Finding and figuring out how to order the records is somewhat tricky and my blog post was an explanation of how I did it. After ordering I sat back to wait.
Yesterday I received my copies of records from Middlemore Children's Emigration Homes from Library and Archives Canada. I was quite excited until I opened the envelope. Inside were several photocopies, each 8 1/2 x 14 inches in size. The problem was that the image of the actual record was 6 1/2 inches by 2 inches. It was completely unreadable. The red text over the image is my addition due to the restrictions placed on my obtaining these records.
So here is how I made the images readable.
1. First I cut the pages down to a manageable size.
2. I scanned each page
3. I opened each page in turn in Picasa and enlarged it
4. I altered filters and added more light so I could get rid of the darkness blocking the text.
This method worked extremely well and even though it was time consuming I ended up with images I could read.
Since these records are restricted due to privacy laws and LAC is not allowed to send them via pdf, only as photocopies, I cannot publish them here on my blog as legible images. But I wanted you to see the steps I took so I have placed white squares over most of the wording.
So if you order these records be aware of how they will come to you. But don't despair as they can be altered so that you can read them.
Please do respect the privacy restrictions of these records and don't publish them online after you alter them for your own use.
Lorine,
ReplyDeleteI'm on the edge of my seat, what was the result of all your hard work getting and then editing these documents? Have the documents helped in your genealogical quest?
Laura
Laura - my apologies for not thinking to let folks know about the end result. I did not learn anything new regarding the ancestral line but I didn't expect to. What I did get was lots of detail about Ernest's time in Ontario after his arrival as a Home Child. It was sparse - only 5 brief reports but it gave me a sense of his life and the new home he was in. One report described him physically and that was neat to have. Another report when he was 16 said he "promised to do better" in school. I loved that!
ReplyDeleteThere were other documents which were not reports, they were simply notations as to who had donated money to support his coming to Canada, who his father was (I already knew that), and there was a bad copy of a newspaper clipping from 1892 about Ernest and his brother (which I already had)
So yes lots of great information on these records!