Nordic Genealogy Conference 2020 - Scandinavian Research in Canada tips and resources

The Virtual Nordic Genealogy Conference 2020 is coming soon - beginning 26 September. See the Conference website for registration and details. 

 https://www.nordicmuseum.org/genealogyconference

To celebrate, here, over the next 10 days, I'm going to feature one daily tip or source for Scandinavian family history research in Canada. 

Library and Archives Canada (LAC), our free national genealogy source, should always be your first stop. While not everything or everyone is indexed or mentioned on LAC, many are. And more and more records are being digitized and made available free on LAC. 

And more importantly, LAC can point you towards genealogical and historical information and access to federal (national/Dominion) Canadian records for immigration, naturalization and citizenship, and homesteading, and military records, and often towards provincial and regional sources too. And with each index or database, LAC provides additional contextual information which may prove vital to a successful search and to your own research.

The new LAC Collection Search includes options for Genealogy, Images and Library, or All, for all of these. The new Advanced Search gives more options including year or time period, and will let you search only for items on-line, if you want. You can also search Co-Lab contributions (or exclude), Co-Lab is Library and Archives Canada's tool to let researchers "transcribe, tag, translate and describe digitized images in Library and Archives Canada’s collection".¹

I do suggest you take a little time to check out the images available. Many are searchable by place name, or a nationality, if applicable. Few include information with people's names; often there is only a range of dates.

It's worth looking as in the best case, you may be able to identify someone, or perhaps the image may add to your understanding of the time period or place, or to other documents which may be helpful. 

Nine year old boy who travelled alone from Finland to Canada, 1920s. Courtesy, Canada. Dept. of Interior / Library and Archives Canada / C-036151.

Here, for instance, is a photograph identified only as a: Nine-year-old boy who travelled alone from Finland to Canada. The date is given as 1920s; photographer unknown. Accession number:1936-271 NPC; Item ID number:3193420. Department of the Interior Fonds,² Photographic Records. (No restrictions on use; out of copyright.) For more about Canadian Immigration records at LAC, see below.³

Do you have a family story about a young Finnish boy going alone to Canada? While unusual enough for comment, children travelling alone are not unknown. Sometimes they are mentioned in newspapers, as was a nine year old Polish boy sent to live with family in Ottawa in 1925.⁴ So far, I haven't found any articles about the young Finn though. 

References

1. Co-Lab link, in English and French: https://co-lab.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng

2. From 1873 to the 1930s in Canada, the Department of the Interior was responsible for federal land management in the lands then known as the North West Territories (including homesteading), immigration, Indian affairs including "control and management of the lands and property of Indians in Canada"  and of all specified Crown lands (including natural resources) and of the Geological Survey of Canada. "An Act to provide for the establishment of "The Department of the Interior."

3. Canadian Immigration Resources at LAC - for more about immigration to Canada, and about indexes and databases available free at Library and Archives Canada, follow this link: https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/immigration/Pages/introduction.aspx

4. The Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Saturday, 21 November, 1925, p. 23.

Canada and the "War Brides" at Library and Archives Canada - World Wars I and II

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has added a new page for 'War Brides'. This is a very good thing, as here LAC points to a good number of record collections with information about war time miltary related marriages, going beyond the most obvious ones.


But I, of course, feel I must quibble.

'War brides', LAC says, are defined as "foreign civilian women who married Canadian soldiers serving overseas during the First and Second World Wars." 

By? ( the Canadian military?) There is no doubt most of these women were British, so not 'foreign',  but British subjects same as most women born in Canada. (And by the way, LAC, during WW I, Irish women were also British.)

And not all were civilians either. Possibly the assistance offered to civilian women, and dependants, if applicable, was not the same as extended to military women and not reflected in most of LAC's record collections. However if yours was a military bride, don't let LAC deter you, as for example, one of the record sets listed is 'Arrival of CWAC from overseas. Arrangements on Debarkation, 1943-1945'.  CWAC stands for Canadian Women's Army Corps (WWII).

And I think there must have been at least a few brides other than overseas ones (and a few grooms). And LAC does make just a brief reference to women leaving Canada with or to join new husbands. "Library and Archives Canada also holds departure records for Canadian women who married servicemen from other Allied nations."  I would think that USA/Canada Border records or other United States records may reference 'war marriages' either in the USA or Canada involving Canadians marrying USians too.

Not all war marriages may have been treated equally, depending on the status of the bride or groom.  LAC lists '​Immigration; admission of fiancées of citizens of Chinese origin; enlargement of quota for India, 1956'.

In some cases, likely sad ones, LAC files may provide information on women and families after their arrival in Canada, for instance, in these files 'Assistance to dependents re desertion, bigamy, illegitimacy, 1940-47'. And passenger records will show some brides either leaving Canada later or visiting 'home' later on.

My own parents' marriage was a 'war marriage'. Both were British subjects and born in Canada. Both were in the Canadian military; they met and married in the United States. LAC does, I know, have records noting their marriage.   Be sure to look at the entire file for your military person, if possible. This will be easier for Canadian WW I military once the files are all digitized and on-line, but seeing a WW II file may involve a longer process. And, in some cases, when a military person did not marry, but had, or was deemed responsible for, a child, there may well be information in the military files.

Don't neglect newspapers in your search. You will find articles about marriages and arrivals - even photos - as these marriages were of wide interest. Reading Library and Archives Canada's files may give you dates of marriage or arrivals, etc. to search by, or you may be lucky and find that a relevant newspaper has been indexed or even digitized and on-line.

LINKS

War Brides, Library and Archives Canada (LAC):  http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/Pages/war-brides.aspx



For more about WW I and WW II 'war brides, I recommend highly these two researcher's websites and publications:

WW I - Canadian War Brides of the First World War by Annette Fulford: http://ww1warbrides.blogspot.ca

WW II - Canadian War Brides by Melynda Jarratt: http://www.canadianwarbrides.com

New 1881 Canadian Census Database on-line at LAC

A new version of the 1881 Canadian Census Database at Library and Archives Canada has been released. This includes "suggestions for corrections that were received from users in recent months". This is great news as it's frustrating to submit corrections and never see them.  Good to know new searchers will benefit from this process. Altogether there are 4,278,327 records in this database.

Revised district and sub-district information has also been added.

This is one of the projects Ancestry.ca has assisted with. A similar database is available there.

FamilySearch.org also has an 1881 Canadian Census Index. 

Modernization? at Library and Archives Canada

I'm feeling quite concerned about the piece entitled 'Modernization' that the Librarian and Archivist of Canada, Daniel J. Caron, posted on-line yesterday.

Message from the Librarian and Archivist of Canada: Modernization
9 September, 2009.

Library and Archives Canada has already had a moratorium on purchasing new materials - which seems to me affects LAC current and future reference services, particularly vital in a country as geographically 'challenged' as Canada - and now, we see the demise of the Portrait Gallery of Canada.

I'm very surprised to see him write, for example, that "Our relevance in the medium and long term is also called into question in this new environment" when Canadian archivists and librarians, and Library and Archives Canada itself, have continuously led in worldwide digital initiatives for acquisition, preservation and access.

I'll take a day to think about this though. In the meantime, I'm very interested in any comments you may have.

Dick Eastman at Roots Television - interview with Sylvie Tremblay - Chief, Canadian Genealogy Centre LAC

Dick Eastman of Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter has a new interview at Roots Television with Sylvie Tremblay, who is apparently now Chief of the Canadian Genealogy Centre (CGC) at Library and Archives Canada (LAC) / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada (BAC). Dick interviewed her during the New England Regional Genealogical Conference (NERGC) which was just held in Manchester, New Hampshire, USA.

In the interview, she talked about both the on-site and on-line areas of the Canadian Genealogy Centre, and as John D. Reid notes, she had some statistics, for example, that there were 5,000 visitors in person last year and 7 million page views on-line (double the number of pages viewed the previous year). I thought she said that the Canadian Genealogy Centre received a total of 8,000 queries last year; 4,000 of these by telephone. I found that interesting. (Well, odd, really. I'd like to see an easy to find fact sheet of historical statistics like this on the LAC website.)

The most popular CGC database on-line, she said, is (still?) that for the World War I Canadian Expeditionary Force service records. Although this is titled Soldiers of the First World War - CEF, it does include nurses, and chaplains too. A pilot project to digitize full service files on-demand was supposed to be in the works for Summer 2009, but that wasn't mentioned in the interview. I hope that is still on track as this will be an exciting new initiative from LAC, of great value to genealogists.

She also mentioned the popularity of the Canadian census and highlighted available land records as well - and said that, in partnership with Ancestry.ca, all the historical census images will be on-line by the end of this year. (Another clue that this project is behind?) She did not mention the question of census indexes, nor previous partnerships, for instance, with FamilySearch which provided the free index for the 1881 census. (Nor did Dick Eastman follow up on that.)

When the Canadian Genealogy Centre was first developed, it had an URL of its own: www.genealogy.gc.ca This still works, although it's not being updated. Access to the Canadian Genealogy Centre on-line is now being promoted through the main LAC web address: www.collectionscanada.gc.ca
(Actually www.collectionscanada.ca works just fine and is easier to remember!)

Sylvie was speaking at the NERGC conference about "Discovering Family Treasures in Quebec: What You Need to Know" in a session sponsored by the American Canadian Genealogical Society. I heard her in both Ottawa and Kelowna last year and she is a lively speaker with very useful information and ideas.

Some of Dick Eastman's questions covered French-Canadian records and Sylvie Tremblay is also Genealogist for the
Association of the Tremblay of America / l'Association des Tremblay d'Amérique. If you have a Tremblay in your family tree, you can get in touch with her through the Association.

See the full interview here: Sylvie Tremblay, NERGC 2009, Roots Television

John D Reid also commented on this interview. See his post, Tuesday, May 19, 2009. at Anglo-Celtic Connections:
Sylvie Tremblay on Roots Television

Dr Daniel J Caron Canada's new Librarian and Archivist - April 2009

Dr. Daniel J. Caron has now been appointed as Canada's new Librarian and Archivist.

Ian E. Wilson, the retiring Librarian and Archivist will be Librarian and Archivist of Canada Emeritus as President of the International Council on Archives, as announced by the Prime Minister.

Dr. Caron was with the National Archives of Canada as the Director General of the Corporate Management Branch and remained with Library and Archives Canada after the amalgamation of Canada's national Archives and Library. In 2006, he became the Assistant Deputy Minister responsible for Corporate Management and the Government Records Sector. Most recently, he has been the Senior Assistant Deputy Minister responsible for the Corporate Management and Horizontal Integration Sector. He is also an associate professor at the École Nationale d'Administration Publique.

Prime Minister's announcement

Library and Archives Canada announcement and biography of Dr. Caron

Ian Wilson, Librarian and Archivist of Canada, Retires

Ian Wilson, Librarian and Archivist of Canada, has announced his retirement effective almost immediately - April 24, 2009. He has been in this position since 2004 and was the first head of Canada's amalgamated national Library and Archives, now known as Library and Archives Canada (LAC).

Mr Wilson was Canada's National Archivist from 1999. Before that he was the Provincial Archivist for Ontario (1986 to 1999) and for Saskatchewan (1976 to 1986). Both he and Canada's previous National Librarian, Roch Carrier, were instrumental in the reorganization of Canada's national Archives and national Library into the one institution - an achievement of which both men can be proud, I am sure.

Ian Wilson may also be remembered for the emphasis on commercial and other partnerships that LAC has developed in recent years - LAC as a 'catalyst' for digitization and indexing projects (rather than as a 'leader').

However, Mr. Wilson was a strong supporter of the grass roots Canadian historical census access campaigns and he has always been a promoter too of keeping up with changes in technology and communication and in recognizing the value of Canada's historical resources as his speech in December to the West Beyond the West: British Columbia Digitization Symposium made clear.

Mr. Wilson will be continuing as President of the International Council on Archives.

His letter advising of his retirement is here.

A brief biography and texts of some of his speeches are here.

In December of 2008, he was the keynote speaker at the West Beyond the West: BC Digitization Symposium. A webcast of his presentation is here.

No announcement regarding a successor has been made yet.

1891 Canadian Census images & index - free at Library & Archives Canada

The 1891 Canadian census page images with an index are now up at Library and Archives Canada's website (LAC) - 4,833,239 references apparently : http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/census-1891/index-e.html

Census page images are available in .pdf or .jpeg

This presentation includes search helps and links to more information from LAC's Canadian Genealogy Centre. Search by surname, given names, keywords and locations. Let me know what keywords you find useful here, please! (Married? Widowed?)

These 1891 census images and the index are included in a collaboration between The Generations Network (TGN-Ancestry.ca) and Library & Archives Canada (LAC).
See this link for some information about this agreement and a timetable of other project releases: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/about-us/012-215.01-e.html

The Early Chinese Canadians, 1858-1947 - New On-line Exhibit at Library and Archives Canada

Library and Archives Canada has another new virtual exhibition on-line, The Early Chinese Canadians, 1858-1947. This complements the index, Immigrants from China, already available.

This exhibit includes historical information by author Paul Yee, whose fictional pieces accompany the history, a research guide written by LAC staff, and a gallery of documents and photographs - both published and archival materials, for instance, a signed petition from 1894 from Chinese residents of Victoria, British Columbia to extend the time allowed away from Canada to visit China and a film clip showing a 1918 Chinese funeral procession in Victoria, B.C. But as the exhibit notes, most of these documents are about Chinese Canadians, not by or from Chinese Canadians.

The index is to three sources of immigration information - the General Registers of Chinese Immigration 1885-1949 (often called the Head Tax registers. The Head Tax was an entry fee legislated to control Chinese immigration to Canada). This shows immigrants of Chinese origin arriving in Canada between 1885 and 1949; the Port of New Westminster Register of Chinese Immigration - Chinese immigrant registrations at New Westminster, British Columbia from 1887 -1908; and the Newfoundland Register of Arrivals and Outward Registrations - Chinese entering Newfoundland as immigrants from 1910 - 1949 or leaving from 1906 - 1950.

You can also read an essay by Dr. Henry Yu, from the book, Finding Memories, Tracing Routes: Chinese Canadian Family Stories. His grandfather, Yeung Sing Yew, was among those Chinese immigrants forced to pay the Head Tax.

Visitors to the exhibit are being encouraged to submit comments about their family's experiences and these will be added to the exhibit. Teachers' resources will also be on-line soon.


LINKS

The Early Chinese Canadians: 1858-1947, Library and Archives Canada: www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/chinese-canadians/index-e.html

Finding Memories, Tracing Routes: Chinese Canadian Family Stories by Shirley Chan, Belinda Hung, Roy Mah, Dan Seto, Hayne Wai, Candace Yip, Gail Yip and Ken Yip. Editor. Brandy Liên Worrall. Bilingual Chinese/English edition and an English only edition. (Vancouver, B.C.: Chinese Canadian Historical Society of British Columbia, 2006): www.cchsbc.ca/

If you are researching a Chinese Canadian family, these two Vancouver Public Library's websites will be of help -

Chinese-Canadian Genealogy: www.vpl.ca/ccg/index.html

Chinese-Canadians: Profiles from a Community, a wiki: http://ccgwiki.vpl.ca/index.php/ccg_wiki

BC Digitization Symposium 2008 - Opening Session - Ian Wilson, Library & Archives Canada

Tonight I attended the opening session of the BC Digitization Symposium 2008, West Beyond The West being held at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Ian Wilson, Librarian and Archivist of Canada gave the keynote address, which he called: From Canada, by Web: Settling a New World.

Certainly he gave a good speech, and overall, a good overview of the many threads that I also feel need to inform discussions of digitization of historical and cultural materials - questions about preservation, the thorny issue of copyright, the trend, now even in North America, towards portable 'computer-like' devices, the popularity of authorship on the web, the possibility of 'digitization on demand', for instance.

He made it clear he sees both a need for Canadian content on the web, and a desire for it from users (mostly genealogists, of course!) and that he recognizes that if Canadian content is to be uploaded and downloaded in a context informed by 'Canadian' values and experience, this will mean dealing with issues like accessibility and language.

He did, however, mention the role of Library and Archives Canada not as a leader, but as a catalyst, in encouraging digitization partnerships. Yes, he mentioned commercial partners, but few specifics, although he did talk a bit about Canadiana.org and the donation of software to Canadiana from OpenText Corporation, for example. (Tom Jenkins, the Executive Chairman of Open Text was elected to Canadiana.org's Board this last summer. Canadiana.org is a not-for-profit organization, originally established by the Canada Council for the Arts, which is now co-ordinating digitization initiatives by various partners. Canadiana.org has been partnering since 2007 with a commercial company, The Generations Network (TGN), aka Ancestry.com, for financial and possibly other considerations. )

Mr. Wilson went on to say that digitized collections already on the web have brought to Canadians' attention the range and depth of Canada's historic documents and artifacts, have made history more personal to users - history "first person singular"- and brought an affirmation of Canadian identity and diversity, for instance, in 'Project Naming', as archival photographs of unnamed 'Eskimos' were scanned, so that youthful volunteers could work with elders and others to identify the individuals shown.

Mostly well and good - however, one of his beginning points, I think, was that the proliferation of digitized materials has reasserted the need for archival and institutional stewardship, expert information and analysis, and the management of these resources. Again I agree with him, but here also I see a disconnect at the moment - at least in some of LAC's partnerships.

One obvious example, from LAC's relationship with TGN, would be in the recent addition of Canadian World War I attestation papers to Ancestry.com's offerings.

First, for instance, the description of this index on Ancestry says "This database contains an index to the Attestation papers of men [my emphasis] enlisted...."

Good grief! Then what are all those female nurses doing in that index? As the steward of these original Canadian records, and as our information experts, did LAC not at least explain these records to TGN?

And second, if LAC really wants to ask genealogists who look at these attestations, "Would you like an order of Canadian history to go with that?" as LAC has said previously [Note 1], why did LAC let them be shown to viewers as isolated 'objects' at Ancestry.com in the first place - why not keep the viewer on LAC's website where they can be linked to other related resources? And, any index to the attestations is really only an index to the Canadian WW I soldiers' files held at LAC. Sadly, most Ancestry.com viewers may be unaware that they can order copies of the files or view the files in Ottawa and that, in many cases, they will find valuable information at LAC.

Well, tomorrow is another day, as a famous fictional southern woman once said. I'm looking forward to mulling over some of these issues in tomorrow's symposium sessions.

LINKS

Canadian Digitization Information Strategy. If you do read the Draft Strategy from October 2007, be sure to read the on-line responses to the draft too: http://www.lac-bac.gc.ca/cdis/index-e.html

About Us, Canadiana.org: http://www.canadiana.org/eco.php?doc=cihm

Project Naming, Library & Archives Canada. This is a Canadian website, in French, English and Inuktitut. To see the latter, you'll need a special font, but that's available free, follow the links: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/inuit/index-e.html

Note 1: Re 'Would you like an order of Canadian history to go with that?" I didn't make that up myself, it's from LAC's February 2007 'Strategy for the LAC Genealogy Program' sic! I have never decided whether this 'slogan' is patronizing or just plain silly.
PDF 104 KB

Ancestry.ca and Family Search Announce Agreement - But Where is LAC?

November 11, 2008: Ancestry.ca and FamilySearch Announce Agreement to Digitize and Index Existing Canadian Censuses

[The following is from a press release dated 10 November 2008.]

Ancestry.ca announced a joint initiative with FamilySearch International to improve online access to a comprehensive collection of Canadian censuses. As part of the agreement, FamilySearch will digitize and index Canadian census records that Ancestry.ca has acquired. These digitized and indexed records will then be made available to Ancestry.ca members on the company's Web site, and the indexes will be available for free to the public at FamilySearch.org. The images will be free to qualified FamilySearch members and all FamilySearch family history centers.

FamilySearch will deliver images and indexes to Ancestry.ca for censuses from 1861, 1871, 1881, and 1916, to launch online in 2009. In return, Ancestry.ca will provide indexes to FamilySearch for the 1891 and 1901 censuses.

[Please note: Qualified FamilySearch members include indexers who submit 900 names in 90 days and receive 90 days of free image access. The validation system that will enable FamilySearch to authenticate qualified FamilySearch members will be implemented in 2009.]


Original press release quoted here as posted at: http://www.familysearchindexing.org/en/home/home.jsf?pname=homeTab


Please see my previous posting, 10 November, 2008, Library & Archives Canada - What kind of partnership. Now it appears that LAC is a third party partner with FamilySearch...a wallflower as it were. Why is LAC now dealing direct with Ancestry and not with FamilySearch? And, of course, I have lots of other questions.
http://canadagenealogy.blogspot.com/2008/11/library-archives-canada-and-ancestry.html

Library & Archives Canada and Ancestry - what kind of partnership?

Library & Archives Canada today announced a "collaborative partnership" with Ancestry.ca. This announcement sounds much the same as previous announcements, although I believe the word 'collaborative' is new.

What does this partnership entail? What benefits are LAC and Canadian taxpayers and genealogists receiving from this relationship? And at what cost in money, time and autonomy?

LAC has, of course, already a relationship with Ancestry (The Generations Network). Canadian records have been digitized and indexed by Ancestry recently. Some, like the World War I attestation papers which Ancestry just released on its site, had been digitized and indexed long ago and are already available free at LAC's website. Others, like the 1891 Canadian census records, remain available only at Ancestry, for a price.

Canada has a long history now of free web access to records, and of strong volunteer participation from groups and individuals with particular experience and knowledge in digitizing and indexing Canadian materials. Are we losing this?

The news release does say that "All of the digitized records will eventually be available free of charge to users of the LAC website". That's good but how long really is eventually? And will other groups be assisted then to index those records.

And, who, or what, is deciding which Canadian records are worth digitizing?

I have asked several times to see the details of agreements between LAC and Ancestry, but so far have been denied that information. In principle, I am not against LAC having any commercial relationships, however, Canadian genealogical volunteer organizations have been apparently passed over, at least for now, in favour of this company. Why?

What policies and decisions have guided this partnership?

I have been told today by Doug Rimmer of LAC, that the Canadian open access historic censuses will all be digitized within 3 years and made available with a nominal index, both at Ancestry and at LAC's website. These are not the only records being made available to Ancestry, however.

And it will be up to LAC's own priorities when indexes and images are made available at LAC, "depending on all of the other material that is being digitized and put online. "

"This agreement meets LAC's goals of free access, non-exclusivity and value to the taxpayer. It is a non-cash agreement in which we are both sharing digital resources but neither of us is paying the other for work that is done. LAC will retain full ownership of its original records (in microfilm and any other format). This agreement will not prevent LAC from continuing to work with other genealogical partners. "

This sounds like a good deal for Ancestry. I don't necessarily think it is a good deal for Canadian researchers. But then, I still don't have the details...

Library and Archives Canada Partners with Ancestry.ca
Partnership allows unprecedented online access to Canadian historical records:
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/whats-new/013-362-e.html

Canadian Passenger Lists - Ancestry.com

Ancestry.com now has an index with images for many Canadian Passenger lists 1865 - 1935. Look for a link on the Ancestry.com or Ancestry.ca home page as this index doesn't seem to be in the 'card catalog' yet.

All these same passenger list images are available free at Library and Archives Canada's website. There is no name index there, however, many of these entries, particularly those through the U.K. and Scandinavia, are already available through outbound indexes and some free Canadian inbound indexes. I hope that the drive to continue free indexing to these Canadian genealogical resources isn't lessened in any way.

**Dave Obee has reminded me that the Canadian lists for 1925-1935 are NOT digitized and available on the LAC site, although they are available now on Ancestry.com. I simplified things way too far. Do check the LAC section link below for information on what's available at LAC's website and on microfilm from LAC. **

This Ancestry index does not yet include the 'Form A' arrivals - between 1919-1924. Families and other groups of passengers are not linked. There are links to images of the ships though most of those are available on-line elsewhere.

For an explanation of the various passenger and immigration forms and lists, see Library and Archives Canada's Canadian Genealogy Centre's 'Immigration and Citizenship' section: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-908-e.html

For the Scandinavians, I see the spelling is retained, if used on the record, but this doesn't seem to carry over into the index search - e.g. Löfholm, Lofholm

I've already made a couple of corrections to Ancestry's indexing and I can see that there are 100's or more in this index without surnames or without either first or surnames. In some cases this will be due to the appallingly poor microfilms we have of these records, most of which were later destroyed. In some cases, of course, it might be due to insufficient time or knowledge invested in the indexing.

Ancestry.com, a commercial company, was apparently given permission to house copies of these passenger lists on its site. We Canadians should be able to see the details of the agreement Library and Archives Canada made with The Generations Network (Ancestry.com).

LAC & TGN - Canadian Passenger List Index Launch - September 2008

Apparently The Generations Network (TGN, Ancestry.com, .ca, etc.) and Library and Archives Canada (LAC) will be launching the Ancestry indexes to Canadian passenger lists from 1865-1935 on September 16, 2008 in Toronto. Some 5.5 million names!

Thanks to Olive Tree Genealogy for this heads-up - there doesn't seem to be any news yet on LAC's website or elsewhere.

These indexes will be available on Ancestry (TGN) by subscription, but remember to check with your local library system to see if that's offered at a library for free somewhere near you.

There are various Canadian indexes already (not all on-line), and images of passenger lists from 1865 to 1922 are on-line at LAC's website. See below for a link directly to LAC's Canadian Genealogy Centre's information guide to passenger lists.

If you're in or close to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the launch is 16th September 2008, 10:30 am at the "Toronto Archives Building at 255 Spadina Road" - that would be at the City of Toronto Archives ? (Why I wonder?)

If this were 'after 1935', it would be a bit more exciting to me, but of course, it will be very useful, particularly for the earliest years. Ancestry's indexes and searches, if not always accurate, are usually flexible, although other recent passenger indexes for Great Britain and Europe have really already opened up many of the Canadian passenger lists to researchers.

Looking at passenger lists - from both departure and entry - may give you much more information. Don't stop with one name found in a Canadian entry index - see the actual record, have a look right through it, then search to see if there is a corresponding record in the port of departure.

If your family might have come through Hamburg, see the newer 'Port of Dreams: Ballinstadt' website. (See a link below - this isn't yet mentioned on LAC's web pages.)

And also, keep an eye on Stephen Morse - he is almost sure to have a 'one-step' for this new index very quickly. His search facility does make locating index entries by surname easier.

Now - I have to ask - what did LAC, and thus, we Canadian researchers (and taxpayers), get out of this passenger list index "partnership" between LAC and TGN? Will all the passenger records for this period soon be available free on LAC's website?


LINKS

Passenger Lists, 1865-1935, Canadian Genealogy Centre (LAC): http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-908.003-e.html

Port of Dreams - Ballinstadt Emigrant World, Hamburg , : http://www.ballinstadt.de/index.php

One-step webpages, Stephen Morse: http://stevemorse.org/

For the full announcement, see:
COMING SOON! fully indexed Canadian Ships Passenger Lists, 1865-1935, Olive Tree Genealogy

1916 Canadian Prairie Census available at Library and Archives Canada - only in Ottawa...

John D. Reid of Anglo-Celtic Connections just let me know that microfilms of the 1916 Census of the Canadian Prairies (Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta) are now available for viewing at Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and for interlibrary loan. Drat! I was just there, for goodness sake.

Hoping the Cloverdale Branch of the Surrey Public Library already has an order in.

This census is apparently being digitized under an agreement between LAC and The Generations Network (TGN, aka Ancestry) as was done with the 1891 Canadian census.

What do these commercial agreements mean to those researching their Canadian roots? More from me on this soon. Comments?

For more details, see the Anglo-Celtic Connections: http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com/

News from Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa

Today and tomorrow I'm at Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa attending the 'Genealogy and Local History for All: Research services for multicultural communities' conference organized by the Genealogy and Local History (GENLOC) and the Reference and Information Services (RISS) sections of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) in co-operation with Library and Archives Canada - a conference intended for "librarians, archivists and those who provide library services to the genealogy and local history public." This could include people from many family history and genealogy organizations, as well as historical societies and even museums.

There are few attendees who aren't 'real' librarians - a bit disappointing - but there are several very well known Canadians, including Dave Obee from British Columbia, the genealogy writer and speaker, who'll be discussing Eastern European genealogy tomorrow. He is also the writer behind the Victoria Times Colonist's 150th Anniversary book "Making the News: A Times Colonist Look at 150 Years of History" and the history articles featured in the paper and on the website recently.

Elizabeth LaPointe, writer and editor, is at the conference too. She is now the editor of the Ontario Genealogical Society's e-NewsLeaf and the International Director At Large for the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors (ISFHWE}.

John Reid, another Canadian genealogy blogger, is here too. He's from the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa and has already reported on the opening sessions at this conference.

From the library community, there is Janet Tompkins from the Vancouver Public Library who spoke today on Chinese Canadian genealogy and demonstrated the new Chinese-Canadian history wiki. Also at the conference is Laurie Cooke from the Genealogy section of the Cloverdale Branch of the Surrey Public Library - certainly the best library in the west for Canadian genealogy.

Today there was much news of interesting things to come - more about some of that later - but watch for an 1881 Canadian census index with census page images on Library and Archives Canada's website....any minute... This project is in co-operation with FamilySearch which is represented at the conference and yes, I understand the index is the same one available already at Familysearch.org. (Is the PRDH, at the Université de Montréal, still indexing the 1881 and 1851/2 Canadian censuses?)

Also new yesterday and of particular interest to British Columbians was the announcement by Library and Archives Canada of a new strategic partnership between Jonathan J. Kalmakoff, developer of Doukhobor.org - currently the website for reseearching Doukhobor roots. Kalmakoff and LAC will identify materials in the LAC collections which relate to Doukhobor genealogy and history and develop a thematic free guide to these, as well as a specialized LAC web page.

LINKS

Cloverdale Branch, Surrey Public Library: http://www.spl.surrey.bc.ca/Programs+and+Services/Genealogy/default.htm

Doukhobor Genealogy, Jonathan J. Kalmakoff: http://www.doukhobor.org

GenealogyCanada, Elizabeth LaPointe's blog: http://genealogycanada.blogspot.com

150 Years, Making the News, Times Colonist: http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/features/150/index.html

CanGenealogy, Dave Obee's selection of the very best Canadian links: http://www.cangenealogy.com

Anglo-Celtic Connections, John D. Reid: >http://www.anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com

Chinese-Canadian Genealogy, Vancouver Public Library: http://www.vpl.ca/ccg/index.html

Chinese-Canadians: Profiles from a Community, a wiki project of Vancouver Public Library and Library and Archives Canada:
http://ccgwiki.vpl.ca

Library and Archives Canada Consultation Process 2008

Well!

Library and Archives Canada has started to put up more information regarding its new public consultation focus. Not much there yet, but a bit more background and a list of 'strategic choices' for LAC:

These are apparently to -

1. Go digital

2. Be national

3. Focus on government record-keeping

4. "Collaborate and build partnerships - Maintain strong relationships with community-based heritage organizations and provincial, territorial and regional libraries and archives to help deliver services. "

5. Use client research and service evaluation to inform decision making

LAC is promising to "consult closely with client communities and the public...."

Does this encourage you? Worry you? Do you have ideas about other directions LAC should be considering for the future?

Please send your comments to LAC!

Go to Library and Archives Canada's Home Page and look for the

New site for Public Consultations and the Services Advisory Board
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/the-public/pcsab/index-e.html

or, in French, Nouveau site pour les consultations publiques et le Conseil consultatif sur les services

It may be helpful to have a look at the article, "AABC/Library & Archives Canada Consultation" by Peter Johnson, published in the AABC Newsletter, Archives Association of B.C., Volume 15 No. 1 Winter 2005, regarding previous consultations.
http://aabc.bc.ca/aabc/newsletter/15_1/aabclibrary.htm

Library and Archives Canada Home: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/

Library and Archives Canada Consultation Process 2008

Well!

Library and Archives Canada has started to put up more information regarding its new public consultation focus. Not much there yet, but a bit more background and a list of 'strategic choices' for LAC:

These are apparently to -

1. Go digital

2. Be national

3. Focus on government record-keeping

4. "Collaborate and build partnerships - Maintain strong relationships with community-based heritage organizations and provincial, territorial and regional libraries and archives to help deliver services. "

5. Use client research and service evaluation to inform decision making

LAC is promising to "consult closely with client communities and the public...."

Does this encourage you? Worry you? Do you have ideas about other directions LAC should be considering for the future?

Please send your comments to LAC!

Go to Library and Archives Home Page and look for the

New site for Public Consultations and the Services Advisory Board
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/the-public/pcsab/index-e.html

or, in French, Nouveau site pour les consultations publiques et le Conseil consultatif sur les services

Library and Archives Home: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/