Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Ancestor's in western Canada 1916? FREE census search

As we all know the census is one of our most valued searches!! There were Special Censuses taken in Manitoba, Sask, and Alberta in 1906 and 1916. These have been available, indexed, on Ancestry for some time, but LAC has just now released a free searchable version (courtesy of Ancestry). One word of advice ... my grandparents were in Sask. in previous censuses but are absent in 1916 - both versions - so don't believe everything you find, or don't find!!

Still, it's hard to beat FREE?? Have a go at http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1916/Pages/1916.aspx

Pat
PS. I LOVE hearing from you all - good, bad, or ugly!!

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Someone is WRONG on the Internet

This is a must read!! It was written by a blogger that goes by the name of Persephene. It is full of good advice. Copy and paste the following URL

http://postitnotesfromhades.blogspot.ca/2013/01/someone-is-wrong-on-internet_25.html


Pat

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Missing Scots - to Canada

If your Scottish ancestors emigrated to Canada then the country's national archive, Library and Archives Canada, has posted a link in its blog to a dedicated page at

www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/genealogy/022-905.014-e.html

which itemizes sources that might help with your research.

There are some real gems there, for example, a huge series of Immigration Branch: Central Registry Files (RG 76), with items such as returns from the Glasgow Juvenile Delinquency Board - Girls Industrial School, Glasgow (RG 76, volume 119, file 22468, microfilm C-4782) which includes a list of children sent to Saint John, New Brunswick, between 1895 and 1906. Many, many other examples - well worth a look.

Thanks again to Chris Paton for the update.

Happy Searching All,
Pat

Friday, January 25, 2013

Irish BMDs Just Doubled in Cost

I am sincerely hoping you took advantage of my last post and were able to use the free day on findmypast.

At present it is possible to order birth, marriage and death records in Ireland from 3 sources. From 1845 to the present day you can obtain records for what is now the Republic of Ireland from the Irish GRO in Roscommon (www.groireland.ie). This also offers records for the north from 1845-1921. The beauty with this site is the fact that you can order photocopies for genealogical research for just four Euros each, if you know the details of when and where an event happened. You can also get records for the north from 1845 to the present day from the GRO for Northern Ireland in Belfast, but at a whopping £15 per certificate.

There is a third way to obtain records, if you wish to do so online, and that is through the Republic's Health Services Executive site at www.hse.ie/eng/services/find_a_service/bdm/certificates_ie. Coverage is partial however - all Ireland births from 1864-1921, and from the Republic from 1922 onwards; all Ireland marriages from just 1920-1921, and for the Republic from 1922 to the present day; and deaths from 1924 for the republic only.

Unfortunately, both the HSE and the GRO in Roscommon have just DOUBLED the costs of their official certs to 20 Euros each. In Sterling that is £16.94 each - even higher than Belfast's costs of £15, the highest in the UK. However, the GRO's 4 Euro charge (£3.39) for an uncertified and photocopied extract remains the same.

Is this just blatant profiteering to coincide with the launch of the Irish indexes for such records on FindmyPast? Who knows - but never has a photocopy looked so beautiful...

Thanks to Chris Paton for the above.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Irish BMD Free Searches - tomorrow only

Thursday 24 Jan, 2013 [tomorrow]

Search http://www.findmypast.ie/ FREE on the above date only. Not sure about exact times, but you might to take into consideration the time difference ... there to where you are.


Read more at http://irish-genealogy-news.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/21m-bmds-for-fmpies-family-history-day.html

Top o' the morning to ya!!

Pat

Monday, January 14, 2013

Writing YOUR family history - help & challenge

So you've meaning to do this right? Get your research written to share, or keep private. But you just have never managed to get going! A group of professionals are here to help.

Lynn Palermo writes, "I am calling on all my fellow genealogist, family historians, beginners and advanced alike, to pledge to begin to write your family history during the month of February. Welcome to The Family History Writing Challenge."

The following was also written by Lynn:

The Family History Writing Challenge returns for the third year of motivating family historians dedicating daily time for writing their family history stories.

Family historians wishing to take up the torch of writing their stories are encouraged to put down the microfilm and pick up the pen for the month of February, and start writing their family history stories.

Upon signing up for The Family History Writing Challenge, participating members are invited to declare a goal in the form of a word count and to commit to completing that word count during the 28 days in February. In exchange for the commitment, Lynn Palermo (The Armchair Genealogist) host of the month long challenge will send out daily newsletters that include motivational messages, writing lessons, along with instructional guest posts by leading genealogists, published authors and editors.

Lynn Palermo states, “by committing to a daily word count my hope is for all participants to make substantial headway in their family history writing goals and to create long lasting writing habits that will carry them forward throughout 2013.”

Lynn encourages members to sign up early to take advantage of the January newsletters that will help participants organize themselves to begin writing on February 1st. A forum for the event is available to participants who want to exchange ideas, struggles and successes in a more intimate atmosphere.

Special guest authors include certified genealogist, author and writing instructor Sharon DeBartolo Carmack from www.NonfictionHelp.com and author, speaker, genealogist and writing instructor Lisa Alzo from The Accidental Genealogist. Guest posts also include writer, educator, historian Biff Barnes Editor at Stories to Tell Books, author and writing coach Tami Koeing from Your Story Coach and Mariann S. Regan, author of the family memoir Into The Briar and Patch and blog. Lynn Palermo suggests participants should watch for future developments in coming weeks, as this list was not complete at press time.

Family historians who wish to participate in the challenge can sign up or learn more about the challenge at The Family History Writing Challenge website. The event will run from February 1st-February 28th.

Go to http://familyhistorywritingchallenge.blogspot.ca/p/challenge.html [copy and paste]. Best of luck! You will never be sorry you started.

Pat [in Punta Cana Dominican Republic]
Thanks to Dick Eastman for the above information.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Ancestry's "old search"

I have been asked about finding the "old search" on Ancestry, which many still prefer. I've just learned how to find it.

When on Ancestry home page, click on the Search tab, and choose Search All Records. Once there, on the upper right side you now how the option of clicking on "Go to old search".

Hope this helps!
Pat

Monday, January 7, 2013

Top 100 Genealogy Websites

The Genealogy in Time newsletter has issued what it considers to be the Top 100 genealogy based websites, based on traffic statistics from Alexa. The biggest story is the rise in dominance of corporate vendor sites, particularly those owned by Ancestry, MyHeritage and Brightsolid. The list includes each of the individual country domains for sites such as Ancestry, e.g. Ancestry.com and Ancestry.co.uk, as well as other sites owned by the parent corporations - on that basis, Ancestry has 14 of the top 100 slots, My Heritage has 12 and Brightsolid has 5.

The full list, with analysis, is available at
www.genealogyintime.com/articles/top%20100%20genealogy%20websites%202013%20page1.html

Copy & paste the above URL.

Thanks to Chris Paton for sharing this with me. Now I've shared it with you!!

Happy Searching,
Pat