As I write this, the Saturday forecast for Ottawa shows a 100% chance of rain until 6 pm, making gardening plans a bit of a washout. So, what else can you do?

One excellent option is to check out the free Legacy Family Tree Webinars, which kicked off the Webtember series on Friday. You can find links to the available presentations here.

I enjoyed Gena Philibert-Ortega’s 10 Things You Don’t Know About Cemeteries on Friday. While it’s focused on the U.S., much of the information is helpful no matter where you research.

For those with Birmingham ancestry like me, I recommend Mike Sharpe’s Researching Your Birmingham Ancestors. It’s a clear and easy-to-follow guide packed with useful insights.

The Webtember series is free for everyone until the end of the month. However, while the webinars are free, you’ll need a subscription to access the handouts.

You are invited to sit back in comfort at home with a beverage of your choice and enjoy my talk ‘Twas a Dark and Stormy Night: Connecting Weather and Personal Histories.

Join us at the OGS Ottawa Branch virtual meeting, starting at 1 pm on Saturday, 14 September.

Register in advance for this Zoom presentation at

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0ode2srDsrGtAXhfOaQv62C34WuLClhA6k

All Ottawa Branch monthly presentations are free and open to the public.

From Active History: Sean Graham speaks with Marth Hanna, author of Anxious Days and Tearful Nights: Canadian War Wives During the First World War.

“We discuss Martha’s entry into the world of First World War letters, the challenge of tracking down letters from over 100 years ago, and how women on the front lines managed their relationships with significant others fighting the war. We also chat about censorship of letters, the challenge of what to share and what to hide from your spouse during the war, and what happened to relationships following the war.”

https://activehistory.ca/blog/2024/09/04/letters-of-the-first-world-war-whats-old-is-news/

It’s here, as promised.

The  redesigned site “make(s) accessing Scotland’s records easier than ever with quick, simple searching of our birth, marriage, death and census records.”

You’ll still find the same records documenting the lives of millions of Scots over centuries, as well as recently added record sets, including

Church records
Taxation records
Employment records
Prison records
Wills & testaments
Maps & Plans, and much more

There’s also a “streamlined certificate-ordering process that gives you speedy access to vital documents” and “a new, dedicated help and support section that will help if you encounter problems.”

To search Scotland’s People’s records, you need to be logged into your account or register. Fortunately, the account details saved on my computer continued to work. The site recognized a document I’d purchased years ago and displayed it without requiring me to purchase it again.

A new edition of Documenting Your Canadian Ancestors who served in World War One (1914-1918) or World War Two (1939-1945) with the Canadian Navy, by Kenneth Cox is now out from Global Genealogy. This updated 2024 edition includes more information on WW1 Merchant Seamen records.

Also reissued recently is Dictionary of Scottish Emigrants to Canada Before Confederation (pre-1867) Volumes 1, 2, 3 & 4,
by Donald Whyte. There’s more information here.

A little bird told me a new book is in preparation to be published by Global.

When researching family history, we rely on well-known sources like birth, marriage, and death/burial records (BMDs and BMBs), censuses, probate records, and documents preserved by family members. These are invaluable, but are you exploring the full range of resources available?

Digitized newspapers and city directories have more recently become key research tools. However, other publications also offer unique insights into your ancestors’ lives. Are you making the most of them?

For instance, MyHeritage offers several specialized databases that can greatly expand your research, such as the “Historical Books – Index of Authors and People Mentioned, 1811-2003” with 494,146,925 entries, “Authors of Scholarly Articles” with 276,246,210 entries, and “Inventors of Historical Patents” with 258,995,128 entries.

I recently explored the patent database using the surname Allcroft, which is connected by marriage to my family line. Walter Lacey Allcroft, the son of businessman, philanthropist, and Member of Parliament John Derby Allcroft, was an engineer who registered seven patents. One of his patents, titled “Motor Road Vehicles,” pertains to steering mechanisms for vehicles with short swivelling axles and includes methods for preventing axle binding on pivots. The axle socket is conical at both ends, with vulcanized fibre bushes inserted into it.

While these technical descriptions may not seem particularly exciting, they offer valuable insights into Walter’s career and interests during a productive period of his life. Additionally, he is mentioned 18 times in the Historical Books database, providing further context for his achievements and contributions.

Exploring such resources can uncover fascinating details about your ancestors’ lives, offering a richer, more comprehensive understanding of their world.

Teresa at Writing My Past posts only about once a month. She blogs about “my genealogical research adventures and (I) explore the people and events from my family’s history…”

A 2 September post, Deaths of a father and son…
looks into the typhus and typhoid fever deaths of the husband and eldest son of Sarah Taylor in the spring of 1865 in London.

Do you know the difference between typhus and typhoid?

Teresa explores a range of resources for these deaths and looks into the historical context of the diseases.

Recommended,

TheGenealogist has just released nearly 300,000 historic landowner records offering unique insights into land ownership and transfers across centuries.

Feet of Fines: A Window into English Land Transactions

Dating back to the 13th century, these documents provide detailed accounts of land transactions, often involving the transfer of property rights. Each record includes information such as the names of the parties involved, descriptions of the properties, and the dates of agreements.

Index of Sasines: Tracing Scottish Land Ownership

For those with Scottish roots, the addition of the Index of Sasines is noteworthy. Sasines are legal documents that confirm land and property ownership in Scotland, dating from the 16th century onwards. This index allows researchers to locate and access detailed records of property ownership.

Scotland Record Office Index to Register of Deeds: Exploring Legal Histories

The Scotland Record Office Index to Register of Deeds offers access to a wide array of legal documents related to property and inheritance in Scotland. This index provides a gateway to uncovering your family’s history and understanding social and legal contexts.

This release includes records from regions, such as:

• Berwick: Index to Register of Sasines Volume I. A-H (1617-1780)
• London and Middlesex: A Calendar to the Feet of Fines (1179-1485)
• Yorkshire: Feet of Fines (1327-1614)
• Huntingdon: Calendar of the Feet of Fines (1194-1603)
• Scotland: Index to Particular Register of Sasines for Sheriffdom of Dumfries and Stewartries of Kirkcudbright and Annandale (1617-1732)
• Scotland Record Office: Index to Register of Deeds (1661-1679)

Choose from selected free online events in the next five days. 

Wayne Shepheard has rerecorded his Legacy Family Tree Webinars talk Genealogy and the Little Ice Age.  He discusses the importance of understanding the Little Ice Age (1300-1850 AD) in genealogical research. The presentation includes:

The Little Ice Age’s impact on climate and environment:
Effects on human populations
Historical and genealogical implications
Useful information sources for genealogists.

However, at 2:55, he claims that during the warm periods of the last 10,000 years, temperatures were much higher than today. That’s the view of some climate skeptics but at variance with the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Assessment.

However, that should not detract from Wayne’s analysis of climate impacts during the Little Ice Age.