LAC can't find Toronto

Proactive disclosure of information has been instituted so that Canadians are better able to hold Parliament, their Government, and public sector officials to account. It's easy to access proactive disclosure information on government websites, at the bottom of the left column.

Reports for 2011 show Daniel Caron claimed expenses for 24 trips in 2011. It's certainly a good thing that our senior public servants get out of the National Capital Region to interact face-to-face with Canadians across the country, and peers internationally, to find out about other's views and developments. Public servants should come back with perspective on how their organization stacks up, with ideas for improvements and cooperation.

Seven of the trips were international in scope, including one to an international event in BC. Of the others twelve were to Quebec, two to New Brunswick, and one each to Alberta, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia. Several places were not on the travel map. No local business in three of Canada's four largest communities. No business in BC, aside from the international conference, Manitoba, any of the three Territories, Ontario, PEI or Newfoundland and Labrador.
Perhaps M. Caron is using other means to obtain a balanced view of developments and views of clients and partners across Canada. As far as can be discerned from the listings, none of this travel provided an opportunity to interact with genealogists and family historians, still LAC's largest single user group.

Scottish Highland MIs at Deceased Online

After a long period when nothing has changed at deceasedonline.com there is now a notice added about a relatively small addition.

Scottish Highland Cemeteries Monumental Inscriptions comprises approximately 4,500 headstone images, with searchable inscription transcripts containing 12,500 names. The fifteen cemeteries date back as far as 1600, with data described as:

Abernethy Old Churchyard, Nethybridge, Inverness-shire, Scotland. PH25
1,398 records, dating from 1774, are available as inscriptions and headstone images.

Ardearg Cemetery, Ratagan, Invershiel, Kintail, Ross-shire, Scotland IV40
141 records, dating from 1847, are available as inscriptions and headstone images.

Balmacara New Cemetery, Balmacara, Loch Alsh, Ross-shire, Scotland. IV40
356 records, dating from 1919, are available as inscriptions and headstone images.

Banchor, Newtonmore and Ballidbeg Churchyards, Inverness-shire, Scotland. PH20
1,138 records, dating from 1823, are available as inscriptions and headstone images.

Cille Choirill Churchyard, Lagan, Fort William, Scotland PH31
871 records, dating from 1746, are available as inscriptions and headstone images.

Clachan Duich Burial Ground (Kilduich), Invershiel, Ross-shire, Scotland. IV40
892 records, dating from 1600, are available as inscriptions and headstone images.

Glenelg Cemetery, Glenelg, Inverness-shire, Highland, Scotland. IV40
191 records, dating from 11850, are available as inscriptions and headstone images.

Grantown Cemetery, Grantown-on-Spey , Morayshire, Highland, Scotland. PH26
2,101 records, dating from 1857, are available as inscriptions and headstone images.

Kilcuimen Churchyard, Fort Augustus, Ross-shire, Scotland. PH32
814 records, dating from 1722, are available as inscriptions and headstone images.

Kilmonivaig and Gairlochy Churchyard, Nr Spean Bridge, Ross-shire, Scotland. PH34
1,239 records, dating from 1801, are available as inscriptions and headstone images.

Kingussie Churchyard and Burial Grounds, Kingussie, Inverness-shire, Scotland. PH21
1,442 records, dating from 1746, are available as inscriptions and headstone images.

Kirton and Lochalsh Cemetery, Kyle, Highland, Scotland. IV40
1,343 records, dating from 1802, are available as inscriptions and headstone images.

Plockton Churchyard, Plockton, Inverness-shire, Scotland. IV41
174 records, dating from 1834, are available as inscriptions and headstone images.

Rothiemurchus St John's Churchyard, Aviemore, Inverness-shire, Scotland. PH22
152 records, dating from 1888, are available as inscriptions and headstone images.

Tenandy Old Churchyard, Killiecrankie, Perthshire, Scotland. PH16
140 records, dating from 1888, are available as inscriptions and headstone images.

Ottawa Scottish Genealogy Group

A reminder for Ottawa Scottish Genealogy Group members that there is a meeting at the new City of Ottawa Archives located at 100 Tallwood Drive on Saturday, January 21st at 10:00 AM in Room 226.

Genealogy rock star nominations update

Here's the list of nominations with the additions to date.

Anthony Adolph, Lisa Alzo, Lesley Anderson, Nick Barratt, Claire Bettag, Warren Bittner, Jana Sloan Broglin, Else Churchill, Audrey Collins, Lisa Louise Cooke, Dick Eastman, Colleen Fitzpatrick, Michael Gandy, John Grenham, Michael Hiatt, Alison Hare, Mark D. Herber, Jean Wilcox Hibben, Sherry Irvine, Thomas W. Jones, Thomas MacEntee, Leland Meitzler, Brenda Dougall Merriman, Elizabeth Shown Mills, Brian Mitchell, George G. Morgan, Stephen P. Morse, Janice Nickerson, Dave Obee, Gena Philibert Ortega, Chris Paton, Marion Press, Pat Richley-Erickson, Christine Rose, James G. Ryan, Craig Scott, Randy Seaver, Sharon Sergeant, Drew Smith, Megan Smolenyak, Loretto Szucs, Kurt B. Witcher, Glenn Wright.

You have until January 22nd to make additional nomination; just put them in a comment. There are some I'm surprised I haven't received!

Ontario, Roman Catholic Church Records, 1760-1923

Familysearch.org placed 126,534 image originals of unindexed Ontario, Roman Catholic Church parish baptismal, confirmation, marriage and burial records for 1760-1923 online on January 18. These are for the counties of: Algoma; Brant; Cardwell; Carleton; Carleton, Lanark; Cochrane; Dufferin; Dundas; Durham; Elgin; Essex; Frontenac; Grenville; Haldimand; Hastings; Huron; Kenora; Kent; Lambton; Lanark; Leeds; Lennox and Addington; Lincoln; Manitoulin; Middlesex; Muskoka; Nipissing; Norfolk; Northumberland; Ontario; Oxford; Parry Sound; Peel; Perth; Peterborough; Prescott; Prescott and Russell; Rainy River; Renfrew; Russell; Simcoe; Sudbury; Thunder Bay; Timiskaming; Victoria; Welland; York.

Quinte Branch OGS: Annual Crouse-Wanamaker Lecture & AGM

Guest speaker for this annual event is Lesley Anderson who will present her perennially popular "I Can't Find Them Anywhere" Searching Effectively on Ancestry next Saturday 21 January 2012.

The talk will cover:

• Overview of Ancestry.ca
• Membership/Logging in, Customizing your Home page, Quick Links, Shoebox, Accessing other sites, What’s New
• Getting Started
• Global Search, Category Search and Websearch
• Search options
• Exact Matches, Variations and Wildcards
• Keywords
• Browsing by Location
• Card Catalog
• Viewing, Printing and Saving Images
• Ancestry Member Connect
• Where to find help!

The meeting, at Quinte West City Hall Library, 7 Creswell Drive, Trenton, Ontario, starts at 1pm.

No blog posts on Wednesday

Several of the blogs I follow and websites we all use, including Wikipedia, are going dark on Wednesday 18 January, to protest proposed US legislation that could cause enormous harm to the Internet and freedom of speech. Listen to this BBC interview for a brief explanation of the concern. Another site genealogist use, or should at least know about, the Internet Archive, will be dark for 12 hours, to 6pm.
Canada, while not falling directly under US legislation would certainly be affected, especially given the present Canadian government's inclination to follow along sheep-like where the US government leads. I'm joining this show of concern by not posting on Wednesday.

The worst of genealogy in 2011

Tamura Jones, a Netherlands-based genealogist with a technology interest, and a prolific tweeter, posted on his GeneAwards for 2011 which I missed on December 31. The best award winners are interesting, but I had to smile at the choices for worst.

I hadn't heard of Funium Family Village, named as worst genealogy product of 2011. Tamura descibes it as "tedious and boring." He gives dishonourable mentions to Family Tree Maker 2012 "remarkably slow, memory-hungry and crash-prone" and
The Master Genealogist 8 referring to the report engine in which the previous version  had "major shortcomings should be fixed for free."

Read the best and the worst at http://www.tamurajones.net/GeneAwards2011.xhtml

New book notice: Sandringham Days: The Domestic Life of the Royal Family in Norfolk, 1862-1952.

Of possible interest to anyone with royal or even royal servant connections, Sandringham Days: The Domestic Life of the Royal Family in Norfolk, 1862-1952, is advertised as:

"Drawing on letters, diaries and contemporary reports, author John Matson presents a fresh angle on the private lives of a very public family: Queen Victoria’s first visit, the glittering parties of the Edwardian era and the reigns of King George V and two of his sons."

Official publication date is in February. John Matson previously published "Dear Osborne: Queen Victoria's family life in the Isle of Wight"

TNA podcast: Histpop – the online historical populations report website

This is another presentation from TNA's one day conference on the census at Kew on Saturday 1 October 2011.

The presentation is about Histpop, part of the History Data Service at the University of Essex, which provides online access to the complete British population reports for Britain and Ireland from 1801 to 1937. That's not the individual level census data but "ancillary documents from The National Archives, critical essays and transcriptions of important legislation which provide an aid to understanding the context, content and creation of the collection".

The slides used are available as a PowerPoint show download. It's just as well the presenter, Richard Deswarte, followed the slides closely as the volume changes due to his moving back and forth from the microphone makes this a challenging presentation to follow.

Start at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/podcasts/histpop.htm

Who influences LAC?

There are no organizations currently lobbying on "genealogy" with the Government of Canada, that's according to a search on the word at the register of the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying of Canada.

Until about a year ago Jacques J.M. Shore of Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP had, since 2004, been registered to lobby LAC for Ancestry.ca on "assistance regarding the company's effort to broaden its genealogy information base regarding Canadian ancestry and assist in program development to enhance Canadian genealogical information available to the public." and to "develop working relationship for information sharing and potential collaboration agreement." Interestingly the Ancestry address given is in Provo, Utah, not the company Toronto office.

Ten organizations with current registrations mention Library and Archives Canada. Five, the University of Saskatchewan, Xerox Canada Ltd, the Union of British Columbia Municipalities, The Toronto-Dominion Bank, and McAfee Canada Inc., name LAC as just one among a comprehensive list of potential lobbying targets.

The Canadian National Institute for the Blind is registered for multiple departments and agencies as "seeking government funding through HRSDC to significantly improve service to CNIB library clients."

The Canadian Publishers' Council mentions lobbying on "Legal Deposit of Publications regulation respecting deposit of electronic works at Library and Archives Canada to ensure that implementation will be phased and that there will be ongoing consultation with the publishing sector in this regard", although curiously LAC is not specified as an organization to be lobbied.

The Canadian Association of Research Libraries mentions LAC as being a member, one of three members "that do not participate in or finance advocacy discussion or activity and that do not participate in Association board-level governance."

The Canadian Association of University Teachers includes LAC as one of a large number of departments and agencies lobbied, but specifically mentions as a subject for lobbying "the restructuring of Library and Archives Canada (LAC), the redefinition of its mandate, and financial cutbacks that undermine LAC’s ability to acquire, preserve and make publicly available Canada’s full documentary heritage."

Amazon.ca is registered to lobby LAC and six others on "Bill C-27: The Electronic Commerce Protection Act with respect to legislative amendments concerning implied consent and private right of action." and "Canadian Heritage and Culture and Investment Canada Act; to provide background information to company's activities in Canada; Canadian Heritage and Network Neutrality."

Perils of closer scrutiny

I'm reminded of a TV program I saw many years ago showing a French scientist dining with, I think, the King, pulling the bread apart and picking out various insect body parts. He assured the King there were many fewer in his bread than normally found.

That crossed my mind as I was further exploring the London, England, Electoral Registers, 1835-1965 database placed online by Ancestry last week. My initial explorations were helpful in filling in gaps in my family history -- the bread tasted good.

Audrey Collins in an intriguingly titled posting Who was Stanmore Groat? found problems. My experience was in searching for mention of my Northwood ancestors. Unfortunately Northwood is also a place name. I found numerous examples of the surname Northwood with unusual first names like Ruislip, Own, Pinner, Parsonage, Farm As, Farm As Occupier Green-Lane Farm, Rickmansworth, These were all in the Ruislip parliamentary district.

View the original records and you`ll find the person`s name is in a column not transcribed. It appears the transcription was done by machine with overly loose quality control. One wonders whether Ancestry even checks the names it comes up with through such machine interpretation against a name dictionary which would surely catch that type of error.

Just because you don`t find your person in this database when you expect to find them doesn`t mean they aren`t there.

Quebec Family History Society new website

If you think the Quebec Family History Society website has been looking a bit past its best before date you wouldn't be the only one, including the Society board.

Now it's out with the old and in with a brand spanking new site. It's another from EasyNetSites; BIFHSGO is among many others users. I see the Genealogical Association of Nova Scotia will shortly become another customer.

Who are the genealogy rock stars?

Who gives "must attend" presentations at genealogy conferences?  Who is it, when you see a new family history article or publication by that person, makes it a must buy? Those are the genealogy rock stars. Who are they? Please leave your nomination as a comment, which you can do anonymously. You can even nominate yourself!

To save being overwhelmed by nominations I've primed the pump with a selection of genealogists, mainly British, Canadian and US . I've surely left off some worthy candidates, don't hesitate to nominate them wherever they live.

Nominations will be open until 22 January. Then we'll have a round of voting. Separate lists will be compiled by country where the voter lives to take national preferences into account.

Here's the nomination list so far:

Anthony Adolph, Lesley Anderson, Nick Barratt, Else Churchill, Audrey Collins, Lisa Louise Cooke, Dick Eastman, Colleen Fitzpatrick, John Grenham, Alison Hare, Mark D. Herber, Sherry Irvine, Thomas W. Jones, Thomas MacEntee, Brenda Dougall Merriman, Elizabeth Shown Mills, George G. Morgan, Dave Obee, Chris Paton, Randy Seaver, Drew Smith, Megan Smolenyak, Kurt B. Witcher, Glenn Wright.

OGS technical webinars

Ontario Genealogical Society members will have received an email with notice of four technical webinars to be delivered between 24 January and 7 March. They deal with the use of technology to support branch operations, not family history and are designed to appeal to branch executive member interests although all OGS members are invited.
They will be delivered through Microsoft Office Live Meeting which is made available to OGS through its agreement with The National Institute for Genealogical Studies.
The Society hopes to offer other free or low-cost webinars as a benefit to OGS members during the 2012 year, possibly making some available to non-members for a fee.

East Anglian Film Archive

On Saturday, having decided not to venture into what I sincerely hope will be the coldest day of the year, I spent a couple of hours with the East Anglian Film Archive and some of its 200 hours of material accessible for free. The coast of Norfolk and Suffolk gets a good representation. 

I was interested to see a short of the Funeral Of The Crew Of The Zeppelins Shot Down in 1916, and compare the treatment with the video of how the remains of Taliban fighters were treated recently. 

via Chris Paton's British GENES blog

Ancestry updates British Columbia civil registration databases

Ancestry.ca's recent update to British Columbia civil registration indexes has added 1900-1903 to births, over 11,000 records; 1925-1935 to marriages, about 100,000 records; and 1980-1990 to deaths, about 192,000 records.

Remember that familysearch.org also has BC civil registration records which usually have more information than the Ancestry index, especially by giving parents names.

For births both indexes go up to 1903. The Ancestry the index for marriages has three years beyond that on FS and four additional years for deaths.

The BC Archives also have a website with one additional year for marriages (1936) and deaths (1991).

LAC updates Upper Canada land petitions database

In announcing a major update to its online database “Upper Canada Land Petitions (1763–1865)” Library and Archives Canada informs us it incorporates:

• All suggestions for corrections received from users since the original launch in September 2010;
• More than 5,000 references to land petitions occurring in the Upper Canada Sundries added.

Using the database remains labourious as it employs digital microfilm and there is no direct link from entries in the Upper Canada Land Petitions database. If you find a person of interest amongst the more than 82,000 entries you need to note the microfilm, volume, bundle and page numbers. Find the digitized images of the petition from the digital microfilm list at http://goo.gl/j0shw.

Irvine’s Genealogy Laws

Have you heard of Irvine’s Genealogy Laws, all ten of them? Here are the first five:

• Useful information declines by the square of the distance from the source.
• The scope or extent of a search, in terms of date range and geographic area, varies inversely with the commonness of the name.
• Skepticism is the root of all good research.
• The history of a record is as important as its contents.
• What is a genealogist without sources?

Read the other five, as well as information on recommended resources, at: http://www.pharostutors.com/freegenealogyhelp.php

Do you know of others genealogy rules? Please share in the comments.

Found and lost in London

I've spent a fair bit of time searching in the London, England, Electoral Registers, 1835-1965 database placed online by Ancestry earlier in the week. It's filled some significant gaps and is a great new online resource. But as is often the case in family history, it has also opened up a whole bunch more questions.

Some were answered by the sections on Historical Background and Searching the Registers located below the Ancestry search panel. The London Metropolitan archives information leaflet here is also worth reviewing.

Although I've not reviewed it the small publication Electoral registers since 1832 : and burgess rolls, a Gibson Guide, might also be helpful. There's a copy in the BIFHSGO library. A newer version is also available.

Ancestry have a habit of exaggerating the scope of databases and updating without letting you know what's added.

I searched for my grandfather who was living in Hendon in the 1930s. He has a distinctive middle name and I was fortunate it was included in the lists from 1930 to 1936. Then nothing after that.  I wondered if he'd dropped the middle name, moved to a different area, or if perhaps the districts were changed. I checked the browse collection for Hendon and found it only had content from 1918 to 1930, even though the searchable database went to 1936.

The situation was even more stark for Harrow where I found my other grandfather in the database to 1936 but the browse file only went to 1899.

What happened to the other years between 1835 and 1965 as advertised in the database title? In the whole dataset there's no data for years before 1847 and after 1961.

Looking a little deeper, going through the database year by year for the surname Smith, there is no data for 1850, 1854, 1855, 1863, 1864, and the war years 1915, 1916, and 1940-44. Smith voters in the database first exceed 1,000 in 1886 then jump to 14,694 in 1890 remaining fairly steady to WW1. Women over 30 were enfranchised and numbers increased to 32,208 in 1918. Again in 1929 all men and women 21 and over gained voting rights and Smith voters reached 52,919. Voter numbers drop from the late 1930s as fewer lists are included in the database.

Canadian library genealogy blogs

Many libraries have specialist librarians for genealogy, sometimes combined with local history or a related specialty. You can look to your library for quality help in your family history studies, after all, librarians are professionals.

Even if you don't live within the area served by a major public library you can still benefit through the resources they have online, including blogs. Here's a public library blog overview, in alphabetical order.

Calgary - http://www.calgarypubliclibrary.com/blogs/community-heritage-and-family-history
Two posts so far this month, the most recent, on January 10, is "Interesting blogs for genealogists."
Montreal - none that I could find.
Ottawa - http://biblioottawalibrary.ca/en/main/interest/blog/recent/all/241
Only ten postings on this one, the most recent last May. There are also four items posted under Ottawa History including two podcasts.
Toronto - http://torontopubliclibrary.typepad.com/local-history-genealogy/
Five postings so far this month, the last on January 9 was "Digitized Toronto Newspapers: Globe & Mail and Toronto Star."
Vancouver - http://guides.vpl.ca/cat.php?cid=30685
A single post under the heading Biography & Genealogy is about "All about Zines @ VPL."

If I missed a genealogy-related blog at one of these libraries, or you have one at your library you'd like to share, please leave a comment.

Federal support for Canadian publications

In Tuesday's Ottawa Citizen columnist Randall Denley writes "The little-known Canada Periodical Fund doles out about $71 million a year to publications ranging from Newfoundland Sportsman to the Canadian Coin News." Surely out of that amount there must be something for genealogy.
Yes there is, but it's not as I expected. The only periodical I can immediately identify from the genealogical/family history community is "Mémoires de la Société généalogique canadienne-française" receiving $8,625. That's 0.012% of the total.  That's no match for gardening at 0.975% and hockey which receives 1.17% of the funding. So much for genealogy as the most popular pastime.
I'm not complaining, it does help put our genealogy interest in perspective.
To be fair, some of the other publications have history content. Legion Magazine is a Canadian English-language magazine with a French insert published in a four-colour format covering stories about Canadians, Canada’s institutions its military and its heritage. At $7 per year for six issues a substantial part of the $574,113 from the fund must go as a subsidy.
Canada's History, formerly The Beaver, costs $32.95 for the annual six issues and receives a grant of $139,214. Might a reduced price bring a larger subscriber base and a larger grant? For comparison, Canadian Geographic, the cover of the January issue featuring the War of 1812, receives a grant of $592,964 and costs $28.50 for six issues.

Over 84 million genealogists claimed in market assessment

For $1,450 Global Industry Analysts, Inc. will provide you a 55 page report on the genealogy products and services sector.

Their press release, Online Researchers Spur Growth of Genealogy Industry, According to a New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc. states that "ggenealogical enthusiasts are spending between US$1000 to US$18000 a year to discover his or her roots. The growth of the genealogy research market is being spurred by the spending of over 84 million genealogists. Emerging trends, such as male adoptees using consumer DNA tests to discover their surname, are expected to further promote growth of this industry." 

Noting that promising growth is mostly confined to Western nations they anticipate that "the trend is expected to continue as a growing number of individuals become more aware of the ease and convenience of tracing their lineage through online sites." 

Your $1,450 provides "a collection of statistical anecdotes, market briefs, and concise summaries of research findings. The report offers an overview of the global genealogy products and services market, identifies emerging trends and growth drivers, traces the history of genealogy, provides a list of the most popular genealogy websites, and refers to all recent activity in the industry. Also included is an indexed, easy-to-refer, fact-finder directory listing the addresses, and contact details of companies worldwide." There is mention of 55 companies and no market data tables.

Comment: This posting is based on the press release. The report itself is too pricey for my budget, especially as the latest date mentioned in the summary is January 2009. Could the annual market actually be $84 billion or more as seems to be claimed?

via http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/545827

Ancestry adds London, England, Electoral Registers, 1835-1965

Here's a database many have been waiting for. There is data for 1860 and 1898 to 1965 with 1916, 1917, 1940-1944 and 1962-1965 not present in the sample I checked. The format changes with more detail in the earlier years. There's more at an Ancestry blog posting at http://goo.gl/plqw0

War of 1812 and Migration booklets by Elizabeth Lapointe

Some months ago Elizabeth Lapointe, well known as the editor of OGS Families and a blogger in her own right, or is that write, at Genealogy Canada handed me copies of two booklets she has published. They are laminated single fold, four page format. I'd call them quicksheets but perhaps that's a proprietary name.

It's taken a while for Elizabeth to get them stocked so you can order them. Now they're available from two sources.
Global Genealogy has "The War of 1812: Canada and the United States" and

"Migration: Canada and the United States" conveniently linked from the site front page, right hand side with a good description of the content.

They are also available from the National Institute for Genealogical Studies by following the chain of links "Our Store" > "Other Products" > "By Country/Groups" > "Canada: General" > "Books". Then look on page 2 for the Migration booklet and : page 4 for the War of 1812. It's a convoluted path --  you may discover some other hidden gems along the way!
Elizabeth has packed a lot into the four pages, two column format. In the "Migration: Canada and the United States" brochure the material is divided under Canada and United State. Sub-headings for Canada are: Arcadian Migration, Migration to the Boston States, French Canadian Migration, Migration to the Midwestern and Southwestern States, and Migration from Canada to the United States Due to War. Under each there is a brief discussion of the scope and significance and lists of online and book resources.
For sale at $7.95 these should prove a convenient reference for those researching ancestors involved in these events on either side of the border.

TNA podcast: Anxiety, dread and disease: British ports 1834-1870

I blogged in mid-November about this presentation by Sarah Hutton which I was able to attend at Kew. It's worth listening to even without the visuals, although there should probably be a warning about the graphic description of urban conditions in the mid 19th century.

"As Britain's status as the 'workshop of the world' grew, so did the new industrial and trading towns. Ports became densely populated and ripe for the spread of infection; once disease took hold it moved rapidly and lethally. Yet what made these ports so particularly vulnerable, in addition to the threat from within, was their high exposure to threats from abroad. While obviously of huge economic importance, a section of the 'inside' port town community undoubtedly perceived seafarers as 'outside', 'foreign' and a medical threat. The daily interplay between these settled and transient communities created an environment imbued with anxieties as to the nature of disease, its transmission and its treatment. Sarah Hutton is a modern domestic records specialist at The National Archives, where she has worked for five years. She is particularly interested in 19th and early 20th century health. This talk was part of our diversity week event in November, highlighting the diversity of The National Archives' collection."

Listen from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/podcasts/

Genetic genealogy in the news

Long time readers of this blog know I've much admiration for the work and presentations of California forensic genealogist Colleen Fitzpatrick who will be on the program at the OGS conference in Kingston this year. She's in the news this week using DNA analysis to assist Seattle-area sheriff's deputies narrow the field of suspects in a 20-year-old murder. Read the story at  

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/09/justice/washington-cold-case/index.html

via a tip from Mike More.

1812 has arrived!

Folks are determined to have a good time while remembering the War of 1812, the reason Canadians aren't Yankees. Canada's top historians of the event are on the program for a War of 1812 Bicentennial Symposium on Saturday the 25th of February at the University of Guelph.  Full information is at http://www.livinghistoryconference.com/

Historic Toronto newspapers online

The beleagured Toronto Public Library posted to their Local History and Genealogy blog on the availability of the Digitized Toronto Newspapers: Globe & Mail and Toronto Star at home for their subscribers. The digitized Globe and Mail is more widely available through many Ontario libraries.

A reminder about the free availability to all of Google digitized Toronto newspapers:

The Toronto Daily Mail
3,052 issues
May 23, 1851 - Sep 15, 1898Toronto Daily Star
301 issues
Jan 2, 1945 - Dec 29, 1945

The Toronto Daily Telegraph
133 issues
Mar 20, 1837 - Dec 21, 1952

The Toronto Sunday World
303 issues
Feb 4, 1910 - Mar 31, 1915

The Toronto World
2,884 issues
Jun 4, 1813 - Apr 10, 1921

Subscription site Paper of Record has:
Canadian Correspondent,   Toronto 1833 - 1834,  210 pages
Canadian Freeman 1st Edition,   Toronto 1825 - 1834 (partial), 715 pages
Correspondent and Advocate,   Toronto 1834 - 1837,  576 pages
Independent,   Toronto 1849 - 1850,  103 pages
Irish Canadian,   Toronto 1863 - 1875 (partial),  5,697 pages
Nation,   Toronto 1874 - 1876, 1,608 pages
North American Semi Weekly,   Toronto 1850 - 1854, 950 pages
Toronto British Colonist,   Toronto 1843 - 1850, 2,872 pages
Toronto Examiner,   Toronto 1840 - 1855, 3,382 pages
Toronto World,   Toronto 1880 - 1921 (partial), 21,669 pages

50% off Ancestry - can you get it?

I grabbed an image of this ad from the Legion Magazine offering 50% off an initial Ancestry.ca World Deluxe subscription to Canadian Legion members. The offer is also on the Canadian Legion website here. Short of winning the jackpot, an Ancestry subscription is a frequent door prize at family history society conferences, 50% is the best discount I've seen.
The small print in the ad says you call the phone number given to make full payment for a one year subscription by credit card and will be automatically enrolled for renewal unless you call to cancel.

Would Ancestry management consider a similar offer to family history society members? It would be widely appreciated, a great incentive for societies to offer to new members. Is this something on which the (US) Federation of Genealogical Societies, whose member societies would benefit, would take the initiative? Maybe the genealogical community, especially the bloggers who judging by recent experience collectively have a voice that carries some weight, could help this happen.

23andMe plans service changes for genealogy

23andMe co-founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki says "I sincerely apologize" to genetic genealogists who have protested company plans to change terms of service.

For quite a while 23andMe took genetic genealogy as an afterthought, second fiddle to the health targeted service that motivated the company's formation. The company was for a while the most affordable option for autosomal DNA analysis, and likely quite surprised at the interest from the genealogy community. Now genealogy is seemingly a substantial enough part of the company clientele to be meaningful to their bottom line, one that don't want to alienate.

You can read the blog posting here. The good news is "Over the next six months 23andMe is putting substantial resources into Ancestry." Also "We will be engaging with leaders from the ancestry community to do our best to create products that meet your needs. CeCe Moore will be leading this initiative with us and we will look to engage many more of you."

The not so good news is that, unlike FamilyTreeDNA, 23andMe seems set on requiring a continuing subscription in order to benefit from matches with data from newly analysed customers. I hope the company closely examines the market, and considers whether it should further distinguish its health service, which surely gobbles up a lot of its resources, from its ancestry service. 23andMe should consider the free/subscription service model of lostcousins.com where, normally, only subscription paying customers can initiate a contact to a "cousin".

Copyright in Canada

At the BIFHSGO meeting last Saturday I was asked about the situation regarding copyright in Canada. It's in flux.

Bill C-11, the Copyright Modernization Act, is currently being debated in Parliament. There is considerable concern about proposed provisions that would make it illegal to circumvent technological protection measures or digital locks used to prevent copyright infringement or piracy, provisions which would override the rights of users to use content for the purpose of fair dealing and education. You can keep up to date on the latest from an advocate for these jeopardized rights at Michael Geist's blog.

The Ottawa Public Library Board have a briefing note on Copyright Developments for their meeting on Monday, 9 January, which may be helpful to those struggling to understand the situation as if presently exists and may change. Read it at http://goo.gl/xzjwU.

Best of the Genea-blogs

Week after week California-based Randy Seaver makes a personal selection of the best genealogy blog postings of the past week. If you don't follow US genealogy activity, and he does focus on what's happening on the US scene, this is a recommended read to keep up to date. This week's post is at:
http://www.geneamusings.com/2012/01/best-of-genea-blogs-1-january-to-7.html

Warning: Simon Fowler is coming to Canada

You wouldn't want to miss him. Simon Fowler is perhaps best known as editor of the late lamented  family history magazine Ancestors, killed off by TNA. Simon worked at Kew on and off for over thirty years and specializes in military family history, with a particular focus on the First World War.

Simon is coming to Toronto and Ottawa.

On Saturday 31 March 2012 he will be a featured speaker in Toronto at a Finding Your Great War Ancestors Workshop. Toronto is often the venue for significant genealogy events at that time of year. This workshop will have two plenaries, the opening one given by Simon, the close by Canadian War Museum historian and award-winning author Tim Cook, and three other sessions, each with three presentation choices.

For full program details, speaker biographies and registration information, visit www.torontofamilyhistory.org/GreatWarWorkshop2012.html.

On Monday, 2 April, Simon will travel to Ottawa to give two evening presentations hosted by BIFHSGO as a free community service event. The venue is the auditorium at Library and Archives Canada. His presentations will be Researching your (British) Military Ancestors Online, and British Emigration Records. More details at www.bifhsgo.ca

TNA podcast: Sovereign squire rebel

Another podcast in the series from TNA's diversity week last November.

"At the age of five years, Duleep Singh found himself on the golden throne of the Punjab, one of the most powerful independent kingdoms in India and a thorn in the advancement of the British Empire. After the Sikh Wars against the British Empire, the infant ruler was separated from his mother, surrendered the famed Koh-i-Noor diamond and was removed from power by the East India Company.
Effectively exiled to Britain, he became an instant favourite of Queen Victoria and an exotic party accessory. But after trying his hand at writing a West End play, standing for Parliament and remonstrating with the British Empire for the shortfall of his stipend, the Maharajah became disillusioned by his surroundings and sought to make a stand against the tyrannical establishment.
Peter Bance is an independent researcher, historian and author on Anglo-Sikh History and has published a number a books on the subject, including two on Maharajah Duleep Singh. He has amassed the largest collection of Maharajah Duleep Singh artefacts which has been exhibited worldwide."

Listen here.

 

Which genealogy software?

A few days ago the GenSoftReviews User Choice Awards for 2011 were announced. I was surprised by the results.
Let's have a look at the award winners, and one other, focusing on traditional PC genealogy database software that is hosted on your own computer. Other entries in GenSoftReviews, including analysis add-ons and utilities on a server (in the cloud), likely the way of the future, are not covered here.
Note that the rankings were done at the end of 2011; some comments and ratings have been added on the site subsequently.

Ancestral Quest - 4.89 out of 5 is top rated. The associated website has an Alexa ranking of 1,063,336. Of 12 reviews 10 give it a perfect five star rating, 1 just one star. Comments praise the software's simplicity, user support and compatibility to PAF. There's a free version and full version available as a download for $29.95. The company, Incline Software, is located in Utah; the website shows sensitive to the needs of LDS users.

Family Historian - 4.63 out of 5 is second rated.  The associated website has an Alexa ranking of 1,715,518. There are 16 reviews, 4 added since the new year. 12 give it a perfect five star rating, 2 four stars and 1 two stars. Four of the comments were added in 2011. While comments praise the ease of use and features there do appear to have been some problems with upgrading, and earlier comments referred to a steep learning curve. A free 30 day trial is available by download. A new version, 5 is expected to be released in February 2012 with free upgrade from version 4 which can be purchased online for £29.99.  The company, Calico Pie, is located in the UK.

Personal Ancestral File - 4.61 out of 5. It has not been developed since 2006 but remains available as a free download from familysearch.org. The reviews divide about evenly between five and four star ratings. Comments praise the software's easy of use, stability and being free, while noting the lack of some bells and whistles available in later commercial software. As a product of the LDS, and familysearch.org, it was specially developed to meet Church requirements. Did I mention it's free.

Ultimate Family Tree - 4.59 out of 5. The software was acquired by Family Tree Maker (Ancestry.com) and is no longer supported or developed. Of 14 reviews 7 give it a perfect five star rating, 1 a four star and 1 a single star. Comments praise the software's event (rather then person) orientation, but lament that it's no longer supported and incompatible with recent operating systems.

Genbox Family History - 4.47 out of 5. The associated website has an Alexa ranking of  5,883,836. Of 16 reviews 8 give it a perfect five star rating, 5 four stars, 1 two star. Comments note its completeness, compare it to The Master Genealogist, and that the latest release is from November 2007. The company, Thoughtful Creations, is located in Cincinnati, Ohio. The full version of Genbox Family History can be downloaded for a free trial for 30 days. A permanent license is $29.95.

Brother's Keeper - 4.42 out of 5. The associated website has an Alexa ranking of   2,401,348. Of 50 reviews 34 give it a perfect five star rating, 7 four stars, 2 three stars and 2 two a single star. Comments were that while it may not have more advanced features, including web interaction, it is simple, reliable and has exceptional support. This is shareware produced by John Steed of Michigan. You can download a fully functional version without charge. A registered version will be mailed for $45.

Note:  The following are the big three in PC genealogy software, as reflected in promotion and the higher Alexa rankings for the product website. They have been widely reviewed and are broadly comparable, but see the note for Family Tree Maker.

RootsMagic - 4.45 out of 5. The associated website has an Alexa ranking of 186,946.
Of 47 reviews 41 give it a perfect five star rating, 2 three stars, 1 two stars and 1 a single star. The product, from Utah based RootsMagic Inc, was recently updated to version 5 for $29.95. There is a free essentials version.

Family Tree Maker - Up to Version 16 - 4.18 out of 5. The associated website has an Alexa ranking of 140,254. Of 35 reviews 12 give it a perfect five star rating, 6 four stars, 3 three stars, 3 two stars, and 2 a single star.  Note this this is not the most recent version of Family Tree Maker which only gets a 2.5 rating based on 108 reviews. 

Legacy Family Tree - 4.06 out of 5. The associated website has an Alexa ranking of 129,328. Of 74 reviews 45 give it a perfect five star rating, 11 four stars, 8 three stars and 7 two stars. The product is from Millenium Corporation, based in Arizona and is available as a free standard edition and a download for $29.95.

One that didn't rank among the award winners

The Master Genealogist  - 3.84 out of 5.  The associated website has an Alexa ranking of  351,227.  Of 104 reviews 45 give it a perfect five star rating, 11 each for four and three stars, 7 two stars and 19 just one star. With such diversity and polarization of opinion it's hard to summarize, but most agree the program takes significant effort to learn. Some of those who like it were criticized for being arrogant toward those who don't; those who don't were criticized for being abusive and sometimes uninformed. There was comment that some of the comments were inside jobs! Version 8 was released in December 2011 so most comments refer to earlier versions. The company, Wholly Genes, is located in Columbia, Maryland. A free 30 day trial by download is available. The full feature gold version is $59 by download.

Comments:
1. Thanks to Louis Kessler for making the GenSoftReviews facility available. You can make it more valuable by posting comments from your own experience.
2. When ratings are based on only a limited number of reviews the system is vulnerable to gaming.
3. Ratings are based on comments since the site opened in September 2008. In most cases there have been developments in the intervening years. Earlier comments may not reflect the situation with the current version.
4. Generally higher ranked software had fewer comments and lower Alexa rankings
5. If the number of comments had been taken into account, beyond not ranking those that received less than 10 ratings, the rankings could have been quite different. For example, based on the number of five star ratings given the first ranked would be The Master Genealogist which didn't even rank among the award winners. TMG, along with Legacy, each gained more five star ratings than the top five ranked programs combined.
6. When choosing software give consideration to support you might need. While most software includes online help consider choosing a program which has a local user base so you can get face to face advice and training. That's especially true if you are looking for a program that is adapted to non-US data, geography and conventions. Most family history societies will have one or more experts and maybe even a user group.

R&R - recording your life

Jeff Harris: 4,748 Self-Portraits and Counting from We Know Music on Vimeo.

via Open Culture

US WDYTYA victims announced

When NBC's genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are? returns with its third season Feb. 3, a new crop of celebrities will explore their family history.
Martin Sheen, Marisa Tomei, Blair Underwood, Reba McEntire, Rob Lowe, Helen Hunt, Rita Wilson, Edie Falco, Rashida Jones, former NFL running back Jerome Bettis, Jason Sudeikis and Paula Deen will be featured on the series.

From the Hollywood Reporter, via a tweet from Megan Smolenyak

Bible records online

Feeling lucky? You could go out and buy a lottery ticket...
... or for better odds, by a bit, by trying Bible Records Online.  There are 1158 Bibles with 5703 instances of  3469 different surnames on this site "dedicated to transcribing and digitizing the contents of family records that were written inside family Bibles and in other important documents from as early as the 1500s through today."

Call for 2012 BIFHSGO Conference Presentations

BIFHSGO is seeking proposals for presentations at its 18th annual conference being held 14-16 September 2012.

This year's focus is on Scotland. In addition to presentations on the theme, proposals for other presentations are welcome including:
- writing and preserving family history
- social networking
- technology and genetics/DNA discoveries
- case studies that illuminate social trends and illustrate good genealogical practice.

Deadline: To be considered as a presenter, please submit a brief outline of your proposed talk(s) to conference@bifhsgo.ca no later than 31 January 2012.

For more details visit http://www.bifhsgo.ca/cpage.php?pt=22.

Ireland is Digitizing and Making Military Records Available Online

A new website – militaryarchives.ie – is designed to appeal to professional and amateur historians and genealogists as well as members of the public who are simply hoping to fill in gaps in a family tree.
The Irish State’s Military Archives are held in Dublin’s Cathal Brugha Barracks but will now become available online for the first time. Some material inherited from the British forces who departed in 1922 is also included.
By March, it is planned to publish 36,000 pages of witness statements – online, digitised and fully word searchable – relating to the key military events which shaped pre-Independence Ireland from 1913-1921.

From an article in The Irish Times via INFOdocket

BIFHSGO January meeting

The meeting is early this month, January 7, so you don't have to wait for it. Again it looks like a good one -- and that's the opinion of a prominent member who is selective about the meetings she chooses to attend.

The Tooley Street Fire – A 9/11 Moment for Victorian Londoners
Presented by Myra Conway
There are a very few events in our lifetimes when we remember exactly where we were when we heard about them. For Myra Conway two events stand out –the Kennedy assassination and the 9/11 attacks. The Tooley Street Fire and its aftermath would have been one of those events for the people living in Victorian London. In telling the story of that event Myra hopes to show how exciting it is to blend family history with social history – Myra’s ancestors lived just a block away from Tooley Street at the time of the fire. Not only was the fire itself a spectacular event but the funeral of one of the firefighters killed during the blaze rivalled that of the great Duke of Wellington. The fire led to major changes in the way fire insurance was managed and, if that wasn't enough, the sight of the fire converted a villain to become one of the saints of the London poor.

That presentation gets underway, after announcements, at 10am. At 9am Susan Davis, BIFHSGO Director of Communications, will give an update on the BIFHSGO Website Members Only section, Twitter, Facebook.

BIFHSGO meetings remain at Library and Archives Canada thanks to the decision of Minister Rona Ambrose to continue to make the facility available to the community.

Scottish Catholic Archives update

via the British GENES (GEnealogy News and EventS) blog

The Scottish Catholic Archives website at www.scottishcatholicarchives.org.uk has been updated to provide a source list for those researching Scottish Canadian Catholic heritage, with the connection first established following the settlement of Highland Scots in Nova Scotia in 1772.

OGS NewsLeaf goes electronic

The Ontario Genealogical Society has announced its newsletter is being migrated to electronic format. I got that information via Elizabeth Lapointe's Genealogy Canada blog which mentions it being a green initiative.

If being green were the only motivation then I'd ask what else OGS is doing for the environment, otherwise it's just green-washing.

But the actual OGS announcement also mentions a savings of several thousand dollars "which will assist The Society in its challenge to balance the budget."

OGS pleads poverty, yet sits on total assets of over two million dollars, more than four times the society's annual expenditure.

Moving to electronic newsletter distribution makes sense, some would say overdue. It might also give the Society a measure of how much the newsletter is valued, what fraction of members will actually go online to read it? What would the OGS Board consider a reasonable percent of the membership who would do that?

Is this a sign that OGS is getting more serious about sound financial management? What other administrative savings are to be found?

Weak-minded ancestors revealed, not likely

Today, 4 January 2012, all can be revealed in the 1911 census of England and Wales. The previously redacted infirmity column of the census form can be revealed. Findmypast.co.uk have done so on their images, not yet on Ancestry.

Chances are you won't find any unpleasant surprises. Mostly there's noting entered in the column, except maybe a dash. For a couple of institutions I checked there was not a single infirmity entered. Also it may not be in the exact form specified in the instructions. I found weak minded rather feeble minded. Only in one case was the age of onset specified as instructed.

35 family history books coming soon

For those who like to browse in bookshops and bookstands at conferences let me whet your appetite with a selection from Amazon.com's catalogue of genealogy and family history books scheduled for release in 2012.
Release dates are guidelines. Publications are often available pre-release, or may not be available where you are until later. That's especially true of availability on another continent from where published.
Some of the authors are well known. Their books are a good bet. I've only seen one, DNA and Social Networking, which I'm favourably reviewing in a forthcoming issue of Internet Genealogy. Some others ... let's leave it at these aren't books I've seen.

Here's the list:

Imperial Immigrants: Scottish Settlers in the Upper Ottawa Valley, 1815-1840 [Paperback] Michael E. Vance (Author). Scheduled for release August 20, 2012.
Glasgow [Paperback] Bruce Durie (Author). Scheduled for release August 1, 2012.
Finding Your Roots: Easy-to-Do Genealogy and Family History [Paperback]
Janice Schultz (Author). Scheduled for release July 1, 2012.
Mastering Family, Library & Church Records  [Paperback] Daniel Quillen W. (Author). Scheduled for release  June 26, 2012.
The Genealogist's Internet, 5th Revised Edition [Paperback] Peter Christian (Author). Scheduled for release  June 26, 2012.
Discover Your Family History Online: A Step-by-Step Guide to Starting Your Genealogy Search [Paperback] Nancy Hendrickson (Author).  Scheduled for release  June 13, 2012.
AARP Genealogy Online: Tech to Connect [Paperback] April Leigh Helm (Author), Matthew L. Helm (Author) Scheduled for release  June 12, 2012.

Napoleonic Lives: Researching the British Soldiers of the Napoleonic Wars [Paperback] Carole Divall (Author)  Scheduled for release  June, 2012.
Family History: Digging Deeper [Paperback] Simon Fowler (Author) Scheduled for release  June 1, 2012.
Genealogy QuickSteps [Paperback] Marty Matthews (Author), Bobbi Sandberg (Author) Scheduled for release  May 22, 2012.
Researching Your Irish Ancestors at Home and Abroad [Paperback]David R. Elliott (Author) Scheduled for release May 14, 2012.
Scottish Genealogy, 3rd ed. [Paperback] Bruce Durie (Author) Scheduled for release May 1, 2012

Preserving Local Writers, Genealogy, Photographs, Newspapers, and Related Materials [Paperback] Carol Smallwood (Author, Editor), Elaine Williams (Editor) Scheduled for release April 16, 2012  

DNA and Social Networking: A Guide to Genealogy in the Twenty-First Century [Hardcover] Debbie Kennett (Author). Scheduled for US/Canada release April 1, 2012
Tracing Your Huguenot Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians [Paperback]Kathy Chater (Author) Scheduled for release April, 2012
Tracing Your British Indian Ancestors [Paperback]Emma Jolly (Author) Scheduled for release April, 2012
Tracing Your Irish Ancestors, 4th ed. [Paperback]John Grenham (Author) Scheduled for release March 30, 2012

How to Trace Your Family History on the Internet, 2nd rev. ed. [Paperback]Nick Barratt (Author) Scheduled for release March 30, 2012

Trace Your Roots [Paperback] Maureen Vincent-Northam (Author) Scheduled for release March 30, 2012

The Genealogist's Census Pocket Reference: Tips, Tricks & Fast Facts to Track Your Ancestors [Paperback] Editors of Family Tree Magazine (Editor) Scheduled for release March 29, 2012

Quillen's Essentials of Genealogy: Tracing Your European Roots [Paperback]

W. Daniel Quillen (Author) Scheduled for release March 27, 2012.

Tracing Your Naval Ancestors [Paperback] Simon Fowler (Author)  Scheduled for release March 19, 2012.
Complete Idiot's Guide To Genealogy, 3rd ed. [Paperback] Christine Rose CG CGL FAS (Author), Kay Germain Ingalls CG (Author) Scheduled for release March 6, 2012.

Scots a Genetic Journey [Paperback] Alistair Moffat (Author), James F Wilson (Author)  Scheduled for release March 1, 2012.
Irish Family & Local History Handbook [Paperback] Robert Blatchford (Author) Scheduled for release February 28, 2012.
Tracing Your Canal Ancestors: A Guide for Family Historians [Paperback] Sue Wilkes (Author) Scheduled for release February 19, 2012.

Family Matters: A History of Genealogy [Hardcover] Michael Sharpe (Author) Scheduled for release February 19, 2012.

Tracing Your Second World War Ancestors [Paperback] Phil Tomaselli (Author) Scheduled for release February 19, 2012.
How to Do Everything Genealogy, 3rd ed. [Paperback] George G. Morgan (Author) Scheduled for release February 7, 2012.
The Troubleshooter's Guide to Do-It-Yourself Genealogy [Paperback] Daniel Quillen W. (Author) Scheduled for release January 31, 2012.

Hey America Your Roots Are Showing [Paperback] Megan Smolenyak (Author)  Scheduled for release January 24, 2012.
Digital Video for Family Historians: Creation, Conversion, and Genealogical Archiving [Paperback] Joanna Silber (Author) Scheduled for release January 15, 2012.
Tracing Scottish Ancestors, 6th ed. [Paperback] National Archives (Author)  Scheduled for release January 13, 2012.
Scottish Roots Step By Step, 2nd rev. ed. [Paperback]Alwyn James (Author) Scheduled for release January 2, 2012.
Researching your Family History Online, In Simple Steps [Paperback] Heather Morris (Author)  Scheduled for release January 1, 2012.

FTDNA upgrade

The following is an announcement from Family Tree DNA

Family Tree DNA is proud to announce our upgrade of the myFTDNA user interface will be launched the morning of January 4th, 2012. This upgrade represents a major redesign in layout, better organization, and additional functionality. All the features to which you are accustomed still exist. They are just in slightly different locations. We have also added many features that our customers have frequently requested. To help with the transition to this new interface we have created an interactive tour to guide you through the new pages. We highly recommend you take the entire tour, as it is very thorough and answers many of the most frequently asked questions.

Ottawa directories online

There have been some additions to the Ottawa city directories available free online since I last looked in April 2011. There's a mixture of LAC and Internet Archive sources in this overview list.
1862, 1863, 1864-65, 1866-67, 1868, 1869-70, 1870-71, 1872-73, 1873-74, 1874-75, 1875, 1881, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1886, 1887, 1888-89, 1889-90, 1890-91, 1891-92, 1893-94, 1895-96, 1896-97, 1897-98, 1898-99, 1899, 1901, 1909, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914,  1915, 1916, 1923. 


A couple of Sons of England directories may be of interest:
1898, 1899 


Also the Ottawa Club
1888

and Freemasons
1868

Family Tree DNA extends sale

The sale at Family Tree DNA which was to end 31 December has been extended to 7 January.

Toronto school memorials

The following notice was provided via Gwyneth Pearce.

The Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society has added almost 3,600 more names to For King and Country, its on-line database of war memorials in Toronto schools. Launched on Remembrance Day 2010, this database includes transcriptions and photographs of school memorials, as well as information about the history of the schools themselves and links to other useful school and community websites. Some of the memorials name only those who died in war, but most include all who enlisted.

The For King and Country database – which can be searched by surname, forename, school or keywords at www.torontofamilyhistory.org/kingandcountry/ – now contains more than 26,000 names from 70 elementary and secondary schools and will continue to grow. The latest additions to the database are: Agincourt Continuation School, Deer Park Public School, Earl Grey School, Midland Avenue School, Morse Street School, Park School, Parkdale Public School, Regal Road School, William Burgess School, and Withrow Avenue School.

For more information about this project and how to contribute, contact: Martha Jackson at kingandcountry@torontofamilyhistory.org.

2012 genealogy benchmarks

Regular reader know to look for excursions into statistics on Anglo-Celtic Connections.  Here are some benchmarks as of 1 January 2012.

Familysearch.org has 1,008 record collections: census & lists (88); birth, marriage, & death (662); probate & court (68); military (83); migration & naturalization (45); other (62). It has Alexa rank 6,218.

Family Tree DNA has 355,935 records in its database, with 6,767 surname projects, 107,754 unique surnames, 220,303 Y-DNA records, 137,652 25-marker records, 117,482 37-marker records, 53,245 67-marker records, 135,632 mtDNA records, and 16,471 FGS records. It ranks 51,424 on Alexa.

Britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk claims 3,276,840 pages digitized, Alexa rank 97,044

Cyndislist.com claims 309,467 total links in 187 categories, with 5,950 uncategorized.  Alexa rank 98,926.

FreeBMD has 210,487,942 distinct records, Alexa rank 110,903.

UKBMD provides 2207 links to web sites that offer on-line transcriptions of UK births, marriages, deaths and censuses. Alexa rank 375,712.

CanadianHeadstones.com has over over 336,000 gravestone photo records from across Canada. It scores 1,465,925 in Alexa traffic rank.

The Canadian Gravemarker Gallery has 1,100 completely photographed cemeteries and over 500,000 photographs from across Canada. Alexa rank is 1,956,006.

And in case you're curious:

Anglo-Celtic Connections, Alexa rank 150,366, has 3,130 posts as of 1 January 2012.

Did I miss something significant? If so please post a comment with the statistic.

UPDATE: Randy Seaver has a similar benchmark post here with a somewhat different selection of sites.

FreeBMD January update

The FreeBMD Database was updated on Sun 1 Jan 2012 and currently contains 210,487,942 distinct records (266,785,174 total records).

This update has major additions to births between 1939 and 1960, marriages for 1920, 1938, 1950 and 1952-1959, and deaths between 1946 and 1951.

How well does social support lower your stress level?

According to a study of 194 young German males having a particular genetic configuration at one position on the number 3 chromosome has a strong influence on how well you respond to social support in a stressful situation.

"Only individuals with one or two copies of the G allele of rs53576 showed lower cortisol responses to stress after social support, compared with individuals with the same genotype receiving no social support."

The introductory paragraphs of the article give the information that:

"In recent studies, the A allele of rs53576 has been associated with reduced maternal sensitivity to child behavior, lower empathy, reduced reward dependence, lower optimism and self-esteem, and, in men, negative affect. Moreover, the A allele has also been associated with a larger startle response and reduced amygdala activation during emotional face processing. Associations have also been reported between other variants of OXTR and amygdala volume, risk for autism, the quality of infants’ attachment bonds with their caregivers, attachment anxiety in adult females, and autistic-like social difficulties in adult males."

If I read the study correctly, and if like me (according my results at 23andMe) and 40% of the people in the study, you have both parents with at least one G allele you were raised in a home with a lower susceptibility to stress. According to the article:

"This effect is so robust that even the act of imagining the support of a close other can be an effective buffer against stress."

Comments?

via Deric Bownds' Mindblog

Newly open UK nurse records in the Queen's Roll

Appreciated less than they deserve by family historians are professional organization files. In a blog post from the Wellcome Library on files becoming open on 1 January 2012 is this promising looking item for those with a nurse active in the UK in the early 20th century.

"Two items from the Queen's Nursing Institute (SA/QNI): a volume of the Queen's Roll, on which inspections of nurses were recorded, covering 1926-1927; and - from the card index that replaced the original bound Roll - a microfilm of nurses' records on cards from 1907 to 1927."

If you're researching a nurse of the period it may help to read a short article "The Archive of the Queen's Nursing Institute in the Contemporary Medical Archives Centre" by Shirley Dixon available as a pdf at:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1044254/pdf/medhist00015-0109.pdf

It explains that the "Queen's Roll" giv(es) marital status, religious denomination, details of hospital training and nursing experience, district training, certificates and badges held, with what probably seemed a large amount of space for entries during her future career. It was found that it was insufficient space for all the details of the
working life of a long-serving nurse, and additional pages are attached with later
entries. From volume 12, which commences in July 1905, the size of volume is
greater, which gave the opportunity for a change in layout. More detail is given
of the nurse's background, including father's occupation and her own previous
occupation (all Queen's Nurses were female until 1946).