BC digitized newspapers free online: Marcus Jacombs

The University of British Columbia has an array of newspaper from across the province, with outside dates 1865 and 1930, now available online.

Abbotsford Post

Alberni Advocate

Atlin Claim

Bella Coola Courier

Boundary Creek Times

British Columbia Record

Cariboo Sentinel (Barkerville)

Cumberland News

Daily Building Record (Vancouver)

Daily Ledger (Ladysmith)

Grand Forks Sun

Hedley Gazette

Hot Springs News (Ainsworth)

Kootenay Mail (Revelstoke)

Ledge (Greenwood)

Ledge (Nakusp, New Denver, Fernie)

Massett Leader

Miner (Nelson)

Mining Review (Sandon)

Moyie Leader

Nelson Economist

Phoenix Pioneer

Prospector (Fort Steele)

Tribune (Nelson)

Looking for a sample search, and considering the time of year, I checked for the word Ypres and came across a letter written by M Jacombs about his experiences published in the Headley Gazette - http://goo.gl/xURBz. Searching that paper finds other information about him.

Marcus H L Jacombs was born in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, in Dec 1883.  It appears he first went to the US and took out US citizenship in 1905 renouncing allegiance to the British Crown. He moved to British Columbia, attested in Victoria in December 1914 and served in the trenches attaining the rank of Sgt.

He survived the war and died in Vancouver on 3 March 1958 having never married. A Google search finds a website on the Jacombs family.

The why and what of family research?

The MyHeritage blog revisits a 1994 study on why folks spend time and money family history. What are your reasons for pursuing your ancestors across time and space? What motivates you to gather information and preserve it for the future? You can read the MyHeritage blog post at Genealogy: Why family research?.

The 1994 study is being updated and extended in the Carleton University Canadian Genealogy Survey, http://www.cusurveycentre.ca/gensurvey/, which seeks to understand the current surge of interest and secure accurate information concerning the resources engaged with by family historians/genealogists. The survey has received just over 2,000 responses, mostly from within Canada, but also a good number from the US, UK and beyond.

Leighann Neilson, project co-leader, informs me the survey will remain open until the end of November at http://www.cusurveycentre.ca/gensurvey/ and here's always room to hear from more people.

More Norfolk parish registers at FamilySearch

The FamilySearch collection of original Norfolk register images was updated on Saturday 5 November and now contains 293,154 images, for 562 parishes, to 1900. See them at http://goo.gl/DtLSn.

Although these are not indexed you may find some help using the the Norfolk Transcription Archives at http://www.genealogy.doun.org/transcriptions/.

Daniel Caron: From clay to computer chips: new systems of writing, new ways of deciphering?

There's an addition to the LAC website by way of the text of a speech by Daniel Caron, Librarian and Archivist of Canada. It was prepared for delivery at LAC on October 14 to a Royal Society of Canada Symposium on Literacy and Citizenship in the 21st Century.

The talk at http://goo.gl/46GF8 outlines three issues: acquisition, organization of loci, and access. It's long on analysis and questions; short on answers.

A paragraph that particularly caught my attention is..

... the "from one to several" model of content sharing between creators and consumers, from ruler to subjects, or from company to customers, gave way to the "from several to several" model, and society has gradually abandoned the unique top-down approach in favour of a culture of content sharing that is more horizontal, single-tiered and multidirectional.

It's ironic as top down, supposedly abandoned, is just the approach that has characterized LAC of late.

Thank you Toronto Branch OGS

Guy Fawkes Day saw 123 registrants at the Toronto Branch OGS English Family History Workshop, co-sponsored by the Canadiana Department of the North York Central Library.
I was pleased to be on the program with Lesley Anderson from Ottawa, and Paul Jones, Jane MacNamara and Linda Reid from Toronto. The event sold out and people seemed pleased with the variety and quality of presentations offered. Thanks to Diana Thomson and her colleagues at Toronto Branch for the opportunity to be part of the event.
One of the side pleasures of this type of event is serendipitous meetings. Standing in the line for lunch I got talking to Brooke Ali, much younger than the average attendee, who would like to be a professional genealogist. That`s one amongst many of her aspirations so I hope family history is a sustained interest.

I asked if Brooke had done any writing and she modestly mentioned being co-author of a recent multi-award-winning book, From Pemmican To Poutine. Worth a look.

Help Elizabeth Lapointe commerate Veterans Week

The following is a notice from fellow blogger Elizabeth Lapointe:

Blogger Showcases Canada’s Veterans' Week (November 5-11)
(Ottawa, Canada - November 3, 2011) In accepting the remembrance challenge of this year’s Veterans’ Week, “Make remembrance more than something you feel. Make it something you do”, Canadian blogger, Elizabeth Lapointe, will have a whole week of Canadian military-related posts on her blog <www.GenealogyCanada.blogspot.com>.
Lapointe says, “Coming from a military family, and married into one, Veterans’ Week means something special to me. It is in this spirit that I will post on related Canadian military websites and blogs, culminating with a special Remembrance Day post on November 11th.”
Some examples of the posts planned during Veterans’ Week include a post on Veterans’ Week itself, listing the different events planned across Canada; a post covering the Wreath Laying Ceremony at the National Military Cemetery at Ottawa’s Beechwood Cemetery in December; and on November 11th (Remembrance Day), there will be a post on The Portraits of Honour National Tour, which has been going across Canada since May, and which will stop in Ottawa on November 11th and 12th.
Also included will be a special “Canadian Military” websites and blogs list that will be posted on Monday, November 7th as a special edition of the “New/Improved Canadian Websites and Blogs” series, which is published every Monday.
“I have gone through the military websites and blogs, and have picked the ones which have special meaning and remembrance for this week. Join me as I take the journey to the best websites and blogs honouring Veterans’ Week - November 5th to the11th," says Lapointe.
Goto <www.GenealogyCanada.blogspot.com>.
About GenealogyCanada
The blog <www.GenealogyCanada.blogspot.com> has been covering Canadian genealogy, heritage, and history since the first of over 500 posts was published in January, 2008.

FTM workshop at Peterborough

There's an opportunity to learn more about the Family Tree Maker software from Rick Roberts, owner of Global Genealogy, on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011: from 7 - 9pm at the Peterborough Public Library. The fee is a modest $10. Click here to register online or call 705-745-4404. More information at http://www.trentvalleyarchives.com/events

Rick will be setting up a mini genealogy marketplace ahead of the talk (6:30pm).

Pharos courses for Jan-Mar 2012, and more

UK-based Pharos Teaching and Tutoring is offering 10 courses in the first three months of 2012.

In January:

The Poor, The Parish And The Workhouse (#203)
Introduction to One-Name Studies (#901)
One-Place Studies: Research from a New Perspective (#217)
Tracing Beneficiaries: A Step by Step Guide (#741)

In February:

Researching Your Welsh Ancestors (#119)
Professional Genealogist: Become one, become a better one (#941) 

In March:

My British Isles Origins: When and How do I Cross the Pond? (#931)
Searching For Wills & Administrations in England & Wales (#205)
Scottish Research Online (#102)
Manorial Records for Family and Local Historians (#312)
Developing and Writing Your Family History (#803)
Climbing Trees: How to get children interested in family history (#820) 

Find out more about these courses at http://www.pharostutors.com/

You can sign up for the Pharos Bulletin at http://www.pharostutors.com/forum.php#news
Follow Pharos on Faceboook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pharos-Teaching-Tutoring-Ltd/146733242033700

FamilySearch adds Isle of Man, Parish Registers, 1598-1950

This addition comprises 410,460 records from parish registers from the Isle of Man containing baptisms, marriages, and deaths. The collection was created in cooperation with the Manx Heritage Museum, www.imuseum.im

There's a good description of these records at http://goo.gl/Aukd0

The website indicates you can view the original images, there are 42,054 of them, but to do so you need to be at a Family History Centre or a registered FamilySearch patron.

War of 1812 descendants

The following is via the Global Genealogy Newsletter:

The Canadian Press is looking for descendants of veterans from the War of 1812, and thought that some our readers would be interested in participating. The following outlines their request: 

Request for Descendants of War of 1812 Veterans
As the national media prepares to mark another Remembrance Day, the Canadian Press is casting a spotlight on many of the historic battles in which Canadian troops played a role. One conflict that often receives scant attention is the War of 1812. I am hoping to rectify this for this year's Remembrance Day, as well as to establish contacts that could help provide coverage as the bicentennial anniversary approaches. 
If you have ancestors that took part in the War of 1812 and are willing to share that connection with the Canadian Press, I would be delighted to talk to you.
If you would be willing to take part in a brief telephone interview, please feel free to contact me directly, either by phone at 416-507-2140 or by email at michelle.mcquigge@thecanadianpress.com.
I am working to a fairly tight deadline and would appreciate hearing from you by Tuesday, Nov. 8. If you receive this note after that time, you're still more than welcome to get in touch and will be kept in consideration for future projects.
Many thanks and all the best,
Michelle McQuiggeReporter/EditorOFFICE: 416 507 2140MOBILE: 416 402 5545http://www.thecanadianpress.com
About THE CANADIAN PRESSCanada's trusted news leader: The Canadian Press delivers credible, comprehensive news reporting from Canada and around the world in multiple formats, serving newspapers, broadcasters, websites, wireless carriers, magazines, government and corporate clients.

TNA adds WW1 nursing service records

This announcement is from TNA:

This morning we have published more than 15,000 First World War nursing service records online, providing a glimpse into the life stories of the heroic women who dedicated their lives to their profession. The records date from 1902 to 1922 and hold an unusually high level of detail, rarely seen in service records. Search the records now.

Can be searched by first and last name. A test search failed to find someone I thought had been a WW1 era nurse. Others of the same last name showed free files of more than 50 pages downloadable through DocumentsOnline.

Another nice TNA resource.

"Royal Canadian Navy Ledger Sheets" database released by LAC

The following is a release from Library and Archives Canada:

=========
Launch of "Royal Canadian Navy Ledger Sheets" Database

Gatineau, November 3, 2011 — Library and Archives Canada is pleased to announce the launch of a new online database, "Royal Canadian Navy Ledger Sheets".

Through this online database, researchers can access more than 16,700 references to individuals who served in the Royal Canadian Navy and the Naval Reserve between 1910 and 1918. It also includes some records for those who enlisted between 1919 and 1941.

The database is available at the following address:
www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/navyledgersheet/index-e.html

===============

The information provided is a brief transcript, sometimes as little as name, service number, volume and a reference.  Additional information may include date and place of birth, occupation, and religion.

The ledger sheets to which this index refers, not online, summarize each individual's service, including the names of ships and shore bases. Each man is devoted a full page outlining his service history. There is further helpful information at http://goo.gl/8ckyo.

British Newspaper Archive

A note from the British Library Newsletter:

Later this month will see the launch of the British Newspaper Archive, featuring more than a million pages of historic newspapers digitised through the Library's partnership with online publisher brightsolid.

The resource will be available via the web as a paid-per-view or subscription service, but will be free to access in the British Library's Reading Rooms.

Library threats and opportunities

Over one million citizens of Toronto, patrons of its renowned public library system, are aware of budget cuts proposed by the administration of Mayor Ford which suggests closures of several branches, something the library system budget committee has now rejected.

I'm sure most Toronto readers of this blog are well aware of the situation. If not, a good place to get plugged in is Librarians are not Gravy at http://goo.gl/23lxh

Ottawa has experience of the Ford approach. Thankfully times have changed in Ottawa and a modest funding increase is proposed for the 2012 library budget.

Times are changing for libraries. Books, CDs, DVDs are losing market share to eReaders, downloadable music and video. Just this week the Google eBookstore opened its service in Canada, including many free books, and Kindle Lending Library service opened in the US. Library systems have a lot of adapting to do.

As libraries become less outlets for a physical collection some see them increasingly taking on the character of cultural community centres. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to use some of the space freed-up for free meeting space for community groups, including family history groups. That would blur the line between libraries and community centres.

Ontario legislation sets up libraries at arms length from municipal government with independent Library Boards. This provides a measure of protection for the libraries from political interference although in practice as the municipal tax base is the major funding source municipal councilors still have a strong influence. Nevertheless, the distinction is not useful in all respects.

It would make sense to explore how the divide between libraries and community centres can be bridged. In my area of Ottawa, a library desert, the local community centre has become home to an automated kiosk with an admittedly limited selection of books and videos, an on-site librarian twice a week, and most conveniently a drop box for returning items.

It's the type of cooperation that should be encouraged.

How is your library system adapting to technological change?

Ottawa Citizen on Save Library and Archives Canada campaign

Chris Cobb continues on the LAC beat this week for the Ottawa Citizen with coverage of the Canadian Association of University Teachers campaign to save Library and Archives Canada.

In an article Professors decry cuts to Library and Archives Cobb reports that "According to staff who have contacted the Citizen, morale at LAC is low."

No wonder. Not only are jobs threatened but the pride staff once felt in the organization has evaporated under the present regime.

The idea that "modernization includes digitization and acquisition of representative samples of documents and artifacts rather than a ‘comprehensive inclusive collection coordinated by expert librarians and archivists'" should ring alarm bells for genealogists.

Keeping only a few representative pages of the census, for example,  rather than a complete data set would mean Canadians having no ability to find their ancestors in a family group.

Will modernization mean destroying military records, just like those we use to investigate ancestors who served in the CEF in WW1, for those who served in Afghanistan?

Why not go the whole way and delete the WW1 service files online, except for a sample? Why not do it during Remembrance Week just to make the point?  If the current policies being pursued by Daniel Caron and company had been in place and adopted by his predecessors a sample of the records would be all we'd have left.

UK military nurses records added at FMP

Just over 4,000 military nurses who served between approximately 1856 and 1940 are in this new collection on Find My Past.  http://www.findmypast.co.uk/content/news/military-nurses.html

There are five component sets of records:

Army Nursing Service: 238 nurses of often quite "genteel origin", appointed to the Army Nursing Service (between 1869 and 1891).

Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service: 783 nurses, born between 1859 and 1904.

Royal Hospital Chelsea Nurses: 165 largely untrained nurses, born between 1839 and 1876.

Scottish Women's Hospital: references to 1,575 women (and men) who were stationed in continental Europe during WWI.

WWII Military Nurses: details of 1,244 nurses who served in France with either Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service, or Queen Alexandra's Reserve, or the Territorial Army Nursing Service, during WWII.

The information provided varies, typically: name, title, position (job), station, dates of service, and source.

Seven Lancashire cemetery registers added at FamilySearch

Images of cemetery registers from Hollinwood, Failsworth, Royton, Crompton, Chadderton, Lees, and Greenacres cemeteries in Oldham, Lancashire, for 1797-2004 may now be browsed at FamilySearch. http://goo.gl/7Q9SZ

They include burial, grave, stillborn and military registers, grave plot maps and indexes in several cases.

Save Library and Archives Canada campaign

Following an 11am press conference in the Parliament building in Ottawa the Canadian Association of University Teachers today unveiled their campaign to save Library and Archives Canada, and Canada's documentary heritage. Check out the web site at www.savelibraryarchives.ca

The concerns that underlie CAUT's campaign are modernization, mandate, acquisitions, services and decentralization. Each of these is experienced by those of us who use LAC facilities, directly as a visitor, through online services, or indirectly as a client of the educators, authors and others who rely on access to Canada's heritage in producing their materials.

I recommend visiting and signing up for updates, which will show that you consider these issues of concern, at www.savelibraryarchives.ca

Family History and Genealogy Society Library Survey

Please take a minute to answer seven multiple choice questions on your use of society libraries. You can also add comments at the end. If you belong to more than one society please answer for your use of the one with which you most closely associate. The results will be shared.

Don Treble RIP

BIFHSGO friends will be sad to learn of the passing of Donald W Treble, an enthusiastic family historian and genetic genealogist. http://goo.gl/2sg7w