Canada

The Spring Speaking Tour is Complete

It has been a very busy spring for speaking engagements. It started in April with a full day workshop at Heritage Mississauga where I presented “Irish Research from a Far” and “Taking Your Irish Ancestors Back over the Pond.” Before I finished the day they had booked me again for October when the subject will be Scottish research.

The next week I was at the Ontario Genealogical Society Region III Annual Meeting in Cambridge. My topic there was “Why Can’t I find it Online? Other resources to help you with your research.”

A couple of days later I presented “A Brick Wall Chisel: The Cluster Research Project” at the monthly meeting for the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society.

Then it was a little time for me, well sort of, because I attended the National Genealogical Society Conference in Las Vegas. I was an official blogger and we had a great time. Since we were so close to Salt Lake City we took the opportunity to go and do some research in the Family History Library for a few days. A few days wasn’t long enough.

The week after I got home I presented “I Want to Research my Family History – Where do I Start?” at the Milton Senior Activity Centre.

Jane Watt representing Halton Peel Branch Ontario Genealogical Society Conference 2013

The following week I was off to the Ontario Genealogical Society Conference where I presented “Scottish Research from a Far,” “Maiden Aunts of the Twentieth Century: A forgotten generation of women” and “A Brick Wall Chisel: The Cluster Research Project.”

Brooke Skelton representing Waterloo Region Branch Ontario Genealogical Society Conference 2013

Last week was my last lecture of the spring speaking tour. I presented “Why Can’t I find it Online? Other resources to help you with your research” at the Quinte Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society in Trenton Ontario.

Quinte Branch OGS Trenton Ontario at the Quinte West Public Library

Now that summer is here I am already booking for the fall speaking tour. I will be presenting a full day Scottish workshop at Heritage Mississauga in October and in November I will be at the Hamilton Branch OGS General Meeting and the topic will be “The Genealogy GPS: How the Genealogical Proof Standard can help your research.”

©2013 – Blair Archival Research All Rights Reserved

Archives of Ontario Vital Statistics Database at the Archives of Ontario

On my last visit to the Archives of Ontario I had the chance to try out the new Archives of Ontario Vital Statistics Database. At the moment the only years available are: births 1915; marriages 1930 and deaths 1940. It is hoped that either later this year or early next year that they will add: births 1916, 1917; marriages 1931, 1932 and deaths 1941, 1942.

This database is only available in the Archives on the microfilm scanners. They have hooked them up to the internet and when the Archives homepage comes up you click on the star on the tool bar for Favourites. Then on the right hand side you will see a list and you can choose Archives of Ontario Vital Statistics Database.

It takes a while to load the database. You can do an advance or basic search. You can tick a specific search for birth, marriage or death or you can search all three. You are prompted to put in the first, middle and last name but only the last name is a required field.

The search results include: first, middle, last name; date of event; place of registration; type of event (if more than one is ticked on the search form); registration number; and details. The basic search gives you 10 search results per page.

When you click on details this takes you to a colour digital image of the document. If more than one page is linked to the document it will say page 1 and page 2 across the top. There is also a link to view the original index page. It is a good idea to view the index page as well.

Across the top of the digital image you get: registration number; name; event; date and place. So you would get something like “John Smith married 1/1/1930 in Hamilton.” The digital image is clear and the fact that it is in colour can help with the clarity.

There is a back to search button which takes you back to the original search page. You can’t get back to the search results so you have to keep repeating the search. So if you are looking for someone and don’t have much information on them you have to keep repeating the search every time you look at an image.

You can still view the vital statistics indexes on microfilm and get a copy of the registration from microfilm.

They are digitizing and creating a database for the Ontario Land Patent Plans but there is no timeline on when it will be released.

The printers in the reading room are gone. There are only two rows of microfilm readers that you can use to print a hard copy. You just hit print and it automatically prints out at the reception desk in the main hall. It is $.25 a copy and you can still use your copy card.

They are encouraging people to use thumb drives. I use both systems depending on the project.

©2013 – Blair Archival Research All Rights Reserved

Ancestral Atlas a Hidden Mapping Gem

Have you heard of Ancestral Atlas? It is a mapping website. It is free to register and you can upgrade to a subscription for £20.00. When you subscribe you have access to history map layers for England, Wales and Ireland; historical boundary maps for the USA; all new licenced data added to the site; Life Maps functionality and other benefits.

The map is world wide and you add events related to your family history and where they happened. If my Great Great Grandmother was born at 23 York Street in Dublin then I can go to that place on the map and upload the information of her birth. You can decide to keep the information private or share the information. You must register to add your own information.

There is a link for quick help where a box pops up and it has information to help you add a new person, edit an existing person, viewing the location of the people/events in your people list, adding an event when you know the location, and many other options. You have the choice of printing this help page so that it is close at hand when you are entering your information. There is a page of FAQ’s to help you with any questions you may have.

When you look at the map for the place you are interested in you will see little blue balloons and if you click on them then you will get information that someone uploaded regarding a person linked to that place.

You can filter your search by given name, family name, start year and end year.

Visit the website and see what Ancestral Atlas is all about.

©2012 – Blair Archival Research All Rights Reserved