Wednesday 31 May 2017

Canada 150 - Civil Service List of 1890





During our country's 150th anniversary celebration of confederation I will write posts titled Canada 150 with a link to a publication or website I find that may help you tell the story of your Canadian ancestors.
Click on the Canada 150 label on the right or at the bottom to see all the posts.

Today I have for you...


The Civil Service List of Canada 1890

Sessional Papers of 1891


... showing name, date of appointment, date of promotion, birth date and salary of civil servants, including those who worked for

Department of Justice Penitentiary branches, Department of Military and Defense, Department of Interior (Surveys, Land board, etc), North West Mounted Police, Customs, Post Office, Railways and Canals etc... 


Not everyone who works at the penitentiary is a guard...


...there are also chaplains and instructors, and the storekeeper, surgeon, miller, etc. 


There is an Index of Names for easy searching.



 Relevant Links






Monday 29 May 2017

May He Rest in Peace



Your beloved ancestor dies. A plot is purchased and the funeral arrangements made. After a mournful service in the church the loved one is interred in the family plot and soon the headstone, chiseled with his name and dates and perhaps a sentiment or verse from the Bible, will be placed to mark the place where he lies.  May he rest in peace.

.... or not!

I found a Find-a-Grave memorial for a cousin, George King, died in 1888 at 19 years of age and buried in Section C of the Cheltenham Cemetery in Port Adelaide, South Australia. This is his obituary...





Like I hopefully do with all my ancestor memorials, I requested a photo of the gravestone. Imagine my surprise when I received this reply:
Problem reported.. specifically:
Unfortunately George's gravesite has now been repurchased by another family. His remains have been moved to a corner of the site, but all that remains on the site is the headstone for the new interment, Anthony Ciantor. I have taken a photo and added it to Anthony's memorial # 100220191
Anthony Ciantor died in 2008.
I am now checking George's other family members to see if they have been put in a corner also, and have written a message to the Cemetery Authority to ask about this practice.
No reply as yet.


Update: From the Adelaide Cemeteries Authority
The tenure of an Interment Right, formally known as a Lease, Grant or Licence varies from cemetery to cemetery. The Adelaide Cemeteries Authority offers an initial tenure period of 50 or 99 years. Interment Rights can be renewed at any time during the tenure period. The minimum renewal period is 5 years.
If the Interment Right Holder or other interested party chooses not to renew, or a minimum period of 2 years has elapsed since notice was given and the interment right has not been renewed, ownership of the sites reverts to the Adelaide Cemeteries Authority. At this point in time, the site may be re-used in accordance with the Burial and Cremation Act 2013.
Check with your ancestor's cemetery to see if the rules say you buy the plot in perpetuity, or lease the plot for a set time with options to renew.


Another strange occurrence was with my 2x great uncle Horace Porter. That's the poor guy who was hit on the head with a brick during a tramway strike and spent the next 45 years in an insane asylum. When he died this notice was placed in the Montreal Gazette:



I contacted the Mount Royal Cemetery requesting a burial location, and I received this reply:
Name: Horace Melvin Porter
He was removed from the cemetery on May 20th, 1948 and his final disposition is unknown. 
When I later got a photo of his parents' gravestone, I see Horace was (possibly) buried with them in the family plot in Kirkdale, Quebec. His sister, my great grandmother, who visited him every week for 45 years would have seen to that. 


Porters, Kirkdale Cemetery, Quebec



My 2x great grandfather John Seale's first wife, Sarah died in 1834 and was buried in the Milton Family Burial Ground (Pittsburgh, Ontario) located by the river on the Milton property, right next door to the Seale's lot. John's son Henry David, who died in 1859 at 3 years 8 months was also buried there, as were his in-laws the Hunters. Cataraqui Cemetery opened in 1850 and in 1874 the remains of Sarah, Henry and the Hunters were moved there to a newly purchased family plot. Later, in 1958, John's son Charles was also moved to Cataraqui from Milton. 


Seale and Hunter Memorial, Cataraqui Cemetery


Some of my Lancashire ancestors are buried in the c1236 cemetery of St James Church in Stalmine.  You will not find the gravestones walking around the cemetery, because in 1973 they were removed, cleaned and embedded in a new wall to make it easier to keep the cemetery neat. There was estimated that over 3000 people were buried in this small cemetery just between 1583 and 1724, and even more until closing to burials around 1899. In the year 2000 the Church of England offered parishes a yew tree, cuttings from a 2000 year old yew at St Mary's on Hampshire's Hayling Island. St James accepted.


Info and photo sent to me by the clerk of St James, Stalmine.



Then comes Dora. Dora Porter was my 2x great aunt and the sister of Horace.  Dora died in 1943 in Philadelphia, in a home for the indigent. She had beloved parents that had died more than 20 years before. Dora had a loving husband that died in 1936 and was buried in Mt Peace Cemetery.  None of this was noted on her death certificate.
Father... unknown. Mother... unknown.  Husband... unknown.
The informants signature is that of a city desk clerk. Dora was aged 72 and they wrote her cause of death as hemiplegiageneralized arteriosclerosis due to senility.
Place of burial: Anatomical Board??


¹From Pennsylvania Cadaver Receiving Books for 1943

Her body was given to medical research. I would think that if she was senile and didn't know her parents or husband's name, she was surely not able to sign for this? Was there even a burial afterwards?  Was there anything left to bury? Those were my first questions.

Researching further I discovered that according to the Pennsylvania Anatomy Act of 1883 (to deter grave robbing) the state was given the right to use unclaimed bodies for medical research. When Dora died she did have 7 siblings still living, but perhaps due to her senility was unable to tell anyone.

Anatomical Board Cadaver Receiving Books may be found in city archives with Department of Health records.

If you have insights into any of these situations, or if you have an ancestor who was not left buried - we would love to hear about it.


May they all rest in peace!


Relevant Links

History of the Anatomy Act of Pennsylvania, pdf









¹Source:
Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission
Record Group 11, Records of the Department of Health
Series 11.45, Cadaver Receiving Books, 1901-1965. 



Saturday 27 May 2017

Canada 150 - The Catholic Church in Ontario





During our country's 150th anniversary celebration of confederation I will write posts titled Canada 150 with a link to a publication or website I find that may help you tell the story of your Canadian ancestors.
Click on the Canada 150 label on the right or at the bottom to see all the posts.

Today I have for you...


The Catholic Church in Ontario





Publication for London, Ontario has list of clergy and a list of marriages 1849-1856.





The publication for Waterloo County has lists of some early settlers and donors.





Relevant Links





Friday 26 May 2017

High Fives - May 26, 2017




~by Patricia Greber at My Genealogy Life
Invaluable tips Patricia shares from her recent trip to Ireland.
   

~by Jana Last at Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog
Arrgh why did I toss all my old matchbooks?  You just never know what won’t be produced anymore and become collectible. Can’t wait to see what Jana creates with them.


~by Donna Moughty at Donna’s Irish Genealogy Resources
Donna thoroughly explains about the censuses in Ireland.


~by Lorine McGinnis Schulze at Olive Tree Genealogy
Is there an unrelated person that pops up in the life of your ancestors (or as in Lorine’s case, in your life) that you want to find more about?
For me it was Hannah Meade, who lived with my 2 great grandparents since she was about 3 yrs old. It took some digging but I finally solved that mystery. 


A Deadly Term
~by Judy G Russell at The Legal Genealogist
Hahaha you learn something new every day!


~by Mike Cummings at Yale News
“The digitized programs, which span more than 90 years, are from the Yale School of Drama and Yale Repertory Theatre Ephemera Collection..”
Anyone can contribute by logging in to their website, Yale affiliation is not required.
Try it! It's easy to transcribe and kinda fun.




Wednesday 24 May 2017

Canada 150 - Pelagic Sealing Dispute






During our country's 150th anniversary celebration of confederation I will write posts titled Canada 150 with a link to a publication or website I find that may help you tell the story of your Canadian ancestors.
Click on the Canada 150 label on the right or at the bottom to see all the posts.

Today I have for you...


Pelagic Sealing Dispute



What is Pelagic Sealing? According to the document in the 1919 Sessional Papers...
"The term pelagic sealing is defined, for the purpose of this convention, as meaning the killing, capturing or pursuing in any manner whatever, of fur seals at sea." 
They further add that Pelagic comes from the Greek word "pelagos" meaning ocean.

This paper arose from an investigation begun 10 June 1913 by Louis Arthur Audette, Assistant Judge to the Exchequer Court of Canada, into claims by Canadian pelagic sealers of the North Pacific who feel they sustained losses by the Pelagic Sealing Treaty of 1911 (start of preservation of seals) between Canada, the United States, Russia and Japan, and the regulations under the Paris Treaty of 1893.



The Schedules with different classes of claimants names begin at the 278 mark (pg 14 of Paper No.79)




Most claimants are aboriginals from British Columbia, with a few claimants from Nova Scotia.



Relevant Links


Pelagic Sealing Commissioners Report, 1919 Sessional Papers (Mark 264 - 326)

Behering Sea Award Act 1894

Fur Seal Treaty of 1911 (from NOAA)



Monday 22 May 2017

The Red Cross Databases and Reports




The British Red Cross, Australian Red Cross, and the International Committee of the Red Cross have online databases. I pointed this out to the Canadian Red Cross and they replied, “I have forwarded on your email to our website team so they can look into this process.” I'm not holding my breath, but I may bug them about this from time to time. I also sent them the link to funding guidelines from LAC.... you never know!






The Red Cross not only supplied nurses and medical supplies during times of war, but they visited Prisoner of War camps to give the inmates food packets and clothing and helped with letters to and from home. They tried to see that prisoners were treated with humanity. 






Relevant Links















Related Posts at Red Cross




Sunday 21 May 2017

Canada 150 - North British Society of Halifax, Nova Scotia





During our country's 150th anniversary celebration of confederation I will write posts titled Canada 150 with a link to a publication or website I find that may help you tell the story of your Canadian ancestors.
Click on the Canada 150 label on the right or at the bottom to see all the posts.

Today I have for you...

North British Society of Halifax, Nova Scotia





The North British Society is the oldest Scottish heritage society outside of Great Britain. It was established "for the benefit of ourselves and assistance of each other, who may be afflicted with disease or any other casualty or misfortune."






The Society is still going strong today and is called The Scots.



Relevant Links

Friday 19 May 2017

High Fives - May 19, 2017





Presbyterian Church Records in Ireland
~by Donna Moughty at Donna's Irish Genealogy Resources
Another informative church records post from Donna. Also, if you are planning a research trip to Ireland, look under the heading 2018 Research trips... Donna gives good tips and advice for travelers.


Uncovering the UK's Deaf Heritage
~by Heritage Fund Lottery, UK
It appears that all the women in my line start going deaf after menopause. I can't imagine not hearing anything all your life. Here is my post from Feb 2016 on Schools for the Deaf & Blind. 


April Sales and e-waste recyling
~by Martin Gregory at Things I find in the garbage
It always amazes me to see what the trashman gets for the items he finds and sells.


Innovative images:  The Glasgow Photographic Association
~by Sarah Hepworth at University of Glasgow Library Blog
Photograph societies are a good source for photographer ancestors as well as new techniques and photos of the day. Check out other Photographic Clubs of the day.


A purple pursuit
~by Isobella Whitworth at The National Archives Blog, UK
Her journey and love of dyestuffs started with the colour purple.  A fascinating read. Hmmmm... gives me an idea for a blog post. Stay tuned!


~by John D Reid at Canada’s Anglo-Celtic Connections
There are 2 Seales named in this database, and my line is said to have descended from Comwellian times.



Oops - I had saved the link to this one on facebook and then forgot about it...

~by Jim Shaughnessy at Find my Past Blog
I have come across some Latin abbreviations in records and my high school Latin didn't help me there.  Keep this handy!




Wednesday 17 May 2017

Canada 150 - Graduates, Yearbooks and School News





During our country's 150th anniversary celebration of confederation I will write posts titled Canada 150 with a link to a publication or website I find that may help you tell the story of your Canadian ancestors.
Click on the Canada 150 label on the right or at the bottom to see all the posts.

Today I have for you...


Graduates, Yearbooks and School News




All across Canada Universities and Colleges are finishing their terms for the summer, and graduates are ordering their yearbooks.


Relevant Links


Graduates of McGill 1890,1895,1897

Yearbooks of McGill and Macdonald

University of Toronto Register of Graduates 1879-1890

Victoria College, Toronto

Bishop's College School, Lennoxville

Calendar of Queen's University and College, Kingston

Nova Scotia Technical College

Calendar St Francis Xavier University, NS

Victoria College, BC















Monday 15 May 2017

WWI Canadian Navy Records



The Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve was established in May 1914 and started recruiting in many cities across Canada.



My paternal grandmother's brother, Wilfred Tait enlisted in the Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve on 1 Sept 1917 at the age of 20.

In 1917 many ships did not make it out of England's ports but were sunk by German U-boats (submarines). The allies rallied and sent submarine chasers to hunt the u-boats so ships could travel to and fro, and escorting ships bearing troops and supplies for the war. The u-boats also menaced the waters of the Canadian Maritimes.
The Naval Reserves were called to action.





Wilfred applied to the Government Radiotelegraph Service on 12 October 1917 and this week I received his service record and ledger sheet. He already had some telegraphist training and could operate at 14 words per minute in the Continental Code.




Wilfred was now a W/T (Wireless Telegraphist) Learner of the Royal Naval Canadian Volunteer Reserve (RNCVR) and sent for training on the HMCS Niobe. The Niobe was one of the first two ships of the Canadian Navy and in 1917 was a headquarters used for training.





On the 10 June 1918 Wilfred was promoted to a Class 4 W/T Operator. His rank was Warrant Officer. All personnel were to swear an Oath of Allegiance.






On 11 July 1918  Wilfred was assigned to the HMCS Seagull, a patrol depot boat. There were several boats attached to the Seagull and Wilfred was on the HMCS CD-49 (a naval drifter) as Officer in Charge from July 11 to October 25...





 ...then on the HMCS Loos (a battle class trawler) from October 26 to December 23.
December 24th he was assigned back to the Niobe and was there until he was demobilized at Canso DF Station, NS on 15 July 1919.






Ordering the Records:

LAC assured me they will be digitizing these records at some later-to-be-determined date, but I couldn't wait!

Clicking on the Navy link of the First World War section we see what records they hold at LAC. Wilfred Tait didn't stay in after the war, so I am concerned with only the first two parts.
  • Service Ledger Sheets for the Royal Canadian Navy and the Naval Reserve (RG150, 1992-93/170)
  • Service Files (RG24, 1992-93/169)
Click on the link for the Service Ledger Sheets and we get an explanation about them and a database search to see if our ancestor is listed. The ledger sheet is almost the same as a document in the service file, and details the dates of promotions and the name of ships he served on. I typed in the surname Tait and there he was, listed with three other unknown-to-me Taits. 

To see if there is a service file, go to the Advanced Search and type in 24-167 and the surname - so I typed in 24-167 tait. And there he is with six other unknown Taits.

Now I had all the information I needed to order the copies.

To order copies of the navy service records I went to the Library and Archives Canada Order Form page to do an online application.  After agreeing to both terms, next page must choose Textual Documents.  I chose to get emailed digital copies of the records. Fill in as much info as you can from the info just gathered.  Next page I filled in my personal information. Down the page is *Method of Payment... Check the box that is for the General Public (unless you happen to work for the government and have the codes). Submit. They assessed the file then sent me an invoice for the copies.  Once they received payment by credit card they emailed me the file in a PDF. I received 42 pages* for a total of $13.78. I sent a separate request for the Service Ledger Sheet and that was a whopping 13¢.  It is almost the same as the Naval Signal document in the service file. Each one only took less than 3 weeks from ordering to receiving. 

There are ships logs at LAC (equivalent of war diaries), but that are not yet digitized, you would have to go to LAC to view them.

In this search and discovery you will find that some Navy terms are different from the CEF and the list of Abbreviations Used in Military Records will come in handy.

Note* Some pages are the back of a document that have a date stamp on it, an envelope, a small slip with his name on it, etc.. Apparently some files contain photographs, my file did not. Drat!



Relevant Links

The Canadian Navy List, 1918 pdf

The Navy

Service Ledger Sheets

Search Navy service files

Search Ships Logs

File Order Form




Sunday 14 May 2017

Canada 150 - The Canadian Navy





During our country's 150th anniversary celebration of confederation I will write posts titled Canada 150 with a link to a publication or website I find that may help you tell the story of your Canadian ancestors.
Click on the Canada 150 label on the right or at the bottom to see all the posts.

Today I have for you...


The Canadian Navy








The last link below is for Royal Canadian Navy History - it is a website with tons of photos sent in by sailors or their families. Most are WWII but some are from WWI or before, and some more recent. Make sure to click the various History Section links as there are sortable crew lists of some ships. Fabulous if you have navy ancestors! Take some time and look around.


Relevant Links

Canadian Navy List 1918 (PDF, Search Ctrl+f)





Friday 12 May 2017

High Fives - May 12, 2017




Grief? There's an App for That
~by Farah Mohammed at Jstor Daily
When we get to an age we have all gone through the pain of losing a loved one. Would you do what Eugenia did?  Would it help or hurt? I think everyone deals with death in their own way, and for me doing this would just delay the day of acceptance. What do you think?


~by Martin Gregory at Things I Find in the Garbage
What a find! A box full of old photographs!! Does anyone recognize the people in these photos found in Montreal?
Update: Gail Dever wrote about this article on her blog Genealogy à la carte.


~by Marian B Wood at Climbing my Family Tree
Ask and you shall receive! I too have found that most people want to help. Today's technology makes this so much easier and quicker. My recent helper was a librarian who snail-mailed me a copy of a newspaper article. I have had a church clerk send the custodian out to take photos of a tombstone for me. The archivist for a group of nuns sent me all the info (much more than I had hoped) for my husband's Aunt Nun.
You never know... so just ask!!


~by Andy D Gilbert at University of Glasgow Library
I can imagine my grandfather recovering from his wounds and thinking about his brother and friends who didn't make it.


~by Melanie Mayo on Family History Daily
I found this to be true on some of my Canadian death certificates also. I now have the code page bookmarked.  Thanks Melanie!   




Wednesday 10 May 2017

Canada 150 - Boards of Trade





During our country's 150th anniversary celebration of confederation I will write posts titled Canada 150 with a link to a publication or website I find that may help you tell the story of your Canadian ancestors.
Click on the Canada 150 label on the right or at the bottom to see all the posts.

Today I have for you...

The Boards of Trade




The Board of Trade (or Chamber of Commerce) is a network of merchants and companies that unite to promote the businesses of a country, province or town. They usually have benefits for members. You can check for Board of Trade or Chamber of Commerce reports in local or provincial libraries.




At one time I was a director of the Chamber of Commerce in our small village. We organized the annual festival and the yearly village garage sale which drew people from all over the province and from neighbouring US towns.



Relevant Links



















Monday 8 May 2017

Dedicated to the people worldwide battling flood waters



This year there is more devastation from floods than ever - in Canada, the USA, Indonesia, Peru, Australia, Dominican Republic... Yesterday I spent the whole day watching from afar the citizens of my hometown in Quebec try to save their homes, it is heartbreaking. Not just working around the clock to try to keep the waters out of their homes, but to think what they will have to face after. Some homes have been sitting in water since mid April and it is expected to get worse before it gets better.





Here are accounts of historic floods.



Some of the reports contain names of people who lost lives or property.





Relevant Links

The Flood List























Sunday 7 May 2017

Canada 150 - National Nurses Week - May 8-14, 2017





During our country's 150th anniversary celebration of confederation I will write posts titled Canada 150 with a link to a publication or website I find that may help you tell the story of your Canadian ancestors.
Click on the Canada 150 label on the right or at the bottom to see all the posts.

Today I have for you...

Celebrating Canadian Nurses





Next week May 8-14, 2017 is National Nurses Week and I have a few nurses in my family. Nurses are on the front lines of medicine just as soldiers are on the front lines of war, and I would like to thank them for their service! With a shortage of doctors in Canada more and more people (like me) have a Nurse Practitioner instead of a doctor.

The periodical The Canadian Nurse started in 1905 and various issues contain names, graduates, portraits, appointments, etc. Each volume holds issue numbers for that year. Check out Personals or Names in each number.




... some have birth, marriage and death notices...




...and this volume has military appointments in 1908




Volume 1 No.2 has names of charter members, and names of graduates who attended Toronto Hospital Training School for Nurses, and where in the world they are now. 

The nurses named in these periodicals are from all over Canada with some from the US, England and other countries.

In Montreal the McGill University School for Graduate Nurses (now the School of Nursing) was established in 1920 and you may find some graduate photos in McGill Yearbooks



Relevant Links







Note:  I can't leave without mentioning that when my brother was dying of cancer we would not have been able to keep him at his home without the help of the fabulous nurses and care workers at Cochrane Home Care. Check out the Hospice Palliative and End-of-Life Care Services in your community. 


Related Posts:  Nurses



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