Great News! More Canadian Genealogy Records Free to View

The Héritage project is a 10-year initiative to digitize and make accessible online some of Canada’s most popular archival collections encompassing roughly 40 million pages of primary-source documents. Chronicling the country and its people from the 1600s to the mid-1900s, this collection represents a vast and unique resource for Canadian historians, students, and genealogists.

Great News!

As of January 1, 2019, all Canadiana content included in Early Canadiana Online, Héritage, and Canadiana Online will be available at no charge to users.

I've been using the free access since it became available, and I'm thrilled with it. If you have Canadian ancestors you will not want to miss this.  Their genealogy collection is massive.

On the left is a screenshot of the the first few records that you see out of the 185 total.

Don't wait - go! Search! Enjoy!

U.K. War Office Records Available Online

Five volumes of War Office, Class 42 (WO 42) have been digitized and are now free to view on the The National Archives UK website. WO 42 covers half pay and widow's pensions in the 19th Century for Provincial and other Loyalist and Canadian officers. 

It is chock full of genealogical information such as marriage certificates and references to widows. There are several online sections, organized in alphabetical order. (see image on left)

The images are freely available. 

LOYAL AMERICAN AND CANADIAN CORPS is a subset within WO 42 - War Office: Officers' Birth Certificates, Wills and Personal Papers 

Also see UK, British Army and Navy Birth, Marriage and Death Records, 1730-1960

Introducing Ken McKinlay, Professional Genealogist

Ken McKinlay is an Ottawa Ontario based genealogist. Olive Tree Genealogy recently interviewed Ken so that I could introduce him to my readers. 

I've seen Ken's meticulous research on various Facebook groups and am very impressed with his research skills and citing of his sources. Read on for my questions and Ken's responses:

How and when did you become involved in the field of genealogy?

I first became involved in genealogy and family history due to my curiosity. I had always heard stories that a branch of the family was descended from Loyalists, another branch came to North America on the Mayflower, and yet another branch came to Scotland from Ireland. I wanted to find the truth behind each of these family tales. Amazingly enough those stories have all turned out to be true. I have been able to document that I am a descendant of Lt. Caleb Howe of the Queen’s Rangers (I have three or four other Loyalist lines I’m working on too), I can trace one of my lines to Elizabeth Tilley of the Mayflower (I’m also looking at a possible Brewster connection), and the McKinlay family that settled in Thornliebank, Scotland did come from Londonderry, Ireland around the late 1830s.

What is your main genealogical focus?

Over time my genealogical focus has gone from researching my own roots to doing research for clients and also helping out those that post to certain genealogy related groups on Facebook. What I enjoy most is sharing my knowledge. What I’ve found is that I enjoy teaching people how to do research, whether it be speaking at a society meeting (a little stressful for me but I do enjoy it), blogging, or telling someone where I found the information I had posted in response to their Facebook query. If I can educate someone as to how the information can be found that then means they can better learn how to do their own research.
 
What are your website(s) and blogs?

I do have a blog called Family Tree Knots found at http://familytreeknots.blogspot.ca/. There the focus is on the methodologies of genealogy research and where to find those oftentimes elusive records. When I’m dealing with my own research my blog becomes a “lessons learned” post plus a way to share the findings with family members.
 
Do you have a Social Media presence? 
I can be found on various social media sites including:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kmwebott

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kmckinlay

Google+: https://www.google.com/+KenMcKinlay
 
Do you believe a Social Media presence is important?
I find that a Social Media presence is important since it allows me to interact with a much larger audience than just that found in the Ottawa region. It may be that I have information that someone is looking for or, more often, someone else has the information I’m trying to find. A simple post or query using the applicable site can lead to the key answer or document to resolve an outstanding problem.

Are you a member of any genealogical societies or organizations?

I’m a member and director at large of the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa (BIFHSGO), a member of the Ottawa branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS), a member of the United Empire Loyalists’ of Canada (UELAC), and a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG).
 
What does genealogy mean to you? Why do you believe it is important?

Genealogy is not only a way of learning about where the family came from but also the impact that history and society has had on each of us. We all have heroes and villains in our tree and they make the research interesting. Yet it is the common person that has helped bring us to where we are today. Finding out the causes of why the family moved from Ireland to Scotland or from a village in Yorkshire to the industrial city of Glasgow can make the history that they teach in school much more interesting.

What do you believe is the most exciting development in genealogy today?

I think there have been two important and exciting developments in the past several years. The first is the increased amount of documents that are now available to researchers without the need to either visit an archive or library or to send away and way weeks or even months for a response. That isn’t to say that archives and libraries aren’t important. Those brick and mortar buildings are a vital component to our research. However, with more records available at relatively low costs or even free anyone can start research their family tree. The second is genetic genealogy. As an adjunct to tracing the various lines using the well-known paper records, DNA testing has helped make connections to possible distant cousins.
 
Do you have a prediction or hope for the field of genealogy in the future?

In the near future I think that with the continued digitization projects more “lost” clues on our families will be uncovered. However, I don’t think it will be a rosy future 50 to 100 years from now when it comes to future genealogists trying to figure out our lives. So much of what used to be recorded in newspapers or even in letters is now being done electronically. Yet we don’t know if that information will survive us.

What's Your Mix?

My English great grandfather David Simpson

It occurred to me a few days ago that I don't know my mix. By "mix" I mean the % of my ethnic ancestors I have in my bloodline. 

I know I have Irish, English, Dutch, American and Canadian but as to percentage of each group, I've never bothered to figure it out. So here goes!

I'm only going to go back 5 generations because that way every branch of my ancestors is known to me. I can go back 15-20 generations on some lines but not my Irish McGinnis family. I don't want to assume they are Irish going back from my 2nd great grandfather Joseph McGinnis. 

So - if I take my lineage back to my 2nd great grandparents, who's in the mix? And where were they born?

Paternal Ancestors:
3 born in Ireland, 2 in England and 3 in Canada
Joseph McGinnis & Fanny Downey - both born Ireland
David King & Mary Bell - both born England
Levi Peer & Jane Greenlees - Levi born Upper Canada (Ontario). Jane born Ireland
Isaac Vollick & Lydia Jamieson - both born Ontario. Isaac and Lydia's lineage is Dutch

Maternal Ancestors: 
8 born in England!
Charles Fuller & Georgiana Golding - both born Kent England
John Caspall & Mary Ann Williams - John born Kent, Mary Ann born Devon
Charles Simpson & Sarah Jane Page - both born Kent England
William Stead & Sarah Elvery - both born Kent England

Of my 8 great grandparents, 4 were born in Ontario and 4 in England
Of my 4 grandparents, 2 were born in Ontario and 2 in England
My mom and dad were both born in Ontario

Ireland = 3
England = 16
Canada = 11

I'd need to go futrher back to bring in my Dutch, German and Native American ancestors. 

The total is 30 so I can calculate what % of 30 each of those numbers is.  I do it with Algebra: 

We know that Ireland is 3 out of 30
So X % = 3/30
Therefore X/100 = 3/30
Next step is X= 3x100 / 30
Thus X=300/30
X=10

It looks like I am 53% English, 37% Canadian and 10% Irish. What's your mix?

You Know You Wanna Be Canadian

My friend and fellow blogger Kathyrn Lake Hogan of Looking4Ancestors posted this nice summary of Canadian Confederation on her Facebook page this morning: On 1 July 1867, the provinces of Canada (Canada East & Canada West), New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia joined together under the term of Confederation to form the Dominion of Canada. 

Today is our celebration of Canada Day! What are Canadians like? We're polite, respectful, generous, easy-going and we have cute accents! Watch this video called "Canadian Please" and see if you can resist the temptation to be Canadian