Saturday, February 28, 2009

Dick Eastman Reports on ''Who Do You Think You Are? LIVE!' - from London, England

Dick Eastman has an article up now with thoughts and photographs from today - the second day of the third annual 'Who Do You Think You Are? LIVE!' (WDYTYA) genealogy show in London, England. Looks wonderful - nothing like that in Canada - or indeed in North America. Although there are some large North American genealogy conferences, I don't think any have this many sponsors, vendors and exhibitors involved, and none have the same long queues of people waiting to get inside!

One of the WDYTYA speakers though is Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak. She'll be speaking right here in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada in just one week now.

It's often seemed that the Brits (and Europeans in general) don't seem to be as interested in DNA and genealogy as many North Americans are. From what Dick says and shows, it sounds as if this has changed. That will be good for all of us - the more people in the DNA genealogy databases, the more chances of finding a match.

Dick Eastman's going to be posting a wrapup of the weekend's activities at WDYTYA, so check back on his newsletter tomorrow too.

Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Day 1: http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2009/02/a-report-from-london-wdytyal-day-1-with-pictures.html

Day 2: http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2009/02/a-report-from-london-wdytyal-day-2-with-pictures.html

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Reading Atwood - Mdr - Freedom to Read Week 2009


Reading Atwood - Mdr
Originally uploaded by eicuthbertson

Freedom to Read Week 2009



Diane re-reads The Handmaid's Tale by Canadian author, Margaret Atwood.



Posted for the Freedom to Read Week contest at themarina's blog, Obsessions: http://the-marina.blogspot.com/2009/02/freedom-to-read-week-contest.html


Watch for this book to be released into the wild tomorrow,
27 February, 2009 somewhere in Greater Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.


"Yomidas Rekishikan" goes on-line - 135 years of Japanese newspapers - at a price though

And, speaking of digitized historical newspapers, as many of us have been this week (the Paper of Record 'storm' - John D. Reid's been blogging about this) ResearchBuzz tweeted this morning about The Yomiuri Shimbun, the largest newspaper publisher in Japan, offering a new on-line database service called "Yomidas Rekishikan" (History Pavilion) to celebrate its 135-year anniversary this year - the first issue was published 2 November, 1874. An annual subscription though will be over $3000. But if you have access to a university or other academic institution, perhaps it will be available to you. I wonder if the Japanese Canadian National Museum right here in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada might want to subscribe?

The database will have:

- Images of Yomiuri Shimbun pages from1874 to 1989
-Texts of Yomiuri Shimbun articles from 1986
-Texts of Daily Yomiuri articles from 1989
- and "a Japanese-language database featuring about 26,000 contemporary key individuals, their careers and achievements"

1916 Canadian Census On-line and Indexed - Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta

Finally! The 1916 Canada Census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta census images and index are up at Ancestry.

Search by name, birth year and location, residence, year of arrival in Canada ( rather oddly called 'Migration Arrival'? You will not find dates of migration from Ontario, for instance, in this census), names of family members, marital status (if family), relation to head of household, sub-district name and #, gender, race/nationality. There's a keyword search as well - let me know what you find useful here.

There seems to be a little problem with it - I had previously searched the census as it was being indexed by the FamilySearch.org volunteers, but one entry - my mother's - didn't come up immediately when I tried on Ancestry - even though I knew how their names were spelled in the index - Jannat, Amey and Walter SCOTT. Odd.... **Walter does pop right up in the search though if fuller information is entered - the full district info 'Manitoba, Marquette, 10' and his spouse's name - Amey. 'Amey' seems to be the key. I wonder why?

And, as I saw originally my mother is indexed only under her first name, even though her second name is clearly visible on the census page. Grandpa maybe just gave his second name only -'Walter' - funny as he is one person in the family who often did use both intials, or both names, although yes, 'Walter' is what he was called. Grandma is there as 'Amey S'. She was called 'Amy', for sure, but her second name was Estella. I wonder if sometimes at home, maybe, she was a 'Stella'? (I named a special teddy bear of my daughter's - 'Stella'. I know my Na would smile.)

The parents' in law were right next door, I know, on Church Street, and next to them - the Presbyterian minister. That family comes up in a surname/first name/place of birth search(but no 'ministers' using the keyword - occupation isn't indexed). Perhaps something in this district is unhitched in some part of the database? Mmmm.

There are a good number of people listed in the index without last names, so be sure to lighten your search if you don't find people at first - take the surname out altogether, even. My first suggested correction will be for Peter, 19 years old, Mary, 17 (probably Peter's wife), Mary, 13, and Annie, 9, listed without surnames in a household in Dauphin area, with apparently, Peter's parents, Fred and Nastia? BALISH or BALISK. Mary and Annie are shown as daughters of the younger Peter. I can see why someone did that, although it's pretty obviously unlikely. Here the problem is that Peter is listed as a second head of household. However, there is little excuse, as originally, he is listed (by the 'rules') as a son and his wife as 'wife - daughter sons' but the relationships have been scratched out. Oh, wait - the original head, Peter, and Nastia, don't seem to come up either. Or the next household with apparently the same name?

Then there is Amy and William 'Billã³N' - maybe 'BILLOIS' ? living with her parents? Now that looks like a computer talking.

Never mind - it's obvious more coffee is called for. Please say thank you to Ancestry for paying for the digitization of the 1916 Canadian census and arranging the indexing with FamilySearch. Thank the FamilySearch volunteers too - at least the 1916 census is available on-line with an index. I do wish it was at http://www.automatedgenealogy.com/. We could be indexing it and making it all available on-line free right now. But, I am thinking 'positive' this week.

So head for http://www.ancestry.com/ or http://www.ancestry.ca/ or get on the bus and get to a library offering Ancestry Library Edition or even a microfilm copy of the 1916 census. It's exciting to see all these people on the Canadian prairies back in 1916 and to see people I know or knew listed on a historical document. Wish my Ma was here to tell me who those other people next door on the other side were...

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Canada's Freedom to Read Week - 22-28 February, 2009

Freedom to Read Week 2009

This week is Canada's 25th annual Freedom to Read week - February 22-28, 2009. What books, newspapers and other publications did your ancestors read? What weren't they allowed to read? Was their ability to write or to publish their opinions or information ever threatened? Why and how?

The pieces below were published after members in the government Assembly complained about a letter printed in the Vancouver Island newspaper, The British Colonist, 29 November 1860, p. 2, signed by 'Elector'. One member called for the Editor to be summoned to appear "to answer for the publication of the article". His motion was amended and the Assembly voted instead "to appoint a Committee of Privilege to inquire into the matter." The British Colonist, Victoria, Vancouver Island (British Columbia, Canada) 7 December, 1860, p. 3 'House of Assembly, Thursday, December 6, 1860.

The British Colonist was Printed and Published by Amor de Cosmos (born William Alexander Smith), 1825-1897.

By our legislative report it appears to be the intention of the Assembly to call the COLONIST to account again. Our advice is, to pass an act to prohibit free discussion altogether, or at least institute a censorship over the press. The people need not trouble themselves about anything then, the Assembly or the censor would think for them. What member will volunteer to bring in a bill for the purpose? Don't all speak at once.

— The British Colonist, Victoria, Vancouver Island (British Columbia, Canada), Saturday morning, 7 December, 1860, #115, p. 2 'Free Discussion'




"It is far too late in the day to stop men from thinking. If they are allowed to think, they will speak. If they speak, they will write, and what they write will be printed and published. A newspaper is only a thought-throwing machine; a reflex of the popular mind. If it is not, it cannot live.... We are not disposed to send our proof sheets to any one to correct..."
The British Colonist, Victoria, Vancouver Island (British Columbia, Canada), Saturday morning, 8 December, 1860, #116, p. 2 'Breach of Privilege'


Tough words about the freedom of the press from a fearless Editor and Publisher. One of British Columbia's greatest historical characters, Amor de Cosmos later would be elected to government himself and lead the campaign for British Columbia's joining Canada. He became the province's second premier and also served as a member in the Canadian parliament.


This week is Canada's 25th annual Freedom to Read Week - February 22-28, 2009. The Canadian Book and Periodical Council "encourages Canadians to think about and reaffirm their commitment to intellectual freedom, which [today] is guaranteed them under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms."


BookCrossers are participating in the Freedom to Read Week events this year and TheMarina has a photo contest at her blog, Obsessions. Have a look - but quickly, quickly - her contest closes this Friday.


LINK

Amor De Cosmos, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online: www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=6066

Read all about it! The British Colonist, 1858-1910, is on-line free: www.britishcolonist.ca



Freedom to Read Week 2009

New Search for historical New Zealand Births, Deaths & Marriages

Dick Eastman announced today in his Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter that New Zealand has just launched a search facility for historical birth, death and marriage records. This includes births at least 100 years ago (stillbirths, at least 50 years ago); marriages 80 years ago; deaths at least 50 years ago (or if the deceased's date of birth was at least 80 years ago).

This is very good news - many British Columbians, as well as other Canadians, will have family ties to New Zealand. I know there are some 200 people born in New Zealand listed in the BC Genealogical Society's 1901 census index for B.C., for example. I am interested in more information about Ethel Imrie CUTHBERTSON - later TUFTS, born in New Zealand, who was active locally in Vancouver during the Nanaimo area coal miners' strike, 1912-1914. (Some of you who know me on-line will notice that her initials and last name look very familiar - eicuthbertson.)

I've had a look at the New Zealand website and indeed, I do see information relevant to my research. Births and deaths have been officially recorded in New Zealand since 1848; marriages since 1854. There were also registers for marriages overseas and war deaths since World War I. Māori marriages were required to be recorded from 1911 and from 1913, Māori births and deaths were to be recorded.

The search is free, although the information given is limited - there are charges involved after that. I suspect this site is already getting a lot of use - it seems as if it's been 'busy' for the last hour.

For the full announcement and the link to the New Zealand's Department of Internal Affairs website, see Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter.

Another of Dick Eastman's readers, Roger, commented that Dick Eastman also has a note about his Roots Television interview with Clark Stiles of the National Library of New Zealand about 'Papers Past' - New Zealand's historical newspaper digitization project - now with 42 newspapers and 4 periodicals from 1839. The National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa is responsible for this entire project which could be very useful in locating free newspaper notices to complement birth, marriage and death records.

This is a great source of information - all free - and under the Papers Past Terms of Use, anyone is allowed to reproduce material from the website, provided credit is given to the National Library of New Zealand as the source. This is different from some of the other public, private and commercial historical newspaper web projects. Sadly Canada which was once the world leader in historical newspaper digitization has lost its initiative in that field. More about that another day.

And remember - New Zealand's URL country code .NZ is pronounced * N Zed * just as in Canada, eh!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

16th Edition - Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy

The 16th Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy is now posted at Jessica's Genejournal. This edition was a carnival so there's a really interesting variety of articles this time. Thanks Jessica!

The next edition will be hosted right here at 'CanadaGenealogy, or, Jane's Your Aunt' by myself, M. Diane Rogers.

The topic?

International Women's Day is in March each year, so our theme this time is

'Women in Central and Eastern European Genealogy'

Have you a female ancestor from Eastern or Central Europe you'd like to highlight, or do you have tips specifically for researching women there, or have you found a good article, book or website that assists in historical research about women from Central and Eastern Europe?

You don't have to have ancestors from Eastern or Central Europe to participate in this Carnival.

The deadline for the submissions will be March 29th, 2009 and the 17th edition will be published on the 31st. You can submit your article here at BlogCarnival.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Some Canadian research sources - Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy

“Marriage of Elisabeth Schäffer and Benjamin Dick, 1907. Showing Russian-German dress” - See note 1

Credit: Schaffer, Jacob / Library and Archives Canada / C-014489
Location unknown. Private source. No restrictions on use. Copyright expired.

I am still learning about research on Central and Eastern European genealogy for my Canadian family connections and since this edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy is a 'carnival', I thought I'd blog about a couple of sources I've been looking at.

Both are available through Statistics Canada's website, which is not a government department that most might think to look to first for genealogy information. Statistics Canada is responsible for Canada's national censuses - a central source for 1850-1911 Canadian genealogical research - but the historical censuses have to be transferred to Library and Archives Canada before they are made available to researchers.

Canada Year Book Collection

Censuses were never meant primarily for genealogy, however much we might wish it had been so. Information gathered from each census is intended usually for government, or nowadays, perhaps for certain commercial uses. From each census, statistics are compiled on various topics. Much of this data is now very useful to historical and genealogical researchers. Recently, Statistics Canada put on-line free its Canada Year Book Collection, covering 100 years from Canada's confederation in 1867 to 1967.

I have been 'collecting' some information from these on immigration to the province of Manitoba, Canada where my mother was born. Just as an example, this is from the 1907 Canada Year Book.

Population – Manitoba

1881 62,260
1891 152, 506
1901 255,211

Population By birthplace (my selections)

Austria-Hungary
1881 -
1891 -
1901 11,570

Germany
1881 208
1891 857
1901 2,285

Russia
1881 5,335
1891 6,251
1901 8,854

At Sea
1881 7
1891 7
1901 23

Statistics by province are also given by race or origin and by religion. Always check the notes - under religion in 1891, for instance, Manitoba Mennonites are 'lumped in' with Baptists.

1907 Canada Yearbook, p. 5, Table 1
Canada Year Book Collection, Statistics Canada (1867 to 1967):
http://www65.statcan.gc.ca/acyb_r000-eng.htm


1940 National Registration, Canada

The Canadian 1940 National Registration process included anyone in Canada from 1940-1946 who was 16 years of age or older, unless in the armed forces, religious orders, or confined to an institution. These records are still in the care of Statistics Canada; some of the records for those who died during that period were destroyed.

These records may include the place and country of birth of individual and his or her parents,the individual's nationality, their year of entry into Canada, if an immigrant, their racial origin, and their languages. All very important information for genealogists.

Although there is a “soundex-format index”, to request a record you must supply the full name, place of residence in 1940, and some identifying details, such as country of birth, date of birth, approximate age and occupation - as well as proof of death at least 20 years ago, in most cases. Requesting a 1950 National Registration record is not free for genealogical/historical requests, the charge is $47.25 Canadian for each search. This is refunded for unsuccessful searches.

1940 Canadian National Registration: Details, mailing address: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-911.007-e.html

Statistics Canada, Request form: http://www.statcan.gc.ca/bsolc/olc-cel/olc-cel?catno=93C0006&lang=eng

Genealogists and historians are asking to have these 1940 National Registration records transferred to Library and Archives Canada. I will keep you posted on this.

Genealogical Societies and Conferences

During Scanfest today, genealogical conferences were one of the topics discussed. I always look forward to going to a 'big' conference and know there are at least two coming up in North America this year. I thought I'd post the links here too. I'll be attending the AHSGR conference in Medicine Hat, as that's the closest to me this year.

American Historical Society of Germans From Russia: http://www.ahsgr.org/

Conference in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada 15-21 June 2009


Joint Conference - the Society for German Genealogy in Eastern Europe and the Federation of East European Family History Societies: http://www.sggee.org/conventions/ConventionNews.html

Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, July 24-25th, 2009



***********
Note 1 - This photograph is not related to my family (as far as I know). For a thoughful comment on the LAC caption for this photograph, see Framing Canada: A Photographic Memory, The Canadian Mosaic: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/framingcanada/026020-3527-e.html

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Kreativ Blogger Award for CanadaGenealogy, or, Jane's Your Aunt!




'Janet the Researcher' has just given this blog, 'CanadaGenealogy, or, Jane's Your Aunt', the Kreativ Blogger Award.

Thank you, Janet Iles.

Janet is another Canadian GeneaBlogger and is an active genealogy volunteer. Her blog has very entertaining and useful articles on Canadian genealogy and her own family history. Here is the link to her blog's iGene Awards for 2008, posted on Wednesday, February 11, 2009.

Now, in turn, I am to

1. Copy the award to my site.
2. Link to the person from whom I received the award.
3. Nominate 7 other bloggers.
4. Link to those sites on my blog.
5. Leave a message on the blogs I nominate.

Great - this will let me express appreciation to some of the blogs I enjoy reading often and for the new ones I've recently discovered and liked.

I have chosen to nominate 8 - one extra for good measure as my Na always said to do:

Nordic Blue, Genealogy, history, stories, and more from a Norwegian-American family: http://nordicblue.blogspot.com/

All My Ancestors: http://allmyancestors.com/blog

Genea-Musings: http://www.geneamusings.com/

Conversation with Ancestors Past: http://familyknitnspindles.blogspot.com/

Genealogy on a Budget:
http://genealogyonabudget.blogspot.com/

Oh Blah Vi, Oh Blah Va, Life Goes On: http://valeehill.blogspot.com/

.: BeNotForgot :: begotten & ne'er forgotten :. http://benotforgot.blogspot.com/

Genealogy Canada: http://www.genealogycanada.blogspot.com/

Thursday, February 19, 2009

'Seeing Toronto' - A Carnival Cutout Photograph - Toronto, Ontario, Canada





Here is a fun photograph from my grandmother's album showing a man who appears to be in a car rather clumsily marked "Seeing Toronto". Both his hat and his moustache look borrowed to me.

There is no identification with the image, but it is pasted on the same page as one of the few photographs from my grandfather's family - the photograph below on which his brothers, John Rogers (J) and Frank Rogers (F), and Susan Battice, née Peel (S), his stepsister, are identified with initials. All of them lived in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Perhaps originally there was a letter or card that told why and when the 'car' photo was taken, perhaps at Toronto's Canadian National Exhibition one year, but if so, that is long gone.

I was reminded of this photo last week when one of my favourite Internet people, Michael Quinion, of World Wide Words, answered a query about names for the painted displays used for these kind of photos. I think I've often called them 'carnival cutouts' but the term 'passe-têtes' that Michael mentions sounds very good to me (and of course appropriate for a Canadian to use).

I think this 'car' photo is of my great uncle John. What do you think? If it is John, it was really a joke photo as I know he didn't learn to drive until later in life (and that was likely a lot of fun for the neighbours, although perhaps not for his sister, Susan).

I did have a look on-line and don't see any other 'Seeing Toronto' passe-tête photos. If you have one, please let me know.


Wednesday, February 18, 2009

2008 iGene Awards - Carnival of Genealogy

The winners of the 2008 iGene Awards for the Carnival of Genealogy were announced today! See Creative Gene for links to all the winning posts. Congratulations to all and thank you to Creative Gene for organizing the Awards again this year.


The theme for the next Carnival of Genealogy will be: "Nobody's Fool" – who in your family was known to have the best common sense, the best sage advice and basically just “kept it together” all the time? Let's hear about them! Hosted by Thomas MacEntee at Destination: Austin Family. Deadline: March 1

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Hannah Maynard, British Columbia Photographer, 1862-1912, Cabinet of Curiosities

Yearly Gems

The Yearly Gems of British Columbia are now ready at Mrs. R. Maynard’s. Ladies who have had their
little ones Photographs taken at her Studio during 1887, that have not already received one of the Gems, can do so by calling at the Photographic Studio, Douglas Street.

Victoria Daily Colonist,
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, Tuesday, 31 January, 1888

Prominent in British Columbia, Canada’s ‘Cabinet of Curiosities’ would be the photographs of Hannah Maynard and her husband, Richard Maynard. Born in England in 1834, Hannah Maynard, née Hatherly, first emigrated to Ontario, Canada with Richard, later they migrated to Victoria, British Columbia in 1862. Both were photographers, although Richard had other businesses. Hannah is thought to have been largely responsible for the Maynard Studios and for the portrait part of the business. She retired in 1912 and died in 1918 in Victoria. The British Columbia Archives holds a collection of Maynard negatives and the studio register donated by son Albert.

Her yearly Gem childrens’ photographic collages or montages were, in effect, ‘good advertising’, but Hannah Maynard experimented with many photographic techniques and effects – sometimes with almost bizarre or, as some will have it, surreal, results.

The links below will lead to examples of Gem photographs but also to some of her more artistic photographs - using multiple exposures and multiple images, lighting and retouching, mimicking movement, and showing images of her subjects as sculptures or as decoration on vases, pillows and plates included in a photograph, for example.

Maynard’s Photographic Gallery, Leslie Roberson. See the Gallery slide shows for a few of the ‘Gems’ and the ‘Artistic’ photographs as well as a selection of portraits, etc.: http://web.uvic.ca/vv/student/maynard/welcome.htm

The Maynard Archives, with a wonderful example of a ‘Gem’: http://www.slais.ubc.ca/COURSES/arst593b/03-04-wt2/Assignment1/Assign1_Lund_Sokolon/facts.html

Hannah Maynard, Women in British Columbia History. Examples of her work and a portrait photograph of Hannah: http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/exhibits/timemach/galler10/frames/maynard.htm

The Magic Box: The Eccentric Genius of Hannah Maynard by Claire Weissman Wilks (Toronto: Exile Editions Ltd., 1980) Google Book Search preview: http://books.google.ca/books?id=9z2cr8HIZCEC

For more about Hannah Maynard, see also

Canadian Women Artists: Artist Database, Hannah Hatherly Maynard, Canadian Women Artists History Initiative, includes bibliography and references: http://cwahi.concordia.ca/sources/artists/displayArtist.php?ID_artist=50

Camera Workers: The British Columbia, Alaska & Yukon Photographic Directory, 1858-1950, David Mattison: http://members.shaw.ca/bchistorian/cw1858-1950.html

“Studio Indians: Cartes de Visite of Native People in British Columbia, 1862-1872” by Margaret B. Blackman, Archivaria 21, pp. 68-86 (.pdf file) : http://journals.sfu.ca/archivar/index.php/archivaria/article/view/11235/12174

‘The Multiple Selves of Hannah Maynard’, film directed and written by Elizabeth Lazebnik, (Toronto, Ontario: Lumanity Productions, 2005)


The 2008 iGene Awards - Carnival of Genealogy - 66th Edition


It's time to announce the 2008 iGene Awards, The Best of The Best! This year there were 5 categories and the winners are...



Best Picture - Without a doubt this was the "Carnival of Genealogy – “Swimsuit Edition”, from Newdale, Manitoba, Canada 1908, “Merry Widow Camp Aug ’08 Wolfe Lake”, posted Sunday, June 01, 2008.

Great photograph of a happy time. Lots of comments for this one. Although I have since found a number of other references to Wolfe Lake in Manitoba, I haven’t yet found it on a map : http://canadagenealogy.blogspot.com/2008/06/carnival-of-genealogy-swimsuit-edition.html


Best Screen Play – This family photo will inspire a new Canadian ‘Heritage Moment' film series – posted Wednesday, May 07, 2008, "General Stores of Canada: Merchants and Memories by R.B. Fleming".

I'd like to play an old curmudgeon grumbling in the back corner of the store, but I’d cast Yannick Bisson as whoever of Newdale, Manitoba simply because... (and he's Canadian) : http://canadagenealogy.blogspot.com/2008/05/general-stores-of-canada-merchants-and.html


Best Documentary - The winner here is an article about the 1916 Canadian Prairie census posted Thursday, August 21, 2008, "Canada, 1916 - Taking The Census in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba": http://canadagenealogy.blogspot.com/2008/08/canada-1916-taking-census-in-alberta.html

The 1916 Canadian prairie census is now available to view on microfilm through Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and many libraries. We await the arrival of an index and page images at Ancestry.com. This census has been indexed by FamilySearch volunteers; page images and the index were briefly available free on-line. The 1916 images are to be available on LAC's website by Winter 2009 and a free index should be on LAC's website by Summer 2011. I understand the census index will be on FamilySearch free to all in December, 2011, perhaps sooner to 'qualified' FamilySearch members.

Best Biography – 2008's winning article has already inspired me to do more research and to plan a trip to Manitoba, Canada next year. Posted Sunday, December 07, 2008, "Isabelle McTavish - Canadian Missionary Doctor - 1881-1953: Canadian Genealogy Carnival, Edition 2": http://canadagenealogy.blogspot.com/2008/12/isabelle-mctavish-canadian-missionary.html

Best Comedy – It's a tie - no, wait, it's a hat! The 2008 comedy choices are from Wednesday, September 10, 2008, “Na's Hat - Smile for the Camera”: http://canadagenealogy.blogspot.com/2008/09/nas-hat-smile-for-camera.html
and Monday, September 15, 2008, “Na's Hat - another look”: http://canadagenealogy.blogspot.com/2008/09/nas-hat-another-look.html


Those are the 5 iGene Award winners for 2008. Congratulations to all!


Links to all the iGene Award blogs will be posted at Creative Gene soon: http://creativegene.blogspot.com/

Friday, February 13, 2009

Poetry in Transit - British Columbia, Canada

After a rewarding, but tiring, day at a library on Tuesday this week, I was reminded how much I enjoy 'Poetry in Transit', sponsored by the Association of Book Publishers of British Columbia (ABPBC), with assistance from the Canada Council for the Arts, Translink and BC Transit, the Hatch Creative Group and the Province of British Columbia.

Each year a new set of selections from poems written by BC poets is printed onto transit advertising cards and posted in buses and trains for transit riders' enjoyment. If you aren't a transit rider (and why aren't you?) you can see some of the poetry cards here.

The poems must have been previously published, and most are recent works, although Earle Birney's "Vancouver Lights" (published in 1977) was one of those chosen for 2007-8. I do hope that occasionally a few much older poems reflecting BC's history might be in future selections. I don't believe any have been included before.

Although these poems may not always be of the highest literary merit, I believe many British Columbians would find these of interest, for example, I was just noticing again the 'Stump Ranch girl' poems by Jean Donaldson, published in Vancouver's Province newspaper in 1928. (Anyone who knows more about her, please get in touch with me.) For a few old BC poems, read The Old Red Shirt: Pioneer Poets of British Columbia, edited by Yvonne Mearns Klan (Vancouver, BC: Transmontanus, New Star Books, 2004)

Thank you to the Association of Book Publishers of British Columbia: http://www.books.bc.ca/

More about Yvonne Klan (1930-2004) BC Author Bank, ABC BookWorld: http://www.abcbookworld.com/view_author.php?id=5279

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

"Researching Your Female Ancestors" with M. Diane Rogers, 14 March, 2009, Burnaby Village Museum, BC, Canada

Super Sleuths Genealogical Workshop I

Researching Your Female Ancestors

14 March, Saturday, 1-3pm, $10.50 (Registration code 175164)

In conjunction with International Women's Day, learn how to research your female ancestors.

Women tend to be eclipsed in the labyrinth of genealogical data, but M. Diane Rogers of the BC Genealogical Society and the Women's History Network of British Columbia teaches you how to bring them back to life.

Registration: http://www.burnabyvillagemuseum.ca

Burnaby Village Museum
6501 Deer Lake Avenue, Burnaby BC V5G 3T6
24-hour Information: 604.293.6501
Program Registration: 604.293.6500

Monday, February 09, 2009

Smile for the Camera - 10th Edition - Costume


Unknown subject, cabinet card,
Le Rue Lemer, Harrisburg, PA,
no other identifying information.


I love this unknown woman's image and show it in my photograph workshops sometimes. It is a 'stray' that I bought in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada.


I think the photographer must have been pleased with the way the photograph points up the various textures in her costume and her hair. She is showing off her ring finger, so I thought this must have been an engagement photograph, but she does seem sad to me. Perhaps she meant to look wistful. But what I specially like is that her dress is even more 'upholstered' and 'decorated' than the chair she rests her hands on. I do hope it wasn't hot that day.


I've seen many references on-line to photographs from this studio in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA. According to the book, Harrisburg's Old Eighth Ward, the LeRue Studio was the longest continuously operating business in the city. LeRue Lemer Senior (1837-1920) is mentioned as a photographer. Harrisburg's Old Eighth Ward: The Old Eighth Ward, Pennsylvania by J. Howard Wert, Michael Barton, and Jessica Dorman ( Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, USA: Arcadia Publishing, 2002) Preview on-line at Google Book Search: http://books.google.ca/books?id=VPxdCBkoKIgC&printsec=frontcover

This photograph is my entry for the 10th Edition of Smile For The Camera. The theme this time is Costume - as in dress in general; especially the distinctive style of dress of a people, class, or period. Show us that picture that you found with your family collection or purchased that shows the costumes of the rich to the not so rich, from the civil war to the psychedelic sixties. I know you have them, so share.


Smile for the Camera, Shades of the Departed: http://www.shadesofthedeparted.com/


"Black Communities in British Columbia, 1858-2008" - Photo Exhibit, Vancouver, BC, Canada

"Black Communities in British Columbia, 1858-2008", a photo exhibition, officially opens on 25 February, 2009 with a talk by exhibit curator Dr. Afua Cooper, Black Canadian history scholar, author and poet.

Opening Reception and Talk - Wednesday, 25 February, 2009 from 6-9 pm. Segal Centre, Room 1400, Simon Fraser University, Harbour Centre Campus, 515 W. Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC. Light refreshments.

Photographs in this exhibit reflect 150 years of diversity within BC's Black communities.

The exhibit runs 18 February 2009 to 10 May, 2009 at the Teck Gallery,
Simon Fraser University, Harbour Centre Campus, 515 W. Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC. Free.

See Herstory Cafe for more information about this event: www.herstorycafe.ca

Afua Cooper's website: http://www.afuacooper.com

Black History Month - British Columbia, Canada

The Tyee has recently published three excerpts on-line from Crawford Kilian's book,
Go Do Some Great Thing: The Black Pioneers of British Columbia (Burnaby, BC, Canada: Commodore Books, 2008, 2nd Edition)

"The Freeing of Charles Mitchell", TheTyee.ca, published 5 February, 2009: http://thetyee.ca/Books/2009/02/05/CharlesMitchell

"BC's Black Pioneer Women", TheTyee.ca, published 6 February 2009: http://thetyee.ca/Books/2009/02/06/BlackPioneerWomen

"The Barber Sleuth of Old Barkerville", The Tyee.ca, published 9 February, 2009: http://thetyee.ca/Books/2009/02/09/BarberSleuth

The Tyee published a similar series last year, including

" 'God-sent Land for Colored People' - BC's black pioneers arrived 150 years ago today. Why they came" by Crawford Kilian. TheTyee.ca, published 25 April, 2008: http://thetyee.ca/Life/2008/04/25/GodSentLand


ADDITIONAL LINKS

Pioneers: Blogging the Black Pioneers of British Columbia, Crawford Kilian: http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/pioneers

Commodore Books, Western Canada's first and only black literary press: http://www.commodorebooks.com

Sunday, February 08, 2009

Canadian Genealogy Carnival - 'Around the Kitchen Table'.


This post is for the 3rd Edition of the Canadian Genealogy Carnival, 'Around the Kitchen Table'. Does your family have a favourite Canadian recipe? Or perhaps you have the recipe to your Canadian ancestor's favourite dish. Maybe you just like Canadian Maple syrup. Share with us your favourite Canadian recipe and/or food.


I do have copies of a few recipes from both my grandmothers. My English grandma, Sarah Frances (SAGGERS) ROGERS, had a recipe for Dandelion Wine, for instance, which she could make in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada as easily as in Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire in England.

The most familiar of my family’s recipes, learned from my Na, my maternal grandmother, were, I suspect, highly influenced, first by the practicalities of living on the Canadian prairies and later by wartime shortages in the 1940s and later still, convenience, as my Na always had a busy social life and my parents both worked in our business. My mother relied quite a bit on commercially packed tins – soups, corn, even tinned beef and local salmon. Most meals at home were pretty plain - ‘English’ cooking. We didn’t have meat and potatoes every night, but close to it. Good local vegetables were available (but boiled to death) and we ate or cooked whatever fruit was in season and reasonably priced. In our own yard was a cherry tree, a (not so good) apple tree and we had rhubarb which I always liked stewed or baked in a brown betty. We ate lots of jam tarts which were easy (and cheap) but never any maple syrup. (That's an Eastern thing!)

I remember my Na’s bread, buns, cakes and cookies best. If friends were expected or if there was a bake sale coming up, she’d be ready. One special family thing about her baking was her use of butter. On the farm or in Newdale, Manitoba where she and my mum grew up, I don’t think eggs, butter or milk were ever in short supply. Butter wasn’t always available in other areas though and of course it was sometimes expensive to buy. I noticed a Vancouver woman’s recipe for ‘Wartime Butter’ in one of my World War II era cookbooks.


WARTIME BUTTER

1 lb. butter (quite soft)
1/2 to 1 tsp salt
2 cups lukewarm milk (top milk)
Take ½ cup of the milk and soak 1 tbsp. Knox gelatine for 5 minutes

Mix all together and beat with egg beater until it thickens. Add butter coloring.

Makes 2 pounds of butter.

- Mrs J. A. McDonald,Vancouver p.15, Navy League Chapter I.O.D.E. (International Order of Daughters of the Empire) Victory Cook Book, October 1941, Victoria, BC, Canada.

In Canada, despite a temporary lifting of legislation in the early 1920s, margarine wasn’t legal till 1949 in order to protect the dairy industry’s markets, but even after 1949 each province could regulate its sale. (See Note 1.) Earlier, even the thought of allowing butter imports from abroad had been contentious. Newfoundlanders bootlegged margarine to Canadians from the 1920s, but the 1948/1949 pro-margarine rulings meant Newfoundland’s margarine was legal when that former British Dominion joined Canada in 1949. Don’t you love Canadian politics?

For years in British Columbia, margarine was allowed for sale only if it didn’t ‘look like butter’. (A package of dye was sold with it for mixing at home.) My dad was mad at the dairy industry lobbyists about all this till the day he died. We never had butter at home, only margarine.



Na didn’t live with us, but she was close by and sometimes looked after my brother and me after school. She often brought a little something with her.
Below is her Coffee Cake recipe from a very tattered and broken 'Memoranda' of hand written recipes. On the cover writing can be seen, “Home Economics”, and inside is written “Amy Scott” so it dates from after 1910 when she married and began using SCOTT instead of IRWIN as her surname. This recipe seems to have been re-written. Perhaps she noticed the pencil fading and wrote it again some time later.









COFFEE CAKE

1 cup sugar

1 cup molasses

1 cup cold coffee

2/3 cup butter

1 tea spoon soda

5 cups flour

½ tea spoon cinnamon & cloves

1 lb raisins

1 lb currants


X Better to stand several days after baking



I don’t remember Na consulting a recipe very often, so I suspect she kept this little book through all the moves only because of the ‘colouring’ Mum did on some pages. Is this a drawing of Na, I wonder? Is that a big skirt apron she has on with waist ties? Not too flattering a picture (my Na was petite) but quite a keepsake.

(My mum apparently coloured on a lot of things; I was NEVER, EVER allowed to do that. And, neither were my children.)











LINKS

The Navy League Chapter of the I.O.D.E. was organized at Victoria, British Columbia, Canada in 1912, according to the information in my cookbook.
IODE in BC – BC Women Helping BC: http://iodeinbc.ca/

Note 1. The Canadian Butter/Margarine Thing

“Emergency Move Approved: Dairymen Find Butter Importing Acceptable” Winnipeg Free Press, Wednesday, 8 January, 1947, p. 9.

“Newfoundland Granted Autonomy on Fish Exports and Margarine” Winnipeg Free Press, Friday, 10 December, 1948, p.10. (Newfoundland would have been able to produce and sell margarine, but not to export it to the rest of Canada.)

“Housewives Save With Margarine” Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Radio broadcast, 14 December, 1948. Host: Bill Reid; Interviewer: Bill Beatty; Reporters: Dave Price, Warren Baldwin. Interviewed – Erle Kitchen, National Secretary of the Dairy Farmers of Canada: http://archives.cbc.ca/on_this_day/12/14


" ‘If It’s Yellow, It Must Be Butter’: Margarine Regulation In Quebec Since 1886” Abstract, Ruth Dupré, 3 January, 1992. Allied Social Science Associations Conference: http://eh.net/Clio/Conferences/ASSA/Jan_92/Dupre%20Abstract

"If It's Yellow, It Must be Butter": Margarine Regulation in North America Since 1886” by Ruth Dupré, The Journal of Economic History, Economic History Association, Vol. 59, No. 2 (June, 1999), pp. 353-371.

“Resolving Canada's conflicted relationship with margarine” CBC.ca. Last Updated: Wednesday, July 9, 2008, 4:35 PM ET: http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2008/07/09/f-margarine.html









Wednesday, February 04, 2009

PRINCE GEORGE GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY, June 13, 2009, British Columbia, Canada

The Prince George Genealogical Society will be holding
its 30th Anniversary Seminar, 13 June, 2009
in Prince George, British Columbia, Canada.

Speakers

Eunice Robinson, of the BC Genealogical Society,
on Irish genealogical research,

· David Obee, co-author of the recent book,
Finding Your Canadian Ancestors, on Canadian family history research,

· Leslie Anderson from Ancestry.ca (The Generations Network)


Details available soon.
Watch the Prince George Genealogical Society website:

1891 Canadian Census images & index - free at Library & Archives Canada

The 1891 Canadian census page images with an index are now up at Library and Archives Canada's website (LAC) - 4,833,239 references apparently : http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/census-1891/index-e.html

Census page images are available in .pdf or .jpeg

This presentation includes search helps and links to more information from LAC's Canadian Genealogy Centre. Search by surname, given names, keywords and locations. Let me know what keywords you find useful here, please! (Married? Widowed?)

These 1891 census images and the index are included in a collaboration between The Generations Network (TGN-Ancestry.ca) and Library & Archives Canada (LAC).
See this link for some information about this agreement and a timetable of other project releases: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/about-us/012-215.01-e.html

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

CanadaGenealogy - Celebrating Four Years On-line

"Ohm Pah Pah"!

CanadaGenealogy's fourth anniversary, or Blogoversary, rather, is today. If it hadn't been for Thomas MacEntee of Destination: Austin Family pointing out the Blogoversary gadget a short time ago, I'd not even have noticed the date.

That's probably appropriate. I did look for anniversary items in old newspapers and saw that Eleanor B. Clapp, in The Victoria Daily Colonist of 25 March, 1906, p. 21, simply said that fourth anniversaries are "passed by unnoticed..." Next year, for the fifth, I promise to host (hostess?) a blogging party! I know we're not as old as some, but still...

In the meantime, my baby brother, I hope, is happy to blow his big horn on my behalf. I've had a great week for finding 'stuff' - he will like this photo which I took with my own little camera long ago. He's shown on the boulevard on the side of our yard at Yukon Street in Vancouver in front of dad's well loved roses.

Now settle down to listen to some real tuba music - a jazz solo, Ramblin' by Joe Murphy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCbfxEK-Y9A

Monday, February 02, 2009

First Digital Lives Research Conference - London, England, February 9-11, 2009

Anyone already near or heading for London, England?

The First Digital Lives Research Conference: Personal Digital Archives for the 21st Century is February 9-11, 2009 at the British Library in St. Pancras, London, England.

This first conference is "a participatory and collaborative one, bringing together researchers, professionals, creators, enthusiasts and the digital public."

There's a very interesting array of topics and speakers (although none from Canada?) and one day of the conference will be broadcast into Second Life, to the Khufu Conference Centre in the Elucian Islands archipelago.

More information about the Digital Lives Research Project - publications, a blog, etc.- is available on the website. This project and the conference are sponsored by the British Library, the British Arts and Humanities Research Council, the University of Bristol, and the University College London.

Thanks to David Mattison for posting info on this conference at The Ten Thousand Year Blog

First Digital Lives Research Conference: http://www.bl.uk/digital-lives/conference.html

Sunday, February 01, 2009

My 1916 Happy Dance - The Joy of Genealogy - Carnival of Genealogy Edition 65

The topic for this 65th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is: The Happy Dance. The Joy of Genealogy. Almost everyone has experienced it. Tell us about the first time, or the last time, or the best time. What event, what document, what special find has caused you to stand up and cheer, to go crazy with joy?



Practice your Happy Genealogist tap dance. Click here for some radio instruction (yes, radio) from 8 January, 1941. "Tap dancing on the radio." The CBC Digital Archives Website, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation: http://archives.cbc.ca/lifestyle/pastimes/clips/14556


Despite my tap dancing past, I don’t really jump up and begin to soft-shoe in a library or archives reference room when I find something great. I have been known to (loudly) whisper ‘BINGO’ though when I find ‘them’ in a historical document, newspaper or photograph! So far, I’ve never been reprimanded for this; I’ve even seen a few broad smiles in response.

There was the time though, very early in my genealogy life, that I called home to check for messages and heard a phone call from a live, yes, a real live cousin who’d seen my name in a genealogical journal and figured out that I must be ‘my father’s daughter’ and so related to her. I have so few live relatives that my feelings were quite obvious. Boy, were they surprised at work – to see calm, quiet Diane shaking with excitement! Still, they could understand this much better than my cemetery trips.

I’ve had some great finds – the will and estate file for Samuel Wood (1820-1908; b Lockwood, West Yorkshire, England; d Nottawa, Ontario, Canada) in the Ontario Archives in Toronto, for instance, was probably still my most useful genealogically. It listed the names of all his living children, with the daughters' husbands’ names and occupations; most of that information was new to me.

This last week the 1916 Canadian prairie census films were finally available at Cloverdale Library in Surrey, British Columbia, and on Friday I was able to go out and look at these for the first time. No dancing for me, but lots of Ah ha!s.

Some of our Swedish relatives emigrated to Canada after the 1911 census so I was anxious to 'make their acquaintance at last', so to speak, in Canadian records and reading through some of the census pages was very exciting to me as people I had known or met were alive in Manitoba or Saskatchewan or Alberta where this census was taken in 1916. My own mother is shown with her parents in Newdale, Manitoba. I do wish she’d lived long enough to see these pages with me (and to tell me everything she remembered about those names I don’t recognize!)

I think there may be some ‘happy dances’ for those with connections in the Springfield District of Manitoba. Enumerator Conrad Gauthier (bless him) took down the places of birth for many entries, mostly Canadian ones, but still – I noticed WALLACEs from North Dakota, USA and many names from Ile de Chenes in Quebec. These place names were later scratched out and the province or country written in, but the original entries are readable. (1916 Census, Manitoba, Canada, District 12 Springfield, SD 05, Library & Archives Canada film # T-21939)

Many interesting connections seem to be in the 1916 for me. I will be happily checking these out for some time to come. For instance, one of our cousins, John Gilchrist McNabb (b 1881, d 1956; son of Diana Gilchrist and Alexander McNabb of Fenelon Township, Victoria County, Ontario, Canada) came to Newdale, Manitoba in the 1910’s. He married Rose Isabel Younger in Manitoba in 1917.

In the 1916 census, a John McNabb the right age is shown living in the Strathclair area of Manitoba on the farm of George Henry and Annie Pattison. (1916 Census, Manitoba, Canada, District 05 Marquette, SD 10, Page 3, Household # 27 Library & Archives Canada film # T-21927)

Was this the same John McNabb? More clues from this entry - Annie Pattison, the wife of George Henry Pattison, was John Gilchrist McNabb’s sister. Also listed as living on the farm in 1916 was a Rosa Younger who’d emigrated from England in 1914. Is this how John Gilchrist McNabb met his wife?

I will have to see what else I can find. I do have some McNabb/Pattison photographs but they aren’t yet scanned or described. That will likely be my objective for the next Scanfest. More on this later.


For more about the 1916 census, see my previous posts -

1916 Prairie Census, Canada - films available at Cloverdale Library, Surrey, BC:
http://canadagenealogy.blogspot.com/2009/01/1916-prairie-census-canada-films.html

Canada, 1916 - Taking The Census in Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba:
http://canadagenealogy.blogspot.com/2008/08/canada-1916-taking-census-in-alberta.html