Looking back over the past twelve months at what captured genealogists’ attention, it seems this was not the best year for exciting new Canadian collections.
With the exception of Library and Archives Canada’s ongoing digitization of Canadian Expeditionary Forces service files and Ancestry’s launch of Alberta homestead and Quebec notary records, most of the new online collections were smaller and came from provincial, local, and university archival centres.
The Genealogy à la carte blog posts that drew the most attention in 2016 were, without a doubt, about new online databases. These stories interested you more than any other type of news, society best practices, or op-ed posts.
In order of popularity, these were the blog posts you enjoyed reading, and they are all about online collections.
1. Cornwall Roots
Although the Cornwall Roots website has been around for several years, it was new to me and, clearly, it was new to thousands of other genealogists. The most popular blog post by far in 2016 was More than 100,000 Ontario, Quebec & NY obits and headstones online at Cornwall Roots.
2. Fallen British and Irish railwaymen in WWI
In January, I went outside my usual bailiwick of sharing Canadian genealogy news to write about Online database of fallen British and Irish railwaymen from WWI, and the story drew a lot of readers. The National Railway Museum in York, England announced its launch of an online, searchable database of fallen railway workers during WWI. More than 20,000 English, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish railwaymen had lost their lives, and this unique database sheds light on how the war affected the railways and their employees who served in the military.
3. Canadian search engine for Find A Grave
Who knew a new search engine would make so many genealogists happy? Thanks to American genealogist Lisa Louise Cooke, we learned about Ken Lange’s Canadian search page for Find A Grave that allows us to narrow down your search by name and province, or cemetery and province. This certainly simplifies Canadian research. Make sure you read Bruce Gordon’s comment on the blog post about his Canadian search engine for Find A Grave that he prefers.
4. Eastern Townships Archives Portal
Thanks to a $44,000 grant from Library and Archives Canada’s Documentary Heritage Communities Program, the Eastern Townships Resource Centre at Bishop’s University was able to produce an online database that provides searchable archival descriptions from historical societies and archives repositories from across Quebec’s Eastern Townships. This database allows researchers to dig into the history of the region by searching through records such as personal letters and diaries, business records, minute books from organizations, church registers, photographs, postcards, and maps.
5. 300 years of old maps of Nova Scotia
Genealogists love maps, and that was certainly the case when Nova Scotia Archives provided online access to maps of Nova Scotia, from the 1700s to the 1900s, that are searchable by keyword and century.
6. Italian records on Geneanet
Mamma mia, you certainly like Italian research! In November, France-based Geneanet added more than nine million Italian birth, marriage, and death records, and readers of this blog visited the site to kick the tires. A free Geneanet account allows you to see first-level results, such as names and locations.
7. Alberta Homestead records on Ancestry
Early in 2016, Ancestry released Alberta, Canada, Homestead Records, 1870-1930, a land record collection that includes the names of about 200,000 people who applied for homesteads in Alberta under the Dominion Lands Act – an 1872 law aimed to encourage the settlement of the Canadian Prairies. Soon after, the Alberta Genealogical Society invited us to compare Ancestry’s database to theirs which has twice as many records. To further help, blogger Michael John Neill explained how to search the records for free, without an Ancestry subscription.
8. Quebec notary records on Ancestry
Ever since Ancestry launched its Quebec Notarial Records, 1626-1935 database, I’ve been researching and ordering records from the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec. This collection made me glad many of my ancestors settled in Quebec. In the blog post, How to find your ancestors in Ancestry’s new Quebec notary collection, I walk you through the steps on how to search for records on Ancestry and the Quebec Archives’ website.
9. Canadian city directories
Once you become a genealogist, you learn how helpful city directories are. The two most exciting directory digitization projects this year were BC directories 1860-1955 and Peterborough, Ontario directories 1858-2010. Even more of you visited the City Directories section for the lengthy list in my Genealogy Research Toolbox.
10. Algonquin roots online
Genealogists who want to trace their Algonquin ancestry now have access to 15 years of research by Jean-Guy Paquin who has produced a website, Weskarinis. Mr. Paquin compiled a directory of alliances and descendent charts of Algonquin families from the Petite-Nation and the Rouge who frequented the Oka mission, north of Montreal. Although the website is written entirely in French, it is easy to look up families.
11. Online family collection chronicles life in Upper Canada and War of 1812
Descendants of the Woodruff family donated 14 boxes of family records, dating back to 1784, to Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario that the university made available online in its entirety. The collection chronicles the family’s involvement in the War of 1812, the building of the second Welland Canal, the Upper Canada Rebellions, constructing roads and railways, environmental conservation, the First World War, business, and politics.
12. Canadian marriage dispensations in Vatican papers
Digital inventories of Vatican documents on Saint Paul University’s website reveal insights into Canadian history, from 1622 to 1922. What especially interested genealogists were the records about marriage dispensations between Catholics and non-Catholics who wanted to marry. The majority of marriage dispensations in these inventories are from Quebec. Frankly, this collection had been a difficult one for me to research and write about, but it seems my efforts paid off. Many of you read the post and were successful in your own research.
13. Historical newspaper directories
In the blog post, How historical newspaper directories can help your Canadian and US family history research, I wrote about the lessons I learned from the late Mel Wolfgang, one of my favourite genealogists and lecturers. I was pleased to share them with so many of you.
14. Canadian “aliens” in Maine
Judging by the interest in How to discover if your Canadian ancestor was an alien in Maine, you know what an alien is or you are all sci-fi fans. The Alien Registration database that contains information about more than 30,000 people is a gem of a collection.
15. McGill University theses
McGill University completed the digitization of 135 years of theses and dissertations, from 1881 to 2016. This collection of theses is a gold mine of history and social history for genealogists, especially those researching their roots in Lower and Upper Canada, New France, and Quebec.
Special mentions
1. Irish civil records
I did not write about the General Register Office’s release of millions of Irish civil birth, marriage, and death records on the National Archives of Ireland’s website free of charge, but I should have. The online release of this collection was among the biggest genealogy stories of the year. The database includes the birth records indexes from 1864 to 1914, the marriage records indexes from 1845 (1864 for Roman Catholic marriages) to 1939, and the death records indexes from 1864 to 1964.
2. Canadian Expeditionary Forces service files
Library and Archives Canada’s project to digitize all 640,000 Canadian Expeditionary Forces service files from World War I continues to be the biggest genealogy story in Canada. On the 15th of every month, LAC provides a status report. To date, 60 percent of the records have been digitized and almost all names starting with M have been posted online.
Thank you for following this blog during the past year and for your encouragement.
I wish you much happiness and good health in the new year — along with many exciting discoveries and new resources.
Cheers! Santé!
