Thursday 31 December 2015

Looking Back... 2015


Happy New Year readers and loyal followers!


I look back on 2015 and I realize I accomplished quite a lot in my genealogical world.
I wrote 122 posts that were researched to help people find their ancestors that were everything from horticulturists, robbers and victualers to Post Office workers and also about the cost of living in days of yore. I published six handy downloadable Resource lists.

I unraveled the mystery of Hannah Mead, who appeared as a child with my ancestor's family on the census. That question had been niggling at me for a long time.


I started a new blog, The Days of Their Lives, telling stories of my ancestors.

I published my sixth family history book, a few years of research in the making.

What will 2016 bring?
I have a few projects in mind and finishing any one of them will make me happy.

So here's to a fresh start and endless possibilities!

Auld Lang Syne (click image)

Sunday 27 December 2015

I Don't Know Everything!



One of my daughters gave me this genealogy book for Christmas, by George G Morgan and Drew Smith, titled Advanced Genealogy Research Techniques.



And you know what?  I don't know everything! 
Just by page thirteen I had already read tips I had not thought of. Thanks Mel!

Many genealogists share their knowledge by writing books.  Some are specific to an area, family or an event, others more general with tips and tricks.


Check your local Historical or Genealogical Society, Amazon online, and the following links for books that may help you with your family tree. Use keywords "genealogy books" in your favourite search engine. 


Relevant Links




Books on Irish Genealogy, Mike O'Laughlin, Irish Roots Cafe









Tuesday 22 December 2015

A Word From Granny








My Great Granny Mavor reminds us to be generous this holiday season.
Alexander and Rebecca Mavor were both Salvation Army.







Monday 21 December 2015

The Book Trade


Some of my fondest kid memories are of lying on the top bunk in my room at our cottage on a rainy day and listening to the rain on the roof as I read the adventures of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys.

The grade three teacher at my kids school was very artsy and she had a friend who was a bookbinder. She had all the students write an illustrated story and draw a fancy cover, then had them bound into books by her friend.  What a fabulous thing to do - that was over thirty years ago and I am still talking about it!


I like going into bookstores, but I LOVE going into used book stores. Sometimes I luck out and find a book I wanted that is long out of print.  There are still a few I am looking for, and booksellers all over town are keeping an eye out for them for me.

Do you have an ancestor who was a bookseller, bookbinder or publisher?




These are links to people in the book trade. Also look in trade and commercial directories.




Relevant Links


Alien members of the book trade during the Tudor period: 1906

American Book Trade Directory 1922

A Dictionary of Members of the Dublin Book Trade 1550-1800 (limited view)

A Dictionary of Printers and Booksellers, England, Scotland & Ireland, 1668-1725

Abstracts from the wills of English printers and stationers, 1492-1630

History of Booksellers, the old and the new 1873

Sketches of booksellers of other days - 1901

Sketches of some of the booksellers of the time of Dr Samuel Johnson, 1902

Dictionary of the Antiquarian Booksellers and dealers in second-hand books, US 1885

International directory of Antiquarian Booksellers - Internationales adressbuch der antiquar-buchhändler - 1906

The Booksellers' League: A history of its formation and ten years of its work US 1905

Abstracts from the wills and testamentary documents of printers, binders and stationers of Cambridge, 1504-1699

The International Directory of second-hand booksellers and bibliopile's manual 1894

Hodson's Booksellers, publishers and stationers' directory for London and Country 1855

Register of artists, engravers, booksellers, bookbinders, printers & publishers of New York City 1633-1820

Directory of second-hand booksellers & list of public libraries British and foreign 1891

The Victorian Book Trade







Tuesday 15 December 2015

International Tea Day


Today is International Tea Day.

My husband took me to High Tea at the Empress Hotel on our honeymoon.  What an experience (even if, since we were camping and wearing jeans they put us out of sight behind a big pot)!!!



I come from a family of coffee drinkers. Even as a young girl I preferred café au lait
over hot chocolate after a day of playing in the cold snow or skating down at the town rink. I love my coffee, and it has to taste like coffee - not hazelnut or pumpkin or cinnamon. No latté or frappé. Coffee.

My husband was a coffee drinker also but his doctor told him he had to cut it out.  He had a hard time with it, trying chicory coffee and other pretend coffees.  Blech!!  One day a guy told him to try tea.  Not your everyday tea in a teabag, but real tea, like rooibos. He bought some and loved it! Especially after he read all the good things about drinking it. Well, my darling XY gets a one track mind.  He visited many tea shops, talked to tea merchants, and read about all the different kinds of tea. He experimented with many kinds, some caffeinated some not. Green teas, black teas, Indian teas, China teas, Brazilian teas. Each tea uses a different temperature water and seeps for different times. He bought a $99 kettle that he could set to boil to the exact temperature for the specific kind of tea he decided to drink after his meal. Then set the timer. He tried different methods of making the tea - tea balls, tea filters, etc. He bought cute little tea tins, all neatly labeled, that have taken over my kitchen cupboards.



He has become the Tea Master of the Neighbourhood.  After trying and tasting he has settled on a few favourites - rooibos, yerba mate, a black tea from India and a green tea from our local tea merchant's uncles farm in China. Once in a while he will make a ginger or cinnamon tea. I like the honey bush tea once in a while, but I'll stick to my coffee for now.

If you have an ancestor that was a tea merchant, you may find his name and listing in a trade directory.  Some of the directories from Asia have names and information on tea merchants, check the links from the related post and type "tea" in the search box.


Relevant Links

Tea: and the tea trade, 1850

Tea producing companies of India and Ceylon, 1897

A sketch of the growth and history of tea and the science of blending particularly adapted to the Canadian trade, 1881

James Finlay Collection



Related Post:  Who's who in Asia



Monday 14 December 2015

Land Agents and Realtors



The first realtors in the colonies were Crown Land Agents.  These agents were government appointed employees. Their role was not only to sell land to settlers, but to help those settlers iron out disputes and land issues with the government. If you want to read more, there is a very good thesis written about Crown Land Agents and Surveyors written in 2004 by Michelle Vosburgh of McMasters University.  Names of Crown Land Agents could be found in the Sessional Papers. Some of the British Sessional Papers, Inventory Control have them, like Volume 37-2, pg 375 has names of Land Agents in Ireland testifying at the Royal Commission on Labour.



As I have said, we moved many times.  Each time we used a Real Estate Agent. They can list your property, show you several properties for sale, and once the choice is made, wade through all the paperwork necessary in buying or selling property. Look for your ancestors names in a directory of Real Estate Agents.




Was your ancestor a Land or Real Estate Agent?


Relevant Links

Sessional Papers, British Parliament.  Inventory Control 1892-1908

Directory of licensed real estate dealers of Chicago, 1890-1891

Directory of reliable real estate agents, abstractors, banks and real estate lawyers of the United States 1908

Peterborough Real Estate Investment Company Ltd Canada 1879

Polk's real estate register and directory of the United States and Canada 1911/ Pt 1 & 2

Real Estate Catalogue for immigrants: province of Ontario, Canada 1880

Canadian land advertiser for immigrants: Province of Ontario and Manitoba 1883

Real Estate record: guide to buyers and sellers, how to draw a contract, NY 1896

Matthew's guide for settlers on public lands, land agents, bankers etc USA 1889

Journal of the Land Agents' Society


Related posts: Land




Wednesday 9 December 2015

Ancestry Ditching Family Tree Maker? - Don't Panic!



I know a lot of people, including me, are upset with the news that Ancestry is ditching Family Tree Maker. There doesn't seem to be another program with the exact same great features. Reading the thoughts of users around the web , some are searching for alternatives and others are taking a wait-and-see attitude.



I urge you to not do anything rash, there is lots of time before you have to decide. Read blogs by other genealogists on the subject if you're not sure what to do, or familiar with what is out there. If you decide you want to get other software, read specs and reviews to see if it is right for you and meets your needs.

Diane at Genealogy Insider offers some insight, and a few links that you can check out. Lorine at Olivetree Genealogy also offers good advice.

I recommend you read the blog of Lisa Louise Cook on the subject at Genealogy Gems. Lisa explains the rationale behind the move by Ancestry.

I am at a standstill in my research right now, so I will take this time to update, update, update. At Ancestry I will check all my hints, sort out and empty my shoebox, download records and images, and any other chores needing to be done. Then I will sync and save the GEDCOM. After that..... I don't know, but I will be ready for whatever I decide.

A couple of people have asked, so here is how to make a GEDCOM file and save it to your computer. GEDCOM (.ged) is the universal type of file for genealogy programs, and can be exported from Ancestry or Family Tree Maker and imported to pretty much any other genealogy software program.

From Ancestry online:
At your family tree, click Tree Pages to open the menu, choose Tree Settings. On the right side, you will see Manage your tree. Click on Export Tree, save the file on your computer. (I include the date when naming the file so I know I always have the latest one).




From Family Tree Maker:
From menu choose File, Export
New window appears, check entire file and include everything.
For Output Format, choose GEDCOM 5.5 from the drop down menu. Save the file on your computer as above.




So, like I said, don't panic. There is lots of time to figure it all out.
Oh, and keep this old saying in mind.... "Don't cut off your nose to spite your face!"



Update:  You can read Ancestry's next day reply to comments and concerns here.






New York Military list 1863



This publication from 1863 contains the names of persons, enrolled as liable to military duty (under the act of Congress, approved March 3, 1863,) in the Third congressional district, New York, Eleventh ward. It also lists their address.



"Any person enrolled may appear before the Board and claim to have his name stricken off the list, if he can show to the satisfaction of the Board that he is not, and will not be at the time fixed for the next draft, liable to military duty..."


Relevant Links


Names of persons enrolled as liable to Military Duty 1863

Monday 7 December 2015

Survey says.....



We have moved many times over the years and with the paper work of each new place was a survey of the property... the lot, placement of buildings on the lot, etc. If there are disputes over lot boundaries a surveyor is called to remeasure and make a report.



The land surveyors played a very important part in history. Before a town was settled it was surveyed and mapped, its boundaries decided, then it was divided into lots.



This is an excerpt from the website "A Life Without Limits"  on the history of Surveying:

"Land Surveying is one of the oldest professions in the world. The first land surveys date back to nearly 3,000 years ago, when Egyptian Surveyors subdivided the fertile land around the Nile River and worked on re-marking the land after the annual flooding of the Nile River.
 The early settlement of Australia [and North America] also required help from Land Surveyors. The majority of famous early explorers including Burke and Wills had a Surveying background and their work allowed the land to be settled, by defining property boundaries in the city and the country. Back then Surveyors used primitive technology including chains and steel bands, which made their measurements difficult to record and often required the use of logarithmic tables and slide rulers."

Search Surveyor General reports for your state or province, some list names of surveyors. Some give the going price of land like this report from Pennsylvania. Some Surveyor General Reports also list land grants or owners of land.

Perhaps your land surveyor ancestor is mentioned in these publications and lists?


Relevant Links

Surveyor's Book 1863, Glasgow KY

Dominion Land Surveyors - annual report of Department of Interior pg 374

Historical Roll of New Brunswick Surveyors since 1875

Historical Roll of Nova Scotia Land Surveyors

History of Newfoundland Land Surveyors

List of provincial land surveyors for the Province of Quebec 1878

Upper Canada list of provincial land surveyors, to 31 Dec 1857

List of land surveyors for the Province of Saskatchewan

List of Land Surveyors for the Province of Alberta 1911-2013

Nominal Roll of BC Land Surveyors

Provincial Land Surveyors of British Columbia 1891

Tribute to Surveyors, Australia

Roster, professional engineers, land surveyors, engineers in training; Montana

California Land Surveyors licenses issued 1891-2000

Proceedings, constitution, by-laws, list of members etc of the surveyors association of west New Jersey - 1867

Notable Surveyors, USA

Surveyors list from Surveyor General Report Pennsylvania 1866

Canada Land Survey Search






Related Posts:  Location, Location, Location and Lay of the Land



Sunday 6 December 2015

Serendipity Sunday - Most Secret Secret Agents



During my research of my military ancestor, I came across a list of UK secret agents from WWII. The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a UK organization during WWII, formed to carry on espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in occupied Europe.



Relevant Links 









Tuesday 1 December 2015

The Licensed Victualer




My great grandfather George Singleton was a licensed victualer in Liverpool. He got his license as a transfer from the family of the deceased Thomas Bunson and his Public House was on Queen Ann St and Wakefield St in Liverpool.


Liverpool Daily Post, 28 November 1862.


The city directories for Liverpool don't give the pub a name, just George Singleton at 2-4 Wakefield Street, corner of Queen Ann Street, living at 54 Roscommon Street. Later in the 1894 Kelly's Directory of Liverpool that pub at 2 Wakefield is called the Queen's Arms and is owned by Eubert Edward who lives on Ravenscroft. George Singleton now owns the Richmond Arms on Richmond Row. He is also there during the 1891 census. 




If you have an ancestor who was a licensed victualler you may find him mentioned in the newspapers and local city and trade directories. Here below are other places you may find your ancestor.




Relevant Links
























Monday 30 November 2015

WWI Navy Files from LAC



During World War I my great uncle was a wireless operator on submarine chasers with the Royal Navy. The navy records are not with the CEF files that are being uploaded online.

But.... good news!!

I received confirmation this morning that while Library and Archives Canada (LAC) are digitizing the files of Soldiers of the first world war, they have also started digitizing the "Service Files of the Royal Canadian Navy 1910-1941 - Ledger Sheets".  These will be made available online mid 2016.




Keep an eye out for an announcement from LAC.



Tuesday 24 November 2015

Wedding Gifts for the Lady of the Castle


What would you buy as a wedding gift for someone who lives in a castle?

On 18 Aug 1880 Miss Sophia Dingwall-Fordyce of Brucklay Castle near New Deer, Aberdeenshire, Scotland married Alexander Taylor-Innes. I came across a write-up of her wedding as I was researching my New Deer ancestors in the Aberdeen Journal.

Here is an excerpt of this write-up, listing her "valuable" and "principal gifts"...





There were quite a few "antiques" among her gifts... I wonder from what years? 









Monday 23 November 2015

The Family Pew



In New France Louis Guimont, the 6x great grandfather of my children, was a Marguillier (Churchwarden) and as such he was awarded a special pew for him and his family. Militia Captains, who were usually well respected and settled small disputes within their community, were also given a choice pew in their church.

It was common for churches to rent pews to individuals and families as a means of income for the church.  My ancestors John and Elizabeth Seale paid $15.25 a year for pew #21 and #32, each sitting six, at St Mark's Church in Barriefield.

In the Church of England one pew sitting six was free for the minister's family, and possibly a free pew (for a term or for life) went to those who subscribed to the building of the church. One may have purchased a deed for his pew and it could be passed down or sold. It was a common occurrence to see people have a brass plate on their pew with their family name on it.




Perhaps you will find your ancestor on a list of pew rents. Church Archives, Historical Societies and University Libraries may have pew registers in their holdings. You can do a search online using keywords: pew holders, pew lists, pew registers, pew deeds, etc. Also search for an annual report, a year book or a history of the church your ancestors attended.
I have seen some pew lists for Massachusetts and Victoria, AU on Ancestry.

Do a google search online, if you want to purchase your very own antique church pew for your home.





Relevant links

Year Book of St George's Cathedral, Kingston (w/ pew rents) 1923

The Ecclesiastical Law:  Vol 1. London 1842 pg 367a - protocol on Pews

St Francois-Xavier de Madawaska, NB

St Patrick's Church, Cambridge, NY - Pew Book 1864-1870

Names of resident members of Winslow Church (Taunton, Mass) and pew holders in congregation, Jan 1, 1874

Pew Deeds (3 different ones, US)

Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia Vol 5, St Mary's Pew Register 1787-1791

An historical sketch of the old church, Quincy, Mass (w/ pew holders) 

James St Methodist Church, Exeter Ontario (w/pew rents) 1918

Parish of St Mary Colechurch, London - Pew Lists 1613-1672

Llanbeblig Church, Carnarvon, Wales - Pew list 1832

The Parish register of Kingston Upper Canada 1785-1811

Yearbook of Emmanuel Church, Montreal w/ pew holders, 1877-1891

Locataires des bancs l’église St Norbert, Qc 




Related Posts:  Keep the Faith




Sunday 22 November 2015

Serendipity Sunday - Other Practitioners in Illinois



This is an interesting directory I came across this past week ....




"Official register of legally qualified other practitioners; a list of persons licensed by the State Board of Health to treat human ailments without the use of medicines internally or externally, and without the use of operative surgery, prior to July 1, 1917" - Illinois

This is not surgeons and physicians, rather it is a directory of osteopaths, chiropractors, naturopaths, physcultopaths, vitopaths, naprapaths, etc...






Relevant Links


Register of Other Practitioners - Illinois


Saturday 21 November 2015

Helpful Forum on British Genealogy



I recently came across this website - British Genealogy . Com

It is a forum based site, and you can register free and ask questions about your British genealogy brick walls or offer help and suggestions to others.




I posted a question under Forum / Occupations / Licensed Vituallers, Innkeepers, etc and immediately received some helpful replies.

If you have British ancestors I suggest you go on over and take a tour through the site and see what's what.  You only have to register if you want to post.

British Genealogy and Family History Forums






Thursday 19 November 2015

WWI Casualty Lists in Newspapers




I had noticed that many newspapers printed casualty lists throughout WWI. My grandfather's brother was killed in April 1916 so I did a search of the Montreal Gazette, but looking at the papers for that time parts of the images are whited out, so if they did indeed print a list it's not showing. Nothing in any Montreal papers. So I forgot about it for a while.

The other day I was doing a broad search of the Mavor name at Newspapers.com, and guess what!?! I found mention of my great uncle on the Canadian Casualties list in the Winnipeg Tribune, 26 April 1916, page 2... 




... AND I also found mention of my grandfather on the Canadian Casualties list in the Vancouver Daily World of 31 July 1916, page 3.   


One of the features I like at Newspapers.com is they have a "Save to Ancestry" button on their menu bar, saves right to the person's profile, under other sources...


When searching for mention of your WWI ancestor in newspapers, broaden your search to other cities. 





Monday 16 November 2015

Nolin Brothers and the Northwest Rebellion



Charles, Joseph and Duncan Nolin, 3 of the 11 children of Augustin Nolin and Hélène-Anne Cameron of Manitoba, were farmers and fur traders in Pointe-de-Chêne (Ste-Anne-des-Chênes) in the 1850s. Speaking French, Michif, Cree and English, some of the Nolin brothers, including Augustin Jr, were often called upon by the authorities as translators. By the late 1860s the prosperous Nolin brothers were siding with the more conservative or “loyalist” Métis who supported the Council of Assiniboia and the proposed transfer of Rupert’s Land to Canada. Charles became involved in the provisional government that Louis Riel had set up to replace the Council of Assiniboia. Representing Ste-Anne-des-Chênes, Charles was one of 20 French-speaking delegates elected to a convention called by Louis Riel which first met on 26 Jan. 1870, and he was appointed to its executive committee. Charles and Louis Riel (first cousins by marriage) didn’t see eye to eye and Riel even attempted to have him arrested. Charles reluctantly agreed to support the provisional government and its leader. He was elected later in February to the 24-member assembly that had been established by the convention, but he was soon removed from it and jailed for a short time. After the adoption of the Manitoba Act in May 1870, Riel visited Ste-Anne-des-Chênes in hope of reconciliation. The animosity between the two factions was so great, however, that the Nolin family threatened him.  In March 1871 Charles wrote a letter of apology to Riel and there was renewed solidarity among the Métis.

Louis Riel’s actions in the following years angered English Canada, which, not willing to understand the validity of the Métis' and First Nations' claims, called on the Macdonald government to act. It sent the Canadian militia to Batoche, Calgary and Battleford, Saskatchewan. The Indian and Métis resistance could not survive against the strength of the Canadian militia.  After the battle of Duck Lake on 26 March Charles Nolin was promptly arrested and jailed by the NWMP. His wife and young children sought refuge with the priests at Batoche. In exchange for his freedom at the end of the hostilities Charles Nolin agreed to become one of the crown’s chief witnesses against Riel.

On 2 April 1885, Big Bear’s band of Cree went to Frog Lake and massacred some of the inhabitants and took some captive.  Two ladies, Theresa Gowanlock and Theresa Delaney, whose husbands were slain, were rescued by Adolphus Nolin (son of Charles) and another interpreter, John Pritchard.  Adolphus bought Mrs. Delaney for 2 ponies, and Pritchard bought Mrs. Gowanlock for 1 pony.  

 On May 12, 1885, the rebellion ended. Riel gave himself up to the North West Mounted Police. Louis Riel was tried in Regina where he was found guilty and sentenced to death. Louis Riel was hanged on November 16, 1885, in the North West Mounted Police quarters in Regina.  Many of the Métis were tried for treason, including some of the Nolin men.  Most were acquitted.




Charles Nolin was a Métis leader who, along with Riel, Lépine, and Dumont, was genuinely interested in the promotion of his people’s rights and interests.


Note:  One of my Seale ancestors fought with the NWMP during the Rebellion against my husband's Métis ancestors.


Related Posts:  Métis





Ledgers & Account Books


Many businesses these days use computers and maybe a program like QuickBooks to record their daily transactions and keep track of inventory.

When my parents started their antique business in the 60's they had my Mom's Aunt, an accountant, do the books. I could not believe the size of those ledgers! When open it took up almost the whole width of the table. Each item bought and sold was painstakingly recorded by hand into the ledger. Ledgers come in all shapes and sizes.



Your ancestors dealt with their local businesses from day to day and possibly had their names written in ledgers.  Merchants, funeral homes, apothecaries, doctors, etc all may have kept ledgers that survived. Perhaps your ancestor did work for a company or the town?

Libraries or university and museum archives sometimes have local business account ledgers.  My husband's great grandfather owned a General Store in Central, Minnesota, near the Rainy River.  He probably kept a ledger like one of those listed at World Cat Library. Some accounting books may also be found on websites like eBay. 


Relevant Links





























Friday 13 November 2015

William Walker, Stone Cutter


Sometimes I come across something that intrigues me.

I was at the Hathitrust Library website, going through a Stone Cutter's Journal for 1919 when I saw this photo.




The caption reads:

Wm Walker. Brother Walker was last a member of Bedford, Indiana Local. He enlisted in the Canadian Army and after several months of service died in the Royal Victoria Hospital, Netly, England September 6, 1918.

It made me curious as to why a young man from Indiana would enlist in Canada?  I wanted to find out who he was.

Since he enlisted in Canada I first I went to Library Archives Canada to search the database of Soldiers of the First World War.  There were way too many William Walkers. So I went to the Canadian Virtual War Memorial and searched by date of death.  There he was. Private William W Walker, Service Number 2502965, born to William and Helen Walker in Ayr, Scotland, husband of Margaret Hunter Walker of Bedford, Indiana. He enlisted in the Army, the 32nd Canadian Forestry Corps and died Sept 6, 1918 at the age of 45. So he was not that young when he enlisted.

Now that I have the Service Number I could look again in the database at LAC.  I see his birth date is 19 October 1873 in Ayr.

Doing a little research with the information I now had, this is what I found about his life.

William Walter Walker was born 19 Oct 1872 to William Walter Walker and Helen Craig in Ayr Scotland. According to the 1881 census William was living in Ayr with his parents, a brother John, a sister Catherine and a half brother James Craig. In about 1892 William married Margaret Williams Wylie, daughter of James Wylie and Jane Williams.

On the 1901 census of Scotland William, a stone mason, and his wife Margaret live in Glasgow.

On May 13, 1905 William set sail aboard the Furnessia from Glasgow with $40 in his pocket, to arrive in New York on the 23rd of May, where he was to stay with John Craig. Margaret followed in September that year.

According to the 1910 US census William and Margaret are living in Chicago, where William works as a Stone Cutter. They don't seem to have had any children. I then found William a stone worker, and his wife Margaret in the Bedford, Indiana city directory for 1915, living at 623 15th Ave.

I didn't find any border crossing records into Canada for him, but William enlisted at Winnipeg, Manitoba on 17th Sept 1917.

William is buried in Grave A 7954 at the Glasgow (Riddrie Park) Cemetery, Glasgow Scotland. There are documents available for download at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission site. One of the documents is a request from Margaret Hunter to have written on his grave "He did his duty."



In October 1920 Margaret Walker applied for an Indiana marriage license to wed Daniel Hunter, a stone cutter in Bedford.

I still don't know why William came to Canada to enlist, but I hope he has family somewhere to remember him.



Database of Ukrainian Immigrants in Canada



Library Archives Canada has launched a new database of Ukrainian Immigrants 1891-1930.

Ukrainian Church in Insinger, Saskatchewan
(We passed this church on our trip across Canada)


They report that the first two Ukrainians arrived in Canada in 1891, followed by tens of thousands. They mostly settled in western Canada... Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The next groups arrived after WWI.

You can check for your Ukrainian ancestors in their database here.

Sunday 8 November 2015

Serendipity Sunday - Emigrant's Guide



The other day I came across this Emigrant's Guide published in 1832, sold in London for one shilling. The title is:

"The emigrant's guide to New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land, Lower Canada, Upper Canada, and New Brunswick: containing an enumeration of the advantages which each colony offers ; with the regulations adopted by His Majesty's Government to facilitate male and female emigration ; the price of passage, certainty of permanent employment, and rates of wages ; list of tradesmen and mechanics most wanted, and the pecuniary assistance offered to married men and single females, towards defraying the expense of their passage, with copies of the official forms to be transmitted to the Colonial Department by each emigrant ; also, instructions for the guidance of military out-pensioners of Chelsea Hospital, who may be desirous of commuting their pensions, with a view to their becoming settlers in the British colonies."




You would think that, with such a long title it would be a thick book, but it is only a pamphlet of 34 pages. Talks about possible employment and wages to expect, how much to expect to pay for goods, cost of passage, etc. with a bit about each place.


Relevant Links

Emigrant's Guide 1832





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