Sunday, 6 October 2019

Fire Prevention Week




Oct 6-12 is Fire Prevention Week. 



When a residential or business fire occurs it is not only firemen that get involved, but insurance people and damage inspectors.

My daughter is a journeyman carpenter and at a renovation company she once worked for she would inspect damage and make reports on what needed to be done and the company would run the cost to make renovations or repairs.

When he retired from the RCMP after 10 years of service, my father-in-law Al Nolin became an insurance adjuster, investigating fire and fire-related losses. 




The Canadian Fire Underwriters' Association would hold meetings with representatives of the insurance companies to discuss insurance legislation and prevention measures.

Some of the proceedings of a Fire Insurance Company will give a list of claims..





Also reports of local fire departments may have a list of fires and alarms, like this with date, place, owner and cause...




 Many people and companies have suffered losses due to forest and bush fires.





When I lived in Quebec our town had a "Centre de Dépannage" (or help center) where people could donate clothes and household items for victims of fire, flood etc. People and companies near and far feel compelled to help or donate when fire disasters strike.  

These days after a disastrous fire a go-fund-me page might be set up. Regardless of how it's done, a cry for help would go out for donations large and small to a fire relief fund. 



Check your local library for fire department and relief fund reports, and local insurance company reports of claims. There may also be directories of insurance companies.

Join in Fire Prevention Week activities in your community. 




Relevant Links

Insurance Society and Firemen’s Review

Thursday, 3 October 2019

Prices of food, materials and labour in old England




These books were a help to me in understanding more about ancestors, right back to my 10x great grandfather and how he lived in the late 1500s. 





George Taytt (Tait) was a bowyer (and a burgess of Perth) in Scotland in 1570.  Although these are prices in England, it gives me a rough idea, and also how it compared to other craftsmen. Turning to the pages for Prices of Labour and 1570-71, and the cities were all the same, a bowyer gets 1/- (or 1 shilling) for a day's work.




There are indexes in the back, one for names of places and a general index. Also information on currency and weights and measures. The beginning of each section tells you how to read the charts. 

This is an example of yearly wages, set down by the justices of peace in 1610 at Rutland, Oakham (between Nottingham and Peterborough)...






Relevant links

A history of agriculture and prices in England 1259-1793






Tuesday, 1 October 2019

World Vegetarian Day - Oct 1




World Vegetarian Day was founded in 1977 by the North American Vegetarian Society and endorsed by the International Vegetarian Union in 1978. 

Being a vegetarian goes back to many cultures thousands of years ago. You will find articles in health journals and magazines that discussed the pros and cons of eating vegetarian in the mid to late 1800s.  Vegetarian Churches and Settlements were established. 


Being a strict vegetarian could be cause for divorce in some countries...

The Courier and Argus, Scotland – 25 Feb 1889, pg.3



Los Angeles Times, 28 May 1903, pg.14



Washington Post- 12 Jul 1911 pg.4


Some people made jokes...








Relevant links

International Vegetarian Union

Vegetarian Messenger, magazine of the Vegetarian Society UK




NOTE: Website authors doing updates to their sites may change their URLs. You can probably find it again by googling the subject.

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