Month: July 2022

Tune in to a TNA webinar on Wednesday 20 July at 2:30 pm ET to hear Lindsey Fitzharris, author of The Butchering Art, which won the PEN/E.O. Wilson Prize for Literary Science Writing, is interviewed on “the touching true story of Harold Gillies, the pioneering surgeon who rebuilt the faces of the First World War’s injured heroes, and in the process ushered in the modern era of plastic surgery.”
Find out more and register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-facemaker-the-battle-to-mend-the-disfigured-soldiers-of-world-war-i-tickets-350467025307

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

Truly Humbled….

Scandal at Dolphin Square: Book review

British Library fascinating collection items

Two-Factor Authentication Saves Frustration

Emergency climate briefing to UK MPs

Thanks to this week’s contributors. Anonymous, Brenda Turner, Gloria Tubman, Linda Reid, Teresa, Unknown

If you haven’t checked for a “lost” Canadian ancestor in the past year I suggest taking advantage of the large addition to Ancestry’s Canada obituary index from newspapers.com.

Index	July 2022	Sept 2021	% increase
Australia	5,807,702	NA	NA
Canada	41,457,491	31,113,161	33.2
US	964,204,708	843,651,119	14.3

The data runs from the 1800s to the present and coverage depends on the newspapers in the collection. Find out about which they are from https://www.newspapers.com/browse/

Five new US collections are released by Findmypast this week/

Pennsylvania, List of British Prisoners in the War of Revolution
Within this collection, are British and German Hessian soldiers who were captured during the war, giving an insight into their military experience. Information you may find alongside an ancestor’s name includes their ship or unit, where and when they were captured, and occasionally extra remarks such as whether or not they were being considered for a military exchange.

Pennsylvania, Episcopalian Births and Baptisms
Over 117,000 Episcopalian births and baptisms from the late 1600s to the mid 1900s. Information may include  a combination of event year (birth or baptism), full name, parents’ names and parish.

Pennsylvania, Episcopalian Marriages
153,000 records giving date of marriage, spouse’s name, any witnesses to the marriage and often the person who officiated the ceremony.

Pennsylvania, Episcopalian Deaths and Burials
Over 135,000 records in this collection with information ranging from place, parish, and death or burial year.

Pennsylvania, Episcopalian Congregational Records
The original Anglican congregations in Pennsylvania included Christ Church, Philadelphia (est. 1695), Trinity Church, Oxford (est. 1698), St David’s, Radnor (Est 1700) and St. Thomas, Whitemarsh (est. 1702). Originally, there was only one diocese throughout the entirety of Pennsylvania, but in 1865, the Diocese of Pittsburgh was established to encompass every parish west of the Allegheny Mountains. By 1910, there were several dioceses spanning across the state, and by the 1920s these dioceses saw a vastly increasing growth in population. The type of records will differ per collection, but you may be able to find registers of communion, vestry minutes, membership lists and administrative records.

Do you know a young person who might be interested in the opportunity to help Library and Archives Canada and be paid for it? Perhaps a family member, a young friend or a neighbour might qualify and find the experience a valuable addition to their resume.

The 2022-2023 Youth Advisory Council on Service Transformation

This year’s council will be different. It will consist of 12 students and young professionals aged 16 to 25 coming from all over Canada, who will help us transform our services to the public.

As a YAC member, you would:

• attend monthly virtual meetings from September 2022 to April 2023;
• devote up to 14 hours per month to complete assignments, such as:
  • doing research
  • writing text
  • promoting LAC on social media
• co-develop 1-2 pilot projects with our staff
• develop recommendations on how we interact with the public through:
  • communications
  • programming
  • services

If we accept your application, you’ll be signing a service contract. We’ll pay you for the work at a fixed monthly rate of $225 once that month’s assignments are complete. The maximum amount you can receive for the duration of the contract is $1,800.

FamilySearch are promoting the US 1950 census amongst their volunteer indexing projects.
Delve a bit deeper and you’ll find projects to index Irish Church Records, 1740-1913. Here are the areas and status.

Armagh— Indexed 85%, Reviewed 85%
Carlow— Indexed 43%. Reviewed 42%
Cavan—Indexed 37%, Reviewed 37%
Clare— Indexed 16%, Reviewed 16%
Cork (Part A)—Indexed 99%, Reviewed 99%
Cork (Part B)—Indexed 17%, Reviewed 17%
Derry—Indexed 41%, Reviewed 41%
Donegal—Indexed 26%, Reviewed 26%
Down—Indexed 47%, Reviewed 47%
Dublin—Indexed 36%, Reviewed 36%
Fermanagh—Indexed 20%, Reviewed 20%
Galway—Indexed 71%, Reviewed 71%.

Amongst the other projects is one for England.

Middlesex—Parish Registers, 1556–1987 [Part B], Indexed 19%, Reviewed 18%

A publishing Society founded in 1880, the London Topographical Society‘s purpose is to assist the study and appreciation of London’s history and topography by making available facsimiles of maps, plans and views and by publishing research.

The Society’s journal, the “London Topographical Record,” published since 1898, is available to read in digital format through to Volume 29, published in 2006. More than 300 articles, many with illustrations, cover a broad spectrum of London’s past.

As the Society’s interests are places rather than people, you are unlikely to find a mention of someone in your family tree unless they were a member or author of an article. I’m fortunate that Thomas Fairman Ordish, one of the founders, journal editor and Hon Vice-President, is in mine (perched off on the side.)

You may find this list of 39 websites with a London focus more interesting.

Put your ancestors on the map!

It’s easy and free to place a pin for ancestors on the padlet map BIFHSGO has made available where supporters/friends have ancestors. I just dragged a pin to the place and added a surname. You can add more.

Does the distribution suggest to you areas BIFHSGO wouldn’t want to focus on, or more positively, where they would? There’s precious little in Wales, the eastern half of middle England and even the south coast.

In looking at the map to place a pin you’ll improve your appreciation of the surrounding communities.

While there take a look and be impressed at what’s on offer at the conference.

https://www.bifhsgo.ca/2022-BIFHSGO-Conference

On 12 July 1922, a storm with high winds, lightning and heavy rain swept across Ontario. Damage was reported from Chatham, Owen Sound across to Eastern Ontario where it hit in the evening hours lasting several hours.

Crops and farm buildings were flattened. Lightning killed 40-year-old farmer James Henry Noonan in Bedford Township.

There was panic among 200 passengers on an excursion steamer out of Brockville caught in the storm. Power, telephone and telegraph lines were cut in the community.

Falling trees cut 175 local telephone lines in Ottawa. According to the Ottawa Citizen long-distance lines to Kingston, Brockville, Belleville, Hawkesbury, Montreal, Kemptville, Winchester, Cornwall, Shawville and Arnprior were downed.

However, “communications with points mentioned was still possible, either by other direct lines not damaged or by relay connections.”

A century later we have communications systems less resilient!

 

Karen Linauskas, director of Online Experience Division at Library and Archives Canada, authored a blog post about changes to online services.
It ends with an invitation “Your feedback and engagement will be invaluable, so we welcome comments on the blog series and invite you to look out for other opportunities to help us test new products and features.”

Two people posted comments shown below that post. A third, mine, is “awaiting moderation.” Here’s what I wrote.

Thank you for the update on this activity.

Your sneak peek at the new website shows equal profile given to six aspects of LAC services, whereas the existing site provides direct links to major resources for services to the public, like census and military heritage. Will that mean an extra step for by far the largest client group?

Please consider adding a way to keep current with new resources as they become available, much as Canadiana.ca does at https://www.crkn-rcdr.ca/en/whats-new-canadiana-collections/.

I found your email in my spam folder. Perhaps there something in the content that made it suspicious!

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 12 July 2 pm: OGS Ottawa Branch Virtual Genealogy Drop-in. 
https://ottawa.ogs.on.ca/events/virtual-genealogy-drop-in-2-2022-07-12/

Tuesday 12 July 2 pm: Exploring Your Ethnicities on MyHeritage, by Gal Zrihen for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.  https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/exploring-your-ethnicities-on-myheritage/

Tuesday 12 July 2:30 pm: Preserving Documents & Photos Found in Genealogy Research by Ariel Servadio for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/6846281

Wednesday 13 July noon: Occupied America: British Military Rule and the Experience of Revolution by Donald F. Johnson for New York State Office of Cultural Education.
http://nyslibrary.libcal.com/event/8688276

Wednesday 13 July 7 pm: An Update on What’s New at FamilySearch and the 1950 Census Indexing Project by David Rencher for the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP).
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYpdeiuqTksG9PEFUZE-iX96htqb48xUsN3

Wednesday 13 July 8 pm: Montana Genealogy Treasures, by Janet Thomson for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/montana-genealogy-treasures/

Thursday 14 July 6:30 pm: Live! From Midwestern Roots for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/6846284

Thursday 14 July 7 pm: Using the Internet Archive (Archive.org) for serious genealogical research by James Tanner for Brigham Young University (BYU) Family History Library.
Click on this link at the time of the webinar
byu.zoom.us/j/97185943513?pwd=TkUyRkhucTJPMDVmRUROSm1RbW

Friday 15 July 2 pm: Colonial Spanish & Mexican Censuses & Census Substitutes, by Henrietta Martinez Christmas for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/colonial-spanish-mexican-censuses-census-substitutes/

 

Since the 7th, when Paul Barber’s OGS conference presentation was missing from the recordings, it has been found. Attendees can now view all the presentations until the end of the month.