Was your ancestor a Buffalo? In this clip from the BBC’s WDYTYA? programme, Joe Lycett learns about his great-grandfather, a Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes member.
My grandfather was also a Buffalo, so the background in this clip attracted my interest.
Find out more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Antediluvian_Order_of_Buffaloes
Here are the top-ranked YouTube videos based on views per day for the past week:
1. “My DNA Test Results Are Here” by Ali Koca – 93,500 views/day
2. “Henry Ford’s Proud Irish Roots | The Genealogy Roadshow | Ancestry®” by Ancestry – 16,364 views/day
3. “Does My Chinese Family Have Caucasian Ancestors? | On The Red Dot – Family Mysteries | Full Episode” by CNA Insider – 5,857 views/day
4. “The Grave in the Tree #norfolk #kingslynn #history #genealogy #familytree #ancestry #familyhistory” by Find My Family – 2,000 views/day
5. “Calculate Birth Dates from Tombstones and Census Records! (2024)” by Genealogy TV – 1,300 views/day
To watch any of these videos, enter the title on youtube.com
ScotlandsPeople has significantly expanded its online archive by adding nearly 4,000 new volumes of Church of Scotland records, over 3,000 Kirk session records and documents from presbyteries, synods, and the General Assembly. They’re free.
From the 1560s to 1900, these are minute books, accounts and cash books, communion rolls, seat rents, poor relief, and education records. Browse by reference numbers, court names, and place names.
Kirk session minutes provide insights into local events and social issues, documenting illegitimate births, irregular marriages, and poor relief. Communion rolls and seat rents reveal parish inhabitants, while school records and ministers’ diaries offer unique historical data.
Read the ScotlandsPeople announcement at https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/article/news-article-more-church-court-records-released-scotlandspeople
On Tuesday, 2 July, at 2 pm BST (9 am ET), the Society of Genealogists (SoG) offers a free online talk on Manuscript, Sheet, and Roll Pedigrees within SoG’s extensive archive collections.
Genealogist Else Churchill will guide us through these records, providing expert insights and tips. Prebook to access the recording later or watch it on the Society’s YouTube channel.
Post WW2, this Ancestry collection is a secondary historical source derived from the UK government site at https://www.search-armed-forces-memorial-roll-of-honour.service.gov.uk/ (not returning data when I tried it).
As Britain decreased its military following WW2 and withdrew from its colonies, the strength of its forces decreased. So did the number added to the Roll of Honour.
Fluctuations reflect the military actions in Korea, the Falklands and Iraq.
Records in the collection may include the following information:
Name
Birth date and place
Military service number
Rank
Regiment number
Unit
Branch
Death Date
Here’s a dive into the Record Group Crew or Passenger Lists collection, part of the Canada, Canadian Pacific Steamship Company Records, 1897-1981 now available on Ancestry. They are sourced from the Canadian Museum of Science and Technology (Ingenium).
There’s a drop-down to select the year ranging from 1904 to 1981, with many gaps. There are also lots of anomalies! For 1903 the document is a wine list!
The table below shows the number of voyages completed by each ship by year from 1954 to 1957. All have complete passenger lists showing name, age and place (final destination). Most are westbound.
| Ship | 1954 | 1955 | 1956 | 1957 |
| Beaverford | 5 | 6 | 5 | 3 |
| Beaverlodge | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Empress of Australia | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Empress of Britain | 0 | 0 | 8 | 11 |
| Empress of England | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Empress of France | 1 | 2 | 10 | 9 |
| Empress of Scotland | 0 | 11 | 9 | 8 |
The Beaverford and Beaverlodge were freighters, with accommodation for up to 12 passengers, usually sailing from Antwerp. The Empresses usually sailed from Liverpool.
The other record groups available are:
Immigration Regulations and Policy
Journals, Logs and Ship Movement Books
Miscelanious Records
Named Ships
Programmes, Menues and Events
Promotional Artwork
Schedules and Fares
Ships Officers, or Company Officials
Voyage Reports
The spelling is Ancestry’s!
Ship Movement Books record the time and date that ships arrived and departed. Voyage Reports, vary in detail, such as injuries to passengers, are not available for all voyages.
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.
Tuesday, 25 June
2 pm: Ottawa Virtual Genealogy Drop-In, for OGS Ottawa Branch.
https://ottawa.ogs.on.ca/events/virtual-genealogy-drop-in-2-2024-06-25/
2:00 pm: Finding Your Canadian Ancestors on MyHeritage
by Lianne Kruger for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/finding-your-canadian-ancestors-on-myheritage/
2:30 pm: FamilySearch Sleuthing, by Laura Street Chaplin for the Genealogy Center at Allen County Public Library.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/10719419
7:00 pm: Researching Female Ancestors by M. Diane Rogers for OGS Wellington Branch.
https://wellington.ogs.on.ca/events/wellington-branch-researching-female-ancestors/
Wednesday, 26 June
9 am: Navigating the Maps Website, for the National Library of Scotland.
https://www.nls.uk/whats-on/navigating-the-maps-website-june/
2:00 pm: Kentucky and Virginia Tax Lists – 5 ½ Strategies for Identifying That Elusive Early Southerner by Gail Jackson Miller for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/kentucky-and-virginia-tax-lists-5-%c2%bd-strategies-for-identifying-that-elusive-early-southerner/
Thursday, 27 June
6:30 pm: Following the Money: Finding Your Family’s Story Using the Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank Records
by the Genealogy Center at Allen County Public Library.
https://acpl.libnet.info/event/10909146
7 pm: Ontario Ancestors – Website Walkthrough, by Coral Harkies for OGS.
https://ogs.on.ca/events/ontario-ancestors-website-walkthrough-coral-harkies/
Friday, 28 June
9 am: UK – Family History: Using military history records, by Will Butler for TNA.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/family-history-using-military-history-records-tickets-865382591627
Saturday, 29 June
Remember to register in advance to ensure your spot in these insightful webinars. Happy researching!
New from Pen and Sword, Paul Chrystal’s “Women at Work in World Wars I and II” examines women’s roles in Britain, filling the void left by men who went to fight, ensuring Britain’s survival and contributing significantly to the war efforts.
Chrystal meticulously details the discrimination and prejudice women faced despite their undeniable proficiency and industriousness. Through compelling anecdotes and thorough research, the book underscores the impact of women’s labour on the war outcomes and the broader societal changes.
Chrystal, a prolific British author, doesn’t overlook lesser-known areas where women contributed, like small arms manufacturing, emergency services, and even the controversial topic of prostitution during the wars. The book’s structure, divided into two parts corresponding to the two World Wars, allows for an in-depth comparison and highlights the continuity and change in women’s contributions across these periods.
Four copies are at the Ottawa Public Library, with 13 holds (one is mine!). It’s available for purchase from amazon.ca in both hardcopy and as an eBook. Google Books has a generous preview, the basis for this post.
Product details
Publisher : Pen and Sword (4 April 2024)
Language : English
Hardcover : 248 pages
ISBN-10 : 1399071262
ISBN-13 : 978-1399071260
Item weight : 499 g
Dimensions : 15.75 x 2.79 x 23.62 cm
This collection, claiming 289,555 records, just appeared. For now, here’s the description provided by Ancestry.
Voyage reports, business operation registers, and telegraphs have been combined into a single collection that can show a passenger’s destination, activities on the ship, and even accidents or illnesses that may have occurred. Colourful photographs and brochures showcase the ship’s design and the layout of individual rooms.
Documents and photographs of each ship’s crew are included, along with information on military personnel who sometimes travelled by steamship. This collection also documents the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company’s involvement in historical events such as World War I, World War II, and the Great Kantō Earthquake of 1923 in Japan. This collection has a wide variety of records spanning over a hundred years, so information on passengers and crew may vary.
Using this collection
If your ancestor travelled on a Canadian Pacific Steamship, you might discover the following information about them in this collection:
Date and place of birth
Occupation
Place of residence
Name of vessel
Date and place of departure
Date and place of arrival
Name of next of kin
To provide optimal service, the crew sometimes made notes about a passenger’s occupation, societal status, family, and purpose of travel. These notes can act as a short biographical sketch of your ancestor. Military personnel occasionally travelled on steamships, and their rank, company, and regiment may also be discovered.
If your ancestor worked on a steamship, this collection may tell you their occupation (or rating), date of employment, birth date, or place of usual residence. You may also find an employment history which summarizes your ancestor’s time with the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company.
The collection includes information on the voyage that brought me to Canada. Unfortunately, there’s no passenger list, but lots of detail on the journey, even down to information on passengers who needed medical attention.
Look for further posts on the treasures in this collection.
Bonne Saint-Jean-Baptiste.
At a session at the recent OGS conference, Ancestry mentioned that it has acquired almost 10 million indexes for deaths from 1926 to 1996 from the Drouin Institute. The collection should launch this year, and there may be other acquisitions from Drouin.
The Ottawa Public Library has free remote access to Drouin’s Généalogie Québec as well PRDH (Programme de recherche en démographie historique) for cardholders.
It’s so rich in content you likely wonder if you’re making the most of it. That’s FamilySearch, the website, which is constantly evolving.
This evening at 7 pm ET take advantage of the presentation by Lynn Turner, AG®, FUGA, Director of the FamilySearch Library, who will present What’s New at FamilySearch.
It’s the first in a free four-part series offered this week by GRIP, the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburg. The other three highlight initiatives you may well not have heard of by genealogical entrepreneurs.
Tuesday, June 25, 2024 at 7:00 pm
How to do more genealogy in less time with Goldie May’s genealogy tools, by Richard K. Miller
Wednesday, June 26, 2024 at 7:00 pm
Family Tree Notebooks: A Simple Way to Get Organized, by Carly Lane Morgan
Thursday, June 27, 2024 at 7:00 pm
Unlocking and Sharing the Stories and Family History Behind Our ‘Stuff’, by Ellen Goodwin.
Find out more and register at https://grip.ngsgenealogy.org/grip-2024-virtual-evening-sessions/
This past week, 14,293 new photographs have been added to a collection that contains data on many individuals who served with the Coldstream Guards. Additionally, there are 256 transcriptions available from the British Navy’s 1817 mission to China, specifically from H.M.S. Alceste. Also, 5,331 new transcriptions have been added for those who fought in the Battle of Barrosa during the Peninsular War in 1811.
