Monday, July 22, 2013

Recipes and Government...Helen Deachman's Pecan Pie, 1963

I've been busy lately, but I have been chipping away at a few projects, even some indexing. Several nights lately I found myself going through old recipes, some my own, some Mum's and Na's - mostly cut out from newspapers.

But here's a well used recipe card I found that's a part of British Columbia history.



Front and back of Grant Deachman ad card, Vancouver Quadra candidate, Vancouver, BC, 1963.

Now, while I can well believe my Na voted Liberal, I think this card was likely kept because of the recipe. She never lived within his district (although I believe her sister did at one time). Maybe he spoke at a meeting she attended, maybe Helen Deachman was in one of the many groups my Na was involved with, or perhaps the ladies 'traded' these voting cards?

At any rate, Grant Deachman, a member of the Liberal Party of Canada, won this April 8, 1963 election. He was Member of Parliament for the Vancouver Quadra electoral district (in the City of Vancouver) from 1963 to 1972. (Defeated in 1962 and 1972.) Helen Hughes (née Anderson) Deachman, his wife, was born, I believe, in Ottawa, where they lived for many years. Glen Grant Deachman was born in Calgary, Alberta. Both are buried in Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa.

Friday, July 19, 2013

BC Genealogical Society Library Week - Geneabloggers visiting and volunteering in Surrey, BC

In case anyone's wondering where I am, I've been busy volunteering for the British Columbia Genealogical Society's annual Library Week. Still two days left to visit !

BCGS Walter Draycott Library   shelf, 2013


This is our free Library Week - anyone can come and see what BCGS has at its Walter Draycott Library in Surrey, BC, get some help if they are starting out with genealogy or have hit an obstacle in their research. Many stay all day and attend the classes we offer each day to learn something new. It's always great to meet and talk to both the newbies and others who've been doing genealogy a while. We all can learn so much from each other.

This week there have been two Canadian Geneabloggers here besides myself, Celia Lewis and Yvonne Demoskoff.

Celia blogs at Twigs and Trees. She has some great surnames in her family! (I'm a bit jealous.)  Her last post is about her GILLESPIE-ARMSTRONG families though. Do have a look in case you have a connection there.

And Yvonne, who writes Yvonne's Genealogy Blog, has just started Doukhobor Photos, featuring photographs from the Demoskoff family albums. She's hoping to identify some of the people and places in the photos which are from Saskatchewan and British Columbia, Canada. Drop by, have a good look and let Yvonne know if you can help.

Monday, July 01, 2013

Canada - for Canada Day 2013

One thing about genealogists - we mostly love lists. First of all, lists of people, of course, but for some of us, almost any list will do. I was therefore happy to pick up The Maclean's Book of Lists, Volume 2 - full of useful lists - from spooky Halifax ghosts, Elizabeth May's picks for greatest national treasures, uses for the (recently obsolete) Canadian penny, to even 12 ways to cook a beaver (no way!).

The list that caught my eye though was one of "6 foreign places called Canada". Mentioned are Canada in Hampshire, England, Canada in Kansas, USA, Canada Glacier in Antarctica, Canada Park (Israel-West Bank), Little Canada in Minnesota and Czech Canada in the Czech Republic.

I knew that there was also once an area called Canada on Islay, Scotland1 though, and a Canadian County in Oklahoma (named for the Canadian River, sometimes called the South Canadian River).

Turns out there are many Canadas in 'foreign' places. Just a quick look at Scottish, British and USA place name indexes turned up these.


USA - Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)

Canada in Kansas and Kentucky and Cañada (Spanish, not Canadian) in New Mexico, a Little Canada in New York, and a Canada in Guam. (And one Canada in Uknown, Uknown!)

England - Gazetteer of British Place Names, British Counties

Lower and Upper Canada in Somerset, and a Canada in both Wiltshire and Lincolnshire.

Gazetteer for Scotland

In Scotland there's Canada Hill on the Isle of Bute and another in the Borders (near Peebles) and apparently also a Canada West and an Upper Canada.


Which others do you know?

1. Letter from John Ramsay to Highland Relief Committee, [1847],  as quoted in John Ramsay of Kildalton,  pp. 23-25by Freda Ramsay (Toronto: Peter Martin Associates Limited, c. 1968).