Monday 29 August 2016

Notaries Public



One of the papers I found among my father's things was a letter from a notary in Victoria, BC to my grandfather in Verdun, Quebec. It was concerning the estate of my grandfather's uncle, James Mavor.  James' wife had died 4 years previously and they had no children, so he left his estate to my grandfather and his siblings.






The notary had attached a small clipping that Uncle James had, from the Weekly Scotsman about the name Mavor. The company does not exist any more so I am wondering what happened to the files? Something to add to my to-do list. 

The writing at the top right is by my grandmother's hand. They must have gone to BC to meet the notary, and I kinda remember them taking a road trip out west about that time. 

When my grandmother's sister Bessie was to marry Harry they signed a marriage contract. They used notaries Kittson, Reddy & Reddy of Montreal. 






In the past several years I have used notaries public when buying property, getting documents certified and to probate the estates of family members. 



Relevant Links






















Wednesday 24 August 2016

Ancestors in the British Navy



I recently started delving into my Frost ancestors from Moretonhampstead. According to Silvester Treleaven's Diary for the year 1800 -  Monday July 7th...
"An account was recv’d of the Death of Gilbert Frost, son of Mr. Gilbert Frost of this place, he died on board the Edgar 74 Guns off the coast of France."
I was trying to find out if he died during a battle, or from sickness, or what.  I don't know how long it took at that time to get the news.  According to the Medicina Nautica of 1803, in February and March of 1800 there was sickness aboard the Edgar.





In 1800 the Edgar was part of the Channel Fleet, blockading the French port of Brest.

I still haven't found any mention of Gilbert Frost.

Relevant Links

Navy Lists - 1800's

Navy Lists - 1900's 

Naval Chronicle

Medicina Nautica Vol 1, 1797

Medicina Nautica Vol 2, 1799

Medicina Nautica Vol 3, 1803







Related Posts:  Navy



Monday 22 August 2016

Ancestors in France


My readers must know by now that I love just googling around to see what pops up. Truth be told, that is how I get some of my inspiration for writing my blog posts. Sometimes I type in a name and an interesting topic will come up, so I try the same topic with another name and I get something completely different.  That's how it works for me.
Fluke!  Hahaha.

So I was trying out "Guimont(/d)", the ancestor of my children, and the name was mentioned in a book called Tourouvre et ses Souvenirs, 1912.



Tourouvre is where these Guimont ancestors immigrated from, so that piqued my interest right away. Near the bottom it states:
Antoine Le Fort, son of Jean and Francoise Creste, was baptized the 19 January 1624 at Eglise Saint-Aubin de Tourouvre, and he had for a godmother Mathurine Guimond. He was second to depart, but we lose track of him from that time.
Then trying out other areas in France where ancestors from my database were known to live, and using a variety of keywords, I came up with a few more publications. One of the searches took me to the BNF (Bibliothèque Nationale de France) where you may find more information and publications.

Maybe you will find some of your French ancestors in these pages.


Relevant Links



Dictionnaire historique et généalogique des famillesdu Poitou, France, Vol 1

Dictionnaire historique et généalogique des famillesdu Poitou, France, Vol 2

Dictionnaire historique et généalogique des famillesdu Poitou, France, Vol 3

Monographie sur la Commune de Coulimer, Orne, France 1900















Once in Canada check the Dictionnaire Généalogique des Familles Canadiennes.
Note: Always check the actual records against what is written in these books. 

Sunday 21 August 2016

Serendipity Sunday - Remarkable Shipwrecks and Naval Disasters



This week I have been taking a new direction in my research. I am looking into the descendants of my 9th great grandfather, Ambrose Frost born 1610 in Moretonhampstead (sometimes written Moreton Hampstead), Devon, England.

In so doing I came across a Gilbert Frost in this publication...






Fortunately Gilbert was not shipwrecked, but rather a name on the subscribers list for New York.  This gives me another avenue to follow.  Gilbert is a common name in the Frost Family and it looks like one of them immigrated to America. 

I do have a 5th great uncle Gilbert Frost that was in the Royal Navy.  According to Silvester Treleavens Diary, word was received in Moretonhampstead on July 7th 1800 that Gilbert died aboard the HMS Edgar (74 Guns) off the coast of France.





Monday 15 August 2016

Maritime Pilots



A marine pilot is a mariner who is licensed and knows how to guide a ship safely through the local waters. In Canada there are inland pilots like those who work the St Lawrence River, and coastal pilots that help big ships into their berth at ocean ports. Here is a definition and history at wikipedia.

The Marine and Fisheries part of the Sessional Papers of Canada has a section titled "Pilotage Authority".  For the year 1908 it is starting with Appendix 22.

There you will find pilotage rates, names of pilots licensed, pilot earnings, names of apprentices, those paid from the Decayed Pilot Fund including pensioners, widows and children (not all for all cities).




Some also report on the conduct of the pilots...




The Almanak of Montreal and Lower Canada has a list of pilots for the harbour.



Also check the Parliamentary Papers of Great Britain.


Relevant Links

Pilotage Authority Canada 1899

Pilotage Authority Canada 1901

Pilotage Authority Canada 1905

Pilotage Authority Canada 1906

Pilotage Authority Canada 1907

Pilotage Authority Canada 1908

Pilotage Authority Canada 1909





Info on Pilotage in the United States

South Australia - Pilotage 1883-1884



Relate Posts:  Masters and Mates 



Monday 1 August 2016

Brazil



My parents went to Rio, Brazil many years ago, in 1983.  They thought the Brazilian beef was the best they ever tasted! They visited the two major jewelers, H Stern and Amsterdam Sauer, and had an arranged tour of Seagram's factory where they make the bags for Crown Royal.


The Seagram's factory near Rio (Mom, far right)



They saw all the sights in the city of Rio and loved the beaches.  Here are some views from their hotel window.



Beach in the morning


Beach on Sunday


The beach at night 



With the 2016 Olympics to open in Rio this week, I thought it was a good time to give you some links to publications relating to Brazil.


Relevant Links

The Beautiful Rio de Janiero, 1914











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