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

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.)

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

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.

84th Edition - What the Carnival of Genealogy Means to Me

Carnival of Genealogy Poster - courtesy footnoteMaven.

It’s time for the 84th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. Created and managed by Jasia at Creative Gene, the Carnival is now three years old.

This Edition’s topic - What the Carnival of Genealogy Has Meant to You - was an opportunity to look back and reflect on when you first discovered the COG and when you first participated in it.

I think we genea-bloggers need to think a bit more about our own history – even Jasia isn’t sure how many people have participated over the years - and this topic is a way to ensure that we take note of the Carnival of Genealogy’s heritage.

My first Carnival post was on the last day of 2007. I’d been blogging since 2005. There weren’t many genealogists blogging then, but by late 2007, there were a good number and, after I met Thomas MacEntee of the Destination: Austin Family on-line, I was encouraged to enter the 'Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories'. I’ve always loved Christmas, so writing about it came fairly easily. Then it seemed very natural to participate in the Carnival of Genealogy with some of the same people. Very appropriately my first post was in the 2008 New Year’s Resolutions - the 15th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy hosted by Jasia. I believe I’ve participated in 27 since.

One of my very favourite Carnival topics was the 41st Edition in February 2008, ‘Dinner Guests from the Past', hosted by Jasia. My own post was 'Vancouver Style’, of course. (That's my home!) All these posts involved some thought and quite a bit of imagination as you'll see when you have a look.

In September of this year, I was the host for the 79th Edition, ‘Reunions’. This experience helped me to appreciate all Jasia’s hard work, but it was also a lot of fun for me and a great read for all! I’d certainly like to host another in 2010.

Since I’m intending to publish something for my family in a year (or two), Carnival topics have been a great way for me to organize shorter articles which can be developed further later. One Carnival, the 45th Edition hosted by Jasia in April 2008, ‘Cars as Stars!’ for which I wrote about 'Jenny, the Rogers' Family's Star Car!', is a favourite of my baby bother – he still has that car – so that’s one I worked up into a longer piece.

I certainly recommend that genea-bloggers participate in this Carnival. It’s a great way to ‘meet’ like minded people on-line and to have your own writing noticed by others. I love writing and reading posts with photographs, and any about women's history as well, but you’ll find yourself ‘stretching’ once in a while to write about an unfamiliar or even an uncomfortable topic. It’s much easier to do that in a familiar Carnival structure and from Carnival of Genealogy participants you’ll get supportive and helpful comments.

In fact, I think participating in the Carnival of Genealogy is a bit like getting together with family and old friends. When it’s late in the day, you all get to talking and laughing (usually) either sharing memories about the olden days’ – with all the ‘remember when s’ – and the ‘did you ever? s’ – or maybe you're all hotly debating what you think the future holds. This is just what we’re doing here in the Carnival of Genealogy. Come join us!

BATES, SCOTT family get together, in Montpelier, Vermont, at the Bates home, c. 1920.

Shown are - Front: Janet Muriel Scott, my mum, from Newdale, Manitoba, Canada; Edward Wallace Bates, my cousin.

Second row: Jeannette Bates, my cousin; May Janet (Wood) Scott from Nottawa, Ontario, Canada, born in Bean Hill, Connecticut, USA, my great grandmother; Amy Estella (Irwin) Scott from Newdale, my grandmother; Annie Pollock Scott, my great aunt, also from Nottawa.

Back: Hariotte Alice Louise, Hattie, (Scott) Bates, my great aunt, born in Nottawa; and Edward Kimball Bates, Hattie's husband, with their younger son, Kenneth Scott Bates.

Postcard, Made in Canada, black & white, unmailed. I believe the photographer was my grandfather, James Walter Scott from Newdale, born in Nottawa. People identified by Amy Estella Scott in the 1960s.

The Vancouver Exhibition, 1927 - Carnival of Genealogy

It's time for the 80th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy: Family Fun!

We were to: Research an event your ancestor may have attended. How much do you know about the types of entertainment your ancestors might have enjoyed? Check into it; then write it up!

The full Edition of this Carnival of Genealogy will be hosted at the Creative Gene blog. Be sure to see all the articles.

Vancouver Exhibition being opened by D.C. Coleman, the Canadian Pacific Railway Vice President, August 1927. Stuart Thomson, photographer. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 99-1765, Add. MSS. 1535.

For anyone living in or close to Vancouver from 1910 on, the Vancouver Exhibition, now known as the Pacific National Exhibition (usually called locally just the Fair or the Exhibition, or later the PNE) was the biggest event every summer.¹

Vancouver’s Exhibition has always been in Hastings Park in Vancouver’s east, near the Burnaby-Vancouver border, and it’s been going strong every year except during World War II.

My father and his brother grew up in the District of South Vancouver (from 1929, part of the city of Vancouver) and I know they went to the Fair at least some years. I suspect that they would have gone almost every year when they were little (from 1917-18 on), but I have no way of proving that. But then, I know I went every year myself when I was young and I have no photographs, not so much as a ticket stub, to show for all my visits to the Fair.

Dad and his family would have gone to the Exhibition on the streetcar; we went by bus, as most people I knew did. It would have been quite the excursion in the 1920s. The cars were likely packed as full as the buses were when we went as kids. Here's a map showing the BC Electric Railway lines - Exhibition Park is marked. My Dad's family lived near 33rd and Fraser St. (Click on the map to make it bigger.)

As I’ve trolled through local newspapers looking for genealogical ‘gems’, I’ve often seen articles about the summer Fair. In 1927 I know there was lots of news and, since my dad was then ten and his brother eight, I'm guessing that was a year they went.

The fair’s never been without controversy, even in its early days, when there were often concerns about the midway area and travelling carnival employees attracting the wrong ‘types’ – and the gambling.² Games of skill might be allowed, but the ‘wheels of chance’ were suspect, particularly since young children couldn’t be kept out of the midway area. But by 1927, the amusement area, then named ‘Happyland’, had several permanent attractions including a merry go round, a dance pavilion, ‘Shoot the Chutes’ and 2 roller coasters. (Not the famous heritage roller coaster that’s on the grounds now. That was built in 1958.)

I imagine that Dad’s family attended local events in South Vancouver too, like the horticultural shows ³(Grandpa ROGERS was a gardener, after all), but compared to the Exhibition, I would think Dad and David would have found those ‘so boring’. I can imagine them clamouring to go to the Fair at least once each year. Maybe they even went sometimes to see the opening parades, although I don’t remember Dad ever mentioning these to me. (We often went to the PNE parades. That’s another story.)

The Fair itself was usually presented as being educational – still is – but in the 1920s there were more retail and manufacturing displays showing British Columbia’s products, as well as local bands, groups and entertainers. In 1927, one pageant illustrated the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway, for instance. The ROGERS brothers may very well have enjoyed that. And always there were the pet shows and the agricultural and craft competitions and exhibitions. (I doubt Dad looked at the poultry exhibits though: family joke.)

One of the things I remember most from the Exhibition is lining up with Mum and Na to see through the ‘prize house’ each year, so I was interested to see that in 1927 there were 3 prize houses.

One was a playhouse valued at $1000, donated by the Vancouver Trades Council. This house had “everything modern”, a bedroom, kitchen, 12’ by 6’ living room with glass bookshelves and an electric fireplace, a dining room, bath, and electric lights, “red-seal wiring” and hardwood floors – it was “a ‘real’ little house, not a toy”. Dad would have loved this – like almost any kid! Originally Woodward’s Department Store lent furnishings to show off the playhouse, but the store soon decided to donate these. There is a nice photograph in the Vancouver Sun of 6 August, 1927 showing William Hargreaves, Business Agent of Local 452, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, and originator of this project, standing in front of the playhouse. (There are two unidentified children with him – might they be his?)

For the adults there were two prize bungalows, one with 7 rooms valued at $6,000, the other with 6 rooms valued at $5000. The first was complete with furnishings by the Hudson’s Bay Company, the second was furnished by David Spencer Ltd. And a Pontiac Six coach was offered as a prize too. To win any of these, you had to purchase advance tickets for the Fair.⁴

Even though they didn’t win any of the big prizes, I imagine Dad and David had a lot of fun at the Fair, same as we always did. People and new sights and sounds on every side, colourful displays, often with samples or little prizes for children. And usually there was a 'childrens' day' as the Fair's Elks Day was in the 1920s.

Exhibition opening, 1930, Stuart Thomson, photographer. City of Vancover Archives CVA 99-1541, Add. MSS. 1535.

A brass band performing in arena at Vancouver Exhibition, August 31 to September 6, 1933. Stuart Thomson, photographer. City of Vancouver Archives CVA 99-4540, Add. MSS. 1535.

There’d be bands playing and marching throughout the day inside and outside and Dad must have wanted to listen to every one, I’m sure. He was a musician and even had a jazz band, the Rhythm Aces, when he was a teenager.

And, of course, there were the rides, and ‘junk’ food and ‘pop’ which I doubt they saw much of otherwise. David and Dad would have enjoyed every drop as these these young boys did.

Flag day at Exhibition, 1929. Stuart Thomson, photographer.

City of Vancouver Archives CVA 99-1943, Add. MSS. 1535.

And in 1927 the rides in Happyland were advertised as ‘family fun’, so Grandma and Grandpa ROGERS probably thought going to the Fair was an all round good day out for all of them.

I wonder did they all go on the ‘Shoot the Chutes’ and the roller coasters? (Don’t tell but I’ve never been on a roller coaster yet.)

Did they go to the Fair in a group with neighbourhood friends as we did or perhaps with some of the SAGGERS cousins, aunts and uncles?

I hope Dad and David and Grandma and Grandpa did all attend the 1927 Fair together, as later that year, young David died unexpectedly. Happy memories like days at the Exhibition would have been cherished. I'm pretty sure Grandma and Grandpa must have gone with Dad in later years, as Dad was playing in the BC Electric Power and Gas Company band in 1934 when the Band won the Class A trophy at the Vancouver Exhibition.

References –

1. For the history of Vancouver's Exhibitions, see The Pacific National Exhibition: An Illustrated History by David Breen and Kenneth Coates (Vancouver: UBC Press, 1982) and Vancouver’s Fair: An Administrative and Political History of the Pacific National Exhibition, also by David Breen and Kenneth Coates, (Vancouver: UBC Press, 1982). For more about Hastings Park, especially since the 1980s, see the Hastings Park Conservatory website.
2. Vancouver Sun, ‘Wheel Games At Fair May Be Banned’ Wednesday Evening, 24 August, 1927 p. 2.
3. Vancouver Sun, ‘S. Vancouver Stages Fine Floral Show’, Monday evening, 29 August, 1927, p. 4.
4. Vancouver Sun, ‘Building Trades Council Donates $1000 Playhouse’, Saturday evening, 6 August 1927, p. 2. and ‘Lady Luck Awaits Both Grownups and Kiddies At The Fair’, Saturday evening, 6 August, 1927, p. 9 and ‘2 Bungalows Are Claimed By Winners’, 22 August, 1927, p. 1.

The lucky winners of the prize houses in 1927 were:

1st Prize - A Dunn of 65th Avenue & Boundary Rd., Central Park
2nd Prize - R.W. Falkins, 1739 Comox St.
Playhouse winner – Leone Atkinson, age 3, of Georgia St. East.

All the Vancouver Exhibition photographs shown here are courtesy of the City of Vancouver Archives.

Home Sweet Home in Vancouver BC Canada - Canadian Genealogy Carnival

Since the theme for this 6th Edition of the Canadian Genealogy Carnival is Home Sweet Home and one of my objectives for August was to do more research on the home and neighbourhood where I grew up as well as on my grandparents' and great grandparents' homes here in Vancouver, I thought I'd share a bit of the information I've recently found as well as some photographs. This Edition of the Canadian Genealogy Carnival is being hosted by Looking4Ancestors.

The house photograph above, from one of the pages in my Grandma (SAGGERS) ROGERS album shows the house on Chester Street in Vancouver where my dad grew up. (That house is still there, although it doesn't look quite the same.) On your left is a photo of grandma and grandpa shown in their yard. (Yes, grandma did glue those photographs right into her album. Sigh...)


Both my grandparents and my great grandfather SAGGERS lived in what was then the District of South Vancouver much of the time and I did look through records in the City of Vancouver Archives concerning these properties. Some early water and assessment records are missing for South Vancouver, but I found others, including building permit registers from 1912 on and the 'Plumbing Record' from 1910 to 1912.


In the South Vancouver Plumbing Record, I saw that in 1914 my grandfather ROGERS added a bath and basin to his house, the same one shown above. This is the year before he was married. I wonder if he was thinking about it then?


In 1921, great grandpa SAGGERS added a water closet, bath and sink to the house he lived in and in 1924 a water closet, bath, sink and basin to another. Both these houses were on St. Albert Street. (I'm not quite sure here of the difference between a basin and a sink, unless one's in a kitchen and the other in a bathroom.)




Then from my excursions in August over to my childhood neighbourhood near 17th and Cambie in Vancouver, here are 2 photographs showing our old house as it is now.







When we were there, the front yard wasn't fenced in and there were hydrangea bushes by the house. We kids got to 'plant' old nails in the ground beneath them. This was supposed to make the flowers bluer.

The back yard was fenced, but it wasn't this private, and those trees - my goodness, they weren't even planted when we left - look how high they are now. This has made me realize just how much time has gone by!


That washing machine outside wasn't ours, but in my childhood, we always had one. What a lot of work washing was for Mum even with that 'convenience'. We had a line outside to dry clothes when it was fine and inside too for times it was raining.



Although a number of the houses I remember are still there, property anywhere in Vancouver is now expensive and many smaller, older houses have been replaced, like the 'little house' that was once next door. Here's a photo I took in the 1960s of my baby brother blowing his tuba out back. You can see our garage and fence and one of the holly trees behind him, as well as part of the now demolished house that was beside ours, the WALKER house.





As for my own August genealogy plans, I had three main objectives:
1. to visit Chown Memorial Church in Vancouver to take some photographs of the garden where my Na's ashes were scattered.
2. To research my childhood neighbourhood further in Vancouver street directories.
3. To visit the City of Vancouver Archives to research - the Vancouver School Board in the 1950s when my father was on the Board and the names of the previous owners of both houses we lived in when I was young.
And, 4. to do some new Internet and BMD and directory research on my BROWN/IRWIN/LEITCH and IRWIN/RICHES/ROPER families.

I'm pleased to say that I was able to make time to do all of this, (although my School Board research was mostly in newspapers, as at the City of Vancouver Archives, I was seduced into looking at some other records not on my list. Next visit!)

And, as a 'bonus', I re-sorted my ROGERS papers, putting them all in acid free envelopes and files and labelling them where appropriate. Any that aren't scanned (quite a few it seems) are now on my priority list.

I deliberately haven't made any specific personal genealogy plans for September or October as I know these will be particularly busy months for me. But I'll be making plans for November/December though - and soon.