Anglo-Celtic Connections

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 

An Annual General Meeting can often run smoothly, sometimes there are surprises. On Saturday the 23rd AGM for the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa ran smoothly, all motions passed with unanimous support and there were pleasant surprises.

Newly inducted into the BIFHSGO Hall of Fame is Andrea Harding for her innovative contributions to BIFHSGO’s education program and communications activities, which her ideas, enthusiasm and communications skills have done much to promote.

Best Feature Talk presentation by a member, as voted by members, went to Marianne Rasmus for “A Russian Revelation: A Family Shaped by Significant Events.”

The award for best article in Anglo-Celtic Roots went to Bette Smith for her article “Emily Charts a New Course”.

Certificates of Recognition went to members of the team working on the No 1 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station project: Sheila Duhoo Faure, Heather Carmondy, Marcia Clement, Lynda Gibson, Jean Kitchen, Nigel Lloyd, and Lynne Willoughby.

The new and re-elected Directors are:

Lynne Baxter joined BIFHSGO in 2018 and has worked on her family history since her retirement. She wants to give back to the society and is interested in working on education activities.
Jennifer Hill is the current registrar for the BIFHSGO 2021 Conference. She started researching her family about 20 years ago and joined BIFHSGO two years ago. She was treasurer for the Ottawa Knitting Guild for 4 years and, when asked, agreed to take over this role from Marianne Rasmus.
Ken McKinlay is known to many as a speaker, blogger and the man with the answers. Over the years, he has volunteered in many roles with genealogical societies and the NAC. His keen interest in resources is a good fit for the Research and Projects Director.
Sue Dawes arrived in Ottawa from the UK in 1977, began family research in 2006 and joined BIFHSGO in 2014. She admires BIFHSGO’s work and wants to make her own contribution to its future.
Dianne Brydon will be known to most as the current program director and host of our monthly meetings. Though she has other demanding commitments in the coming year, she wants to “keep her hand in” with BIFHSGO by serving as a director-at-large.
Gillian Leitch has served as the society’s secretary for the past 6 years. She will be continuing as secretary for her final two-year term.

Those continuing their terms are Duncan Monkhouse (President), Marianne Rasmus (moving from Treasurer to Program), Ann Burns (Membership) and Barbara Tose (Past President).

Many thanks to John McConkey who ends his terms having made his mark as Director, Research and Projects, especially lately regarding war brides.

The AGM was followed at 10 am by Great Moments talks from three members; Jill Thompson, Lynne Baxter and Dena Palamedes.

“Nellie L. McClung (1873-1951) is English Canada’s best-known first-wave feminist.”

“Alongside the other Famous Five, including close friend Emily Murphy,  McClung was an advocate of eugenics and campaigned for the sterilization of the feebleminded.”

Those statements are from her profile in https://eugenicsarchive.ca/discover/players

There are many others at the site who were advocates for eugenics, and some missed such as Tommy Douglas.

Will those tearing down statues, renaming buildings and rewriting the biographies of those whose record in the history of  Canada is problematic, to say the least, be even-handed when it comes to the eugenicists?

 

If you’ve done any indexing you perhaps appreciate the work needed for even a few hundred records. So it may be mean to note that the additions to this Great War collection are less than 2,000.  All new entries are welcome, but by the standard set by Findmypast and other companies, this is a tiny addition to the collection. 

As well as names, ranks, and service numbers, the records reveal details you won’t find elsewhere, like illness or wound descriptions and how long the injured soldiers stayed at a medical facility.

Although the title of the collection is British, 753 Canadians are included among the 1,335,419 in the total collection.

Founded and incorporated in 1994, the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO) is a not-for-profit genealogical organization. 

Tomorrow, Saturday 12 June:

9 am: BIFHSGO 23rd AGM

10 am:  Great Moments in Genealogy. 

Over the Sea to … “Shetland” (Jill Thompson) – The story of two ancestors who moved from the Shetland Isles to Scotland and then to southern England.

The River Ran Red: The Homestead Steel Strike and Sylvester’s Part in It (Lynne Baxter) – The story of a steelworker and union leader who was tried for his role in a scrimmage that resulted in several deaths in Philadelphia in 1892.

A Gem from the Inveraray Archives (Dena Palamedes) – The story of discoveries and new friendships that grew from an email to BIFHSGO from somebody who came across information about her ancestor.

Online, but registration required. The presentation is free. Donations are gratefully accepted through Canada Helps here.

What’s new at Findmypast? Single year additions to Birmingham, Middlesborough and Westminster Catholic parish records.

Over 4,000 new England Roman Catholic Parish Baptisms from the Archdiocese of Birmingham in 1911, the Diocese of Middlesbrough in 1921, and the Diocese of Westminster in 1916.

Over 1,500 new England Roman Catholic Parish Marriages from the Archdiocese of Birmingham in 1911 and the Diocese of Westminster in 1944.

Over 400 new England Roman Catholic Parish Burials from the Archdiocese of Birmingham in 1911, the Diocese of Middlesbrough in 1921, and the Diocese of Westminster in 1942.

Over 2,400 new England Roman Catholic Parish Congregational Records from the Archdiocese of Birmingham in 1911, the Diocese of Middlesbrough in 1921, and the Diocese of Westminster in 1916.

The whole collection is now 2.47 million records

From Toronto Branch OGS, an interesting series for summer enjoyment.

Wednesday 16 June  (7:30 p.m. EDT)
Misbegotten, Misled, Mistaken: Tackling the challenging quest to identify a mystery father.
Lecturer: Paul Jones

Thursday 17 June (7:30 p.m. EDT)
The Curious Case of Dr. Henry Head Gray: Piecing together the true fate of a young Toronto doctor.
Lecturer: Jane MacNamara

Wednesday 23 June (7:30 p.m. EDT)
FAKE News! Read all about it!: Debunking myths in the report of a young woman sold into slavery.
Lecturer: Guylaine Pétrin

Thursday 24 June (2:00 p.m. EDT)
The 1815 Murder behind Toronto’s Oldest Ghost Story: Digging up the facts of a lighthouse keeper’s untimely death.
Lecturer: Eamonn O’Keeffe

Find out more and register at https://torontofamilyhistory.org/event/uncovering-unusual-lives/

Still dealing with issues on daily notice delivery. Bear with me.

Part of the Canadian Association for Irish Studies Annual Meeting, “The Marianna O’Gallagher Memorial Session: Strokestown Famine Orphans in Quebec” will take place on Tuesday, 22 June from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. EDT. Dr. Mark McGowan will be joining Caroilin Callery and Dr. Jason King to discuss a recent short film entitled “Strokestown Famine Orphans in Quebec and New York.”

In advance of this session, you may view the film at this link: bit.ly/Strokestown-Quebec.

Dr. Jason King is the Academic Coordinator of the Irish Heritage Trust and a member of the Government of Ireland National Famine Commemoration Committee, among other positions. Caroilin Callery is the Director of the National Famine Museum, Strokestown Park. Register to attend the conference and contact usmc.principalsoffice@utoronto.ca for Zoom info.

Abstracts records from the International Bomber Command Centre. There are links to more detailed information at the IBCC website which records the details of 58,438 Bomber Command deaths throughout its existence (1936-1968), including pre-war and post-war losses.

Searching keyword Canada finds 9,840 records, Canadian 10,344.

Updated, now with 628,011 records, Bedfordshire, England, Workhouse and Poor Law Records, 1835-1914 was originally published by Ancestry in August 2020.

Searching returns a transcript with headings: Name, Age, Birth Date, Residence Date, Residence Place, Poor Law Union, and Description of the instrument. Additional information is given in the linked image such as family information and the nature of the relief granted.

The records, sourced from the Bedfordshire Archives, cover the Poor Law Unions of Ampthill, Bedford, Biggleswade, Leighton Buzzard and Luton.

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

Tuesday 8 June, 2 pm: New breakthroughs in MyHeritage’s photo tools, by Tal Erlichman for MyHeritage Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar_details.php?webinar_id=1694

Tuesday 8 June, 7 pm: The Power of DNA, by Mags Gaulden for Lambton Branch OGS.
https://lambton.ogs.on.ca/calendar/lambton-june-zoom-meeting-with-mags-gaulden-the-power-of-dna/

Tuesday 8 June, 2:30 pm: The (US) 1940 Census and Preparing for the 1950 Census, by Alison Singleton for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIoduCoqDosG9Y8UW4QQ0PF1hskXClpl6sy

Wednesday 9 June, 2:30 pm: Reflections of Alan Turing with Dermot Turing, The (UK) National Archives.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/reflections-of-alan-turing-tickets-152682917717?aff=wowp

Wednesday 9 June, 7:15 pm: Doing Family Tree Research in Your Pajamas, by Ken McKinlay for York Branch OGS.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEsd-GurDItGNWy8R2WuUF5OJCA-jdlZRB1

Thursday 10 June, 6:30 pm: Fireside Chat: Migration. Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwpdOCvqzkjHNyvwWdjaMmQNX_vR4vcUMyY

Friday 11 June, 7 pm: Memories of Merlin, by Julie Magerka for Kent Branch OGS.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZckdeCrqzouEtaNgiyIQstL_ice-ozyajLl

Saturday 12 June, 9 am: BIFHSGO AGM and Great Moments in Genealogy. 
https://bifhsgo.ca/eventListings.php?nm=127#er561

Saturday 12 June, 2 pm: Squiggly and Splt: How SNA Changed Family History Research, by Dave Obee for Simcoe Branch OGS.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0rcOuqrjovGNGbUgTjWpsVCYuAoo-PCdkj

LOOKING AHEAD

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

In an obscure corner of the LAC website is a document Transition 2019 – E-binder. Leslie Weir, Librarian and Archivist of Canada, August 30, 2019. It provides a nearly two years old snapshot of the organization, its scope and a base on which to view subsequent developments.

The Operations Sector is of most interest for researcher clients. An organization chart at the time is here.

I looked particularly at the mention of newspapers.

The Newspaper Strategy section mentions a strategy  not found on the LAC  website.  The considerations section is:

• Library and Archives Canada (LAC) has a strong retrospective collection of selected Canadian dailies, community newspapers, Indigenous and ethno-cultural papers in print and microfilm; print newspapers do not fall under Legal Deposit (LD) and have not been actively collected, aside from first and last copies, since 2007. LAC purchases microfilm, when it is available, to fill collection gaps. Electronic newspapers fall under LD and have been collected sporadically; this will become more routine once Digital Asset Management System (DAMS) is implemented.
• The Newspaper Strategy focusses primarily on publications; stakeholder response suggests it should be broadened to include news archives.
• A newspaper summit is under consideration at LAC. A decision whether to hold a summit, and its format, will be made in the third quarter of 2019-2020.
• No resource(s) at LAC are dedicated specifically to this file.
• If decided that newspapers become an area of emphasis, the file will need at least one Full time equivalent (FTE).
• Digital ingest, access and preservation standards vary amongst multiple stakeholders and communities nationwide.
• There are many community-based projects underway with their own access points; LAC is working with Ontario Library Association, Archives of Ontario and others, together with TorStar and PostMedia, to provide access to 36 shuttered Ontario community newspapers.

No newspaper summit was held. Apparently little has changed at LAC since this document was written.

The section Digitization mentions

The division is currently composed of 43 indeterminate positions, which are not always fully funded. As a result, it is difficult to plan long-term projects and commit to the Preservation Plan for purposes of long-term digitization.

• In 2018-2019, DSD produced 5 million digital images from analog surrogates.
• In 2019-2020, while continuing to serve internal and external clients, digitization efforts are supporting the Indigenous initiatives, litigation cases, the conversion of reference collections into digital format as well as other LAC priorities that may arise.

LAC is conducting less digitization!

A section OPL Collection Preparation and Move mentions that RFID technology will be employed to secure the collection after the move and that “Four Library and Archives Canada (LAC) collections will be featured in the new OPL-LAC joint facility set to open in 2024: Genealogy, Reference, Curated, and Lowy collections. Approximately 150,000 items will be relocated to OPL-LAC’s joint facility.”

A separate section OPL-LAC Service Transition includes in a list of seven projects to be undertaken “Digitization of reference materials: To save space and to enhance access to LAC reference materials in Ottawa and across Canada, LAC is digitizing finding aids, directories, newspapers and other materials.”