Tuesday 29 November 2016

The Coltman Report - Setting the Record Straight




Library and Archives Canada has released online the Coltman Report, which was a general statement and report relating to the Battle of Seven Oaks in Manitoba. This year being the 200th anniversary of the battle between the rival trading companies that took place on June 19, 1816, LAC crowd-sourced the report and in a short time had it ready to go online.

"LAC owns the only copy of this report. Prior to digitization and transcription, researchers had to arrange a visit to the Gatineau Preservation Centre with an archivist to consult the report. Travel to LAC is not an option for many researchers. Consequently, some historians have perpetuated information found in many secondary sources that described the confrontation as a massacre initiated by the Métis. Through digitization, and with the help from the public to transcribe this important document, historical inaccuracies have been corrected."

It is of interest to me because my husbands ancestors were mentioned many times in this report, as Métis and a couple were interpreters for the Hudson's Bay Company.

Each page was transcribed and many surnames and places are tagged in the pdf. Then to the right there is a link to the actual page of the handwritten report.








To find out if your ancestor was mentioned open or download the PDF and use CTRL + F to search for the name.



Relevant Links

Library and Archives blog post- The Coltman Report

PDF of Coltman Report



Monday 28 November 2016

Ontario Genealogy Resources



My 2x great grandfather came from Ireland to Canada about 1833 and lived in Kingston, Ontario.  I still search for information about when he actually arrived here, why he came, and what the family got up to in Kingston.

During the course of my research I have come across many publications for Ontario that don't always help me in my search, but may help others.





The pdf will also be under the Resources tab above.


Relevant Links

The Canadian County Atlas Digital Project

Kingston City Directories

Ontario Newspapers

Ontario Sessional Papers

Papers and records - Ontario Historical Society

Kingston and the Loyalists of the "Spring Fleet" of 1783 : with reminiscences of early days in Connecticut

The parish register of Kingston, Upper Canada, 1785-1811 (Our Roots)

The parish register of Kingston, Upper Canada, 1785-1811(HathiTrust)

Ontario Voters Lists

Ontario Genealogy Records Online 

History of the Province of Ontario 1872

The story of Renfrew : from the coming of the first settlers about1820

Early records of Ontario, being extracts from the records of the Court of Quarter Sessions for the District of Mecklenburgh; afterwards the Midland District. With introd. and notes

History of County of Frontenac

The history of the County of Brant, Ontario (and townships)

A biographical history of Waterloo township and other townships of the county : being a history of the early settlers and their descendants, mostly all of Pennsylvania Dutch origin, as also much other unpublished historical information chiefly of a local character

Histoire des Canadiens du Michigan et du comté d'Essex, Ontario 1895

Annual report of the James-St. Methodist Church, Exeter, Ontario1918

Central Dumfries Farmers' Club, Galt, Ontario, 1934

Grimsby, Ontario, Canada and district : including Beamsville, Winona and Stoney Creek, illustrated and descriptive souvenir, July 1901

The history of the county of Bruce and of the minor municipalities therein, province of Ontario, 1906

List of properties for sale by M.S.B. Putnam

Ontario Ladies College

Golden Jubilee, School for Nurses, 1888-1938

Second annual directory of graduates and students of the School of Mining, Kingston, Canada, 1908

Schools and teachers in the Province of Ontario

At school in Kingston, 1850-1973 : the story of Catholic education in Kingston and district

The Ontario law list and solicitor's agency book

The Ontario Mutual Life Assurance Co., Waterloo, Ont:12th annual list of claims paid

The Federal Life Assurance Co – List of Medical Examiners

Upper Canada (Ontario) Insane Asylum Inmates

Report of the directors and list of shareholders of the Richelieu and Ontario Navigation Co., 1886

Ontario Online Historical Directories

Leeds, Grenville, Lanark, & Renfrew county directory, 

The Province of Ontario gazetteer and directory 1869

Lovell's Business and Professional Directory of the Province of Ontario, for 1882

Ontario Business Directory 1903

Ontario commercial year book and gazetteer : 1906

A Medical directory for the province of Ontario, 1869

Western Ontario gazetteer and directory, 1898-99 : containing that portion of the province west of, and including, the city of Toronto and south of Georgian Bay

Farmers and Business Directory for the Counties of Ontario

Souvenir books of Ontario

Ontario Police Honour Roll

List of magistrates, coroners and constables in and for the County of York, 1880

Real estate catalogue for immigrants: Ontario, 1880

Prisoners at Kingston (Sessional papers) 1903

Kingston Penitentiary Records

Annual of the Rose Society of Ontario

Horticultural Society of Ontario

City of Kingston 1908 Insurance Plan Map

Auditor's report of receipts and disbursements for the county of Frontenac for the year 1900

Ontario Cemetery Finding Aid



 





Sunday 20 November 2016

Carignan-Salières Regiment - Last Chance!



Two of my daughters in Montreal recently, raved about their tour of the Chateau Ramezay and it reminded me of how much I enjoyed the exhibits there, even as a pre-teen. When learning Canadian history in elementary school we went there with our class. I never forgot the impressions it made on me, as it brought our history to life. 

If you are descended from a soldier of the Carignan-Salières Regiment you have a special reason to go to the Chateau Ramezay and see the exhibit ..  "Mission: Bâtir Pays - 350th anniversary of the arrival of the Carignan-Salières regiment".  If you live in Montreal or plan to be in Montreal sometime in the next few months you better hustle because the closing of the exhibit in now March 12, 2017.




See Gail Dever's post about the opening of this exhibit at Genealogy a la Carte.

The Chateau Ramezay was built in 1705 by the then governor of Montreal, and it became a museum in 1895. It was the first building in Quebec to be designated a historic monument. 

If you go from December 2nd to January 8th you can also enjoy " Around the Fireplace - Holiday Traditions", where you will see five of the Chateau's fireplaces decorated for the holidays.

Poke around the museum site and see what more is to be discovered there.
Even though their regular rates are very reasonable, scroll down to see if you are eligible for one of their discounts.



Related Post: Soldiers and the Militia – New France



Friday 18 November 2016

St Andrew's Day




Move over Patrick.... November 30th is St Andrew's Day!

So steam clean your kilt, dust off the bagpipes and make up some haggis!


It is time to Celebrate!






For more about St Andrew and what you can do to join the celebrations or host your own party with traditional foods and music go to Scotland's website.




Related Post:  Scotland Genealogy Resources




Tuesday 8 November 2016

On the Road




I will be on the road for a week or two. Heading somewhere less wet.


Joshua Tree Park, California 2014



Monday 7 November 2016

The Illustrated Atlas and a Hidden Gem



Because the title of these publications is "The Illustrated Atlas of the County Of..." you may not have noticed the hidden gem.

Besides holding cadastre maps (with owner's names) of towns and townships in that county, in the back of the books is a Patron's Directory. Why is this different from other directories?  Aha!  this is the gem...

It states their name, residence, business (even if it is farming), PO address, where the person was born and the date of settlement in that county!

Here is an example - my 2x great grandfather John Seale in Pittsburgh Township, Frontenac County, Ontario. He was born in Ireland and settled in the county in 1833.




Note:  The second link below is a list at Internet Archive. Check index, some directories are throughout instead of at the back. In the Andreas directory of Hancock County Illinois it is a list of Subscribers (see index). In the directory for St Joseph, Indiana it is a list of County References. You can also do a search using the authors of the atlases listed, there maybe some histories of counties that have a list of patrons.



Relevant Links


Illustrated historical atlas of the counties of Frontenac, Lennox and Addington Ontario, 1878 - Patron's Directory in the back

Illustrated historical atlases of counties in the US and CAN 




Related Post: Location, Location, Location
                (to which is added 2 atlases for Australia)



Wednesday 2 November 2016

Montreal Street Toponymy




Toponymy is the study of place names (toponyms), their origins, meanings, use, and typology.

One of my relatives lived on a street in Montreal called Campden Place.  Looking on Google street map it looked odd, tucked in behind the Cote-Ste-Catherine Metro, like it was on a back alley instead of a main street. So I wanted to know more about it.




What I found out is this IS the back alley.  The front of the houses open to a court yard accessed only by a foot path - no street.  



It is apparently one of three streets in Côte des Neiges (with Beaminster Place and Bradford Place) making up what was then called Coxwold Village by the developer Terrace Construction in 1936. 

The City of Montreal Heritage section on their site has a portal titled La Toponymie for looking up the names of streets and how they got their name. You can even suggest a street name here

If your ancestors (or you) lived in Montreal you may want to check out this site... It is in French, and don't be fooled by the English link on the menu, as it takes you to a whole other place - but I found that a page translator works well (I open in Chrome and use Google Translator). This is what I learned about Campden Place.




Go to the Toponymy portal to search a street name, the page looks like this...



If you DO click on English in the menu it takes you to a page called: "Downtown moves Uptown - A Place Names Expedition".  From there you click on TÉLÉCHARGER to download the English PDF, which tells the who and how of some street and place names in Montreal.



Relevant Links


City of Montreal Topomyny

Submit a suggestion for a street name

Coxwold Village at Cultural Weekly



Related post:  Postcard Address Mystery

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