It took a while for the March edition to become available through PressReader.

FEATURES
Money-Saving Tips
Sarah Williams shares her expert advice for making the
most of your money when using online records. I wonfer why there’s no mention that those of us in Canada with publuc library get access to WDYTYA Magazine for free!

For Evermore
Lewis Brown explains how you can commemorate your fallen relation online with this new website from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

WW2 Evacuees
Gillian Mawson tells the moving stories of the children
who were evacuated during the Second World War. There’s no mention of those evacuated overseas.

RESEARCH ADVICE 
Focus On
Chris Paton outlines how inheritance in Scotland has |
changed over the years, and how you can find records |
online and in the archives.

Best Websites
Jonathan Scott rounds up the online resources for Merchant Navy relations that you can’t afford to miss.

Record Masterclass
Learn how to track down and use apprenticeship records with Paul Blake’s research guide.

Tech Tips
Nick Peers presents a detailed step-by-step tutorial for
uploading material to For Evermore.

Francis Led Franklin’s Doomed Expedition
Fascinated by childhood stories of a noteworthy maritime relative,Angus Wardlaw has written a novel about his crucial role in one of the world’s greatest seafaring mysteries. By Claire Vaughan.

… and more.

If you have military ancestors, and who doesn’t, you’ll undoubtedly want to tune in to military historian-archivist Glenn Wright speaking at Saturday’s OGS Ottawa Branch monthly meeting. This is an online Zoom-only event. All Ottawa Branch monthly presentations are open to the public at no charge.

Researching a military ancestor in the 20^th century takes us in many directions. From the service documents of First World War soldiers and nurses to war diaries of Canadian regiments that stormed the beaches of France on D-Day, we have a wide range of sources to document our men and women in uniform. Yet, there are records in archives, primarily Library and Archives Canada, that have been underused or not used at all. Better still – and this is the focus of the presentation — more than one hundred years after the end of the First World War, more personnel records are now available, and there is more to come.

When: Saturday 16 March 2024 at 1:00 PM Eastern Time.

Register in advance at https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIvfuusqT4rHtF9uLAvyyX_hfb3_KJsFo4l

 

St Patrick’s Day motivates attention to Irish records. Here’s how FMP describes their additions.

Ireland, 1766 Religious Census
This week’s biggest new set consists of 20,505 transcriptions from the 1766 Religious Census. Although the original documents were lost when Ireland’s Public Records Office was destroyed in 1922, these extensive transcripts were recorded by antiquarian and genealogist Tenison Groves prior to the fire.

From these records, you may be able to learn the name of the head of the household, the year, their religion, the parish and the county. The information recorded varies widely, because different enumerators recorded different details.

Ireland, Census of Protestant Householders 1740
Secondly, added transcriptions of a census that was taken of Protestant householders in 1740. The 15,957 records within this new set are from parishes in the counties of Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Donegal, Down and Tyrone.

Also created by Tenison Groves, these transcriptions contain details like a name, year, barony, parish and county.

Ireland, 1775 Dissenters’ Petitions
This week’s third and final new set is a collection of historic petition records. It contains approximately 4,000 names, of people who protested the Church of Ireland’s sacramental tests in 1775. The petitions consist of dissenters’ names categorized by parish, congregation, town, neighbourhood, or, in one case, barony.

Occasionally, members of the Established Church also signed the petitions. The lists typically specify whether signatories were dissenters or Established Church members. In cases where no denomination is indicated, the list contained names of both dissenters and Established Church members without differentiation.W hile available for all Northern Ireland counties except Fermanagh, these records are most extensive for areas in Counties Antrim and Down.

Belfast & Ulster Directories
In addition to these new Irish record sets, there’s a significant update to an existing Irish collection — 951,127 Belfast and Ulster directory records, with both transcriptions and original images available to explore.

These new additions span 1831 to 1900, and contain over 900,000 names. With almost 70 years of history covered, they offer a detailed glimpse into what the North of Ireland was like in the 19th century.

OTHER ST PATRICK DAY SPECIALS

MyHeritage has opened all its Irish historical records for  14 to 18 March.

23andMe is giving 20% off its Ancestry Service, now $119 US until 17 March.

FamilyTreeDNA has a slew of specials until 18 March

Family Finder + Y-37 $198 $169 |
Family Finder + Y-111 $328 $299
Family Finder + Big Y-700 $528 $499
Family Finder + mtFull Sequence $238 $209
Family Finder + mtFull Sequence + Y-37 $357 $319
Family Finder + mtFull Sequence + Y-111 $487 $449
Family Finder + Big Y-700 + mtFull Sequence | $687 $649

Ancestry.ca has free access to all Canadian records until 16 March. Maybe they’ll open up the Irish records for Canada Day!
Ancestry.com has $50* on AncestryDNA® until 17 March.

Today, 14 March 2024, is the 18th anniversary of this blog. I returned to the first month’s posts to see how things have changed.

There were 22 of them. A gratifying number still had useful information. Gene-O-Rama, not being held this year, was the topic for two, and I wondered about the links. How many still work? Here they are.

Ottawa Public Library – www.library.ottawa.on.ca
Surname Distribution – www.spatial-literacy.org
Ottawa Branch, OGS, Cemetery Index – www.ogsottawa.ca/cemeteries/
Canada 1901 Census – www.automatedgenealogy.com
Canada 1881 census, Pedegree Resource File, International Genealogical Index – www.familysearch.org
Ontario Death Registrations, England and Wales census 1851 to 1901, and much more, (a subscription site accessible without charge at the Main and Centrepointe branches of the Ottawa Public Library) – www.ancestry.ca
Canadian MPs and Senators since Confederation – www.parl.gc.ca/common/SenatorsMembers.asp?Language=E
Search for < > – www.google.com or www.ask.com
Maps, especially good for UK – www.multimap.com
Access to Archives – www.a2a.org.uk
Little DNA Project – www.geocities.com/littlednaproject/index.htm

Seven still work, some forwarded to a site that took over. Five are defunct.

Thanks if you’ve been visting the blog since those early days.

 

 

Today, 3.14, warms mathematicians’ hearts, especially those who like approximations!

Lately, I’ve been playing with a new app called Pi.  The name Pi is “meant to represent the idea of infinite knowledge, much like the infinite nature of the mathematical constant. Just like pi never ends, there’s always more to learn and explore, and “Pi” aims to help you do just that.”

You can try a few queries at pi.ai before you’re asked to register. It’s free with no ads. That can’t last.

This is a very easy intro to AI as a personal asistance. It’s also quick; it gave the names of those OGS executive members much more quickly than the s l o o o w OGS website.

Pi is a start-up, since 2022, owned and developed by Inflection AI, based in Palo Alto, California. It has raised $1.525 billion from venture capital funders including Microsoft, Nvidia, Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, Bill Gates, Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn.

Last Thursday, Canadiana/Heritage added six microfilms to its collection, including four Western Land Grants microfilms.

Title	Publication Date	Identifier	URL
Western Land Grants	1906-04-21 – 1907-07-06	C-6125	https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c6125/1
Western Land Grants	1909-03-11 – 1909-03-17	C-6217	https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c6217/1
Western Land Grants	1914-06-25 – 1914-07-11	C-6431	https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c6431/1
Western Land Grants	1918-06-06 – 1918-06-11	C-6572	https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c6572/1
Department of Indian Affairs, Headquarters central registry system : Black Series	1913 – 1942	C-10205	https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c10205/1
Directorate of Movements : Marine files	1944	C-5694	https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c5694/1

Of most interest to me is C-5694, Directorate of Movements : Marine files for 1944. It contains 53 Eastbound Personnel files, each with a file folder cover giving the ship name and date and place of departure. There are duplicates The whole microfilm has 5351 images. Some the proposed voyages never actually occurred.

Typically there is correspondance prior to the voyage, a manifast of the numbers of various ranks and services, lists of individuals with service number, rank, name, trade and “where from”, and sometimes a summary voyage report. Passengers may be reinforcements, returning airmen who completed their time with the BCATP, and miscellaneous others.

Unless you just want to get an idea of the challenge faced by the Directorate of Movements, you really need to know the voyage someone of interest was on to make searching practicable.

The order on the microfilm, with a few start images indicated in red, is:

Title	Port of Departure	Item number	Date
ANDES	Halifax	5209442	1944-03-31
PASTEUR	Halifax	5209443	1944-04-03
FORT TOWNSHEND	Halifax	5209444	1943/12/01-1943/12/31
QUEEN ELIZABETH	New York	5209445	1944-01-02
LADY NELSON (393)	Halifax	5209446	1944-03-04
FORT AMHERST	Halifax	5209447	1944-01-15
U.S. VESSEL	New York	5209448	1944-01-12
BAYANO	Halifax	5209449	1944-02-07
ERRIA	Halifax	5209450	1944-03-23
QUEEN ELIZABETH	New York	5209451	1944-02-02
VESSEL	San Francisco	5209452	1944-01-24
FORT TOWNSHEND	Halifax	5209453	1944-01-27
U.S. VESSEL	Norfolk, Virginia	5209454	1944-02-02
CAVINA	Halifax	5209455	1944-04-07
ARIGUANI	Halifax	5209456	1944-02-07
BURGEO	Halifax	5209457	1944-02-05
VESSEL	San Francisco	5209458	1944-02-02
FORT AMHERST	Halifax	5209459	1944-02-07
EMPRESS OF SCOTLAND	Halifax	5209460	1944-05-04
ANDES (1416)	Halifax	5209461	1944-04-24
FORT TOWNSHEND	Halifax	5209462	1944-05-04
VESSEL	San Francisco	5209463	1944-02-23
VESSEL	San Francisco	5209464	1944-03-01
NIEUW AMSTERDAM	Halifax	5209465	1944-03-26
NIEUW AMSTERDAM	Halifax	5209466	1944-03-26
ILE DE FRANCE (2076)	Halifax	5209467	1944-04-30
ILE DE FRANCE	Halifax	5209468	1944-04-30
ILE DE FRANCE	Halifax	5209469	1944-04-30
LADY NELSON (3039)	Halifax	5209470	1944-04-30
FORT AMHERST	Halifax	5209471	1944-03-30
ARIGUANI	Halifax	5209472	1944-03-22
VESSEL	San Francisco	5209473	1944-03-16
BEAVERHILL	Halifax	5209474	1944-03-23
BAYANO	Halifax	5209475	1944-04-17
FORT TOWNSHEND	Halifax	5209476	1944-03-28
FORT AMHERST	Halifax	5209477	1944-04-08
VESSEL	San Francisco	5209478	1944-03-24
VESSEL	San Francisco	5209479	1944/03/01-1944/03/31
VESSEL	San Francisco	5209480	1944-04-06
VESSEL	San Francisco	5209481	1944-04-07
ANDES	Halifax	5209482	1944-06-03
ANDES (3808)	Halifax	5209483	1944-06-03
EMPRESS OF SCOTLAND	Halifax	5209484	1944-06-26
EMPRESS OF SCOTLAND (4045)	Halifax	5209485	1944-06-26
PASTEUR	New York	5209486	1944-05-28
VESSEL	San Francisco	5209487	1944-04-19
FORT TOWNSHEND	Halifax	5209488	1944-04-29
BACCALIEU	Halifax	5209489	1944-04-27
VESSEL	San Francisco	5209490	1944-04-23
VESSEL	San Francisco	5209491	1944-05-07
VESSEL	San Francisco	5209492	1944-04-24
EMPRESS OF SCOTLAND	Halifax	5209493	1944-06-16
EMPRESS OF SCOTLAND	Halifax	5209494	1944-06-16

Do you recall experiencing a solar eclipse? Did your ancestors?

As a kid I marvelled at the partial solar eclipse on Wednesday, 30 June 1954 seen from my school playground during lunch hour. 

On Friday, 20 March 2015, I was in Algarve, Portugal, at Peter Calver’s Genealogy in the Sunshine event. A bonus on top of some wonderful presentations came as a partial solar eclipse.

While partial eclipses of the sun can be memorable, total eclipses are rare at any given spot. A total solar eclipse would be a once-in-a-lifetime event that diarist-ancestors would be likely to record.

Astronomers’ calculations have the last total eclipse of the sun in Ottawa on 10 September 1569, too early even for Samuel de Champlain! No diary entries!  In Monteal the last one was on Wednesday 31 August 1932, in Toronto Saturday 24 January 1925. Those are from http://andrew lowe.ca/canadian_cities.htm

I’m not counting on seeing the next one in Ottawa in 2205. Will you be joining those expected to flock to the shores of the St Lawrence on Monday 8 April to edge into the zone of totality? Watch the weather forecast and hope for a reasonably cloud-free day. The last ones in Toronto and Montreal were a dissappointment owing to cloud cover.

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. Find out about many more mainly US events at Conference Keeper at https://conferencekeeper.org

If you don’t have a subscription, until 16 March, you can explore all Ancestry Canadian collections for free. It’s your chance to check out Voters Lists 1935-1980; Newspapers.com™ Obituary Index, 1800s-current; Canadian Phone and Address Directories, 1995-2002; Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968; Quebec, Canada, Notarial Records, 1637-1935; Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1826-1940, and much more.

Find out and access at https://www.ancestry.ca/c/canada-free-access

 

Ancestry has added two map sets from Cassini Historical Maps.

London, England, Parish Maps, 1860-1880
These 58 maps offer area information.  If you’re tracing an ancestor who was baptized at a specific location, such as All Hallows Staining in the City of London, the extract from the Ordnance Survey 1:1056 mapping, which shows the parish boundaries and significant features in the area ca. 1871, could be invaluable.

UK, Imperial Gazetteer Maps, 1900
A browsable image set of 28 nicely produced colour maps, most for Scotland with some significant locations in England. It may be there’s another shoe to drop.  Ancestry already has “The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, 1872″ online. Perhaps there’s another volume for Scotland. The claim of 7,396 records suggests there’s more to come.

While the maps are useful, other than making them available, Ancestry has presently failed to add value. Producing a  linked table of contents or overview map that would take you directly to an area of interest would be a simple addition.

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

The Material Culture of Wills, England 1540-1790
Find out about a project by the University of Exeter to use Transkribus handwriting recognition technology, along with a cadre of volunteers, to transcribe a selection of PCC wills.

What Winter?
This meteorological winter (DJF) Ottawa broke a record. The lowest recorded temperature was -18.7C on 21 January, more than 2 degrees warmer than the next warmest since records began in 1872. Accompanied by very limited skating on the Rideau Canal, snowfall much below average (so far) and the exceptionally early opening of the Quyon Ferry service, it has been an exceptional year so far.

Britain’s oldest synagogue in City of London could be plunged into darkness amid fresh skyscraper plans

Irish Emigrant Letters and Memoirs from North America

BIFHSGO Annual Conference
The dates, 26-27 October, are announced. Ireland is the theme.

Thanks to this week’s contributors: Ann Burns, Anonymous, Barbara May Di Mambro, Brenda Turner, gail benjafield, Patte Wood, Teresa, Unknown.

“Toucans in their Nests Agree
Guinness is Good for You and Me”

I seem to remember that slogan from many years ago in England.

Toucans’ opinions aside, if you had an ancestor involved with Guinness, the company, you’ll probably agree these records, new to Ancestry, are good for family historians.

Ireland, Guinness Trade Ledgers, 1860-1960
This collection contains images of trade ledgers produced by the Guinness Brewery in Dublin, Ireland, and England between 1860 and 1960. The brewery’s sales and personnel records were kept in printed ledger books. Entries were often handwritten during the earlier years included in the collection, and as the years progressed, the ledger entries were typed.

Each of the 1,452,426 records may include:

Name
Employment date
Business Place

Ireland, Guinness Employee Records, 1799-1939

This 204,605 record collection contains images of employee records from the Guinness Brewery in Dublin, Ireland, between 1799 and 1939.

Records in this collection, with several different types of records, such as wage books, authorization logs, and next of kin records, may include the following information:

• Name
• Gender
• Marital status
• Birth date and place
• Marriage date
• Age at employment
• Employment dates
• Death date
• Street address
• Occupation
• Location of employment
• Spouse’s name, birth date, and age
• Names, ages, and relationships of up to four relatives

Raise a glass (or just your curiosity!) in the run-up to St. Patrick’s Day and explore these records on Ancestry. What pint-sized piece of your own history might be waiting?