Thursday, August 27, 2009

Treasure Chest Thursday - Na's Chairs

Both these chairs were my Na's. Both were used by the family in Manitoba, then came to Vancouver with her from her and Grandpa Scott's last residence in Hamilton, Ontario.

You will notice that the focus of these photographs is not the chairs, but the cats on them - Odette above and Gilles below. That's the way it is here at our house! Na wouldn't have minded; she would have liked that we are still using them every day.

Odette's chair is very comfortable for reading and Na kept a little bookshelf style table with a lamp attached to it just beside this chair. My brother has that now.

Na picked out the light beige fern pattern 'plushy' fabric the chairs are upholstered in. I remember when they were reupholstered this way in Vancouver, but I don't remember what colour or pattern the chairs were originally. I'd like to find something very similar to this fabric and have them redone now.




Saturday, August 22, 2009

79th Carnival of Genealogy Coming Up Soon - Family Reunions!

SAGGERS sisters get together, 1948, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Private collection.


SAGGERS sisters only, get together, 1948, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Private collection.


The 79th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will be hosted right here at 'CanadaGenealogy, or, Jane's Your Aunt'.

The theme this time is Family Reunions!

Have you been to a family reunion recently?

What do you know about past family reunions?

If your family doesn't have reunions, why do you think that is - family skeletons or feuds, perhaps, or just geography?

Or, has there been an important or intriguing family or other reunion in your community that you can tell us about?

The deadline for submissions is September 1st, 2009.

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using the carnival submission form.

Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any articles you plan to submit and/or write a brief description/introduction to your articles in the "comment" box of the blog carnival submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link.

The latest edition is 'Pony Pictures!' To see those, go to Creative Gene.

Past posts and future hosts can be found on the Carnival of Genealogy blog carnival index page.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Treasure Chest Thursday - Happy Holiday Souvenirs - California - 1958



Treasure Chest Thursday was the idea of Leslie Ann Florida over at Lost Family Treasures. She's invited other genealogy bloggers to join in and so I decided to use my Treasure Chest Thursdays to blog about some of the wonderful (to me) and the odd (to them) 'family treasures' around me so that my kids will know more about these things and so that some of the information that's only 'in my head' will be preserved.

Today is just for fun really, but someday my daughter may wonder why this lone sea lion or seal charm is in my jewellery box. Yes, I used to have a silver charm bracelet - they were quite the thing in my day. When we went somewhere, even to Vancouver Island, if things were good, I was able to add a charm to my wrist. Somewhere the bracelet was lost, but the seal had fallen off some time before, so it's all I have left.

The charm was a souvenir from San Francisco, California, one of the many cities I'd like to see again, although it must be very different from when we were there in 1958! San Francisco has its own interesting history, of course, but it also has many historical links to British Columbia where I live and even in 1958 I was very keen on history.

As I looked at it yesterday, I did wonder how the sea lions and seals are doing in the San Francisco area now, and found these articles if you are interested. In my day, I don't think we went near enough to disturb them too much, but they were a tourist attraction all the same. I can imagine that they have been under many environmental and other pressures since, the same as populations in B.C.

Back to souvenirs. Luckily for me, my mother was a saver and my father was a stamp collector. I think it was Mum that hung on to this, but Dad would have appreciated the cancel on the back of this postcard my brother and I sent home from our California trip. (He rarely went on vacation, but stayed home to look after 'the business' and 'the cat'. No doubt, he enjoyed some quiet time while we were away. )

I especially like this card.

First, the front shows the Capitol Record building and in 1958 I was very into the latest music - 'Smoke Gets in Your Eyes', 'Maybe Baby', 'To Know Him Is To Love Him', 'Hard Headed Woman'!

But secondly, it's obvious, at least to me, that I wrote almost the whole thing. My brother contributed one 'D', that's all!




Sunday, August 16, 2009

Carnival of Genealogy - 78th Edition - Pony Picture! South Vancouver BC Canada

George William and David Joseph ROGERS, c. 1924,
South Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Private collection.

The theme for the 78th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is - Pony Pictures! This will be posted soon at Creative Gene. Don't miss it.


This 'pony picture' is of my dad, George Rogers, and his younger brother, David. David looks a bit doubtful, and the pony isn't interested at all, but Dad looks a bit excited. I believe this photograph was taken near the front of their house on Chester Street, then in South Vancouver. You can see part of a house, and a sidewalk which seems to end right there. The pony is standing on rough, maybe wet, ground.

The photograph is in a nice brown folder, but has no identification on it except for a shield design on the front - shown below. I think the pony must have belonged to a travelling photographer. I'd be very interested to hear if anyone else from Vancouver or South Vancouver has similar photographs.


Front of the 'pony photograph' folder. Brown, no photographer's identification.
11 by 8 cm. Private collection.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Ultimate Genealogy Goals - at CanadaGenealogy

Randy Seaver has certainly posed a sobering topic for this Saturday Night's Genealogy Fun. Here it is:

1) Answer these questions:

* What is your UGG - your "Ultimate Genealogy Goal" for the genealogy research that you wish to leave to your heirs, descendants and the genealogy community?

* How long do you think you have have left to fulfill this ultimate goal?

* Are you prioritizing your time adequately in order to achieve this goal?

* If not, what should you do to achieve the goal?

* Will you do what you need to do?

2) Tell us about it in a blog post on your own blog, or in comments to this post or on Facebook.


Well, as for my Ultimate Genealogy Goal - I think that needs at least a two-fold answer.

* First, I want to scan most, if not all, of the family photographs, memorabilia and documents I have, and obtain copies of the ones I've found in other collections or repositories. This is both so I can share these with family and so the images and their information would be preserved in case of disaster.

* Second, I want to have a finished narrative to go alongside my family charts, both with citations, of course, for my four major lines and for my husband's family too. I have some parts of this done, but as anyone who knows me well realizes, I'll never consider my research complete.

But revision is so much easier nowadays; I need to start writing and keep it up. When finished, I'd want this shared in both paper and digital format with my family and deposited with the BC Genealogical Society and any other appropriate genealogy or local history groups.

As for how much time I have to do this? My father died at 76, my mother at 86, my grandfathers at 62 and 76; my grandmothers at 77 and 99. It's my maternal line's 'life line' I'm counting on - my Na died at 99 due to an accident - not 'old age'. So I'm intending to live to a hundred at least.

But I may find I have other things to do later in life - travel with the great grandchildren, perhaps - so I do think sometimes about my ultimate genealogy goals, but, no, I haven't prioritized these yet. After all, I'm the woman who's been working on one gift scrapbook for 2 years now ...

I do think it would be reasonable for me to set a one year objective to finish the photograph scanning - this is something I feel I should be much more organized about.

And then likely I could give myself about five years to work on the narratives. I'd have to be resolute about 'finishing' one at a time though - that will be the hardest part for me.

And, like Randy, I'm not intending to give up any of my 'real life', which includes family, friends and cats, teaching, reading, blogging, twittering, volunteering (mostly doing genealogy), attending genealogy and book group meetings, travelling a bit, and just plain enjoying myself.

Still, soon enough it will be time for 2010 New Year's resolutions. I will give this topic some further thought before the end of the year.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Treasure Chest Thursday - A Penny Saved...

A Penny Saved Is A Penny Earned.

Today's choice from the Treasure Chest is this 'piggy bank'. I do have a couple of others still, but this one is a bit different.

First, it's obviously a Canadian design (or meant for Canadians anyway). However, our dad collected coins, including Canadian pennies, so this one was always a bit special. In fact, I'm sure he must have picked these out for my brother and me.

Both Dad and Mum would have approved of the 'improving message': A penny saved is a penny earned.

On the bottom is a mark, perhaps a stamp - "Hand decorated Shafford" (Shafford is in script.) This bank would have been purchased some time in the 1950s in Vancouver, BC. It's in very good condition - no chips, no scratches. And Her Majesty certainly looks a lot younger.

I see lots of vintage Shafford items on-line, but I'd be interested to know more about the company. There's a bank just like this for sale at $4.99 ($US), but mine's worth more than that to me. And anyway, think of how many pennies must be inside there still!

In looking around on-line I see so many other Shafford things, some dated, some marked as 'made in Japan'. I may have some Shafford tea cups; I will have to look.

There's a condiment set with maple leaves and squirrels for sale? (At first I thought that squirrel might be a beaver, but surely not!) Must go find my credit card...

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Wordless Wednesday - Family Photos

Wordless Wednesday (not quite!)
James at Na's apartment, Good Friday, 1974
See! I come by my interest in books & photographs naturally.

Friday, August 07, 2009

August - My Genealogy Research Plan

"Heat, ma'am! it was so dreadful here, that I found there was nothing left for it but to take off my flesh and sit in my bones."
from A Memoir of the Reverend Sydney Smith by his daughter, Lady Holland [Saba Holland], with a Selection from his Letters, edited by Mrs. Austin. 2 volumes. (New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1856).
Quotation, Volume 1, page 238.
Quotation found at
GIGA Quotes, but read at Google Books.

Now that the unreasonable and unseasonable heat (for our area, at least) has cooled, thoughts turn inevitably to the end of summer. Can it be August all ready?

I remember still how, at the beginning of my school holidays, summertime seemed to stretch on so far ahead. Even as a girl, I made plans - to study more French during one summer, I recall. How much did I really learn? Je ne sais pas!

But I have made a plan for this month, August, to do some more personal genealogy research, before fall is upon us again with all the usual demands.

When I travel away for research, I am usually very organized. I look at any catalogues or finding aids available to me ahead of time. I write or e-mail ahead, and, of course, I cram in as many visits to relevant archives, libraries, museums, etc. as possible, depending on distance and transit.

When familar institutions with relevant records are near to home though, one doesn't always plan as closely, but many times, it will pay to do so. Checking out the website of a familar library or archives, for instance, you may see a notice of something new and useful, either in the collections or regarding research or other policies.

And, I'd advise always double checking open hours ahead of even a local trip. The person who could help you the most might just be on holidays this week, after all. (But don't accept everything you read though -
WorldCat told me the book I've quoted from above is available 36 miles away at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. About 2800 miles off, I think, since I'm in Vancouver, BC. When I tried again, the Google library link took me to Library and Archives Canada, showing me that the LAC copy is lost. Must have been the heat!)

I chose three main objectives for August. Two require visits to particular places, one may involve a mix of visits. I intend to fit in a trip to the British Columbia Archives in Victoria too.

1. to visit Chown Memorial Church in Vancouver (now known as Chown Memorial and Chinese Church), our church when I was in school, and the church where my son was married. I especially want to take some photographs of the memorial garden where my Na's ashes were scattered.

2. To research my childhood neighbourhood further in Vancouver street directories. I have copies of the listings for the streets around our house already for several years, but would like to have more information. This project I can do at various libraries here, including the BC Genealogical Society's Walter Draycott Library.

3. To visit the City of Vancouver Archives to research

a. Vancouver School Board in the 1950s when my father was on the Board.

b. the names of the previous owners of both houses we lived in when I was young.

4. In addition, I'm looking this month at the BROWN/IRWIN/LEITCH and IRWIN/RICHES/ROPER families. This involves some new Internet research, but since some of these relatives ended up in British Columbia, I'll be doing additional directory research and looking up birth, marriage, death and cemetery records.

For these trips, I've bought a brand new notebook - one with three sections. This is the kind I like to use - one for each travel trip. I used to use one for each repository, but that was back in the days when few copies were possible and we had to transcribe everything on the spot.

I've pencils, erasers and a sharpener, coins for copies, identification, money and a credit card in case I want to order additional copies or photograph reproductions, etc. and I'll have my camera and brand new batteries. Since it's been hot, I've just added some 'wet' wipes, sunscreen and a water bottle to my research bag. Even on urban research trips these come in handy, and Mountain View Cemetery may be often on my route. It can be very hot researching there outside.

I'll likely take pedigree and family group sheets for the families I'm interested in for 'backup' when I go to the Vancouver City Archives, not my computer. (It's heavy and I worry about security.) My research 'to do' list for the Archives already includes the physical addresses and legal descriptions of the houses I'm interested in, as well as relevant information about Vancouver School Board records gleaned from the Archives's on-line databases - for Board minutes, photographs, annual reports and scrapbooks to start.

If you had relatives in British Columbia, Canada, particularly any in the Lower Mainland, or if you are planning a trip here to do genealogical research, I recommend the book "Planning a Genealogical Trip to the Vancouver Area: A finding aid to historical sources in British Columbia's Southwest corner", compiled by Judith Argent and edited by Stephanie Kurmey, and published by the Surrey Public Library . This is available from the BC Genealogical Society Boutique or from the Cloverdale Branch of the Surrey Public Library.

What are your family history goals for August?

Thursday, August 06, 2009

Treasure Chest Thursday - Na's Music Box

This music box which plays 'Somewhere My Love...' from the film of "Dr. Zhivago", used to belong to my Na, my maternal grandmother, Amy SCOTT, née IRWIN. My children gave it to Na when they were little - because it has a blond little girl and a brunette little boy, just like them. I know she treasured it and I remember she used to wind it up to play when they were around.
She died when the children were nine and twelve, so they do remember her. This music box now sits on one of my bookshelves. It's a bit faded but otherwise in good condition. I hope someone else will love it 'someday'...