

For the Winter Game details, please see the Winter 2010 GeneaBloggers Game page at GeneaBloggers.

Newdale Curlers? 8th Edition - Canadian Carnival of Genealogy

2010-02-14T11:22:00.000-08:00

"Genuine curlers' brooms at Sparling's. These brooms are specially adapted for household use." Minnedosa Tribune, 29 January 1903, page 3.

Canadian prairie women were (and are) avid curlers. The historical newspapers often mention 'ladies curling', but seldom seem to give the women's names. (The men do often have their names published.) I believe this photograph, from a family collection, shows a group of Newdale, Manitoba, Canada women and children at a curling event. I suspect the 'ticketed' women must be the members of the women's team. Unfortunately, there's no identification with the photo, but I do recognize my Na in the front row and a few other women. If you recognize someone, please do let me know.

Curling was always a big sport in Newdale - 2009 was the 100th anniversary of the Newdale Curling Club. My grandmother talked often about the year she was on a trophy winning team and she displayed the team photograph in her apartment. Silly me, why did I never ask her exactly which year that was? Researching that is one of my goals for 2010.

Posted for the 8th Edition of the Canadian Genealogy Carnival, hosted by Looking For Ancestors.

January Genealogy - Finds and Favourites

2010-02-04T11:59:00.000-08:00

CanadaGenealogy, or, Jane's Your Aunt isn't a baby anymore. She is now five years old! Her first post was 3 February, 2005. Seems like yesterday, really.

I've planned to do a few new things on the blog this year. Other bloggers. like Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings are already featuring 'best of genealogy' posts of the month or week. I do appreciate those lists, but wouldn't want to do quite the same thing.

Since I spend quite a bit of time on the 'net, sometimes, it seems, just wandering around admiring little nuggets and niches here and there, I thought I'd share some of each month's 'finds and favourites' with my readers the first week of the next month. I'm hoping some links will be helpful, or that an occasional find will make you think, or perhaps even give you a genea-laugh. After all, some of my finds might be quirky, but you just never know when stray genea-information will come in handy, do you?

So here's January 2010's list of Find and Favourites - more than a baker's dozen here, in no particular order:

1. Backupify - The ever helpful Thomas MacEntee at GeneaBloggers wrote about Backupify, a new service to back up one's on-line data at websites like Twitter and, yes, I signed up! This will be added protection for my tweets and updates, but also for my Flickr photos and this blog. So far, Backupify works with Twitter, Google Docs, Wordpress,G-Mail, Facebook, Zoho, Delicious, Flickr, Basecamp and Photobucket.

Thomas mentioned an article about Backupify at Digital Inspiration too - excellent site for news and views about all kinds of practical web tools and technology. The free Backupify offer has now been extended to February 15, 2010, so do have a look and see if this might be helpful to you.

2. Black History, Library and Archives Canada – February is Black History Month and LAC introduced a new Black History Month portal page with links to Black History information at LAC and at outside sites. Glad to see this as I'm sure this type of portal page attracts new readers and researchers. I hope this one will be expanded over the next while.

3. Lost Cousins – The biggest genealogy news in January for me was that Lost Cousins has added the 1911 Irish census to its matching system. That census information is free from The National Archives of Ireland. (By the way, Library and Archives Canada was a key partner in the Irish historical census project and digitized both the 1901 and 1911 Irish censuses.)

Do you have ancestry from the British Isles? Are you not a member of Lost Cousins? Why not? You can register for free, or for under $20 Canadian, you can be a full member with additional benefits. Go to LostCousins.com to learn more about it and to register.

4. Who Do You Think You Are-Live 2010 – the UK's National History Show has added on-line 'What's Your Story' guides from The National Archives of the UK for those with ancestors who were in the Army, or who were criminals, divorced, Irish, Jewish or Scottish, and migrants. Attending this show sounds like a dream genealogy vacation indeed. WDYTYA -Live 2010 is February 26-28th in London, England. In case you can attend, several companies have 2/1 ticket offers, including S & N Genealogy and History Times .

5. Elevator history - I have to confess I've never thought much about elevator history, except to admire some of the older ones I've been in, for example, in the old Provincial Courthouse in Victoria, now the Maritime Museum, but here's a neat website, The History of Elevators, with links on elevator history, including the virtual Elevator Museum. You might find an elevator inventor in the family. (This website is courtesy United Elevator in case you need an elevator repaired in the greater Vancouver area of BC.)

6. Recipe Calculator from SparkRecipes - I've volunteered for a heritage cookbook project. (More about that later.) Here's a nifty calculator for the nutritional value of a recipe. Whoa! my Na used far too much butter! (But she was tiny!) I found this on-line calculator through Real Age.

7. A Book About Pub Names - the history of Britain as told through its pub signs - This is an e-book by Elaine Saunders who is on Twitter as @Book_About. I don't drink that much, but several of my relatives managed or worked in pubs and inns in England and Scotland. Elaine's blog, It's a Book About... hasn't been updated for a while, but there are some pub photographs there and she has a link to an excerpt from her book that's on-line free.

Now two Canadian genealogy/history blogs - via Loaded Web

8. Glengarry County - Do you have an interest in Glengarry County, Ontario and area, in Canada? Check out the Glengarry County blog which includes information about the genealogy publications of Alex W. Fraser (of Courtenay BC) and Rhoda Ross.

9. You might find a Canadian environmentalist in the family tree. (No pun intended for British Columbians, or loggers either.) The Great Green North blog by Ryan O'Connor is 'Exploring the History of the Environmental Movement in Canada' apparently starting with Pollution Probe in Toronto in 1969 and SPEC, the Society for Pollution and Environmental Control, in Coquitlam, BC, 1969. He seems interested in many groups, although the focus of his university research, he says, is Toronto.

10. The Doegen Records Web Project - Tionscadal Gréasáin Cheirníní Doegen - Stories, prayers, vocabulary, recorded in Irish dialect by Dr Wilhelm Doegen and his assistant, Karl Tempel, from 1928-31 on-line. A project of the Royal Irish Academy Library. Browse by recording titles, speaker's names, and speakers' origins (115 from Connacht, 17 from Leinster, 120 from Munster and 144 from Ulster). Many of these recordings, if not most, are under a Creative Commons License.

11. The Marriage in Ireland 1660-1925 Project at the Queen's University, Belfast, aims to publish a major study on Ireland, north and south, focused on families below the wealthy landowning classes. This will be of interest to those researching family in Ireland. More about this later, I hope. Via the newsletter of The Women's History Network of the UK. Professor Maria Luddy who is Co-Director of this project has already written much on women in Ireland. Follow her link on the Marriage Project page to see her titles, and also links to The Directory of Sources for the History of Women in Ireland and Women in 20th-Century Ireland: Sources from the Department of the Taoiseach, 1922-1966, both of which are on-line.

12. Ulster Heritage DNA Project - there's information on the Ulster Heritage Magazine's blog about the Ulster (in Ireland) DNA projects, (Y and MtDNA) managed by Barry R. McCain of Oxford, Mississippi and Jim McKane of Wiarton, Ontario, Canada.

13. Canadian Gravemarker Gallery - this is a now a perennial favourite of mine. I still have some real concerns about the future of many personal genealogy websites, but I certainly admire Canadian Gravemarker Gallery founder, Murray Pletsch of North Bay, Ontario. With volunteers, he now has over 500 cemeteries listed with thousands of photographs on-line free, and has had thousands of visitors since the site opened ten years ago, originally as the Northeastern Ontario Gravemarker Gallery. There's a free newsletter you can sign up for and links to free e-mail cemetery lists.

14. Scanfest! The best genealogy event on-line in January was 'the return of Scanfest'! A big thank you to Miriam Robbins Midkiff of AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors who organizes this. At Scanfest this time, I scanned a group of postcards that my great uncle sent home while he was working in Africa. As we scan, we chat and share tips and ideas. If you'd like to see what we're up to, go to the ScanFest link to see a replay.

15. Vintage Toronto - Here's another blog find this month; it's all about vintage Toronto postcards and their stories. I have only a few Toronto postcards myself, but I would certainly like to learn more about them.

16. WANTED! U.S. Criminal Records Sources & Research Methodology by Ron Arons - A Twitter link to a favourable review of this book on Leland Meitzler's Genealogy Blog caught my eye, and yes, I want it. Wouldn't I love to find a criminal or two in the family - more records! It's a bit more expensive to ship to Canada, but contact the author if you're interested. Free on his website are photo galleries for Sing Sing Prison and some of its Jewish inmates and an inmate database. Both Leland Meitzler and Ron Arons are on Twitter, as @Lmeitzler and @RonArons, respectively.

17. Arcalife - new at Arcalife in January - Dr. Nick Barratt is now guest blogging on the Arcalife blog. Arcalife, a British Columbia, Canada company, has a website meant for sharing and storing your family and individual histories. There are tiered memberships from free to lifetime. The lifetime option allows members regular access to the website's family history features and its innovative tools, like the Life Cube and also upgraded storage, and will enable members to pass on their digital estate.

And, that's it till next month!

Fountain, Stanley Park, Vancouver - Treasure Chest Thursday

2010-01-28T09:25:00.001-08:00

The Fountain, Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC, Canada. 'Linen' postcard; coloured, unused. The Coast Publishing Company, Vancouver, BC. (C.P. 128). Late 1930s? Private collection.

The Stanley Park fountain in Lost Lagoon was opened in 1936 to celebrate Vancouver's Golden Jubilee. The coloured light displays were an original feature. The fountain was restored in 1986 - for Expo, the World Exposition on Transportation and Communication.

The Tacoma Public Library has another Stanley Park postcard [ID # Fleming-131] showing a different view of the fountain - from the same company and likely from about the same time period. For more about The Coast Publishing Co., see Postcards of the Coast Publishing Company, Vancouver, British Columbia by Lee Dowsley and Roma George, with Chris McGregor. For more information on this book, see the Vancouver Postcard Club website.

This postcard could be a submission for the 17th Edition of A Festival of Postcards as the theme this time is LIGHT! If you'd like to enter this on-line Festival, see the details at the Festival headquarters at A Canadian Family, Deadline: February 28th, 2010.

And if you need to start to scan your family postcards, or want to scan more postcards, why not join the first 2010 ScanFest on January 31st. Details and tips for scanning are up now at AnceStories The Stories of My Ancestors.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - My Other Interests

2010-01-23T19:46:00.000-08:00

It's Saturday night - time for Genealogy Fun - and this week Randy Seaver at GeneaMusings has challenged genea-bloggers to tell all - that is, to tell about our "other" hobbies or interests outside of genealogy and family history research, writing, speaking, etc.

Well, it's true that there aren't many days that I'm not researching at a library or archives, or teaching or speaking about, or at the very least thinking about genealogy and family history, but like Randy, I do have a life, honest!

I too have friends and a family and there are two special fuzzy critters here, Odette and Gilles, who share their home with us. I collect postcards, I love old buildings, I travel when I can, although almost always that has something to do with family history and genealogy. No beaches for me, when there's an archives or a library somewhere nearby!

And right there - a library - a clue!

Deborah Sayles Library, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, USA. Opened in 1902, still a library, the Pawtucket Public Library, and now in the U.S.A's National Historic Register. Coloured postcard, unused; Published by the Rhode Island News Company, Providence RI, Leipzig, Dresden. Private collection. For another view, see the Library Postcards blog.

As some know (especially from my tweets) I do spend a significant amount of time each week reading - on the bus, on the train, waiting in line, even while watching the odd TV show (a Murdoch mystery tonight). I read a fair bit of history, but most of my very favourite authors write historical mysteries. A few would be Gillian Linscott for her series of English suffragette Nell Bray mysteries and, of course, Maureen Jennings and her Canadian mysteries set in 1890s Toronto and featuring detective William Murdoch, then there's authors Kate Ross and Barbara Hambly, and David Liss, Arturo Perez-Reverte....

People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading. Logan Pearsall Smith, Life and letters, v. 5, no. 27 (August 1930), Afterthoughts, page 71.

For years now, I've been eicuthbertson, as a member of BookCrossing. We register books on the BookCrossing site, read them, comment on-line, then release the books, usually in a public place, so others will find them and enjoy. Through BookCrossing, I've met good friends and been introduced to books I'd never have known about or considered reading otherwise. BookCrossers have a lot of fun - we meet in person or on-line to share books and participate in book related activities. Today in fact I posted a BookCrossing Challenge to promote Canada's Freedom to Read Week, February 21-27, 2010.

To choose a good book, look in an inquisitor’s prohibited list. ~John Aikin,
Memoir of John Aikin: M. D. by Lucy Aikin, (Philadelphia: Abraham Small, 1824), page 312.

Vancouver House Historian James Johnstone on CBC Radio One - Jan 15 - Celebrating a Jazz Anniversary

2010-01-12T10:16:00.000-08:00

Did you know that jazz great Jelly Roll Morton once lived and played at the Patricia Hotel in Vancouver? CBC Radio One's 'On The Coast' will be broadcasting from the hotel on January 15th, 2010 from 3 to 6 pm to commemorate the 90th anniversary of one of his shows. There's a concert in the evening too.

Vancouver's House Historian, James Johnstone, will be on this special edition of 'On The Coast' talking about the history of the city's East End. He's been researching the East End for years, but wanted to learn more about the Patricia Hotel before the show and now has a very useful, well illustrated post on his blog, When An Old House Whispers..., about the hotel, illustrating, in effect, how to start researching a Vancouver building.

There's a nice comment there about his use of the British Columbia Genealogical Society's book - Vancouver Voters, 1886: A Biographical Dictionary. This was the culmination of the Society's Vancouver Centennial project; society members researched everyone named on the first City of Vancouver Voter's List. It's a massive book, 892 pages of genealogical and historical information. If you're interested in the early history of Vancouver, or of the Lower Mainland, you should have a copy at hand. If you'd like to purchase one, please contact me or see the BCGS website: www.bcgs.ca as there are a limited number of copies still available.

Upcoming Genealogy & Gaelic Classes - Vancouver Area

2010-01-11T08:17:00.000-08:00

Coming up at the Community Centred College for the Retired - Burnaby BC. You need not be retired to register for these classes!

Beginning this week - 8 week sessions with 8 - 2 hour classes

Genealogy with M. Diane Rogers (Mondays)
Internet Genealogy with M. Diane Rogers (Wednesdays)

Also of special interest -

Gaelic with Murdo MacIver (Fridays)

Many other classes available, including these that may be of interest to genealogists and family historians: Digital Photography, Digital Photo Albums, Hands on Technology, Creative Writing and various languages - Mandarin, Italian, Spanish, French, Sign Language.

Community Centred College for the Retired,
in the historic Alan Emmott Centre,
6650 Southoaks Crescent, (just off Kingsway),
Burnaby, BC V5E 4M7
Telephone: 604-517-8732
Website: http://www.cccrburnaby.org

New Year's Genea-Resolutions - 2010 - Carnival of Genealogy

2010-01-01T21:00:00.000-08:00

New Year Arithmetic

It only takes one figure more to change the sum of Time's long score;

To your life's record may it add Good Fortune and subtract the bad:

And as with others you divide may Best of Luck be multiplied!

Post Card, unused. Made in U.S.A. Marked 402 but no publisher or artist's name, except a K circled. Divided back; private collection.

New Year’s Resolutions! is the topic for this Carnival of Genealogy.

Yesterday, Tara Calishain of Research Buzz wrote a post about Wolfram/Alpha that prompted me to calculate the number of days I've already spent on the earth - 22,314 days! Where did they all go? Or better yet, what did I do with them?

No wonder so many of us think about resolutions each year.

(I recommend following ResearchBuzz, by the way, great info about search engines, and about on-line information collections. Yes, it still is Follow Friday.)

As usual, I’ve written out a few resolutions for this brand new year, and from what I hear, a record number of other genea-bloggers have been doing this too. It will be most interesting to see what everyone’s plans are.

I write out objectives for myself for almost every week as we go through the year. These include genealogy, but I try to keep my main goals for each year to a few - all, I hope, manageable ones.

Again, as in 2009, I expect 2010 to be fairly busy – mostly with genealogy, but not necessarily my own. I’m very active in my local genealogical society right now as President and Editor of the British Columbia Genealogical Society and I took on more genealogy teaching last fall at the Burnaby Community Centred College for the Retired. I enjoy these activities and believe I'm making the world a bit better place for genealogy, but I will set aside time too for my personal genealogy research as I did in 2009.

For 2009, my personal genea-resolutions were to:

1. Scan more photos and scrap more photos - about my brother and myself. Attend two scrap nights; schedule some time for fun photos to mix with the older ones.

2. Blog on a more regular schedule; have two posts and two 'Wordless' posts in reserve for each blog by mid-February.

3. Host a Carnival of Genealogy.

4. Have some Newdale pages on-line by 9 February 2009.

5. Produce Islay CDs as family gifts.

6. Follow DearMYRTLE's organization checklists.

7. Save trees and energy by using less paper! Buy two power bars to use in my office area.

Considering my sometimes crowded schedule, I feel I did quite well in 2009, although one goal had to be postponed as I’ll mention below.

For 2010, my goals in brief are

1. To finish scanning my older family photographs (and some documents) and to scrapbook some more.

2. To have research plans for local repositories and libraries on the go each month, and to be ready for research in Toronto, Ontario in May.

3. To continue blogging, and to host at least one Carnival, if possible.

4. To work towards getting my Newdale pages up on-line and to produce some CDs (ones I’m happier with) to give to family, and to put more photographs on-line to share.

5. To continue working on organization and energy-saving too (mine and the world’s).

Here's a bit more about my 2010 goals with a recap of 2009.

1. Scanning and scrapbooking 2010: Last year, I wanted to scan more of my older family photographs and I certainly did that, although due to other commitments I wasn’t able to attend many Scanfests. I realize I’ve gotten a long ways with this project, but I do miss those Scanfest chats. I intend to attend more in 2010 and to finish these scanning projects. I was given a digital frame for Christmas, (thank you, S!) and will soon have more ancestors on my mantel.

I did do more scrapbooking in 2009; I even attended those two crops. I tried a few digital projects, but didn’t like this nearly as well as working with ‘real’ things, so won’t likely pursue that. Will keep working on my vintage scrapbooking in 2010 as I can. You might see some projects yet here on my blog.

2. Travel plans 2010 – I didn’t make it out of Canada this year, but I had fun and learned a lot at the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia conference in Medicine Hat, Alberta and at other sessions in British Columbia, like the British Columbia Historical Federation conference in Nelson, and the Megan Smolenyak seminar in Surrey put on by the British Columbia Genealogical Society (BCGS).

This year, I’m looking forward to a number of local events already, including the Stephen A. Morse seminar in March (co-sponsored by the Jewish Genealogical Institute of British Columbia and the BCGS - details soon) and the Women’s History Fair in April, both in Vancouver. Then in May there’s the BC Historical Federation conference in Vancouver and the Ontario Genealogical Society conference in Toronto which I’m planning to attend. While in Toronto, I’ll be researching my BATTICE, PEEL and ROGERS, WHITE families at the City of Toronto Archives and the Ontario Archives.

3. Blogging 2010: I continued to blog regularly about genealogy, here at CanadaGenealogy and at The Graveyard Rabbit of British Columbia. I especially enjoyed doing the Sombre Sunday and Treasure Chest Thursday posts and will be continuing these.

I participated in a good number of Blog Carnivals, and was a Carnival host, in March for the Carnival of Central and Eastern Europe’s on ‘Female Ancestors’ and for September’s Carnival of Genealogy on ‘Family Reunions’. I’ve joined two blog rings, Blogging For Ancestors and the Geneabloggers WebRing. Participating in both rings and carnivals introduces me to many other bloggers and readers and, usually, is a lot of fun. I've been getting many more comments on my posts, and I am regularly reading other blogs and commenting on them in turn. I also wrote an article for Shades of the Departed, and participated in A Festival of Postcards.

I’d like to take time to blog more and to participate in more Carnivals in 2010 and will work on scheduling myself so I can do that. I do have some blog posts in reserve now, so that’s a bit less ‘pressure’. I’d like to encourage others to participate in blogging and other on-line activities more during 2010. (I love Twitter! and it blends well with blogging.) I started a British Columbia genealogy group on GenealogyWise this year and I have some ideas for CanadaGenealogy in 2010 which you will hear about later. As an example, I just recently noticed that someone else in BC is interested in guest blogging and I’m going to investigate that for myself and for CanadaGenealogy.

4. Sharing more information on-line 2010: My Newdale web pages are still on hold, for reasons beyond my control at the moment. This is the only 2009 resolution I really had to leave undone, but, I have done more research, scanned many more photographs, and in 2009, even found ‘new to me’ historical postcards which I’ll be showing soon enough. When things don’t work out when and how one wants, I think it’s important to be flexible enough to move on to work on another goal for the time being, so that’s what I did. I made some photograph CDs, but wasn’t that happy with them, so I’ll be working on that again. And, after attending the BCGS fall series on ‘Writing Your Own History’ with Moira Connor, I intend to produce at least one booklet on my family this year.

5. Organization and energy saving 2010: I did follow DearMyrtle’s Organization Checklists as posted for the first half of the year and used some of her older checklists the rest of the year. Of course these are all on-going exercises!

And, I’ve tried to be conscientious about saving paper and ink and electrical energy too. I think I’m well into those habits now, although I still have some odd piles of paper to worry about....oh, well.

I’m now using a newer, smaller backup drive and late in 2009, I bought a new laptop which I’m still learning about, and, for Christmas, I received a netbook. (Thank you to J, C, C & S!) This was in my 2009 plans (and dreams). Having the netbook may radically change the way I do research even at local archives and libraries as I am always on public transit and hesitate to carry my heavier laptop every time. This netbook is so light I imagine it will be with me much of the time, but it will certainly be a blessing when I’m away researching.

I’ll be spending a bit of time early in the new year ‘organizing’ myself with the three computers. (For those who want to know, the new laptop is Amy, the netbook is Minnie - such an apt name for a little computer. My older, trusty everyday laptop’s name is Maggie. Amy was my Na, my maternal grandmother; Minnie and Maggie were her sisters. There is a really old desk top here too – but she says her name is ‘just old & tired’.)

I routinely write out my ‘to dos’ for each week which includes my genealogy to dos – documents to look up, things to order – but I’m going to keep a fuller descriptive list in front of me each week this year – drawn from my research plans. Robert Ragan of Treasure Maps Genealogy (he’s the Pajama Genealogy Guy) wrote an article recently on how genealogists can best use personal planners. I’m going to try his ideas, so instead of a list of unrelated activities, I’m going to include a small block of tasks for the week based on who or which family I’m working on during that time. I think it will give me a better perspective for the week, if nothing else. (And I just got a fun pad of coloured planning notes – for accomplishments – Today, Tomorrow, Weekend, Near Future, Someday, and, Maybe Never! I’ll be using that too.) That 'Someday' will keep me positive and the 'Maybe Never!' will keep me smiling!

Now, do tell, what are your genealogy goals for this year?

Identifying Photos; Learning about Fashions - The Costume Gallery Library - free till Jan 3 2010

2009-12-30T14:49:00.000-08:00

Eight images of an unidentified woman, shown in different poses. Described as all taken on one glass negative and at one operation, 1870, Ontario. Photographer R. R. McLellan. Canada. Patent and Copyright Office, Library and Archives Canada, PA-031478

When researching photographs of people, it's often very important to date the clothing they are wearing. Looking at other photographs from different time periods will help you work out a time frame for the image. The Costume Gallery is one of the on-line resources I recommend.

Penny Ladnier, owner of The Costume Gallery, has a special offer for access to her websites that's good till Sunday, 3 January 2010, at 10 pm EST. Whether you're hoping to identify one particular photograph or you're interested in the history of fashion, you'll find much of interest at The Costume Gallery and its related websites.

Some of these resources are free, but usually access to the Libraries and to certain other areas on Penny's 13 websites are by subscription only. Till Sunday, this is free. LOGIN using: cg2003 and the PASSWORD: neb7am66
in lower case with no blank spaces before, in-between, or afterwards.

Penny's main Costume Gallery website has just been updated and the Library now has over 5,000 pages. It's the 14th anniversary for The Costume Gallery, so there is a sale on subscriptions too till 14 January 2010. See the main page at The Costume Gallery Library for details, if you're interested.

The same passwords are also good till Sunday for these associated sites:

Costume Slide Shows:
www.costumeslideshows.comwww.fcdatabase.com (use only the password)
Past Hair Styles:
www.pasthairstyles.com
Past Designers:
www.pastdesigners.com
Past Hats:
www.pasthats.com
Past Communion History - Check the logo photograph here as Penny is working to return this image to its family:
www.communionhistory.com
Antique Brides:
www.antiquebrides.com

For more about Penny E. Ladnier see her profile here.

Penny also offers a service called Fashion Foto-Date. For $10, you can have a date analysis of the clothing shown in a scanned family photograph.

THE FINAL RESTING PLACE - GRAVEYARD RABBITS CARNIVAL

2009-12-25T23:06:00.000-08:00

Sarah Ann (STAINES) SAGGERS grave (1849-1909), Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Photograph, private collection, date unknown.

The topic for the January 2010 edition of the Graveyard Rabbits’ Carnival is –
The Final Resting Place.

This theme comes from Colleen McHugh, author of the GYR blog, The R.I.P.PERS. and Orations of OMcHodoy.

Colleen asked how families determine their final resting place – “In today's mobile society, does one choose a place near where they last lived? Or do they return to the place of their roots? Do they rest in a family plot? If so, and if married, whose family plot? How has the determination of the final resting place changed between the time of our ancestors and now?”

This seems a very sombre topic for this festive time of year, but, if one was considering some kinds of New Year’s resolutions already, this might be an apt question.

Now I don’t consider that mobility is necessarily more an issue now than in the past. Where I live in British Columbia, Canada, many of us descend from those who left their homes in Europe and Asia, venturing across the seas to settle here. And, even those whose families have been on the land here since time immemorial, often don’t live where their ancestors did, either by choice, by circumstances or, sometimes by government decree.

Burial customs, in some cases, have changed though, and alongside that, our attitudes, both social and personal, about funerals and burial practices have changed. In 1874, for example, the year my great grandparents, Sarah Ann Staines and David Saggers, married, there was great debate in the Church of England, to which they both belonged, and in the English press, about cremation.

The Bishop of Manchester, for example, while feeling “a sort of shudder at the idea of burning the dead” reluctantly admitted that “in a hundred years or so” this “might, perhaps” be the custom. (The Times, Wednesday, 25 March, 1874; page 12). His comments were likely in response to an influential article published in 1874 by the surgeon, Sir Henry Thompson, “The Treatment of the Body After Death”. Thompson was later founder of the Cremation Society of Great Britain. Cremation was not deemed as legal in England till 1884, and not till 1902 was there legislation authorizing it. (See the Cremation Society of Great Britain, History.)

In their late 50s, in 1907, my great grandparents emigrated to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from England; neither ever returned there. As far as I know, neither left written instructions about the disposition of their bodies after death, but when Sarah Ann Staines died in 1909 her body was buried in Mountain View Cemetery, then, and now, the only cemetery in the city of Vancouver. In 1935, however, when her husband, David, died, his body was cremated, and, I am sure, his ashes were placed in the grave with Sarah Ann’s bones. He may have requested this, but there may have been other circumstances at the time favouring cremation. [Yes, there is a story here for another time.]

I didn’t realize till I started my family history research that Great Grandpa’s body had been cremated. As a youngster, I did know that my grandparents (his daughter and son in law) were buried, not cremated and that they had not wanted autopsies. They too were buried in Mountain View.

Grandma had come from England in 1907 with her parents; Grandpa was born in Toronto, and was the only one of his siblings to venture from home. He bought the family plots when my Uncle David, their son, died early in life, so I feel they must have decided then to be buried in Mountain View. I never thought it odd that my great grandparents and grandparents were buried here, instead of in England or Toronto. Yes, if grandma had died in England, I’d have thought it right she be buried in Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire, where she came from, but after all, she died here, her youngest son was buried here, and more importantly, we were here – we were the ones who’d visit –we were the ones who cared the most.

Mountain View Cemetery is even in their Vancouver neighbourhood, and Grandpa had worked at the cemetery, so I’ve never thought he would have wanted to be buried elsewhere. I’m sure my father didn’t think so either. And both my parents are buried there now – or rather – their ashes are. Neither gave me explicit directions about this – except my mother had had my father’s body cremated – and when I asked, she said she wanted no funeral – but just ‘to be with your father’.

However, we did all discuss cremation at various times – it was at one time here a topic of much discussion.

British Columbians were cremated early on, although it was not usual among Christians here. In 1956, though, the Memorial Society of British Columbia was formed in Vancouver. Debate then was more about the high cost of funerals than anything, as I recall, but the question of cremation (and embalming) certainly came up often then. Cremation and the scattering of ashes was sometimes posed as a convenient (and cheaper) alternative to more elaborate means of dealing with bodies.

Over the following decades, interest in cremations has grown in BC. It's estimated that now 70% of bodies here are cremated or more. (For a bit more about this, see a previous post of mine, Boal Chapel Memorial Gardens... March 2009.) With the rise in cremations has come interest in alternative memorials, but in BC, these are often still associated with cemeteries. Some have special columbariums; others allow ashes to be buried or scattered on their grounds, and often offer memorial plaques or the like.

From the 1960s on, I certainly said I’d not want my body buried. I wanted no religious services, I wanted cremation, and over the years, I’ve picked a number of places I’d want my ashes scattered! Odd in a way, as I’ve always been interested in the art and the information found in cemeteries. Like my parents, I was likely thinking about this as quite a practical question.

From the first moments after my mother’s death though, I knew I wanted to bury their ashes in Mountain View. Of course, by the time my mother died, I’d been deep into the family history for over a decade. That undoubtedly had something to do with my decision, but I think it was more emotional than that.

I knew I’d want to visit. Goodness, I visit strangers’ graves regularly, don’t I? Of course, I’d want to visit my parents’. And Mountain View to me is a beautiful cemetery in the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen. And of course, so many other relatives are there as well.

There was one small concern. Would my mother have wanted to be buried with her mother in law? I don’t think she felt they got along that well. Still my mother wasn’t shy – if she hadn't wanted to be there, she’d have told me so, I’m sure.

And I too intend to be buried in Mountain View in the 'family plot' with my grandparents, parents and uncle. I believe I’ve made that plain to the family. Cremation yes, a memorial service – yes, with a piper (or a whole marching band of bagpipers, with drummers too, if I’ve got that kind of money at the end). And, I do hope to have visitors...

A SAGGERS, WEDD grave, Bassingbourn Cemetery, Cambridgeshire, England. Photograph, private collection.

A view of Bassingbourn Cemetery. Photograph, private collection. A burial list for this cemetery, managed by the Parish Council, is on-line at the Bassingbourn cum Kneesworth Community website. There is also a graveyard at the Parish Church, St Peter & St Paul, Bassingbourn.

CHRISTMAS EVE - PIONEER DAYS - VICTORIA BC CANADA

2009-12-24T21:04:00.000-08:00

A Merry Christmas. Embossed, coloured postcard, divided back. Stamped - General Delivery, Vancouver, B.C. Jan 1 5 I 12. US one cent stamp. Addressed to Mr. E. C. Shaughnessy, Vancouver, B.C.

In 1906, the Times Printing and Publishing Co., producer of the Victoria Daily Times newspaper of Victoria, British Columbia, sent a sprig of holly to the Morning Telegram in Winnipeg, Manitoba “as a Christmas greeting....This holly was gathered a few days ago in outdoor gardens, near Victoria, and is a tribute to the mild weather prevailing there at this season of the year”. (Morning Telegram, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, 25 December, 1906, page 9.)

At this time of year, I wish that I could send each of you some holly too. It’s one of my favourite things about Christmas – we had two trees at home when I was young. But since I can’t do that, I thought some might like a glimpse of Christmas Eve in British Columbia’s early days.

In 1907, the Victoria Daily Colonist, then a rival of the Times, asked Edgar Fawcett, an old time resident, among others, to write about his memories of Christmases past in Victoria on Vancouver Island. Some of his comments will sound very familiar to modern ears.

Born in Australia, Fawcett went with his family to San Francisco in 1849. After some business reverses, the family emigrated again, to Victoria, Vancouver Island, in 1858, an eventful, indeed a momentous year – when gold was discovered on the mainland’s Fraser River, and the Crown Colony of British Columbia proclaimed in Fort Langley on the Fraser. (Vancouver Island had been made a Crown Colony in 1849, although it was still controlled by the Hudson’s Bay Company.)

Fawcett was not overly sentimental – “...in speaking of 'the good old days' of the sixties, I would not convey the impression that they were literally so good, for they were, so far as I can remember, some of the hardest that Victoria has seen....” Nonetheless, “there was a something, a charm indescribable” about them.

The weather was different in the 1860s, he said: “Christmas, to be genuine, should be bright and frosty, with a flurry of snow.... Less snow and cold and more rain now.”

“After the advent of the first snow, and when deep enough, there might be heard the sleigh-bell, either on a grocer’s or butcher’s sleigh, or on an improvised sleigh made from a dry-goods case with a pair of runners attached, to which would be fastened a pair of shafts from a buggy or wagon not now usable.” Anyone with a horse thus had a sleigh for “long drives in the country or to church, or to a Xmas party or dance.”

He describes the week before Christmas as busy with preparations, like the decorating of the fronts of houses and shops with "wagon-loads of young fir trees" – “Imagine Government Street, both sides, from end to end, one continuous line of green, relieved with, it might be with white; just enough snow to cover the ground, ‘bright and crisp and even.’ ”

Shopping too was done that week, at the few fancy goods stores, and at the butchers’ and grocers’. "There was not the choice in toys and fancy articles then. Children were satisfied with less, and were just as happy," Fawcett said.

But by the late 1860s Christmas ads in the Colonist featured such things as Balmoral skirts and velvet mantles (just arrived), all kinds of novelties from Paris, London and San Francisco, Christmas fruits (dried), all kinds of sauces and pickles, and “superior” English cheeses, music boxes, sugar toys, “crystaline candies for ornamenting Christmas trees”, Hudson Bay rum “33 per cent over proof, 50 cents per bottle”, men’s warm suits at $5 and up, and raffles for "turkies", geese and iced cakes.

“Presents to please everyone; prices to suit all.”

(For examples, see the British Colonist, Saturday morning, 23 December 1865.)

“Christmas Eve, after dinner, mother or father or both with the children, were off to buy the last of the presents, visit the shops or buy their Christmas dinner, for many left it till then. Turkey might not have been within their reach, but geese, wild or tame, took their place. Sucking pig was my favorite dish. Wild duck and grouse (50c per pair), with fine roasts of beef. Of course plum pudding was in evidence with poor as well as rich, although eggs at Xmas were $1.00 per dozen.

A great feature of Christmas time was shooting for turkeys and geese at several outlying places, and raffles for turkeys at several of the principal saloons and hotels.”

“We nearly all went to church; the Anglicans, and many Nonconformists with them, on Christmas morning, and the Catholics on Christmas Eve.”

“A special feature of the saloons on Christmas Eve was 'Egg-Nog', and all we young fellows dropped in for a glass on our way to midnight mass at the Catholic Church on Humboldt Street."

From the Colonist advertisements, there seemed no shortage of alcoholic refreshments in Victoria. William W. Gibbs's ad boasted:

Hear Land o’ Clams and Brither Scots,
Frae Clover Point to Queen Charlotte's,
If you want a glass of fine Brandy;
If you want a glass of fine Rum;
If you want a glass of fine Whisky;
If you want a glass of fine 'Bunster';
If you want a glass of fine Porter;
If you want to be waited on by a Lady:
Then make “tracks” for the
Royal Exchange, Fort Street.

According to Edgar Fawcett, for most the service at the Catholic Church "was one of the attractions of Xmas Eve, and the church was filled to overflowing, and later on there was standing room only. We went to hear the singing, which was best obtainable....

Amongst the well-dressed city people were many Cariboo miners. Trousers tucked in their boots, said trousers held in position with a belt, and maybe no coat or vest on. When the time came for the collection, all hands dug down in their pockets and a generous collection was the result....

‘Twelve-thirty’. Service is over, we are off to bed, for we must be up betimes in the morning for service at 11 o’clock.”

From the Victoria Daily Colonist, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, Sunday, 22 December 1907, page 50. The Colonist first published in 1858, the same year Edgar Fawcett and his family came to Victoria. The Victoria Daily Times didn’t begin till 1884. In 1950, the two businesses merged, although it was not till 1980 that the Times Colonist was published as one paper.

Edgar Fawcett's stories, and those of others, were later published and now you can read more about Victoria’s Christmases at Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki

Some Reminiscences of old Victoria by Edgar Fawcett. (Toronto:
William Briggs, 1912). Project Gutenberg Release Date: July 13, 2008, EBook #26048.

And, if you'd like to read the newspapers,

Morning Telegram, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, issues from June 1898-August 1907 digitized and available free: www.manitobia.ca

Victoria Daily Colonist, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, issues from 1858-1910 digitized and available free: www.britishcolonist.ca