Month: April 2023

Highgate Cemetery, one of London’s Magnificant Seven, can now be searched for burials as part of the National Burial Grounds Survey.

While not yet complete, burials can be found directly on the map or by name, age or burial date using the search tool. There’s a user guide. Find 2,341 Smiths, including variants like Arrowsmith and Shoosmith as well as double-barrelled Smiths.

The National Burial Grounds Survey shows examples of two other projects: St Giles, Ashtead, Surrey, and  St Mungo and St Kentigerns, Caldbeck, Cumbria.

A few days ago there was news of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire Parish Records coming to Ancestry, following the completion of digitization.

Ancestry isn’t moving far — to adjacent Suffolk.

Suffolk County Council has awarded a contract worth £150,000 running from 1 April to 30 June 2029 “to digitise the Parish Registers and other records for the county. The Contract involves granting the publisher exclusive rights (for a fixed period) to host the records on their website and market them to paying subscribers. In return, the publisher agrees to deliver and pay for the scanning, indexing, and hosting of the records and to pay the council a share of the royalties that it earns on a pay per view basis.”

The contact is to Ancestry Global Holdings Limited located in Malta. It has a similar contact ongoing with East Sussex County Council.

Choose from selected 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. Additional mainly US events are listed at https://conferencekeeper.org/virtual.

Tuesday 18 April

2 pm: Ottawa Virtual Genealogy Drop-In, by OGS Ottawa Branch.
https://ottawa.ogs.on.ca/events/virtual-genealogy-drop-in-2-2023-04-18/

2:30 pm: Honoring Holocaust Remembrance Day:
A Second-Generation Voice, by Peppy Margolis for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/8249343

3 pm: How the Weather Affected Your Ancestor, by Ari Wilkins for Dallas Public Library.
https://dallaslibrary.librarymarket.com/event/how-weather-affected-your-ancestor

8 pm: Urban Mapping Tools, by Rick Sayre for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/urban-mapping-tools/

Wednesday 19 April

2 pm: Surname Origins – Why? When? Why then? by Wayne Shepheard for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/surnames-origins-why-when-why-then/

7 pm: British Home Children in Essex County, by Jayne ‘Cookie’ Foster for OGS Essex County Branch April Webinar.
https://essex.ogs.on.ca/meetings/essex-branch-presentation/

9 pm: Canadian Genealogy, by Dave Obee for Southern California Genealogical Society.
https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/3353442722594990939

Thursday 20 April

1 pm: Lang Pioneer Village Museum, County of Peterborough, by Renée Homiak for OGS Kawartha Branch.
https://kawartha.ogs.on.ca/Past-Events1/kawartha-branch-presents-lang-pioneer-village-museum-peterborough-county/

Friday 21 April

2 pm: Daughters of the King to Mothers of a Nation, by Lianne Kruger for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/daughters-of-the-king-to-mothers-of-a-nation/

Saturday 22 April

1 pm: Fort Frontenac: The Rise and Fall of New France’s Key to the West, by Jean Rae Baxter for Kingston and District Branch, United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada.
https://www.uelac.org/Kingston-Branch/

 

ADVANCE NOTICE

Monday 1 May
Ben Franklin Place, Nepean Centrepointe
Attend any or all of the following presentations:

Introduction, by Ottawa Public Library (9:20 am – 9:30 am)

MyHeritage Library Edition, by Daniel Horowitz (9:30 am – 10:30 am)

The MyHeritage Search Engine Library Edition is a state-of-the-art tool for finding billions of historical records that mention your ancestors. Discover the advanced technology behind the scenes and learn how to take full advantage of the search engine’s robust features to explore the lives of your ancestors.

Jumping the Pond, by Mags Gaulden (11:00 am – 12:00 pm)

We will walk through the scant records as we make our way across the pond to discover lost cousins through boots on the ground. Working with researchers from the North of Ireland Family History Society and the Islandmagee DNA Group Project, volunteers have been busy gathering DNA, sources and information to make great connections!

When Is a Photo Worth a Thousand Relatives?, by Daniel Horowitz (1:30 pm – 2:30 pm)

Take a tour of all MyHeritage’s game-changing new photo features. From enhancing and colourizing your photos with the Photo Enhancer and MyHeritage In Color™ to animating the faces with Deep Nostalgia™ and making them speak with DeepStory. Learn how to use MyHeritage to breathe new life into your old family photos.

The Printed Page: Online Newspapers and Books, by Glenn Wright (3:00 pm – 4:00 pm)

Books and newspapers should never be overlooked in any family history or genealogical research. An enormous number of both are now freely available online. Learn about these resources, how to access relevant websites and see how useful they can be for adding historical context to the story of an individual, a family or the place where they lived.

 

By request, a shoutout for part one of a two-part Back to Basics presentation about the Censuses of Canada, where to find them online and how to use them in our genealogical research, presented by Ann Smith for OGS Nipissing District Branch. Register in advance please.

Session One – Pre 1882 – Tuesday, April 18, 2023, 7 pm.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUofuCqrT0uGNN33_9GFSxdXSe-DntBCY41

Session Two – Post 1882 – Tuesday, May 16, 2023, 7 pm.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAlcumprD0jHNQWESGszGBzm4DL3EmKhKUu

Another 12,656 records now appear in FMP’s Durham Baptisms collection. for Northumberland and Durham counties. They cover 11 parishes between 1560 to 1847.

Barnard Castle, St Mary
Bothral, St Andrew
Earsdon, St Alban
Edlingham, St John the Baptist
Esh Laude, St Michael RC
Gainford, St Mary
Grindon, St Thomas A Beckett
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, St John the Baptist
Rochester, Birdhopecraig Presbyterian
Tynemouth, Christ Church
Whitburn, St Mary.

There are now 942,621 records in the collection, a mix of transcripts and transcripts with images. The complete list of parishes and coverage is at https://www.findmypast.com/articles/durham-parish-list

For England, the Guardian and Evening Post are updated with recent issues. 67 other papers had updates

Title	Place	Years
Manchester Evening News	Manchester, Greater Manchester, England	1971-2000
Evening Post	Bristol, Avon, England	1962-1999
Huddersfield Daily Examiner	Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England	1871-1999
Western Daily Press	Bristol, Avon, England	1974-1999
Walsall Observer	Walsall, West Midlands, England	1969-1999
Westminster and Pimlico News	London, London, England	1887-1999
Evening Telegraph	Derby, Derbyshire, England	1990-1999
Buckinghamshire Advertiser	Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England	1922-1999
The Woking Informer	Woking, Surrey, England	1986-1999
Widnes Weekly News	Widnes, Cheshire, England	1972-1999
St. Neots Weekly News	St. Neots, Cambridgeshire, England	1986-1999
The Northwich Chronicle	Northwich, Cheshire, England	1987-1999
Billericay and Wickford Gazette	Billericay, Essex, England	1987-1999
Bristol Observer (Keynsham ed.)	Bristol, Avon, England	1985-1999
Greenford and Northolt Gazette	Ealing, London, England	1974-1999
Wembley Observer	Brent, London, England	1986-1999
Dunmow Observer	Great Dunmow, Essex, England	1986-1999
The Ormskirk Advertiser, etc.	Ormskirk, Lancashire, England	1855-1999
Lincolnshire Echo	Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England	1893-1999
Horncastle Target	Horncastle, Lincolnshire, England	1991-1999
Herne Bay Times	Whitstable, Kent, England	1986-1999
Shepton Mallet Journal	Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England	1975-1999
Grimsby Evening Telegraph	Grimsby, Humberside, England	1932-1999
Paddington Mercury	Westminster, London, England	1888-1997
Salford City Reporter	Salford, Greater Manchester, England	1986-1997
The West Briton and Royal Cornwall Gazette	Truro, Cornwall, England	1951-1995
Surrey Mirror	Reigate, Surrey, England	1986-1995
Nantwich Chronicle	Nantwich, Cheshire, England	1945-1994
Wilmslow and Knutsford Express Advertiser	Wilmslow, Cheshire, England	1991-1992
Wilmslow Express Advertiser	Wilmslow, Cheshire, England	1981-1991
Farnborough Mail	Farnborough, Hampshire, England	1986-1990
Farnborough News	Farnborough, Hampshire, England	1976-1990
Camberley Mail	Camberley, Surrey, England	1986-1988
Camberley News	Camberley, Surrey, England	1986-1988
Fleet News	Fleet, Hampshire, England	1986-1988
Fleet Mail	Fleet, Hampshire, England	1986-1988
Oadby and Wigston News	Oadby, Leicestershire, England	1934-1987
Loughborough News	Loughborough, Leicestershire, England	1934-1987
Billericay Gazette	Billericay, Essex, England	1986-1987
Wirral News	Hoylake, Merseyside, England	1986-1987
Daily Mail	Hull, Humberside, England	1896-1986
Citizen	Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England	1877-1986
Horley Advertiser and County Post	Horley, Surrey, England	1952-1986
Leicester Advertiser, etc.	Leicester, Leicestershire, England	1858-1984
The Shepton Mallet Journal, City of Wells Reporter, and County Advertiser	Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England	1864-1975
The People	London, London, England	1881-1971
Coventry Standard	Coventry, West Midlands, England	1836-1969
St. Ives Weekly Summary, Visitors’ List and Advertiser, etc.	St. Ives, Cornwall, England	1889-1964
Manchester Evening News	Manchester, Greater Manchester, England	1868-1963
Evening Chronicle	Manchester, Greater Manchester, England	1914-1958
Evening Express	Liverpool, Merseyside, England	1874-1955
Newquay Guardian and Cornwall County Chronicle	Newquay, Cornwall, England	1945-1955
Folkestone, Hythe and District Herald	Folkestone, Kent, England	1939-1952
Stockport Advertiser and Guardian, etc.	Stockport, Greater Manchester, England	1889-1952
Cambridge Independent Press and Chronicle	Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England	1939-1951
Western Evening Herald and Western Evening News	Plymouth, Devon, England	1924-1951
The County of Middlesex Chronicle	Hounslow, London, England	1864-1951
Western Gazette	Yeovil, Somerset, England	1863-1950
The Leicester Chronicle and Leicestershire Mercury	Leicester, Leicestershire, England	1864-1915
The Liverpool Weekly Mercury	Liverpool, Merseyside, England	1865-1910
Nottingham Daily Guardian	Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England	1861-1903
The Hinckley Free Press and South-West Leicestershire Gazette	Hinckley, Leicestershire, England	1897-1900
The Derbyshire Advertiser and Ashbourne, Uttoxeter and North Staffordshire Journal	Derby, Derbyshire, England	1851-1889
Leicester Chronicle, or Commercial and Agricultural Advertiser	Leicester, Leicestershire, England	1813-1864
Essex, Herts and Kent Mercury	London, London, England	1837-1843
Essex and Herts Mercury	London, London, England	1833-1836
Kent and Essex Mercury	London, London, England	1822-1833

Eight Welsh papers were updated: Burry Port Star (1987–1999), Llanelli Star (1986–1999), Pontypridd Observer and Glamorgan Free Press (1944–1967), Wales on Sunday, (Wrexham) Daily Post: The Paper for Wales (1978–1995), Gwent Gazette (1969-1999), South Wales Echo (1983-1999), Rhondda Leader (1986-1995),

For Scotland there are additions to the East Kilbride News (1986–1995), and The Rutherglen Reformer (1885–1892).

No additions for Ireland!

For Canada, there are updates adding recent issues of The (Vancouver) Province, Calgary Herald, (Regina) Leader-Post, Edmonton Journal, Windsor Star, National Post, (Montreal) Gazette, and Windsor Star. All require a Publishers Extra subscription.

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

Mapsaws – Jigsaws Made from Maps

Worldometer
Pause to watch the numbers climb — contemplate society and humanity.

Event – Accessing Historic Records on Intelligence and International Affairs
At LAC, Friday 5 May $

Who Benefited from the British Empire?

What are the odds of a man reaching 100 in reasonably good health?

Why democratic countries around the world are not prepared to support Ukraine – and some are shifting closer to Russia.

Neutral powers during World War II.

This collection of 48 annual Calendars from the library of The National Archives includes lists of all the official departments of state and branches of public service, the law, the church, and national institutions.

While not full-test searchable, there is usually a high-level subject index towards the front of each calendar, which shows the first page number for each featured government department, institution, society etc. Towards the back of the book there will be an alphabetised surname index, with later years giving a page number for the individual. That should tell you where in the organization the person worked and at what grade.

 

Did someone in your family hold the office of mayor or sheriff of London? Did someone with your surname hold office? Find out with the help of a database from the University of Toronto, hardly a likely source for information on those officials who governed the city from medieval times to the present day.

The mayor (later Lord Mayor of London) was the city’s chief magistrate, while the sheriffs were responsible for collecting taxes, enforcing the law and attending the courts. The mayors and sheriffs also had jurisdiction over the neighbouring county of Middlesex until 1889. They were elected by the liverymen of the city livery companies.

The earliest record of a mayor of London dates back to 1189, when Henry Fitz-Ailwin was appointed by King Richard I. The first sheriffs of London were Henry de Cornhill and Richard Fitz-Reyner, who were elected in 1188.

Find out more about the mayors and sheriffs of London by searching the database at https://masl.library.utoronto.ca/search by surname. It  includes their names, years of office and companies or occupations from 1190 to the present.  A person may have filled both mayor and sheriff roles at different times.  For more recent entries click on the name for further sources.

 

Just completed, Ancestry’s scanning of these two East of England county’s parish records.

For Cambridgeshire 2,395 registers scanned have resulted in 245,731 images. For Huntingdonshire 1,111 registers and 114,984 images.

As it will be a while until the scans are processed and online, in the meantime, be aware that both Findmypast and FamilySearch have various parish records for those counties.

This Saturday, 15 April, at 1:00 pm EDT,  attend in person or online.

Canadian Forays into the Genealogical Resources of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR)

Speaker: Sue Morrison, Regent, & Stephanie Enns-Coulter, First Vice-Regent, Bytown Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.

Canadians may be surprised to learn that if they had ancestors in North America by the early 1800s, there may be genealogical information about their families available to them from the DAR’s online databases and the DAR’s library in Washington, DC. This presentation will briefly describe today’s DAR as an organization, the kinds of genealogical information that may be available from the DAR, and; how to access this information. Some Canadian examples will be used illustratively.

Live in the City of Ottawa Archives, 100 Tallwood Drive (Room 115)

OR

Zoom to  https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcrdOmhrT8rEtTmldHbbaFCc9OUQSRAz_SA

 

 

Researching a branch of my family tree this week, an online trade directory revealed a proprietor of a fancy repositories shop in Birmingham in 1932.

What are fancy repositories? Google showed the shop would have offered “knick-knacks and toys which fed the market for cheap consumerism, including that of children.”

An Internet Archive full-text search showed no hits after 1889. The Ngram Viewer for British English found it to be a very much Victorian term.

In Kelly’s directory of Hampshire, Wiltshire, Dorsetshire and the Isle of Wight for 1889, there were 100 businesses listed under the Fancy Repositories category with a mix of men and women proprietors, the women a mix of Miss and Mrs.

If you’d like to know more check out the February 2021 article Fancy repositories: a mixed bag from News from the Past, which has many articles relating to Victorian Bournmouth.