The History of Port Albert: No. 31 ANS

The locally published book History of Port Albert suggests it’s of the Lake Huron shoreline community interest. But as indicated by the image on the cover with the words “Air Navigation School” and “Royal Air Force” the focus is limited to the period of the Second World War when the community welcomed airmen in training. These were the days of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.

From the middle of October 1940 to 17 February 1945 when the base closed a total of about 1,200  navigators from allied countries descended on Port Albert.

The book details the development of the base, the training, the community during the war and its subsequent remembrance of the period. There are many illustrations including photos — one included the father of a friend as a member of a football team.

Page 60 lists airmen killed while stationed at Port Albert, 12 with no known grave. Of the 35 named 33 can be identified in the Commonwealth War Graves Commission database. Flight Sergeant R Brown and Leading Aircraftsman C T Jones could not be recognized. There were spelling differences in others. Byers, instead of Buyers, Chantler not Chandler,  Chilvers not Chivers, Dawes not Daws, Hughes not Hughs.

Anyone researching someone who trained at, or served in a civilian capacity at No 31 ANS, will find lots of interesting background in writing a family history.

UPDATE

The Daily Diary for the accident that killed Flight Sergeant R Brown has the notation against his name “Fighting French.” The diary also shows the number of Free French at Port Arthur number 2 at the start of the month and 1 at the end.  It’s strange to have someone named Brown as French — possibly another spelling problem.

C T Jones is actually C T James!

Irish Registry of Deeds Indexing Project Update

As explained by Roz McCutcneon in her BIFHSGO conference talk, and her handout, the Registry of Deeds is a vast archive, which covers the whole island of Ireland. As of the date of her talk, there were 436,699 names indexed at www.irishdeedsindex.net  drawn from 45,975 deeds. The latest update is 452,604 index records from 47,489 deeds. That’s as of 7 November.

These and the subsidiary indexes are fully searchable for free at https://irishdeedsindex.net/search/search.php/.

They provide an entree to the 2686 free-to-view films from the beginning of the Registry in 1708, up to 1929 at: https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/185720?availability=Family%20History%20Library.

 

This Week’s Online Genealogy Events

Choose from free online events in the next five days. All times are ET except as noted. Those in red are Canadian, bolded if local to Ottawa or recommended

Assume registration in advance is required; check so you’re not disappointed.

Tuesday 9 Nov. 2 pm: Virtual Genealogy Drop-In, from Ottawa Branch of OGS and The Ottawa Public Library.
https://ottawa.ogs.on.ca/events/.

Tuesday 9 Nov. 2 pm: An overview of the massive new record collection from France, by Elisabeth Zetland from MyHeritage for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/a-myheritage-webinar-series-webinar-2/

Wednesday 10 Nov. 3 pm: Processing LAC’s Largest Private Digital Record Donation (Stephen Harper), by Nicole Welsh for ARMA Vancouver Chapter.
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/processing-lacs-largest-private-digital-record-donation-tickets-195216807727?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

Wednesday, 10 Nov. 7 pm: Mapping Ottawa’s Indigenous Trails by Peter Stockdale and Barb Sarazin for Historical Society of Ottawa.
https://www.historicalsocietyottawa.ca/activities/events/eventdetail/50/16,17,19,21/mapping-ottawa-s-indigenous-trails

Thursday 11 Nov. 7 pm: British War Brides, by Sheila Hewett for Lambton County Branch OGS.
https://lambton.ogs.on.ca/home/lambton-branch-monthly-meeting/

Saturday 13 Nov. 9 am: Finding UK Military Records: What, Where and How, by Glenn Wright and Ken McKinlay for BIFHSGO.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZItdOyqrjsvE9LhKUSYohc-576ujjERiphW

Saturday 13 Nov. 10 am: “At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them” Military Moments, by Sandra Adams, Gil Croome, Gillian Leitch, Nigel Lloyd, Bill Rasmus, and John D Reid for BIFHSGO.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZItdOyqrjsvE9LhKUSYohc-576ujjERiphW

 

FHF Podcasts

The (UK) Family History Federation now has podcasts.  Termed “Really Useful Podcast”, two are available.

Series 1 Episode 1: Occupations
In this episode series host Joe Saunders is joined by Mish Holman, professional genealogist who is particularly interested in theatre ancestors and census enumerators, Mike Esbester, academic historian and co-lead on the Railway Work Life and Death Project and Judith Batchelor, professional genealogist, writer and tutor at IHGS.
Work affected our ancestors and shaped their fortunes. Occupational records can be used to research your family history and give a fuller picture of their lives. Among other things our speakers touch upon the need to think about women’s work, what drew people to certain occupations and offer some top tips for researching.

Series 1 Episode 2: Young People
Joe Saunders is joined by Janet Few, historical researcher, writer, speaker and President of the Family History Federation, Margaret Roberts, editor of the Playing Pasts online sports history magazine and Publicity Officer for the FHS of Cheshire and Daniel Loftus, Gen-Z Genealogist and founding member of The Hidden Branch group for young family historians.

Young people aren’t just the future of family history but the present. We discuss some of the problems young people face and how older genealogists and organisations can best interact with them for the massive benefit of all.

Find out how “really useful” these really are at https://www.familyhistoryfederation.com/podcast

Sunday Sundries

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week

BBC WDYTYA: Alex Scott

Reversing death: the weird history of resuscitation

Digital Repository of Ireland 
A national digital repository for Ireland’s humanities, social sciences, and cultural heritage data. An eclectic mix that includes some older maps.

The Century of Deception
From the London Historians’ Blog, “Although we may be tempted to scoff at the credulity of the public then (18th century), we need look no further to our own times and the current debates about vaccines, Presidents spouting “alternative truths”, Facebook and Twitter storms to realise that we are not that different ourselves, despite the media changing from pamphlets in Coffee Houses to screens in bedrooms.”

Interpreting choices: what can we infer from where our ancestors married? by Rebecca Probert in The Journal of Genealogy and Family History, Vol. 5, No. 1
https://www.qualifiedgenealogists.org/ojs/index.php/JGFH/article/view/102/67

Portraits, Biographies and Public History, a Gresham College public lecture by Ludmilla Jordanova

Thanks to this week’s contributors. Anonymous,  Brenda Maitland, Nancy Frey, Unknown.

Find a Grave Index Updates

Ancestry’s updated index databases for Find a Grave on 3 November showing gradual increases , 2.3% for the UK and Ireland and 0.9% for Canada. In terms of the percent of the current population, for Canada it’s 22%, for the UK and Ireland 19%, and for the US 50%.

Country Period 3 Nov Records 18 Aug Records
U.S. 1600s-Current 165,337,431
UK and Ireland 1300s-Current 13,369,742 13,076,152
Global 1300s-Current 12,332,919
Australia and New Zealand 1800s-Current 9,478,641
Canada 1600s-Current 8,575,861 8,528,651
Germany 1600s-Current 1,635,287
Italy 1800s-Current 234,439
Norway 1800s-Current 202,299
Sweden 1800s-Current 136,898
Brazil 1800s-Current 130,344
Mexico 1800s-Current 49,397

Findmypast weekly update

Over 57,000 previously-redacted records have been added to the 1939 Register. There’s also a new search capability to focus research on disabled people, evacuees, Welsh language speakers and more.

Over 9,000 additional Northumberland baptism records from 1753 to 1919 are now available for the parishes of:

Blanchland, St Mary
Harbottle
North Shields, Bankside Independent
North Shields, Low Meeting House Unitarian Chapel
North Shields, Middle Street Mission
North Shields, Secession Church
North Shields, Union St Baptist
Tynemouth, Holy Trinity (Western Town)
Tynemouth, St Peter (Low Town).

Over 3,000 baptismal records for St Paul’s Church in Ryhope, Durham covering 1889-1903 are now available.

Additional Serials added to Canadiana in October

31 additional titles listed below were added to Canadiana serials at the end of October. As usual, many are niche. Of note are Cotton’s Weekly from Dec. 3, 1908-Dec. 10, 1914 which has the logo “We Fight the Battle of the Plain People,” and The Dominion of Canada with the content of particular interest to the Dominion government.

Title Publication Date URL (if online)
Alliance year book / the Dominion Alliance for the Total Suppression of the Liquor Traffic 1883-1886 https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_01778
Announcement of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, for the academic year … 1875/6; 1882/83; 1890/1 https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_01775
Annuaire de l’École normale Jacques-Cartier 1882/83; 1885/86 – 1886/87; 1888/89-1889/90; 1891/92 https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_01795
Annuaire de l’École normale Laval pour l’année académique … 1895/96 https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_01773
Annuaire de l’École normale Laval pour l’année académique … 1896/97 https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_01773
Annuaire du Collège de Lévis 1883/84-1899/1900 https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_01797
Annual report of the Intercolonial Railway Commissioners 1872/73 https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_01788
Annual report of the Toronto Female Benevolent Society for … 1840 https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_01790
Canadian forward October 28, 1916-September 24, 1918 https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.N_00567
Canadian labor press (Ottawa, Ont.) [February 15, 1919-December 24, 1925] https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.N_00571
Circulaire / École de médecine et de chirurgie de Montréal 1860/61 – 1861/62; 1864/65 – 1866/67; 1875/76 https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_01785
Collège Joliette, sous la direction des Clercs de St-Viateur : année scolaire … 1876/1877 – 1899/1900 https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_01793
Collège Ste. Marie, Montréal : année académique … 1867/68; 1869/70 – 1896/97; 1898/99 – 1899/1900 https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_01792
Cotton’s weekly [Dec. 3, 1908-Dec. 10, 1914] https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.N_00566
Dominion swine breeders record Volume I-Volume X https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_01774
Elite directory and club list of Toronto : containing names and addresses of prominent residents on the most fashionable streets of the city 1894/95 https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_01777
Journal of proceedings of the Synod of the Church of England in Canada for the Ecclesiastical Province of “Canada” 1895-1898 https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_01772
Journal of the proceedings of the … Provincial Synod of the United Church of England and Ireland in Canada 1861-1868 https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_01855
Minutes of proceedings, with addresses, papers and discussions, of the … convention of the Association / the Dominion Educational Association 1892 https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_01779
Minutes of proceedings, with addresses, papers and discussions, of the … convention of the Association / the Dominion Educational Association 1898 https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_01779
Observer (Cowansville, Quebec. : 1896) Sept. 17, 1908-Nov. 26, 1908 https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.N_00565
Palmarès de l’École modèle Jacques-Cartier 1896/97-1897/98; 1900/01 https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_01796
Quebec Harbour Commissioners’ reports for the year … 1878-1879; 1883-1899 https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_01791
Rapport annuel de la prison de réforme, Bas-Canada, pour l’année … 1860 https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_01783
Rapport annuel de la Société de Québec pour la protection des animaux 1874 https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_01789
Rapport de la … convention annuelle de l’Association d’ensilage et d’alimentation économique des bestiaux du Canada central 1892 https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_01786
Rapports du président et du trésorier de la Chambre des notaires = Reports of the president and treasurer of the Board of Notaries 1879 https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_01784
Report of the … annual convention of the Ensilage and Economic Stock Feeding Association of Central Canada 1892 https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_01787
Social-democrat (Toronto, Ont.) No. 108 (December 31, 1918) https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.N_00568
The Dominion manufacturers’ directory [1880?] https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_01781
The Dominion of Canada 1879; 1885; 1894; 1896; 1900 https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.8_01780

UK, Records of the Removal of Graves and Tombstones, 1601-1980

New on Ancestry, 164,858 items — records in RG27 at TNA, Kew, from local authorities and Church Commissioners concerning the removal of burial sites. They include those from church, private, and public cemeteries.  None are for Scotland nor Northern Ireland.

Many entries are linked to a register of the removals, some to transcriptions of the tombstone which may be from family plots.

 

UK, Military Records of Baptisms, Confirmations, Marriages and Burials, 1813-1957

New on Ancestry, this is a 38,417 item collection from WO 156: War Office: UK and overseas garrisons: Registers of Baptisms, Confirmations, Deaths/Burials, and Marriage. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives. The original records were recorded by military chaplains. 

Events included are 9,051 baptisms, 7,538 burials, 1.198 bann(s) and 884 marriages. I did not find any confirmations.