Genealogy research services at Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21
The staff at the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in Halifax want family historians to know they offer general genealogy research services, in addition to helping find immigration records.
The experienced researchers in the museum’s Scotiabank Family History Centre can help you in person or by email begin your family research, assist you with your genealogical brick walls, or point you in the right direction with your own research.
There is no fee for general and genealogical inquiries. If you choose, there is an option to donate if you are just looking for information or tips.
Although Pier 21 became a port of entry in 1921, the centre has no immigration records. They do, however, help people request immigration documents from the Canadian government. If they help you locate a pre-1935 immigration record, there will be a $15 charge for a copy of the document.
The staff maintains a small library of books on multiculturalism and genealogy in the centre, but almost all of their research is conducted online, using free and subscription services.
The centre’s scope reaches beyond the years of Pier 21’s operation, from 1928 to 1971, with information on topics including migration, nautical history, waves of immigration to Canada, ethnic groups and genealogy. It has immigration records from 1925 to 1935 on microfilm and staff has access to arrival sources going back to 1865. Staff also has access to information on all ports of entry into Canada, not just Pier 21, and can search US seaports, such as New York and Boston.
In the centre, the staff also works with visitors at computers to help them do their own research.
To learn more about the Scotiabank Family History Centre’s research services and how to submit an inquiry, visit their website. Make sure you take time to browse the menu items while you are on the website.
Source: Genealogy a la carte
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Thousands of photos of Canadian Prairie towns available online
Anyone looking for historical photos of the town where their ancestors lived in Alberta, Saskatchewan or Manitoba should visit Images of Prairie Towns, a website that contains close to 12,000 images — and the collection continues to grow.
The collection is divided by province and then into an alphabetical list of more than nine hundred towns. There are photos of streets, schools, railways, and commercial and public buildings.
Many of the town pages include early population numbers — useful information when trying to put flesh on the bones of an ancestor’s life.
The only drawback to the site is that there are no photo captions and dates or and information about copyright restrictions. Before publishing any photos, it would be a good idea to request permission through the website contact page.
Ontario (Upper Canada) Historic On-Line Resources
Links to an ever-growing list of Ontario History books, directories etc. that are entirely free to read online, or downloadable to your computer for future reference use. There are also links at the bottom of the page to join Ontario Genealogy and Upper Canada mailing lists.
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New records at FindMyPast:
Australia
- A collection of some 3 million petty court records from the state of Victoria. In Australia, petty court cases were held to hear minor criminal cases such as public drunkenness, criminal damage and theft. The cases usually involved just a judge (no jury). The records in this collection span the years from 1854 to 1985. A typical record lists the first and last name of the person, the name of the court, cause or reason for the charge, a description of the case and the actual court date. These records can be searched by first name, last name, year and court. Access is by subscription [Victoria State Petty Court Records]
- 107,000 ship records from the port of Brisbane. These are passenger and crew manifests covering some 485 ship voyages between the years 1852 to 1885. These records come from the National Archives of Australia and list the vessel name, date and port of arrival, ancestor’s name, nationality and occupation. The vessels in this collection cover departures from England, Europe, North America and Southeast Asia. The records can be searched by first name, last name, ship name and date range. Access is by subscription. [Historic Queensland Ship Passenger Records]
Ireland
1.2 million Historic Irish Newspaper articles this month have been added to the FindMyPast collection of historic Irish newspapers. Also included are seven new titles: the Leinster Leader, Donegal Independent, Kildare Observer, Eastern Counties Advertiser, Wicklow Newsletter & County Advertiser, the Longford Journal and the Ballyshannon Herald. Access is by subscription.
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ArkivDigital, the Swedish genealogy website has announced that they will be adding several million aerial photographs to their extensive collection of some 58 million ancestral records. These aerial photographs appear to be primarily of rural regions and cover farms, cottages, rural stores, etc. Most of the images were taken from the 1950s to the present. These images are expected to be added over the next several months (in addition to the some 600,000 new records added to the website on average every month).
Source: Genealogy in Time Magazine
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Just for fun:
Moral of the story: Don’t nag and always write your father.
As a final note, as funny as it is, this document also pains me. How sad it is that this man died alone and bitter. What trouble had he fallen into? What had fractured a family that must have begun in hope and happiness? May I suggest that we each hold close those we love – in kindness, patience and forgiveness?
Source: FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS7P-T33H-T?mode=g