Author: John Reid

There’s a reissue of a 51-page publication Four North Plantagenet Township Cemeteries, Prescott County, Ontario originally published in 1998 by Ottawa Branch OGS. 
This new reprint, published by Global Heritage Press, Ottawa, includes all the original content up until the original publication, for:

Glenburn Cemetery [previously Methodist]
George’s Lake United Cemetery [previously Methodist]
St Leon the Great Roman Catholic Cemetery
The Church of the Good Shepherd Anglican Cemetery (abandoned).

Find out more, order the book in hardcopy or as a downloadable pdf, and view the index for each cemetery at http://globalgenealogy.com/countries/canada/ontario/eastern-ontario/resources/otw-9808.htm

Over 800,000 additions to a collection of over 6.6 million records, means you’ve got more chances than ever of finding a criminal connection. The new records from series MEPO 6, PCOM 2, and PCOM 4 include mugshots, prison registers, visitors’ details and many victims of crime.

On Monday 28 June, at 6 pm, American Ancestors (the New England Historic Genealogical Society) is hosting a presentation in the American Inspiration author series.

Just before Canada Day, join us for a spirited evening featuring scholar Stephen Bown and his compelling narrative history of Canada’s famous Hudson’s Bay Company. Follow its rise from a small 1670 trading business backed by Royal Charter through its intersections as a political and economic force working with indigenous people as well as French, and American settlers on both sides of the 49th parallel and beyond. The Company became the single biggest political and economic force in North America, influencing the lives of people from Hudson’s Bay to the Pacific Ocean.

See Bown’s illustrated presentation and insights on this rich and peopled history; and his discussion of Canada, then and now, with fellow countryman Jeff Breithaupt.

Register at https://wgbh.zoom.us/webinar/register/4816208575540/WN_cu9cYcs9QD23CP3PJkHPPA

There are over 1 million index records, 1,037,567 according to the catalogue entry, in this newly available collection.

Taken from a 16-volume series, commonly known as the Casey Collection, it is a compilation of Irish genealogical and historical records from parts of counties Cork and Kerry — Roman Catholic, Church of Ireland, and Quaker birth, baptism, marriage, death, and burial records transcribed from parish and civil registers.

“You can search the database using the indexed fields or browse by volume. The information contained within this collection includes the following:

Name
Gender
Event type (birth, marriage, death, and burial)
Date range
Denomination
Event barony
Event county
Event parish
Birthdate
Event date
Marital status
Age at time of event
Death district
Father’s name
Mother’s name
Next of kin’s name
Relationship.

More genealogical and historical information can be found by viewing the images.”

For those who lead an impoverished life,  not being members of the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa, here are the contents of the latest Anglo-Celtic Roots issue. The feature articles, in bold, continue with stories of war brides from the previous issue.

From the Editor.
From the President.
Ida Naylor Bancroft Cooke, War Bride (Brenda Turner).
Our Journey to Canada: Nancy (Nan) Archibald, née Chester, 1921–2021 (Nan Archibald and Margaret Amoroso).
A Tale of Three War Brides (Lynne Willoughby).
The Cream of the Crop (John D. Reid).
Membership Report (Ann Burns).

The present very generous practice is to make a pdf of the issue available to all after a year.

This is an especially rich Internet Genealogy issue for those of us who research in England.

The lead article Researching English Criminal Ancestors, by Australian Michelle Dennis, presents the evidence used to reveal the life and fate of her criminal ancestor. The five-page article is brimming with resources and links illustrated by the case of a relative, Mary Ann Stow, born in Greenwich in 1844. Canadians can only salivate at the mention of “the fabulously free on-line historical newspaper and record resource Trove, the National Library of Australia’s collection of online newspapers, gazettes, images, maps, diaries, letters and so much more at www.trove.nla.gov.au.”

Exploring City Directories Online in England and Wales, by Ed Storey covers how to use directories and supplemental material you might use. The focus is the University of Leicester special collection of directories that includes at least one directory from every county in England and Wales.

For the magazine’s US readers there are articles on Florida and North Carolina family history. David A. Norris looks at online sources for locating gravestone inscriptions for ancestors who served with the US military.

For us all my favourite regular contributor, Sue Lisk, looks at online collections of oral histories and why they can be valuable to family historians, and also online sites that help understand how general stores played a role in our ancestors’ lives. Sue includes Canadian content in both articles.

Another regular columnist, Tony Bandy, reviews MobileFamilyTree, available exclusively on iPhone and iPad devices utilizing iOS 11.4 and up.

A second article by David A. Norris, Deciphering Elusive Surnames, looks at coping with troublesome handwriting and smudged letters. That’s a nice complement to Dave Obee’s back page article on Perils of Deciphering Old Handwriting.

Find a snippet of the longer articles and subscribe at https://www.internet-genealogy.com/issue_contents.htm.

It appears issues with the blog and delivery have been dealt with. Writing that is to tempt fate!

The daily update email should now show as coming from Anglo-Celtic Connections.
It should arrive in your mailbox more reliably around 7 am.
The initial snippet is shorter, 4-5 lines of text.
On the website, the links list to my choice from the top (almost) daily genealogy blogs is restored, plus links to BIFHSGO and OGS Ottawa Branch.

The old blog remains available from a link in the side column for legacy items. With more than 15 years archived it’s a resource I turn to frequently.

Please help make the blog more useful by sending news items using the Contact utility at the top of the blog page.

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. Assume registration in advance is required; check so you’re not disappointed.

Tuesday 15 June, 2 pm:  Virtual Genealogy Drop-In, from Ottawa Branch of OGS and The Ottawa Public Library. https://ottawa.ogs.on.ca/events/.

Tuesday 15 June, 2:30 pm: Bringing History to Life, by Chelsea Johnson for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. https://acpl.libnet.info/event/5177292

Wednesday 16 June, 2 pm: New England’s ‘Seventh State’: Life along the coast, by B.J. Jamieson for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar_details.php?webinar_id=1643

Wednesday 16 June, 7 pm: The Discovery of Insulin and the Importance of Place, by Grant Maltman for OGS Middlesex Branch. https://londonmiddlesex.ogs.on.ca/events/london-middlesex-branch-the-discovery-of-insulin-and-the-importance-of-place/

Friday 18 June, 2 pm: Online Sources for Scottish Genealogy Research, by Christine Woodcock for Legacy Family Tree Webinars. https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar_details.php?webinar_id=1666

Friday 18 June, 7 pm: Your Digital Genealogy Plan, by Steve Fulton for OGS Niagara Branch, https://niagara.ogs.on.ca/events/niagara-peninsula-branch-your-digital-genealogy-plan/

Saturday 19 June, 10 am: Murder and Mayhem / Settlers and Sinners / Colonists and Criminals – More Thrilling Stories from New France, by Dawn Kelly and Carol Ufford for OGS Kingston Branch. https://kingston.ogs.on.ca/

Saturday 19 June, 1 pm: UK Censuses 1801 to the Present Day, by Penny Walters for OGS Quinte Branch. https://quinte.ogs.on.ca/2021/06/02/june-19-uk-censuses-1801-to-the-present-day/

LOOKING AHEAD

19 – 26 September 2021: BIFHSGO Conference. Irish Lines and Female Finds: Exploring Irish records, female ancestors and genetic genealogy. www.bifhsgo2021.ca/.

Most of us look to census data for information on ancestors living at the time. For the 1871 census of Canada, the first after Confederation, that is Schedule 1 – Nominal return of the living. There are eight other schedules:

• Schedule 2, Nominal return of the deaths
• Schedule 3, Return of public institutions, real and personal estate
• Schedule 4, Return of cultivated land and products
• Schedule 5, Livestock, animal products, home-made fabrics and furs
• Schedule 6, Return of industrial establishments
• Schedule 7, Return of products of the forest
• Schedule 8, Return of shipping and fisheries
• Schedule 9, Return of mineral products

Schedule 2, with details of those who died in the 12 months prior to the census, has been available indexed on Ancestry since November 2017 with 45,371 entries. FamilySearch now also has the indexed transcription cited as having been added on 8 June 2021.

Neither Ancestry nor FamilySearch has images of the original record linked, but with the information from search, and with some effort, it may be viewed at the Library and Archives Canada website using directions in the Finding Aid section at https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1871/Pages/about-census.aspx#tab4 

Schedule 2 is not on Findmypast or MyHeritage.

 

On 14 June 1921 Alexander Pratt Menzies, age 24, was found drowned at Britannia Bay on the Ottawa River. There’s little additional information on his death certificate except birth 2-10-1897 in England. Newspaper reports were that he’d been in Ottawa for 3 weeks looking for work and staying at the Union Mission.

His CWGC record indicates “Son of William Menzies, of 34, Summerfield Avenue, Queen’s Park, Kilburn, London, England, and the late Emily Menzies”.

There is a civil registration of birth index entry giving his mother’s maiden name Powell. A baptism on 1 January 1899 at St Mary Magdalene, Hollowell Road, Islington gives parents William James and Emily Elizabeth.

The 1906 and 1911 censuses show the family living in Winnipeg having emigrated in 1900. His father is the manager of a hardware store in 1911 earning $1,500 annually. His mother died in January 1912 in Winnipeg and a brother in August 1913 following which his father returned to England.

Alexander had enlisted in Winnipeg in April 1916 giving his date of birth 2 October 1898. His personnel file shows he served with the Young Soldiers Battalion, enlisted with the 207th, the 18th Reserve and the 44th Battalions. He had served in England and France, received a gunshot wound and was discharged in May 1919 with defective vision.

A second attestation paper dated September 1919 gives his sister Margaret of Wildwood, Manitoba as his next of kin and his address as YMCA, Main Street, Winnipeg. He was demobilized in December that year.

His service file indicated he has suffered from epilepsy. Perhaps he had a seizure while swimming?

He is buried in Sec. 29. Lots 13 and 14. West. 23 at Beechwood Cemetery, the fourth Ottawa River drowning victim among the 99 First World War CEF burials in the cemetery.

I wish I’d known about this before I started blogging about CEF burials at Beechwood Cemetery.
At the Library and Archives Canada website follow links Military Heritage > First World War> Sources Relating to Units of the Canadian Expeditionary Force. Scroll down to find a list of 31 pdf files, typically less than 200 KB.
There’s one very large file, Infantry Battalions (PDF 3,020 KB). It has a numerically ordered list of the CEF battalions, 1 to 260 plus two named battalions.

For each there’s a boxed section Background Information, the example is for the 28th Battalion in which my great uncle served. Then there’s an extensive list of sources from RG9 and RG24 at LAC. None have links.

Knowing about this obscure resource earlier would have simplified writing the CEF Beechwood posts.

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.
The Shipping Forecast is quite possibly the most British thing ever

More than the sound of Big Ben or The Pips!

The Human Genome Is — Finally!—Complete

Fashion for pointy shoes unleashed a wave of bunions in medieval England

From the great plague to the 1918 flu, history shows that disease outbreaks make inequality worse

Tombstone Tourists: The Growth of Cemetery Tourism
The most recent episode of Under the Influence podcast.

Thanks to this week’s contributors: Anonymous, Brenda Turner, Gail B.., Unknown