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March 14, 2020
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Challenging Times
Patti Mordasewicz, Editor
 
We are living through very uncertain times at the moment, and at Ontario Ancestors our volunteers and our staff are trying to make decisions in the best interests of our members, our visitors, and our staff.
 
All of our immediately upcoming meetings have been cancelled or postponed, including:
  • Sudbury Branch has cancelled its March 16th meeting, due to the closure of the facility where it takes place.
  • Halton-Peel has postponed its March 22nd meeting.  Check their website for updates.
  • All Toronto Branch in-person meetings and events are cancelled until April 5th as a precautionary measure.  See notice below concerning the presentation scheduled for March.
  • Other Branch events will be cancelled or postponed until April 5th, so check the Ontario Ancestors website or that of your Branch for the most up-to-date information.
Our President, Steve Fulton, and Executive Director, Megan Houston, have asked our Branches to suspend any public-facing events, including meetings, volunteer work sessions and research in our facilities, until April 5th.  The Board will discuss these actions and determine a path forward at its virtual meeting on March 17th.
 
I commented this morning to an colleague that this situation is not something my generation has lived through – and the speed of change is meteoric!
 
We are all listening and reacting to events as they unfold, and will keep doing so until the threat has been reduced.  Please follow the messages that our health care officials are issuing, and stay well!
EARLY BIRD pricing has been extended until April 30th!

Conference 2020 COVID-19 Update

 
At Ontario Ancestors the health and safety of our members, Conference attendees, vendors, exhibitors and employees are our priority, and will guide our decisions.
 
We are closely monitoring health and safety concerns regarding COVID-19 (the novel coronavirus). We are in close contact with the Hamilton Convention Centre officials and with them we are closely monitoring the Federal, Ontario and Local health authorities' advisory statements and guidelines.
 
Our 2020 Ontario Ancestors Conference and Family History Show is still 2 1/2 months away, scheduled for June 5-7, 2020. We sincerely hope that we will be able to carry on by that point, and the current issues will be in the rear-view mirror. However we will continue to monitor the on-going situation, and we will immediately announce any changes to the schedule. In the event we are required to cancel the Conference, all registration fees will be refunded in full.
 
Our cancellation policy remains in place at this time. Please check the Conference 2020 website frequently for any updates on the event, including any cancellation policy changes.
Family History Centres Closed
 
In a message to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Church has today asked for the following to be suspended worldwide until further notice:
  • Stake conferences, leadership conferences and other large gatherings;
  • All public worship services, including sacrament meetings; and
  • Branch, ward and stake activities.  This latter element means that the Church’s Family History Centres will be closed until further notice.
In closing the Family History Library, the Church noted:  “we encourage you to use the vast genealogical resources available at FamilySearch.org to continue your family discoveries, and to receive personal assistance through FamilySearch Communities and FamilyHistory Library Classes and Webinars.

Are You Going to Throw Your Hat in the Ring? 
Alan Campbell, Ambassador

As former Chair of the Elections Committee, I have a vested interest in seeing The Ontario Genealogical Society Board with a full complement for the future.  I’m asking you to consider becoming a candidate for the 2020-2022 term of office. 

We need candidates for the roles of President, Vice President, and four Directors-at-Large.  This is especially critical this year because our current Vice President will not be applying to step into the President’s role.  In order to maintain the sustainability of our Society we need to fill these positions for the 2020-2022 term.

Do you want to be one of the driving forces for The Society in the next few years? If so, the Elections Committee would like to hear from you. They would be pleased to talk with anyone interested in exploring  what is entailed in terms of skills required, time commitment and potential areas of involvement in any of the roles. 

Contact the Elections Committee at elections@ogs.on.ca or the current Past President, Patti Mordasewicz at pastpresident@ogs.on.ca.  You can also call 1-855-MY-ROOTS extension 251 and leave a message.  She will call you back without delay.

The deadline for applications is March 23, 2020.  

BIFHSGO March Meeting Cancelled
Mary-Lou Simac, Publicity Director, British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa
 
Today the Board cancelled the March 14th meeting out of an abundance of concern for the health and safety of our members. The two speakers will be rescheduled.
eWeekly Survey

Last week we asked “Where do you live”, so that we can better tailor our weekly newsletters to fit our readers.
 
We had 596 responses to our survey, a new high in participation by our readers. Thank You!
 
Our survey responses indicated that some 73% of our readers are in Ontario, while another 13% reside in the rest of Canada, 12% live in the United States, and we have a scattering of readers in Australia, New Zealand and the British Isles.
 
Complete survey results ARE AVAILABLE HERE (if you receive this email in plain text or have images turned off, see the full results at https://ogs.on.ca/eweekly-survey-results/). Thank you again to those who took the time to participate.
 
This week’s Survey asks you about your experiences with genealogy/family history conferences, and in particular the Ontario Ancestors annual conference. The survey will be open until midnight, Wednesday.
Take Our Survey Here!
Free Access Offers for Irish Records
 

Be sure to check for offers of free access to Irish records from the big three commercial genealogy sites!  Ancestry’s offer expires on March 18th at midnight.  MyHeritage’s offer is good until March 22ndFindmypast has announced exclusive new Irish records, including Waterford and Galway Poor Law Union records and Galway County Burials.   You can check them out with the free 14-day trial offer.
 
As well, FamilySearch.org is holding four classes/webinars on Irish genealogy research on St. Patrick’s Day – March 17th.  While you won’t be able to attend the classes live, the webinars should still go ahead.  As we all practice ‘safe genealogy’, here’s the link to the webinar schedule.
Toronto Branch Meeting Going ‘Virtual’
Gwyneth Pearce, Publicity – Toronto Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society

The March 2020 meeting of the Toronto Branch will feature a presentation by Jane MacNamara on Records of Migration and Settlement at the Archives of Ontario. Learn about the range of records that may contain valuable information about your ancestors’ immigration, naturalization and settlement – both government-generated records and those held in the fonds of individuals and organizations.  The meeting will begin at 7:30 pm.
 
In view of the cancellation of in-person meetings, the March meeting presentation will be available to members via Go To Webinar.  Log-in instructions will be sent to members’ email addresses.
 
If you’re not a member of Toronto Branch, you might want to consider signing up!
International Society for British Genealogy and Family History Presents a Commonwealth Virtual Institute
Niagara County Genealogical Society March Presentations
Carol DiPirro-Stipkovits, President
 
Join members of the Niagara County Genealogical Society on Saturday, March 28th at the North Tonawanda Public Library on Meadow Drive for two presentations on family history.
 
The first presentation, at 10:30 am, will cover Genealogy: Vital Records.  This presentation is geared towards those who are beginning their genealogy research and are interested in learning more about finding birth, marriage, and death records.  A variety of samples will be shared and resources given that you can use to track down vital records.
 
The second presentation, at 1:00 pm, is entitled “What is My Heritage?”  MyHeritage is one of the genealogy giants with a large
database of genealogical record collections.  The audience will be given a tour of the website including building a tree, searching records, accepting hints, and managing DNA.  There will also be door prizes from MyHeritage!
 
Both presentations will be given by Jeanette Sheliga, the Board Chairman and Society Vice President for the Niagara County Genealogical Society and the organizer of the North Tonawanda Library Genealogy Club.
 
All sessions are open to the public.  Visit the Society’s website to learn more.
Brant County Branch Volunteer wins Heritage Award
The St. George Lance
 
To kickoff Ontario Heritage Week, Brant’s Heritage Committee recognized residents for outstanding work preserving local heritage at an award ceremony on February 18th.  One of the recipients is a volunteer of many years and many contributions with Brant County Branch – Jean Farquharson.
 
Jean Farquharson has been an advocate of local history for many years. She contributed to research at the local branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, and is a valued member of the Canadian Industrial Heritage Centre.  She was the co-founder of the Grand River Heritage Mines Society, produced a number of posters and articles on the local gypsum mining industry, and authored the book Herons and Cobblestones.
Jean is seen here (third from left) in a group photo of recipients by Lin Geary.
 
Congratulations, Jean, from your many fans at Ontario Ancestors!
Church of England Announces Plans to Map All Burial Grounds
Rosemary Collins, Who Do You Think You Are Magazine
 
All Church of England burial ground records will be available to search within five years under an ambitious new laser-scanning survey scheme.
 
Insert illustration here Records of the burial grounds for two West Yorkshire churches – All Hallows’ Church in Kirkburton and Emmanuel Church in Shelley – are now available online, and the Church plans to survey all 15,000 burial grounds by 2025.
 
Nick Edmonds, the Church of England’s senior media officer, said: “It’s a system that has potential for enormous growth and future usage.  It can help people with their family history and accessing burial grounds that they didn’t know about before."
 
Staff from surveying company Atlantic Geomatics surveyed the graveyard space using a laser and camera.  This produces a more accurate record of the churchyards than conventional written records.
 
The free online databases for each churchyard show a detailed map. Researchers can browse the map and search for names.  Each burial record includes the name of the deceased, their burial date, their age at death and a photograph of the grave.
 
The Church is now in the process of securing several million pounds in funding to carry out in-depth surveys of all its burial grounds and make the databases available via the online Church Heritage Record.
 
Editor’s Note:  To read more of this story, visit the whodoyouthinkyoaremagazine.com site here!

 
Updates from Our Favourite Bloggers
 

In Finding Your Canadian Story Candice McDonald blogged about Early Alberta Newspapers Online.  Check it out here!
 
Lorine McGinnis Schulze of Olive Tree Genealogy posted “Don’t Put it Off!  Organize and Scan your Family Photos”, which includes six articles on organizing a major scanning project.  You can find the links to the other articles by visiting the current blog post here!
 
Gail Dever posted about the new Québec family histories available in the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ).  Check out the post here!
 
Dick Eastman writes in Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter about Findmypast’s recent addition of Women’s Records.  You can read the post here!
 
Canada’s Anglo-Celtic Connections blogger John D. Reid posted a notice about Irish Records on Ancestry.
Calling High School and College Students!
 
If you are a student in Ontario in Grades 11 or 12, or a full-time university or college student, could you use some extra money?
 
Ontario Ancestors has two essay competitions, one aimed at high school students and the other at university/college students, each with a prize of $500.00. 
 
All the details are available here! So what are you waiting for?  Competitions close April 1st.

If you're NOT a student, please pass this suggestion on to one you know!  We're sure they could make good use of the money!

My Account Page

 

The Society recognizes the importance of every Family Historian to be able to manage and know what their personal information is being used for. With this the Society continues to develop the "My Account" Page, where you can change things like your address, email address and reset your password. - Click here to learn more.

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS

 


Tues., Mar. 17th - St. Patrick's Day
Thurs., Mar. 19th - First Day of Spring - BRING IT ON!
Thurs., Mar. 19th - World Storytelling Day


March is Women's History Month


Are there heritage events happening in your community?  Send them in to eweekly@ogs.on.ca and we'll put them on our Calendar!

For additional genealogy events, visit the Society's Global Calendar here!
FREE WEBINAR:  Blythe Koreen - How to Trace Your Family History Using the Archives of Ontario's Collections
Thursday, April 2nd - 7:00 PM ET

This webinar will give an overview of the various genealogical resources available in the Archives of Ontario’s holdings. Blythe will look at potential sources of information in both government and private records and advise on the best way to access them.
 
Check out our Global Events Calendar on the our website to see the meetings and events coming up soon. If your Branch or SIG has an event that you wish to advertise, please include it in the calendar.  Many of our events are webcast so you do not have to live nearby in order to attend.
 
Some Branches also stream their monthly meetings and speakers’ presentations. Check out your favourite Branch/SIG website for further information, and if they offer this service, be sure to watch them from the comfort of your own computer!
Missed an issue of eWeekly? Click here to read previous editions of eWeekly.
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Copyright © 2020 The Ontario Genealogical Society. All rights reserved.
eWeekly Update newsletter is distributed by email to all members of Ontario Ancestors (The Ontario Genealogical Society), and to others upon request. The newsletter includes information about us, our activities, updates on genealogical initiatives, event and meeting notices, resource opportunities, and heritage information from across the province and around the world. The opinions expressed by contributors to eWeekly Update are not necessarily those of the Society, its officers, Board of Directors or of the editors. We do not endorse the claims of any advertisements, commercial offers, or third-party products, however we may on occasion earn a fee or commission related to commercial offers advertised herein.
 
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