The Halton Peel Branch of Ontario Ancestors will host the free webinar, Researching Your 20th Century Ancestors, presented by Kathryn Lake Hogan, on Sunday, March 21, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time.
Did your parents, grandparents or great-grandparents live most of their lives in 20th century Canada? Long closure periods of records make finding information about these more recent ancestors difficult. Finding information after 1939 can be tricky, but there are resources available if you know where to look. Discover where to find more recent records that will help you add details to your 20th century Canadian family.
Tomorrow is the third Friday of the month, and that means we’ll be able to watch the March webinar in Legacy Family Tree Webinar’s O Canada series.
Paul Milner will deliver the presentation, Tracing Your War of 1812 British Soldier, on Friday, March 19, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern.
Different records are created for officers and enlisted men in the British Army.
This lecture uses case studies to trace involvement of officers and enlisted using examples from the War of 1812, though the records are applicable for most pre WWI soldiers, thus much wider appeal. It will focus on tracing your British soldier during the war and providing guidance for resources with a British or Canadian perspective.
Registration is required to watch the live webinar. The recording will likely be available to watch for free for up to seven days afterward in the webinar library. Legacy Family Tree Webinars subscribers will be able to download the resource-filled six-page syllabus.
More than a million new images from kirk session and other court records of the Church of Scotland, between 1559 and 1900, were added yesterday to ScotlandsPeople.
These new records from thousands of volumes are free to browse online. You’ll first need to set up a free ScotlandsPeople account to view the images.
The records offer insights into the everyday lives of ordinary Scots, recording important moments such as births, marriages and deaths. The church also adjudicated on paternity of children and provided basic education, as well as disciplining parishioners for what could be called anti-social behaviour – drunkenness, cursing and breaking the Sabbath. Some researchers have even learned about an extra-marital affair.
The newly added records also include accounts of how people dealt with exceptional historical events such as wars, witchcraft trials, epidemics, crop failures and extreme weather.
You can find out more about what’s in this collection and how to view and use the records for research at the ScotlandsPeople website.
ScotlandsPeople will provide guidance, hints and tips on using these records on its Facebook page over the next two weeks.
The Maine State Archives has launched its first-ever catalogue of its holdings, via the online ArchivesSpace portal.
For the first time in the Maine State Archives’ 56-year history, researchers can now search through the bureau’s listing of collections online to see if the archives is the right resource for their purposes, before contacting an archivist to access the actual documents.
“This is a first step, for the public to have an awareness of what we hold, and we will be building it into a public resource that will eventually link up with the actual digital copies of items such as documents and maps that we have posted to DigitalMaine,” said Katherine McBrien, Deputy Secretary for Archives.
The launch of the Maine State Archives ArchivesSpace portal is the product of five years of work.
“Maine State Archives is a treasure trove of information about our state’s history, and we are excited to take this first step toward making this information more widely available online,” said Secretary of State Shenna Bellows. “Imagine students being able to access remarkable primary source documents from the classroom or their living rooms for research and learning. Our vision is that future generations will be able to access these precious documents from the comfort of their homes, schools or work.”
The Maine State Archives maintains approximately 100 million pages of official state records considered to be permanently valuable, such as bills introduced in the Legislature, Governor’s Executive Council Reports, election returns, deeds, maps, and military records through World War I.
Nova Scotia is the only province that doesn’t have open adoption records, but that may change.
The province introduced legislation on Friday that will open adoption records, effective next April.
The new Act to Open Adoption Records in Nova Scotia allows adopted children, once they turn 19, and birth parents to access adoption information if they want to.
“Adoption records are a sensitive and deeply personal matter,” said Kelly Regan, Minister of Community Services. “In modernizing this legislation, we worked to create a balance that takes all perspectives into account, recognizing the profound impact this information may have on the lives of Nova Scotians.”
According to the newly proposed bill, adoptees and birth parents will each have the right to block the release of information that could lead to their identities.
The veto will also be available to birth parents and children available for adoption in the future.
When the legislation is in effect, disclosure vetoes and contact notices will continue to be accepted as long as the identifying information has not already been released.
The new bill will also include the types of information that can be shared with relatives or birth siblings, as well as the definition of a potential birth father.
Currently the province’s Adoption Disclosure Program can conduct a search for an adopted person or a birth parent at the request of the other party to the adoption. When that person is located, they must consent to their identifying information being released before it can be shared. If they do not consent, the identifying information cannot be shared.
Adoptions have been recorded in Nova Scotia for more than 100 years. The Department of Community Services holds the records for about 31,800 adoptions granted during this time.
On St. Patrick’s Day — March 17 — FamilySearch will offer 13 free classes on Irish genealogy research. Topics include census and church records, Griffith’s Valuation records, and the Irish famine.
The classes will each be 20 minutes with a 10-minute question and answer period.
All class times are in Mountain Daylight Time.
9:00 a.m. – Keynote address given by David Rencher 9:30 a.m. – Terrible Beauty, A History of Ireland: Early Ireland, 1170-1800 10:00 a.m. – Terrible Beauty, A History of Ireland: Before and After the Great Irish Famine 10:30 a.m. – Terrible Beauty, A History of Ireland: Irish Independence, Civil War and the Celtic Tiger 11:00 a.m. – Ireland Jurisdictions 11:30 a.m. – Ireland Census Records 1:00 p.m. – Irish Civil Registration 1:30 p.m. – Irish Roman Catholic Records 2:00 p.m. – Church of Ireland Records 2:30 p.m. – Ireland Griffith’s Valuation Records 3:00 p.m. – Catholic Irish Pre-Parish Register Strategy 3:30 p.m. – Ulster-Scots Research 4:00 p.m. – Using the FamilySearch Research Wiki for Irish Family History
The Sudbury District Branch of Ontario Ancestors will host the free webinar, Writing Family History — Turning Your Research into Shareable Stories, presented by Lynn Palermo, on Monday, March 15, at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time.
Armed with some new tools to help you write your story, you’ll learn how to add writing to your daily life. You will leave this presentation less intimidated by the process and motivated to write your ancestors’ stories.
Registration is required. Open to members and non-members.
For more gems like these throughout the week, join the Genealogy à la carte Facebook group. When you submit your request to join, you will be asked to answer two quick questions about your family history research.
The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) has posted an eight-minute video on its YouTube channel to demonstrate how to search its online collection of street directories.
The motion to officially declare March as Irish Heritage Month across Canada was passed Wednesday in the House of Commons with unanimous consent.
James Maloney, member of parliament for the Ontario riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore, first presented his private Member’s bill last year.
Mr. Maloney’s motion, M-18, reads: “That, in the opinion of the House, the government should recognize the important contributions that Irish-Canadians have made to building Canada, and to Canadian society in general, and should mark the importance of educating and reflecting upon Irish heritage and culture for future generations by declaring the month of March as Irish Heritage Month.”
James Maloney, MP Etobicoke-Lakeshore. Photo: Mélanie Provencher, House of Commons Photo Services
Strong ties to Ireland When addressing the Speaker of the House this week, Mr. Maloney said, “This motion is for those people who left Ireland for better opportunity, for those who did not make it to the shores of Canada. This motion is for those who did and devoted their lives to building our country into what it is now. This motion is for those who continue to do that today. This motion is for future generations that are proud of their Irish heritage. I think of Thomas D’Arcy McGee, our Irish founding father, for example.”
He added, “The ties between Canada and Ireland are emotional, historical, economical and genetic. It is very powerful.”
14% of Canadians claim an Irish connection Three of Mr. Maloney’s ancestors were brothers, Patrick, Michael and James Maloney, who came to Canada in 1840 and settled in the Ottawa Valley.
He said, “Those brothers were my ancestors, and my father was clearly proud of his heritage because he has three sons who he named Patrick, Michael and the hon. member for Etobicoke-Lakeshore.”
When his motion was moved in December prior to debate, Mr. Maloney said, “I am far from alone in having Irish heritage.
“According to the latest census data, over 4.6 million Canadian residents lay claim to an Irish ethnic connection. This is 14 percent of our total population, higher even than the proportion of Irish Americans in the US.
“The influence of Irish heritage in Canada and the depth of the Irish’s affinity with Ireland is the pre-eminent factor in Ireland’s successful nurturing of its relationship with Canada over decades.
“Our Irish population almost matches Ireland itself.”
