Month: August 2022

August 19 marks the 80th anniversary of the Dieppe Raid.

Known as Operation Jubilee, an Allied force of about 6,200, including 5,000 Canadians, landed on the French coast on the morning of 19 August 1942. From the moment they touched the beach, they were no match for the entrenched German forces. In vicious fighting, the landing force was overwhelmed. In all, 916 Canadian soldiers paid with their lives, 586 were wounded, and 1,946 were taken prisoner. The Dieppe Raid remains one of the worst disasters in Canadian military history.

Robert D’Aoust has researched and compiled biographical information on the 916 soldiers who died. The Sacrifice We Will Not Forget, Dieppe Raid, hot of the press, consists of three volumes and more than 1100 pages with a profile of every one of the soldiers, including extensive personal and service information, photographs, where buried or commemorated and any additional information such as action and eye-witness reports, clippings, extracts from letters and much more.

These volumes tell the story of the Dieppe Raid through the service and sacrifice of those Canadian soldiers who took part
in the operation, especially those who died on that August morning eighty years ago.

Robert has produced similar books on those who died during the Second World War. His Ultimate Sacrifice (4 volumes) pays tribute to all those who died while serving with the Royal Canadian Navy, the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve and the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve. They Gave Their All (4 volumes) is a similar tribute to those were served and died with Canada’s Merchant Marine, unique as they contain information that is not generally or easily available.

The Sacrifice We Will Not Forget, Dieppe Raid and Robert’s previous books are available from Lehmann Bookbinding Ltd, info@lehmannbookbinding.com/.

You may also find the volumes at a local library.  Ultimate Sacrifice is available at the Canadian War Museum and the Ottawa and Toronto Public Libraries.

Thanks to Glenn Wright, who penned this post.

The first new records posted by Deceased Online this year are now available — over 200,000 cremation records from Leicester City Council’s Gilroes Crematorium. Some 218,000 cremations, and 135,000 burials at the adjoining cemetery, have taken place at Gilroes.

These register scans for all but the latest records cover from 1902, when the crematorium opened, one of the oldest, to 2019.

Less complete information on cremations since 1950 may be found free at the Gilroes Crematorium Book of Remembrance.

Leicester burial records are also updated at Deceased Online with additional records up to 2019.

Deceased Online is working on more than 2,000,000 additional burial and cremation records to add to the over 30 million records from over 1,000 locations across the UK now available.

Thinking of a genealogy trip to Scotland? If so, you will want to dip into this special Scotland 2023 souvenir edition, an annual that will help you plan your travels beyond the archives and libraries in 2023 and beyond.

Available through PressReader which is likely online for free through your public library, the magazine brings you “a curated collection of inspiring travel tales, all tinged with the history and heritage. In 100 pages, you can read about some of our most impressive castles and stately homes-many of which are still the family seats of some of Scotland’s most powerful clans.”

Coverage is Southwest Scotland, the Borders, Glasgow & the Clyde, Edinburgh & Lothians, Fife, Argyle & Lomond, Perthshire& Stirlingshire, Northeast Scotland, The Highland, and The Islands.

Discover handpicked top attractions, events, travel tips  and places to eat and drink — you wouldn’t want to miss out on where to dine on braised pork cheeks, venison carpaccio and buckwheat gnocchi in Glasgow! Want more? Lots of web links are included to keep you in the know about developments since publication.

The most recent addition to the 2022 BIFHSGO conference website is a short “In their own words” video by Andrea Heatherington whose presentation is on the emigration of WW I widows.

It joins those by Alan Ruston, Gill Blanchard, Derek Blount, and Ian Waller. 

Dave Annal, Mia Bennett, Beryl Evans, Janet Few, Caroline Gurney, Paul Milner, and Gill Thomas are the other speakers. BIFHSGO expects to add “In their own words” videos from most if not all of them. Stay tuned.

Time is ticking down to the start of the conference,  watch it happen and link to the videos at www.bifhsgo.ca/2022-BIFHSGO-Conference. That’s also where you’ll find the link to register.

The following information received by email from the Ottawa Public Library is encouraging.

“Before the pandemic, a customer suggested that the OPL become an affiliate library of this organization. We followed up by email with FamilySearch.org, during the pandemic, while our branches were closed, I received an affiliate agreement from the organization

Since customers have to come into the library physically to access this resource because remote access is not available, we suspended this project simply because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pandemic isn’t over, but our branches are now open. I will discuss this with my managers and will let you know our decision as soon as possible.

OPL strives to provide the best Genealogy resource to our community, I just want to let you know that we just added MyHeritage Library Edition on July 1, 2022. By adding the MyHeritage Library Edition, OPL can provide convenient remote access genealogy services for our customers.”

The following is an announcement of a new feature on Findmypast of interest to subscribers.

“With Tree Search, you can search other Findmypast members’ family trees for your deceased ancestors (those marked as deceased on a family tree or aged over 110 years old).

Search for ancestors you have in common with others
Gather information from other members’ research and even privately message that member.

If a tree owner has shared their deceased ancestors, you can review details such as names, other relatives, and milestone moments, with the option to add them to your own family tree to help it grow.

You can use Tree Search for free when logged into your Findmypast account via the site menu or directly from your family tree builder. To view search results in more detail, you will need an active, valid subscription or a 14-day free trial.

Other members viewing your family tree information can’t change or edit it. They can only see some details from your tree, and if relevant, they can add them to their own. This will only ever be for deceased ancestors or those over 110 years old.

In time, you will be able to view entire family trees of other Findmypast members, featuring all their deceased ancestors, provided they have opted-in to sharing this information.”

COVID broke the mould on conferences. Suddenly, by necessity, the virtual conference came into vogue.

Have a conversation with someone involved with a family history society these days and the topic of in-person vs virtual vs hybrid conferences is bound to come up. People miss personal contact, absent with a virtual event, but relish the wider range of speakers possible online and the lower cost. How can you create conferences that combine the most valuable features of the various types?

This is an issue for all kinds of organizations, especially, although not just, those with geographically dispersed membership.

The article The Many Faces of Meetings: A Taxonomy of Emerging Models for In-Person and Hybrid Conferences examines seven models. Have you heard of the Hub and Spoke, and the Parallel models?

The leadership of our societies will want to be open to exploring new models.

 

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 16 August, noon:  Genealogy and Eastern Europe Border Changes, by Edie Adam for Surrey (BC) Libraries/
https://www.surreylibraries.ca/events/genealogy-and-eastern-europe-border-changes

Tuesday 16 August, 2:30 pm: Where They Lived: Immigrant Neighborhoods in US Cities, by Elizabeth Hodges for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/6972045

Tuesday 16 August, 8 pm: Finding Fayette’s Father: Autosomal DNA Reveals Misattributed Parentage, by Jennifer Zinck for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/finding-fayettes-father-autosomal-dna-reveals-misattributed-parentage/

Wednesday 17 August, 2 pm: FamilySearch.org – 5 More Links You Have to Try, by Devin Ashby for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/familysearch-org-5-more-links-you-have-to-try/

Wednesday 17 August, 2 pm: Tackle Your Photos Today, by Maureen Taylor.
https://www.crowdcast.io/e/tackle-your-photos2022/1

Thuesday 18 August, 6:30 pm: Ask the Experts: PERSI, for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/6972091

Friday 19 August, 2 pm: Tracing Your Alberta Connections, by Dave Obee for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/tracing-your-alberta-connections/

 

There are 134 locations in Canada that have affiliate library status with FamilySearch.  That’s according to this tabulation at the FamilySearch wiki. Ontario has 86, Quebec 19, Alberta 12, British Columbia, Nova Scotia 5 and Prince Edward Island 1.

Don’t take the listing as gospel. The Toronto Public Library is listed once although there’s access at all branches AFAIK., whereas 6 locations are listed in Burlington.

There’s no affiliate library access at all in Ottawa!!!!!

The closest would appear to be Biblotheque et archives nationales Du Quebec- BAnQ Gatineau at 855, boulevard de la Gappe.

There’s also Eastern Ontario access via the Mississippi Mills Public Library – Almonte Branch at 155 High Street, Almonte; Mississippi Mills Public Library – Pakenham Branch, 128 MacFarlane Street, Pakenham; Upper Ottawa Valley Genealogical Group at 222 Dickson St.,  Pembroke; Kingston Frontenac Public Library, 130 Johnson Street, Kingston; and Madawaska Valley Public Library at 19474 Opeongo Line, Barry’s Bay.

According to a recent blog post on Irish Genealogy News:

“The difference between accessing FamilySearch.org from your personal device and searching via an Affiliate Library terminal is that you can access a portion of FamilySearch’s digitised microfilms that researchers cannot view via regular Internet access.

The FamilySearch wiki suggests the Affiliate computer will give you up to an additional 400 million records. So, if your regular computer is showing the camera icon with a key symbol above it alongside the name of the collection you want to search, you probably need to visit an affiliate library. Check with the library before travelling, though, as it’s possible access to that particular collection may be available only at a Family History Center (FHC).”

This Friday is the 80th anniversary of the disastrous raid on Dieppe when over 6,000 Allied troops began the assault on Dieppe. Of 4,963 Canadians 807 died; one hundred more would succumb to their wounds or die in captivity. The Germans captured 1,946 Canadians.

Now the Juno Beach Centre has compiled the home addresses of all those Canadians who perished. About half of those houses still exist today.

At the end of July in the He Lived Where You LIve campaign each address was mailed a unique postcard that shares the name and story of the soldier of Dieppe who lived there at the time of his enlistment.

Those from Ottawa are:

Private Antonio Gariepy of Les Fusiliers Mont-Royal, R.C.I.C. (Bolton Street)
Lance Bombardier Ferdinand Herve Lalonde of the Royal Canadian Artillery. (York Street)
Lance Bombardier Lucien Joseph Fournier of the Royal Canadian Artillery, (Lyndale Ave)
Pilot Officer John Edwin Gardiner of the Royal Canadian Air Force, (Clemow Ave)
Signalman Thomas Malcolm Dean of the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals, (Wilton Cres)

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

Inside the Vault: Vinegar Syndrome
A blog post from Arnprior & McNab/Braeside Archives

Using New Tech to Investigate Old Photographs

Book Review: Letters of the Lost Franklin Arctic Expedition is a significant addition to the Franklin canon

6 Basic Strategies for Searching on Newspapers.com™

Meanwhile, in Ottawa, anxieties are still running high as a mysterious pro-”freedom convoy” group sets down roots in a deconsecrated church. Scroll a little over halfway down at https://www.bugeyedandshameless.com/p/welcome-to-the-new-hyper-normalization

From Imperialism to Postcolonialism: Key Concepts

Thanks to this week’s contributors: Anonymous, Brenda Turner, Christine Jackson, Donna Jones, Gloria Tubman, Ken McKinlay, Mary Bronson, Mike More, Teresa, and Unknown.

The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan saw tens of thousands of young men arriving in Canada.  Not all left after completing their training. Accidents happen.

Pilot-Sergeant Blair Kempton-Werohia was killed when his plane plunged into Lake Ontario 10 miles west of  No 31 Bombing and Gunnery School at Picton. He is buried in Section 29, Lot 1, Grave 130 at Ottawa’s Beechwood Cemetery, the only grave of a New Zealand airman in the cemetery. He had previously trained at BCATP Stations at Dunnville and Ottawa Rockliffe, where is was awarded his pilot’s wings.

The bodies of two others in the plane, David N Jones and Harry C Pigerham from the RAF, are interred at Picton’s Glenwood Cemetery.

Kempton-Werohia was to have been married the following week to Margaret Mary Humble of Ottawa.