Anglo-Celtic Connections

The OurDigitalWorld Autumn 2024 Newsletter announces the addition of the following newspapers.

Stratford-Perth Archives Digital Newspapers

Recently launched for public and in-house access, the Stratford-Perth Archives has a new digitized newspaper database. Browse and keyword search over 8,000 issues from 17 different newspapers from the Stratford area and Perth County 1860-1946.

Penetanguishene Citizen from Sports Hall of Fame

Inspired by the sports coverage in the local newspaper, the Penetanguishene Sports Hall of Fame has digitized the Penetaguishene Citizen 1975-1988 to showcase the stories of resilience and triumph from the sports legends whose passion shape the town’s history.

Oshawa Times

Oshawa Public library is helping grow the body of newspapers by recently including the 1958-1961 Oshawa Times. It’s included in the Durham Region Newspapers.

Terrace Bay Schreiber News

Scanning in-house, the Terrace Bay Public Library is expanding their online collection of the Terrace Bay Schreiber News, recently adding new issues from 1983-1992. The weekly paper from the northwestern region of Ontario adds fresh coverage and new resources for thematic and family history research in the area. These titles are also included in the Gateway to Northwestern Ontario.
An unusual holding in this collection is Geological Survey of Canada Annual Reports from the 1880s to 1930s.

Russell Review (1975-1977) and Castor Review (1977-1982)
Through the Digital Prescott Russell site in collaboration with the Township of Russell Library.
https://images.ourontario.ca/Russell/search

The Haileyburian (1912-1957) & Cobalt Weekly News (1957-1961)
https://vitacollections.ca/hhmcollection/search

Provincial Freeman and Voice of the Fugitive
Not yet available, OurDigitalWorld is collaborating with Pennsylvania State University and University of Windsor to rescanned the original paper copies of two titles, the Provincial Freeman and Voice of the Fugitive, for inclusion in the Canadiana site.

 

The November issue has three feature articles.

Get the Scoop
Chloe O’Shea explains how you can make the most of
online newspaper archives and uncover fascinating
details about your ancestors’ lives. In addition to mentioning the British Newspaper Archives, newspapers.com, thegazette.co.uk and the Times Digital Archive, there’s mention of “Overseas Newspapers” including canadiana.ca/collection-serials with more than 300 newspapers

Transcription Tuesday
Rosemary Collins reveals the two online projects that are the subject of this volunteer project on 5 November. They are Irish Catholic Parish Registers at FamilySearch and the Welsh Women’s Peace Petition from the National Library and Wales.

Danger in the Darkness
Felicity Day writes that although blackouts helped to protect the home front, they made life during the Second World War. “Crossing the road was more like Russian roulette.” “By January 1940, it was estimated that one in five people had suffered some sort of injury as a direct result of the blackout.”

Jonathan Scott’s Best Websites article is on researching followers of Methodism, while his Around Britain column is on the latest resources for East Sussex researchers.

Tech Tips
Nick Peers shows how to use upscayl.org, free software that can enlarge photos with the power of Al and intelligently fill in the gaps and keep photos looking their best even when blown up.

As usual, I only mention a selection of the content I read using the Ottawa Public Library PressReader subscription.

New as of 7 October, 11,804 index records of information taken from various sources through the Monmouth Castle Museum and produced by the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers between 1852 and 1927.

Records in this collection may include the following information: Name, Birth year, county, and parish, Age, Occupation, Height, Enlistment date and place, Address at enlistment time, Rank, Regimental number, Reading and writing ability.

Original images are available on Fold3.com or ForcesWar Records.com (may require an additional subscription).

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.

The following is an update from MyHeritage DNA.

For a few more days, until Sunday 13 October 2024 at 11:59 pm, you can upload your DNA data to MyHeritage and get full access to all DNA features for free, forever! Uploads from Ancestry, FamilyTreeDNA (Family Finder) and 23andMe are supported.

You’ll receive free access to all advanced DNA features including the Ethnicity Estimate and Genetic Groups, DNA Matches, and all tools to analyze your relationship to your matches, saving you the usual $29 unlock fee per file.

https://www.myheritage.com/dna/upload

 

The following is a news release from the Department of National Defence.

Oct. 2, 2024 – Ottawa – National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces

The Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) have confirmed that the grave of a previously unknown soldier is that of Corporal William Benjamin Cunningham, a Canadian soldier of the First World War. Corporal Cunningham was buried as an unknown soldier in Tyne Cot Cemetery in Ypres, Belgium, in 1920. The identity was confirmed through historical research conducted using numerous archival sources including war diaries, service records, casualty registers, and grave exhumation and concentration reports.
… more

A curious follow-on Facebook post from the Canadian Expeditionary Force Research Group 1914-1919 laments lack of credit given to Norm Christie in his book Sacred Places Volume I in 2011.

In the past week, as of 6 October and since 29 September, 64,333,829 additional records, that’s 20%, have been added. They are all for the USA.

Steve Little and Mark Thompson explore AI developments.

This week’s episode includes, at 23:26, FamilySearch Full-Text Search Adds a Million Canadian Probate and Homestead Records. It’s good to have a section in the podcast specific to family history alongside developments useful for family history like any other undertaking.
It’s not only Canadian Probate and Homestead Records. The most recent inventory top five are:
United States of America (316,083,898)
Canada (22,499,169)
Australia & New Zealand (12,515,981)
United Kingdom and Ireland (6,038,961)
Mexico (1,885,093). 

Other podcast content includes some impressive illustrations of ChatGPT Advanced Voice Mode.

https://blubrry.com/3738800/136852759/ep15-talking-with-your-chatbot-is-now-a-reality-familysearch-adds-canadian-records-to-full-text-search-new-responsible-ai-use-series-begins/

 

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

All About That Place 2024
Short videos on the Society of Genealogists YouTube Channel. Here’s one that spoke to my family history interest.

“Why do people who “don’t play games” play Wordle? 

Ancestry Find a Grave indexes were updated in early October.

BIFHSGO Virtual Annual Conference
Teaghlach Gaelach: A Celebration of Irish Family History
26-27 October 2024
Registration is open!

The S&P500 Knows Who’s Going To Win The Election | Better Than Election Polls
So far this year the S&P 500 has gained +1,008.24 (21.26%).

Thanks to this week’s contributors: Anonymous, gail benjafield, Judy Humphries, Teresa, Unknown.

 

 

England Directories
This new collection consists of over 10 million transcriptions from 327 directories covering the mid-18th century through the early 20th century.

Business Directories: Highlight local businesses, their owners, and trades, offering insight into economic activities and commercial networks of the time.
Residential Listings: Many directories provide alphabetical listings of residents, allowing for research into family history and property ownership.
Government & Official Information: Listings of local officials, government offices, and services, reflecting the administrative structure of towns and regions.
Local Topography & Historical Context: Some directories incorporate descriptions of towns, points of interest, and notable landmarks.

The directories span various locations, north, south, east and west counties, from major cities like London and Liverpool to smaller towns such as Leicester, Swansea, and Lincoln.

Jersey, Huguenot Abjurations 1685-1815
These 693 transcript records document the history of the Huguenots – a French Protestant group who moved to escape persecution – in Jersey between 1685 and 1815.

Britain, Royal and Imperial Calendars 1767-1973
This collection of British calendars now contains an additional 4,395 browse-only images, which are from intermittent years between 1844 and 1926. Many years incorporate a civil service list.

Newspapers
Two titles are added this week: Garstang Courier, 1994, 1998, and Horsham Advertiser, 1997-1998.

A couple of the feature articles in the November issue are:

Demystifying Ancient Egyptian Mummies
Myths often stem from a combination of misunderstandings about ancient Egyptian culture, sensationalized accounts from early Egyptologists, and the influence of popular media. Campbell Price’s article on ancient Egyptian mummification practices exposes more myths than facts. From debunking curse myths to exploring the realities of embalming techniques and even the preservation of pets, this feature offers a scholarly yet accessible approach to a subject that has long captured the British public imagination.

Female Criminals Through the Ages
I immediately thought of Bonnie (Parker), of Bonnie and Clyde. Rosalind Crone’s list in this article includes six British women: Alice Diamond, Fanny Davies, Sarah Russell, Mary Willcocks, Tilly Devine, and Violet Charlesworth, who made their mark on the criminal underworld from the 18th to the 20th centuries. Baby farmers like Amelia Dyer don’t rate. The only Canadian who came to my mind is Karla Homolka.

Other feature articles are:

Medieval Power Play: Richard II vs Henry IV
The Forgotten Prince in the Tower
Understanding Nazi Motivation
SAS Hostage Drama.

Track my archival order (TMAO is an online feature that allows you to track the status of your archival consultation orders at 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa. It offers real-time updates and details on your orders for those with an LAC My account.

Read the LAC blog post at https://thediscoverblog.com/2024/10/01/track-your-archival-orders/.

It’s unclear whether this replaces the previous email notifications.