Tuesday 25 December 2018

12 Days of Ancestors




I am going to try the 12 Days of Ancestors Challenge.  It may get a little tricky when I get to drummers and pipers, but we'll give it a whirl.

I am doing them on my Challenges blog... first one is here... 

#12DaysofAncestors - Day 1

You can follow daily using the link under Series in the right column. 
There will be a badge for those that finish it. 


Merry Christmas to All
Dianne

Tuesday 4 December 2018

12 Days of Christmas Ancestors






If you didn't have time to do 25 days of Advent posts, 
how about trying 12 Days of Christmas Ancestors?


The 12 Days of Christmas is the span between the birth of Christ and the arrival of the magi. So starts Christmas day December 25, and ends January 5th, with Epiphany on the 6th. If you wish you can start December 26 and end January 6th. 

So the rule would be to match an ancestor to one of the gifts of the poem (song) "The 12 Days of Christmas". I like this old version, but you can use whichever you want. 




You can check out my last year posts of 12 Days of Christmas for inspiration, but you can interpret the gifts any way you like to fit with your ancestors.

I will be doing this, something to do in the quiet after the hustle and bustle of the holidays, and hope many of you will join me. I look forward to reading your interpretations of the song. Some of them look a little tricky! 

Are you up for the Challenge? Let's use hashtag #12DaysOfAncestors

You can download the list of links from all the 12 days here



Friday 30 November 2018

Irish DNA Registry



I can see how DNA testing and looking for matches can become addicting. For me the fourth try was a winner (first three samples were no good for testing) and I received my results yesterday. I have been on the computer ever since, contacting matches and being contacted by others.  







If you are having trouble finding your ancestors in Ireland, read on...


After only barely glancing at matches I uploaded my raw data to whoever would take me... GEDmatch, My Heritage (**you now have until Dec 15 to upload FREE), Living DNA, and Family Tree DNA (*updated)

I was waiting for results to specifically upload to GEDmatch so I could join the FaceBook group... Irish DNA Registry. It is a closed group and you can only join once you have your GEDmatch number. There are now over 7500 members, all with ancestral ties to Ireland. 

Once you join you are instructed how to upload your GEDmatch matches to their Matchbox program where your results are compared with others in the program and you will see all your matches with Irish Ancestors. Although... technically you could both be looking for Irish ancestors but match in Scotland or England. It happens. 

The program is in an excel spreadsheet and sounds a little more complicated then it actually is.  You do need a google account to use Matchbox, as the spreadsheet goes into your google drive. There you can upload again with new GEDmatches and see your new Irish matches.   

First day and I have 37 matches!

Best of all everyone there has tested because they are serious, not just curious. 

I am already connecting with people who are matches with my ancestors I had no way of finding in Ireland. Now there is hope!





Thursday 1 November 2018

Society of Colonial Wars



"Colonial Wars: a quarterly magazine" was published in Massachusetts by the Society of Colonial Wars and contains pedigree charts as well as membership lists. 





"The Society of Colonial Wars is an hereditary society composed of men who trace their descents from forebears who, in military, naval, or civil positions of high trust and responsibility, by acts or counsel, assisted in the establishment, defense, and preservation of the mainland American colonies of Great Britain."

Many states have a Society of Colonial Wars and have published their own registers and yearbooks. Using the link below, look in the left hand column for "creator" and click on "more", you will get a popup list of societies in different states then can see just the ones for the state you want.



Relevant Links




Monday 22 October 2018

French Canadians in the United States





Between 1840 and 1930 approximately 900,000 French Canadians migrated to the New England states looking for work in cities growing due to the industrial revolution. It is said that about half returned to Canada, but those who stayed organized themselves into French communities.





The Drouin Collection at Généalogie Québec has registers for some towns in the US where French Canadians lived. If you don't have a subscription, you can get one for a month for just $13 cdn, or 24 hour access for $5 when you have time to search. 









Relevant Links


Le Guide Français de la Nouvelle-Angleterre 1887

The French Canadian in Quebec and New England 1893





   




Monday 1 October 2018

Researching in Scotland - was it a bust?




I am finally caught up on life stuff after getting back from my Scotland trip, and now it's time to tell you all about it. 

For research we went to Aberdeen where my mother's paternal family was from. This was the purpose of the trip as I am stuck in my research at my 3rd and 4th Mavor great grandfathers. I have the marriage record of my 3rd ggf John Mavor to Elizabeth Ledingham in Ellon in 1827. On John's death certificate it states his parents were John Mavor, butcher and 4th ggf, and Mary Sangster of Peterhead. I had found a brother George Mavor by seeing the same parents on his death certificate. Possibly a sister also, where George and his mother were living as paupers with her family.  



I spent two full days at the Aberdeen & North-East Scotland Family History Society (most people call it the Family History Shop) where everyone, including their in-house expert, was so kind and tried everything to help me. 





I browsed through all the church records and did not find any marriage for John Mavor and Mary Sangster. No births of children for John and Mary. Lastly, although I have a marriage record for John and Elizabeth there are no birth records for any of their children either (found only by the census).

We did find one odd record that may not be mine but worth noting as no one had seen anything like it before...



"1805, 20th Jan after sermon, sess[ion] met and being constituted appeared John Mavor mason in Balnakedle (Balnakettle in place name book) acknowledged to clandestine marriage with __ he was rebuked & fined 10/ for his penalty."  

The date is of the penalty record, not of the marriage which could have been any time before. Also no name of the wife, so I guess it was a big secret! Intriguing!

We went down to the basement and looked through member family histories that had Mavor people... the few could not connect to mine. We looked through poll books, old censuses, directories, MI books for all the cemeteries, testaments, poor relief, local history, etc - nothing. 

What I did learn is that not everyone recorded their marriages and births in the registers as it was not mandatory and also you had to pay.  I was told that one prominent man recorded his daughter's birth but he never paid up so they crossed it out... hahaha.  

So was it a bust?  Definitely not!  I am never satisfied unless I can see for myself, and now I know that there are just no records for what I was looking for. Another case where a negative is progress. 

Although I didn't find what I was originally looking for - I DID find the marriage of Elizabeth Ledingham's parents and a whole genealogy for that family! I found some records for my Bruce family in Fyvie. I also wrote out a pedigree with what I know of the Mavors and left it there to put in their binders for other searchers to find. 

The second part of the trip was touring around Inverness with a cousin I had only met online and doing research together these past years - that was a fun and adventurous filled few days. 

The last part of the trip was in Edinburgh, walking around where my Tait ancestors lived and worked. Just that was worth everything to me!!  

I am thankful for daughters who came along and helped me get around. 💛 💖



Relevant Links

Celtic Place Names in Aberdeenshire   



Thursday 30 August 2018

Almanach de la Langue Française



I came across these the other day...






Besides noting all the religious holidays and celebrations, there may be recipes, biographies and photos, and some tidbits you may enjoy reading about...
"Wedding celebrations are forbidden from the first Sunday of Advent to the epiphany inclusive, and from Ash Wednesday to Sunday of Quasimodo, also inclusive."

There is music and words to Oh Canada in French, advice for cleaning furs to gloves, and some history, photos and caricatures. 



Relevant Links

Almanach de la Langue Française





Thursday 23 August 2018

Cleaning Up Your Family Tree



If you are like me, you like your tree to be clean and, above all, accurate. I have seen many trees on Ancestry with BMD, census or other facts entered more than once, some with different dates. And don't get me started on children born after the mother has died! I have been unwittingly guilty of some of these errors.

I have been working on a certain tree for the past month and now it is time to clean it up, and make sure I have all the necessary information. Once would be good. 

First I made a pedigree chart - I use Family Tree Maker, but any program that generates a chart will do. This way I can look down the columns and easily see who I am missing.



I find I am missing information for this family and their ancestors. So I went back to my tree and added that in. I can do the same with every generation.


Now that we are not missing anyone's vitals or ancestors, time to see if what I have on the tree is accurate. For this I used Family Tree Analyzer, a free program you can download here and one every genealogist should have in their arsenal. I had seen this program mentioned a few times and DiAnn Iamarino has written about her experiences with it, so with finally a bit of free time on my hands I decided to give it a whirl.  
So glad I did!  



Using the Errors/Fixes tab shows me all the little things I may have incorrect. Like a baptism date before a birth date, children born after parent is deceased, duplicate facts, and "Male wife and Female husbands"?  Oops! It happens.

Clicking on the Surname tab I see some same names with different spelling which alerted me to the fact that I may have someone entered twice... which I did. 
Under the World War tab you can enter a surname and find if any of the ancestors were of an age to be in either World War. 
The Main Lists tab has subtabs of individuals, families, sources and occupations. 
Different reports can be exported to an Excel spreadsheet. 

The Census tab has the main census from 1800 up, none of the earlier ones of Canada when it was New France. But it will tell you if family members are missing from a census. 

On This Day....


With the On This Day tab you can see not only world events that occurred on this day, but also anniversaries of your ancestors. I chose a single day, but you can update it to a month or a year or more.

I am still exploring its features, but I suggest everyone should get this FREE program to fix errors on their tree. Next I want to play with the map feature. 

After reading the Guides, if you have questions or suggestions you can send a message to the author through his facebook page.

My tree is now all cleaned up.  What about yours?



Relevant Links

Family Tree Analyzer Website

Family Tree Analyser FaceBook page 





Wednesday 1 August 2018

Annuaire de Ville Marie - Montreal's Beginnings




The Annuaire de Ville Marie is a set of books that tell the history of Montreal, named Ville Marie at the time. You can go to the Index to see what the books are about. 






We will take a look at this 1872 Supplement to the 1874 edition, as it has helped me most in my recent research. This edition has names of streets at the time and a plan of Ville Marie.

Besides the lists of religious figures and students, there is also a list of all the Marguilliers of Montreal from 1657 to 1864. A Marguillier is a churchwarden, and part of his job is the maintenance of the church. The Marguillier was elected, and he had a special pew in the church, as befitted his important position. He kept an account of the parishioners, who paid their tithes (dîmes), who needed alms, etc. He may also have kept the registers. 






There is a section about the registers of Ville Marie with a list of the first baptisms and marriages. One of the families I am researching had a baby that was the fourth ever to be baptized in Montreal!

 Another section has the heading...
"Prémices du sang que Ville Marie a versé pour la colonisation et le salut du pays, durand les vingt premières années de sa fondation."
First spilling of blood that Ville Marie shed for the colonization and the salvation of the country in its first twenty years.




The issue titled Premiere Annee 1863 is mostly about the religious people, the economy, the institutions and the societies, with names of officials, and is partly bilingual. See below for links to the different volumes, including one on Boucherville. Take a look at the indexes, and have a flip through to see what can help with your early Montreal anncestors. 





Relevant links

Annuaire de Ville Marie 

Annuaire de Ville Marie - Premiere Annee

Annuaire de Ville Marie - Supplement to 1864 edition, 1872 

Histoire de la paroisse de Boucherville

Histoire des paroisses de Diocèse de Montréal





Related Posts:

Montreal Official Book of Reference

Churchwarden's Accounts






Wednesday 18 July 2018

Kamouraska Resource





A branch of this family I am researching settled in Yamouraska. Another place I have not looked at before. 







Any search I do for the surname or the place took me to a book at google titled: Kamouraska (1674-1948) by Alexandre Paradis, limited search only. Besides google books, it was only coming up on book stores. I checked at Internet Archive and at Hathitrust, not there. Darn!

Next I went over to BAnq and put the surname in the general search box, and oh... first result that came up is the book! Not only can you look at it, you can download the whole book free as a 434 page pdf. 



Kamouraska, pg 51, mark 81



There are some appendices at the end of the book with lists of notaries, priests and marguilliers, and some marriage contracts and dates of burials to name a few.

There are so many resources online at BAnq, not just newspapers and pistard, but also publications and documents. Try it - you can visit the site in English, but of course the matierials will be in the original language. 




Relevant Link

BAnq - Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec

Kamouraska (1674-1948)





Saturday 14 July 2018

High Fives - July 14, 2018




High Fives are articles or blog posts I have read during the week that I find interesting, and perhaps are pertinent to my research. Sometimes there are only a couple and sometimes there are quite a few.





NOTE: Bloggers and readers alike are less on computers and tablets and more out traveling, visiting family, and enjoying the sunshine ... as am I. So my High Five postings will be erratic over the summer months.  Enjoy your summer!



~by Library and Archives Canada Blog
I just had to go see what that was all about!


~by John D. Reid at Canada's Anglo-Celtic Connections
This caught my eye because I vaguely remember seeing a newspaper item from WWI era with a list of people that had signed into the war office. Hmmmmm.... I'll have to check into that!


~by Maria Armstrong at National Museums Scotland
The work that goes in to saving old garments. I had a great-aunt that did beautiful hand stitching and would have been great at this.


~by Marion B Wood at Climbing my Family Tree
Reminding us to always try to find the original - and a handy shortcut. 





For more weekend reading, see what posts these bloggers liked...
Saturday – Gail Dever, Crème de la Crème
Sunday – Randy Seaver, Best of the Genea-Blogs 

Friday 13 July 2018

I'm stuck in Acadia




The reason I have been quiet this past couple of weeks, is because I am doing the genealogy for a friend. His ancestors go back to Acadia, an area for which I have never done any research. It doesn't help that the Acadians were expelled from the area in the mid 1700s and they scattered to the four winds.  There is a good write-up about it with maps and dates at erudit dot org.

I think they were part of the 1758 migration, because their 3rd-to-last child was baptized in Port Royal in 1754. There were two children born after that - the trick is to find where?? I know they exist because they later married in parts of Quebec, settling around St-Philippe and St-Constant.

You can see by the map at erudit that I have many places to look for my friend's ancestors, including New England, parts of Quebec... and France. 

Taking a 55 minute ferry from the town of Fortune, Newfoundland you can reach St-Pierre et Miquelon, islands owned by France. Some Acadians fled there.

For overseas places owned by France, such as the islands and Martinique, there is a website called Archives Nationale d'Outre-Mer (anom) that has register images you can download. The site is in French but you can use a tool like Google Translate to switch to English. You can sort the results by year or by place. It is easy to navigate and figure out.






Another fact I didn't know, is that L’île Saint-Jean (now PEI) was under French rule and registers for the city of Port-La-Joye from 1721-1758 can be found at this site. Under Canada there is also an index of deaths 1748-1760 for l'Hopital Quebec. 





If your ancestors went to mainland France and you have an idea where they went, many places have their registers online - the links are at The French Genealogy Blog in the left hand column, by department. 

If you have any advice or suggestions to help in my research, I'd be glad to hear from you!



Relevant Links

Overseas National Archives 

The French Genealogy Blog




Wednesday 4 July 2018

Getting more from the Dictionary of Canadian Families



Researching Quebec ancestors you undoubtedly use the "Dictionnaire Généalogique des Familles Canadiennes" (in seven volumes) by Abbé Cyprien Tanguay.






The easiest way to research a Quebec couple's ancestors is to always start with the marriage record, since most French records give the names of the fathers and the maiden names of the mothers of the bride and groom. Then finding the person's baptism record you are more likely to have the right guy or girl. In many cases you can get your line of ancestor's back to when they arrived from France in Quebec in the 1600 or 1700s with the help of these volumes, Volumes One and Two being the earliest immigrants.

Take the information with a grain of salt, as he did make a few mistakes. Use it as a guide, not a bible. Always try to find the original baptism, marriage or burial record in the parish register. Unfortunately some very old ones have become unreadable with age, even to seasoned readers of old Quebec records. The people at Drouin have tried to transcribe some of the ones more unreadable when scanned.

There are the odd records that do not mention the parent's names and we have to be detectives. One entry in the Dictionary says that Jean and Helen's daughter married Francois. But when you look at the parish registers it is a different same-last-name couple's daughter that married Francois, as her father was deceased, her mother had remarried and the record says the bride's step-father attended the wedding. Aha!

Then again, some of the mistakes are not his, but rather those of the priest or clerk who made the entries.  I found one marriage record where the priest (or his assistant) wrote down the groom's mother's name in place of the bride's!  Oops! 

For the first ancestor of a line that arrived in Quebec the entry gives his parents names, and approximate year and parish of birth in France (as they stated in their marriage record). Some of the places may not be recognized by Google, and I have seen written on family trees variations of where the parish may be, all giving different cities or even provinces!! 

In Volume One if you go to the back of the dictionary there is listed the places names in France as of 1631.









There is also a list of parishes and missions in Quebec, in chronological order of the year established...





List of Parishes in each Diocese in 1871 ....



When making a record of each ancestor, I like to use the spelling of his name on the baptism record including dit names adding a note of variations found in subsequent records, and the original name of the places they were baptized, married and buried adding a note of the name of the place today. 



If you go to the back of Volume Seven there are other lists - names of men's surnames with variations...



.... and names of women not born in Canada, with names of their husbands..





Volume Three tells a different story... one of slavery! 
"On April 13, 1709, New France intendant, Jacques Raudot passed the Ordinance Rendered on the Subject of the Negroes and the Indians Called Panis, legalizing the purchase and possession of Indigenous salves in New France."

There are many websites telling about slavery in Canada, I won't go into it here.
At the back of Volume Three there is a list of persons enslaved with the names of their owners...








Relevant Links

Dictionnaire Généalogique des Familles Canadiennes

Vol 1: A - Z

Vol 2: A to Chapuy

Vol 3: Charbonneau to Eziero

Vol 4: Fabas to Jinines

Vol 5: Joachim to Mercier

Vol 6: Mercin to Robidoux

Vol 7: Robillard to Ziseuse   
  

Friday 29 June 2018

High Fives - June 29, 2018




High Fives are articles or blog posts I have read during the week that I find interesting, and perhaps are pertinent to my research. Sometimes there are only a couple and sometimes there are quite a few.







~by Anne Morddel at The French Genealogy Blog
Click on the Battalion link (in red) to find out more about the WWI unit. 


~by Laura Brown at Library and Archives Canada Blog
Diaries, photos and service files of these nursing sisters


~by Alex Comber at Library and Archives Canada Blog
Nursing Sisters Roll of Honour


~by Gail Dever at Genealogy à la carte
Keep an eye out for updates as work progresses.





For more weekend reading, see what posts these bloggers liked...
Saturday – Gail Dever, Crème de la Crème
Sunday – Randy Seaver, Best of the Genea-Blogs



Tuesday 26 June 2018

Irish Catholic Directory and Almanac



Catholic mothers always hoped one of her many sons would become a priest. If you can't find your Irish ancestor's son, try the Catholic Directory and Almanac. 

The Irish Catholic Directory and Almanac has lists of clergy, lists of Catholic Peerage...lords, knights, members of parliament, etc., names and dates of holy days and also stats on population and immigration.

The Alphabetical List of Clergy has names from not only Ireland, but Australia, Canada, USA and other countries.




Here is a site that contains the abbreviations used in the almanacs.

There is a section on each college with names of professors and officials, etc, and a list of priests ordained within the year, listed by college.



  
It also has an obituary section..





Another publication that may be of interest, is the book of Memorials of Catholic Irish Martyrs



Relevant Links


Irish Catholic Directory and Almanac

Memorials of those who suffered for the Catholic faith in Ireland 





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