Month: October 2023

Ireland, Select Catholic Marriage Registers, 1778-1942
Now updated with a total of 401,663 records, including images. The source is e-Celtic Limited, of Dublin. Still no sign of my lot!

Ireland, Ulster, Dissenters Petitions, 1775
New on Ancestry, this 4,683 item collection is an index of information drawn from a series of petitions sent to the Irish Parliament in 1775 in protest of a law enacted in 1774.  . The index is searchable by name and place of residence. Images of the documents and the text of the petitions aren’t available. The index has information from every county except Fermanagh, and the most complete records were produced in counties Antrim and Down.

Londonderry Corporation Minute Books, 1673-1901
New on Ancestry, this collection contains images of 23 minute books for the Londonderry Corporation dated between 1673 and 1901.  Records in this collection may include the following information:

Names of municipal officials
Dates of municipal meetings
Details about municipal meetings
Information about community development

They are browse only, no indexing.

Genealogy Quebec offers 25% off annual subscriptions from today until Sunday the 15th. The discount is unavailable from the main site, only through an exclusive link.

Today, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission introduces a new facility that allows the addition of text, images, and even video from YouTube or Vimeo to the information already available from official documents for one of The Fallen. You can tell their story.

It’s a step up from the Canadian Virtual War Memorial’s capability to add images.

There’s an instructional video and step-by-step guide on how you can add a story at https://www.cwgc.org/who-we-are/our-apps/stories-portal-help/

 

Choose from selected free online events in the next five days. All times are ET except as noted. Assume registration in advance is required; check so you’re not disappointed. Are you looking for more options? Additional mainly US events are listed at https://conferencekeeper.org/virtual.

Tuesday 10 October

2 pm: The Latest Photo Feature from MyHeritage, by Tal Erlichman for MyHeritage and Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/the-latest-photo-feature-from-myheritage/

2:30 pm:  Exploring American History in British Newspapers, by Jen Baldwin for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/9187711

7 pm: The Complexities of Settling North Lambton- Arkona, Port Franks, and Widder, by Greg Stott for OGS Lambton County Branch.
https://lambton.ogs.on.ca/calendar/lambton-county-zoom-meeting/

Wednesday 11 October

2 pm: Wednesdays with Witcher: Collecting the Stories of Our Lives: Tips for Writing Our Families’ Stories, by Curt Witcher for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/9187730

8 pm: Help! How do I separate genealogical fact from fiction? by Carol Baxter for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/help-how-do-i-separate-genealogical-fact-from-fiction/

Thursday 12 October

6:30 pm:  Scaling the 1870 Brick Wall in African American Research, by Ari Wilkins for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/9187753

7 pm: They Came Through Ontario, by Gordon McBean for OGS (Members only).
https://ogs.on.ca/

Friday 13 October

2 pm: Gold! Gold! Gold! The 1897 Klondike Rush, by Jill Morelli for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/gold-gold-gold-the-1897-klondike-rush/

7 pm: South Buxton and Romney Charge, by Eric Skillings for OGS Kent Branch.
https://kent.ogs.on.ca/events/kent-branch-south-buxton-and-romney-charge/

Saturday 14 October

9 am: Back to Basics – Ireland, by Ken McKinlay for BIFHSGO.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMvceCtqTktGNz17hop8Vv1iB4HKk56iRcU

10 am: From Derry to the Pontiac: The Dales of Clarendon, by Nancy Dale Conroy for BIFHSGO.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMvceCtqTktGNz17hop8Vv1iB4HKk56iRcU

OTTAWA EXTRA
10 am – 4 pm: The 613 Flea market at the Aberdeen Pavilion at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa will include a Patricia McGregor stand with a selection of books on Ottawa, the Ottawa Valley, Eastern Ontario and Quebec – and some other things as well. 

10 am: A Gentle Introduction to the Holdings of Western Archives, by Sheila Johnston for OGS London and Middlesex Branch.
https://londonmiddlesex.ogs.on.ca/events/london-and-middlesex-branch-a-gentle-introduction-to-the-holdings-of-western-archives/

2 pm: Genealogy Gems in Scottish Libraries & Archives, by Christine Woodcock for OGS Simcoe County Branch.
https://simcoe.ogs.on.ca/events/simcoe-county-branch-genealogy-gems-in-scottish-libraries-archives-with-christine-woodcock/

2 pm: DNA and Genetic Genealogy Basics, by Graham Burt for OGS Wellington County Branch
https://wellington.ogs.on.ca/events/wellington-county-branch-with-guelph-public-library-dna-and-genetic-genealogy-basics/

In the midst of Israel at war, Tel Aviv-based MyHeritage has extended the special DNA upload offer until 15 October 2023 at 11:59 pm. For the next few days, people who have taken a DNA test with other services can upload their new DNA files, uploaded for the first time to MyHeritage, and take advantage of the advanced DNA features for free, saving the usual $29 unlock fee per file.

Great-Uncle Harry: A Tale of War and Empire, by Michael Palin.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/m001qt6y

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

The Case for Canada’s Public Libraries

This is an advocacy document from the Canadian Urban Institute (CUI) and Canadian Urban Libraries Council. While the benefits of libraries as well stated, a major error casts doubt on the analysis.
Page 27 includes “Today Canada spends $8 per person (approx.), or $305 million per year on its urban libraries. In contrast, European countries spend between $11 and
$60 per person.
However, the Toronto Public Library alone annually spends $234.610 million gross, $213.6 million net. That’s over $30 per person. https://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2023/bu/bgrd/backgroundfile-230836.pdf

The Star Weekly
The newest addition to Canadian content on newspapers.com is 255,803 searchable pages, from 1910–1973, of The Star Weekly, published in Toronto. For those of certain generations it needs no introduction. Read about its history at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Weekly

These are in addition to 3,816,304 pages from the Toronto Star from 1900–2020, and the Evening Star from 1892 to 1900, added previously.

When and where to see the Solar Eclipse of 8 April 2024
https://andywoodruff.com/posts/2023/eclipse-2024/

New Use Case with GPT-4 Vision: From Image of Pedigree Chart to Ahnentafel List

Shannon Lectures 2023
The theme for the Carleton University History  Department Shannon Lectures for 2023 is “Rewriting Refuge”. It seeks to explore the history of sanctuary and protection in a new light; by considering the movements of Indigenous peoples, the activism of migrants themselves, the creation of borders, and transnational connections. The first in this year’s series is Refugees and the Right to Research, with Kate Reed, Marcia Schenck, Gerawok Teferra and Christina Clark-Kazak. It’s only online at 1:00 pm EST on Monday 16 October. Find out more and register at https://carleton.ca/history/news/shannon-lectures-fall-2023/

THANKSGIVING
I give thanks that in Canada we are in a country without major religious conflict and, the powerful neighbouring country doesn’t attack us.

Thanks to this week’s contributors: Anonymous, Brenda Turner, Chuck Buckley, gail benjafield, Nick Mcdonald, Robert Ross Halfyard, Teresa, Unknown.

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UK Electoral Registers & Companies House Directors
Over 12 million records have been added to this collection, some as late as 2023. As with previous years, you’ll find a person’s name, address, and confirmation of whether they are the director of a company.

The collection now contains 125,717,058 records.

Index to Death Duty Registers 1796-1903
Updates have been made with 1,129,583 new and improved records in the Index to Death Duty Registers 1796-1903 collection.

There are refined dates to improve the search experience, particularly for those between 1889 and 1903. An additional 63,389 records are available. Find name for those who left taxable estates, date of death and address, and perhaps the name and address of the administrator.

1851 England, Wales & Scotland Census
A further 4,756 records have been added for the Yorkshire hamlet of Yapham, with both transcriptions and images available.

If you want to take a DNA test for genealogy most specialists recommend autosomal testing with AncestryDNA; then copying the data to other sites such as MyHeritage DNA. The more places you have your data available the more matches you’ll find. You’ll also get other estimates of your “ethnic ancestry.”

Find out about the AncestryDNA sale now on until 23 October 2023 here.

If you’re a fan, or just an occasional viewer, take a look at the trailer for the forthcoming series of the PBS series Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr. Names I recognized include Dionne Warwick, Alanis Morissette, and Micheal Douglas.

Our #FindingYourRoots Season 10 trailer is here! ⭐️ Watch and find out the incredible guests who will be joining me this season to uncover their roots.
This season is remarkable in many ways, and we will see you in January only on @PBS ! pic.twitter.com/e24HwYE7zn

— Henry Louis Gates Jr (@HenryLouisGates) October 4, 2023

This collection contains 106,781 burial records from Stockton-on-Tees, Durham, England starting in 1871. Transcriptions typically include the deceased’s name, the date and place of burial and age at death.

The burials are from Billingham (opened 1969),  Durham Road (from 1894), Egglescliffe (from 1980), Oxbridge Lane (from 1871) and Thornaby (from 1869) cemeteries.

These records are freely available from the Stockton-on-Tees Borough website at https://www.stockton.gov.uk/burial-register-search

 

OPL wants to hear from residents! You may fill out the survey at: https://ow.ly/bb5Y50PTvnA

OPL state that “your opinion will be used to strengthen OPL’s efforts to bring the valuable benefits of the Library to more people in our city.”

There is no commitment to make anonymized responses publically available so we have to trust the analysis won’t be spun.