Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Ah, that Genealogy Shelf...Shameful...A Genea-Blogger Treasure Hunt!

Denise Levenick over at "The Family Curator" has challenged Genea-Bloggers to a Treasure Hunt.

We're to choose a destination....a genealogy Magic Cupboard or the like...the place we put those valuable photos, documents, or relics to take care of 'later'.

Then we're to make a plan (a Treasure Map) to organize, preserve, document, return to rightful owners, pass on to relatives, or maybe even eliminate, keeping in mind the Sally Jacobs' archival advice that we don't have to save everything.

We post a Plan/Treasure Map to our blogs by 30 September 2008 and then we get to work!

A list of bloggers who have accepted the challenge will be posted at The Family Curator's blog.






Here's my genealogy 'sorting' shelf - isn't this awful? Yes, that's my suitcases you almost see - if I'd been home more lately, surely this shelf would be empty.

Starting next week, I'll begin from the ground up, and sort, file or toss one shelf of paper at a time. I'm leaving the top shelf for last as I can see my mum's scrapbook pages with my baby cards there - no time yet to read and exclaim over each of those! That I'll save for last. I already have archival envelopes ready for the loose ones.

For more on the Treasure Hunt, see The Family Curator's own Treasure Cupboards:
http://familycurator.blogspot.com/2008/09/treasure-map-to-magic-cupboard.html

Special Visit to Canada - The Genea-Blogger Gnome



Wow! What did I find when I unzipped my suitcase in Kelowna, B.C., Canada, but a travelling gnome - and the Genea-Blogger Gnome at that. Clutching his passport in one hand and a Blackberry in the other, he jumped out and immediately began asking tough questions about Canadian genea-gnome searches. I hadn't realized so many gnomes travelled by passenger ship to North America before 1920.

He had a grand time all weekend at the Kelowna & District Genealogy Society's seminar. He very obviously loved the borscht at Friday's supper! and he seemed to enjoy listening to all the family history talk on Saturday - especially at the Genealogy Café. He was a bit shy though - he hid behind a pillar so as not to be seen - and he never would stand still for a group photo. What a shame, eh.

We tried to find him a new shirt - a bigger one so that we could paint the name of this blog on it - he thought that would be fun - but somehow nothing would fit.

He hitched a ride with us back as far as Merritt, B.C., where we stopped at the cemetery (of course). No rattlesnakes this time, thank goodness.

Genea-Blogger Gnome seemed disappointed that he'd missed the famous Merritt country music festival but perked up noticeably at the A & W when someone started talking to him about rodeo cowboys and cowgirls, too. With a wink, he informed us he was off to have a look at the nearby Douglas Lake Ranch, one of the largest working cattle ranches in North America, but he promised he'd soon be in touch to let us know where he got to next. He did say he'd be back to see Terry Thornton in Hill Country, Munroe County, Mississippi, U.S.A., before the snow flies here. (That could be soon!)


Keep an eye on Genea-Blogger Gnome's travels: http://hillcountryofmonroecountry.blogspot.com/2008/09/genea-bloggers-gnome-visits-hill.html

Friday, September 26, 2008

Historical Colonist newspaper, Victoria BC Canada - soon on-line free

Breaking news from the Kelowna & District Genealogical Society's seminar tonight -

Dave Obee, B.C. author and genealogist, announced that 50 years of Victoria's historical Colonist newspapers will be on-line and available free through the Times Colonist website by December 11, 2008. This is really great news for genealogy and local history as the Colonist is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year as is British Columbia and the Colonist and its successors, including today's Times Colonist, have historically covered news around the province as well as local Victoria news and, of course, provincial politics, since Victoria is British Columbia's capital.

In the meantime, enjoy the Times Colonist's 150th anniversary features - many written by Dave Obee himself: http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/features/150/day_history.html

GETTING TO KNOW ME, GETTING TO KNOW 'CANADA GENEALOGY, OR, JANE'S YOUR AUNT'

Getting to Know You Challenge - GeneaBloggers
GETTING TO KNOW ME, GETTING TO KNOW CANADA GENEALOGY, OR, JANE'S YOUR AUNT

I'm a Vancouver born British Columbian, retired, they say, but busier than I ever was when I was working, I think. My research interests are in family history and Canadian women's history and I indulge myself in crumpled newspapers, dusty books, archival documents and historical photographs as often as possible.

I'm active in my local genealogical society - the British Columbia Genealogical Society - and in the Women's History Network of British Columbia. I give talks and workshops on various topics including researching female ancestors and researching family photographs, and I edit the B.C.G.S.'s quarterly journal, The British Columbia Genealogist.

Three of my 'best' articles:

The brightest - no idea - but, I'm picking this Christmas eve story. I like it even now and you'll learn a fair bit about my family here: http://canadagenealogy.blogspot.com/2007/12/christmas-eve-advent-calendar-of.html


The sassiest - that's easy, "Barbie and the Power of the Press": http://canadagenealogy.blogspot.com/2005/03/barbie-power-of-press.html

Barbie is not usually seen as a feminist icon, is she, but 'Go for it, girl!'

Here's a bonus article - about the title of my blog: http://canadagenealogy.blogspot.com/2005/02/janes-your-aunt-whats-with-this-title.html


The most beautiful - "Dinner Guests from the Past" - if only...: http://canadagenealogy.blogspot.com/2008/02/dinner-guests-from-past-vancouver-style.html



If you're interested in Canadian genealogy, keep an eye on my blog as I'm often writing about what's new or what's happening. And, I've got lots of opinions and once in a while I let them out, so if you have a comment (or a British Columbia/Canadian query), please write me.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Herstory Cafe, September 24, 2008, Vancouver BC - Wordless Wednesday - Almost




'SHOW & TELL', HERSTORY CAFE, Wednesday, September 24, 2008 - 7-9 pm

SHOW & TELL your own woman's history. Bring your woman's history related item & tell its story.

At the Rhizome Cafe, 317 East Broadway, Vancouver, BC
Come early and have dinner! Free admission; no registration required.
Limited seating; food and beverages for purchase.

A partnership - Herstory Cafe and the Women's History Network of BC

Herstory Cafe: www.herstorycafe.ca

Women's History Network of BC (WHNBC): www.members.shaw.ca/whnbc

Monday, September 22, 2008

IRWIN and MOFFAT, County Cavan, Ireland - 8th Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture




Mary Jane MOFFAT and James IRWIN, from County Cavan, Ireland to Canada West, 1850.
Mary Janes's parents: Eleanor Harrison and William Moffat
James' parents: Margaret Livingston and John Irwin


Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture, 8th Edition


Since this is the first time I’ve participated in this carnival, I thought I’d like to ‘share’ my Canadian Irish ancestors in case there is a new connection out there.


This photograph is of Mary Jane Moffatt and her husband, James Irwin. Both were from County Cavan, Ireland. They were married at the Coroneary (Corraneary) Meeting House (Presbyterian) in Knockbride Parish, District of Cootehill, County Cavan in August of 1846. In 1850, they emigrated to Canada West (Ontario) with James’ brother, Robert, and his wife, Sarah King. They all settled eventually around Cambray in Victoria County, Ontario, but in the 1890s, after most of James and Mary Janes’s children had moved west to Manitoba, James' and Mary Ann also migrated, settling in Neepawa, Manitoba where they died in 1909 and 1910 respectively.


My project for the rest of this year is to scan and better organize the photographs I have of them, their children and their families.


For more about the family, see Robert Irwin’s Brothers and Sisters and their Families from County Cavan, Ireland to Fenelon Township, Ontario by Ross W. Irwin (Guelph, Ontario, Canada: 2003) - also John Irwin’s family..., 2003 and Robert Irwin..., 2001

2013 UPDATE

Sadly, my cousin Ross Weston Irwin passed away in 2013 in Guelph, Ontario. See the University of Guelph's remembrance of him and follow the link to his obituary. Besides his local history books, he wrote a number of articles published by the Ontario Genealogical Society. See Historically Guelph for more about his Guelph area history interests.


CAVAN LINKS


A description of Cootehill from Lewis’ “Topographical Dictionary of Ireland”, 1837, 'From Ireland' website, Dr. Jane Lyons: http://www.from-ireland.net/lewis/cav/coothill.htm
Description and list of residents, 1910, Cootehill, County Cavan, “Belfast and Ulster Towns Directory”, Library Ireland: http://www.libraryireland.com/UlsterDirectory1910/Cootehill.php
Cootehill Town, “Trades Directory”, 1931, 'From Ireland' website, Dr. Jane Lyons: http://www.from-ireland.net/cav/direct/cootehill1931.htm#4
A good place to start, I always think, is GENUKI. For County Cavan, Ireland: http://www.sierratel.com/colinf/genuki/CAV
See also Al Beagan's "Genealogy Notes", Parish of Drumgoon, Co Cavan: http://members.tripod.com/~Al_Beagan/drumgoon.htm
Cootehill Tourism, lots of fishing in County Cavan apparently, so I’m sure I can persuade my daughter to go there with me, after our trip to Sweden though: http://www.cootehilltourism.com/

Women's History Network of BC Conference - October 3 - 4, 2008 - Victoria, BC, Canada

"Raising the Bar: Historical Perspectives on Women and the Law" - Women's History Network of BC's Annual Conference

October 3, 2008 Opening Reception and Presentation

Friends Meeting House, 1831 Fern St., Victoria, BC

James Burnham Sedgwick, “The Sin of Silence: The Invisibility of Women at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, 1946-1948”

October 4, 2008 All Day Session

Maritime Museum of British Columbia, 28 Bastion Square, Victoria, BC

Session 2 – Probate Records, Patents, and Separation Agreements: Negotiating Real and Intellectual Property Rights - Karen Pearlston, Ireh Iyioha, Kristine S. Knaplund

Session 3 - Women and the Law: Images, Perceptions, and Realities - Susan C. Boyd, Judy Fudge, Hester Lessard, Bonnie Schmidt

Session 4 - The Neo-Colonial Rule of Unruly Subjects: The Expulsion of Sex Workers from Vancouver’s West End, 1975-1985 - Jamie Lee Hamilton, Rachael Sullivan, Becki Ross.

For the registration form and schedule, see the website
Women's History Network of BC: www.members.shaw.ca/whnbc

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Canadian Genealogy Carnival - My Canadian Families


The 1st Edition of the Canadian Genealogy Carnival. The topic: Introduce us to your Canadian ancestors. Who were they? How did they get here? Where did they live? Did they move? Do you still have family in Canada? Share with us a bit about your Canadian roots.

Since I live in Canada, as do most of my ‘known’ relatives, much of my research was initially in Canadian sources. I am now researching also my husband’s family, all of whom emigrated from Sweden to Canada beginning about 1906.

My own surnames of interest –

My mother’s family: CALDER/CARMICHAEL/GILCHRIST/HEELEY/IRWIN/MOFFAT/NIMMO/POLLOCK/SCOTT/WOOD

My father’s family: ADAMS/EDWARDS/PEEL/ROGERS/SAGGERS/STAINES/WHITE


My father’s paternal grandparents, Mary Ann WHITE and William ROGERS, came from England to Ontario, Canada in the early 1870’s. William was from Somerset, England; had been married before and after his wife died, had left his young children in England with his parents. Mary Ann, I believe, came from London, England, but she remains a bit of a puzzle. They were married in Toronto, Ontario in 1873; my grandfather was born there in 1878. William worked as a labourer and died in 1887, Mary Ann in 1897. Their son, Joe, migrated to Nelson, British Columbia at the turn of the century, then to Vancouver.

My father's maternal grandparents, Sarah Ann Staines and David Saggers, who were married in London in 1874, came to Vancouver, Canada in 1907 from Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire, England. All their children also emigrated to Vancouver. David worked as a parks attendant and a gardener in Vancouver and Sarah Ann and David both died in Vancouver, Sarah in 1909, and David in 1935.

My mother’s paternal grandparents were Mary Janet Wood, born in Bean Hill (Norwich area), Connecticut, U.S.A. and Walter Scott, born in Scotland, likely at Dalmeny. Mary Janet, or Jennet, came to Simcoe County in Ontario, Canada as a child with her parents, weavers, after 1860. Her parents had emigrated to the U.S. from Yorkshire, England in the 1850s. Walter Scott emigrated to Canada about 1854, from Galashiels, Scotland. They were married in Nottawa, Ontario, in 1883 where Walter worked as a book-keeper, merchant and farmer. (Walter had been married before, but had divorced his wife for bigamy.) Walter and Janet soon had four children, but Walter died in 1892. Mary Janet lived till 1944.

My mother’s maternal grandparents were Janet Carmichael and William Irwin. Both were born in Canada in what is now Ontario – William in Darlington, Durham County and Janet in Islay, in Victoria County. William’s parents were from Cootehill in County Cavan, Ireland; Janet’s from Islay in Scotland. According to the family story, they met at a Canada confederation celebration in 1867. They were married in 1876, and by 1881, William had decided they’d move west to Manitoba. They and their baby daughter, Mary Jane, settled in Newdale where William had a farm and a lumber business. William died in 1918, Janet in 1927.

In later years, many of the Manitoba relatives ‘retired’ to British Columbia. My mother’s parents did not, however, she met my father in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. while both were serving in the Canadian Army during World War II and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia with my father. After my grandfather died, my ‘Na’ moved to Vancouver as well.



I thought it might be interesting to mention what I consider my ‘greatest’ Canadian find.

That’s Diana Gilchrist, here shown with her husband, Alexander McNab. As a girl, I was often told that my name, ‘Diane’, just came ‘out of a hat’. When I started doing genealogical research, I was very excited to ‘rediscover’ Diana, who was the half sister of my maternal great grandmother. She was married in 1870 in Victoria County, Ontario but died in 1882, leaving a young family. These children all migrated west as adults. Some lived in Newdale, Manitoba where her sister, Janet, also lived.

We did have her photograph and some photographs of her children. My Na had identified these for me when I was a girl, but, I thought of them as Newdale residents, and probably at least distant relations. If she told me then our closer relationship, I just hadn’t taken it in. (Sorry, Na.)

Friday, September 19, 2008

Raise the Jolly Roger - Pirate Gold Winners 1933

The Winnipeg Free Press Pirate Gold Winners for 1933 are found!

Winnipeg Free Press, 8 August, 1933 pp 1 and 2

1st Prize - Mrs. O.W. Struthers of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, $25. Hers was a "perfect score" - her winning epitaph for the pirate -

Here lies an old pirate, a bold buccaneer,
Who lived to repent of his bloody career.
For learn ye who pause by this stone grey and cold,
That pain is his guerdon who hoards pirate gold.

2nd Prize - Miss Anne Purkow of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, $15

3rd Prize - Mrs. R.A. Buckland of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada $10

More prize winners:

Mrs. G.A. Simpson, Winnipeg
Miss Jean M. Grosse, Dickens, Manitoba
Mrs. R.F.Greer, Carman, Manitoba
E. Enston, Winnipeg
Alice M. Northwood, Birtle, Manitoba
Elizabeth Vernon, Winnipeg
Joan E. Jackson, The Pas, Manitoba
S.H. Vipond, Winnipeg
David McIntyre, Stonewall, Manitoba
E.E. Wood, Winnipeg
E.V. Jackman, Winnipeg
Norman D. Pogue, MacGregor, Manitoba

Joan Richardson, Winnipeg
J.D.C. Bruce, Winnipeg
G.W. Steele, Winnipeg
Mrs. A.E. Thrift, Winnipeg
Miss G.P. Porter, Winnipeg
J. Carey, Winnipeg
A.K. Tod, Makiuak, Manitoba
George A. Burkett, Winnipeg
Mary M. Pedlar, Woodside, Manitoba
Sidney Castle, Ninotte Sanatorium, Manitoba
Mrs. S.G. Baird, Winnipeg
K.D. Bruce, Winnipeg
Mrs. Doninar J. Lawson, Shoal Lake, Manitoba
E. Snider, Winnipeg
R. Brown, Winnipeg
Mrs. C.H. Lockhart, Rama, Manitoba
Oswald Badcock, Winnipeg
Miss H.E. Fowler, Canora, Saskatchewan, Canada
Mrs. David Young, Yorkton, Saskatchwan, Canada
Mrs. H.J. Hansell, Winnipeg

The Winnipeg winners do have addresses listed, so if you don't have access to the newspaper, contact me and I'll do my best to copy the entry for you.

(Thank you NewspaperARCHIVE.com. I do love being able to read these papers on-line.)

My original post about this contest is at: http://canadagenealogy.blogspot.com/2008/09/raise-jolly-roger-its-talk-like-pirate.html

Raise the Jolly Roger - It's 'Talk Like A Pirate Day'

A pirate might yet figure in my genealogy - but so far the closest I've come to the sea is Lancelott Rogers, rope maker, born abt 1785, in Backwell, Somerset, England. That's this close to Bristol - one of England's greatest ports, often associated with pirates and privateering. My brother is still hoping for proof that we've a pirate or two in our family.

While searching Winnipeg newspapers of old, I did find that in the dark days of the 1930's, Winnipegers had a rare chance to win some 'Pirates' Gold'. Readers were told about a pirate, Antoin Beluche, and shown his murderous sketches - clues to the missing words in his will. I do wonder if my mum and grandma or grandpa entered this contest. And, I wonder who the winners were. I can't seem to find that news in the papers. If anyone knows a winner, please comment! [For all the winners, see my next post: http://canadagenealogy.blogspot.com/2008/09/raise-jolly-roger-pirate-gold-winners.html ]

This is all in fun nowadays, isn't it? but piracy was originally dead serious. You can learn more about a real pirate who may have been from Bristol, Edward Teach, 'Blackbeard', here:

BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/articles/2006/09/11/blackbeard_feature.shtml

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackbeard

Pirate Gold contest, Winnipeg Free Press, June 1933

Picasa 3(beta) - Creative Gene's Enthusiastic

Over on the Creative Gene blog, Jasia has a note about the new Picasa 3 (beta). Thanks, Jasia, as between being away and being sick, I haven't even had a peek. I will now though as her review is so very positive.

I think I'll still like Fototagger for labelling group or 'complicated' pictures, but I see that Picasa has more editing tools, including text, watermarking, multiple tags and a magnifying loupe!

Picasa still helps you locate and view your photos - that's primarily what I'm using it for - but now you can move photo folders around while viewing - that sounds good to me as I am weeding out and 'migrating' my photos right now.

Just as soon as this weekend's conference meeting is over, I'll have a look. Thanks again, Jasia!

Creative Gene: http://creativegene.blogspot.com/2008/09/quick-look-at-new-picasa-3.html

Monday, September 15, 2008

The Family Curls - Cabinet of Curiosities 9th Edition


Here's a few items from my personal Cabinet of Curiosities - well, the family's really. This quite lovely bowl has always been around - first at my Na's, then at my Mum and Dad's. It's definitely a conversation piece - although sometimes the conversation quickly stops with a gasp or an eweh.

You'll see the envelopes there - one says 'David 16 months Thanks to Diane". Apparently I gave my baby brother an unscheduled haircut - as I heard it many years later, Mum was very cross! but there's another curl of his too in the other envelope.

I'm sure the very blond one in the bowl was mum's, then one was supposed to be Na's and one Grandpa Scott's. Which is which I may never know, although one curl has purple ribbon; the other pink. Could they be that old?

There's an untidy piece there too, which I think is mine, as I remember hearing once about a scizzor-wielding brother. (I wasn't all that neglected - there's another story to come someday about my hair.)

The reason I chose this particular set of curiosities for now is that they may someday be dispersed as a little collection, since I'm going to see that 'baby bother' gets his locks back, for instance.

I thought I'd look around the Internet and in old newspapers and see lots about saving baby's curls, but so far, I've found little about us ordinary people. Here's a few interesting ones though.

Someone saved the poet Shelley's boyish curls, but they may have disappeared, England.
http://www.rc.umd.edu/reference/misc/shelleysites/england/Poole/Poole.html

In the Salomons Museum, Canterbury Christ Church University, England, there are at least two displays of family hair: http://www.canterbury.ac.uk/salomons-museum/

A UCA professor’s “baby locks” (Gene Hatfield, 1929) are archived at the University of Central Arkansas, USA: http://archives.uca.edu/

S9meone in Pittsburgh, USA has preserved football coach William 'Lone Star' Dietz' baby curls: http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1089275/index.htm

Canadian Passenger Lists - Ancestry.com

Ancestry.com now has an index with images for many Canadian Passenger lists 1865 - 1935. Look for a link on the Ancestry.com or Ancestry.ca home page as this index doesn't seem to be in the 'card catalog' yet.

All these same passenger list images are available free at Library and Archives Canada's website. There is no name index there, however, many of these entries, particularly those through the U.K. and Scandinavia, are already available through outbound indexes and some free Canadian inbound indexes. I hope that the drive to continue free indexing to these Canadian genealogical resources isn't lessened in any way.

**Dave Obee has reminded me that the Canadian lists for 1925-1935 are NOT digitized and available on the LAC site, although they are available now on Ancestry.com. I simplified things way too far. Do check the LAC section link below for information on what's available at LAC's website and on microfilm from LAC. **

This Ancestry index does not yet include the 'Form A' arrivals - between 1919-1924. Families and other groups of passengers are not linked. There are links to images of the ships though most of those are available on-line elsewhere.

For an explanation of the various passenger and immigration forms and lists, see Library and Archives Canada's Canadian Genealogy Centre's 'Immigration and Citizenship' section: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-908-e.html

For the Scandinavians, I see the spelling is retained, if used on the record, but this doesn't seem to carry over into the index search - e.g. Löfholm, Lofholm

I've already made a couple of corrections to Ancestry's indexing and I can see that there are 100's or more in this index without surnames or without either first or surnames. In some cases this will be due to the appallingly poor microfilms we have of these records, most of which were later destroyed. In some cases, of course, it might be due to insufficient time or knowledge invested in the indexing.

Ancestry.com, a commercial company, was apparently given permission to house copies of these passenger lists on its site. We Canadians should be able to see the details of the agreement Library and Archives Canada made with The Generations Network (Ancestry.com).


Ten Genealogical Books I Can't Do Without - Carnival of Genealogy





Ten Genealogical Books I Can’t Do Without, at least, for right now ...in no particular order

I wish there were 10 books written about my ancestors!

Although there aren't, I do have a good number of books at home and I use libraries a great deal, especially the British Columbia Genealogical Society's Walter Draycott Library. Here are a few I rely on or re-read often.

I'm cheating a bit here with the #10 for my list; I'd have another 10 I'd recommend, especially for Canada or British Columbia. Quite a few of these are Canadian books - but only four cover Canadian topics - and some of those IRWINS did live in the United States.

1. Robert Irwin’s Brothers and Sisters and their Families from County Cavan, Ireland to Fenelon Township, Ontario by Ross W. Irwin (Guelph, Ontario, Canada: 2003)
-also John Irwin’s family...2003 and Robert Irwin...2001

Still working my way through all the information Ross Irwin, my ‘Irish Cousin’, has amassed on our family lines. If you may be related, please do be in touch: http://www3.sympatico.ca/rwirwin/irwinFamilyHistory.html


2. Everyman’s Dictionary of Dates, Sixth Edition, revised by Audrey Butler (London, England: J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1974)

Since I’m a timeline person, a book like this is always both interesting and useful.

3. Researching Canadian Uncommon Sources by Michelle Labrosse-Purcell (Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Heritage Productions, 2004)

A good starter guide to Canadian contacts for fraternal societies, professional associations, medical and legal records.

4. Pioneer Register: Pioneers of British Columbia, Pre 1900, edited by Iline Gronlund (Richmond, British Columbia, Canada: British Columbia Genealogical Society, 2004)

5. British Columbia War Memorials: An Index of Names (Richmond, British Columbia, Canada: British Columbia Genealogical Society, 1990)

Lots of British Columbia names in both these books. Both are available: http://www.bcgs.ca/

6. 500 Brickwall Solutions to Genealogy Problems (Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Moorshead Magazines, 2003) and More Brickwall Solutions to Genealogy Problems, edited by Marc Skulnick and Victoria Moorshead (Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Family Chronicle Magazine, 2004)

Many, many research ideas in these stories. Here’s a sampling: http://www.familychronicle.com/BrickwallSampleMain.html


7. How Do I Prove It? by Dr. Penelope Christensen (Toronto, Ontario, Canada:Heritage Productions, 2000)

8. About Genealogical Standards of Evidence, A Guide For Genealogists by Brenda Dougall Merriman (Toronto, Ontario: The Ontario Genealogical Society, 2008 3rd Edition) I'm still using an older edition, but I'm ordering this new one.

9. Genealogical Proof Standard: Building A Solid Case by Christine Rose (San Jose, California, USA: CR Publications, 2005)

I find these last three books always useful re-reads.

10 Evidence Explained... Elizabeth Shown Mills (Baltimore, Maryland, USA: Genealogical Publishing Company, Inc., 2007)

Bet this last one is on many lists.


Now here is my idea for another topic - Do you read genealogy magazines and journals? If so, which ones? I'm reading the September/October Everton's Genealogical Helper. Everton's is one I'd be hard pressed to give up and now there's an on-line version of it too. What are your favourites?

I just noticed that The Educated Genealogist includes the National Genealogical Society quarterlies in her top ten: http://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2008/09/10-books-i-have-used-in-last-6-months.html


Na's Hat - another look





Well, I did think that if I looked long and hard, I might find another photo of my Na with a suspiciously similar hat to the one just posted in "Na's Hat". I'm home sick right now but I did delve into another box of treasures today and here it is ...

This photograph just says "Feb 1946 Hamilton" in my Na's handwriting. I think by spring she must have added a flower or two to do away with any wintertime blues.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Na's Hat - Smile for the Camera


Here's my Na, Amy Estella (Irwin) Scott with her friend, Kate Hodges,
on the street in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in 1946.


The theme for this 'Smile for the Camera' is 'Crowning Glory'. Whatever did happen to women's hats?

No, neither Na nor Kate smiled for the sidewalk photographer, but one of them presumably chose to commemorate the day by purchasing this 'snap'. Na did have a lot on her mind then, I'm sure. Grandpa wasn't well and my mum was far away, still Na's dressed as I always remember her , with a special hat to go with her perky outfit, her hair well curled, and gloves, of course.
When I knew her she was always taking hats apart and making them 'new' again, with different ribbon or feathers, for instance. I wonder if that's what she'd done with this one?


Seems funny that I'm in Detroit, researching one of her relatives by marriage - an older James Walter Scott (grandpa was James Walter too). It turns out that this 'James Walter' was - you guessed it - a salesman for a millinery company while he lived in Detroit - Macauley & Company. Na would have appreciated the co-incidence. She had a good sense of fun.

Oaklands, Old Car Festival, Michigan, USA - September 7, 2008

Everyone shines up - for the Pass in Review, Oakland Homecoming automobile centennial display, Old Car Festival, Michigan, USA - September 7, 2008


Flickr, Oaklands (and one Pontiac - they're related, after all) in the Pass and Review, Old Car Festival: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdianerogers/sets/72157607210794504/

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Sunday, September 7, 2008
Dave and Becky Rogers and their 1926 Oakland - all the way from Sidney, British Columbia, Canada. Old Car Festival, Greenfield Village, Michigan

Beautiful day today - all the old cars are gone. Seems a bit dull without them.

Still, it's time to be off to the Detroit Public Library.



Saturday, September 06, 2008

Oakland Homecoming - Detroit 2008. Wordless Saturday




Oakland Homecoming, 2008
Unloading in Detroit, September 2008


Oakland history, All American Oakland Chapter of Pontiac Oakland Club International: http://www.allamericanoakland.com/documents/oaklandhistory.htm

Thursday, September 04, 2008

Oakland Homecoming - Detroit 2008




Busy day today at the Oakland Homecoming in Detroit - among other stops, we visited the Stahls Automotive Foundation collection - well worth a visit as there are some amazing cars here - and - can you see the Oakland sign? No Oaklands, and the only Pontiac is 'in the shop' though. Next time...


Saturday & Sunday, the Oaklands will be at the Old Car Festival in Greenfield Village, Detroit - look for the Pontiac/Oakland Centennial Display - all day Saturday and Sunday at the Village Green and the Pontiac/Oakland Memorabilia Display - all day Saturday and Sunday in the Village Pavilion.


I see there will be a Canadian Model T Assembly Team demonstration - our group will have to catch that! After all, it is the Model T's 100th anniversary too.


LINKS


Stahl's Automotive Foundation, : http://www.stahlsauto.com

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Mother and Daughter - off to the Oakland Homecoming - Detroit 2008 - Wordless Wednesday



















This time it's 'mother' who's on a trip, as the 1926 Oakland here
is already on her way to Detroit for the Oakland Homecoming,
September 4-7, 2008.
Our '52 Pontiac is staying home to take care of things...
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Monday, September 01, 2008

"Dishing Out History" - Grandma's Cups - Carnival of Genealogy - 55th Edition





Well, it’s been a while again since I’ve gone to school, and so I’ve been feeling unsure of a subject for this, the 55th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy, since the topic is:

Show & Tell! Show us and tell us about an heirloom, a special photo, a valuable document, or a significant person that is a very special part of your family history.

The other day though, during a marathon microfilm searching/reading session, a 1935 newspaper article, “Dishing Out History”, by a Mrs. M. E. McVicker caught my eye. (This is why I have to have marathon sessions! I always take time to read all the odd and interesting bits.)

1935 was the silver (25th) anniversary of the then King’s reign. George V – George Frederick Ernest Albert of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, which later he changed to the ‘House of Windsor’; b 3 June 1865 – d 20 January 1936 – became King of the United Kingdom and all the et cetera, including Canada and Newfoundland, 6 May 1910; he was crowned 22 June 1911. (I did look all this up – why I do not know.)

Anyway, I read Mrs. McVicker’s introduction in which she said the 1935 anniversary was sure to “bring forth many souvenirs...Here then is an opportunity to start a new hobby –that of collecting memorial china.”

Immediately I thought of my grandmother Rogers’s ‘royalty collection’- that’s what I called it when little. (I figured all grandmas had collections - my other grandma collected shoes - little china ones mostly.)

Grandma Rogers died when I was small, so I don’t know how she kept or displayed these, nor do I know how many she had. Most of my childhood these cups were in the dining room dresser, seen only when the doors were opened to remove a larger platters or bowls.

Somehow I remember there being more of them – now there are only three, and wasn’t there a saucer for that one cup? One was made to commemorate the upcoming coronation of Edward VIII in 1937; one shows King George VI and Queen Elizabeth who were crowned in 1937, and one celebrates the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953 (really Elizabeth I, except in England). Then there’s a beaker commemorating the long reign of Queen Victoria from 1837 to 1897 – I can always remember when she became Queen – the same year as civil registration started in England and Wales.

None of these is ‘fine china’ – one is Royal Winton, one is Tams Ware – the coronation cups do all say ‘Made in England’ though. There’s a bit of gold trim, but all look ‘well used’. Perhaps one was grandma’s favourite for her cuppa?

Parts of British Columbia can be, or more properly, were, ‘quite English’. There’s a reason people used to say Victoria, our capital city, was ‘more English than the English’. Now it’s all for show, but fifty years ago or more it wasn’t. I've seen much souvenir royalty china ware here – antique and new.

Did Grandma pick these out herself ? Did someone give them to her? Was Grandma a romantic down deep – is that why she kept the Edward VIII cup? Or did these cups just remind her of ‘home’ – she was born in Cambridgeshire, England, and emigrated here in 1907, never to return. (I always thought the latter. Romance and my grandma never entered my head, I am sure.)

What would she think of her grandaughter’s ambivalence about the monarchy, as symbolized by these cups? My dad said a few times that she’d never have agreed to become ‘Canadian’ – even to get a passport to go to England and come back. She'd have had an argument or two from me (and Dad).

I’m a bit surprised I kept these cups and that they’re in a glass cabinet in my front hall too. One tea cup is one too many according to my daughter, and now she’ll see that each of these has even had its picture taken and filed away.

If mum had asked if I wanted them, I bet I’d have said no, not because they are tea cups – I have lots – because they’re ‘royal’.

I’m no royalist, but on the other hand, I do say that the concept of the Crown has been of central importance in Canada in many issues, for example, land claims. What would Grandma think of that!

One thing she would be bound to chuckle about – that Queen Victoria beaker marking her diamond anniversary as Queen? I bought it myself. Yes, it was a bargain at the thrift store, but still...what am I doing collecting this stuff?

I certainly do collect what Mrs. McVicker’s calls “geographic china’ – now I know it has a name –along with other things illustrating British Columbia scenes or marking B.C. events.

But will I end my days hunting through bargain bins for a Coronation cup showing King Edward VII & Queen Alexandra? Or for china souvenirs of every last royal visit to Canada? Mrs. McVickers says “Do not disregard any rubbish pile, or fail to look over a box of junk, for you never know your luck.” Oh my goodness – don't let my daughter know! She'll be distraught! But grandma will have the last laugh...



Translating Tombstones by Minda Powers-Douglas, 2008

One of my on-line friends, Minda Powers-Douglas of the CemeteryClub.com and editor of Epitaphs Magazine, has just written another book. Congratulations, Minda!

This time it's all about cemetery symbolism - Translating Tombstones: Your Guide to Symbolism and Meaning in the Cemetery. Available through the Cemetery Club or at Lulu.com

Links

The Cemetery Club and Epitaphs Magazine: http://www.thecemeteryclub.com

Translating Tombstones, Lulu.com: http://www.lulu.com/content/3774137