Finding an Ancestor in Reports of Commissioners

A Commission, or Royal Commission, is a formal public inquiry created by the government. A commission would be put together to look into issues of importance and usually controversy. Many inquiries can last years, depending on the issue, while the commissioners study causes and effects. The findings are then put into a public report.

So, you ask yourself what this could have to do with genealogy? 
Answer....names, names, names!

On wikipedia there is a list of Royal Commissions of the commonwealth by country. Obviously not all commission reports have lists of names, like the Report of the Royal Commission on the Relations of Labour and Capital in Canada which discusses solutions to some labour issues, but gives salaries for different occupations by province.         

I have come across a few where you may find mention of your ancestors. 
The Report of the Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration (Canada) of 1885 contains the report and evidence, plus further along, tables of names.

Commission on Chinese Immigration 1885, pg 389

For Queensland, the Royal Commission appointed to Inquire into the Working of the Pearl-shell and Beche-de-mer Industries of 1908 has names of pearl divers and merchants. 

Royal Commission Pearl Industry 1908, pg 6 

  

Royal Commission on Prisons in Ireland was formed in 1882. The report, vol 1, gives names of medical officers...

Royal Commission on Irish Prisons, Vol 1, pg 180

... but most people, prisoners and prison officers alike are mentioned by their initials only. Return of deaths gives first name and last initial...

Return of deaths, pg 248

Two other commissions worth noting are the 1842 Royal Commission on Children's Employment, which was a three year investigation into the working conditions for children in mines and factories in the UK. Lace schools were very common, usually a room in a woman's cottage where she taught lace-making to young children.

Lace schools

  

There are statements from child workers throughout the report.

Also the 1833 Report of Commissioners inquiring into labour in factories.

Spinners and dressers examined by Dr Barry, Glasgow 1833

Married women in New Lanark factory and number of their children 1833

At Canadiana Online search "Royal Commission", and to narrow down the search from over 6000 results you can add other keywords or change the search in field from everything to title.

At HathiTrust search Report of Commissions. You can also narrow the search by adding a keyword.

At Internet Archive (many for Ireland) and Google Books search Royal Commission and Report of Commissioners.

The Salvation Army - Missing Persons

"The Salvation Army [started in London in 1865] is a Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organization. The organization reports a worldwide membership of over 1.7 million, consisting of soldiers, officers and adherents collectively known as Salvationists."

My great grandparents, Alexander Mavor and Rebecca Campbell were Salvationists in Montreal. Although my grandfather didn't stay in after he returned home from the war, he still loved the marching music and I grew up with him singing Onward Christian Soldier, the hymn adopted by the Salvation Army as their processional. 

War Cry - First Issue - 1 Nov 1884

The War Cry, the official gazette of the Salvation Army began in Nov 1884.

"The Family Tracing Service (sometimes known as the Missing Persons Service) was established in 1885, and the service is now available in most of the countries where The Salvation Army operates. The Tracing Service's objective is to restore (or to sustain) family relationships where contact has been lost, whether recently or in the distant past. Thousands of people are traced every year on behalf of their relatives."

They later added a column in the War Cry titled We are looking for you.

War Cry 12 Apr 1924, pg 12

Over 150 Salvationists were onboard the Empress of Ireland when it sank 29 May 1914. Many of them were listed, some with photos, in the War Cry. 

The War Cry, 27 Jun 1914, pgs 12

Notes of Memorial Services across Canada start on the previous page. 


The War Cry linked below is a Canadian publication although it has International news as well. Check your local library for The War Cry editions in your Country.

In the United States the Salvation Army had it's first meetings in October of 1878 in Philadelphia. The US version of The War Cry was published in Chicago. 

In Australia the first Salvation Army service was held in 1880 in Adelaide. The Salvationists were nicknamed Salvos. They were often mentioned in the papers and journals at Trove.  The War Cry of Australia and Tasmania was published in Melbourne.

In New Zealand the first officers arrived in Dunedin in 1883, and until 1912 they were administered from Australia.  Featherston Camp was a training camp during WWI and the Salvation Army set up Featherston Hostel for soldiers and relatives. 

The Salvation Army Soldiers' and Relatives Hostel, Featherston

Auckland War Memorial Museum Collection

Salvationists are mentioned often in the Featherston Camp Weekly. 

Featherston Camp Weekly, Vol 2, No 6. November 2nd, 1918, pg 15

The War Cry for New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa was published in Wellington, and copies can be found at their archives. 


In 1908 the The Royal Commission on The Care and Control of The Feeble Minded published a list of women (identified by initials only) received into the Salvation Army Rescue Homes in the UK during a period of three years.

British Sessional Papers, Inventory Control, Record 1, Volume 36, pg 573

    

Check your local library or archives, or a Salvation Army Archives for more information on your Salvation Army ancestors.



Relevant Links

History of the Salvation Army

War Cry, Salvation Army publication Canada (Missing Persons ads)

Salvation Army War Cry Archives, with search  

Featherston Camp Weekly. New Zealand

Royal Commission on The Care and Control of The Feeble Minded Vol 2, 1908 

The Canadian advance: being a record of the progress of work of the Salvation Army in the dominion of Canada during the year 1886 (list of donations)

Public Schools of Newfoundland Under Salvation Army Boards 1907 (teachers)

Salvation Army Year Book, Detroit 1971

Salvation Army Year Books London

Salvation Army of Canada Jubilee Program 1894

Salvation Army in Philadelphia 1912

Soldiers Without Swords A History Of The Salvation Army In The United States 1956

Orders and regulations for field officers of the Salvation Army 1917

All the world. A quarterly review of the Salvation Army 

Western congress addresses c1906, Chicago

The Salvation Army in the United States : Christmas, 1899

Salvation Army Songs and Music 1917

Tragic Story of the Empress of Ireland, 1914 (Salvation Army)

Related Posts:

Genealogy Challenge - Salvation Army Band

What You May Find in Government Papers and Journals

Government publications are a vastly underused resource to find our ancestors. We have visited the Sessional Papers a few times in this blog, and today we will explore some other types of publications. Most of my examples are from Canadian works, but you may find the same types of records in your country of research. Below I have links for the UK, New Zealand and Australia.

In the journals, as in the sessional papers, some years you will find lists of names and other years just statistical numbers by county. There is an index in the front to guide you to possibilities.

This page from the Public Accounts for the Province of Canada¹, 1851 shows an example of both... numbers of licenses issued to Auctioneers by district or port, and a nominal return of ferry operators.

Looking further, in 1880 there was a case in the Court of Chancery involving the ferry at Ameliasburgh, though by then there was a different ferryman... (looking to see where Ameliasburgh is I got curious and distracted haha).

The Dominion Annual Register and Review is a political paper, but don't let that fool you! In the 1879 issue there is a Militia section with names of men who joined Cadets, and those who won matches at Wimbleton! A rifle match that is. Team Canada sailed to Liverpool to compete against the British.

1897 Dominion of Canada Register and Review

According to the website of the Dominion of Canada Rifle Association...

"Canadian Teams had been attending the Annual Matches in England since 1870, the first Team being sent by the Ontario Rifle Association. The first DCRA Team went to Wimbledon in 1873 and continued to do so each year until the matches moved to Bisley in 1889."

In 1986 my husband was a member of the DCRA and the vice president of the Alberta Rifle Association. He was invited to Ottawa to try out for the Commonwealth Games, but sadly he didn't make it.

In these papers you will also find appointments and promotions of public servants, obituaries of notable (not necessarily well known) people, and some newsworthy trials. In the section titled Remarkable Occurrences you will find suicides and accidental deaths. This section was included from the years 1878 to 1886. In the back of the publication there is an index of all names mentioned in the paper.

Speaking of Militia, if you have a military ancestor you will want to take a look at the Reports of the Department of Militia and Defense (made for the Sessional Papers). Here you will find names of those who passed exams or were awarded prizes at the Military College as well as general workings of the military.

In the Journal of the House of Assembly, Lower Canada 1793 you will find names of those chosen to serve in the House of Assembly, and other names throughout.  This publication is in English and French.

I had one ancestor who passed the Preliminary Exam for entering Civil Service, but he did not pass the Qualifying Exam.  I found that out, plus more about the exams and the examiners by looking at the Report of the Board of Civil Service Examiners.

The Proceedings of the Parliament publications are another to check out for ancestors. This one for South Australia has  list of fire calls in Adelaide in 1886.

Fire calls Adelaide 1886

At British History Online  there is an excellent online searchable collection of parliamentary papers, including the Journals of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Put keywords of names and places in the search box and pick your filters on the main search page. I typed in Loddiswell (where my ancestors lived in Devon) and I got 60 results. Then I typed in the name Tait and since this is a family of Scottish Border reivers it did not surprise me to find five instances where my Middle March Tait's were trespassing at the Borders in 1523.

To find out more about the provinces of Canada you can also do a search at Internet Archive for "Journals of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of..."

Note:
¹Province of Canada was formed by the Act of Union of 1840, merging Upper Canada and Lower Canada. Province of Canada ceased to exist with Confederation in 1867.  




Relevant Links

Public Accounts for the Province of Canada

Cases adjudged in the Court of Chancery of Upper Canada Vol 27 (Ameliasburgh) 1880

Dominion Annual Register and Review

Report of the Department of Militia and Defense

Journal of the House of Assembly, Lower Canada 1793

Proceedings of Parliament South Australia

Report of the Board of Civil Service Examiners

British History Online Search

Journals of the House of Commons, UK

Journals of the House of Lords, UK

Journals of the Senate, Australia, 1901 to present

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, New Zealand

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, New Zealand, nominal returns

American State Papers

Related posts:  Sessional Papers

The Police Gazette - On the Lam or in the Game?

The Police Gazette was a newspaper in the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Tasmania and Australia issued by the police department giving descriptions of crimes and criminals, lists of deserters, etc. Unfortunately I didn't find all to view for free, but they have some at Ancestry and Find My Past. There are digital issues that can be viewed online free at Tasmania Government Archives. UK and Ireland gazettes can be viewed with a subscription to British Newspapers or pay-per-page at Last Chance to Read, who has over 700 issues. You can also go to the National Archives, UK or to other countries' government archives or state libraries.

Some issues of the National Police Gazette, NY published in New York since 1845 can be found online.

Then you have the Police Gazette which was a popular American men's magazine. It published articles with wonderful illustrations about American Boxing and biographies, world sporting events, sports calendars and records, crime stories, and full page Pin-up Girls!  

Perhaps you will find one of your ancestors... either on the lam or in the game!

Relevant Links

Police Gazette at British Newspaper Archives

Police Gazette at State Library of Southern Australia

Police Gazette at State Library of NSW

Police Gazette at State Library of Victoria, AU

Police Gazette at Tasmania Government Archives online

Police Gazette at New Zealand Archives

Police Gazette at last Chance to Read

National Police Gazette, NY April 1865

National Police Gazette, NY May 1865

National Police Gazette NY various years

Police Gazette - Sports and athletics, NY various years

Police

In honour of today being Police and Peace Officers’ National Memorial Day in Canada, which was declared in 1998 to be the last Sunday of September every year, I am reposting this article originally posted on 16 February 2015.
            
                          ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have cousins who were and are in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and a niece who is planning to apply to the RCMP when she has finished her studies.  She has been riding all her life and hopes to be a member of the Mounted Unit, and someday be in the Musical Ride.

The Musical Ride started with the North West Mounted Police and had their first public show in 1904. It became a permanent part of the RCMP in 1961, and they perform at fairs and events all across the country. 

My husband's father, Narcisse Dollard Alphonse Nolin (Al), regimental number 12952 was hired by the RCMP on September 6, 1937. He served in Regina Saskatchewan, Rockcliffe Ontario and Montreal Quebec. Al met his beloved Leona in 1937 but regulations kept them from being married at that time. Leona followed Al to Montreal in 1939, getting a job at Woolworths (bring back memories to anyone?) and they were finally married in 1944. Al finished his term on September 5, 1947 and then became an investigator for the Fire Underwriters Investigation Bureau in Montreal.
 

   

Before 1966 all recruits received horse training. Here is Al showing off his riding skills!
 

If you have an ancestor who was a police officer, you may find them mentioned in the following publications and websites. I also listed Police Memorials for several countries and you can find more by searching "police honour roll". Also check city directories.


Relevant Links:

The North West Mounted Police service files at LAC

Officer Down Memorial Page (Canada): Remembering all law enforcement heroes

NWMP graves in the Yukon

The riders of the plains : Royal North West Mounted Police of Canada, 1873-1910

National RCMP graves

RCMP Honour Roll

RCMP Police Dog Trainer Honour Roll

RCMP Honour Roll and death notices - browse at Family Search

RCMP - The Quarterly Index

The Police Blue Book - USA, Canada and Principal Foreign Countries - 1940

FOIA - FBI employees - several records

The United States Secret Service in the late war: and introduction to the leading men at Washington, with the origin and organization of the Secret Service Bureau - 1890

Police History and directory - Chicago 1917

Royal North West Mounted Police Manual - 1906

Police Roll of Honour - UK

Western Australia Police Honour Roll

Australia National Police Honour Roll

Queensland Police Honour Roll

New Zealand Memorial of Police Killed by Criminal Acts (PDF with photos)

List of Irish Police Officers killed in the line of duty

Toronto Police Honour Roll

Ontario Police Honour Roll

Canadian Peace Officer Memorial Assn - Honour Roll

Canadian Police and Peace Officers Memorial

Canadian Police Dogs killed in the line of duty

Boston Police 1901

Boston Police Records Index

These Boston Police Records also gives names of persons issued a license for various things, like Hackney Carriages, Hand Carts, etc...

The Philadelphia Police, past and present - 1887

International Police, detective, sheriff, constable and identification directory, 1921

The Trooper Police of Australia; a record of mounted police work in the commonwealth from the earliest day of settlement to the present time - 1912

List of magistrates, coroners and constables in County of York, Ontario 1880

Sketches of the Royal Irish Constabulary

Return of Police force in Baronies in County of Limerick 1851



Related Post:  Irish Constabulary Resources

Amateur Radio Operators

My grandmother's brother was a wireless operator on submarine chasers during WWI. Looking for naval records and information, I came across Volume 27 of the Sessional Papers of the Dominion of Canada, 1916. Tucked in there is a list of Licensed Amateur Radio Stations in Canada for the year 1915.

That made me think of the winter of 2006 when my husband decided he wanted to get his Ham Radio License. At that time you still had to know Morse Code.  He bought Morse Code CD's and practiced. A lot!  With no headphones!

There is no morse code in the requirements now to get a basic certificate. He took a class with a group of people and some he is still friends with. Besides how to use the equipment you learn Operating Tips and net etiquette.  Then you learn a whole new lingo and abbreviations, called Hamspeak - when is a rubber duck not a rubber duck and when is wallpaper not wallpaper??  He studied hard and got his Certificate in April 2006.

Once you pass the exams you pick your Call Sign from those available on a list. This is your radio identity. Here the available call signs for BC were VA7 and he picked GAN, his initials. 

After getting all the equipment he needed, he had to make himself a station, or "hamshack",  to put it all in.  Preferably in a far corner of the basement. He also installed a ham radio on the boat. When sailing around the Island there were several "nets" you can tune in to.  Some were strictly for boaters to check in for information on docking space and island restaurants etc or looking for a boater that missed check in. We made a few new friends on the boating nets. There are also public nets you can tune in any time.

There are repeaters (send, receive, relay signals) all up and down the Island and my husband went by quad with his friend many times to check and repair the equipment on the mountain tops.

Did your ancestor operate a ham radio?



Relevant Links

Licensed Operators 1915 - Sessional Papers 

Canadian Amateur Certification

Search for Amateur Radio Operators and their Call Sign, Canada

FCC License search - USA

FCC Universal Archive License Search

Amateur Radio Stations of the United States 1920-1923

Supplement No. 2 to the list of Radio Stations of the United States 1913

Radio Amateur Call Book Magazine 1933

Getting an Amateur License in the UK

Wireless World - publication of Radio Society of Great Britain 1922-1923

The Emmco Radio Handbook - amateur stations in Australia and New Zealand c1920's

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

British Ancestors in the Colonies

British persons could have been sent to work in any colony under British rule. This book is an account of the services of the offices in the Colonial Service. There are names of secretaries, clerks, postmasters, architects, engineers, head masters of schools and colleges, station masters, etc... any person sent to work in a colony. At back are other lists, honours bestowed, foreign consulates in British Colonies, and on page 268 is a list of the countries and what year they became a colony.
There are also maps.

These are the British colonies covered in this book:

Did you have a British ancestor working in the colonies?


 Colonial Office List 1881

Citizenship & Naturalization

The Government of Canada published lists of naturalized immigrants as stipulated by the Naturalization Act of 1914 and later acts.  The lists from 1915-1951 were published in the Reports of the Secretary of State in the Sessional Papers of Canada and in the Canada Gazette.

Sessional Papers 1922

Looking at the year 1922, I checked the index at the front of any volume number.  I see in the Index that the Secretary of State Report is No. 29, which I find in the Contents is in Volume 8. So on the list at Internet Archive under 1922 I would look for Vol 58, No 8 Sessional Paper No 27-32, for 1922. I didn't find any lists of names for other years that I checked, just numbers from each country.



Relevant Links

Sessional Papers 1922: Aliens granted Certificates of Naturalization (pg 319-613)

Citizenship and Naturalization Records at LAC, 1915-1951

Nationalization records at olive Tree Genealogy

The Canada Gazette Archives

How to find US Records of Immigration and Naturalization

How to find British records of Naturalization

How to find Australian Naturalization records

Naturalization and Alien Registration Records of New Zealand

The Lighthouse Keepers

Living on the west coast and having visited the east coast we have seen many beautiful old lighthouses. One of our neighbours was once a Lighthouse Keeper, and he and his wife enjoyed the life until he retired.  It took them a while to get their land legs.  Imagine being paid to live by the ocean?  Despite the beautiful surroundings the life of a lighthouse keeper can be a lonely and isolating one.

There are not as many manned lighthouses as there once were, with modern technology both on boats and in lighthouses. Just as one would have a GPS for road vehicles, there are marine GPS's and chart plotters that show shallow waters and trouble spots and keep ships on track and out of harms way. In theory. In a fierce storm it is a comfort to see the lighthouse beacon keeping you company and showing the way.

In 2010 the Canadian Senate Committee was looking into shutting down or automating the remaining lighthouses on both coasts. The Globe and Mail wrote an article about it with an interview with a couple of lighthouse keepers and the story of Canada's first lighthouse keeper. In 2011 the Globe and Mail wrote another article about the Committee's findings.

If you think being a lighthouse keeper is the job for you, you can find out how on John Coldwell's website Lighthouse Memories.  He is also in the ongoing process of making a lighthouse keepers database.

The Sessional Papers of the Dominion of Canada hold names, locations and wages of lighthouse keepers under the Auditor General's reports, under the Department of Marine and Fisheries. The 1903 volume has some old photos of lighthouses.

There is an Association of Lighthouse Keepers open to everyone.  You can get a Lighthouse Passport to collect stamps from lighthouses you visit.

To find names and salaries of lighthouse keepers for years other then those mentioned below, look in No.1 (Auditor General) and its Index (after Contents), sometimes No 1 is in 2-3 Volumes)



Relevant Links

Names, Stations and Salaries of Lighthouse Keepers in the Dominion - 1903

Names, Stations and Salaries of Lighthouse Keepers in the Dominion 1916

Names, Stations and Salaries of Lighthouse Keepers in the Dominion 1922

Marine Expenditures for Maintenance of Lights for 1873 (keep turning pages for location of lighthouses and other provinces)

Lighthouse Keepers of New Zealand list

Where to find Lighthouse Keeper records in New Zealand

Where to find Lighthouse Keeper records in Australia

Where to find Lighthouse Keeper records in the USA

Lighthouse Personnel in England, Wales and the Channel Islands c1790-1911

British Lighthouse Keepers Database

Lighthouse Memories

Women Lighthouse Keepers Canada

US Women Lighthouse Keepers




Related Posts:  Sessional Papers