Author name: Ruth Blair

Thank you Gregor Mendel

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Today is the 189th birthday of Gregor Mendel and Google has paid homage to him by creating their logo in a pea theme.

Gregor Mendel was the father of the science of genetics. He studied the inheritance of certain traits that were found in peas. He was an Augustinian Friar living in Austria when he started his study of the humble pea.

As with many great thinkers his research was not recognized until after his death. At the turn of the 20th century his research was rediscovered and this was the beginning of modern science of genetics.

The knowledge of genetics has helped many around the world including those interested in genealogy.

Toronto Public Library Virtual Exhibits

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On a recent visit to the Toronto Reference Library to do some research I came across a small bookmark that advertised a virtual exhibit on the library website called “Local Flavour: Eating in Toronto, 1830-1955”

It is a wonderful look at the history of eating in Toronto. The menu consists of an introduction, Cookbooks of the 19th Century, Cookbooks of the 20th Century, Kitchen Appliances, 20th Century Lifestyle, Dining out, Gardening, Toronto in Wartime, Manufacturing/Food Industry, Shopping in Toronto and How to Eat Like a Child in Toronto.

Each section contains digital images and some recipes so you can recreate some of the recipes your ancestors may have cooked. The recipe for Ham Toast includes the reference “a lump of butter the size of half an egg.”

Shopping in Toronto includes photographs and pages from city directories to do with purveyors of fine food within the city. Toronto in Wartime has a ration book among its images. The images of labour saving devices found in the section on Kitchen Appliances is fun to look at. I can not imagine cooking on those appliances today.

The main theme for the advertisement for Shredded Wheat cereal was that it is ready to eat and the children can get their own breakfast. The date of the advertising is 1926.

The Toronto Public Library has many other virtual exhibits. Some that might be of interest to genealogists include:

Canadians on the Guard: The Home Front, 1939-1945

Toronto Sanctuaries Church Designs by Henry Langley

The First Black Doctor in Canada: Anderson Ruffin Abbott

Panorama of the City of Toronto, 1857

Fraternal Societies in Canada

Toronto Orphanages and Day Nurseries

Toronto like many cities these days are struggling to balance their budget. The Toronto Public Library is in danger of having branches closed and services restricted. If you live in Toronto please take a minute to sign the petition to save the public library system in Toronto.

Ruth’s Recommendations

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Here are my favourite blog posts from this past week.

Carole Riley of the Social Media and Genealogy blog had a post called “Can Google+ replace Facebook and Twitter?” It was a very good comparison of the social media giants.

Paul Stuart-Warren’s blog Paula’s Genealogical Eclectica had a very good post called “Vacation on a budget” where she provides a different view point on a family history vacation.

Deborah Large Fox writes “Help! The Faerie Folk Hid My Ancestor’s” her post called “Genealogical Soil” was a heartfelt memory of visiting her family’s farm in Ireland.

Geniaus aka Jill Ball had a humourous post called “Dear Santa” which was a Christmas list of what she would like to see in the new Google+

The NLI (National Library of Ireland) Blog had a post called “A lesson on the limits of the internet” which was a great reminder that you will not find it all on the internet.

Kerry Farmer of the Family History Research blog posted “Check multiple names and also multiple indexes” which shows us the differences found in the indexes of subscription websites and the importance of searching for variant spellings of names.

Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter had a good post called “PortableApps.com: Portable Windows Software on a USB Flash Drive” You can travel with the contents of your computer on a portable device and use it on any Windows computer. He also cautions people about the possibility of loosing the tiny flash drives.

Chris Paton of Scottish GENES (GEnealogy News and EventS) told us about the “The Family History Show on YouTube.” This is put together by the editorial team of “Your Family History” magazine in England. The first installment is an interview with Titanic survivor Millvina Dean.

Brenda Dougall Merriman’s blog post “(Almost) Silent Sunday” tells us of the joys and some pitfalls of the genealogy road trip.

The Enniskerry Local History blog has a post called “Summer Reading/Viewing” which provides many different suggestions for reading, surfing the net and visiting. Unfortunately you have to be in Ireland to visit the places he suggests. Enniskerry is a town in County Wicklow. My cousins were married in the local church just down the road from the Powerscourt Estate. I will have to keep an eye out for the book “The Irish Country House: It’s Past, Present and Future.”

Pue’s Occurrences the Irish History Blog had a post called “Irish history and historians on Wikipedia” where Juliana Adelman talks about the inaccuracies that can be found in Wikipedia. She has set a challenge to everyone to try and make the pages on Irish history more accurate. Links are provided to pages that relate to Irish history. Remember to back up your information with sources and to research several sources to make sure it is accurate before you put it online.

Happy Reading!

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