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Canada Day!
Patti Mordasewicz, Editor, eWeekly Update
Canadians will have a lot to reflect upon this Canada Day, as we learn the incomprehensible truths of the Residential Schools system that operated in this country for more than 100 years. The recent discoveries of burial grounds on the sites of two former residential schools in British Columbia and Saskatchewan have confirmed the statements of residential school survivors and their families about the inhumane treatment of Indigenous peoples in the country we call home.
Chief Cadmus Delorme of the Cowessess First Nation noted that “removing a headstone is a crime in this country” and that the burial site on his First Nation land is being treated as a crime scene. The First Nation is now working towards putting names to the graves. Chief Delorme went on to say “All we ask of all of you listening is that you stand by us as we heal and we get stronger. And that we must put down our ignorance and accidental racism of not addressing the truth that this country has with Indigenous people.”
As we all try to understand these truths, we need to be mindful that this legacy is lived daily in Indigenous peoples and that, as Chief Delorme said, “Canada is addressing the surface of the many pains that we endure, and the bureaucracy of the government of Canada and the province have a lot of work yet to do.” So, too, do we as citizens of this country, have a lot of work to do to heal the wounds of centuries.
As we reflect on what it means to be Canadian, let us also focus on the positive contributions to our country made by everyone - First Nations, Métis, Inuit, settlers, refugees, immigrants – all have contributed to the fabric of our country. We can't undo the wrongs that have been done, but we can ensure that we learn from them and that we don't perpetuate or repeat them.
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Help Find Great-Uncle George!
Vivid-Pix has a fun new Genealogy Whodunit Mystery Game
that is free to play!
Learn genealogy research and Vivid-Pix tips & tricks!
Those who successfully complete the challenge can enter to win great prizes, including a weekend in New York City, London or $1,000 USD, and photo gifts!
SOLVE THE MYSTERY!
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 Vernon’s Directories Digitization Project Ready to Resume Work
As one of the three parties involved in the Vernon’s Directories’ Digitization Project, Ontario Ancestors is happy to share the news that FamilySearch has identified Canadian volunteers who are ready to resume work at LAC on the Vernon's Directories project. Sourcing the volunteers within Canada means that they won’t have to worry about cross-border restrictions. We are hopeful that Library and Archives Canada will be able to allow this work to resume on-site shortly. We’ll keep you posted.
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Archives of Ontario Shares Photos to Wikimedia Commons
Delany Sweep, Archives of Ontario
The Archives of Ontario recently uploaded 64 photos from the George Irwin fonds to Wikimedia Commons.
The George Irwin fonds is a great resource documenting the history and people of Gore Bay and Manitoulin Island in the 1900s. The photographs include studio portraits of individuals and families from the area, as well as images showcasing activities during the period such as baseball games, hockey, sleigh rides, barn raising, etc.
 The uploaded images can be accessed here. We hope to upload more images from our holdings in the future. (COVID-19 has limited staff access to original records in our vaults.)
The Irwin fonds bulk upload is part of our GLAM Wiki project. Like many other Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums (GLAMs) across the globe, we’re enhancing our presence in the Wiki ecosystem by sharing digital materials on Wikimedia Commons, encouraging editors to use our resources for writing articles and improving metadata, and other forms of collaboration.
We’re hoping that these bulk image uploads will make our records more accessible to researchers. We also hope it will encourage community members to provide information to improve image descriptions (individuals’ names, places, etc.) and to embed the images in appropriate Wikipedia articles.
The Archives of Ontario would love to hear from any readers who might have additional information about these images, such as identification of people or places, not only for the George Irwin fonds but any of our other uploads on Wikimedia Commons, like the Alvin D. McCurdy fonds (southwestern Ontario), the William Hampden Tener fonds (Fort Frances), and the Bartle Brothers fonds (eastern Ontario).
If you want to get in touch with Delaney, please send us your contact information at eweekly@ogs.on.ca and we’ll pass it on.
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 Canadians Embrace Ancestry Through Food
Ancestry.ca
A new survey reveals 67% of Canadians feel family recipes bring them closer to their heritage, and almost half are concerned family history will be lost if recipes aren't passed down!
Ahead of Food Day Canada, a new Leger Marketing[i] survey, conducted on behalf of Ancestry®, the global leader in family history, reveals that seven in ten Canadians state their most memorable family moments involve home-cooked meals and eating together. However, almost half (44%) of Canadians feel that part of their family history will be lost if family recipes are not passed down.
Food heritage is one of the first and most prominent traditions passed down from previous generations, with nearly three quarters (72%) of Canadians saying that they first learned to cook at home with their parents or grandparents. In fact, according to the Ancestry survey, 67% still cook at least one recipe that has been passed down by another family member and 58% feel family recipes give insight into how their ancestors lived.
Food Day Canada on July 31st is an annual celebration of Canadian food and a time for Canadians to share their food stories with each other. With this in mind, Ancestry is encouraging Canadians to explore their own family recipes, cultural food traditions and the stories that come with them. Family recipes are a window to the past and can serve as a crucial starting point for journeys of personal discovery.
 Lesley Anderson, family historian for Ancestry, credits her family “Cookery Book” as the catalyst for her foray into the world of family history. The well-loved recipe book, written in 1907 by her Great Aunt Mary Elizabeth Carr, was gifted to Anderson by her mother at the age of 21.
Photo: Mary Elizabeth Carr (right) and her sisters, Florence Helena Parkin Carr (center), Dora Alton Carr (left).
“Holding an item that is over 100 years old and knowing that my ancestors also held the Cookery Book and made these recipes is so poignant for me. Recipes and cookery books can be really meaningful family heirlooms, connecting you to your heritage and providing you with the opportunity to bring the stories of your family to life through cooking the same food they once made and shared.”
 The Cookery Book holds some of Lesley’s favourite recipes, including a traditional scone recipe passed down from her ancestors in the UK. On the Ancestry.ca website, Lesley has been able to attach pictures of the Cookery Book and its recipes to her digital family tree, allowing her family members who also have access to the tree to find inspiration for their next meal or simply learn more about their ancestors.
Photos provided by Lesley Anderson.
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With the continuation of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Simcoe County Branch Executive will offer online webinars utilizing the Zoom platform. Both members & non-members are welcome.
SAT. JULY 3, 2021 2:00 to 3:00
Speaker: Ken McKinlay
Topic: Chipping Away at the Brickwall
We all have them ... those ancestors that we just can't find, those so-called brickwalls. Ken will be talking about the various challenges faced and methodologies that can be used to help you find those answers, including working around our own assumptions, and resources to look at for help.
You will need to Register by going to the Events tab on the Simcoe County Branch Meetings web page
(https://simcoe.ogs.on.ca/branch-meetings/), or our Facebook site (https://www.facebook.com/groups/827393414004460/) for information about other online events until we can meet in person again. We hope you will be able to join us virtually.
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MyHeritage Offers Free Access to Immigration and Travel Records
Daniel Horowitz, Genealogy Expert, MyHeritage
 I’m happy to share that MyHeritage is offering free access to all immigration and travel records from June 24–28, 2021.
The Immigration & Travel records on MyHeritage encompasses 57 collections with 181 million historical records from all over the world. They include passenger arrival records, naturalization records, border crossings, emigration records, passports, and convict transportation records.
These records are often pivotal for genealogists, because discovering details on exactly where your ancestors were from can help you understand where to look for additional records on their childhoods and their families in the old country. Normally, most of these records are free to search, but can only be fully accessed by MyHeritage users with a Data or Complete plan. From today until June 28th, anyone will be able to access them free of charge. Read more about MyHeritage’s immigration and travel records in the blog post.
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Oshawa Museum Virtual Cemetery Tour
Lisa Terech, Community Engagement, Oshawa Museum
WHAT: Join the Oshawa Museum for a virtual, pre-recorded tour of Oshawa's Union Cemetery, and afterwards, Lisa, our Community Engagement co-ordinator, will be live for a Q & A. The theme of the tour is Oshawa Street Name Stories.
WHEN: Saturday, July 3rd, 1:00 pm
WHERE: The talk is taking place via Zoom; tickets are available through Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/virtual-union-cemetery-tour-tickets-159677711333
OTHER: The cost to join this webinar is by donation ($5/person suggested).
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Huron County Branch Presentation
Deb McAuslan, Chair, Huron County Branch
Please join us on Wed, July 7th at 7:30 pm EDT for speaker Shawn Henshall. "The Forgotten Legend: The Life Story of John Wilson McLaren O.S.A. Canadian Artist, Illustrator & Actor "
Pre- register for this Zoom webinar at
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIpcOuurD8qG9c5mgv51mOaKm_l3a4Q5Imy
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Deep Histories, Deepening Connections: The UK and Ireland’s Lost Records
The National Archives
On 30 June 1922 the Public Record Office of Ireland (PROI) in Dublin was destroyed in the opening battle of the Irish Civil War. The ‘Record Treasury’ at the PROI, with its six floors of records dating back to the twelfth-century conquest, was entirely ruined.
On the 99th anniversary of this tragic event, The National Archives invites you to a virtual research showcase, run in conjunction with the Beyond 2022: Virtual Record treasury of Ireland project. Deep Histories link archival collections in Great Britain to those lost in 1922. Now Deepening Connections are driving an exciting collaboration to recover and reconstruct in fascinating detail much that was lost, facilitating next generation access to seven centuries’ of Ireland and Britain’s deeply connected histories.
The showcase will focus on the contribution of The National Archives and other UK memory institutions to the virtual reconstruction of the Public Record Office of Ireland. In a series of presentations and discussions it will:
- reveal the surprising stories behind medieval tax finance and the accounting scandals that led to centuries of Irish records being sent to England
- tackle the conservation challenges of providing access to pre-modern collections.
To see the full schedule, and to register for the event, click here.
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Land Registry Records Update
The Ministry is happy to announce that the residual land records have now been returned to three land records' offices. They are:
- LRO 8 – Dundas/Morrisburg
- LRO 43 – Peel/Brampton
- LRO 52 – Stormont/Cornwall
It is expected that more will be returned to the local offices within the next few months.
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Updates from our Favourite Bloggers
Dick Eastman at Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter posted Why Isn’t It Online?, in which he suggests a change in ‘publishing philosophy’! He also wrote Genealogy Society’s Guide to Building Simple, Low-Cost Web Sites.
Gail Dever at Genealogy à la carte wrote American Ancestors to host two Canadian-themed events. She also noted Former Librarian and Archivist of Canada Guy Berthiaume honoured with the title Librarian and Archivist of Canada Emeritus by LAC.
At The Hidden Branch, Tuesday’s Tip is about Irish census research. There was also a post about How to Organize a Virtual Family Reunion.
Candice McDonald at Finding Your Canadian Story told us about Locating Records with MemoryNS.
At Anglo-Celtic Connections John D. Reid gave us the LAC Co-Lab Updates for June. He also wrote How did Library and Archives Canada Rate in the 2020 Public Service Employee Survey. And he reported 100 Digital Files Added at Canadiana Héritage.
Kenneth Marks at The Ancestor Hunt asks Did You Know That Ancestry has 1,097 FREE Collections?
The National Archives (U.K.) will deliver four online presentations in July. Read about them here!
At Fortify Your Family Tree DiAnn Iamarino warbed us Don’t Believe Everything Your Ancestors Told You.
Lisa Louise Cooke’s Elevenses with Lisa on June 23rd was about How to Use Snaggit! You can view the recording and read the post here.
At Genealogy Stories Natalie offers us 8 Essential Elements to Create the Best Genealogy Research Plan.
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 Eldon House in London, ON Serves Tea on the Lawn
Brenna Ardiel, Interim Program Coordinator
Join us for afternoon tea on the beautiful lawns of Eldon House, overlooking the Thames River. This year, we are offering two options to delight our guests! Our light tea option is designed as a lighter snack, and our full tea option offers a more substantial assortment of sweet treats. Please note that due to health and safety limitations we are not able to accommodate savory items as in previous years. Seatings at 1:00 pm and 2:30 pm Wednesdays through Sundays from July 2nd through August 22nd.
Guests are required to purchase their tickets online in advance. For all the details, and to purchase tickets, visit our website https://eldonhouse.ca/product/summer-tea-program-2/
or call 519-661-5169.
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What’s New at The Big 4?
 In addition to the Free Access to Immigration and Travel Records (see article above), MyHeritage announced the addition of 10.7 million historical records across two collections from the Austrian Roman Catholic Church: Austria-Hungary, Roman Catholic Indexes, 1612–1966 and Austria, Vienna Catholic Church Records Index, 1585–1918. These records span four centuries and are not available on other commercial websites, making them invaluable for anyone seeking to learn more about their Austrian heritage. Read more about MyHeritage’s Austria and Eastern Europe records in the blog post.
 For anyone with Irish family heritage, this week’s additions include millions of brand new bill books, court registers and more! Findmypast is home to the largest collection of Irish family records online! New Irish records this week include Ireland, Petty Sessions Court Registers, Ireland, Court of Chancery Bill Books, Ireland, Court of Exchequer Bill Books. Other new additions include Scotland, Dumfries and Galloway Census & Population Lists. And this week’s Newspapers additions include Croydon Observer, Gorey Correspondent and Larne Reporter and Northern Counties Advertiser. You can check out all of these resources through their blog post here, and don’t miss the link to the YouTube presentation Your Irish Ancestors & the British Empire.
 Ancestry has added new records for New Hampshire (U.S. Prison Records) and updated Michigan records (U.S. Death Records) this week. You can check them out here. And check the Ancestry website on June 28th for news about access to Canadian collections for Canada Day!
 FamilySearch added one million new records to its Netherlands Vital Records Archival Indexes 1600–2000, plus 500,000 more for Canada, Ontario Tax Assessment Rolls 1834–1899, 800K for New Zealand Electoral Rolls 1865–1957 and one million more Catholic Church Records from El Salvador 1655–1977, Peru 1603–2016, and Venezuela 1577–1995.
Discover new US sources in Georgia Military Discharges ca.1890 – ca.1966, Washington, County Death Registers 1881–1979, and Wisconsin County Naturalization Records 1807–1992.
You can find the complete list of this week’s additions here.
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Library and Archives Canada Foundation Funds Purchase of 70 Contemporary Canadian Judaica Items
Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is the home of the Jacob M. Lowy Collection of old and rare Hebraica and Judaica. This national treasure includes more than 3,000 artifacts, from extremely rare 15th century early books (incunabula) and other printed material from that era, to the 20th century.
A rare opportunity to add to this substantial collection recently arose when 70 items not held by the Lowy Collection became available. Ranging over a century from 1906 on, these items fit extraordinarily well with the Lowy Collection’s current holdings. Published in English, Hebrew and Yiddish in Montréal, Toronto, Bracebridge (Ont.), Winnipeg, New York, Binghamton (N.Y.), Buenos Aires, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, they address cultural and educational issues for the Canadian Jewish community and beyond.
Moreover, this acquisition includes considerable examples of foreign and Canadian ephemera: written and printed materials not initially expected to be retained or preserved, and easily lost to time. This is precisely the kind of purchase that the Library and Archives Canada Foundation is delighted to have the opportunity to fund.
Most of the items acquired are publications with very small runs that tell the stories of individuals and moments in time, which would likely not have been preserved otherwise. By adding these items to the Lowy Collection, LAC, with the help of the LAC Foundation, is ensuring that the memory of these stories, people and moments will be everlasting.
For more information, read the press release here.
Canada Day Activities
Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is taking part in the Canada Day virtual celebrations again this year. Discover the many activities in the Canada Day Celebration Kit, and enter the Canada Day Contest for a chance to win prizes.
Test your geography skills with LAC’s Guess where? game by matching archival photos with the provinces or territories in which they were taken. Play alone, or with your family, or challenge your friends! The game is available in two versions, to keep the fun going.
Beyond the contents of the kit, we can also help you to learn more about Canada and appreciate its size, beauty and diversity:
- Read LAC’s blog posts about great Canadian symbols and the history of particular communities
- Listen to our Canada’s Flag: The Maple Leaf Forever podcast, which tells the story of the Canadian flag as we have known it over the past 56 years
- View the virtual album of the same name for archival images about our flag’s creation
On this 154th anniversary, LAC wishes all Canadians a happy and safe celebration. Happy Canada Day!
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Sat., June 26th – 10:00 am – Ottawa Branch Scottish Genealogy Group
Sat., June 26th – 1:00 pm – Ottawa Branch Presentation
Sat., June 26th – 3:00 pm – Ottawa Branch DNA Tools Workshop
Sun., June 27th – Canadian Multiculturalism Day
Mon., June 28th – 7:30 pm – Toronto Branch Presentation
Tues., June 29th – 2:00 pm – Ottawa Branch Virtual Genealogy Drop-In
Wed., June 30th – 10:00 am – Scottish SIG Presentation
Thurs., July 1st – Canada Day
Fri., July 2nd – World UFO Day
Sat., July 3rd – 2:00 pm – Simcoe County Branch Presentation
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FREE WEBINAR: Janice Nickerson
DATE: Thursday, July 8th at 7:00 pm EDT
Tracing 20th Century Ontarians
When tracing Ontario families we usually start with census records and civil registration. But these records are closed for most of the 20th century. So where do you start if your earliest known ancestor was born after 1921? Or maybe you’ve traced your ancestors, but now you want to find out what happened to their brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews? Don’t despair, not all 20th Century records are closed. In fact, if you know where to look, you can learn a great deal about your recent ancestors and relatives. This lecture will walk you step-by-step through my research process, introducing you to the records and strategies you need to peek behind the “closed” curtains of 20th Century Ontario. Using these tips, you’ll probably even learn something new about family members you thought you were done researching!
Professional genealogist Janice Nickerson loves a good challenge – whether it’s identifying illusive ancestors, tracking disappearing descendants or telling richer family stories. Her specialties include early Ontario research, criminal justice records and fur trade history.
For more information and to register, click here!
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Check out our Global Events Calendar on the our website to see the meetings and events coming up soon. During the pandemic all of the events listed will take place in an online environment.
Branch or SIG events will appear in the Calendar on the Ontario Ancestors website if it is included on the events calendar of the Branch/SIG website.
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Missed an issue of eWeekly? Click here to read previous editions of eWeekly.
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