tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80172959900963718312024-03-26T03:21:00.318-04:00Family Tree KnotsKen McKinlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261891770555198035noreply@blogger.comBlogger241125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8017295990096371831.post-57917255421667839232024-03-06T08:00:00.061-05:002024-03-06T08:00:00.133-05:00Canadian Census Enumerator Instructions - Updated<p>Back in 2015 I wrote an article titled "<a href="https://familytreeknots.blogspot.com/2015/03/canadian-census-enumerator-instructions.html" target="_blank">Canadian Census Enumerator Instructions</a>" which pointed folks to the instructions that the enumerators were supposed to follow (operative word here is "supposed"). Over the past 9 years we've had two more Canadian censuses released to the public, Library and Archives Canada has undergone a change to their site, and links to some of the instructions have broken. So here is an update to that article.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrUkjBXgHd_EZleOdhARAReLvZAXFGeavTZ3InrtZ95k_etB8yEb1P6ogpPCMVbAorImrXWOubcyyfUxafGX1UOz8QJFmqx9kBj8-7z83OgoxH2y-RislnRRsXakK94NjxKXvIuA51qIEVPjzppsf06vyVGJBbyMrc1hJYE8vBIHRpahL4lolVLOzLD0/s1025/Blog%20-%20Seventh%20Census%20of%20Canada,%201931,%20Instructions%20to%20Commissioners%20and%20Enumerators%20-%20Cover%20page.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Seventh census of Canada 1931, instructions to commissioners and enumerators (Ottawa: F.A. Acland, Printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty, 1931), cover page." border="0" data-original-height="974" data-original-width="1025" height="380" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVrUkjBXgHd_EZleOdhARAReLvZAXFGeavTZ3InrtZ95k_etB8yEb1P6ogpPCMVbAorImrXWOubcyyfUxafGX1UOz8QJFmqx9kBj8-7z83OgoxH2y-RislnRRsXakK94NjxKXvIuA51qIEVPjzppsf06vyVGJBbyMrc1hJYE8vBIHRpahL4lolVLOzLD0/w400-h380/Blog%20-%20Seventh%20Census%20of%20Canada,%201931,%20Instructions%20to%20Commissioners%20and%20Enumerators%20-%20Cover%20page.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Seventh census of Canada 1931, instructions to commissioners and enumerators</i> (Ottawa: F.A. Acland, Printer to the King's Most Excellent Majesty, 1931), cover page.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />First of all, before pointing you to the enumerator instructions, I want to remind everyone to make sure you read all the way across the census page and look at each column. There can be important clues held within that we may be ignoring in our haste to move to the next record to locate. Details such as:<p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Were the children going to school? </li><li>Did someone in the household have an infirmity? </li><li>Was another language spoken in the household? </li><li>Is there a note indicating the date and household where the enumerator stopped their work for the day?</li></ul><p>In our review of the various columns we will come across abbreviations that might have us wondering things like what religion is "E.M.C." and what is that "U.C." recorded for the place of birth. My initial starting place to help me decipher those abbreviations is the "<a href="https://library-archives.canada.ca/eng/collection/research-help/genealogy-family-history/censuses/pages/census-records.aspx" target="_blank">General census guide</a>" page on Library and Archives Canada web site found under their "<a href="https://library-archives.canada.ca/eng/collection/research-help/genealogy-family-history/censuses/pages/census-records.aspx" target="_blank">Census records</a>" topic page. If you haven't done so lately, take the time to check out the various census related pages found under that topic page. There have been many changes and updates in the past few years.</p><p>As for the instructions to the enumerators, the "Pre-Confederation, 1825 to 1867", "Dominion of Canada, 1871 to 1931", and "Prairie Provinces Census, 1870-1926" pages on the Library and Archives Canada site all have columns with links pointing to where we can find the instruction. Some of these links will take you to the Act permitting the government to take the census.</p><p>In addition to the links provided by Library and Archives Canada, here the links to the same sorts of instruction manuals for the post Confederation enumerations of Canada mostly found on the <a href="https://archive.org/" target="_blank">Internet Archive</a>:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>1871: <a href="https://archive.org/details/1871981871i11871eng" target="_blank">Manual containing The Census Act and the instructions to officers employed in the taking of the first census of Canada</a></li><li>1881: <a href="https://archive.org/details/1881981881i11882engfra" target="_blank">Manual containing The Census Act and the instructions to officers employed in the taking of the second census of Canada</a> </li><li>1891: <a href="https://archive.org/details/1891981891i1891engfra" target="_blank">Manual containing "The Census Act," and the instructions to officers employed in the taking of the third census of Canada</a></li><li>1901: <a href="https://archive.org/details/1901981901I1901eng" target="_blank">Instructions to chief officers, commissioners and enumerators</a></li><li>1911: <a href="https://archive.org/details/1911981911I21911engfra" target="_blank">Instructions to officers, commissioners and enumerators</a> and <a href="https://archive.org/details/1911981911I11911engfra" target="_blank">Instructions to enumerators in the Northwest Territories and Yukon Territory</a></li><li>1921: <a href="https://archive.org/details/1921981921I1921engfra" target="_blank">Instructions to commissioners and enumerators</a></li><li>1931: <a href="https://archive.org/details/31761119726958/mode/2up" target="_blank">Instructions to commissioners and enumerators</a></li><li>1941: <a href="https://archive.org/details/1941981941I1941eng" target="_blank">Instructions to commissioners and enumerators</a></li></ul><p>There are also the surviving special nominal censuses of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta that were taken between the censuses of the rest of the dominion:</p><ul><li>1906: <a href="https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1906/Documents/Order-in-Council-1906-0887.pdf" target="_blank">Issue of Proclamation for taking the Census of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta</a></li><li>1916: <a href="https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2017/statcan/CS98-1916I-eng.pdf" target="_blank">Instructions to commissioners and enumerators</a> </li><li>1926: <a href="https://archive.org/details/1926981926I1926eng" target="_blank">Instructions to commissioners and enumerators</a></li><li>1936: <a href="https://archive.org/details/31761119726982/page/n3/mode/2up" target="_blank">Instructions to commissioners and enumerators</a></li><li>1946: <a href="https://archive.org/details/1946981946I21946eng" target="_blank">Instructions to commissioners and enumerators</a> <br /></li></ul><p></p><p>Before Confederation in 1867 there were censuses taken of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Canada East, and Canada West. These censuses can vary greatly in terms of what was asked. For example, the Nova Scotia censuses prior to Confederation only include the name of the head of household<br /></p><p>1851: </p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Nova Scotia: <a href="https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.9_00914_12/32" target="_blank">An Act for taking the Census of the Province, and obtaining Statistical information</a></li><li>New Brunswick: <a href="https://bnald.lib.unb.ca/legislation/act-ascertaining-population-province-and-other-purposes-therein-mentioned-passed-30th" target="_blank">An Act for ascertaining the Population of this Province</a> and <a href="https://bnald.lib.unb.ca/legislation/act-amend-act-intituled-act-ascertaining-population-province-and-other-purposes-therein" target="_blank">An Act to amend an Act, intituled An Act for ascertaining the Population of this Province</a><br /></li></ul><p>1852 (Canada East/Canada West)</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Gagan, David P., "<a href="https://hssh.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/hssh/article/view/40879" target="_blank">Enumerators' Instruction for the Census of Canada 1852 and 1861</a>." Histoire sociale/Social History. Vol. VII, no. 14 (Novembre-November 1974)</li></ul><p>1861<br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Canada East/Canada West: Gagan, David P., "<a href="https://hssh.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/hssh/article/view/40879" target="_blank">Enumerators' Instruction for the Census of Canada 1852 and 1861</a>." Histoire sociale/Social History. Vol. VII, no. 14 (Novembre-November 1974)</li></ul><p></p><p>You might have noticed that I also included the instructions for censuses that have not yet been released to the public. The images for those census won't be transferred from Statistics Canada to Library and Archives Canada until 92 years after the census date. However, now we at least know what questions were asked.</p><p>As always, make sure you save any of the PDFs to your computer for safe keeping. One never knows when a page or document will disappear from the Internet.<br /></p>Ken McKinlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261891770555198035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8017295990096371831.post-18156129850188557362024-02-28T08:00:00.000-05:002024-02-28T08:00:00.425-05:00February 30? - Always Find the Source of the Source!<p>With this being a leap year I thought I'd share one of the more interesting calendar related errors I've come across in my travels. It is for the burial of Michael Stafford, who according to the transcription of the record was buried on 30 Feb 1900.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUy68Qyg_tmdHyb20Tei6QNyJYUqiw7MJPaXmVVL5TheXGL9ywFMx0cMgNdVwoWvRUxDNaXfRsdjsFlbzqcv7OuDtIvig7m_ZlTIEVQyJr8jOT8vdLck6td-ENcFOE9_qHnF7H5-aC-Pf1msi9eWVWsUYVCVBVatl62A0qO2Cz-HtO_Sickjc8h59J4Ms/s796/Blog%20-%20Ancestry%20-%20Michael%20Stafford%20-%20Burial%20register%20entry%20-%2030%20Feb%201900.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture taken 28 Jan 2024 from Ancestry for the "Ontario, Canada, Roman Catholic Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1760-1923" register page with the entry for Michael Stafford buried 30 Feb 1900 in St. Augustine, Ontario, Canada." border="0" data-original-height="471" data-original-width="796" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUy68Qyg_tmdHyb20Tei6QNyJYUqiw7MJPaXmVVL5TheXGL9ywFMx0cMgNdVwoWvRUxDNaXfRsdjsFlbzqcv7OuDtIvig7m_ZlTIEVQyJr8jOT8vdLck6td-ENcFOE9_qHnF7H5-aC-Pf1msi9eWVWsUYVCVBVatl62A0qO2Cz-HtO_Sickjc8h59J4Ms/w400-h236/Blog%20-%20Ancestry%20-%20Michael%20Stafford%20-%20Burial%20register%20entry%20-%2030%20Feb%201900.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture taken 28 Jan 2024 from Ancestry for the "Ontario, Canada, Roman Catholic Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1760-1923" register page with the entry for Michael Stafford buried 30 Feb 1900 in St. Augustine, Ontario, Canada.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>As we all know, we can't trust transcriptions so our first thought is that the transcriber of the register made a mistake and no one caught it.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4aFjTtiXPWZRSR_Yy1LB_TnEzo_ZcNrRRpEuEmxyq5M77rCUVC2qTRqRFtNOFqqJo8x9XI9OjsodQwIaz1ilZMkJ14SKnHSK1AoRLVmVzXAu-q9kS1o_q0yTJnBLSzX5Vpr9eBxdNEIptss3mDmzinFdA8z2TckVghMfimNsLQ-jgRbpniXMeVzU-rds/s4513/Blog%20-%20Ancestry%20-%20Michael%20Stafford%20-%20burial%20register%20-%20Ontario,%20Canada,%20Roman%20Catholic%20Baptisms,%20Marriages,%20and%20Burials,%201760-1923.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="St. Augustine (St. Augustine, Ontario, Canada), Ontario, Canada, Roman Catholic Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1760-1923, "Baptism, Marriage, Burial, Confirmation; Goderich, St Augustine; 1861-1910," Michael Stafford, buried 30 Feb 1900, Interment p 2; digital images, Ancestry.com, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 28 Jan 2024)." border="0" data-original-height="2140" data-original-width="4513" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4aFjTtiXPWZRSR_Yy1LB_TnEzo_ZcNrRRpEuEmxyq5M77rCUVC2qTRqRFtNOFqqJo8x9XI9OjsodQwIaz1ilZMkJ14SKnHSK1AoRLVmVzXAu-q9kS1o_q0yTJnBLSzX5Vpr9eBxdNEIptss3mDmzinFdA8z2TckVghMfimNsLQ-jgRbpniXMeVzU-rds/w400-h190/Blog%20-%20Ancestry%20-%20Michael%20Stafford%20-%20burial%20register%20-%20Ontario,%20Canada,%20Roman%20Catholic%20Baptisms,%20Marriages,%20and%20Burials,%201760-1923.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">St. Augustine (St. Augustine, Ontario, Canada), Ontario, Canada, Roman Catholic Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1760-1923, "Baptism, Marriage, Burial, Confirmation; Goderich, St Augustine; 1861-1910," Michael Stafford, buried 30 Feb 1900, Interment p 2; digital images, Ancestry.com, <i>Ancestry</i> (www.ancestry.com : accessed 28 Jan 2024).</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I thought that too. But when I looked at the column formatted register page, on the second to last line in the register the date is clearly written "<b>1900 Feb 30</b>".</p><p>Yet this is a column formatted register and it isn't in the usual format we often see in Roman Catholic church registers.Might there be an entry in the parish register itself?</p><p>Fortunately for us, that set of books have been digitized and also made available to us on both Ancestry and FamilySearch.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3MUx9BWoCNuvCH8Wz7JpqiBFZTMbD63IUBk6d1v0WzGU7XOB0iw5UbRGPT3UUUeqxaMo6S2BGbu6D45iQBjljyKhdHzUmodbzH5NSQao2Ssj2UfhWcnBdChrLc3R8IZvJwUHd77hOKyH78xZgXJRt43ejjp7BBG_VLGhnjjFe8fz_LSfiP_J0hBR4VVY/s3217/Blog%20-%20FamilySearch%20-%20Michael%20Stafford%20-%20burial%20-%20FHL%20microfilm%201,310,853,%20item%203,%20image%20148%20of%20684.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="St. Augustine (St. Augustine, Ontario, Canada), "Baptisms 1895-1917, Deaths 1895-199, Marriages 1895-1911, Confirmations 1895-1927," p 14, burial of Michael Stafford, 3 Feb 1900; DGS 5,107,225, item 3, image 148 of 684." border="0" data-original-height="3217" data-original-width="2599" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3MUx9BWoCNuvCH8Wz7JpqiBFZTMbD63IUBk6d1v0WzGU7XOB0iw5UbRGPT3UUUeqxaMo6S2BGbu6D45iQBjljyKhdHzUmodbzH5NSQao2Ssj2UfhWcnBdChrLc3R8IZvJwUHd77hOKyH78xZgXJRt43ejjp7BBG_VLGhnjjFe8fz_LSfiP_J0hBR4VVY/w324-h400/Blog%20-%20FamilySearch%20-%20Michael%20Stafford%20-%20burial%20-%20FHL%20microfilm%201,310,853,%20item%203,%20image%20148%20of%20684.jpg" width="324" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">St. Augustine (St. Augustine, Ontario, Canada), "Baptisms 1895-1917, Deaths 1895-199, Marriages 1895-1911, Confirmations 1895-1927," p 14, burial of Michael Stafford, 3 Feb 1900; DGS 5,107,225, item 3, image 148 of 684.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>We can clearly read (at least those who have learned to read cursive) that:</p><blockquote><p>"<i>On the third of February nineteen hundred, I the undersigned parish priest buried in the Catholic cemetery of St. Augustine, the body of Michael Stafford aged sixty seven years.</i>"<br /></p></blockquote><p>At least the original entry in the church books makes sense. I just wonder what the poor clerk was thinking when they created the entry in that column formatted register. Their brain might just have been tired from copying the information.</p><p>Since his death was in the time when civil registrations of deaths in Ontario should have been filed with the authorities we can check the date of his death.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMwKS-3GRVM-zruHKcC6W19g9kKckP4H3iT-cEMvPfQeb5mlXtqxGxnK0c4OactRdQJd-WesWbExKDyho-Dp1XFclg6tfQLOSmKVbI7ua7XDD5CafGwUS5VqGSpDRPLBtwNp2E52ziqK9oYwVpnXLDhVrdm15_rh0fsRCAfOdxMEfI9iSvgL8VLwmScwY/s3033/Blog%20-%20Ancestry%20-%20Michael%20Stafford%20-%20registration%20of%20death.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Ancestry.com, "Ontario, Canada, Deaths, 1869-1938 and Deaths Overseas, 1939-1949," database on-line, Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 Jan 2019), entry for Michael Stafford, died 1 Feb 1900; citing Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Collection: MS935; Reel: 97." border="0" data-original-height="995" data-original-width="3033" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMwKS-3GRVM-zruHKcC6W19g9kKckP4H3iT-cEMvPfQeb5mlXtqxGxnK0c4OactRdQJd-WesWbExKDyho-Dp1XFclg6tfQLOSmKVbI7ua7XDD5CafGwUS5VqGSpDRPLBtwNp2E52ziqK9oYwVpnXLDhVrdm15_rh0fsRCAfOdxMEfI9iSvgL8VLwmScwY/w400-h131/Blog%20-%20Ancestry%20-%20Michael%20Stafford%20-%20registration%20of%20death.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ancestry.com, "Ontario, Canada, Deaths, 1869-1938 and Deaths Overseas, 1939-1949," database on-line, <i>Ancestry</i> (www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 Jan 2019), entry for Michael Stafford, died 1 Feb 1900; citing Archives of Ontario; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Collection: MS935; Reel: 97.</span> <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>And we can see that on line 4 of the death register that it is recorded that he passed away on "Feby 1 1900" with the date of registration on "Feby 2 1900". <br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>So remember, when things just don't seem to add up, start digging deeper! </b></span><br /></p><p>This is just another lesson of why we always need to try to follow the records back to the original source document. Sometimes, such as in this case, we can make use of the digitized image. Other times we may need to consult a microfilm or original paper document.<br /></p>Ken McKinlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261891770555198035noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8017295990096371831.post-85256917672067366072024-02-21T08:00:00.002-05:002024-02-21T08:00:00.132-05:00Ancestry and Enhanced Images<p>Whether you are a new user of Ancestry or someone who has been using their record collections for a number of years, you might not have noticed a feature when viewing images that may have been actually getting in your way. I'm talking about the "Enhanced images" feature.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYB7S46m0iqHpjFmqBeFnlGq5g9y18GFxqVyj3iR_NkRmdCiKr3zR6vwWrp7L2ve9KAMNdxjV9q7k3PZX19YtmkSLf6sHA4veiOpYS79osppjJooebi8kxWArvtY-pxgetfUAZMmJweYWdc2JwSEWUFWm70p-rbhnzrGSGojGc0Bhaw_vHHA2Tn_pxlV4/s5052/Blog%20-%201861%20Census%20of%20Canada%20West%20-%20John%20Malcolm%20McMullen%20-%20Ancestry%20enhanced%20image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="1861 census of Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, Canada West, Lanark County, district 6, p. 3, John McMullen; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 18 Feb 2024); citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm C-1042-1043; Ancestry enhanced image option enabled." border="0" data-original-height="4148" data-original-width="5052" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYB7S46m0iqHpjFmqBeFnlGq5g9y18GFxqVyj3iR_NkRmdCiKr3zR6vwWrp7L2ve9KAMNdxjV9q7k3PZX19YtmkSLf6sHA4veiOpYS79osppjJooebi8kxWArvtY-pxgetfUAZMmJweYWdc2JwSEWUFWm70p-rbhnzrGSGojGc0Bhaw_vHHA2Tn_pxlV4/w400-h329/Blog%20-%201861%20Census%20of%20Canada%20West%20-%20John%20Malcolm%20McMullen%20-%20Ancestry%20enhanced%20image.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1861 census of Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, Canada West, Lanark County, district 6, p. 3, John McMullen; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., <i>Ancestry</i> (www.ancestry.com : accessed 18 Feb 2024); citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm C-1042-1043; Ancestry enhanced images option enabled.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Often I will see an image of a census page, like what is seen above, posted in various online forum. It seems like it is in black and white without any shades of grey. What you are actually seeing is an image that has been manipulated by Ancestry. On Ancestry's "<a href="https://www.ancestry.ca/c/legal/learnmoreoverview" target="_blank">Learn more about the Interactive Image Viewer</a>" page, under the Image Tool section of the Frequently asked questions, we find:</p><p></p><blockquote><b>Use enhanced images</b> - When enabled, images are automatically adjusted for light levels. This is helpful for most collections.</blockquote><p></p><p>Although Ancestry seems to believe that this might help us to read the writing in the images I have found that this adjustment to light levels can also hide faint writing and obscure other potential clues within the image. That is why I recommend to folks that you don't enable this feature unless really necessary. </p><p></p><p>But how do we turn off the Enhanced Images option?</p><p>The first step is to view an image on Ancestry. I usually pick a census record since quite often the appearance of the image going from having the enhanced image option enabled to disabled is more apparent. </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjArnSO1mPNBvgjv7P8HPGVCeSvZBsyDhVu1Q_4-yb4I0wHjZcemmpHQJqtKLCciIWe28SnQ85ARs3j2krInvymzw2KT2_uHStKJKadQDM8sGxAhxEoNCZ7h99UvBFKAdbaabWIxY-_3RdYhmKOl1UtZdychfparjSceeMlVCBZVvBYaC9-h90PzTBO6jg/s1270/Blog%20-%20Ancestry%20-%20screen%20capture%20of%20image%20screen%20-%20with%20arrow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture from Ancestry of the 1861 Census of Canada record image page for McMullen found in Canada West > Lanark with an arrow pointing to a circled wrench icon representing the Tool menu on the right side of the image display pane." border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1270" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjArnSO1mPNBvgjv7P8HPGVCeSvZBsyDhVu1Q_4-yb4I0wHjZcemmpHQJqtKLCciIWe28SnQ85ARs3j2krInvymzw2KT2_uHStKJKadQDM8sGxAhxEoNCZ7h99UvBFKAdbaabWIxY-_3RdYhmKOl1UtZdychfparjSceeMlVCBZVvBYaC9-h90PzTBO6jg/w400-h226/Blog%20-%20Ancestry%20-%20screen%20capture%20of%20image%20screen%20-%20with%20arrow.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture from Ancestry of the 1861 Census of Canada record image page for McMullen found in Canada West > Lanark with an arrow pointing to a circled wrench icon representing the Tool menu on the right side of the image display pane.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Here is a screen capture from my Windows desktop system viewing that same 1861 Census of Canada West image on Ancestry. You might note that the screen is a bit busy with the source details open on the right side and the virtual filmstrip open at the bottom. It's just how I view the images on Ancestry and you might not have all these panes open.</p><p>I've circled in red the icon with a wrench, which is the Tool menu icon, and also added a red arrow pointing to that icon so that it stands out in this screen capture. You will want to click on that icon to display the Tool menu and then click on the Settings menu item to open up all the settings.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYuukdZnRIdcQvXlFbvk0NZ8u8wfSaT8e0Oy8s3oCClpBnt5VfvSDmpSfMOT9Av3P-StP8h6OxC0QojuaPTumwdM45DK1t0rj9jIRzKaCWb_G-acrWsXG6ZiTUtdsxHRUKuyaSSTvomvtjJgPeyeUL_6ucoXgA97yVjScsy3V6A-Z9qCb8KlyLeARaVTQ/s509/Blog%20-%20Ancestry%20-%20Setting%20to%20disable%20enhanced%20image%20-%20Tool%20menu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture of the Ancestry image Tool menu with the Settings menu item opened." border="0" data-original-height="509" data-original-width="269" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYuukdZnRIdcQvXlFbvk0NZ8u8wfSaT8e0Oy8s3oCClpBnt5VfvSDmpSfMOT9Av3P-StP8h6OxC0QojuaPTumwdM45DK1t0rj9jIRzKaCWb_G-acrWsXG6ZiTUtdsxHRUKuyaSSTvomvtjJgPeyeUL_6ucoXgA97yVjScsy3V6A-Z9qCb8KlyLeARaVTQ/w211-h400/Blog%20-%20Ancestry%20-%20Setting%20to%20disable%20enhanced%20image%20-%20Tool%20menu.jpg" width="211" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture of the Ancestry image Tool menu with the Settings menu item opened.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Depending on the image you are viewing, there may be additional items you can play with under the Settings option. For example, for the 1911 Census of Canada images you can also turn on and off Highlight Households, Text Tips, Name Labels, and Column Labels. I prefer keeping those options enabled to help me quickly find the family or person I'm seeking.<br /></p><p>You can turn off the enhanced images option by clicking on that button beside "Enhanced images". Note, this will affect how all the images will appear on Ancestry. Which in my opinion is a good thing.</p><p>As we can see below, the image is now in various shades of grey.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJhtgyF0XFZ8-0xV0ZrqkluJuy4v42b8U1tmJaxzV3Mda5SYY9tvV-Pluoq40SMY9Y0mNoV2Wrz6qjEEhdfsz7_qUWU3UC41L-BXilCZJ2GHBtp-HXVL1lVWoJ0-OWGSkl_-4Na7rzzVaNsw2_GUYyLkK3k2pdt8hRxd4Fm6tTw6UU1Wr2bS2HY0VD7mQ/s5052/Blog%20-%201861%20Census%20of%20Canada%20West%20-%20John%20Malcolm%20McMullen%20-%20Ancestry%20unenhanced%20image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="1861 census of Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, Canada West, Lanark County, district 6, p. 3, John McMullen; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 18 Feb 2024); citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm C-1042-1043; Ancestry enhanced images option disabled." border="0" data-original-height="4148" data-original-width="5052" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJhtgyF0XFZ8-0xV0ZrqkluJuy4v42b8U1tmJaxzV3Mda5SYY9tvV-Pluoq40SMY9Y0mNoV2Wrz6qjEEhdfsz7_qUWU3UC41L-BXilCZJ2GHBtp-HXVL1lVWoJ0-OWGSkl_-4Na7rzzVaNsw2_GUYyLkK3k2pdt8hRxd4Fm6tTw6UU1Wr2bS2HY0VD7mQ/w400-h329/Blog%20-%201861%20Census%20of%20Canada%20West%20-%20John%20Malcolm%20McMullen%20-%20Ancestry%20unenhanced%20image.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1861 census of Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, Canada West, Lanark County, district 6, p. 3, John McMullen; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., <i>Ancestry</i> (www.ancestry.com : accessed 18 Feb 2024); citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm C-1042-1043; Ancestry enhanced images option disabled.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Now when you view an image it will look much closer to what the originally microfilmed image looked like. For the Canadian census images, it looks much closer to what we find on the Library and Archives Canada site.<br /></p><p>Additionally, any images that you save to your computer will be saved without any of Ancestry's adjustments to the light levels. With the various grey levels you can even sometimes pick out the writing that might have been added later using a lighter or darker ink. This can be really important when trying to figure out the source of various notations on census forms.</p><p>Hopefully this little tip will reveal unseen clues in the various images in the records discovered on Ancestry.<br /></p>Ken McKinlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261891770555198035noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8017295990096371831.post-14729365896166468122024-02-14T08:00:00.036-05:002024-02-14T23:05:39.582-05:00A Gotcha When Searching the LAFRANCE Collection<p>Every second Tuesday afternoon the <a href="https://biblioottawalibrary.ca/en" target="_blank">Ottawa Public Library</a> and the <a href="https://ottawa.ogs.on.ca/" target="_blank">Ottawa Branch of Ontario Ancestors</a> hosts a one hour in-person <a href="https://biblioottawalibrary.ca/en/event/genealogy-drop-2" target="_blank">Genealogy Drop-In</a> session where we have folks popping by looking for help in their family history and genealogy research. Most of the times the questions are answered right then and there. However, in a few cases it can take a bit of time to actually figure out the right answer or solution to a genealogical mystery. Such was the case from a few weeks ago.</p><p>One benefit for genealogy and family history researchers who have an Ottawa Public Library card is that we have access to <a href="https://www.genealogiequebec.com/en/" target="_blank">Généalogie Québec</a> via the library site from the comfort of one's home. One of our patrons had been exploring the Généalogie Québec site but they were having problems locating records they thought should be there. They had already discovered the images they were seeking in the "<a href="https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/1091/" target="_blank">Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968</a>" collection on Ancestry. However, they wanted to replicate finding those same records on Généalogie Québec as a test of that site.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKKyjYqUuTonmzabWr3Pbxt9c-sHSiHxTOAIu1kjY2_aycDt1JzYth4HOhR4szgH3cHT7jrG6BypuN8mge8npbfO0nlLIW6-ZorQXqIzHcYHBpVKIXhwTYBRx-0afeMFNQ_1LRBRJ2IofBvbiA7p9Ur5aBKmMonok9wUPDlCdY1w50dfQ2p_NJPDuXp0c/s1642/Blog%20-%20Genealogy%20Quebec%20-%20LAFRANCE%20(BMD)%20landing%20page.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture taken 3 Feb 2024 of "The LAFRANCE (Baptisms, burials and marriages)" search page from Généalogie Québec." border="0" data-original-height="797" data-original-width="1642" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKKyjYqUuTonmzabWr3Pbxt9c-sHSiHxTOAIu1kjY2_aycDt1JzYth4HOhR4szgH3cHT7jrG6BypuN8mge8npbfO0nlLIW6-ZorQXqIzHcYHBpVKIXhwTYBRx-0afeMFNQ_1LRBRJ2IofBvbiA7p9Ur5aBKmMonok9wUPDlCdY1w50dfQ2p_NJPDuXp0c/w400-h194/Blog%20-%20Genealogy%20Quebec%20-%20LAFRANCE%20(BMD)%20landing%20page.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture taken 3 Feb 2024 of "The LAFRANCE (Baptisms, burials and marriages)" search page from Généalogie Québec.<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Going through the Ottawa Public Library portal and agreeing to the terms and condition of the Généalogie Québec site we are presented with "<b>The LAFRANCE (Baptisms, burials and marriages)</b>" search screen. There we can search by individual, couple, or parish. That is what the patron had been doing when trying to locate the baptism record for Nelson Deschamps from 1918. Yet no baptisms were appearing.</p><p>I knew we were missing something but there wasn't enough time to figure it out at that time.<br /></p><p>Fast forward two weeks and it happens that both the patron and I were there early for the drop-in. So I asked for the details again. This time, without the pressure of doing real-time searching, I was taking my time and actually paying attention and reading to what is on the screen.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu-G0887oVVBGUu130Z8yU51ZA72T6r2cuTItswsPWLxvXJb4q2veAXFZMa0siTa1XpmSi31zNuvtIo1HWmJNtUNdh6LOy1UinkUJdEYKKxdPLjNVnaJ0cmbw01ZfbwYdKUU0c9ROp1B_axIyaJQ8ox4suKT4LEa612h9ny-vmH-bUbU4Emd4GaX59Al8/s1087/Blog%20-%20Genealogy%20Quebec%20-%20LAFRANCE%20(BMD)%20about%20section.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture taken 3 Feb 2024 of "About the LAFRANCE" section from "The LAFRANCE (Baptisms, burials and marriages)" search page from Généalogie Québec." border="0" data-original-height="487" data-original-width="1087" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu-G0887oVVBGUu130Z8yU51ZA72T6r2cuTItswsPWLxvXJb4q2veAXFZMa0siTa1XpmSi31zNuvtIo1HWmJNtUNdh6LOy1UinkUJdEYKKxdPLjNVnaJ0cmbw01ZfbwYdKUU0c9ROp1B_axIyaJQ8ox4suKT4LEa612h9ny-vmH-bUbU4Emd4GaX59Al8/w400-h179/Blog%20-%20Genealogy%20Quebec%20-%20LAFRANCE%20(BMD)%20about%20section.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture taken 3 Feb 2024 of "About the LAFRANCE" section from "The LAFRANCE (Baptisms, burials and marriages)" search page from Généalogie Québec.</span></td></tr></tbody></table>That is when I noticed this very important line from the "About the LAFRANCE" section:<p></p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i><b>Every</b> Catholic baptism and burial from Quebec between 1621 and 1861</i></blockquote><i><b></b></i><i></i><p></p><p>Of course we couldn't find a baptism from 1918 since the collection for Catholic baptisms only goes to 1861 in LAFRANCE.</p><p>I had forgotten to do what I constantly remind others to do: learn what a collection actually covers. I felt so silly! <br /></p><p>I knew I could browse the Drouin Collection records but that can be very time consuming, especially if you don't have an exact year or know the parish where the baptism took place. Also, even though many parish registers have a name index either at the front or back of the year's register, quite a few don't.</p><p>So I went to the "<b>NBMDS (BMD Index)</b>" page on Généalogie Québec. Of course, this time I checked the "About the NBMDS tool" section first. There we find that it is an index of about 1.2 million records of Catholic and Protestant baptism, marriage and burial records, most of which are from the province of Quebec. It even states the years and regions covered.</p><p>In this specific research case, the record found on Ancestry stated the baptism place was "Thurso, Québec (Quebec), Canada". Thurso is in the Outaouais region of Quebec and is one of the regions that the NBMDS index covers. So in theory we should be good.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtpqwOozoVGDbQcSwaXOjqGJ54okjyyRg6BLwWcw-7gUk0I8l1KvQ5AX3IpiP_n63vxD-62geI2BidzwK6SZ-D6hRDA1AQOVivHPoxDjyk2p0-H9cA4v7NuMHTa704kvEnLQ0Gry93jc6ZmXLgJ4seXK5D_22vkSoT3icQNoOADgNeHN9_cSHsEBc4lqg/s886/Blog%20-%20Genealogy%20Quebec%20-%20NBMDS%20-%20Results.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture from 3 Feb 2024 of item 2 returned of a search using the NBMDS tool on Généalogie Québec looking for Nelson Deschamps." border="0" data-original-height="339" data-original-width="886" height="153" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtpqwOozoVGDbQcSwaXOjqGJ54okjyyRg6BLwWcw-7gUk0I8l1KvQ5AX3IpiP_n63vxD-62geI2BidzwK6SZ-D6hRDA1AQOVivHPoxDjyk2p0-H9cA4v7NuMHTa704kvEnLQ0Gry93jc6ZmXLgJ4seXK5D_22vkSoT3icQNoOADgNeHN9_cSHsEBc4lqg/w400-h153/Blog%20-%20Genealogy%20Quebec%20-%20NBMDS%20-%20Results.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture from 3 Feb 2024 of item 2 returned of a search using the NBMDS tool on Généalogie Québec looking for Nelson Deschamps.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>There he was, just like I had hoped. Even better, the transcribed information actually made sense.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6m6J_lz_V0BlhGCVvV_aeAG6m2wWNJPX98vUPADVP39eFf_SMLvUxnz0-LXDmwOWZkPDtqh86rCxBR4Flx56hSK-6yBLYfM61mt_10WVhks4b5gZqVFn8734jYZFgWVnI1L8xiCqUkY-_hIpsbti6hMhHCZqus8PyeOKRTcpygZ-dUo1w_Quw_9ZY9vU/s802/Blog%20-%20Ancestry%20-%20Drouin%20-%20Nelson%20Dechamps%20-%201918%20baptism.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture taken 3 Feb 2024 of the transcription for the baptism record for Joseph Alfred Nelson Deschamps from the "Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968" on Ancestry.ca." border="0" data-original-height="575" data-original-width="802" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6m6J_lz_V0BlhGCVvV_aeAG6m2wWNJPX98vUPADVP39eFf_SMLvUxnz0-LXDmwOWZkPDtqh86rCxBR4Flx56hSK-6yBLYfM61mt_10WVhks4b5gZqVFn8734jYZFgWVnI1L8xiCqUkY-_hIpsbti6hMhHCZqus8PyeOKRTcpygZ-dUo1w_Quw_9ZY9vU/w400-h286/Blog%20-%20Ancestry%20-%20Drouin%20-%20Nelson%20Dechamps%20-%201918%20baptism.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture taken 3 Feb 2024 of the transcription for the baptism record for Joseph Alfred Nelson Deschamps from the "Quebec, Canada, Vital and Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1621-1968" on Ancestry.ca.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>As you can see above, the transcriber of the entry for Nelson's baptism record on Ancestry has Nelson being baptized before he was born. That's not going to happen in the Catholic church.</p><p>Yet the NBMDS index entry for Nelson's baptism on Généalogie Québec doesn't link to the image. So <b>we</b> have to do a little bit more work.<br /></p><p>We need to go to the Drouin Collection records on Généalogie Québec and browse the parish registers.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK2LtEUOrYSQx1Zu1jPSdLJfMKZltLrZmqK_A3vAjkLrbvpjfKpvCIN8536udmnubMugtndNvVUNhIkD0q1xCQuXNPkBbSkPzgPX-imXu4i9huZu7Mqd2fajgC9-h9dvyinYiPHF171iT1IFKSyEAnHpdsCfpMZZrrE6SwqhFuu7r-7M6UPgi3SBCEl1g/s672/Blog%20-%20Genealogy%20Quebec%20-%20Drouin%20Collection%20Records%20landing%20page.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture taken 3 Feb 2024 of the Drouin Collection records landing page on Généalogie Québec." border="0" data-original-height="407" data-original-width="672" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK2LtEUOrYSQx1Zu1jPSdLJfMKZltLrZmqK_A3vAjkLrbvpjfKpvCIN8536udmnubMugtndNvVUNhIkD0q1xCQuXNPkBbSkPzgPX-imXu4i9huZu7Mqd2fajgC9-h9dvyinYiPHF171iT1IFKSyEAnHpdsCfpMZZrrE6SwqhFuu7r-7M6UPgi3SBCEl1g/w400-h243/Blog%20-%20Genealogy%20Quebec%20-%20Drouin%20Collection%20Records%20landing%20page.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture taken 3 Feb 2024 of the Drouin Collection records landing page on Généalogie Québec.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>In this specific case I drilled down the folders via Quebec > Fonds Drouin > T > Thurso > 1910 > 1918</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTbQR086asrWz5P8jc7Wi_aspIMrpiIrIxlKIuQ26R42ekB5tazQNnyfNmbUk6NDDi7NA_KZa4iv06TMHUd3z7z8Sp0p8tG83W2RNOVtOOG9KZF1gKYf-h6otCcsNSG0gnFUW3KG00NuG3iFSAywj39NwK0frM-4HPNQeY_gI8SyCEkc6-fnRiEUIucWE/s1669/Blog%20-%20Genealogy%20Quebec%20-%20Drouin%20Collection%20Records%20-%20Browse%20to%20Thurso%201918.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture taken 3 Feb 2024 of the Drouin Collection records browsing the folders to "Québec/Fonds Drouin/T/Thurso/1910/1918/" on Généalogie Québec." border="0" data-original-height="849" data-original-width="1669" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTbQR086asrWz5P8jc7Wi_aspIMrpiIrIxlKIuQ26R42ekB5tazQNnyfNmbUk6NDDi7NA_KZa4iv06TMHUd3z7z8Sp0p8tG83W2RNOVtOOG9KZF1gKYf-h6otCcsNSG0gnFUW3KG00NuG3iFSAywj39NwK0frM-4HPNQeY_gI8SyCEkc6-fnRiEUIucWE/w400-h204/Blog%20-%20Genealogy%20Quebec%20-%20Drouin%20Collection%20Records%20-%20Browse%20to%20Thurso%201918.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture taken 3 Feb 2024 of the Drouin Collection records browsing the folders to "Québec/Fonds Drouin/T/Thurso/1910/1918/" on Généalogie Québec.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Now all we have to do is look at the various images from 1918 to locate the baptism of Nelson Deschamps that, according the Généalogie Québec index entry, took place on 25 Apr 1918. Very quickly I came across the same image found in the Ancestry collection.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKXNaYt7DW3sC7JDCCAj1okDh5R_N2mlGysWh9pXkee88ca88gqG1PBmm_wDljGs1pFQrLTngMw_mp0TEyN5IkMCVgl0gUsdCAu3Ny6236JdeipQiEkljaTYr5ty5HEjAm7swpppto1FLbo8EWnB_puAd0pVkrHV62tHyIKTB0ZCmFQ7yC0kVF7rDYVlk/s5752/Blog%20-%20Genealogy%20Quebec%20-%20Drouin%20Collection%20-%20Nelson%20Deschamps%20baptism%20-%20d1p_00170648.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Genealogy Quebec, https://www-genealogiequebec-com.ezproxy.biblioottawalibrary.ca/en/tools/drouin-collection, Drouin Genealogical Institute, 2024, Drouin Collection - Québec/Fonds Drouin/T/Thurso/1910/1918/, d1p_00170648.jpg; image of page with baptism of Joseph Alfred Nelson Deschamps, B. 15." border="0" data-original-height="3608" data-original-width="5752" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKXNaYt7DW3sC7JDCCAj1okDh5R_N2mlGysWh9pXkee88ca88gqG1PBmm_wDljGs1pFQrLTngMw_mp0TEyN5IkMCVgl0gUsdCAu3Ny6236JdeipQiEkljaTYr5ty5HEjAm7swpppto1FLbo8EWnB_puAd0pVkrHV62tHyIKTB0ZCmFQ7yC0kVF7rDYVlk/w400-h251/Blog%20-%20Genealogy%20Quebec%20-%20Drouin%20Collection%20-%20Nelson%20Deschamps%20baptism%20-%20d1p_00170648.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Genealogy Quebec, https://www-genealogiequebec-com.ezproxy.biblioottawalibrary.ca/en/tools/drouin-collection, Drouin Genealogical Institute, 2024, Drouin Collection - Québec/Fonds Drouin/T/Thurso/1910/1918/, d1p_00170648.jpg; image of page with baptism of Joseph Alfred Nelson Deschamps, B. 15.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>So why would one want to use Généalogie Québec since it can take a bit more effort to see this sort of image when compared to the Drouin collections on Ancestry? </p><p>The first reason is that the Drouin Institute keeps adding more records to their collections on Généalogie Québec. These new record may not make it on to Ancestry or any other genealogy site for quite some time. </p><p>Additionally I've found the transcriptions of the records on Généalogie Québec are of higher quality than what I've come across on Ancestry. If I can't find a record I know should be in the various Drouin collections on Ancestry I will always come to Généalogie Québec to search through their collections. Quite often I will find that "missing" record there. Then when I look at the images on Ancestry for that specific parish and year I will find the name has been horribly transcribed in the Ancestry index.</p><p>Finally, although it didn't apply in this specific case, for those with deep roots in Quebec, the LAFRANCE collection is an amazing resource that can save you considerable time in your research.<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Lessons Learned</h3><p>The first lesson is always, always read the about section for any collection. That way you will know what should be covered in any collection. More importantly, you will also learn what isn't in the collection you are using.</p><p>The second lesson is to take the time to explore the various tools and collections on a site. If one collection doesn't have what you are seeking, quite possibly another collection will provide you will the answers.<br /></p>Ken McKinlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261891770555198035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8017295990096371831.post-2783517639314689252024-02-08T13:36:00.005-05:002024-02-08T13:36:52.516-05:00Gemini - Google's AI Now Available in Canada<p style="text-align: left;">After being one of the few countries in the world without access to Google's AI tool, Bard, us folks in Canada now have access to Google's new <a href="https://gemini.google.com/app" target="_blank">Gemini</a> AI app on the desktop.</p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://gemini.google.com/" target="_blank"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture taken on 8 Feb 2024 of part of the Gemini landing page retrieved using Firefox from a location in Canada." border="0" data-original-height="661" data-original-width="938" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZv1RQ6arbSxN2Yt-um2RXpy0noR8GFkVeogsaAyP8yBsdp5hpNTvu2eXomnNkyoFLNh4Ab3ENo9tHNKT_0DWQLYl35SlTaoOgkfiLw3DhKS-APrszZQmXN221R2-qEmQw4e-xodfJbwJKPKZ-U_AtCteRf3jg4j_hyzrznDiCe4S370LR0y596hwY_Xk/w400-h283/Blog%20-%20Screen%20capture%20-%20Gemini%20welcome%20screen.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://gemini.google.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture taken on 8 Feb 2024 of part of the Gemini landing page retrieved using Firefox from a location in Canada.</span><br /></a></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="text-align: left;">If you are used to using the free version of <a href="https://chat.openai.com/" target="_blank">ChatGPT (version 3.5)</a> then you will be familiar with all the usual gotchas. I'm not going to go into using the tool since much smarter folks with greater understandings on how these tools work have written about AI and Genealogy. Here are just some of the resources I've used in the past:<br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://aigenealogyinsights.com/blog/" target="_blank">AI Genealogy Insights</a></li><li>Family Tree Magazine: <a href="https://familytreemagazine.com/resources/software/ai-and-genealogy/" target="_blank">A Genealogist’s Guide to Artificial Intelligence</a> by Thomas MacEntee </li><li>Facebook Group: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1255245945084761" target="_blank">Genealogy and Artificial Intelligence (AI)</a></li><li><a href="https://blog.familyhistoryhound.com/" target="_blank">Hound on the Hunt</a>: Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) For Genealogy - <a href="https://blog.familyhistoryhound.com/2024/01/using-artificial-intelligence-ai-for-genealogy-part-one/" target="_blank">Part 1</a>, <a href="https://blog.familyhistoryhound.com/2024/01/using-artificial-intelligence-ai-for-genealogy-part-two/" target="_blank">Part 2</a>, <a href="https://blog.familyhistoryhound.com/2024/02/using-artificial-intelligence-ai-for-genealogy-part-three/" target="_blank">Part 3</a></li><li>Ontario Ancestors February 1, 2024 Webinar: <a href="https://ogs.on.ca/february-webinar-ai-and-genealogy-trouble-ahead-thomas-macentee/" target="_blank">AI and Genealogy: Trouble Ahead?</a> by Thomas MacEntee (OGS member only)</li></ul><p>Instead I'm going to give you an example of why you need to double check everything you get back from these tools if you are asking specific research questions.<br /><br />In the following edited conversation my questions in <b>bold</b> and Gemini's answers in <i>italics</i>, I posed the following:<br /><br /><b></b></p><blockquote><p><b>Put yourself in the role of an experienced genealogist<br />In Upper Canada, when were Catholic priests first permitted to perform marriages?<br /></b><br /><i>The story of when Catholic priests could officially perform marriages in Upper Canada (now Ontario) is a bit convoluted and involves multiple milestones:<br /><br />Pre-1834:<br /></i></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Restricted Recognition: Catholic marriages were not legally recognized under British common law, which dominated Upper Canada.</i></li><li><i>Religious Ceremonies: Catholic priests performed marriage ceremonies, but these had no legal standing. Couples often married twice: once in a Catholic ceremony and once with a government official to legalize the union.</i></li><li><i>Challenges and Ambiguity: This situation created challenges for Catholics, particularly regarding inheritance and property rights. Some couples only had the Catholic ceremony, leading to legal disputes later.</i></li></ul><p style="text-align: left;"><i>1834:<br /></i></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Partial Change: The Marriage Act of 1834 permitted "any clergyman regularly ordained" to solemnize marriages. This technically included Catholic priests, but...</i></li><li><i>Unresolved Confusion: The Act didn't explicitly mention Catholics, and some officials remained hesitant to accept clergy outside the Church of England.</i></li></ul><p style="text-align: left;"><i>1851:<br /></i></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Clarification and Recognition: The Marriage Act Amendment Act of 1851 explicitly named "regularly ordained ministers of the Roman Catholic Church" as authorized to perform marriages.</i></li><li><i>Full Legal Recognition: From this point onwards, Catholic marriages performed by priests had full legal validity in Upper Canada.</i></li></ul><p style="text-align: left;"><i>Important Points:<br /></i></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Gradual Process: It wasn't a single switch in 1834. Recognition took time and legal clarification.</i></li><li><i>Local Variations: Even after 1851, some local officials might have initially resisted accepting Catholic marriages.</i></li><li><i>Documentation: If you're researching an ancestor's marriage in Upper Canada, consider both the Catholic ceremony date and the legal registration date to get a complete picture.</i></li></ul><p style="text-align: left;"><i>Remember, understanding historical context is crucial. While Catholic marriages faced legal hurdles, perseverance and advocacy ultimately led to full recognition, reflecting the evolving religious landscape of Upper Canada.</i></p></blockquote><p style="text-align: left;"><br />At first blush, this is actually a pretty good response. It told me about the acts involved and gave me some background. However, wanted to see what sources it might have used.</p><p style="text-align: left;"> </p><p style="text-align: left;"><b></b></p><blockquote><p style="text-align: left;"><b>Can you provide any sources where you found that information?</b><br /><i>Certainly! Here are some reliable sources where I found the information about the legal recognition of Catholic marriage ceremonies in Upper Canada:<br /><br />Primary Sources:<br /></i></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Marriage Act of 1834, Upper Canada: https://www.oba.org/Home</i></li><li><i>Marriage Act Amendment Act of 1851, Upper Canada: https://www.oba.org/Home</i></li></ul><p style="text-align: left;"><i>Secondary Sources:<br /></i></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>"Courtship, Love, and Marriage in Nineteenth-Century English Canada" by Cecilia Morgan: <invalid URL removed> (Chapter 2 delves into legal recognition of Catholic marriages)</i></li><li><i>"The History of Canadian Law: Public and Private Law to 1914" by P.B.W. Goold: https://www.amazon.com/Canadian-Law-Introduction-Neil-Boyd/dp/0176724427 (Chapter 8 discusses marriage laws and religious ceremonies)</i></li><li><i>Library and Archives Canada website: https://library-archives.canada.ca/eng (Offers digitized archival records related to marriage laws and petitions)</i></li></ul><p style="text-align: left;"><i>Additional Resources:<br /></i></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Archives of Ontario website: https://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/index.aspx (Provides access to historical land and marriage records)</i></li><li><i>Canadian Catholic Historical Association: https://cchahistory.ca/ (Offers resources and publications on Catholic history in Canada)</i></li></ul><p style="text-align: left;"><i>These sources provide valuable insights into the legal evolution of marriage laws in Upper Canada and the recognition of Catholic marriage ceremonies. By exploring them further, you can gain a deeper understanding of your ancestors' experiences and the historical context surrounding their marriage.</i></p></blockquote><p style="text-align: left;"><i></i><br /><br />That's even better. Except when I when to the first site, the Ontario Bar Association, I couldn't find any resources that dealt with those historical marriage acts in Upper Canada. That was the first sign to me that something wasn't quite right. </p><p style="text-align: left;">So I asked Gemini this question about that marriage act.</p><p style="text-align: left;"> </p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><blockquote><b>Can you provide more information about the Marriage Act of 1834, Upper Canada?<br /></b><br /><i>The Marriage Act of 1834, Upper Canada: A Deeper Dive<br /><br />The Marriage Act of 1834, passed in the then-province of Upper Canada, marked a significant change in the legal landscape of marriage. Here's a breakdown of its key features and the context surrounding it:<br /><br />[...additional details omitted for brevity]<br /><br />Full Text of the Act: https://www.oba.org/Home<br /><br />[...additional information omitted for brevity]</i></blockquote><br />A good summary of the act but I still wanted to read the original act and I still couldn't find it.<p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /><b></b></p><blockquote><p style="text-align: left;"><b>I can't find the Marriage Act of 1834, Upper Canada. Is there any more information you can provide to help me locate the original act?</b><br /><br /><i>I apologize! While I mentioned the Marriage Act of 1834, Upper Canada, the link I provided wasn't specific enough. Here are some resources where you can find the original act:<br />Digital Copies:<br /></i></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>The Law Society of Upper Canada: This website offers access to various historical legal documents, including the Statutes of Upper Canada. You can find the Marriage Act of 1834 here: https://www.oba.org/Home</i></li><li><i>Library and Archives Canada: This website contains digitized copies of historical documents, including Upper Canada statutes. You can search for the Marriage Act of 1834 here: https://library-archives.canada.ca/eng</i></li></ul></blockquote><p style="text-align: left;"> </p><p style="text-align: left;">I played around in the Library and Archives Canada site with no luck. But I also noticed they called the Ontario Bar Association (OBA) site the "Law Society of Upper Canada". That was another red flag for me. Those are two different organizations. Also, since about 2017 the "Law Society of Upper Canada" is now known as the "Law Society of Ontario". Hmmm.<br /><br /><b></b></p><blockquote><b>I'm sorry, but I must be an idiot since I still can find that act</b><br /><br /><i>Please don't call yourself an idiot! Finding historical documents can be quite challenging, and it's not at all a reflection of your intelligence. I apologize if my previous instructions weren't clear enough. Let's try a different approach.</i></blockquote><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"> </p><p style="text-align: left;">At least it is kind. It also gave me detailed instructions (yay!) for using the OBA site but I guess that the site had changed since Google last looked at it for teaching its AI system since the instructions didn't work.<br /><br />Meanwhile, while all this was happening I was making use of my favourite Canada Pre-Confederation law site "<a href="https://bnald.lib.unb.ca/" target="_blank">British North American Legislative Database, 1758-1867</a>". This site is really useful when you come across a notional like "4 & 5 William IV c. 7" which was in one of the responses Gemini displayed at one point.<br /><br />Only one problem, I couldn't find any acts referring to marriage in the 4th and 5th years of the reign of William IV in that database. So I popped over the "<a href="https://www.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.9_10042" target="_blank">Statutes of Her Majesty's province of Upper Canada</a>" collection on <a href="https://www.canadiana.ca/" target="_blank">Canadiana</a> where I checked the Statutes of Upper Canada from 1833 to 1835. Chapter 7 in any of those years didn't apply to the solemnization of marriage. I also check the "<a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Portal:Acts_of_the_Parliament_of_the_United_Kingdom/William_IV" target="_blank">Acts of the Parliament of the United Kingdom/William IV</a>" page on WikiSource and it did have acts listed from the session of Parliament listed under "1834 (4 & 5 Will. IV)". But chapter 7 was about "Postage in North American Colonies Act 1834".<br /><br />I had noticed on the "British North American Legislative Database, 1758-1867" site that in 1831 there was the "<a href="https://bnald.lib.unb.ca/legislation/act-make-valid-certain-marriages-heretofore-contracted-and-provide-future-solemnization" target="_blank">An Act to make valid certain Marriages heretofore contracted, and to provide for the future Solemnization of Matrimony in this Province. (The Royal Assent to this Bill was signified, by Message of His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor, to the Legislative Council and Assembly of this Province on the Second day of March, 1831.)</a>".<br /><br />So I called Gemini on this issue:<br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><b></b></p><blockquote><b>Are you certain that the Marriage Act of 1834, Upper Canada actually exists? I found an act from 1831 in the first year of William IV's reign (1 William IV c. 1) and a later act from 1847 affirming the 1831 act. But I've found no references to an 1834 act<br /></b><br /><i>I apologize for the confusion I caused. You're absolutely right, I made a mistake. There was no Marriage Act of 1834 in Upper Canada. The relevant legislation related to marriage during that period is as follows:<br /><br />1. An Act to alter and amend the Laws now in force in this Province respecting the Solemnization of Marriage (1 William IV, c. 1, 1831): This act permitted "any clergyman regularly ordained according to the forms of law of any religious denomination in this Province" to perform marriages. However, it was initially interpreted ambiguously and didn't explicitly mention specific denominations like Catholics.<br /><br />2. An Act to amend the Act passed in the first Year of the Reign of His present Majesty, intituled, 'An Act to alter and amend the Laws now in force in this Province respecting the Solemnization of Marriage' (10 Victoria, c. 56, 1847): This act clarified the 1831 legislation by explicitly naming "regularly ordained ministers of the Roman Catholic Church" among those authorized to perform marriages.<br /><br />The confusion likely arose from conflicting sources or misinterpretations. I deeply regret misleading you and appreciate you bringing this to my attention. It's important to be accurate and provide reliable information.</i></blockquote><i></i><br /><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red; font-size: x-large;"><b>Oops!</b></span><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br />I keep saying this, and I will continue to say this, when asking for fact based information from the current iterations of what is commonly referred to as AI, it is like asking an overly confident 8 year old child a question. They, AI and the child, will often continue to insist the answer provided is correct until you tell and show them they are wrong. <br /><br />By the way, ChatGPT 3.5 had the same problems with this question and it really had me going down the rabbit hole looking for nonexistent acts.<br /><br />So now I keep asking the simple question "Are you sure about that answer?" when asking research oriented questions to the AI tools.</p><p style="text-align: left;">To be honest, I have found these tools useful when asking for general guidance in my research such as what resources should I look in when I might have hit a genealogical brick wall. Or even when I updated my bio for my talks.<br /><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Lesson for today: </h3><p style="text-align: left;">Just like any fact or event we come across in our genealogy research, everything we get from these AI tools such as ChatGTP, Gemini, etc. needs to be double checked and verified through our own resources. </p><p style="text-align: left;">Enjoy playing with Gemini!<br /></p>Ken McKinlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261891770555198035noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8017295990096371831.post-61410300748651837142024-02-07T08:00:00.000-05:002024-02-07T08:00:00.161-05:00Finding on the Ground: Northern Ontario Districts<p>For most folks researching their kin in the land records of Ontario they are dealing with the records in the counties where we have abstract books organized by township, concession, and lot. That isn't the case for those looking for the land records who settled in the more northern districts of Ontario. So please indulge me as we take a journey to those districts of Ontario and look at their land records.<br /></p><p>Recently in one of the genealogy groups I frequent on Facebook the following query was posted:</p><p></p><blockquote><i>Looking for some help to decipher the information in column 3 on this 1901 census, schedule 2. It is for my ancestor William (Guillaume) Gauthier.<br />From what I can determine, it says " a NBay b 39 & 40 in 11 con "<br />I assume NBay is for North Bay and 39 and 40 are lot #’s? Is there any way to locate this location on a map?</i></blockquote><p></p><p>The following image was also included:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-L-7mbsVMBGgTxZd3oQg2WQdkiA_UBPusInvbuNnm6wXZyo8d5LutC59K_Xz4rroeDxz4aPkXArk9MJ35X-09y_yhw5ozJltoVEEyKFZRmsR-aS3UZNfrO-EGg91_CqxZr_VeO224cageZJaEo8sBWDBcJQwWw44Ns0Tfs_L-yr6LtSSTDj5PHlWyvvc/s3100/Blog%20-%201901%20Census%20of%20Canada%20-%20Schedule%202,%20District%2092%20(Nipissing),%20Sub-district%20Y,%20p%201%20-%20extracted.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Image of the 1901 Census of Canada, Schedule 2, Ontario, District 92 (Nipissing), Sub-district 1, Ferris, p 1 combining the header section of the page with and extract of lines 40 to 50 with line 43 highlighted with a red box; original source of image unknown; image of the full page found on Library and Archives Canada (http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/1901/z/z002/jpg/z000085084.jpg : accessed 3 Feb 2024)." border="0" data-original-height="1166" data-original-width="3100" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-L-7mbsVMBGgTxZd3oQg2WQdkiA_UBPusInvbuNnm6wXZyo8d5LutC59K_Xz4rroeDxz4aPkXArk9MJ35X-09y_yhw5ozJltoVEEyKFZRmsR-aS3UZNfrO-EGg91_CqxZr_VeO224cageZJaEo8sBWDBcJQwWw44Ns0Tfs_L-yr6LtSSTDj5PHlWyvvc/w400-h150/Blog%20-%201901%20Census%20of%20Canada%20-%20Schedule%202,%20District%2092%20(Nipissing),%20Sub-district%20Y,%20p%201%20-%20extracted.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Image of the 1901 Census of Canada, Schedule 2, Ontario, District 92 (Nipissing), Sub-district 1, Ferris, p 1 combining the header section of the page with and extract of lines 40 to 50 with line 43 highlighted with a red box; original source of image unknown; image of the full page found on Library and Archives Canada (<a href="http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/1901/z/z002/jpg/z000085084.jpg" target="_blank">http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/1901/z/z002/jpg/z000085084.jpg</a> : accessed 3 Feb 2024).</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The first thing to note is that the enumerator has combined the instructions on how to record the information in column 3. In the "<a href="https://archive.org/details/1901981901I1901eng" target="_blank">Instructions to Chief Officers, Commissioners, and Enumerators</a>" for the Fourth Census of Canada 1901 we find that the "Place of habitation" should really just be prefixed with a single letter to indicate the sort of description:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>a. Name of Municipality</li><li>b. Range or concession and lot, or cadastral number</li><li>c. Street and house number</li><li>d. Or other description</li></ul><p>Here, the enumerator has written both "a" and "b".</p><p>So the entry in that column "<i>a NBay b 39 & 40 in 11 con</i>" can be translated as "The name of the Municipality, Township, or Parish is North Bay; lots 39 and 40 in the 11th Concession". But is that "North Bay" a reference to a municipality, township, or parish?<br /></p><p>The top of the census actually gives us a few important clues to help us answer that question. There we find that it is Schedule No. 2 for the Province of Ontario, District No. 92 Nipissing, Sub-district Y, Polling sub-division No. 1 in Ferris.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlOgWzI5Q0cp9ribInaPq3-pl0ZQ-l-G2jQkZQ12ALSXs4vYoMyWPaPdcbZD_vhEE5zhFlLUzk15juMkM9LG44ZHFPKwLf9vwk7HJ-1FVFEimJwVXjqlezJrC9xUupKMKHzN50nikXsLmV2wRPJEVIQC9c6LmW4eaVZb7tM9Ht7qw8kaOenzgRB_h23mU/s3218/Blog%20-%201901%20Census%20of%20Canada%20-%20Schedule%201,%20District%2092%20(Nipissing),%20Sub-district%20Y,%20division%201,%20p%205%20-%20extracted.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="1901 census of Canada, Schedule 1, Ontario, district 92, sub-district y-1, p. 5, top of page; RG 31; digital images, Library and Archives Canada, Library and Archives Canada (http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/1901/z/z002/jpg/z000084890.jpg : accessed 3 Feb 2024); citing microfilm T-6483." border="0" data-original-height="288" data-original-width="3218" height="36" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlOgWzI5Q0cp9ribInaPq3-pl0ZQ-l-G2jQkZQ12ALSXs4vYoMyWPaPdcbZD_vhEE5zhFlLUzk15juMkM9LG44ZHFPKwLf9vwk7HJ-1FVFEimJwVXjqlezJrC9xUupKMKHzN50nikXsLmV2wRPJEVIQC9c6LmW4eaVZb7tM9Ht7qw8kaOenzgRB_h23mU/w400-h36/Blog%20-%201901%20Census%20of%20Canada%20-%20Schedule%201,%20District%2092%20(Nipissing),%20Sub-district%20Y,%20division%201,%20p%205%20-%20extracted.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1901 census of Canada, Schedule 1, Ontario, district 92, sub-district y-1, p. 5, top of page; RG 31; digital images, Library and Archives Canada, Library and Archives Canada (<a href="http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/1901/z/z002/jpg/z000084890.jpg" target="_blank">http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/1901/z/z002/jpg/z000084890.jpg</a> : accessed 3 Feb 2024); citing microfilm T-6483.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Looking at the top of page 5 for Schedule 1 of that same place we see that it is for the Township of Ferris. Why page 5? That is the page referenced in column 1 of Schedule 2. For the 1871 and 1901 Census of Canada, most of the non-population schedule pages don't have a name recorded but instead the page and line number of where the head of household is found on Schedule 1.</p><p>With all that information we can surmise that we are looking for lots 39 and 40 in the 11th concession of Ferris Township.</p><p>Using the <a href="https://www.lioapplications.lrc.gov.on.ca/MakeATopographicMap/index.html?viewer=Make_A_Topographic_Map.MATM&locale=en-CA" target="_blank">Make A Topographic Map</a> site from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry we can "Search by Location" and then "Select a Township & Lot/Concession" to plot that location on a map. I cover how to do this in my "<a href="https://familytreeknots.blogspot.com/2021/07/finding-ontario-concession-lot-on-map.html" target="_blank">Finding on the Ground: An Ontario Concession/Lot on a Map</a>" post. The look and feel of site has changed a little bit (what website doesn't change over time) since I wrote that post in 2021 but the steps are basically the same.</p><p>So question two has been answered: "<i>Is there any way to locate this location on a map?</i>"</p><p>Yet why stop there? </p><p>What about locating the land record transactions?</p><p>In my talks and blog posts I usually focus on the counties on Ontario. It's about time I also talk about the challenges with the districts of Ontario. Just so that we are clear, these aren't the early districts of Upper Canada like Johnston, Midland, Home, etc. but places like Nipissing, Muskoka, and Parry Sound.<br /></p><p>For many of the lots in these district, in the Ontario land record books you won't find them referenced in the Township/Concession/Lot format. Instead they are listed under parcel numbers. So how does one take a known township, concession, and lot number and convert it to a parcel number?</p><p>For that we need to visit the <a href="https://www.onland.ca/ui/" target="_blank">Ontario Land Property Records Portal</a>, AKA OnLand, and hope that the historical books they have digitized on that site will point the way.</p><p>For this case we will be looking in the Historical Books for the Nipissing Land Registry Office (LRO 36). For the more southern counties we could just search the Abstract/Parcel Register Books for the concession and/or lot and get a list of books to browse through.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL3tJrqlm2QMct4eZ9IsbDYHS0vQj4X6KOyPSZyTMOTfX7sZCFJkPINQ9KfXd8y6Z2RVk2po31gxJJfmhpDthKhiWz_yFToipko4bfBHRndiZ6fC3qLhB0GBpW0Sat9hbNfUhgj0BJerYcFWxFodoMjz44oakHaIo145szFJCz7TFhi_wZuV1HkPt_oyA/s1436/Blog%20-%20OnLand%20-%20Search%20LRO%2056%20-%20Concession%2011%20-%20no%20results.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture taken 3 Feb 2024 of the OnLand LRO 36 Historical Books search results of the Abstract/Parcel Register Books for Concession 11." border="0" data-original-height="843" data-original-width="1436" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL3tJrqlm2QMct4eZ9IsbDYHS0vQj4X6KOyPSZyTMOTfX7sZCFJkPINQ9KfXd8y6Z2RVk2po31gxJJfmhpDthKhiWz_yFToipko4bfBHRndiZ6fC3qLhB0GBpW0Sat9hbNfUhgj0BJerYcFWxFodoMjz44oakHaIo145szFJCz7TFhi_wZuV1HkPt_oyA/w400-h235/Blog%20-%20OnLand%20-%20Search%20LRO%2056%20-%20Concession%2011%20-%20no%20results.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture taken 3 Feb 2024 of the OnLand LRO 36 Historical Books search results of the Abstract/Parcel Register Books for Concession 11.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />That is not the case here as you can see from the screen capture above.<p></p><p>Instead I will turn to browsing the First Registration Books in the Historical Books for the LRO. These First Registration Books "contain a list of first registrations from registry to land titles (e.g. Crown Patent or Crown plan)." I have found these books useful in translating the concession and lot into a parcel number.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzY1eG8T_3NQhixIWlI3r7Iaor7n6QdtKzJMBlORFsJNYIzbMYsUnQtyrxlcGw-zeZK0q4UqjW4ehxblGtQuBZ98fA7BJ0e8QASevmty9N-hRhpeKbtYJIk73c9Hm5G3RPlz2DwBdw1GdeNVVS35oHo4nk2JoCJVOgUI8vYKVn0DPhRW4fzlc2iNNotLo/s1441/Blog%20-%20OnLand%20-%20Browse%20LRO%2036%20-%20First%20Registration%20Book%20list.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture taken 3 Feb 2024 of the OnLand LRO 36 Historical Books listing for the First Registration Books." border="0" data-original-height="928" data-original-width="1441" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzY1eG8T_3NQhixIWlI3r7Iaor7n6QdtKzJMBlORFsJNYIzbMYsUnQtyrxlcGw-zeZK0q4UqjW4ehxblGtQuBZ98fA7BJ0e8QASevmty9N-hRhpeKbtYJIk73c9Hm5G3RPlz2DwBdw1GdeNVVS35oHo4nk2JoCJVOgUI8vYKVn0DPhRW4fzlc2iNNotLo/w400-h258/Blog%20-%20OnLand%20-%20Browse%20LRO%2036%20-%20First%20Registration%20Book%20list.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture taken 3 Feb 2024 of the OnLand LRO 36 Historical Books listing for the First Registration Books.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Since we are looking for Ferris Township I selected Book 2 "TOWNSHIPS; D TO L" since Ferris Township should fall within that range of letters. On the first page of that book it does list "Ferris (East)" and "Ferris (West)" so there is hope.</p><p>On image 57 of 236 in that book I found the start of the Township of Ferris (East) for lots 1 to 29. So I just kept moving forward through the images until I came to image 80 of 236 and found the page titled "CON 11" in the corner for the Township of Ferris that had the listing for lots 39 and 40.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8I4P9oZanLZa0TelD3xtksFragahP9YAmZ1zBs-SVfSHBGJ6JeBQR7mVPbwcWX0m-DdRvWryMFavjkl4MtmWuIwnl9R-TcJwWQssmmpn8BEioN0mJ_fmPkrCXorTXfua4WxixOaTVEyHEgBcD8PxfNdFiGfGiX-js-vF4SMUz0oEhN1O2PbssRgSwRPQ/s1157/Blog%20-%20OnLand%20-%20Browse%20LRO%2036%20-%20First%20Registration%20Book%20-%20image%2080%20-%20Ferris%20-%20Con%2011%20-%20lots%2025-41.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture taken 3 Feb 2024 from OnLand from Nipissing LRO(36), Historical Books, First Registration Book, Book 2, Township of Ferris, Concession 11, Lots 25-41, image 80 of 236." border="0" data-original-height="1021" data-original-width="1157" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8I4P9oZanLZa0TelD3xtksFragahP9YAmZ1zBs-SVfSHBGJ6JeBQR7mVPbwcWX0m-DdRvWryMFavjkl4MtmWuIwnl9R-TcJwWQssmmpn8BEioN0mJ_fmPkrCXorTXfua4WxixOaTVEyHEgBcD8PxfNdFiGfGiX-js-vF4SMUz0oEhN1O2PbssRgSwRPQ/w400-h353/Blog%20-%20OnLand%20-%20Browse%20LRO%2036%20-%20First%20Registration%20Book%20-%20image%2080%20-%20Ferris%20-%20Con%2011%20-%20lots%2025-41.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture taken 3 Feb 2024 from OnLand from Nipissing LRO(36), Historical Books, First Registration Book, Book 2, Township of Ferris, Concession 11, Lots 25-41, image 80 of 236.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>There for Lots 39 and 40 we see written: "All Lot - Pcl. 2408 Nip." We also see that lot 41 references the same entry. That "Pcl" abbreviation stands for "Parcel" and it seems to reference "Nipissing". This differs from other entries on the same page that state "W&F". That little detail will be important in the next step.</p><p>But now that we have a parcel number we can search the Abstract/Parcel Register Book for the Nipissing Land Registry Office<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2NJnOcDYMpSw7W3-1CDf0DPRisjvg5mnDfZSTSfwV1RWrP6x59rYiH0ztpTTB2SANE7HP5izfFoqE0YdggOsfPK0_IpzjJNrFxLAgQFEJCuEbyjldIX35GueMgaMAorCpQ27Jt_36U2JgNCCG_xPbTdkNYU3nR8XLLLvLpAQYoef9aNUfgiFoMUDYs5Y/s1442/Blog%20-%20OnLand%20-%20Browse%20LRO%2036%20-%20Abstract-Parcel%20Register%20Book%20-%20search%20parcel%202408%20results.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture taken 3 Feb 2024 of the OnLand LRO 36 Historical Books search results of the Abstract/Parcel Register Books for Parcel 2408." border="0" data-original-height="685" data-original-width="1442" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2NJnOcDYMpSw7W3-1CDf0DPRisjvg5mnDfZSTSfwV1RWrP6x59rYiH0ztpTTB2SANE7HP5izfFoqE0YdggOsfPK0_IpzjJNrFxLAgQFEJCuEbyjldIX35GueMgaMAorCpQ27Jt_36U2JgNCCG_xPbTdkNYU3nR8XLLLvLpAQYoef9aNUfgiFoMUDYs5Y/w400-h190/Blog%20-%20OnLand%20-%20Browse%20LRO%2036%20-%20Abstract-Parcel%20Register%20Book%20-%20search%20parcel%202408%20results.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture taken 3 Feb 2024 of the OnLand LRO 36 Historical Books search results of the Abstract/Parcel Register Books for Parcel 2408.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>We find several results returned. One with the Township / Municipality labeled "WIDDIFIELD; FERRIS". That probably would be book we'd want to look in if the reference was "W&F". But we are wanting the "Nip." books so we have a choice, either the NIPISSING "PARCEL 02326 TO 02449" or "LEASEHOLD PARCEL 02401 TO 02600". We don't know from the information available as to whether William Gauthier owned or leased the land but I usually go for the non-leasehold books first.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzHrg5_UQ27L8UDxtpicsbFYmUwJeCWWboMiPH_o5LRooSRsQIZblmfUNgi73NBNnn7dWLpA5GtLCD1KlEym7zeUPsiihRx8hZkK5ZhyhAl0Lu7rCXMHEr8sFJc4ZAlHiGYTF9ZXO3nfZbKXlMuD5Fo3Ee4fdgJb9hhKIHicl0mowwvhSd7D2VrfXqXx0/s1217/Blog%20-%20OnLand%20-%20Browse%20LRO%2036%20-%20Abstract-Parcel%20Register%20Book%20-%20Nipissing%20-%20Parcel%2002326-02449,%20image%20152%20-%20parcel%202408,%20p%201.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture taken 3 Feb 2024 of the OnLand LRO 36 Historical Books of the Abstract/Parcel Register Book for NIPISSING Municipality Parcels 02326 to 02449 for Parcel 2408 found starting on image 152 of 326." border="0" data-original-height="1017" data-original-width="1217" height="334" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzHrg5_UQ27L8UDxtpicsbFYmUwJeCWWboMiPH_o5LRooSRsQIZblmfUNgi73NBNnn7dWLpA5GtLCD1KlEym7zeUPsiihRx8hZkK5ZhyhAl0Lu7rCXMHEr8sFJc4ZAlHiGYTF9ZXO3nfZbKXlMuD5Fo3Ee4fdgJb9hhKIHicl0mowwvhSd7D2VrfXqXx0/w400-h334/Blog%20-%20OnLand%20-%20Browse%20LRO%2036%20-%20Abstract-Parcel%20Register%20Book%20-%20Nipissing%20-%20Parcel%2002326-02449,%20image%20152%20-%20parcel%202408,%20p%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture taken 3 Feb 2024 of the OnLand LRO 36 Historical Books of the Abstract/Parcel Register Book for NIPISSING Municipality Parcels 02326 to 02449 for Parcel 2408 found starting on image 152 of 326.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Fairly quickly I found the start of Parcel 2408 on image 152 of 326 from the NIPISSING "PARCEL 02326 TO 02449" book. There I could read that William Gauthier received a Free Grant Patent number 1393 dated 11 Feb 1905. Remember that to get the patent William would have had to have performed settlement duties so he would have been on the land for several years prior. In the first paragraph I could see the description of the land was for Lot Number Thirty-Nine, Broken Lot Number Forty, and Broken Lot Number 41 all in the 11th Concession of the Township of Ferris.<br /></p><p>Unlike the Abstract Register Books where we need to consult the instruments to see the details, these Parcel Books have the details in them. For Parcel 2408 there are six pages of information describing how the land was transferred from one person to next...all available for download in a PDF for free.</p><p>I will admit that this was a relatively easy example for me to work through. I did make some assumptions that bit me when I was doing my first attempt at locating the property. One assumption was that I should have been looking in the "WIDDIFIELD; FERRIS" book. That was because I forgot to look at the whole page listing the lots for that concession to see what was written elsewhere. That rabbit whole took me about 30 to 45 minutes to get out of.<br /></p><p>Just a heads up, some districts and townships may be a bit more of a challenge to research. In one of my presentations I make use of an area in Parry Sound district as an example of researching land in the districts. There I found that some lots were in the Abstract Register books while adjacent lots were recorded in the Parcel Books. </p><p>So just be flexible when it comes to researching land records of properties found in the districts of Ontario.<br /></p>Ken McKinlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261891770555198035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8017295990096371831.post-63480152211305441552024-01-31T08:00:00.002-05:002024-02-03T17:53:20.333-05:00Upper Canada Land Books<p>When we are diving into the land records for what later became the province of Ontario we sometimes come clues written on the part of the petition giving the disposition of the request. Such is the case for the petition for land made by Sheldon Ward in 1825.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihBOzgjCieROXqGvbLiI6fqN5Y7zIxpq4U4oGK7DCwR_lO1aMYLCVCRBBdUKGjWi97tjoZ5gw6OyNXE9oM1wljZYEjIxL2bAXz6clK2YYYliQ2oF9NXAm80I1Vl26PaJee4jWYBB-0Mu6GpHLnGtLqgZQA0TndQkO3A7snsA19R7tFurHZtmx0GNy1lE8/s3491/Blog%20-%20Petition%20for%20Sheldon%20Ward,%20vol%20530,%20p%2091a%20-%20c-2955-00878.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt=""Upper Canada Land Petitions, 1763-1865," digital images, Library and Archives Canada Archived - Microform Digitization (https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/microform-digitization/006003-110.02-e.php?&q2=29&interval=50&sk=0& : accessed 28 Jan 2024), Sheldon Ward, 1825, Volume 530, Bundle W 14, Petition 91; RG 1 L3, C-2955, images 877-878." border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="3491" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihBOzgjCieROXqGvbLiI6fqN5Y7zIxpq4U4oGK7DCwR_lO1aMYLCVCRBBdUKGjWi97tjoZ5gw6OyNXE9oM1wljZYEjIxL2bAXz6clK2YYYliQ2oF9NXAm80I1Vl26PaJee4jWYBB-0Mu6GpHLnGtLqgZQA0TndQkO3A7snsA19R7tFurHZtmx0GNy1lE8/w400-h229/Blog%20-%20Petition%20for%20Sheldon%20Ward,%20vol%20530,%20p%2091a%20-%20c-2955-00878.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"Upper Canada Land Petitions, 1763-1865," digital images, <i>Library and Archives Canada Archived - Microform Digitization</i> (https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/microform-digitization/006003-110.02-e.php?&q2=29&interval=50&sk=0& : accessed 28 Jan 2024), Sheldon Ward, 1825, Volume 530, Bundle W 14, Petition 91; RG 1 L3, C-2955, image 878.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In this specific case we are interested in the line "<i>Ent<sup>d</sup> in Land Book M page 271</i>" towards the top of the page<br /></p><p>What is this Land Book they mention and where can we find them?</p><p>As stated on the "<a href="https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_mikan_205068" target="_blank">Upper Canada Land Books</a>" collection page on the <a href="https://heritage.canadiana.ca/" target="_blank">Héritage</a> site hosted by the Canadian Research Knowledge Network, the <a href="https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_mikan_205068" target="_blank">Upper Canada Land Books</a> hold the "...deliberations, decisions and recommendations of the Land Committee of the Executive Council of Upper Canada." As such, we may find additional clues concerning the petition and what was recommended.</p><p>Yet with 41 reels of digitized microfilms where do we start?</p><p>Fortunately a number of the microfilms actually have shelf list near the beginning of the reel giving the Land Book letter, dates, volumes, and reel numbers. So that you don't have to keep looking for that information here it is in a table for you that you can copy and paste into a document on your own computer.</p><p>
</p>
<table border="1">
<tbody>
<tr><th>Reel ID</th><th>Record Group</th><th>Province</th><th>Book</th><th>Volumes</th></tr>
<tr valign="top"><td>C-100</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>selections from Quebec Land Books A and B</td><td>18
</td></tr><tr><td>C-100</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>A, pp 1-232</td><td>19</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-101</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>A, pp 233-end</td><td>19</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-101</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>B</td><td>20</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-101</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>C</td><td>21</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-101</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>D</td><td>22</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-101</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>E, pp 1-111</td><td>23</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-102</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>E, pp 112-end</td><td>23</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-102</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>F</td><td>24</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-102</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>G</td><td>25</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-102</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>H</td><td>26</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-102</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>I, pp 1-137</td><td>27</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-103</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>I, pp 138-end</td><td>27</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-103</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>J</td><td>28</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-103</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>K</td><td>29</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-103</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>L, pp 1-484</td><td>30</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-104</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>L, pp 485-end</td><td>30</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-104</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>M</td><td>31</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-104</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>N</td><td>32</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-104</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>O, pp 1-361</td><td>33</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-105</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>O, pp 362-end</td><td>33</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-105</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>P</td><td>34</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-105</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>Q</td><td>35</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-105</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>R, pp 1-428</td><td>36</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-106</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>R, pp 429-end</td><td>36</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-106</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>S</td><td>37</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-106</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>T</td><td>38</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-106</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>U, pp 1-388</td><td>39</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-107</td><td>RG 1 11</td><td>Upper Canada</td><td>U, p 389-end</td><td>39</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-107</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Canada</td><td>A</td><td>40</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-107</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Canada</td><td>B</td><td>41</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-107</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Canada</td><td>C, pp 1-350</td><td>42</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-108</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Canada</td><td>C, pp 351-end</td><td>42</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-108</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Canada</td><td>D</td><td>43</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-108</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Canada</td><td>E</td><td>44</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-108</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Canada</td><td>F, pp 1-651</td><td>45</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-109</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Canada</td><td>F, pp 198-end</td><td>45</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-109</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Canada</td><td>G</td><td>46</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-109</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Canada</td><td>H, pp 1-651</td><td>47</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-110</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Canada</td><td>H, pp 652-end</td><td>47</td></tr>
<tr><td>C-110</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td>Canada</td><td>I</td><td>48
</td></tr><tr><td>H-1976</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td> <br /></td><td> <br /></td><td>Index: Finding aid MSS1802-1976</td></tr>
<tr><td>H-1977</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td> <br /></td><td> <br /></td><td>Index: Finding aid MSS1802-1977</td></tr>
<tr><td>H-1978</td><td>RG 1 L1</td><td> <br /></td><td> <br /></td><td>Index: Finding aid MSS1802-1978</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table><p></p><p>In this specific case we are looking for Land Book M and from the table we can see that it is on microfilm C-104 in volume 31</p><p>Fairly quickly the entry for Sheldon Ward was found on image 233 on that digitized microfilm.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1OL_sKQ0nYO_lVJLz8_eri0lte_GNQSSqrFiFABMT30X1bPNn7D8V6afNECgs8yokOUpe_KWmtyKZmQtmviOojqTlGX5BB6281j-pjbcszC2k9hrzXO2reb4G9DXlTmuWAlp5Zl2hD9zWqmjvnGJ3xtbpc-_Z0m_7nVkWjCDvje-XZz2UdOrap_wbOFQ/s3744/Blog%20-%20Upper%20Canada%20Land%20Book%20M,%20p%20270-271,%20C-104,%20image%20233.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt=""Upper Canada Land Books," digital images, Héritage (https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_mikan_205068 : accessed 28 Jan 2024), RG 1 L 1, Land Book M, volume 31, pages 270-271; citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm C-104, image 233." border="0" data-original-height="3080" data-original-width="3744" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1OL_sKQ0nYO_lVJLz8_eri0lte_GNQSSqrFiFABMT30X1bPNn7D8V6afNECgs8yokOUpe_KWmtyKZmQtmviOojqTlGX5BB6281j-pjbcszC2k9hrzXO2reb4G9DXlTmuWAlp5Zl2hD9zWqmjvnGJ3xtbpc-_Z0m_7nVkWjCDvje-XZz2UdOrap_wbOFQ/w400-h329/Blog%20-%20Upper%20Canada%20Land%20Book%20M,%20p%20270-271,%20C-104,%20image%20233.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"Upper Canada Land Books," digital images, <i>Héritage</i>
(https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_mikan_205068
: accessed 28 Jan 2024), RG 1 L 1, Land Book M, volume 31, pages 270-271; citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm C-104, image 233.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />In this case it doesn't give us much more information. Just that Sheldon Ward was "<i>Praying for a Grant of Two hundred acres of Land as a Settler. Granted One hundred acres</i>".<p></p><p>The "W91" above his name references his petition found in Bundle W, Petition number 91 in the "Land Petitions of Upper Canada, 1763-1865" collection we've already found on the Library and Archives Canada site.</p><p>Other entries in the books may give additional clues such as the entry on page 270 for James Trotter of Trafalgar where it states "<i>...that he has received a Patent for the west half of Lot No. 15 in the 6th Concession of the Township of Trafalgar, that he has a Family of five Children..."</i>. His petition could be found in Bundle T, Petition number 54 in the "Land Petitions of Upper Canada, 1763-1865" collection on Library and Archives Canada.</p><p>Some of the entries can be quite long such as the one for Peter McGill, Esq. His petition can be found in Volume 347A, Bundle M 14, Petition number 285 in the "Land Petitions of Upper Canada, 1763-1865".<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi64sUeWrkcLny5XWDaRaZ_HooJZm71YL2Sjxwu2EYNZAegnxRgsCcxB5CNPIBCVeG6yeksRygGJepRCe7kpAIwXhxfHZI_EOEXWrpaALEypT2zU6tBxRVsCRWH1WT0b3AroxIv84aYx4pcKGIuv-vvRWJVdEv_26h6Fl-jAXObtXHHTTFfsCYMjVpwaeI/s3744/Blog%20-%20Upper%20Canada%20Land%20Book%20M,%20p%20268-269,%20C-104,%20image%20232.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt=""Upper Canada Land Books," digital images, Héritage (https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_mikan_205068 : accessed 28 Jan 2024), RG 1 L 1, Land Book M, volume 31, pages 268-269; citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm C-104, image 232." border="0" data-original-height="3080" data-original-width="3744" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi64sUeWrkcLny5XWDaRaZ_HooJZm71YL2Sjxwu2EYNZAegnxRgsCcxB5CNPIBCVeG6yeksRygGJepRCe7kpAIwXhxfHZI_EOEXWrpaALEypT2zU6tBxRVsCRWH1WT0b3AroxIv84aYx4pcKGIuv-vvRWJVdEv_26h6Fl-jAXObtXHHTTFfsCYMjVpwaeI/w400-h329/Blog%20-%20Upper%20Canada%20Land%20Book%20M,%20p%20268-269,%20C-104,%20image%20232.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"Upper Canada Land Books," digital images, Héritage (https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_mikan_205068 : accessed 28 Jan 2024), RG 1 L 1, Land Book M, volume 31, pages 268-269; citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm C-104, image 232.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>So one never knows what they will find in these land books.<br /></p><p>Also, for the digitized books on microfilms C-100 to C-110 we can do a text search.<br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8GdikxG2Z8PwIXCfg4Kl7GQwimespWwGcSA3FiWEJIW4Ifl_EtiXHUCC_9MJ5GN3rn4PqqskTYA-dc6DEbo0FcbzSDnP5Kji3DyGoAOE5xhFzQKNTzawrY6g9pDySMii_6ZaZyOQcVKHzyI_I5FQewOeE8qu01B5Me-XzQ44lLpP_lrOBzCeB1h5KhKg/s1139/Blog%20-%20Heritage%20-%20Upper%20Canada%20Land%20Books%20-%20Search.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture taken 28 Jan 2024 from Héritage of Upper Canada Land Books : C-104 performing a search with the text "sheldon ward" (without quotes) and seeing that the results include imaged 233 and 540." border="0" data-original-height="847" data-original-width="1139" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8GdikxG2Z8PwIXCfg4Kl7GQwimespWwGcSA3FiWEJIW4Ifl_EtiXHUCC_9MJ5GN3rn4PqqskTYA-dc6DEbo0FcbzSDnP5Kji3DyGoAOE5xhFzQKNTzawrY6g9pDySMii_6ZaZyOQcVKHzyI_I5FQewOeE8qu01B5Me-XzQ44lLpP_lrOBzCeB1h5KhKg/w400-h297/Blog%20-%20Heritage%20-%20Upper%20Canada%20Land%20Books%20-%20Search.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture taken 28 Jan 2024 from Héritage of Upper Canada Land Books : C-104 performing a search with the text "sheldon ward" (without quotes) and seeing that the results include imaged 233 and 540.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Here we see that a search for "sheldon ward" (without the quotes) returns two images. We've already seen image 233 above. However, when I look at <a href="https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_reel_c104/540" target="_blank">image 540</a> I don't see that name on either of the pages. We always need to look and read at all the suggested pages but there may be indexing errors.<br /><p></p><p></p><p>Some of the other digitized microfilms in the "Upper Canada Land Books" collection are the index cards we used to find the the wooden cabinets.</p><p>Where can we go from here? I would probably look at the Ontario Crown Land RG 1 Warrants and Fiats Collections found on FamilySearch which I touched upon in my post "<a href="https://familytreeknots.blogspot.com/2022/02/ontario-crown-land-rg-1-c-i-familysearch.html" target="_blank">Ontario Crown Land RG 1 C-I-1, C-I-2, C-I-3 Collections on FamilySearch</a>". One day, hopefully in the not too distant future, I will attempt to explain how I browse through the images in that collection to find the images of the indexes, registers, and warrants and fiats to learn more about the results of land petitions and subsequent grants to settlers in Ontario.<br /></p>Ken McKinlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261891770555198035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8017295990096371831.post-29137378716890145752024-01-28T05:53:00.001-05:002024-01-28T06:09:27.337-05:00Toronto Trust Cemeteries on FamilySearch - Updated<p>Back in February 2022 I wrote about "<a href="https://familytreeknots.blogspot.com/2022/02/toronto-trust-cemeteries-on-familysearch.html" target="_blank">Toronto Trust Cemeteries on FamilySearch</a>" where I discussed using browsing the digitized images to locate records not indexed in that collection of digitized books. However, with the <a href="https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/whats-new-with-the-familysearch-catalog" target="_blank">November 2023 changes</a> to the <a href="https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog" target="_blank">FamilySearch Catalog</a> place names, especially when it comes to <a href="https://familytreeknots.blogspot.com/2024/01/familysearch-catalog-update-and-ontario.html" target="_blank">places in Ontario</a>, the first part of that post using searching for that collection by place name needs to be updated.</p><p>Instead of searching by place name we are going to search using the Author field for the words "Toronto Trust Cemeteries" (without the quotes) like this:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4wPW9n1iPkXpvCq_diZs9h3Hn11cWEGAin1xz-_f6C_WbcqPXx03zRnSkgnqQoxa3SaiNmK4hOiHbwq-EQHtEOta9BRuw-Oe8DWBIxIN3Ns5cg39V9b6mB_NN3HZLnFHHyfQot5bgO-vOSJ-Xo-f_nks88DsvYS0dFcuMa0_AyA2mSNO9OfO3mfxfYv8/s1145/Blog%20-%20FamilySearch%20Catalog%20search%20by%20Author%20-%20Toronto%20Trust%20Cemeteries.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture taken 28 Jan 2024 of the FamilySearch Catalog search screen searching by Author with the author name of "Toronto Trust Cemeteries" without the quotation marks." border="0" data-original-height="732" data-original-width="1145" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4wPW9n1iPkXpvCq_diZs9h3Hn11cWEGAin1xz-_f6C_WbcqPXx03zRnSkgnqQoxa3SaiNmK4hOiHbwq-EQHtEOta9BRuw-Oe8DWBIxIN3Ns5cg39V9b6mB_NN3HZLnFHHyfQot5bgO-vOSJ-Xo-f_nks88DsvYS0dFcuMa0_AyA2mSNO9OfO3mfxfYv8/w400-h256/Blog%20-%20FamilySearch%20Catalog%20search%20by%20Author%20-%20Toronto%20Trust%20Cemeteries.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture taken 28 Jan 2024 of the FamilySearch Catalog search screen searching by Author with the author name of "Toronto Trust Cemeteries" without the quotation marks.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>This results in two groups being returned, "Toronto Trust Cemeteries (Ontario)" with 11 entries and "Toronto Trust Cemeteries. Superintendent of Administrative Services (Ontario)" with 1 entry.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWTQT9zOq19FrgthGEo2n_bKbD02IXuNMTqU1UoIkKg8IvHgpSZGtsXqxXiEqz5dn_3SQ0o06LYI8fP-Imo5IBIVmJt4lbACm0L5_KWRvEXdZCK0ZJNxgcAjGO-B3pMxDxXLWtzOjhFntcy1Gu76CbcmAcxTKYwuaO0GCkjcf4EZW_gCVtrQd0Eijm81s/s1198/Blog%20-%20FamilySearch%20Catalog%20search%20by%20Author%20-%20Toronto%20Trust%20Cemeteries%20-%20results.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture taken 28 Jan 2024 of the FamilySearch Catalog search results for the Author Name "Toronto Trust Cemeteries" (without quotation marks) with the "Toronto Trust Cemeteries (Ontario)" grouping opened." border="0" data-original-height="1075" data-original-width="1198" height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWTQT9zOq19FrgthGEo2n_bKbD02IXuNMTqU1UoIkKg8IvHgpSZGtsXqxXiEqz5dn_3SQ0o06LYI8fP-Imo5IBIVmJt4lbACm0L5_KWRvEXdZCK0ZJNxgcAjGO-B3pMxDxXLWtzOjhFntcy1Gu76CbcmAcxTKYwuaO0GCkjcf4EZW_gCVtrQd0Eijm81s/w400-h359/Blog%20-%20FamilySearch%20Catalog%20search%20by%20Author%20-%20Toronto%20Trust%20Cemeteries%20-%20results.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture taken 28 Jan 2024 of the FamilySearch Catalog search results for the Author Name "Toronto Trust Cemeteries" (without quotation marks) with the "Toronto Trust Cemeteries (Ontario)" grouping opened.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>When the "Toronto Trust Cemeteries (Ontario)" group is opened you can see all the cemeteries covered by the Toronto Trust Cemeteries. This list includes not just those cemeteries in Toronto but also those affiliated cemeteries in Scarborough, North York, Concord, Oshawa, and Richmond Hill. This is the same list of cemeteries, with the addition of the Toronto Crematorium collection, that we find listed on the <a href="https://www.finditatmpg.com/Default.aspx" target="_blank">Mount Pleasant Group cemeteries search page</a>.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJZfgCxA6MGi3JQqQBQgUvlweZXLvKUtvAekvWlpQ92OPpi-A4TdGdoNkjFNKt3XwTUmJdAqUgdJodV9XprVBmTBvkj3Zc9OGkyR_sBhSU-o4-B6kj5x1RQU5tnT6x-q4e5lqCvC5r_6ssWpy2Caqkw9oJ9x9m9sxQVePmX3zXgznDvNH7CJ7fDeP7cws/s1155/Blog%20-%20Mount%20Pleasant%20Group%20finditatmpg%20cemetery%20listing%20page.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture taken 28 Jan 2024 of the Mount Pleasant Group cemetery search page at https://www.finditatmpg.com/Default.aspx." border="0" data-original-height="527" data-original-width="1155" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJZfgCxA6MGi3JQqQBQgUvlweZXLvKUtvAekvWlpQ92OPpi-A4TdGdoNkjFNKt3XwTUmJdAqUgdJodV9XprVBmTBvkj3Zc9OGkyR_sBhSU-o4-B6kj5x1RQU5tnT6x-q4e5lqCvC5r_6ssWpy2Caqkw9oJ9x9m9sxQVePmX3zXgznDvNH7CJ7fDeP7cws/w400-h183/Blog%20-%20Mount%20Pleasant%20Group%20finditatmpg%20cemetery%20listing%20page.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture taken 28 Jan 2024 of the Mount Pleasant Group cemetery search page at <a href="https://www.finditatmpg.com/Default.aspx" target="_blank">https://www.finditatmpg.com/Default.aspx</a>.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Lesson for today: </h4><p>With this latest update to the FamilySearch Catalog it is forcing many of us to adjust our thinking when it comes to using place names as the key item to search on when using this catalogue. So if you can't find the collections that you are looking for via a place try using the other fields to search on. I've been finding the Title and the Keywords to be particularly useful to hunt down the <a href="https://familytreeknots.blogspot.com/2024/01/familysearch-catalog-update-and-ontario.html" target="_blank">misplaced and reassigned</a> collections within the FamilySearch Catalog.<br /></p>Ken McKinlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261891770555198035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8017295990096371831.post-30881498866175988832024-01-24T18:33:00.000-05:002024-01-24T18:33:04.357-05:00FamilySearch Catalog Update and Ontario Foul Ups<div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDO3XahQWcAZwbAGuL17ctMOgZhqRDrQ1xDBdYeDpp2GXqMGJs9Vaxm54q1BNnndr1LZQWcMHZeG0EhHOc-eRRSnZjn9kXYkZQ0v71BGoLHRnVQA3b80NXluJBOIqVzIRX14FJ40kVM9dfoeilWqGuvaq2eGI8nwqq6SpiO2ds6l_Q9tUTouMNxQytON0/s2955/Blog%20-%20Image%20-%20Filing%20Cabinet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Top down picture of am open filing cabinet draw." border="0" data-original-height="2955" data-original-width="2840" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDO3XahQWcAZwbAGuL17ctMOgZhqRDrQ1xDBdYeDpp2GXqMGJs9Vaxm54q1BNnndr1LZQWcMHZeG0EhHOc-eRRSnZjn9kXYkZQ0v71BGoLHRnVQA3b80NXluJBOIqVzIRX14FJ40kVM9dfoeilWqGuvaq2eGI8nwqq6SpiO2ds6l_Q9tUTouMNxQytON0/w308-h320/Blog%20-%20Image%20-%20Filing%20Cabinet.jpg" width="308" /></a></div><br />Normally we really don't pay much attention to many of the updates to catalogues and databases on genealogy and family history sites since these updates either often don't affect us or the update provides a benefit to us. This isn't the case for those researching in Ontario when FamilySearch updated their <a href="https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog" target="_blank">Catalog</a> in November 2023 with their "newest FamilySearch place standards". You can read about what this update is supposed to accomplish in their article "<a href="https://www.familysearch.org/en/help/helpcenter/article/whats-new-with-the-familysearch-catalog" target="_blank">What's New with the FamilySearch Catalog</a>".<p></p><p></p><p>So how does this update affect us? <br /></p><p>For those researching our kin in Ontario, most won't see a difference. That is unless we are trying to locate the digitized collections for a few counties that somehow got incorrectly filed in the wrong places. Most of these collections haven't been indexed so we need to be able to find and browse the digitized microfilms to find potentially useful documents.<br /></p><p> </p><p>This all started with a question from a fellow researcher when they couldn't find the land records for Grenville County. I used to be able to type "Canada, Ontario, Grenville" in the Place search box and it would appear. Now when I do that it returns "British Colonial America, Canada West, Grenville" and there are no associate collections. This was bad.</p><p>After much playing around with the search I did find the lost land records collection so at least they weren't completely missing.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHDHHzicklUb2FX9ThjfaIqHyn5kCd6renshd4Dq1GWO4TxvRmVpjZ_JrTFD5uOPBj7_C3fdLBhu3ggAYyiXja-f_26qYn7c6w3ajXLOy8PjDOH7Sf3POwDyQYBw0tSqu_7fm4HFtNyCpglkCxdDuPkSjPl4QPrEXYdjQrh5x-k2nSBlfT8DJnFLRIcbo/s1002/Blog%20-%20FamilySearch%20missing%20Grenville%20Land%20collections.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture of FamilySearch Catalog Search screen taken 24 Jan 2024 using the search parameters of Author Name: "grenville county" and Keywords "land ontario" listing three land record collections." border="0" data-original-height="886" data-original-width="1002" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHDHHzicklUb2FX9ThjfaIqHyn5kCd6renshd4Dq1GWO4TxvRmVpjZ_JrTFD5uOPBj7_C3fdLBhu3ggAYyiXja-f_26qYn7c6w3ajXLOy8PjDOH7Sf3POwDyQYBw0tSqu_7fm4HFtNyCpglkCxdDuPkSjPl4QPrEXYdjQrh5x-k2nSBlfT8DJnFLRIcbo/w400-h354/Blog%20-%20FamilySearch%20missing%20Grenville%20Land%20collections.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture of FamilySearch Catalog Search screen taken 24 Jan 2024 using the search parameters of Author Name: "grenville county" and Keywords "land ontario" listing three land record collections.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It took me a bit more work to actually find where these missing collections had been squirreled away in the FamilySearch Catalog. It turned out they had been misfiled under<b><i> Canada, Ontario, Prince Edward, Gardenville</i></b>!</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-j08KZKUtSU6RDJiztF7UVdtgOXjvByt3j4dKovx8dgehFU22SSlDHK8-vPVXjcIHtvJ5VMCODVX0443LLzNkD8LBop5qP3flHgn3gtU3HQkxTisxClXzQU8B_P9rx8QL0gu3ga5RBYuPpVIVvUgfo9UZbadV_p5CRIUFvcSb1CfVV6dth8FRbtlR5us/s1002/Blog%20-%20FamilySearch%20missing%20Grenville%20Land%20collections.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture of FamilySearch Catalog Search screen taken 24 Jan 2024 with the Land and property subject open for the place "Canada, Ontario, Prince Edward, Gardenville"." border="0" data-original-height="886" data-original-width="1002" height="354" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-j08KZKUtSU6RDJiztF7UVdtgOXjvByt3j4dKovx8dgehFU22SSlDHK8-vPVXjcIHtvJ5VMCODVX0443LLzNkD8LBop5qP3flHgn3gtU3HQkxTisxClXzQU8B_P9rx8QL0gu3ga5RBYuPpVIVvUgfo9UZbadV_p5CRIUFvcSb1CfVV6dth8FRbtlR5us/w400-h354/Blog%20-%20FamilySearch%20missing%20Grenville%20Land%20collections.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture of FamilySearch Catalog Search screen taken 24 Jan 2024 with the Land and property subject open for the place "Canada, Ontario, Prince Edward, Gardenville".</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>That was very unexpected to say the least since it made no sense in my mind. It had to have been an operator error when the FamilySearch Catalog was being updated. I reached out to the North American Support of FamilySearch via email, and after a bit of back and forth, they realized yes I was correct, it wasn't a transcription issue, and the Catalog was in error. The support folks directed me to contact an internal group within FamilySearch to have it resolved. This internal group also agreed that there is definitely an issue in the FamilySearch Catalog for Grenville County, which is half of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, and they would work on getting it resolved. Unfortunately, they didn't have an estimate as to when it would be fixed.</p><p>I thought that this was a one of issue.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">I was wrong!</span></b></p><p>A few days ago at the Ottawa Branch of Ontario Ancestors virtual genealogy drop-in another researcher mentioned they were having problems finding land records in another county in Ontario<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Oh no! Not again!</span></b></p><p>Since I'd gone through this process once I was able to quickly locate the missing land records. Yet I also wondered if there were other misfiled county level records for Ontario.</p><p>So I searched using the Subjects "Ontario land property" to get a list and count of the collections found under all places within "Canada, Ontario" and the subject "Land and Property". Note that I didn't search using the Place "Ontario" since that wouldn't have searched the place names under the "Canada, Ontario" category.<br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt5XNMk_pu5o2RhyphenhyphenbH4uNmoeljdw2MKM9QfL0QDyoQmNFH4Vxwb0hyqKa-ajFCF1AJPEFWQ9JY-H53gNZwrjDAumYT0Tw6OcBZpLx3cHIZO46NkH2CuEuN4d8xbcp2bVIwZzi1f4ONY6T7CqLKgGJaZjpDq5l2WdVrjEAlEh8Ti5Og7L9z9KAMa0tbepA/s1003/Blog%20-%20FamilySearch%20Catalog%20-%20subjects%20ontario%20land%20property.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture of FamilySearch Catalog Search screen taken 24 Jan 2024 searching on Subjects: Ontario land property." border="0" data-original-height="885" data-original-width="1003" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt5XNMk_pu5o2RhyphenhyphenbH4uNmoeljdw2MKM9QfL0QDyoQmNFH4Vxwb0hyqKa-ajFCF1AJPEFWQ9JY-H53gNZwrjDAumYT0Tw6OcBZpLx3cHIZO46NkH2CuEuN4d8xbcp2bVIwZzi1f4ONY6T7CqLKgGJaZjpDq5l2WdVrjEAlEh8Ti5Og7L9z9KAMa0tbepA/w320-h282/Blog%20-%20FamilySearch%20Catalog%20-%20subjects%20ontario%20land%20property.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture of FamilySearch Catalog Search screen taken 24 Jan 2024 searching on Subjects: Ontario land property.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p>What I was looking for were places with three or more collections in the "Land and property" subject that aren't at the county level of the catalogue. Most were just fine but I did find six changes, including the issue with Grenville that got my attention:</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Old "Grenville County"</h3><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">As I've mentioned, the old Grenville County level records are currently mis-shelved under "<a href="https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/results?count=20&placeId=6320124&query=%2Bplace%3A%22Canada%2C%20Ontario%2C%20Prince%20Edward%2C%20Gardenville%22" target="_blank">Canada, Ontario, Prince Edward, Gardenville</a>". I expect that they will ultimately be colocated with the "Canada, Ontario, Leeds and Grenville" place within the FamilySearch Catalog.<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Old "Leeds County"</h3></div><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">The county level records are now found under "<a href="https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/results?count=20&placeId=6280041&query=%2Bplace%3A%22Canada%2C%20Ontario%2C%20Leeds%20and%20Grenville%22" target="_blank">Canada, Ontario, Leeds and Grenville</a>". Ultimately I expect to also find the old Grenville County level records here once FamilySearch fixes their Catalog.</div><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Old "Prescott County"</h3><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">Much like the old Grenville County level records, this has been misfiled. At this time they can be found under "<a href="https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/results?count=20&placeId=4424892&query=%2Bplace%3A%22Canada%2C%20Ontario%2C%20Leeds%20and%20Grenville%2C%20Augusta%2C%20Prescott%22" target="_blank">Canada, Ontario, Leeds and Grenville, Augusta, Prescott</a>". I think that the operator selected the Town of Prescott without realizing that Ontario likes to have towns, townships, and counties called the same but located in different parts of the province. In the future I would expect to find these collections under "Canada, Ontario, Prescott and Russell" since it is one half of the United Counties of Prescott and Russell</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Old "Russell County"</h3><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">Speaking of the United Counties of Prescott and Russell, the county level record that used to be found under Russell County are now found under "<a href="https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/results?count=20&placeId=6305754&query=%2Bplace%3A%22Canada%2C%20Ontario%2C%20Prescott%20and%20Russell%2C%20Russell%22" target="_blank">Canada, Ontario, Prescott and Russell, Russell</a>". Unfortunately for FamilySearch, the Russell in that place name is the Township of Russell. The applicable collections will hopefully be moved up to "Canada, Ontario, Prescott and Russell" level.<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry</h3><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">The county level records for the three counties that make up the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry are all under "<a href="https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/results?count=20&placeId=6280043&query=%2Bplace%3A%22Canada%2C%20Ontario%2C%20Stormont%20Dundas%20and%20Glengarry%22" target="_blank">Canada, Ontario, Stormont Dundas and Glengarry</a>".</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Old Victoria County</h3><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">The county level record collections for Victoria County can still be found by searching for "Canada, Ontario, Victoria" in the FamilySearch Catalog. However, the search will automatically redirect you to the current name of that area which is now located under "<a href="https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/results?count=20&placeId=6280040&query=%2Bplace%3A%22Canada%2C%20Ontario%2C%20Kawartha%20Lakes%22" target="_blank">Canada, Ontario, Kawartha Lakes</a>". </p><p> </p><p>What was done with the old Victoria County collections and the automatic redirection to Kawartha Lakes is what I personally believe should be done with those older entries that have either been misfiled or relocated under the applicable united county name. But that is just what I would have done.</p><p>Hopefully by documenting these issues you won't have the struggle I initially had when trying to find the missing records for Grenville County.</p><p>Also, as a side note, it really is important to learn how to use the catalogue search features on the various genealogy sites. Knowing how to manipulate and tweak a search may result in finding unexpected but very useful "hidden" collections.<br /></p>Ken McKinlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261891770555198035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8017295990096371831.post-18241976010692708322024-01-23T22:22:00.002-05:002024-03-02T12:41:25.102-05:002024 Speaking Engagements<p>Hello gentle readers. It has been about six months since I last posted anything here. Since I generally only write about the genealogy challenges I've faced or have helped out others and I haven't really be doing deep dives into the records, I haven't had much to write about. However, I'm trying hard to get back into my family history and genealogy research so look for some articles over the next few weeks.<br /></p><p>I haven't ignored genealogy though. Instead I've been working on writing new presentations and they do take time and energy to write. </p><p>I do have a number of speaking engagements coming up in 2024 that are accessible from home via Zoom. All times listed are Eastern Time unless otherwise indicated.<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">2023-2024 - <a href="https://www.bifhsgo.ca/" target="_blank">British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa</a> (BIFHSGO)<br /></h3><div style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><b>British Isles Back to Basics Series - </b>This is a new series where I look at the various online resources and collections that can help us when looking for our kin in the British Isles. I've already covered the following subjects and, if you are a member of BIFHSGO, you can watch the video recordings and download the handouts from the Members' Area of their site. For the upcoming presentations with BIFHSGO you can get the Zoom registration links from their <a href="https://www.bifhsgo.ca/events" target="_blank">Events</a> page.</div><ul style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><li>9 Sep 2023: England and Wales</li><li>14 Oct 2023: Ireland</li><li>18 Nov 2023: Military Service</li><li>13 Jan 2024: Scotland</li><li>10 Feb 2024: Census Records</li><li>9 Mar 2024: Civil Birth, Marriage, and Death Registrations</li><li>13 Apr 2024: Church Records</li><li>11 May 2024: Immigration and Emigration</li></ul><h3 style="text-align: left;">7 Feb 2024 7:30 p.m.: <a href="https://huron.ogs.on.ca/" target="_blank">Huron Branch</a>, Ontario Ancestors</h3><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><b>OnLand From a Genealogist's Perspective</b> - Once we know where our ancestors lived the next step in our research journey is to see if we can find the land records such as deeds and even wills. In this presentation we will be taking a look at the Ontario Land Property Records Portal, AKA OnLand, to help us locate the documents concerning the properties where our ancestors lived. We look at the various historical books, try to find a property in an urban area, and even walk through placing an order for an instrument.<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">16 Mar 2024 10 a.m.: <a href="https://kingston.ogs.on.ca/" target="_blank">Kingston Branch</a>, Ontario Ancestors</h3><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><b>Beginner's Irish Genealogy Research</b> - As anyone who has had the opportunity to research their ancestors who came from Ireland can well attest to, it can be a challenge. It isn’t just the missing records that can make it difficult, but also the partition of the island into the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. In this presentation we go back to the basics. We look at a bit of the history that has created some of these challenges, some of the key sites that hold the records, and a few tips to possibly help us over our Irish genealogy brick walls.<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">16 Mar 2024 1 p.m.: <a href="https://quinte.ogs.on.ca/" target="_blank">Quinte Branch</a>, Ontario Ancestors</h3><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><b>FamilySearch's Ontario Land Records</b> - FamilySearch has a number of collections concerning Ontario land records. However, these collections are not name indexed for easy use by genealogists. In this session we learn how to use and navigate through the various FamilySearch collections such as Abstract Indexes, Land Record copy books, and Township Papers.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">8 Apr 2024 7 p.m.: <a href="https://oxford.ogs.on.ca/" target="_blank">Oxford County Branch</a>, Ontario Ancestors</h3><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><b>OnLand From a Genealogist's Perspective</b> - Once we know where our ancestors lived the next step in our research journey is to see if we can find the land records such as deeds and even wills. In this presentation we will be taking a look at the Ontario Land Property Records Portal, AKA OnLand, to help us locate the documents concerning the properties where our ancestors lived. We look at the various historical books, try to find a property in an urban area, and even walk through placing an order for an instrument. <br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"> 15 Apr 2024 7 p.m.: <a href="https://sudbury.ogs.on.ca/" target="_blank">Sudbury Branch</a>, Ontario Ancestors</h3><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;">Doing Family Tree Research in Your Pajamas - The focus of this presentation is to look at various online resources that can be used to find information on your family's history. We start the talk by touching upon how one might organize the material (paper or electronic) and mention the various software we might want to use. Then we dive into online resources and key types of records we may want to look at when we starting our research.<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">14-16 Jun 2024: <a href="https://conference2024.ogs.on.ca/" target="_blank">Ontario Ancestors Conference 2024</a></h3><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><b>14 Jun 2024: A Deep Dive into the 1931 Census of Canada workshop</b> - By the time of this conference, it will be just over a year since the Seventh Census of Canada, 1931 was released to the public. In this hands-on workshop we will be taking a deep dive into this census to understand what was asked and how to find those enumerated on the different sites. We will learn and apply various tips, tricks, and techniques to hopefully locate some of our hard-to-find kin and possibly make some interesting discoveries as we go.</p><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><b>15 Jun 2024: A Beginner’s Guide to Searching Online Ontario Land Records</b> - Until relatively recently, looking for the land records in Ontario was a challenge since they weren’t readily available online. That has changed over the past few years. In this talk we will be learning about the various online resources available to help us to find where our ancestors lived in Ontario and where we might be able to find the government records concerning the land upon which they lived. <br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">18 Jun 2024 7 p.m.: <a href="https://nipissing.ogs.on.ca/" target="_blank">Nipissing Branch</a>, Ontario Ancestors</h3><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><b>Exploring Ontario Civil BMD Records</b> - Sooner or later those researching their relatives in Ontario will be looking for the birth, marriage, and death registrations of their kin. In this presentation we will be looking at what can be found, the changes over the years to the various forms, “gotchas” we may encounter, and research tips to find the records for those elusive ancestors.<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">5 Sep 2024 7 p.m.: <a href="https://ogs.on.ca/2024-webinar-lineup/" target="_blank">Ontario Ancestors 2024 Webinar Series</a></h3><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><b>A Genealogy Toolbox for Researching Ancestors in Ontario</b> - We are fortunate that there are many online resources available to those researching their ancestors who settled in Ontario. But for those starting off their Ontario family history research it can sometimes be overwhelming and we might miss some key records by not knowing what is available. In this talk we take a look at some of Ken’s favourite sites and resources that he uses when researching the various branches of his tree that came to Ontario. We will look at some well-known genealogy focused sites and also some lesser known resources that can help you in your research journey.<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">18 Nov 2024 7 p.m.: <a href="https://sudbury.ogs.on.ca/" target="_blank">Sudbury Branch</a>, Ontario Ancestors<br /></h3><p style="margin-left: 40px; text-align: left;"><b>Second World War: Researching the Canadians Who Served</b> - This talk covers not only the records to help us learn more about those who died in the service to Canada during the Second World War but also looks at other records that can help us in researching those who survived that terrible conflict.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">The list of all my talks that I can present to an organization are available on my "<a href="https://familytreeknots.blogspot.com/p/about-me.html" target="_blank">About Me</a>" page.<br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">I hope to see some of you online over the next year.</p><p style="text-align: left;">[Updated 2 Mar 2024]<br /></p>Ken McKinlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261891770555198035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8017295990096371831.post-47629643251800096262023-07-03T10:30:00.047-04:002023-07-03T10:30:00.143-04:001931 Census of Canada - Do you have a radio?<p>In column 10 of Form 1A and Form 1B, the population schedules excluding the North West Territories, of the Seventh Census of Canada, 1931, we find an interesting question being asked:</p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">"<i>Has this family a radio?</i>"</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNuE-7GMMuq0Xuz1kHuvs6ZULOuuy-c3f_tp6siYru09DMzv2NQfAgm_uNqCi_wKpLiJBEI6m2JgnYPCWab6-ICjZkYRufmJBLcrfsn76-eWHRNPGuaLm05ectsGOnekYEGh06ALgAOK8db4L1NE_UWxedbPfEx-fWq3xGBdVHxqWodzkuUuWWSNdFovA/s874/Blog%20-%201931%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Ontario,%20London%20(127),%20Ward%203%20(77),%20p%205%20-%20extract%20with%20radio%20column.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="1931 Census of Canada, Ontario, district 127, sub-district 77, London, p. 5, extract of columns 3-10;digital images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 Jun 2023); citing Library and Archives Canada folder T-27278." border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="874" height="345" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNuE-7GMMuq0Xuz1kHuvs6ZULOuuy-c3f_tp6siYru09DMzv2NQfAgm_uNqCi_wKpLiJBEI6m2JgnYPCWab6-ICjZkYRufmJBLcrfsn76-eWHRNPGuaLm05ectsGOnekYEGh06ALgAOK8db4L1NE_UWxedbPfEx-fWq3xGBdVHxqWodzkuUuWWSNdFovA/w400-h345/Blog%20-%201931%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Ontario,%20London%20(127),%20Ward%203%20(77),%20p%205%20-%20extract%20with%20radio%20column.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1931 Census of Canada, Ontario, district 127, sub-district 77, London, p. 5, extract of columns 3-10;digital images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., <i>Ancestry</i> (www.ancestry.com : accessed 26 Jun 2023); citing Library and Archives Canada folder T-27278.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>This was the first and only time this question was asked in a census of Canada. Interestingly, this question was also asked in the Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930 where in the "Home Data" section they asked "Radio set" in column 9.</p><p></p><p>So why did both Canada and the United States ask that question about having a radio?</p><p>Canadians are that time were wondering the same thing. <br /></p><p>So on May 28, 1931 in The Lloydminster Times we find a write up titled "RADIO CENSUS".</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIQLMZAUIhtzqz3j8rhQFiGAb5CfiAqIzxBW-aXQ5PbCf7sovXt62Tn5dHa9SZ-Ft2zQ1vxYCBuKViBVmOBTj0gbx4QkKtALxtBjaVWp_IxLh6Owu2mToBVPr5dB-4BOjusFKFdLuzH0BV4Qi_cdHEdUbn7Tv2JkNhk-TlkPZeBsH23ru9ZxiWXyBleX0/s951/Radio%20Census%20-%20The%20Lloydminster%20Times%20(Lloydminster,%20Alberta),%2028%20May%201931,%20p%208,%20col%204.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt=""Radio Census," The Lloydminster Times, 28 May 1931, p. 8, col. 4; digital images, Newspapers.com https://www.newspapers.com/ : accessed 26 Jun 2023)." border="0" data-original-height="951" data-original-width="582" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIQLMZAUIhtzqz3j8rhQFiGAb5CfiAqIzxBW-aXQ5PbCf7sovXt62Tn5dHa9SZ-Ft2zQ1vxYCBuKViBVmOBTj0gbx4QkKtALxtBjaVWp_IxLh6Owu2mToBVPr5dB-4BOjusFKFdLuzH0BV4Qi_cdHEdUbn7Tv2JkNhk-TlkPZeBsH23ru9ZxiWXyBleX0/w245-h400/Radio%20Census%20-%20The%20Lloydminster%20Times%20(Lloydminster,%20Alberta),%2028%20May%201931,%20p%208,%20col%204.jpg" width="245" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"Radio Census," The Lloydminster Times, 28 May 1931, p. 8, col. 4; digital images, <i>Newspapers.com</i> https://www.newspapers.com/ : accessed 26 Jun 2023).</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>The column starts off explaining that it wasn't to locate people who have not paid for a radio receiving equipment license. The answers to this question, like all questions on Canadian censuses, are confidential until 92 years after the census was taken. All that the various government departments get are the compiled statistical results. The newspaper column went on to explain that the question was asked because the government was wanting to understand who had a radio. Nothing sinister at all.</p><p>Just a moment...you had to have a license to operate radio receiving equipment<span style="font-size: x-small;"><sup>1</sup></span> (AKA a radio) in Canada?</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgih5rCVStmqo4dQsPcKv3S8VQHwVUf-Zt-IcAUaFdhAEpP4a0wVnAe2pAUMDi6JmRjFX7-3F1Kir8cfQihsxTnzrzD0vcCSTmde6k-4sdvKDxenPh7uU_gGSBqhBOs2UTaD5qVHahl5YNETuKd6WkcYJI6vxrCvAFb29yjxppn7nWatJH_y4kjZ7wHWKo/s800/Blog%20-%20license-to-operate-a-radio-receiving-equipment-victoria-british-columbia-canada-1924-48__26720.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt=""License to Operator a Radio Receiving Equipment - Victoria, British Columbia - Canada 1924," digital image,Scripophily.com (https://scripophily.net/license-to-operate-a-radio-receiving-equipment-victoria-british-columbia-canada-1924/ : accessed 26 Jun 2023)." border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="800" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgih5rCVStmqo4dQsPcKv3S8VQHwVUf-Zt-IcAUaFdhAEpP4a0wVnAe2pAUMDi6JmRjFX7-3F1Kir8cfQihsxTnzrzD0vcCSTmde6k-4sdvKDxenPh7uU_gGSBqhBOs2UTaD5qVHahl5YNETuKd6WkcYJI6vxrCvAFb29yjxppn7nWatJH_y4kjZ7wHWKo/w400-h350/Blog%20-%20license-to-operate-a-radio-receiving-equipment-victoria-british-columbia-canada-1924-48__26720.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"License to Operator a Radio Receiving Equipment - Victoria, British Columbia - Canada 1924," digital image,<i>Scripophily.com</i> (https://scripophily.net/license-to-operate-a-radio-receiving-equipment-victoria-british-columbia-canada-1924/ : accessed 26 Jun 2023).<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />That was actually the case until 1953 when the Government of Canada finally dropped that requirement for folks to have a license to own a radio, and it was a license per radio at that, to listen to broadcasts of "The Happy Gang".<p></p><p>So if the government already knew who had a license, why ask this question on the census?</p><p>The license only told the government that a household had a radio and where. The neat thing about the census is that it asks all kinds of information. That other information can then be correlated and processed to create possibly interesting bits of information for future planning.<br /></p><p>There is even a short report created in 1932 by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics using the information from the Seventh Census of Canada, 1931 titled "<a href="https://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.832937/publication.html" target="_blank">Radio Sets in Canada 1931</a>" available for your reading enjoyment (or as an insomnia remedy aid). Note that this was a preliminary count of radios and differs from the final reports published in 1936. This 1932 report even breaks down where the radios are located based on the census districts and cities and the number of radios per 1,000 population. In Volume 1 of the <a href="https://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.832354/publication.html" target="_blank">Seventh Census of Canada, 1931</a> reports published in 1936 there are a few other tables included such as the one found on page 1404. Volume 5 of the reports also has a few tables breaking down radio ownership by household types.</p><p>Hopefully this answers the question of why folks in Canada were asked in the 1931 Census if the household owned a radio.<br /></p><p></p><hr /><p></p><p>1. See the various articles on the RadioAlumni.ca site starting with "<a href="http://www.radioalumni.ca/z_rcvg_lics.htm" target="_blank">Remember When We Has Private Receiving Station Licenses ?</a>" by W. J. Wilson for an interesting history on these licenses.</p><p><br /></p>Ken McKinlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261891770555198035noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8017295990096371831.post-69116869400878932172023-06-25T19:24:00.003-04:002023-06-25T22:42:41.738-04:001931 Census of Canada - C, B, or F?<p>It's been a few weeks since the the Seventh Census of Canada, 1931 was released to the public and people are actually starting to really pay attention to what is recorded on the pages. One question has started to pop up on the various Facebook genealogy groups summarized along the lines of:</p><p><i></i></p><blockquote><i>What do the letters written between the birth places of the father (column 16) and mother (column 17) mean?</i></blockquote> <p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTeSm5ns7JG5Sg3ag84md4c-TmF7jY1RPZMAerLdTJdY22H2gNeikAmKFxQWpIAGerAQiTCCzUajemen-l9R7_JGb5SqOIqNI7zNC4G51NdpLNL5ldi-yFdbFUIY9QiyoBbBVsHmcGi_F71iG3te2TcDNuK0D5kXONhbwesDjRYAJTlTMn4Zfc5m-Rx7A/s714/1931%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Ontario,%20Lincoln%20(126),%20Grantham%20Township%20(16),%20p%201%20-%20columns%2016%20and%2017%20extracted.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="1931 Census of Canada, Ontario, district 126, sub-district 16, Grantham Township, p. 1, extract of columns 15-17;digital images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Jun 2023); citing Library and Archives Canada folder T-27276." border="0" data-original-height="714" data-original-width="580" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTeSm5ns7JG5Sg3ag84md4c-TmF7jY1RPZMAerLdTJdY22H2gNeikAmKFxQWpIAGerAQiTCCzUajemen-l9R7_JGb5SqOIqNI7zNC4G51NdpLNL5ldi-yFdbFUIY9QiyoBbBVsHmcGi_F71iG3te2TcDNuK0D5kXONhbwesDjRYAJTlTMn4Zfc5m-Rx7A/w325-h400/1931%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Ontario,%20Lincoln%20(126),%20Grantham%20Township%20(16),%20p%201%20-%20columns%2016%20and%2017%20extracted.jpg" width="325" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1931 Census of Canada, Ontario, district 126, sub-district 16, Grantham Township, p. 1, extract of columns 15-17;digital images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., <i>Ancestry</i> (www.ancestry.com : accessed 25 Jun 2023); citing Library and Archives Canada folder T-27276.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Here is an example from a page in the Lincoln census district for the Township of Grantham. We can see combinations of letters like "CC", "BB", "BC", and "FF". Even more interesting is that the handwriting is different from that of the enumerator. These letters are found not just on one page but on all the pages and in various handwriting.</p><p>This is where we need to do some thinking and analysis plus consult the various reports generated out of the statistics from the 1931 Census of Canada. Plus a bit of guess work.<br /></p><p>Remember, a purpose of the census was to create statistics so that the government could understand how Canada has changed since the last enumerator and to help in future planning. Sometimes the information recorded on the forms needed to be simplified so that the folks doing the tabulation in the Dominion Bureau of Statistics could do the data entry to count the details. Such is the case for grouping where the parents are born. We saw these similar types of notations in the 1921 Census of Canada. But at least this time the statisticians kept the extra comments to a minimum on the form.</p><p>I started with the theory that:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>C = Canadian Born</li><li>B = British Isles Born</li><li>F = Foreign Born</li></ul><p>The "C" was easy since for any parent born in a province or territory that made up the Dominion of Canada in 1931 I was seeing the letter "C".</p><p>The "F" was also just as easy since I was seeing it for all sorts of countries. Even if the birth country recorded for a parent was listed as "Unknown" it had the letter "F" assigned.<br /></p><p>However, the "B" was interesting since my samples of the census were primarily taken from Ontario. I was seeing England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales all with a "B" code. However, I needed to get a better sample. For that I turned to the Vancouver-Burrard enumeration district in British Columbia. Why there? Vancouver, being on the coast, and the west coast of Canada at that, might have a more cosmopolitan population makeup. I chose Vancouver-Burrard just because (no real good reason, honest!)</p><p>Very quickly I came across a parent born in Newfoundland. There the code was "B".</p><p>Hmmm...Newfoundland wasn't a province or territory of Canada in 1931. Yet it also wasn't part of the British Isles. Then I found a father born on the Isle of Wight coded as "B". As I kept looking on the pages I came across a mother born in India with the letter "B". Next a father who was born in Australia also had the letter "B" beside his country of birth. Same with a parent born in South Africa. All in the first sub-district in the Vancouver-Burrard district. I guess I chose wisely.<br /></p><p>Could "B" stand for British Subject<span style="font-size: x-small;"><sup>1</sup></span> other than a Canadian born person? It certainly seemed that way.</p><p>However, as I was looking in sub-district 2 I came across an entry where it was written "N.G." for "Not Given" for the parents' birth place and there was a comment stating the person was absent and they were in England. The letter code associated is "N". There is always at least one anomaly to add to the confusion.<br /></p><p>In that same sub-district I stumbled across someone whose mother was born in the West Indies and the code was written as "B".</p><p>The next place for me to look was in the various <a href="https://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.832354/publication.html" target="_blank">reports for the Seventh census of Canada, 1931</a>. I looked in <a href="https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2017/statcan/CS98-1931-1-eng.pdf" target="_blank">Volume 1</a> to see if they had something along the lines of birth places of the parents. In Chapter VII of the "Analysis of the Main Subjects of the Present Census and of Part Censuses of Canada" section starting on page 227 of the report (233 page of the PDF) the title is "NATIVITY OF PARENTS". There they use the terms "Canadian", "British", and "foreign". In reading the mentions of "British" and not seeing certain countries mentioned in various tabulations throughout the report listing "Foreign" countries it would seem to me that "British" meant the person was a subject of the British Empire excluding Canada.</p><p>On page 232 of that same volume there is even a table:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMo_YF-s1qdVywZgyp-5nLyV17vnwvavQMnO1oN-22nXpC8DD6YAeFolOzOjqSOn3JkmY3xCjsshyqlla9UhnyWdR37GeXRaBQeBX6217yo4C-clW3SmIGZJhyQzGBc97wYjG2yMcK4faRMrDUwtTaUvWM-FO0O8RLYjMlSvVD-kyoBfLiUHAAVPyR_Do/s874/Blog%20-%201931%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Report,%20Volume%201,%20p%20232%20-%20Proportion%20of%20Different%20Classes%20of%20Parentage.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Dominion Bureau of Statistics of Canada, editor, Seventh census of Canada, 1931, 13 (Ottawa, Ontario: J. O. Patenaude, I.S.O., 1936), 1. Summary. p. 232 (https://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.832354/publication.html : accessed 25 Jun 2023), "Proportion of Different Classes of Parentage."" border="0" data-original-height="553" data-original-width="874" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMo_YF-s1qdVywZgyp-5nLyV17vnwvavQMnO1oN-22nXpC8DD6YAeFolOzOjqSOn3JkmY3xCjsshyqlla9UhnyWdR37GeXRaBQeBX6217yo4C-clW3SmIGZJhyQzGBc97wYjG2yMcK4faRMrDUwtTaUvWM-FO0O8RLYjMlSvVD-kyoBfLiUHAAVPyR_Do/w400-h253/Blog%20-%201931%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Report,%20Volume%201,%20p%20232%20-%20Proportion%20of%20Different%20Classes%20of%20Parentage.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Dominion Bureau of Statistics of Canada, editor, <i>Seventh census of Canada, 1931</i>, 13 (Ottawa, Ontario: J. O. Patenaude, I.S.O., 1936), 1. Summary. p. 232 (https://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.832354/publication.html : accessed 25 Jun 2023), "Proportion of Different Classes of Parentage."</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>So now I believe the codes and their meaning we will typically find, excluding the "N" for not given, for the birth places of the parents are:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>C = Canadian Born</li><li>B = British Subject<span style="font-size: x-small;"><sup>1</sup></span> Born excluding those born in Canada</li><li>F = Foreign Born excluding those born in Canada or as a British Subject</li></ul><p>This gives us the combinations of:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>CC = father and mother born in Canada</li><li>CB = father born in Canada, mother born as a British Subject</li><li>BC = father born as a British Subject, mother born in Canada <br /></li><li>CF = father born in Canada, mother born in a foreign country</li><li>FC = father born in a foreign country, mother born in Canada</li><li>BB = father and mother born as a British Subject</li><li>BF = father born as a British Subject, mother born in a foreign country</li><li>FB = father born in a foreign county, mother born as a British Subject</li><li>FF = father and mother born in a foreign country</li></ul><p></p><p> </p><p>As an aside, if you haven't read the "Administrative Report on the Seventh Census of Canada, 1931" by The Dominion Statistician that can be found in volume 1 starting on page 29 I'd highly recommend doing so. He has written all about the history of the census and even talks about why Canada uses the <i>de jure</i> method of recording where people reside. He provides all kinds of cool facts.</p><p><br /></p><hr /><p></p><p>1. Initially I had this written as "British Empire" but after thinking it over and with some feedback I've changed this to be "British Subject" as a short way of stating "subject of the British Empire". Keep in mind that someone being a British Subject extended beyond the British Isles and included the nations, dominions, colonies, and protectorates under the rule of His Majesty King George V.<br /></p>Ken McKinlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261891770555198035noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8017295990096371831.post-9953611097272031092023-06-11T19:26:00.002-04:002023-06-11T19:27:20.541-04:001931 Census of Canada - Major City Street Indexes<p>As I keep digging deep into the Seventh Census of Canada, the one started on June 1, 1931, additional resources are starting to appear to make it just a little bit easier for us to find our kin.</p><p>On Friday, June 9, 2023, Ancestry published the first public version of their <a href="1931 Census of Canada - Initial Searchable Index" target="_blank">name searchable index</a> for the 1931 Census of Canada. This index was created by Ancestry's Handwriting Recognition software. Of course, as with any transcription, there are challenge with reading the handwriting. So what if you can't find your ancestor using the name index, what else can you do?</p><p></p><p>I was creating a short presentation on the 1931 Census of Canada and was reviewing my material and all the pages I have stumbled upon over the past month on this topic. That is when I noticed the Library and Archives Canada Collections catalogue page "<a href="http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=fonandcol&id=5744023&lang=eng" target="_blank">Census returns for the 1931 census [textual record (microfilm)]</a>" had been updated with all kinds of potentially useful links.<br /></p><p>One of them was a reference to Library and Archives Canada Finding aid 31-80 where there are the street indexes which may cover censuses from 1911 to 1941. If a person lived in one of the following cities, then we are in luck: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/Calgary_AB_31-80_5744023_open.pdf" target="_blank">Calgary, Alberta</a></li><li><a href="http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/Edmonton_AB_31-80_5744023_open.pdf" target="_blank">Edmonton, Alberta</a></li><li><a href="http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/Halifax_NS_31-80_5744023_open.pdf" target="_blank">Halifax, Nova Scotia</a></li><li><a href="http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/Hamilton_ON_31-80_5744023_open.pdf" target="_blank">Hamilton, Ontario</a> </li><li><a href="http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/London_ON_31-80_5744023_open.pdf" target="_blank">London, Ontario</a> </li><li><a href="http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/Montreal_QC_31-80_5744023_open.pdf" target="_blank">Montreal, Quebec</a></li><li><a href="http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/Quebec_QC_31-80_5744023_open.pdf" target="_blank">Quebec, Quebec</a></li><li><a href="http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/St John_NB_31-80_5744023_open.pdf" target="_blank">Saint John, New Brunswick</a> </li><li><a href="http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/Toronto_ON_31-80_5744023_open.pdf" target="_blank">Toronto, Ontario</a></li><li><a href="http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/Vancouver_BC_31-80_5744023_open.pdf" target="_blank">Vancouver, British Columbia</a></li><li><a href="http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/Winnipeg_MB_31-80_5744023_open.pdf" target="_blank">Winnipeg, Manitoba</a></li></ul><p>For my great-grandfather, George Kaye Warrener, who ended up with the mangled transcription of "George Heryekaner", it took me about 40 minutes of manual searching for the street address of 28 Collahie in Toronto where he lived to find him on an image. I used Google Maps and the technique I talk about in my post "<a href="https://familytreeknots.blogspot.com/2023/06/1931-census-of-canada-success-stories.html" target="_blank">1931 Census of Canada - Success Stories</a>". I've found that to be not too bad for a place like Toronto.</p><p>Ah, but what about using that street index finding aid?</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqMeBStNzpojuYKbdL6ZRK1XlSWr622-yPRxWum2Bb9uCYE7yM6ra7biaCAxD_5DJbg25cDRAfFzPhBOGbs4pgGEyusz8jE3dFLlo9BXS5zKQjU5-Y1p9O6oIMs69y4CMz87WKJ9JqWhn8-rY0Hd5HKdE5gqFKPcHOpVDc7g3uuUI-xJM5V689nEIW/s997/Blog%20-%20LAC%20Finding%20aid%2031-80%20extract%20-%20Collahie,%20Toronto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Extract from Library and Archives Canada Finding aid 31-80 for Collahie in Toronto." border="0" data-original-height="436" data-original-width="997" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqMeBStNzpojuYKbdL6ZRK1XlSWr622-yPRxWum2Bb9uCYE7yM6ra7biaCAxD_5DJbg25cDRAfFzPhBOGbs4pgGEyusz8jE3dFLlo9BXS5zKQjU5-Y1p9O6oIMs69y4CMz87WKJ9JqWhn8-rY0Hd5HKdE5gqFKPcHOpVDc7g3uuUI-xJM5V689nEIW/w400-h175/Blog%20-%20LAC%20Finding%20aid%2031-80%20extract%20-%20Collahie,%20Toronto.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Extract from Library and Archives Canada Finding aid 31-80 for Collahie in Toronto.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>In the extract above we see that Collahie in Toronto has four entries:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>11-128-104</li><li>21-113-52</li><li>31-138-53</li><li>41-163-6</li></ul><p>The first set of digits is the census year. So I would want to look at the entry "<b>31-138-53</b>" for the 1931 Census of Canada.</p><p>The next set of digits is the district number, <b>138</b>, followed by the sub-district number, <b>53</b>.</p><p>But the districts listed on the Library and Archives Canada <a href="https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census2/index1931" target="_blank">1931 Census search page</a> and in Ancestry's "<a href="https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62640/" target="_blank">1931 Census of Canada</a>" collection only list the district by name. How does one map a district number to a name?</p><p>That information is also found in Finding aid 31-80. Those pages have been extracted and are available in PDF form so that we can even download and save the files to our computer:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/31-80_5744023_AB_open.pdf" target="_blank">Alberta</a></li><li><a href="http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/31-80_5744023_BC_open.pdf" target="_blank">British Columbia</a></li><li><a href="http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/31-80_5744023_MB_open.pdf" target="_blank">Manitoba</a></li><li><a href="http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/31-80_5744023_NB_open.pdf" target="_blank">New Brunswick</a></li><li><a href="http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/31-80_5744023_NS_open.pdf" target="_blank">Nova Scotia</a></li><li><a href="http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/31-80_5744023_NWT_open.pdf" target="_blank">North West Territories</a></li><li><a href="http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/31-80_5744023_ON_open.pdf" target="_blank">Ontario</a></li><li><a href="http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/31-80_5744023_PEI_open.pdf" target="_blank">Prince Edward Island</a></li><li><a href="http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/31-80_5744023_QC_open.pdf" target="_blank">Quebec</a></li><li><a href="http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/31-80_5744023_SK_open.pdf" target="_blank">Saskatchewan</a></li><li><a href="http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/31-80_5744023_YK_open.pdf" target="_blank">Yukon</a></li></ul><p>In looking in the PDF for Ontario I find that district number 138 is the Parkdale district.</p><p>Now I can quickly browse the images on Ancestry or LAC for the Province of Ontario, Parkdale district, and select sub-district 53 from the list. Then just skip through the pages until I find Collahie listed as the street address.<br /></p><p>Total time using the street address to find George Kaye Warrener using the street index this time? Less than 5 minutes!</p><p>Keep in mind that some streets may be found spanning multiple sub-districts or even
districts. College street is one such place in Toronto. So you will need
to look at multiple locations to find the right range of street
numbers. Yet this street index really does make it much easier to find
the possible district and sub-district for a street address.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Best of luck in your searches! </span><br /></p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><br /></p><p> </p><p> </p><p></p>Ken McKinlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261891770555198035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8017295990096371831.post-15911890723433314772023-06-09T08:30:00.033-04:002023-06-09T08:53:46.938-04:001931 Census of Canada - Initial Searchable Index<p>On June 1st, 1931 the enumerators of the the seventh census of Canada began their work throughout most parts of Canada. </p><p></p><p>Jump ahead to June 1st, 2023 and the surviving information that was gathered, the population schedule on Form 1, was now available to all who wanted to take the time to wade through the images to find their ancestors. The release of those images didn't go as smoothly as hoped since there were a number of issues with the Library and Archives Canada web site during those first two days. By the morning of June 2nd, Ancestry had finished processing and loading those same images into their system so that we could view them, thus taking the pressure off LAC.</p><p>In just over a week from the time that Ancestry had first started receiving the images of the 1931 Census of Canada from Library and Archives Canada just after midnight on June 1st, Ancestry has the first public version of their searchable index ready for our use. Ancestry, along with FamilySearch, will be working hard in the coming weeks and months to improve the accuracy of the information extracted and to add more information to those indexes just like what we see for the indexes in the 1921 Census of Canada.</p><p>You can find the "1931 Census of Canada" collection and the associated searchable index on Ancestry at <a href="https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62640/" target="_blank">https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62640/</a>. <br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAXHLgJqx-WqdoGTM86AOw_ezJOcQoGnIjxARwk2H12lt3SD7X3XW4RUdZpErcqnQMhM2vd9pEdA9pgVl42hCmbYz7iFTWWv0G_WrjrVsAxUcBKbZfE4vp8RqHOckcNlLIX6fuwNhxkZgUQzMTeA9_alBBvyU_yV8NGFAcz-fU_sKxBDMYkazDQdu1/s1041/Blog%20-%20Ancestry%20-%201931%20Census%20of%20Canada%20-%20Search%20page%20-%2020230609-0818%20-%20partial.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Partial screen capture of the "1931 Census of Canada" search page from Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62640/ : accessed 9 Jun 2023)." border="0" data-original-height="523" data-original-width="1041" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAXHLgJqx-WqdoGTM86AOw_ezJOcQoGnIjxARwk2H12lt3SD7X3XW4RUdZpErcqnQMhM2vd9pEdA9pgVl42hCmbYz7iFTWWv0G_WrjrVsAxUcBKbZfE4vp8RqHOckcNlLIX6fuwNhxkZgUQzMTeA9_alBBvyU_yV8NGFAcz-fU_sKxBDMYkazDQdu1/w400-h201/Blog%20-%20Ancestry%20-%201931%20Census%20of%20Canada%20-%20Search%20page%20-%2020230609-0818%20-%20partial.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Partial screen capture of the "1931 Census of Canada" search page from Ancestry (<a href="https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62640/" target="_blank">https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62640/</a> : accessed 9 Jun 2023).</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>In looking at the updated search page for the 1931 Census of Canada we find that we can search by name, birth year, where the person is living, associated family members, "relation to head", marital status, sub-district number, enumeration district, and gender. This index was effectively created by computer algorithms (AI in the marketing world) using Ancestry's Handwriting Recognition software to attempt to read what the enumerators had written down.</p><p>If you want to learn more about Ancestry's Handwriting Recognition technology and it's use in transcribing the census, you can watch their approach to the 1950 Federal Census of the United States of America, which was done last year, in their view "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAIjL9rWD_E" target="_blank">Teaching a Computer to Read the 1950 U.S. Census | Ancestry®</a>".</p><p>Here is a screen capture from the 1931 Census of Canada on Ancestry with all the details open for a specific person. Yes, it is a busy screen but I'm used to it.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPdbtKQ3XxMFfM87mLMdIlxOGpJXh16i40zc_3pApNJqfQOGRHo_F2pJ0LSZJa1inXN7u_G9W-qzRBZYsl7MXYFZf1PzEiBme4g1XsuNUKXmr9dYJJ5ndSDvt_tfCwZT-gQjWiBNJU2oHSMwLT1iJvuze90smrH-bR9BBYWqu-vvCS9xrnn-kdH0y8/s1663/Blog%20-%201931%20Census%20of%20Canada%20-%20Ancestry%20-%20page%20with%20George%20Heryekaner%20-%20Ontario,%20Parkdale,%20Toronto%20City%20(53),%20p%2010.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture of the web page from Ancestry Canada showing the 1931 Census of Canada page for Ontario, Parkdale district, sub-district 53, page 10 with "George Heryekaner" selected." border="0" data-original-height="950" data-original-width="1663" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPdbtKQ3XxMFfM87mLMdIlxOGpJXh16i40zc_3pApNJqfQOGRHo_F2pJ0LSZJa1inXN7u_G9W-qzRBZYsl7MXYFZf1PzEiBme4g1XsuNUKXmr9dYJJ5ndSDvt_tfCwZT-gQjWiBNJU2oHSMwLT1iJvuze90smrH-bR9BBYWqu-vvCS9xrnn-kdH0y8/w400-h229/Blog%20-%201931%20Census%20of%20Canada%20-%20Ancestry%20-%20page%20with%20George%20Heryekaner%20-%20Ontario,%20Parkdale,%20Toronto%20City%20(53),%20p%2010.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture of the web page from Ancestry Canada showing the 1931 Census of Canada page for Ontario, Parkdale district, sub-district 53, page 10 with "George Heryekaner" selected.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p></p><p>I chose this screen capture of "George Heryekaner" as my example of what we can see for a very specific reason. I'd already found him through manually looking through the censuses. He is my great-grandfather. But his name isn't "George Heryekaner" but "George Kaye Warrener". And his son isn't "Nancy" but is written as "Ronald Macgregor". OK, even I had a challenge reading the "Macgregor" part. The computer did do a good job on reading "Henriette" and "Lilian"...so kudos to our future AI Overlords.<br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ5OsKKGSZmjKSZhOAI2IIuIuXwq_OV4MCHqFTABaMjX1tQQ_ckOJQi_CIfzUQSHpIbReJ051affWM1Yow9rGGT00xqJiUvGTAZiVXxsJMbApNpNkPp0cZ-56v57Sl9C2vwAd5HHKtgU9ini-quaMCUueOE-_473Fsx85ETu24DKFHfsHK8dS0mE-M/s1195/Blog%20-%201931%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Ontario,%20Parkdale%20(138),%20Toronto%20City%20Ward%206%20(53),%20p%2010%20-%20George%20Kaye%20Warrener%20household%20-%20extract.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="1931 Census of Canada, Winnipeg, district 138 (Parkdale), sub-district 53 (Toronto City Ward 6), p. 10, dwelling 87, family 126, household of George Heryekaner; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry Operations, Inc., Ancestry.ca (https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62640/ : accessed 3 Jun 2023)." border="0" data-original-height="141" data-original-width="1195" height="48" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ5OsKKGSZmjKSZhOAI2IIuIuXwq_OV4MCHqFTABaMjX1tQQ_ckOJQi_CIfzUQSHpIbReJ051affWM1Yow9rGGT00xqJiUvGTAZiVXxsJMbApNpNkPp0cZ-56v57Sl9C2vwAd5HHKtgU9ini-quaMCUueOE-_473Fsx85ETu24DKFHfsHK8dS0mE-M/w400-h48/Blog%20-%201931%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Ontario,%20Parkdale%20(138),%20Toronto%20City%20Ward%206%20(53),%20p%2010%20-%20George%20Kaye%20Warrener%20household%20-%20extract.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1931 Census of Canada, Winnipeg, district 138 (Parkdale), sub-district 53 (Toronto City Ward 6), p. 10, dwelling 87, family 126, extract of household of George Heryekaner; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry Operations, Inc., <i>Ancestry.ca</i> (<a href="https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62640/" target="_blank">https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62640/</a> : accessed 3 Jun 2023).</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>When I first saw George's name recorded in the census I knew that the computer would have a fit trying to transcribe his name. And I was right! Now I thought it might guess the last name as "Kaye Warrener" or "Haye Warrener" or just "Kaye" or "Haye". However, I was wrong as to what the attempt at reading the handwriting came up with.<br /></p><p>If I hadn't known where George and the family was living I probably would never have found him in the index. The handwriting by the enumerator is, to put it kindly, challenging. Fortunately, just like many of the other transcriptions made of records by Ancestry, we can submit our own corrections to the name and select fields. I have now added my own suggested corrections to the transcription of the 1931 Census of Canada for this family.<br /></p><p>Contrast the handwriting above with the penmanship by the enumerator in sub-district 29 (London City Ward 4), London district, Ontario:</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLni6JoYm8ex8bT_Yen7KCn_nv4MV8_lfKgce_W9Yy-2HndO9dIcnUOWs18JybXE3aKhgi93HTel-r_jS9lZa-hML2WbNO9iSmn5Rbve4gkL0TfkRJ-EYCOKv-dwAYAfTY8zhpRtOUkxF6EQrIVHKkwV6wc3aOWXiVv6KhMT-95OUYmL6Rx0AurI73/s1119/Blog%20-%201931%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Ontario,%20London%20(127),%20Ward%204%20(29),%20p%201%20-%20Nathaniel%20and%20WInnifred%20McKinlay%20-%20extract.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="1931 Census of Canada, district 127 (London), sub-district 29 (London City Ward 4), p. 1, dwelling 12, family 14, extract of household of Nathaniel McKinlay; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry Operations, Inc., Ancestry.ca (https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62640/ : accessed 8 Jun 2023)." border="0" data-original-height="115" data-original-width="1119" height="41" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLni6JoYm8ex8bT_Yen7KCn_nv4MV8_lfKgce_W9Yy-2HndO9dIcnUOWs18JybXE3aKhgi93HTel-r_jS9lZa-hML2WbNO9iSmn5Rbve4gkL0TfkRJ-EYCOKv-dwAYAfTY8zhpRtOUkxF6EQrIVHKkwV6wc3aOWXiVv6KhMT-95OUYmL6Rx0AurI73/w400-h41/Blog%20-%201931%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Ontario,%20London%20(127),%20Ward%204%20(29),%20p%201%20-%20Nathaniel%20and%20WInnifred%20McKinlay%20-%20extract.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1931 Census of Canada, district 127 (London), sub-district 29 (London City Ward 4), p. 1, dwelling 12, family 14, extract of household of Nathaniel McKinlay; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry Operations, Inc., <i>Ancestry.ca</i> (<a href="https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62640/" target="_blank">https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62640/</a> : accessed 8 Jun 2023).</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Here the computer had no problems reading the handwriting. </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVmks6yLUwuQvvigB79MjNl-y9FgAYj0KHiSnK5Dj3ihsrO3gOdTRM79WTEJTxHpnxDpx9Nl3A0RorRHqbcdQoNFOCUaCMVlHAEs72RpyD_rjFJySzKlRKsAmZvAzb2RDrAaSVzCS-CB7rfyZceGxhtS-cAqLhzPZyC9IxOn8mRE7aJs7ZzytLnezu/s581/Blog%20-%201931%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Ontario,%20London%20(127),%20Ward%204%20(29),%20p%201%20-%20Nathaniel%20and%20Winnifred%20McKinlay%20-%20Transcription.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="1931 Census of Canada, district 127 (London), sub-district 29 (London City Ward 4), p. 1, dwelling 12, family 14, transcription for the entry of Nathaniel McKinlay; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry Operations, Inc., Ancestry.ca (https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62640/ : accessed 8 Jun 2023)." border="0" data-original-height="581" data-original-width="303" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVmks6yLUwuQvvigB79MjNl-y9FgAYj0KHiSnK5Dj3ihsrO3gOdTRM79WTEJTxHpnxDpx9Nl3A0RorRHqbcdQoNFOCUaCMVlHAEs72RpyD_rjFJySzKlRKsAmZvAzb2RDrAaSVzCS-CB7rfyZceGxhtS-cAqLhzPZyC9IxOn8mRE7aJs7ZzytLnezu/w209-h400/Blog%20-%201931%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Ontario,%20London%20(127),%20Ward%204%20(29),%20p%201%20-%20Nathaniel%20and%20Winnifred%20McKinlay%20-%20Transcription.jpg" width="209" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1931 Census of Canada, district 127 (London), sub-district 29 (London City Ward 4), p. 1, dwelling 12, family 14, transcription for the entry of Nathaniel McKinlay; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry Operations, Inc., <i>Ancestry.ca</i> <a href="(https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62640/" target="_blank">(https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62640/</a> : accessed 8 Jun 2023).</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>As you can well imagine, this first public release of the index from Ancestry will have it's challenges. That is why it is still important to know how to actually find an address in the census and not just rely on a computer to do the work for you. I look at using our research skills to look for someone by address in my post "<a href="https://familytreeknots.blogspot.com/2023/06/1931-census-of-canada-success-stories.html" target="_blank">1931 Census of Canada - Success Stories</a>".<br /></p><p></p><p>So set your expectations appropriately. The computer can't perform miracles when the handwriting is not great. Yet having the ability to search by name for folks in the 1931 Census of Canada will allow us to deal with the low hanging fruit so that we can focus our <i>research skills</i> on those we can't easily find.<br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">Have fun searching!</span></b><br /></p><p><br /></p>Ken McKinlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261891770555198035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8017295990096371831.post-65708029978193389302023-06-03T14:02:00.003-04:002023-06-03T14:21:04.025-04:001931 Census of Canada - Success Stories<p>It has been an interesting and challenging time for all involved with the public release of the 1931 Census of Canada by Library and Archives Canada on June 1, 2023. What started with joy and happiness quickly turned to sadness and frustration for the genealogy and family history community as issues on the Library and Archives Canada site prevented many from even trying to view the images. Yet I'm not going to harp on those issues since I've already done so in my post "<a href="https://familytreeknots.blogspot.com/2023/06/1931-census-of-canada-release-fiasco.html" target="_blank">1931 Census of Canada - A Release Fiasco?</a>" Instead I'm going to share my own success stories and some tips on how I found the kin I was looking for.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMnMIXVlQDnPx5kgYMytR3ymN5rGJg5qc4FBSSb20yr05KvvI068iHtG0Ble49ZN1YqTUrXp83cXJ7pzLgjSLX8_N01YZHGLRgmcXuyCscwGAihH-yaRC_w30HuBBmoA3V4U7f6LcheCmfGLJSO96ayHTOGNNGtD_cbtTykZ_z4niu4tUCr8Ikrri_/s1186/LAC%20-%201931%20Census%20-%20Collection%20Search%20Page%20-%2020230603-1224.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture of the Library and Archives Canada 1931 Census Collection Search page on 3 Jun 2023 at 12:23 p.m. ET." border="0" data-original-height="869" data-original-width="1186" height="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMnMIXVlQDnPx5kgYMytR3ymN5rGJg5qc4FBSSb20yr05KvvI068iHtG0Ble49ZN1YqTUrXp83cXJ7pzLgjSLX8_N01YZHGLRgmcXuyCscwGAihH-yaRC_w30HuBBmoA3V4U7f6LcheCmfGLJSO96ayHTOGNNGtD_cbtTykZ_z4niu4tUCr8Ikrri_/w400-h293/LAC%20-%201931%20Census%20-%20Collection%20Search%20Page%20-%2020230603-1224.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture of the Library and Archives Canada <a href="https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census2/index1931" target="_blank">1931 Census Collection Search page</a> on 3 Jun 2023 at 12:23 p.m. ET.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>My goal was to to find all four of my grandparents in this census. I knew that they were all alive and residing in Canada by the end of 1930. So, in theory, this goal should be achievable. Having a goal or task being achievable is one of the elements I mentioned in being <a href="https://familytreeknots.blogspot.com/2019/07/genealogy-smart.html" target="_blank">Genealogy SMART</a>, a post from July 2019:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>S</b>pecific: I want to find my four grandparents in the 1931 Census of Canada.</li><li><b>M</b>easurable: By the end of the process I should be able to count how many of the grandparents I have found. Hopefully all four of them.<br /></li><li><b>A</b>chievable: Since the images of the 1931 Census of Canada have been released, I believe it should be possible to find my grandparents.</li><li><b>R</b>elevant: Finding them in the census will help me understand where they lived and how they were doing, economically, in 1931.</li><li><b>T</b>imely: The census was just released and is available for our use.</li></ul><p></p><p>First of all, since the images of the 1931 Census of Canada aren't yet searchable by personal details such as names or street address I had to do some work ahead of time to learn exactly where they were living. I just can't plunk their names in a search engine and have the computer spit out the answers. It's going to take a bit of work on our part. The more work we do before even looking at the images <i>should</i> save us time in the long run.</p><p>All of my grandparents decided that they would be living in moderate to large cities in 1931 to make it a bit more challenging for me. I know that others who have also had success stories have been able to very quickly find their kin since those folks were living in rural areas or small towns and villages.<br /></p><p>Here are family groupings for my grandparents, along with what I discovered in this step. Note that some of this information was gathered while actually in the searching for the census records. I really should have done all this work ahead of time!</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Nathanial and Winnifred (nee Warrener) McKinlay </li><ul><li>They were married in 1930 in Toronto</li><li>In the 1932 city directory of London, Ontario they reside at 579 Colborne Street<span style="font-size: x-small;"><sup>1</sup></span></li></ul><li>Donald McMullen</li><ul><li>He had not yet married Frances Howe<br /></li><li>In the 1926 Census of the Prairie Provinces of Canada in the Winnipeg South Centre district he was living with his parents Louis Norman and Gertrude Anne (nee Martin) McMullen at 521 Toronto Street, Winnipeg<span style="font-size: x-small;"><sup>2</sup></span></li><li>In the 1932 city directory of Winnipeg, Manitoba no Donald McMullen was found listed but his father is recorded as "McMullen L N druggist Wpg Drug h 9, 796 Wolseley"<span style="font-size: x-small;"><sup>3</sup></span></li></ul><li>Frances Howe</li><ul><li>She had not yet married Donald McMullen</li><li>In the 1926 Census of the Prairie Provinces of Canada in the Winnipeg South Centre district she was living with her parents Joseph and Annie (nee Chipman) Howe at what appears to be 72 Walnut Street, Winnipeg<span style="font-size: x-small;"><sup>4</sup></span>. However, the 1927 city directory gives their address as 72 Chestnut Street<span style="font-size: x-small;"><sup>5</sup></span>.</li><li>In the 1932 city directory of Winnipeg, Manitoba no Frances Howe was found but her father is recorded as "Howe Joseph E asst prof Univ Man h 72 Chestnut"<span style="font-size: x-small;"><sup>6</sup></span></li></ul></ul><p></p><p>You might notice that I reference the 1932 city directories. Most directories weren't published the same year the information was collected so I will often use the following year's directory.<br /></p><p>Also I recorded the district (in some cases when I was getting frustrated that I couldn't find them in the 1931 Census) they we found in for the prior census closest to the 1931 Census. This might help me figure out where I should start my looking in the 1931 Census, especially when it comes to large cities.<br /></p><p>Since I'm dealing with moderate to large cities I also used Google Maps to place each street address on a map. This became important as I worked my way through the images.</p><p></p><p>I thought I was ready to begin my search on June 1st, 2023...but the Library and Archives Canada site had another <a href="https://familytreeknots.blogspot.com/2023/06/1931-census-of-canada-release-fiasco.html" target="_blank">opinion</a>. But I did have a workaround. It was a bit more work but doable.</p><p>I started with Nathaniel and Winnifred McKinlay. Based on where I found them on the map I started with the assumption that they were in the London district and not Middlesex East or Middlesex West. Via another site I had a possible lead that the address, 579 Colborne Street, might be in sub-district 17 so I started there. After scanning the eighteen pages I didn't find them.</p><p>This is where using Google Maps became useful. With 579 Colborne Street pinned on the map I had Google Maps give me directions to the first address in sub-district 17, 290 Cheapside.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1VwgXVKSjmdDobZJmNzE2aiLCLc-pNrkZaKnVeha_-q5lHLQERAR03as7xA0zSwlpVjbPu63TsEKEe8pBfsVFu2zcNyv34oK0RUq3biGZOKuGhDkShW8m1LfgnFmy07GN9H0ZA3HMO20JgY8wg9RFQ7VUJWTdAf1mDIjtx3YAiPVmKUuEKoeIsIQR/s1360/Blog%20-%20Google%20Map%20-%20Cheapside%20to%20Colborne%20in%20London,%20Ontario.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture from Google Maps for directions from 290 Cheapside Street to 579 Colborne Street in London, Ontario." border="0" data-original-height="949" data-original-width="1360" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1VwgXVKSjmdDobZJmNzE2aiLCLc-pNrkZaKnVeha_-q5lHLQERAR03as7xA0zSwlpVjbPu63TsEKEe8pBfsVFu2zcNyv34oK0RUq3biGZOKuGhDkShW8m1LfgnFmy07GN9H0ZA3HMO20JgY8wg9RFQ7VUJWTdAf1mDIjtx3YAiPVmKUuEKoeIsIQR/w400-h279/Blog%20-%20Google%20Map%20-%20Cheapside%20to%20Colborne%20in%20London,%20Ontario.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture from Google Maps for directions from 290 Cheapside Street to 579 Colborne Street in London, Ontario.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Why map the directions? As I came across the next sub-district I could put in an address from one of the pages to see if I was getting any closer to my target address. I might even jump ahead a few sub-districts and see about getting directions. By doing this I could also figure out how the sub-districts were roughly laid out.</p><p>Since I was using a workaround method which was a bit slower than just clicking the next image it did take me a bit of time. But after about 178 images I found my Dad's parents, Nathaniel and Winnifred (nee Warrener) McKinlay on page 1 in sub-district 29!</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkx6BFQ7PBYkOWd_bquuTCNanPefmx21k4V-pjJyo-XBT4RuDUiQCxtMWT0QQN3O0drbfhjLOkmh6bW69NDsvBcLuDHKYhBoRdBhXMwzqXNl14jOv05k3MPMUvswpjYwfr5G3GSbdNO2h-yUdDc9VhSw3ZOy81bbjdKoCcR3btvOjDF2uVWYzNmy4U/s4200/1931%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Ontario,%20London%20(127),%20Ward%204%20(29),%20p%201%20-%20Nathaniel%20and%20WInnifred%20McKinlay.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="1931 census of Canada, Ontario, district 127 (London), sub-district 29 (London City Ward 4), p. 1, dwelling 12, family 14, household of Nathaniel McKinley; RG 31; digital images, Library and Archives Canada (https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census2/index1931 : accessed 1 Jun 2023)." border="0" data-original-height="2728" data-original-width="4200" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkx6BFQ7PBYkOWd_bquuTCNanPefmx21k4V-pjJyo-XBT4RuDUiQCxtMWT0QQN3O0drbfhjLOkmh6bW69NDsvBcLuDHKYhBoRdBhXMwzqXNl14jOv05k3MPMUvswpjYwfr5G3GSbdNO2h-yUdDc9VhSw3ZOy81bbjdKoCcR3btvOjDF2uVWYzNmy4U/w400-h260/1931%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Ontario,%20London%20(127),%20Ward%204%20(29),%20p%201%20-%20Nathaniel%20and%20WInnifred%20McKinlay.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1931 census of Canada, Ontario, district 127 (London), sub-district 29 (London City Ward 4), p. 1, dwelling 12, family 14, household of Nathaniel McKinley; RG 31; digital images,<i> Library and Archives Canada</i> (<a href="https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census2/index1931" target="_blank">https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census2/index1931</a> : accessed 1 Jun 2023).</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Since I'm a persistent (some may call it stubborn) researcher, I tried my luck finding my grandmother Frances Howe. This was a bit harder since I hadn't written down in my pre-search notes the district name from the 1926 Census of the Prairie Provinces of Canada yet. </p><p>This bit me big time!</p><p>I spent way too much time looking in the wrong districts because of an assumption. I first looked in Winnipeg North and Winnipeg North Centre since I assumed that the Assiniboine River would be the district boundary. But when I plotted the various address I was seeing in the sub-districts for those districts they were all too far away from 72 Chestnut Street and getting further away. That's when I clued in to look at the 1926 Census of the Prairie Provinces of Canada all thanks to a suggestion by Dave Obee in his <a href="http://www.cangenealogy.com/1931-research.html" target="_blank">CanGenealogy 1931 census research tips</a> page.<br /></p><p>They were in the Winnipeg South Centre district in 1926! Once I started getting directions from 72 Chestnut Street to addresses for the sub-districts in that district plotted on the map everything started to work out much, much better. Relatively quickly I was able to find Frances and her parents.<br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkgQ-7lZ5bLjgESHtlL9qb4cIMhZQJ55Ghr-KGRWlPMuITd7_UBBCCGnLPBk3kB6TRsg3U8vJZiX5c16aVseKtaIQCX2dXDxhR4eHu74c7HavwrpZrcYKYo8AO6xY-NB1ReVhcbgRRDaLojHE6OfGA2EhVg--M8_G9AsKBIA8cIwd2WRZhaKNFT1-D/s4200/1931%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Manitoba,%20Winnipeg%20South%20Centre%20(189),%20Ward%201%20(51),%20p%207%20-%20Joseph%20E%20Howe%20household.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="1931 census of Canada, Winnipeg, district 189 (Winnipeg South Centre), sub-district 51 (Winnipeg Ward 1), p. 7, dwelling 58, family 59, household of Joseph Howe; RG 31; digital images, Library and Archives Canada (https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census2/index1931 : accessed 2 Jun 2023)." border="0" data-original-height="2696" data-original-width="4200" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkgQ-7lZ5bLjgESHtlL9qb4cIMhZQJ55Ghr-KGRWlPMuITd7_UBBCCGnLPBk3kB6TRsg3U8vJZiX5c16aVseKtaIQCX2dXDxhR4eHu74c7HavwrpZrcYKYo8AO6xY-NB1ReVhcbgRRDaLojHE6OfGA2EhVg--M8_G9AsKBIA8cIwd2WRZhaKNFT1-D/w320-h205/1931%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Manitoba,%20Winnipeg%20South%20Centre%20(189),%20Ward%201%20(51),%20p%207%20-%20Joseph%20E%20Howe%20household.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1931 census of Canada, Winnipeg, district 189 (Winnipeg South Centre), sub-district 51 (Winnipeg Ward 1), p. 7, dwelling 58, family 59, household of Joseph Howe; RG 31; digital images, <i>Library and Archives Canada</i> (https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census2/index1931 : accessed 2 Jun 2023).</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It was getting late, I was tired, and I'd already had enough challenges on the launch day while also providing guidance and tips to others via several Facebook groups. So I decided to leave looking for my other grandparent, Donald McMullen, until the daylight hours of June 2nd. </p><p>At around 11 am on June 2, 2023 Ancestry released their copies received from Library and Archives Canada and posted the images in their "<a href="https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62640/" target="_blank">1931 Census of Canada</a>" browse only collection and the game suddenly changed for me. </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigRKL35-ocPfbll8zwXdqPqLHLqJWI-bEu290ehd6ATYDtTRKWhWwDZFYoHkdJBrUnKBfxho5LxeDKr1x1fJFCVGTisIkp-gC7s1NcoHfBRFVyBV5P1DZLGnoEcm9Q9KO27WZgCsl1hTK6HfxaQA1pj9Kksg13kQqGFSxwRhLxXYEvH8Uy305tr1LB/s989/Ancestry%20-%201931%20Census%20of%20Canada%20-%2020230602-1113.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture from Ancestry's "1931 Census of Canada" collection search page found at https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62640/." border="0" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="989" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigRKL35-ocPfbll8zwXdqPqLHLqJWI-bEu290ehd6ATYDtTRKWhWwDZFYoHkdJBrUnKBfxho5LxeDKr1x1fJFCVGTisIkp-gC7s1NcoHfBRFVyBV5P1DZLGnoEcm9Q9KO27WZgCsl1hTK6HfxaQA1pj9Kksg13kQqGFSxwRhLxXYEvH8Uy305tr1LB/w400-h178/Ancestry%20-%201931%20Census%20of%20Canada%20-%2020230602-1113.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture from Ancestry's "1931 Census of Canada" collection search page found at https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62640/.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />I didn't have to deal with a slow or non-functioning LAC site. Since Ancestry had already gone through the experience of hosting the images of the 1950 Federal Census of the United States of America I figured they could deal with any amount of traffic created by Canadian researchers.<p></p><p>Using all the tricks I'd learned I knew I should be able to find Donald and his parents in short order.</p><p>I decided I'd first plot both where Frances Howe, his future wife, and Donald McMullen lived since I could possibly use her address as starting point.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbxQP2Vw2Kj6b-hKOfFD5cTObjlzurdRUHxtJzlHmMJG6tDp4YLLN_ZGiTYXAsq5Uv_ng7OMNOtc3lOEdKtLOnCBD1aWIAOeqiScejA36oKO9PT28ThyoKSg8sMLbE9p-Ncpcn_gZAaa5HFxUyxUrTgQmex0z1f8Rr0Qe88W-bKkV4tv2OcaWz9d0g/s1484/Blog%20-%20Google%20Map%20-%20Chestnut%20to%20Wolseley%20in%20Winnipeg,%20Manitoba.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture from Google Maps for directions from 72 Chestnut Street to 796 Wolseley Avenue in Winnipeg, Manitoba." border="0" data-original-height="791" data-original-width="1484" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbxQP2Vw2Kj6b-hKOfFD5cTObjlzurdRUHxtJzlHmMJG6tDp4YLLN_ZGiTYXAsq5Uv_ng7OMNOtc3lOEdKtLOnCBD1aWIAOeqiScejA36oKO9PT28ThyoKSg8sMLbE9p-Ncpcn_gZAaa5HFxUyxUrTgQmex0z1f8Rr0Qe88W-bKkV4tv2OcaWz9d0g/w400-h214/Blog%20-%20Google%20Map%20-%20Chestnut%20to%20Wolseley%20in%20Winnipeg,%20Manitoba.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture from Google Maps for directions from 72 Chestnut Street to 796 Wolseley Avenue in Winnipeg, Manitoba.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>They are practically neighbours! According to the map, they were about a minute walk apart.</p><p>In just a few minutes I found the household of Donald's parents, Louis and Gertrude (nee Martin) in the next sub-district, number 52, from Frances Howe and her parents.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKos8p8cIusCcj6G1KBC41Lf2hGd55LAGqxRrzCTRqTeVH9bo_4_Vtzne81NNdnxt4D9i7wYw_qMnnxU9_1cO5FS0p0GqQAL4WUh-kUCR29uLg_cPHuGdgvBifVp8PeHdCcs7-MBAU5F9srAJ9z-GRxpzyXJAR7x593ztkDU7OV_pufmNfSnaLNV7N/s4184/1931%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Manitoba,%20Winnipeg%20South%20Centre%20(189),%20Ward%201%20(52),%20p%2012%20-%20Louis%20McMullen%20household.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="1931 Census of Canada, Winnipeg, district 189 (Winnipeg South Centre), sub-district 52 (Winnipeg Ward 1), p. 12, dwelling 110, family 140, household of Louis McMullen; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry Operations, Inc., Ancestry.ca (https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62640/ : accessed 2 Jun 2023)." border="0" data-original-height="2696" data-original-width="4184" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKos8p8cIusCcj6G1KBC41Lf2hGd55LAGqxRrzCTRqTeVH9bo_4_Vtzne81NNdnxt4D9i7wYw_qMnnxU9_1cO5FS0p0GqQAL4WUh-kUCR29uLg_cPHuGdgvBifVp8PeHdCcs7-MBAU5F9srAJ9z-GRxpzyXJAR7x593ztkDU7OV_pufmNfSnaLNV7N/w400-h258/1931%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Manitoba,%20Winnipeg%20South%20Centre%20(189),%20Ward%201%20(52),%20p%2012%20-%20Louis%20McMullen%20household.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1931 Census of Canada, Winnipeg, district 189 (Winnipeg South Centre), sub-district 52 (Winnipeg Ward 1), p. 12, dwelling 110, family 140, household of Louis McMullen; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry Operations, Inc., <i>Ancestry.ca</i> (<a href="https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62640/" target="_blank">https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62640/</a> : accessed 2 Jun 2023).</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I had actually completed my goal of finding my grandparents in the 1931 Census of Canada.<br /></p><p>I won't bore you with the challenges I had finding Elizabeth (nee Murdoch) McKinlay, my great-grandmother, in London, Ontario. But I can tell you that it is really, really important to be not distracted when looking at the images. I missed her at least two times!</p><p>The one I dreaded finding was the household of George Kaye and Henrietta (nee McGregor) Warrener, my great-grandparents, in Toronto. With Toronto being so large I thought it would be a near impossible task. Yet I found them in about 40 minutes (again a wrong assumption got me for about 10 minutes of that time).</p><p>I still have a few great-grandparents to find but now that I have a working method it shouldn't be to much of a challenge (I know, Murphy's Law is just waiting in the wings).</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">My tips to you:</h3><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Do your searches when you won't get distracted! <br /></li><li>Have a plan.</li><li>Gather as much information about where the person was living around 1931 </li><ul><li>Use city directories for 1931 and 1932</li><li>The 1935 Voters' Lists might help if you believe they stay in the same home since 1931<br /></li><li>Use the prior census to see what district and even sub-district that street or place was listed in. The person might not even be in Canada at that time but knowing the district and sub-district may help reduce the number of pages to look at in a large city.<br /></li></ul><li>For a large city, make use of Google Maps to help figure out if you are getting closer to the street address you want to find<br /></li><li>Use the images from Ancestry. Their images load so much faster than the copies on the LAC site. Plus their filmstrip found at the bottom of their image screen makes it a breeze to move to the next sub-district <br /></li><li>Don't get stressed out trying to find your kin. Genealogy and family history research is supposed to be fun. You might even think about waiting until a searchable name index is available.</li></ul><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Good luck in your searches!</b></span><br /></p><p></p><br /><hr /><p>1. Vernon Directories Limited, <i>Vernon's City of London (Ontario) Directory for the Year 1932</i> (Hamilton, Ontario: Vernon Directories Limited, 1932), 370, entry for McKinlay Nathnl (Winnifred). </p><p>2. 1926 Census of the Prairie Provinces of Canada, Manitoba, district 17, sub-district 19, Winnipeg, p. 29, dwelling 219, family 366, Donald McMullen; RG 31; digital images, Library and Archives Canada, <i>Library and Archives Canada</i> (www.bac-lac.gc.ca : accessed 30 Apr 2020); citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm T-27399.</p><p>3. Henderson Directories Limited, <i>Henderson's Winnipeg Directory 1932</i> (Winnipeg, Manitoba: Henderson Directories Limited, 1932), 935, entry for McMullen L N.</p><p>4. 1926 Census of the Prairie Provinces of Canada, Manitoba, district 17, sub-district 21, Winnipeg, p. 7, dwelling 71, family 75, Frances Howe; RG 31; digital images, Library and Archives Canada, <i>Library and Archives Canada</i> (www.bac-lac.gc.ca : accessed 5 Jan 2021); citing Library and Archives Canada.</p><p>5. Henderson Directories Limited, <i>Henderson's Winnipeg Directory 1927</i> (Winnipeg, Manitoba: Henderson Directories Limited, 1927), 943, entry for Howe Joseph E.</p><p>6. Henderson Directories Limited, <i>Henderson's Winnipeg Directory 1932</i> (Winnipeg, Manitoba: Henderson Directories Limited, 1932), 817, entry for Howe Joseph E.</p>Ken McKinlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261891770555198035noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8017295990096371831.post-17644553319781183932023-06-02T09:45:00.003-04:002023-06-02T12:11:55.093-04:001931 Census of Canada - A Release Fiasco?<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheADMBt7anxvSVrxMlMdR5oKwC3ecW_LbgayEffmhpVbXmf1ZPfY-plR2eYlfs9F41Iq3f511UNcmatZgsBGDeJZb0kbWxoOVT_9AATrKqLajMXYYSSQ8T5rhb0nEUfFFeJ4K2bVQ3r0NDJqS71qc1ErJAQynLHH72XTidFnQ6Wk3_D-rtewNG507F/w400-h173/LAC%20-%201931%20Census%20-%20Overload%20notice%20-%2020230601-1043.jpg" style="display: none;" />
<p>Let's be honest, the public release of the images from the 1931 Census of Canada by Library and Archives Canada on June 1, 2023 was a fiasco.</p><p>On the surface all looked good according to their "<a href="https://library-archives.canada.ca/eng/corporate/website-updates/Pages/census-1931.aspx" target="_blank">Preparing the 1931 Census</a>" page.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgipQP55af5tQ8jw8HOYWEQMJpxDQNTWcgBG-EBUxhpHElxMjVhtWzW-XHlveQ1T_13UmwxuJoEVIXeySfy381AsInVlCbaB39hWO_hgRmR-lRqSQch37jyIvQ_CDUuGKNrN6z-tHlVfbjJsIFZRiavD2l2e8wTBiCrdCfRpSdltToyaXTZGCBtj3nB/s1051/LAC%20-%201931%20Census%20-%20Preparing%20the%201931%20Census%20-%20Status%20-%2020230602-0839.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture of Library and Archives Canada "Preparing the 1931 Census" web page showing "Go public" checked." border="0" data-original-height="802" data-original-width="1051" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgipQP55af5tQ8jw8HOYWEQMJpxDQNTWcgBG-EBUxhpHElxMjVhtWzW-XHlveQ1T_13UmwxuJoEVIXeySfy381AsInVlCbaB39hWO_hgRmR-lRqSQch37jyIvQ_CDUuGKNrN6z-tHlVfbjJsIFZRiavD2l2e8wTBiCrdCfRpSdltToyaXTZGCBtj3nB/w400-h305/LAC%20-%201931%20Census%20-%20Preparing%20the%201931%20Census%20-%20Status%20-%2020230602-0839.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture of Library and Archives Canada "Preparing the 1931 Census" web page showing "Go public" checked.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>At 8 a.m. ET on June 1, 2023 the <a href="https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census2/index1931" target="_blank">1931 Census search page</a> was active and by 8:17 a.m. the site was already at a crawl with long delays displaying the thumbnail images of the pages and the pages themselves. Quite often it would seem like the site was stalled. The LAC site can be slow at the best of times but this was so painfully slow that I walked away from the site. Like any good genealogist, I started doing other research periodically checking back in to see if maybe they had added more back-end processing power to compensate for the load.</p><p>No such luck and by 10:43 a.m. ET an overload notice was displaying on the search page:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheADMBt7anxvSVrxMlMdR5oKwC3ecW_LbgayEffmhpVbXmf1ZPfY-plR2eYlfs9F41Iq3f511UNcmatZgsBGDeJZb0kbWxoOVT_9AATrKqLajMXYYSSQ8T5rhb0nEUfFFeJ4K2bVQ3r0NDJqS71qc1ErJAQynLHH72XTidFnQ6Wk3_D-rtewNG507F/s1167/LAC%20-%201931%20Census%20-%20Overload%20notice%20-%2020230601-1043.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture of the Library and Archives Canada "high level of traffic" notice on the 1931 Census search page retrieved at 10:43 a.m. on June 1, 2023." border="0" data-original-height="503" data-original-width="1167" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheADMBt7anxvSVrxMlMdR5oKwC3ecW_LbgayEffmhpVbXmf1ZPfY-plR2eYlfs9F41Iq3f511UNcmatZgsBGDeJZb0kbWxoOVT_9AATrKqLajMXYYSSQ8T5rhb0nEUfFFeJ4K2bVQ3r0NDJqS71qc1ErJAQynLHH72XTidFnQ6Wk3_D-rtewNG507F/w400-h173/LAC%20-%201931%20Census%20-%20Overload%20notice%20-%2020230601-1043.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture of the Library and Archives Canada "high level of traffic" notice on the 1931 Census search page retrieved at 10:43 a.m. on June 1, 2023.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p><b>Congratulation</b> to the genealogy and family history researchers out there! We basically broke the Library and Archives Canad web site. I guess Library and Archives Canada forgot that there are a lot of us out there and we are very passionate and enthusiastic for any new genealogy collections, especially census releases.</p><p>I still had my hopes up and would check in on the site to see if it was getting better.</p><p>Nope!</p><p>By the evening we were now seeing a brand new message. Instead of being horribly slow in displaying the images we were getting a "Unable to open [object Object]: Error loading image at https://central-d.dev.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?id=e011717820&app=census1931&op=img" message (substitute the e011717820 for some other number for any other image).</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTGE5UXW_QA1O97mlOEEyLimWrVD2OMxeQWrA1KJDb27oCjxK_bFDjlf2NM9S48cJ9Gd2G67fzVMudC1FNF36LvjHk-mkh1_geVJldrcxYnGZUU1R9ToAOmUCjmisJi8TgA7YhPXbqE3223qKaINbVYHeF5OaRT3b2XMXk-RGfKaYnHiJpsMd3GLOg/s1651/LAC%20-%201931%20Census%20-%20Unable%20to%20open%20object%20error%20-%2020230601-2203.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture of "Unable to open [object Object]: Error loading image at https://central-d.dev.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?id=e011717820&app=census1931&op=img" from the Library and Archives Canada 1931 Census search page from 10:23 p.m. ET on June 1, 2023." border="0" data-original-height="1021" data-original-width="1651" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTGE5UXW_QA1O97mlOEEyLimWrVD2OMxeQWrA1KJDb27oCjxK_bFDjlf2NM9S48cJ9Gd2G67fzVMudC1FNF36LvjHk-mkh1_geVJldrcxYnGZUU1R9ToAOmUCjmisJi8TgA7YhPXbqE3223qKaINbVYHeF5OaRT3b2XMXk-RGfKaYnHiJpsMd3GLOg/w400-h248/LAC%20-%201931%20Census%20-%20Unable%20to%20open%20object%20error%20-%2020230601-2203.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture of "Unable to open [object Object]: Error loading image at https://central-d.dev.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?id=e011717820&app=census1931&op=img" from the Library and Archives Canada 1931 Census search page from 10:23 p.m. ET on June 1, 2023.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>It almost seems like someone updated the program on the server, tested it in house OK, but forgot to change the pointer to the image files from the development version to the live production version of the 1931 Census images. Of course, by then everyone working on the web site had probably gone home since the issue still existed as of 8:30 a.m. ET on June 2, 2023.</p><p>But this error pointed me to a possible solution. For you see, I recognize that URL from my efforts in playing with the other censuses of Canada to find records with addresses to help me find land records in Ontario.</p><p>For example, here is the link to the image for the 1901 Census of Canada page from Library and Archives Canada for my 3rd great-grandfather, Luke McMullen, on page 2 in Elmsley North sub-district, Lanark South district, Ontario: <a href="https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1901&op=img&id=z000077117" target="_blank">https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1901&op=img&id=z000077117</a>.</p><p>It is very similar to the image file location being given for the 1931 Census of Canada. Except the 1931 Census is pointing to a "central-d.dev.bac-lac.gc" server and not "central.bac-lac.gc.ca". </p><p>Using my browser, could I try opening the image given to me in the error massage but change "central-d.dev" to just "central"? Of course I could and I did!</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZJ3j_UPbOv_yTSQRWG9mBuUJDGn0ICjRbP9ISDSJvsWhg_EkgK5obfiw_D21LJ9Mknknds2GDyc7W6C4sph4NruycKiQg5mP24S-h3i_TyLJ4I5Wq6fDBCq8-OpIueyFZcBX38mwELsWtfGZ2yIgRKnLwedKXhU_FKxGlZiKxCuWFf7bn1XGwCSa1/s2568/1931%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Manitoba,%20Winnipeg%20North%20(187),%20Winnipeg%20Ward%202%20(9),%20descriptive%20card.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Image retrieved from https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?id=e011717820&app=census1931&op=img showing the sub-district descriptive card." border="0" data-original-height="1752" data-original-width="2568" height="272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZJ3j_UPbOv_yTSQRWG9mBuUJDGn0ICjRbP9ISDSJvsWhg_EkgK5obfiw_D21LJ9Mknknds2GDyc7W6C4sph4NruycKiQg5mP24S-h3i_TyLJ4I5Wq6fDBCq8-OpIueyFZcBX38mwELsWtfGZ2yIgRKnLwedKXhU_FKxGlZiKxCuWFf7bn1XGwCSa1/w400-h272/1931%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Manitoba,%20Winnipeg%20North%20(187),%20Winnipeg%20Ward%202%20(9),%20descriptive%20card.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Image retrieved from https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?id=e011717820&app=census1931&op=img showing the sub-district descriptive card.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Suddenly I had access to the missing images. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>A small victory for me!</b></span></p><p>Now I was very familiar with navigating the images using that sort of URL. So I rearranged the stuff after the question mark in the address to put "id=" at the end to get https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=census1931&op=img&id=e011717820. Now I could quite easily and simply change the last digits of the id to go to the hopefully next image.</p><p>I decided to focus my efforts on finding the household of Nathaniel and Winnifred (Warrener) McKinlay. They are my paternal grandparents and, according to the 1932 City Directory of London, Ontario they resided at 579 Colborne Street. Why the 1932 directory and not the 1931 directory? Often a city directory wasn't published the same year the information was collected so I will use the following year's directory first as my starting point when dealing with censuses.</p><p>After about 60 minutes later of going through the images, using Google Maps to see if the addresses appearing on the images were getting closer or not to my target address, after glancing through about 178 images I found them exactly where I hoped. </p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>A big victory for me!</b></span><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODXfqeulu2m63dDfemj99_bIw9F6I1Rofvvh957WmzKNeJY8LdaaJhOF_7pgWmIKyH52E3fT1mssriKkIFSyIqGtBL6USc6pZWlC6UgkMZNF-cx3hO02ex3aDWIykkdeRm9nknqWyi_FcpZlBy6JUJsoovznFu9HYJex7KssShBed8vW2XEtx24-f/s4200/1931%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Ontario,%20London%20(127),%20Ward%204%20(29),%20p%201%20-%20Nathaniel%20and%20WInnifred%20McKinlay.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt=""1931 Census", images, Library and Archives Canada (https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=census1931&op=img&id=e011656764 : accessed 1 Jun 2023 19h12), Population Schedule, Ontario, London district (127), London Ward 4 sub-district (29), p 1 containing the household of Nathaniel McKinley in dwelling 12, family 14." border="0" data-original-height="2728" data-original-width="4200" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgODXfqeulu2m63dDfemj99_bIw9F6I1Rofvvh957WmzKNeJY8LdaaJhOF_7pgWmIKyH52E3fT1mssriKkIFSyIqGtBL6USc6pZWlC6UgkMZNF-cx3hO02ex3aDWIykkdeRm9nknqWyi_FcpZlBy6JUJsoovznFu9HYJex7KssShBed8vW2XEtx24-f/w400-h260/1931%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Ontario,%20London%20(127),%20Ward%204%20(29),%20p%201%20-%20Nathaniel%20and%20WInnifred%20McKinlay.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"1931 Census", images, <i>Library and Archives Canada</i> (https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=census1931&op=img&id=e011656764 : accessed 1 Jun 2023 19h12), Population Schedule, Ontario, London district (127), London Ward 4 sub-district (29), p 1 containing the household of Nathaniel McKinley in dwelling 12, family 14.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>I then pushed my luck and tried to find my other grandparents in Winnipeg. That was much more of a challenge just due to how the sub-districts are laid out in Winnipeg and where my grandparents lived. I actually had to walk away several times in frustration. But, using a search suggestion by Dave Obee in his <a href="http://www.cangenealogy.com/1931-research.html" target="_blank">CanGenealogy 1931 census research tips</a> of using the 1926 Census of the Prairie Provinces as a possible starting place for the district I did finally find them just after midnight.<br /></p><p>Am I glad I could access the 1931 Census of Canada? Of course I am!</p><p>Am I really annoyed at Library and Archives Canada for botching the release of this census? You bet I am!</p><p>However, despite their failures I did find my grandparents but only due to my limited understanding of how LAC stores their census images. <br /></p><p>The release of this census could have been a wonderful success story for Library and Archives Canada. Instead I consider this to be a release fiasco. Shame on Library and Archives Canada!<br /></p><p>I'm only hoping that Ancestry and FamilySearch, in their indexing of the 1931 Census of Canada, meets with more success and that they don't let us down.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">UPDATE - 2 June 2023 11:07 AM</h3><p>Ancestry Canada now has the images of the 1931 Census of Canada available on their site in the appropriately named collection "1931 Census of Canada" found at <a href="https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62640/" target="_blank">https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62640/</a>. In my limited testing it would seem that you only need a free Ancestry account, at least for those in Canada, to access the collection. A paid subscription does <b>NOT</b> seem to be needed. Much like the Library and Archives Canada 1931 Census site, the images can only be browsed...for now. But at least Ancestry's site works and can also handle the load.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFzZPVVzcbGvk-1QUU5zVpvlrxcLlrBD7aT5st7kWc6q39dcPavMYtdlRaenWwq4NIFjsTiMVYK115V3jVuBpbBHnLIGlVOtRUH0Gl1VMMU-sV8sZgoDzaowRDxl4t_lAObwpSSczNv7j0XpE-cxP6fw_tS_wjTPvkyE8aOKHgF6jABdXhWIHHY_3s/s989/Ancestry%20-%201931%20Census%20of%20Canada%20-%2020230602-1113.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture from Ancestry's "1931 Census of Canada" collection search page found at https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62640/." border="0" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="989" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFzZPVVzcbGvk-1QUU5zVpvlrxcLlrBD7aT5st7kWc6q39dcPavMYtdlRaenWwq4NIFjsTiMVYK115V3jVuBpbBHnLIGlVOtRUH0Gl1VMMU-sV8sZgoDzaowRDxl4t_lAObwpSSczNv7j0XpE-cxP6fw_tS_wjTPvkyE8aOKHgF6jABdXhWIHHY_3s/w400-h178/Ancestry%20-%201931%20Census%20of%20Canada%20-%2020230602-1113.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture from Ancestry's "1931 Census of Canada" collection search page found at https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/62640/.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: left;">UPDATE - 2 June 2023 12:07 PM</h3><p>It looks like LAC has resolved the issue with the images attempting to be retrieved from the wrong server but the LAC site is still as slow as molasses on a cold Canadian winter night. Since Ancestry now has the same images, their filmstrip makes it easy to move to the next sub-district, and the Ancestry site is generally much faster when viewing images, I'm going to stick with Ancestry's "1931 Census of Canada" collection for my personal research.</p><p><br /></p>Ken McKinlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261891770555198035noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8017295990096371831.post-43378921698547449772023-05-25T13:30:00.001-04:002023-05-25T13:38:20.321-04:001861 Census of Canada West - The Census That Keeps Giving Challenges<img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLebf6v2C__dDHh-7BpdXMHqrbs0kWL29KABetSf8sWVBjlZ8ieXDihzhcmVqc8ueZwOvyec3eWjNvgtqeMeqHcdC1K28Wh2ZcPmCNvpcXlgCrcY5FoY7UAOLLnempNO9B5Cb3Iq2QSxFwBHX6rDWk_MToMVQwNs0ire0G6MbicozRGmsxTycG1zcU/w400-h343/Blog%20-%20LAC%20-%20Census%201861%20-%20Canada%20West,%20Huron%20County,%20Agricultural%20Census,%20image%204391938_00688%20-%20Continued%20Next%20Reel.jpg" style="display: none;" />
<p>One of my fellow genealogy researchers sent me the following question:</p><p></p><blockquote>"<i>I have found the 1861 agricultural census for Huron County in Canada West. I have searched through the pages, and the only page for Stanley Township is found on page 1274 of 1274 pages. On the LAC webpage, I tried changing the number at the end of the sequence, as you advised, and the next image says "end of reel". Increasing the number I find a list of Townships and eventually I get an error message. I think that probably means there are no more images. <br /><br />Sadly my Alexander Fraser, on lot 29, Concession V is not on the single page for Stanley Township, and therefore his information is lost to the angels.<br /><br />Is there anywhere else I can search? Possibly a microfilm at LAC?</i>"</blockquote><p></p><p>It just seems like the 1861 Census of Canada West keeps giving us challenges.</p><p>Curiously, I had experienced a very similar problem in February so I actually had knew where to start. Yet, like all adventures, I really didn't know where this journey would ultimately take me and the discoveries I'd make.</p><p>The short answer to that initial question was to look at the <a href="https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/179027" target="_blank">Census of Canada, 1861</a> collection on <a href="https://www.familysearch.org/en/" target="_blank">FamilySearch</a>. Many of these microfilms in this collection aren't available for viewing from home but only at a FamilySearch Center and <b>not</b> a FamilySearch Affiliate. However, in this case we were lucky enough that the "ONTARIO Huron (townships of Usborne and Wawanosh, and agricultural census)" (Film 349282 / DGS 4108085) is available for viewing from home. On image 530 of 597 of that digitized microfilm we find Alexander Fraser, recorded on line 47, as residing on part of lot 29, concession 5. So that was almost easy.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2m97n-uXYwpnklfX6qJir-b-BnJgCiGM45pAaThUAgukhugvwOyrDV23zHQ-2k6PPs-VHMWb6rEo5vGu7koMxo_9uC_o85-8H8F3bs0GeP03LAiJ5nxJUAqHxWwxHGN_1ZK-7T3HSpyv1mejP870DAGJjJ3AET3DgtigOOx_1tfSdlJCNM5l-hqgJ/s4880/Blog%20-%20DGS%204108085,%20image%20530%20of%20597%20-%201861%20Census%20of%20Canada%20West,%20Agricultural%20Census,%20Huron%20County,%20Stanley%20Township,%20Enumeration%20District%20No%204,%20p%20146,%20line%2047%20-%20Alexander%20Fraser.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt=""Census of Canada, 1861," images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6G1Z-Q9B : accessed 25 May 2023), Agricultural Census, Huron District, Stanley Township Sub-district, Enumeration District No. 4, stamped page 146; DGS 4108085, image 530 of 597." border="0" data-original-height="4028" data-original-width="4880" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2m97n-uXYwpnklfX6qJir-b-BnJgCiGM45pAaThUAgukhugvwOyrDV23zHQ-2k6PPs-VHMWb6rEo5vGu7koMxo_9uC_o85-8H8F3bs0GeP03LAiJ5nxJUAqHxWwxHGN_1ZK-7T3HSpyv1mejP870DAGJjJ3AET3DgtigOOx_1tfSdlJCNM5l-hqgJ/w400-h330/Blog%20-%20DGS%204108085,%20image%20530%20of%20597%20-%201861%20Census%20of%20Canada%20West,%20Agricultural%20Census,%20Huron%20County,%20Stanley%20Township,%20Enumeration%20District%20No%204,%20p%20146,%20line%2047%20-%20Alexander%20Fraser.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"Census of Canada, 1861," images, <i>FamilySearch</i> (<a href="https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6G1Z-Q9B" target="_blank">https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6G1Z-Q9B</a> : accessed 25 May 2023), Agricultural Census, Huron District, Stanley Township Sub-district, Enumeration District No. 4, stamped page 146; DGS <span class="ng-binding">4108085, image 530 of 597.</span></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td></tr></tbody></table><p>However, like much of our research, there is much more to this question than we can imagine. So let's dig into the challenges and discoveries I encountered.<br /></p><p></p><p>My colleague mentioned that they looked for the images on the Library and Archives Canada site using the techniques I mention in blog posts "<a href="https://familytreeknots.blogspot.com/2020/03/a-challenge-1861-census-of-canada.html" target="_blank">A Challenge: 1861 Census of Canada - Agricultural Schedule</a>" and "<a href="https://familytreeknots.blogspot.com/2021/02/missing-images-from-1861-census-of-canada-west-ancestry.html" target="_blank">Missing images from the 1861 Census of Canada West on Ancestry?</a>". However, the LAC reel ended with the pages for Enumeration District No. 1 for Ward No. 1 Stanley in the County of Huron, Canada West and then the dreaded "CONTINUED-NEXT REEL" image.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLebf6v2C__dDHh-7BpdXMHqrbs0kWL29KABetSf8sWVBjlZ8ieXDihzhcmVqc8ueZwOvyec3eWjNvgtqeMeqHcdC1K28Wh2ZcPmCNvpcXlgCrcY5FoY7UAOLLnempNO9B5Cb3Iq2QSxFwBHX6rDWk_MToMVQwNs0ire0G6MbicozRGmsxTycG1zcU/s3000/Blog%20-%20LAC%20-%20Census%201861%20-%20Canada%20West,%20Huron%20County,%20Agricultural%20Census,%20image%204391938_00688%20-%20Continued%20Next%20Reel.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt=""Census of 1861," images, Library and Archives Canada (https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1861&op=img&id=4391938_00688 : accessed 25 May 2023), List of sub-districts for Huron District with "CONTINUED-NEXT REEL" notation; microfilm C-1037." border="0" data-original-height="2567" data-original-width="3000" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLebf6v2C__dDHh-7BpdXMHqrbs0kWL29KABetSf8sWVBjlZ8ieXDihzhcmVqc8ueZwOvyec3eWjNvgtqeMeqHcdC1K28Wh2ZcPmCNvpcXlgCrcY5FoY7UAOLLnempNO9B5Cb3Iq2QSxFwBHX6rDWk_MToMVQwNs0ire0G6MbicozRGmsxTycG1zcU/w400-h343/Blog%20-%20LAC%20-%20Census%201861%20-%20Canada%20West,%20Huron%20County,%20Agricultural%20Census,%20image%204391938_00688%20-%20Continued%20Next%20Reel.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"Census of 1861," images,<i> Library and Archives Canada</i> (https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1861&op=img&id=4391938_00688 : accessed 25 May 2023), List of sub-districts for Huron District with "CONTINUED-NEXT REEL" notation; microfilm C-1037.</span><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>We actually find that image on FamilySearch as <a href="https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6G1Z-H96" target="_blank">image 505</a> on the "ONTARIO Huron (townships of Usborne and Wawanosh, and agricultural census)" (Film 349282 / DGS 4108085) film. But if the digitized reel ends on the Library and Archives Canada site how can it continue on the FamilySearch digitized film? Even more importantly, where is that image for Stanley Township on the FamilySearch film to be found on the LAC site?</p><p></p><p>This is where we need to look at the "<a href="https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1861/Pages/canada-west.aspx" target="_blank">Districts and Sub-districts: Census of 1861, Canada West</a>" page at Library and Archives Canada and look at the list of physical microfilms for the Huron district. This list doesn't include the Agricultural Census in the list of Sub district names but, based on looking on the various images on the LAC digitized reel and on FamilySearch, it would appear that the Huron County Agricultural Census is found on microfilm C-1037. If the Agricultural Census is supposedly continued on the next reel, it might be safe to assume (a dangerous word in any research endeavour) that the rest of the Agricultural Census is found on microfilm C-1038. Looking on the list of microfilms on the "Districts and Sub-districts: Census of 1861, Canada West" page we see that the Population Census for Camden and Gore sub-district of Kent County are found on microfilm C-1038.</p><p>We can use the Advanced Search Options on LAC for the Census of 1861 to go to the first page of the Population Census for Camden and Gore Townships of Kent County.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwJpQvmpw2-nCOIxq1eM6vySzXF_VDyv0wE4BSEhucsMsrSv_BlB-Wqstt5MSEJykJsdD2WeHQI-iuPOzIxIPX4kHF0ZoiFuzISIYd6qlUfHy_w4aOZJdAUwY7i9W_UjjdE9qIhHxwMJRmZg3W1-ttsA3CLen9F9phHa7VZl7S5sFksuGMcVU-F96l/s1154/Blog%20-%20Advanced%20Search%20Options%20-%20Census%20of%201861%20-%20Canada%20West,%20Kent,%20Camden,%20p%201.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture of the Library and Archives Canada Search: Census of 1861 form with Advanced Search Options shown searching for Canada West, District Name Kent, Sub-District Name Camden, Page Number 1." border="0" data-original-height="649" data-original-width="1154" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwJpQvmpw2-nCOIxq1eM6vySzXF_VDyv0wE4BSEhucsMsrSv_BlB-Wqstt5MSEJykJsdD2WeHQI-iuPOzIxIPX4kHF0ZoiFuzISIYd6qlUfHy_w4aOZJdAUwY7i9W_UjjdE9qIhHxwMJRmZg3W1-ttsA3CLen9F9phHa7VZl7S5sFksuGMcVU-F96l/w400-h225/Blog%20-%20Advanced%20Search%20Options%20-%20Census%20of%201861%20-%20Canada%20West,%20Kent,%20Camden,%20p%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture of the Library and Archives Canada Search: Census of 1861 form with Advanced Search Options shown searching for Canada West, District Name Kent, Sub-District Name Camden, Page Number 1.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Picking the first name returned we notice that the id in the URL pointing to the image on the LAC site is 4391555_00098. For those who have used my tips of searching and wandering through the images of the Census of 1861 on the LAC site you probably will be thinking "Hmmm, we are already on image 98. What might be on those earlier images?"</p><p>Starting at image <a href="https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1861&op=img&id=4391555_00001" target="_blank">4391555_00001</a> we can step through the images until we get to something interesting. On <a href="https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1861&op=img&id=4391555_00010" target="_blank">image 10</a> of LAC's digitized microfilm we find an image just like what we saw at the end of the last LAC digitized microfilm, an image listing the sub-districts of the Huron District. By image 12 we start seeing the Agricultural Census for Enumeration District No. 2 of the Township of Stanley for the County of Huron. Lo and behold, a few images later on the Library and Archives Canada site, we find the same image we found on FamilySearch for Enumeration District No. 4 of Stanley Township in the County of Huron on LAC's image id <a href="https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1861&op=img&id=4391555_00028" target="_blank">4391555_00028</a>.<br /></p><p>Just a moment...</p><p>FamilySearch has this Agricultural Census all together on a single digitized microfilm and Library and Archives Canada has it spread across two digitized microfilms. </p><p>What is going on? </p><p>Which "digitized microfilm" accurately reflects the actual microfilm? </p><p>I'm fortunate to live in Ottawa where the main LAC public facility is located so this question warranted a trip in to check the physical microfilm(s). Unsurprisingly, the LAC digitized microfilms would appear to be a true and accurate copy of the physical microfilms. The County of Huron Agricultural Census for 1861 <b>is</b> spread across two physical microfilms.</p><p>It seems that, at least in this case, the FamilySearch Image Group Number (DGS) film 4108085 is not a true copy of the physical microfilm. All the details are there but they have "helped" us out by splicing together images from several physical microfilms. It's just one more thing to watch for in our research and possible citations.<br /></p><p>What about my fellow researcher's challenge with finding the image on Ancestry?</p>I've noted in my own travels that Ancestry has done some strange things with the Census of 1861 and how the images have been put together on their virtual filmstrip. My colleague had found the image for the Agricultural Census of Enumeration District no. 1 for Ward No. 1 Stanley in Huron County on page 1274 of 1274. The URL that Ancestry uses to display that image is <a href="https://www.ancestry.ca/imageviewer/collections/1570/images/4391938_00686" target="_blank">https://www.ancestry.ca/imageviewer/collections/1570/images/4391938_00686</a>. That image number in the Ancestry URL really looks like the image id from Library and Archives Canada. So plugging in the number from LAC we can create the Ancestry URL <a href="https://www.ancestry.ca/imageviewer/collections/1570/images/4391555_00028" target="_blank">https://www.ancestry.ca/imageviewer/collections/1570/images/4391555_00028</a>. Going to that web address we find that image we found on the LAC and FamilySearch sites. <p>But it is image 438 of 1274 on Ancestry's virtual filmstrip! </p><p>Ancestry, in their creation of their virtual filmstrip, has placed the images from LAC's microfilm C-1038 for the County of Huron smack dab between the Personal Census Enumeration District No. 3 Ward of the Township of Hay in the County of Huron, stamped page 25 (image 430) and Personal Census Enumeration District No. 3 Ward of the Township of Hay in the County of Huron, stamped page 27 (image 473). Talk about confusing!</p><p>Ultimately it turns out that Ancestry had not properly indexed the
entries on that Agricultural Census page since the entry for Alexander
Fraser is only listed under his Given Name "Alexander" and no surname
has been transcribed into the index. About a quarter of the names on
that page are missing the surname. Even knowing the stamped page number didn't help me out. With not putting any names in and searching on just the exact keyword "agricultural" and the exact page number "146" for anyone who lived in "Huron, Ontario, Canada" Ancestry returned 5774 entries and my listed started on page 137. That's why my fellow research couldn't find their Alexander Fraser in the index. Ancestry really doesn't make it easy
for us at times!<br /></p><p></p><p>Of course, another issue with the images on Ancestry is that they only imaged the first page of the two page forms so we still need to use the images available on the Library and Archives Canada site to see the whole picture of what is recorded for each person or lot. I've covered that challenge in "<a href="https://familytreeknots.blogspot.com/2021/02/missing-images-from-1861-census-of-canada-west-ancestry.html" target="_blank">Missing images from the 1861 Census of Canada West on Ancestry?</a>"<br /></p><p>I wonder (and sort of dread) what the next challenge the Census of 1861 for Canada West will bring!</p><p><br /></p>Ken McKinlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261891770555198035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8017295990096371831.post-64501279123138667182023-05-04T15:21:00.025-04:002023-05-04T17:12:48.365-04:001931 Census of Canada - Are You Ready?<p>If everything works out, in under a month the Seventh Census of Canada which took place on June 1, 1931 will be released to the public on the <a href="https://library-archives.canada.ca/" target="_blank">Library and Archives Canada</a> web site on June 1, 2023.</p><p>Library and Archives Canada has been keeping us up to date with what is happening through their "<a href="https://library-archives.canada.ca/eng/corporate/website-updates/Pages/census-1931.aspx" target="_blank">Preparing the 1931 Census</a>" page. </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What Do We Know So Far? </h3><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Statistics Canada transferred the care and control of the 1931 Census of Canada to Library and Archives Canada on 1 Jan 2023.</li><li>The record for the archival description of the 1931 Census of Canada have been added to the Library and Archives Canada catalogue as <a href="http://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.redirect?app=fonandcol&id=5744023&lang=eng" target="_blank">Reference R233-179-4-E, RG31</a>.</li><li>There are 187 microfilm reels that have been digitized creating 234,678 images.</li><li>Library and Archives Canada has partnered with Ancestry and FamilySearch to transcribe the key information from the 1931 Census of Canada in order to create a searchable index.</li><li>Initially the digitized images will be available on the Library and Archives Canada site on 1 Jun 2023 and they will be grouped by districts and sub-districts. </li></ul>From the archival reference we also learn the following details:<br /><ul><li>The original paper census returns were microfilmed in the 1950s by the Dominion Bureau of Statistics.</li><li>The original paper census returns were destroyed.</li><li>In 2005-2006, Statistics Canada copied the microfilms created in the 1950s to make a new master since there were concerns about potential degradation of the older microfilms.</li><li><a href="https://ccri.library.ualberta.ca/assets/schedulesen/1931_form_1a.jpg" target="_blank">Forms 1A</a> and <a href="https://ccri.library.ualberta.ca/assets/schedulesen/1931_form_1b.jpg" target="_blank">1B</a>, along with the special form for the <a href="https://ccri.library.ualberta.ca/assets/schedulesen/1931_form1-nwt.jpg" target="_blank">North West Territories</a>, which contain the the population schedule forms may be all that we get. The other schedules may not have been microfilmed in the 1950s. However, we likely won't know what made it to be microfilmed until this census is released to the public.</li></ul><p></p><p>So what will these forms look like? Here is a sample of Form 1A from the <a href="https://ccri.library.ualberta.ca/enresources/schedules/index.html" target="_blank">Canadian Century Research Infrastructure</a> site. </p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPRO6z4FxP1bfXWlMsFwteKFW4q-e5oWC2vEdFJn09ekGc8iC5MmOq66H6cC1qNUo5ilRbFKE0EbBLPLJ7gN5WaOw3xae6c_5t17obJNQjOFZLQDOeGaqCKcFLXxpDpa29hSWpgyy10xl7FGgrr1nPUWOhDTQSttQe9bNEm-zx6roPok9Uyzufmt1q/s2996/1931_form_1a.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="https://ccri.library.ualberta.ca/enresources/schedules/index.html" border="0" data-original-height="1872" data-original-width="2996" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPRO6z4FxP1bfXWlMsFwteKFW4q-e5oWC2vEdFJn09ekGc8iC5MmOq66H6cC1qNUo5ilRbFKE0EbBLPLJ7gN5WaOw3xae6c_5t17obJNQjOFZLQDOeGaqCKcFLXxpDpa29hSWpgyy10xl7FGgrr1nPUWOhDTQSttQe9bNEm-zx6roPok9Uyzufmt1q/w400-h250/1931_form_1a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sample of Form 1A for the Seventh Census of Canada, 1931 retrieved from the <a href="https://ccri.library.ualberta.ca/enresources/schedules/index.html" target="_blank">Canadian Century Research Infrastructure Census Schedules</a> page.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>We can also see the various columns for the questions asked for Form 1 (Population schedule) for the 1931 Census of Canada on page 1445 in <a href="https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2017/statcan/CS98-1931-1-eng.pdf" target="_blank">Volume 1</a> of the <a href="https://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.832354/publication.html" target="_blank">Report of the Seventh Census of Canada, 1931</a>. In that same report in Appendix II we can see a few of the other forms that were used. How many of those other forms were microfilmed in the 1950s and later digitized is unknown as I write this blog post.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">What About the Questions Asked? </h3><p>For that we can refer to the "<a href="https://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.832323/publication.html" target="_blank">Seventh census of Canada 1931, instructions to commissioners and enumerators</a>" available to us from the Government of Canada Publications web site for free. </p><p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjPYRoKPRH9QXRH-UYgrENQCUyu2cy6sEfZItCaFnTHFZ3wjeYuqiz-zQkyBwwmFo3BTS3GOzTPFSVqHhH0IKEj38pykIFKzSDNSKy5_dsjaFUeRGdSpWP9YnRgcsOh9gZAYVjPgFi2jwzC9DA94do-ZkH0qZLAI2K8jakefyB9OVYAS7ty83hjgcq/s791/Blog%20-%201931%20Census%20of%20Canada%20-%20cover%20page%20for%20Instructtions%20to%20Enumerators.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Canada. Dominion Bureau of Statistics. Seventh census of Canada 1931, instructions to commissioners and enumerators. Ottawa, 1931. https://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.832323/publication.html." border="0" data-original-height="791" data-original-width="454" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjPYRoKPRH9QXRH-UYgrENQCUyu2cy6sEfZItCaFnTHFZ3wjeYuqiz-zQkyBwwmFo3BTS3GOzTPFSVqHhH0IKEj38pykIFKzSDNSKy5_dsjaFUeRGdSpWP9YnRgcsOh9gZAYVjPgFi2jwzC9DA94do-ZkH0qZLAI2K8jakefyB9OVYAS7ty83hjgcq/w184-h320/Blog%20-%201931%20Census%20of%20Canada%20-%20cover%20page%20for%20Instructtions%20to%20Enumerators.jpg" width="184" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Canada. Dominion Bureau of Statistics. Seventh census of Canada 1931, instructions to commissioners and enumerators. Ottawa, 1931. <a href="https://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.832323/publication.html" target="_blank">https://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.832323/publication.html</a>.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>We find important details such as the "Date for recording population" described in detail:</p><blockquote><p>"<i>The date selected for recording the population in the present Census is Monday, the first day of June, 1931. The decisive hour of reckoning is 12 o'clock or midnight on the night of 31st of May to 1st June; everyone born before that hour and everyone dying after it are to be counted in the population.</i>" </p></blockquote><p></p><p>Of course, as we have seen in the previous enumerations, sometimes folks got the instructions wrong so caveat lector. We also learn that Canada is still using the "de jure" system for enumeration. Quoting from the instructions, they write, "<i>Briefly, this means that the <b>home of usual place of abode</b> is the place where the majority of persons should be counted.</i>" There are several pages throughout the instructions just explaining this in detail for the enumerator. This is an important difference when compared to other countries and I've discussed it in my post "<a href="https://familytreeknots.blogspot.com/2022/01/annie-leontine-chipman-and-census.html" target="_blank">Annie Leontine Chipman and a Census Mystery</a>".</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Our Preparations</h3><p>If you know that someone was alive on 1 Jun 1931 and resided in Canada then you will probably want to look for them in the 1931 Census of Canada. But how do you figure that out?</p><p>Some of the genealogy programs actually provide tools to suggest likely candidates:</p><p><a href="https://www.rootsmagic.com/" target="_blank">RootsMagic</a> has their "Who Was There List" where you can ask it to give its best guess on who was in Canada on 1 Jun 1931.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgySMBFQCEbDbeOA8FRuQCJBBtLA1aprCCPiBuI6jLblBcvdXg_YaJ26ohDijX9_uJr3CBm5EHc6KI5xBhWBtRRYTmX9Qa_Cb3X-pRLgKIX2yutcL4TCRVLUhcGrSlV8xQIodWykFL8FOHY8fQbDFNMV8Oz4PUrXeVEU2Pw6NwY7rb9UrV4gl46iKVx/s587/Blog%20-%20RootsMagic%20-%20Who%20Was%20There%20List%20-%201%20Jun%201931%20-%20Canada.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture from RootsMagic v7 "Who Was There List" Report Settings screen." border="0" data-original-height="455" data-original-width="587" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgySMBFQCEbDbeOA8FRuQCJBBtLA1aprCCPiBuI6jLblBcvdXg_YaJ26ohDijX9_uJr3CBm5EHc6KI5xBhWBtRRYTmX9Qa_Cb3X-pRLgKIX2yutcL4TCRVLUhcGrSlV8xQIodWykFL8FOHY8fQbDFNMV8Oz4PUrXeVEU2Pw6NwY7rb9UrV4gl46iKVx/w400-h310/Blog%20-%20RootsMagic%20-%20Who%20Was%20There%20List%20-%201%20Jun%201931%20-%20Canada.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture from RootsMagic v7 "Who Was There List" Report Settings screen.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><a href="https://legacyfamilytree.com/" target="_blank">Legacy Family Tree</a> has their Census List Search tool where, like RootsMagic, you can provide information about the place and time. What I like about the Legacy Family Tree tool is that I can ask for it to be filtered by the odds of them still being in Canada on a specific date.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmpLQLT-jdx5FD1fkzrB09R2SkTKW7SHBn5VOdPHvBbLId29lpb8BeVeuDXdCY4Jf8FHC6xtnpgneztAoNpKC6qCgX82RYFJgZI_TGhybQWoKGguOTVGXC4BJ5IjFiVYfakAfip-SFWAX25jXbZtjRm2ShiTIeIyS3muj7-TQ0BcpLAn5Ni8OSZZGR/s802/Blog%20-%20Legecy%20Family%20Tree%20-%20Search%20-%20Census%20List.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture from Legacy Family Tree v9 "Search Census List" search settings screen." border="0" data-original-height="561" data-original-width="802" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmpLQLT-jdx5FD1fkzrB09R2SkTKW7SHBn5VOdPHvBbLId29lpb8BeVeuDXdCY4Jf8FHC6xtnpgneztAoNpKC6qCgX82RYFJgZI_TGhybQWoKGguOTVGXC4BJ5IjFiVYfakAfip-SFWAX25jXbZtjRm2ShiTIeIyS3muj7-TQ0BcpLAn5Ni8OSZZGR/w400-h280/Blog%20-%20Legecy%20Family%20Tree%20-%20Search%20-%20Census%20List.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture from Legacy Family Tree v9 "Search Census List" search settings screen.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>For those using <a href="https://www.mackiev.com/ftm/" target="_blank">Family Tree Maker</a> (FTM) it requires a bit of work on our part to create a list. With FTM you need to use various filters. The <a href="https://gfo.org/" target="_blank">Genealogical Forum of Oregon</a> has instructions for the 1950 Federal Census of the United States for "<a href="https://gfo.org/file_download/inline/11f63267-3a35-4dcf-9690-820e5a7ff0ad" target="_blank">Creating a 'People Alive in 1950' List</a>" that can be adapted for the 1931 Census of Canada by substituting the applicable dates.<br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Filter Out Birth before 1821 [those with known births older than 110 years]</li><li>Filter Out Death before 1 Jun 1931</li><li>Filter Out Birth after 1 Jun 1931</li></ul><p>I have 16162 individuals in my cousin bait tree on Ancestry and linked to FTM on my computer. Depending on who you include from the start in your filter the numbers left will great vary. For example:<br /></p><ul><li>If I start with "Include all", after I apply the date filters I have 13307 individuals. Yikes!</li><li>Starting with "Ancestors of me [including all parents, all spouses, and ancestors' descendants for 10 generations]" I end up with 5353 individuals. Better but still yikes! </li><li>However, if I start my filter with "Filter In Any Fact Places Contains Canada" then I end up with 4307 individuals. Still a lot of folks but this one might work for me if I was using Family Tree Maker.</li></ul><p>For other genealogy programs try an Internet search to see how you can use filters or searches to create a list of people who may have been alive in 1931 and could possibly appear in the 1931 Census of Canada.<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Other Tips</h3><p></p><p></p>Dave Obee also has an excellent write-up on his <a href="http://www.cangenealogy.com/" target="_blank">CanGenealogy</a> site on <a href="http://www.cangenealogy.com/1931-research.html" target="_blank">1931 census research tips</a> that may help you in looking through this census before the name searchable indexes are available. One of his links points you to the <a href="http://geo1.scholarsportal.info/#_lang=en" target="_blank">Scholars GeoPortal</a> site with the <a href="http://geo1.scholarsportal.info/#r/details/_uri@=3936847664" target="_blank">Boundary Files, 1931 Census of Canada</a> which allows you to possibly figure out the district and sub-district where your kin resided in the census, assuming you know where they were in Canada.<br /><p>Also pay attention to the various genealogy society announcements for presentations and webinars providing more tips.</p><p><br /></p><p>So have fun when the images are released on the Library and Archives Canada site!<br /></p>Ken McKinlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261891770555198035noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8017295990096371831.post-29824643139381285292023-02-27T17:01:00.004-05:002023-02-27T17:01:57.104-05:00Beginner's Guide: Finding Ontario Civil Death Registrations<p>Along with people asking about finding Ontario birth certificates, which I discuss in my post "<a href="https://familytreeknots.blogspot.com/2022/10/beginners-guide-finding-ontario-civil-births.html" target="_blank">Beginner's Guide: Finding Ontario Civil Birth Registration</a>", folks want to locate the death certificates for their long departed kin.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_3wlmmkgSYkE6luFw5Zi-PMvPT3eT1ei9iHBGJM43INKw1LtTGrcQ9V774vsK1DTJJLoQAe8c9m1obEdXkx056sJlosXlj_9IU15WzWZegyiBuCQHsDkHJemfB9pDN9avdf84HKdWokWEWZlJHMl9TM3Yra9EUkJnOY_WYNBvrEmFCixqdE8zVToB/s1369/Blog%20-%20Registration%20of%20death%20for%20Luke%20McMullen.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Ancestry.com, "Ontario, Canada, Deaths, 1869-1938 and Deaths Overseas, 1939-1947," database with images, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 May 2013), entry for Luke McMullen, died 21 Oct 1906; citing Archives of Ontario; Series: MS935; Reel: 126." border="0" data-original-height="1065" data-original-width="1369" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_3wlmmkgSYkE6luFw5Zi-PMvPT3eT1ei9iHBGJM43INKw1LtTGrcQ9V774vsK1DTJJLoQAe8c9m1obEdXkx056sJlosXlj_9IU15WzWZegyiBuCQHsDkHJemfB9pDN9avdf84HKdWokWEWZlJHMl9TM3Yra9EUkJnOY_WYNBvrEmFCixqdE8zVToB/w400-h311/Blog%20-%20Registration%20of%20death%20for%20Luke%20McMullen.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ancestry.com, "Ontario, Canada, Deaths, 1869-1938 and Deaths Overseas, 1939-1947," database with images, <i>Ancestry.com</i> (www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 May 2013), entry for Luke McMullen, died 21 Oct 1906; citing Archives of Ontario; Series: MS935; Reel: 126.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Before I begin this guide, I would recommend people read the "<a href="http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/tracing/death_registrations.aspx" target="_blank">Death Registrations</a>" page from the Archives of Ontario along with their "<a href="http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/access/documents/research_guide_202_vital_statistics_EN.pdf" target="_blank">Research Guide 202 - Vital Statistics Records</a>" to gain a basic understanding of what is available and why.<br /><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Registration or Certificate?</h3><p>Keep in mind that usually folks aren't actually looking for the death certificate but a copy of the completed death registration. When my father passed away a few years ago the paperwork that was filled in was titled "Statement of death - Form 15" and also included "Medical Certificate of Death - Form 16" completed my the physician. The "Statement of death" has all the details about someone's death such as when and the place where they died, where they resided, the names of their parents, and the name and address of the informant. The "Medical Certificate of Death" includes all the information about their cause of death. There is also the Ontario Death Certificate but that document usually only has a name, the sex, marital status, date and place of death, age, date of registration, and the registration number. </p><p>As genealogy and family history researchers we generally want the document with as much information as possible. So if requesting a document concerning the death of someone and the records are only available through ServiceOntario via their "<a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/how-get-copy-ontario-death-certificate-online" target="_blank">How to get a copy of an Ontario death certificate online</a>" page you will want to try to get the "<i><b>Certified copy of death registration</b></i>" or even the "<i><b>Certified copy of death registration with cause of death information</b></i>". Of course, due to privacy reasons, not everyone can <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/how-get-copy-ontario-death-certificate-online#section-4" target="_blank">request a certified copy</a> so you may need to have a relative make the application on your behalf.</p><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Years Covered</h3><p>Death registrations are only publicly available from 1869 to 1951 from the Archives of Ontario. For death registrations registered after 1951, those are still currently held by the Office of the Registrar General of Ontario and can only be requested via <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/how-get-copy-ontario-death-certificate-online" target="_blank">Service Ontario</a>. The registrations that are no longer protected by the veil of privacy are transferred from the Office of the Registrar General to the Archives of Ontario on a yearly basis for safekeeping and public access.<br /></p><p>Why 1869 and not 1867 when Ontario became a province of the Dominion of Canada? It wasn't until January 23, 1869 when "<a href="https://archive.org/details/statutesofprovi186869onta/page/132/mode/2up" target="_blank">An Act to provide for the Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths</a>" was assented to by the Crown. In that act it states that "This Act shall come into force on the first day of July, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine..." That is why you generally may not find any early deaths recorded in the civil death registrations. Although there are a few from before the July 1, 1869 date found in the records they were registered several years later after the death. But those very few entries are the exception.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Where are the Records?</h3><p style="text-align: left;">Before diving into where the registrations may be found, it is worth noting that the format of the registration forms changed over the years. One may come across the form with six boxes per page, or with spots for only three registrations in a column format. The more recent registration forms only have a single registration of death on the page. </p><p style="text-align: left;">However, there was also a registration form that is laid out horizontally. Both FamilySearch and Ancestry will generally only show you the left side of this two page register. So make sure you also get the second part of that register page!<br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Archives of Ontario</h4><p>The Archives of Ontario is the repository for those registrations transferred from the Office of the Registrar General. If you are living in or visiting Toronto, Ontario then you can drop by the <a href="http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/index.aspx" target="_blank">Archives of Ontario</a> and look at the various microfilms in person. This includes the years 1948 to 1951 since they aren't available online yet. However, according to the Archives of Ontario site, the microfilms holding the 1949-1951 registrations aren't available since they are in the process of being digitized. So always check the <a href="http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/tracing/death_registrations.aspx" target="_blank">Death Registrations</a> page from the Archives of Ontario or email them for up to date information before visiting in person.</p><p>It is important to note that the Archives of Ontario does not have the death registrations available on their web site. <br /></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">FamilySearch</h4><p>FamilySearch has the digitized microfilms of the Ontario death registrations and indexes from 1869 to 1937 in their "<a href="https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/515541" target="_blank">Deaths - registration, 1869-1937 and index, 1869-1937</a>" collection. This collection is freely available for use from the comfort of one's abode. FamilySearch also has their dedicated search page "<a href="https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1307826" target="_blank">Canada, Ontario Deaths, 1869-1937 and Overseas Deaths, 1939-1947</a>" to aid you in your efforts to find a death registration so that you don't have to manually go through the digitized indexes and registrations.<br /></p><p>You might notice that FamilySearch has "Overseas Deaths, 1939-1947" included in that search page. Those are the deaths of Ontarians who died overseas due to the Second World War. The images for those registration are found on FamilySearch in their "<a href="https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/628804" target="_blank">Ontario statistics overseas--deaths, 1939-1947</a>" collection. Quite often the completed civil death registration is a bit sparse on the details but it is a great clue that you should probably look up that person's Second World War service file in the Library and Archives Canada "<a href="https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/help/kia" target="_blank">Second World War Service Files – War Dead, 1939 to 1947</a>" database.<br /></p><p>FamilySearch, in addition to their indexes created by way of their transcriptions of the registrations, also has the images of the government created Vital Statistics Index (VSI) for deaths on their site. In the days before the Internet and the mass indexing projects, the VSI is what folks would consult first on microfilm before looking on the applicable microfilm that held the registration of death form for the person they were seeking.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcZsfj28yi7-EVIgsHS4rCwm2PVt5nJlm61t1MEkNQcqZNFQd7ep8AkCKskHdWGpwGRHLAvG-y8hJAHbTL9Fc0skmlDdqJa4BPF1U2smliSylh06pmECRPihDh9oJ9oN1gHR1zddH5rOxKfGyBe67FJENUtokJgkVzdhFmDIrLzN9VBup09KrjdNVQ/s2895/Blog%20-%20FamilySearch%20-%20Ontario%20Deaths%20-%20VSI%20example.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Ontario Registrar General, Deaths - registration, 1869-1937 and index, 1869-1937, (Archives of Ontario, Toronto), 1913: extract from page for Carrick, Michael to Carscallen, Oswald Gurney; FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org: 27 Feb 2023), DGS 8105303, image 16." border="0" data-original-height="541" data-original-width="2895" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcZsfj28yi7-EVIgsHS4rCwm2PVt5nJlm61t1MEkNQcqZNFQd7ep8AkCKskHdWGpwGRHLAvG-y8hJAHbTL9Fc0skmlDdqJa4BPF1U2smliSylh06pmECRPihDh9oJ9oN1gHR1zddH5rOxKfGyBe67FJENUtokJgkVzdhFmDIrLzN9VBup09KrjdNVQ/w400-h75/Blog%20-%20FamilySearch%20-%20Ontario%20Deaths%20-%20VSI%20example.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ontario Registrar General, Deaths - registration, 1869-1937 and index, 1869-1937, (Archives of Ontario, Toronto), 1913: extract from page for Carrick, Michael to Carscallen, Oswald Gurney; <i>FamilySearch</i> (www.familysearch.org: 27 Feb 2023), <a href="https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSJG-51J3">DGS 8105303, image 16</a>.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>Yet even now these Vital Statistics Indexes are still useful to us. One reason is that the indexes are alphabetical by surname. One can, with practice, quickly glance through the years for possible names that have been "interestingly" read and transcribed from the original documents.</p><p>You might notice that in the "CONT." column in the example above for the VSI there are two codes: 91 and 21. The 91 indicates that it is a death (9) and is the original entry (1) where as the 21 indicates that it is a stillbirth (2) original entry (1).</p><p>What about finding online those deaths after 1937? For those we need to turn to Ancestry.<br /></p><p></p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Ancestry<br /></h4><p>On Ancestry we have their "<a href="https://www.ancestry.ca/search/collections/8946/" target="_blank">Ontario, Canada, Deaths and Deaths Overseas, 1869-1948</a>" collection which has the death registrations from 1869 up to 1948. That collection includes the deaths related to those Ontarians who died overseas due to the Second World War.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Other sites</h4><p>Some might wonder where is Findmypast or MyHeritage in the list of genealogy sites to use to find Ontario civil death registrations? I wondered the same as I was writing this post. It seems that both Findmypast and MyHeritage don't have the registrations for Ontario. Findmypast has indexes for British Columbia, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan though.<br /></p><p>One of the other sites I will sometimes use is <a href="https://sites.rootsweb.com/~onvsr/" target="_blank">The Ontario Vital Statistics Project</a>. I like this site for a few reasons. The first is that the records are transcribed by folks not associated with FamilySearch or Ancestry. So they might see the written words differently. Also, the transcriptions are alphabetical in columns and I can quickly glance through a page.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh21UkPSKmkHv4re9FWm3zS-iUNCXLVYmAbCY7ls0BxOAugeMnFsky3gg9Ed_knxCsOk-1AWeCVWfwQtcD0xNcypDAdVZd26CvuVG9dUAg1Vp4lUySml-59cDbNJCSNdQAmEDTbsdIBzso_qLesHET6m0Us8av2PvlTRokR9jli1incF-tcCb1VDyec/s585/Blog%20-%20Ontario%20Vital%20Statistics%20Project%20-%20Deaths%20-%20example.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Partial screen capture from The Ontario Vital Statistics Project for Ontario Death Registrations "McL-McY" Surnames page." border="0" data-original-height="429" data-original-width="585" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh21UkPSKmkHv4re9FWm3zS-iUNCXLVYmAbCY7ls0BxOAugeMnFsky3gg9Ed_knxCsOk-1AWeCVWfwQtcD0xNcypDAdVZd26CvuVG9dUAg1Vp4lUySml-59cDbNJCSNdQAmEDTbsdIBzso_qLesHET6m0Us8av2PvlTRokR9jli1incF-tcCb1VDyec/w400-h294/Blog%20-%20Ontario%20Vital%20Statistics%20Project%20-%20Deaths%20-%20example.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Partial screen capture from The Ontario Vital Statistics Project for Ontario Death Registrations "McL-McY" Surnames page.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><h3 style="text-align: left;">Still Can't Find it!</h3><p>It could be as simple as the death may not have been registered with the civil authorities. For a number of years, even decades, the civil registrations of births, marriage, and deaths in the Province of Ontario fell far short of 100% coverage. In one case I was looking at the mother's death wasn't registered but her young son's death the following year was. According to the law no one should have been buried without a death registration filed but often it slipped through the cracks.</p><p></p><p>So where else can one look for clues concerning a death if it can't be found in the civil registrations? Some possible sources include:<br /></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Newspapers: I couldn't find a civil death registration for William Henry Chipman who died in Ottawa, Ontario on 10 Apr 1870. However, I did find his death in various newspapers since he was a member of the first parliament of Canada.<br /></li><li>Parish registers: It is important to remember that parish registers generally only record the burial of someone. If we are fortunate we will find that the parish priest or clerk will have also recorded the date of death in the register.<br /></li><li>Cemetery registers: Much like parish registers, cemetery registers are there to record the date of the burial. But since a person is <b>not</b> supposed to be buried before they are dead it can set an upper limit for the date when a person passed away.<br /></li><li>Monumental inscriptions on marker and memorial stones: However, don't necessarily trust the year or exact date found on a marker or memorial stone in a cemetery or graveyard. Sometimes the stone is a replacement and the date may be based on the memory of whomever is paying for the new marker. See my post from 2013 "<a href="https://familytreeknots.blogspot.com/2013/09/zombie-in-census.html" target="_blank">Zombie in the census?</a>" for an example of this issue. Also, just because a person has a marker in one place doesn't mean that they died in that community or are even buried in that cemetery.<br /></li><li>Schedule 2, "Nominal return of the deaths", from the 1871 Census of Canada: This schedule was supposed to record all deaths that took place in the year prior to the start of the 1871 Census of Canada which was 2 Apr 1871. Just like any other record made weeks or months after the event, the date in this schedule may be based on someone's faulty memory.<br /></li><li>City Directories: Sometime a clue can be found for the death of the male head of household. The directory entry may switch from his name to that of his wife and she will have "widow of..." after her name.</li></ul><p>Even if the death has been registered and one has a copy of the registration, see if you can find other records about the death. I have run into a case where the civil registration of death has the wrong date recorded. Both the grave marker and the newspaper have a date several weeks before the "official" date in the civil registration. Since a newspaper doesn't often report on a death before it has occurred, in this case I actually trust the newspaper more than the government record.<br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Hopefully some of the guidance in this post will help you find those sometimes elusive civil death registrations in Ontario.</p><p><br /></p>Ken McKinlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261891770555198035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8017295990096371831.post-12585687528609445962023-02-20T12:33:00.004-05:002023-02-20T12:34:32.853-05:00A Reel Challenge for the 1871 Census of Canada<p><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRwMJo4XiaiGsCp3vMnvOSGM_oVdYvxMmzEFKrqUJlwswtODtg7_XWqsjKq6lt-a-sbdEDJ2A2R0r-1-__q94c3Kdlax1gGCbgE7qwOJMo3ttyMY6NqD_ZR4Cnlo21Q0bUa6W-s30b1YmM8PpqFYBTapX38pMdGjQCzRsDI5AxwcPl2Cj85dMDObbq/s320/Blog%20-%201871%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Ontario,%20Simcoe%20North,%20Vespra,%20end%20of%20reel.jpg" style="display: none;" />
Recently in a Facebook group the following question was posted:</p><p></p><blockquote>"<i>Has anyone had any luck accessing Schedule 4 (Agricultural returns) of the 1871 Canada Census for Vespa township? Ancestry has schedules 1 - 3 and then the ‘roll’ stops and I can’t find it on Library and Archives Canada’s website.</i>"</blockquote><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>When I looked at the image on the Library and Archives Canada site for the last page on their virtual microfilm reel I could see it ended at page 18 for Schedule 3.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijlGo8moN4YqsMgP4pHiQKj-DQ1daNtKQp1npD6uLCk2cff2Gn9GOb5ILZCuKetgobPLRWYkhVJCmnhelMo51kie-MlTV3M_QoVebRvCkpr6tcVeQmB5Vv32xONyP8s_IE_oJTpYCo9flI9BLdf0ZLl7tpz4_fBDh7MZP2CDNtFXsV26RDUc_i62WI/s3852/Blog%20-%201871%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Ontario,%20Simcoe%20North,%20Vespra,%20schedule%203,%20p%2018.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="1871 census of Canada, Ontario, district 42, sub-district D, Schedule 3, p. 18; RG 31; digital images, Library and Archives Canada (https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1871&op=img&id=4396340_00685 : accessed 20 Feb 2023); Library and Archives Canada microfilm C-9962." border="0" data-original-height="3852" data-original-width="3000" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijlGo8moN4YqsMgP4pHiQKj-DQ1daNtKQp1npD6uLCk2cff2Gn9GOb5ILZCuKetgobPLRWYkhVJCmnhelMo51kie-MlTV3M_QoVebRvCkpr6tcVeQmB5Vv32xONyP8s_IE_oJTpYCo9flI9BLdf0ZLl7tpz4_fBDh7MZP2CDNtFXsV26RDUc_i62WI/w311-h400/Blog%20-%201871%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Ontario,%20Simcoe%20North,%20Vespra,%20schedule%203,%20p%2018.jpg" width="311" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1871 census of Canada, Ontario, district 42, sub-district D, Schedule 3, p. 18; RG 31; digital images, <i>Library and Archives Canada</i> (<a href="https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1871&op=img&id=4396340_00685" target="_blank">https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1871&op=img&id=4396340_00685</a> : accessed 20 Feb 2023); Library and Archives Canada microfilm C-9962.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>In the past I too have run into this issue but I never really thought about documenting how I solved this little conundrum in my own research. Time to rectify that.<br /></p><p>As an aside, some of you may be wondering why they were looking for Schedule 4 in the 1871 Census of Canada? That schedule, the "Return of Cultivated Land, of Field Products and of Plants and Fruits", is invaluable for those seeking to learn where their rural ancestors resided during the 1871 Census of Canada since it can provide the concession and lot number where a family lived or at least farmed. However, the information isn't recorded by name on the pages of Schedule 4 but by the page and line number in Schedule 1, "Nominal Return of the Living" of the head of household. So there is no searchable name index for schedule 4. I write how to use that census in my post "<a href="https://familytreeknots.blogspot.com/2021/02/ontario-concession-and-lot-in-1871.html" target="_blank">Ontario Concession and Lot in the 1871 Census of Canada</a>" which is part of my ongoing Ontario land records <a href="https://familytreeknots.blogspot.com/2021/08/finding-on-ground-wrap-up.html" target="_blank">On the Ground</a> series.<br /></p><p></p><p>Here is the process I undertook to find the next reel. </p><p>Be warned, there is a bit of playing around with URLs, that sometime long address you see in your browser of a web page. You won't break anything if you make an error though.<br /></p><p>Since we are looking at the 1871 Census of Canada we need to visit the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) page on that subject "<a href="https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1871/Pages/about-census.aspx" target="_blank">Census of Canada, 1871</a>". At this moment the page for this census is from the legacy LAC site. Sometime in the future Library and Archives Canada will move to the new site layout for the census pages. Hopefully we will still be able to do the same sort of work when they do.<br /></p><p>Next we need to visit the "<a href="https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1871/Pages/census-districts-sub-districts.aspx" target="_blank">Districts and Sub-districts: Census of Canada, 1871</a>" page. Why that page? That page not only tells us the various districts and sub-districts for that census and what may be missing but also the microfilm numbers where each sub-district may be found.</p><p>Although the person wrote "Vespa" as the township name, that is a typo. They actually meant "Vespra" which is found in district number 42, Simcoe North. In the list of districts and sub-districts for Ontario we can see that the Vespra sub-district is found on microfilms C-9962 and C-9963. The Medonte sub-district could have the same challenges since it too spans two microfilms.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv1D_ZZZI7fWXhjH1UOakHdwIt3NQLaGw13FVcenNUzabXgqp-L5YD48ln9RhLvSzc6itvhIacqOiOmn6LYUIF8iJtcJ5QdCZpbkh6Im6rLb_HAGioBbAHQcSb4RCbzXaQs2Dt62wyO6fSwWzg9yNjLmcD85uo4_o-hchMs8TcKbR58HNLQGlCnYtU/s862/Blog%20-%201871%20Census%20-%20LAC%20Simcoe%20North%20(42)%20sub-district%20list.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture of the list of sub-districts for "District 42 - Simcoe North" from the Library and Archives Canada "Districts and Sub-districts: Census of Canada, 1871, Ontario" page." border="0" data-original-height="634" data-original-width="862" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv1D_ZZZI7fWXhjH1UOakHdwIt3NQLaGw13FVcenNUzabXgqp-L5YD48ln9RhLvSzc6itvhIacqOiOmn6LYUIF8iJtcJ5QdCZpbkh6Im6rLb_HAGioBbAHQcSb4RCbzXaQs2Dt62wyO6fSwWzg9yNjLmcD85uo4_o-hchMs8TcKbR58HNLQGlCnYtU/w400-h294/Blog%20-%201871%20Census%20-%20LAC%20Simcoe%20North%20(42)%20sub-district%20list.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture of the list of sub-districts for "District 42 - Simcoe North" from the Library and Archives Canada "<a href="https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/1871/Pages/1871-ontario-districts.aspx" target="_blank">Districts and Sub-districts: Census of Canada, 1871, Ontario</a>" page.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In a perfect world the URLs for the digitized images of the microfilms would be sequential. Alas, we live in an imperfect world so it is a bit more of a challenge.<br /></p><p>We do see that there are a number of sub-districts on microfilm C-9963, the reel that continues from C-9962 for Vespra. We find Barrie, Flos, Tiny, Tay, and Medonte on reel C-9963.</p><p>We next head to the "Search: Census of Canada, 1871" page on the Library and Archives Canada site. We also need to click on the "Hide/Show Advanced Search Options" link to show the advanced search options since we are going to search by a sub-district name.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1DpNCDDzilSvzPy1QLg5ObnaGFmdFzMxDAqoCCq-wjgyuzr6iJrJUsVi6W77fmyQ8SGQkUWCgaGjR6wm1M7OKZiooTZZFM98zdne1BcQMCWNaSbEdKqzseWsOr2TlvnCRoOaaOIy_2XyhT1v1RiCkiZNd9MTtHL8tLQuUybw3QFgLZInMla6YpEgy/s729/Blog%20-%201871%20Census%20of%20Canada%20-%20Search%20screen%20with%20advanced%20options%20open.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture of the "Search: Census of Canada, 1871" page from Library and Archives Canada with District Number "42", Sub-District Name "Barrie", and Page Number "1" filled in." border="0" data-original-height="729" data-original-width="584" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1DpNCDDzilSvzPy1QLg5ObnaGFmdFzMxDAqoCCq-wjgyuzr6iJrJUsVi6W77fmyQ8SGQkUWCgaGjR6wm1M7OKZiooTZZFM98zdne1BcQMCWNaSbEdKqzseWsOr2TlvnCRoOaaOIy_2XyhT1v1RiCkiZNd9MTtHL8tLQuUybw3QFgLZInMla6YpEgy/w320-h400/Blog%20-%201871%20Census%20of%20Canada%20-%20Search%20screen%20with%20advanced%20options%20open.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture of the "Search: Census of Canada, 1871" page from Library and Archives Canada with District Number "42", Sub-District Name "Barrie", and Page Number "1" filled in.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Above we see that I've already selected the Province "Ontario" along with filling in the district number, 42, the sub-district, Barrie, and put in the page number 1. Why Barrie? In theory it should be the next sub-district after Vespra on the microfilm.<br /></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFFGGGGw-t_eH3qgXTVYT0AudPicokPx_zk_bmXrJCuwBZJsraWJMvGK0NenekIvsM0LBDYFxOn9nGen_ODQz4SCrft-kV5yOZQHKRgsLUT7UrwWAeWbsZfMlDVvYGpStFoYVunTFhJLMQyan6ZaEMR67tPEF0Mwrb9TdeClW388fu2pbj9qmB7ifK/s1168/Blog%20-%201871%20Census%20of%20Canada%20-%20Search%20results%20for%20Ontario,%2042,%20Barrie,%20p%201%20-%20JPG%20circled.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture of the search results from the Census of Canada, 1871 for "Ontario", District Number "42", Sub-District Name "Barrie", and Page Number "1" with JPG link highlighted." border="0" data-original-height="782" data-original-width="1168" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFFGGGGw-t_eH3qgXTVYT0AudPicokPx_zk_bmXrJCuwBZJsraWJMvGK0NenekIvsM0LBDYFxOn9nGen_ODQz4SCrft-kV5yOZQHKRgsLUT7UrwWAeWbsZfMlDVvYGpStFoYVunTFhJLMQyan6ZaEMR67tPEF0Mwrb9TdeClW388fu2pbj9qmB7ifK/w400-h268/Blog%20-%201871%20Census%20of%20Canada%20-%20Search%20results%20for%20Ontario,%2042,%20Barrie,%20p%201%20-%20JPG%20circled.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture of the search results from the Census of Canada, 1871 for "Ontario", District Number "42", Sub-District Name "Barrie", and Page Number "1" with JPG link highlighted.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />It doesn't matter the names returned. What we want to do is to click on the JPG line (circled in red in the image) to have the image of the page appear in our browser.<br /><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEishEtloKCbVDc5h6A2Qba94_NB1NvmlZzWkIBiLW-DeamiHLugjZagYjj4xZCFwitQNGxM-MtQeXZLJ_K20bskbuzszr-peWtB0G2vzA50nJ5xxV4yHZs2zwn2k-0gkkbcrAtwj-vABCjgzErQT2bzdrqXRtl1gRuC65lGa-rhAuT4SNF7ZfhKNBtP/s1333/Blog%20-%201871%20Census%20of%20Canada%20-%20image%20for%20Ontario,%2042,%20Barrie,%20p%201.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Partial screen capture of the browser view for Census of Canada, 1871 for Ontario, District Number 42, Sub-District Name Barrie, and Page Number 1." border="0" data-original-height="956" data-original-width="1333" height="286" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEishEtloKCbVDc5h6A2Qba94_NB1NvmlZzWkIBiLW-DeamiHLugjZagYjj4xZCFwitQNGxM-MtQeXZLJ_K20bskbuzszr-peWtB0G2vzA50nJ5xxV4yHZs2zwn2k-0gkkbcrAtwj-vABCjgzErQT2bzdrqXRtl1gRuC65lGa-rhAuT4SNF7ZfhKNBtP/w400-h286/Blog%20-%201871%20Census%20of%20Canada%20-%20image%20for%20Ontario,%2042,%20Barrie,%20p%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Partial screen capture of the browser view for Census of Canada, 1871 for Ontario, District Number 42, Sub-District Name Barrie, and Page Number 1.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Again, it isn't really important what page we are looking at. What is important is the URL or address of that image from Library and Archives Canada. In this case the address of the page is: <b></b></p><blockquote><b><i><a href="https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1871&op=img&id=4396754_00133" target="_blank">https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1871&op=img&id=4396754_00133</a></i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>What we are going to be doing is playing with the "<b>id</b>" part of the URL and here it is <b>4396754_00133</b>. It is made up of two parts, what I call the digitized microfilm number: <b>4396754</b>, and the image number: <b>00133</b>.<br /></p><p>When we looked at the last page of schedule 3 for the Vespra sub-district the id part of the URL was 4396340_00685. That digitized microfilm number is 4396340 and adding 1 to that number definitely doesn't get us to 4396754. That's why we have to do this exercise.<br /></p><p>Now we can start playing with the image number of the address.</p><p>The first thing we want to do is go to the first image on that digitized microfilm so we change <b>00133</b> to <b>00001</b> to create the URL <b><i><a href="https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1871&op=img&id=4396754_00001" target="_blank">https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1871&op=img&id=4396754_00001</a></i></b>.<br /></p><p>Now we just have to keep incrementing that number until we get to a census page. Just a word of warning, sometimes the LAC site can be a bit slow, so be patient with it.<br /></p><p>On image 5 (<a href="https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1871&op=img&id=4396754_00005" target="_blank">https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1871&op=img&id=4396754_00005</a>) of that microfilm it shows pages 78 and 79 for the Sub-District of Flos. What the heck? That doesn't make sense! A few more pages on (<a href="https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1871&op=img&id=4396754_00009" target="_blank">https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1871&op=img&id=4396754_00009</a>) we are now seeing pages 26 and 27 for Division 1 of the Tiny Sub-District. Perplexed? So was I!<br /></p><p></p><p>However, a few more pages later we get to a <a href="https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1871&op=img&id=4396754_00011" target="_blank">"START" slide</a>. We are on digitized image 11 and are just starting?</p><p>Finally on image <a href="https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1871&op=img&id=4396754_00018" target="_blank">18</a> we get to the first page of Schedule 4 for the Province of Ontario, District of Simcoe North (42), Sub-District of Vespra (D).</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis2cnv5cQDAHNHyyhe-wptvmvisDskWZTF9dZWd3P3GRGLIF4r-VV4Tziyj3d0Ug_aY8rxQxE0R8sJ1ppTqbOOsuAgKsf2nvuUdncEzoR3AYitV6hF4m3Jk9Vnw9PaLv6_1tS5Yhacy3eEpawXfk93vrXOHJZPY808MA5ozwNaj2aIpa5KX7LPHwC7/s3000/Blog%20-%201871%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Ontario,%20Simcoe%20North,%20Vespra,%20schedule%204,%20p%201.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="1871 census of Canada, Ontario, district 42, sub-district D, Schedule 4, p. 1; RG 31; digital images, Library and Archives Canada (https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1871&op=img&id=4396754_00018 : accessed 20 Feb 2023); Library and Archives Canada microfilm C-9963." border="0" data-original-height="1757" data-original-width="3000" height="234" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis2cnv5cQDAHNHyyhe-wptvmvisDskWZTF9dZWd3P3GRGLIF4r-VV4Tziyj3d0Ug_aY8rxQxE0R8sJ1ppTqbOOsuAgKsf2nvuUdncEzoR3AYitV6hF4m3Jk9Vnw9PaLv6_1tS5Yhacy3eEpawXfk93vrXOHJZPY808MA5ozwNaj2aIpa5KX7LPHwC7/w400-h234/Blog%20-%201871%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Ontario,%20Simcoe%20North,%20Vespra,%20schedule%204,%20p%201.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1871
census of Canada, Ontario, district 42, sub-district D, Schedule 4, p.
1; RG 31; digital images, <i>Library and Archives Canada</i> (<a href="https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1871&op=img&id=4396754_00018" target="_blank">https://central.bac-lac.gc.ca/.item/?app=Census1871&op=img&id=4396754_00018</a> : accessed 20 Feb 2023); Library and Archives Canada microfilm C-9963.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Those extraneous images we came across? I've found that sometimes the first few digitized images on the microfilm reels from Library and Archives Canada for the censuses may not be the actual start of the reel. I always look for the "START" slide.<br /></p><p></p><p>See, it wasn't too hard to do this little exercise.<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Ancestry <br /></h3><p></p><p>You can find the same image on Ancestry <u>once</u> you get the digitized microfilm number and image number from LAC. </p><p>But Ancestry has its own quirks. When there are strange breaks like this in the digitized microfilm reels sometimes the folks at Ancestry who created their "filmstrips" get confused. In this case I really don't blame them.<br /></p><p>The first thing we need to have is the starting part of the URL from Ancestry for where they hold the images of their "1871 Census of Canada" collection. The base URL address is:</p><p><b><i></i></b></p><blockquote><b><i>https://www.ancestry.ca/imageviewer/collections/1578/images/</i></b></blockquote><p></p><p>Then we need to add on the <b>id</b> part from the Library and Archives Canada URL of where LAC keeps their images. In this case it is <b><i>4396754_00018</i></b>.</p><p>Putting them together gives us: <a href="https://www.ancestry.ca/imageviewer/collections/1578/images/4396754_00018" target="_blank">https://www.ancestry.ca/imageviewer/collections/1578/images/4396754_00018</a>.<br /></p><p>If you have an Ancestry subscription that include Canadian records you will find that Ancestry displays the same image we found at Library and Archives Canada.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq4lUqi0_dCyjGVhV7naYuZKd6NMgtrrQqo4LTt7Jf7U-qzWVjWD0SwkOU0icmnEy2tzDzVzdCajx7JlOd-QUC-o_LlqgiJcvdfcmx4Eltbr0QI6ORz5-MQet8Th8nfDywUTmtigjCKydGPNidQg15sUgeBBOg9MZMneDkX617ag7BEslEdTfNww-t/s1920/Blog%20-%201871%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Ontario,%20Simcoe%20North,%20Vespra,%20schedule%204,%20p%201%20-%20Ancestry.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture from Ancestry of the 1871 Census of Canada, Ontario, district 42, sub-district D, Schedule 4, p. 1 with URL and Filmstrip visible." border="0" data-original-height="979" data-original-width="1920" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq4lUqi0_dCyjGVhV7naYuZKd6NMgtrrQqo4LTt7Jf7U-qzWVjWD0SwkOU0icmnEy2tzDzVzdCajx7JlOd-QUC-o_LlqgiJcvdfcmx4Eltbr0QI6ORz5-MQet8Th8nfDywUTmtigjCKydGPNidQg15sUgeBBOg9MZMneDkX617ag7BEslEdTfNww-t/w400-h204/Blog%20-%201871%20Census%20of%20Canada,%20Ontario,%20Simcoe%20North,%20Vespra,%20schedule%204,%20p%201%20-%20Ancestry.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture from Ancestry of the 1871 Census of Canada, Ontario, district 42, sub-district D, Schedule 4, p. 1 with URL and Filmstrip visible.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>You might notice that the top of the page from Ancestry for this image states "<i>Ontario > Simcoe North > Flos</i>". Yet the image itself clearly states Vespra for the sub-district. They too were initially misled by those first few images on the digitized microfilm reel and went with the name of the sub-district on those first images.<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">FamilySearch</h3><p>It is much easier to navigate through the digitized microfilm reels for the 1871 Census of Canada in the FamilySearch "<a href="https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/967045" target="_blank">Census of Canada, 1871 (schedules no. 1-9)</a>" collection. However, to do that you need to visit a FamilySearch Center or Affiliate to view these digitized microfilms since they aren't viewable from home (the key above the camera icon).</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw84Oda9vHdwG_kJjPvJvkr-5sTZ1RmuJLedUxK5fWUd0GoDZRtbXQHVQplRu_6GWlFkVDm0e5obk2gDUlSivRLMcotYNGXY-373zweudqWy2D212DzOMnei8e0lCapVgjQG4ttznV-rZcGn8zASnE319USHVOHSLKb4i6FhEXZheNLzIDQSn-ScYs/s1164/Blog%20-%201871%20Census%20-%20FamilySearch%20-%20microfilm%20list%20including%20C9962%20and%20C9963.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture from FamilySearch for the "Census of Canada, 1871 (schedules no. 1-9)" collection with microfilms C9961 to C9965 visible in the list of microfilms." border="0" data-original-height="353" data-original-width="1164" height="121" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw84Oda9vHdwG_kJjPvJvkr-5sTZ1RmuJLedUxK5fWUd0GoDZRtbXQHVQplRu_6GWlFkVDm0e5obk2gDUlSivRLMcotYNGXY-373zweudqWy2D212DzOMnei8e0lCapVgjQG4ttznV-rZcGn8zASnE319USHVOHSLKb4i6FhEXZheNLzIDQSn-ScYs/w400-h121/Blog%20-%201871%20Census%20-%20FamilySearch%20-%20microfilm%20list%20including%20C9962%20and%20C9963.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture from FamilySearch for the "<a href="https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/967045" target="_blank">Census of Canada, 1871 (schedules no. 1-9)</a>" collection with microfilms C9961 to C9965 visible
in the list of microfilms.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>As you can see, NAC no. C9962 ends with "d (Vespra, to schedule 3)" [NAC here stands for National Archives of Canada]. Yet NAC no. C9963 says it starts with " e-1 to e-2 (Barrie - town)". It would seem that the index entry for C9963 isn't quite accurate. I've run into that issue in other catalogue lists on FamilySearch, especially for the Ontario Township Papers collection.</p><p><br /></p>Ken McKinlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261891770555198035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8017295990096371831.post-51410683842401558492022-11-25T11:01:00.004-05:002022-11-25T11:06:27.963-05:00Old LAC Site via the Wayback Machine<p>For those of us who make use of the <a href="https://library-archives.canada.ca/" target="_blank">Library and Archives Canada</a> web site in our daily genealogy and family history research the change to the new look and feel has been a constant challenge. Key pages which we are very familiar with have undergone drastic changes with potentially useful material omitted or they have just vanished into the aether. So what can we do?</p><p>This is when we can turn to the <a href="https://archive.org/" target="_blank">Internet Archive</a>'s <a href="https://web.archive.org/" target="_blank">Wayback Machine</a>.</p><p>Before we head into the Wayback Machine's copy of the Library and Archives Canada web site there are a few things to note:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>What the Wayback Machine has available is a snapshot taken on various days. For the LAC site I am generally wanting to be looking at the archived copies of the pages made before the end of August 2022 when LAC flipped to the new look and feel of the site.<br /></li><li>The Wayback Machine is not speedy (neither is the LAC site at times!). Remember, this is an archive and is not meant to be used like you are browsing the Internet.</li><li>Searching databases won't work. The Wayback Machine can't copy the database back-end systems.</li><li>Links found on the Wayback Machine's archive that point to other sites will attempt to go Wayback Machine's copy of that other site. We probably don't want that. I'll address that later in this post.<br /></li><li>We won't see any new material added to the LAC site.<br /></li></ul><p>When I'm using the Wayback Machine's copy of the Library and Archives Canada site I start with the 15 Jul 2022 copy of the LAC home page: <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220715023037/https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Pages/home.aspx" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20220715023037/https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/Pages/home.aspx</a>. Why that date? I just have it bookmarked and it works for my purposes.<br /></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnpqs4Sn8tuP0gykgGaqMDKE5qiv0SrEhQumEW0FqCLS7hxle4DwUFsFj5vKuINNAJ3w6gjniehf7Co3hbWi-ql-44DR7WsOYHvG1kIsY6QgTWxuRjZNpwK_FQd4pu3WEAUBfhksxnMTgJA-atUn2zuzjBiF5Jxm8tRM_f3SciqQOuPTNX2-G-zcZe/s1245/Blog%20-%20Wayback%20Machine%20-%20LAC%20-%20Home%20Page.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen Capture from 25 Nov 2022 of the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine capture of the Library and Archives Canada home page which was made on 15 Jul 2022." border="0" data-original-height="916" data-original-width="1245" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnpqs4Sn8tuP0gykgGaqMDKE5qiv0SrEhQumEW0FqCLS7hxle4DwUFsFj5vKuINNAJ3w6gjniehf7Co3hbWi-ql-44DR7WsOYHvG1kIsY6QgTWxuRjZNpwK_FQd4pu3WEAUBfhksxnMTgJA-atUn2zuzjBiF5Jxm8tRM_f3SciqQOuPTNX2-G-zcZe/w400-h294/Blog%20-%20Wayback%20Machine%20-%20LAC%20-%20Home%20Page.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen Capture from 25 Nov 2022 of the Internet Archive's Wayback
Machine capture of the Library and Archives Canada home page which was
made on 15 Jul 2022.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>I can now navigate on that page. Usually I will use the "Discover the Collection" or possibly the "Search the Collection" drop down menus to select what I want to see. Just remember that any page where you can do a search will appear but the searching part won't work.<br /></p><p></p><p> </p><p>What if you have a URL in your bookmarks that is no longer working on the new LAC site?</p><p>My first place to check is the "<a href="https://library-archives.canada.ca/eng/collection/research-help/all-tools-guides/Pages/all-tools-guides.aspx" target="_blank">A to Z tools and guides</a>" page on the new Library and Archives Canada site and filter by the keywords. If the page appears in the list then check it out. It might have all that you are looking for.<br /></p><p>But what if the page has been gutted of all the really useful information or it is not found?</p><p>Then go back to the <a href="https://archive.org/" target="_blank">Internet Archive</a> home page and at the top where it has the Wayback Machine search box copy and paste your URL you had bookmarked. By the way, this works for many of the "lost" pages and web sites on the Internet, not just for the Library and Archives Canada site.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi10kw9GjjP-ABOVTw6TJi5qLopIkk-yAh5u4FsSM39uLnEX7xIj17iaNOey_6BsQNtdb_PbPh4t2V5bvAm7HaFr7RUbEuY4buS-VXR-t8vU4NwSeBpP_P4Q9q0k3oUF1WfrzYe02ir-H7ZG5vEUEivodP5m8eoIyhTaTg6jiRUlS2p_ykjQOBT2HZ2/s1245/Blog%20-%20Internet%20Archive%20home%20page.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture taken 25 Nov 2022 of the Internet Archive home page." border="0" data-original-height="606" data-original-width="1245" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi10kw9GjjP-ABOVTw6TJi5qLopIkk-yAh5u4FsSM39uLnEX7xIj17iaNOey_6BsQNtdb_PbPh4t2V5bvAm7HaFr7RUbEuY4buS-VXR-t8vU4NwSeBpP_P4Q9q0k3oUF1WfrzYe02ir-H7ZG5vEUEivodP5m8eoIyhTaTg6jiRUlS2p_ykjQOBT2HZ2/w400-h195/Blog%20-%20Internet%20Archive%20home%20page.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture taken 25 Nov 2022 of the Internet Archive home page.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>For example, I've not been able to find Merchant Marine page on the new Library and Archives Canada site. For those researching anyone who served in the Merchant Marine (peacetime) or Merchant Navy (wartime), this page was a great place to find out where many of the records are held (hint, it isn't LAC) and also what collections LAC has that may help you out in your research. The page used to be at "https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/genealogy/topics/employment/Pages/merchant-marine.aspx" but if I go to that URL it just brings me to the new Library and Archives Canada site. However, if I copy and paste that address into the Wayback Machine it displays:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8vqx7EWTQtxzbZwjplHbqF27qypQgz_eAH6dNEEtu94Vj_l4-G-um_MT6qImX7vReDELyjm2thnPED2Nt2ZfQ23ySW4RNQHwgsiWeMc8xcCf99QZpdzW8QjW8DXemVpALvP5GtvyeO_Zu_JORUw5f8E4X2QOX03Uk4FpQnTIeKCY75-UTVbNxf9s3/s1245/Blog%20-%20Wayback%20machine%20-%20LAC%20-%20Merchant%20Marine%20archive%20dates.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture taken 25 Nov 2022 of the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine's archive dates of the Library and Archives Canada Merchant Marine page." border="0" data-original-height="875" data-original-width="1245" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8vqx7EWTQtxzbZwjplHbqF27qypQgz_eAH6dNEEtu94Vj_l4-G-um_MT6qImX7vReDELyjm2thnPED2Nt2ZfQ23ySW4RNQHwgsiWeMc8xcCf99QZpdzW8QjW8DXemVpALvP5GtvyeO_Zu_JORUw5f8E4X2QOX03Uk4FpQnTIeKCY75-UTVbNxf9s3/w400-h281/Blog%20-%20Wayback%20machine%20-%20LAC%20-%20Merchant%20Marine%20archive%20dates.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture taken 25 Nov 2022 of the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine's archive dates of the Library and Archives Canada Merchant Marine page.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A total of 61 snapshots of that page have been archived by the Wayback machine. If I hover my mouse pointer over the highlighted dates in the calendars I can then select the time of the capture of the page in question. For the LAC site I will generally want to see pages from before 30 Aug 2022. There are no updates to the page in August so I might pick 15 Jul 2022 at 10:32:18 or 7 Jul 2022 taken at 18:49:22.<br /></p><p>And here is the page from the snapshot taken by the Wayback Machine:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6KiQOrJ01PWU2yd1JMZiK3X4w5kze3NLm2NnyruEE43XsNurWHqzDeaZGJ4wfxYLJBg50uGHk6Pt18kULzXvCh5AW6GrrP_Z3W4awEFwK3bp2ery_NKkZ5zL-ZORGjyUuBiFWwdDfpW2AzEcli6jSwibTfVOAKcR_9fSHyF1ulaMzx0k1c334G58Y/s1245/Blog%20-%20Wayback%20machine%20-%20LAC%20-%20Merchant%20Marine%20archive.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture taken 25 Nov 2022 of the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine snapshot at https://web.archive.org/web/20220707184922/https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/genealogy/topics/employment/Pages/merchant-marine.aspx of the old Library and Archives Canada Merchant Marine page (https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/genealogy/topics/employment/Pages/merchant-marine.aspx)." border="0" data-original-height="776" data-original-width="1245" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6KiQOrJ01PWU2yd1JMZiK3X4w5kze3NLm2NnyruEE43XsNurWHqzDeaZGJ4wfxYLJBg50uGHk6Pt18kULzXvCh5AW6GrrP_Z3W4awEFwK3bp2ery_NKkZ5zL-ZORGjyUuBiFWwdDfpW2AzEcli6jSwibTfVOAKcR_9fSHyF1ulaMzx0k1c334G58Y/w400-h249/Blog%20-%20Wayback%20machine%20-%20LAC%20-%20Merchant%20Marine%20archive.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture taken 25 Nov 2022 of the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine snapshot at https://web.archive.org/web/20220707184922/https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/genealogy/topics/employment/Pages/merchant-marine.aspx of the old Library and Archives Canada Merchant Marine page (https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/genealogy/topics/employment/Pages/merchant-marine.aspx).</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p>One of the links on that page points to how to submit an ATIP request to Veterans Affairs Canada in order to request wartime records of those who served in the Merchant Navy. The problem is that the link doesn't actually take you to Veterans Affairs Canada but to the Wayback Machine copy. We don't want that.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDph6zuaLCsbi9-HFf70vvQ-zXqScuOMse_GXIIrTw2l4ZOnEmhDXqFj4P1DAPUqly8Iub3mOScqKNqTe79DK-68DgBtgxlGPQlIT4S1BKPc9tMUCZNYvYZpU4FQOO3mNGrnCC-v9aYVaMltse7zb5vCcSrmA0iipBrMz9PHw7swuWvK3JSWyciYfX/s825/Blog%20-%20Wayback%20machine%20-%20LAC%20-%20Merchant%20Marine%20archive%20-%20Wartime%20records.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture taken 25 Nov 2022 of the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine snapshot of the old Library and Archives Canada Merchant Marine page concerning how to request Wartime records." border="0" data-original-height="265" data-original-width="825" height="129" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDph6zuaLCsbi9-HFf70vvQ-zXqScuOMse_GXIIrTw2l4ZOnEmhDXqFj4P1DAPUqly8Iub3mOScqKNqTe79DK-68DgBtgxlGPQlIT4S1BKPc9tMUCZNYvYZpU4FQOO3mNGrnCC-v9aYVaMltse7zb5vCcSrmA0iipBrMz9PHw7swuWvK3JSWyciYfX/w400-h129/Blog%20-%20Wayback%20machine%20-%20LAC%20-%20Merchant%20Marine%20archive%20-%20Wartime%20records.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture taken 25 Nov 2022 of the Internet
Archive's Wayback Machine snapshot
of the old Library and Archives Canada Merchant Marine page concerning how to request Wartime records.<br /></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />This is where we have to do some work. If we hover the mouse pointer on the URL and right click (on a Windows system...a Mac or mobile device will be done differently) you can copy the link which appears to be:<p></p><p><i>https://web.archive.org/web/20220707184922/https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/veterans-rights/access-to-information-privacy/how-to-submit-atip-request</i></p><p></p><p>Notice that the URL is made up of two parts:</p><p>1. The Wayback Machine details that include the date and time stamp: <i>https://web.archive.org/web/20220707184922</i></p><p>2. The URL of the web page we are looking at: <i>https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/veterans-rights/access-to-information-privacy/how-to-submit-atip-request</i></p><p>We just want to take that second part of the address, <i>https://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/veterans-rights/access-to-information-privacy/how-to-submit-atip-request</i>, and copy that into our web browser. With any luck we will be able to get to the right page on that site.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The new Library and Archives Canada web site is still undergoing updates through a phased approach. You will get frustrated, annoyed, a really ticked off when you can't find what you know used to be there. Hopefully this post will ease some of the frustrations you are feeling.</p><p>Also, if it is an important page that really should be there, voice your concerns by going to the "<a href="https://library-archives.canada.ca/eng/services/public/ask-us-question/pages/ask-reference-question.aspx" target="_blank">Ask reference a question</a>" page, select "Reference" as the "Request Type", and let them know (politely of course) how useful the page was and ask if it will be made available on the site sometime in the near future. </p><p><br /></p><p>Remember, the Wayback Machine works for a number of other web pages
found in the Internet that may have disappeared into the aether. If you do find the Wayback Machine, or the Internet Archive in general, to be a useful tool, please consider making a small donation to help them pay for their back-end resources.</p><p><br /></p><p></p>Ken McKinlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261891770555198035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8017295990096371831.post-80437945660453973032022-11-20T14:26:00.003-05:002022-11-22T20:14:36.701-05:00Library and Archives Canada New Beta Census Search<p>Library and Archives Canada did warn us that they were transitioning to the new "cleaner" (my term) design for their pages in a phased approached. Thanks to Gail Dever and her post "<a href="https://genealogyalacarte.ca/?p=39916" target="_blank">New Census Search tool designed to make it easier to find family roots in Canada</a>" at <a href="https://genealogyalacarte.ca/" target="_blank">Genealogy à la carte</a> for the heads up I found myself spending my Sunday morning and part of the afternoon playing on the new search page and writing this up.</p><p>For now the old LAC census search page still exists at "<a href="https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/Pages/census.aspx" target="_blank">Censuses</a>" but it will be going away sometime in the future. In preparation for the day when that happens and just based on what Library and Archives Canada did to other topic/landing pages, I'd recommend saving or printing, maybe as a PDF if your computer supports it, those various census topic pages to your computer for safekeeping...just in case. Those current pages do have a wealth of really information on them and we don't know if they will be carried forward to the new site.<br /></p><p>On to the new LAC <a href="https://recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census2/index" target="_blank">census search page</a>...</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuRCt-DbiMAsDsWhDD-MxwnNg0uQCkkcQ6befHyikKexlLOQzRqfxKIVWoicUR99c7AlR_cw6SPb0kCeUvFdVb6nqfIkDZn1pgPBd7d9irDrfAp2wjzLE_-JMQvp-_f8WhC5YvYjcNZXO6Js-D0AFCJtEa7rIo8eLiIkdVKfAeNkG98-Fewr4YABjm/s1165/LAC%20-%20New%20Census%20Search%20Page%20(Beta-20221120)%20-%20extract.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture of the new Library and Archives Canada Census Search (beta) screen taken on 20 Nov 2022." border="0" data-original-height="726" data-original-width="1165" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuRCt-DbiMAsDsWhDD-MxwnNg0uQCkkcQ6befHyikKexlLOQzRqfxKIVWoicUR99c7AlR_cw6SPb0kCeUvFdVb6nqfIkDZn1pgPBd7d9irDrfAp2wjzLE_-JMQvp-_f8WhC5YvYjcNZXO6Js-D0AFCJtEa7rIo8eLiIkdVKfAeNkG98-Fewr4YABjm/w400-h249/LAC%20-%20New%20Census%20Search%20Page%20(Beta-20221120)%20-%20extract.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture of the new Library and Archives Canada Census Search (beta) screen taken on 20 Nov 2022.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />I'll be using Luke McMullen, my 3rd great-grandfather, in the examples in this blog. Why? Because it is my blog and also his name presents some interesting challenges at times.<br /><p></p><p>The expanded search box screen captures which I took on 20 Nov 2022 all appear on the same screen in your browser. I've just presented them individually for clarity.<br /></p><p>Here are my personal observations and recommendations on how to use the current search pages to do general census searches.</p><p></p><p>My first recommendation for anyone who has done census searches using any of the genealogy sites is to click on the "Advanced search" link at the top of the search form. What that does is open up the "Census year(s)", "Who", "When", "Where" and "Location in the archive" search forms so that you can see all the possible things you can search on. Yes, you could click the "More" button in the "Who", "Where", and "Location in the archive" but why click several buttons when one button will do the work for you.</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Census year(s) <br /></h3><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD0kPVXShhNguz4_3o0aB5XtccX8TFz-STzh-qHUlX4qsFZawbzb1OQ4gqBOYmuI3WqEuPvFG9bK9hox8Xj69j3w7UT6Sjv-UwfiSoW5D4sEAo-A0ams2nHLJ5O00mzAeyRY-QlKjLHvlM9-ymvRSges7UVt5td208YqTCgtTrWqwt5lKOm__aNhsV/s1158/LAC%20-%20New%20Census%20Page%20-%20Census%20years%20opened.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture of the expanded "Census year(s)" search box on the new Library and Archives Canada Census Search (beta) screen taken on 20 Nov 2022." border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="1158" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD0kPVXShhNguz4_3o0aB5XtccX8TFz-STzh-qHUlX4qsFZawbzb1OQ4gqBOYmuI3WqEuPvFG9bK9hox8Xj69j3w7UT6Sjv-UwfiSoW5D4sEAo-A0ams2nHLJ5O00mzAeyRY-QlKjLHvlM9-ymvRSges7UVt5td208YqTCgtTrWqwt5lKOm__aNhsV/w400-h150/LAC%20-%20New%20Census%20Page%20-%20Census%20years%20opened.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture of the expanded "Census year(s)" search box on the new Library and Archives Canada Census Search (beta) screen taken on 20 Nov 2022.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><h3 style="text-align: left;"></h3><p>In the census years I would suggest to select only the years the person was alive...assuming you know that little bit of information. Why? So that you don't get overwhelmed or confused with extra results that don't apply to your person. Since Luke McMullen was born about 1818 and died in 1906 I would probably uncheck the boxes for 1911 and 1921 under "Dominion of Canada" and 1916 and 1926 under "All Prairies". </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Who<br /></h3><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAmyDcG30_3WPxewbynXdw9IKWxH2rEf4bLsL6tps5wzTLIHv-qVDpNVtiLzawXf05t5xycScKcq06icB9CU-WMb1-AuYBlcyiChHhqq7KENg0hdMbPXx3ES07lmTSRe-8Lez9R4rcEDE2IxZe78OTB4ZukOXyhF_tKhsnVRwtz63tTbIY23Ng1PZo/s1151/LAC%20-%20New%20Census%20Page%20-%20Who%20opened.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture of the expanded "Who" search box on the new Library and Archives Canada Census Search (beta) screen taken on 20 Nov 2022." border="0" data-original-height="497" data-original-width="1151" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAmyDcG30_3WPxewbynXdw9IKWxH2rEf4bLsL6tps5wzTLIHv-qVDpNVtiLzawXf05t5xycScKcq06icB9CU-WMb1-AuYBlcyiChHhqq7KENg0hdMbPXx3ES07lmTSRe-8Lez9R4rcEDE2IxZe78OTB4ZukOXyhF_tKhsnVRwtz63tTbIY23Ng1PZo/w400-h173/LAC%20-%20New%20Census%20Page%20-%20Who%20opened.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture of the expanded "Who" search
box on the new Library and Archives Canada Census Search (beta) screen
taken on 20 Nov 2022.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>For the "Who" I'd recommend just filling in the "First name" and "Last name". The reason for not filling in the other boxes, except possibly "Gender", is that we probably don't know those details, what was transcribed, and, just as importantly, we don't know what was told to the enumerator. For example, in the various records for Luke McMullen I've found that his birth year was stated or calculated as 1818 or 1819 or 1820 or 1826. The form doesn't currently support age ranges so if you put in a specific age then you may miss many of the census search returns. As for 'Religion", I don't know about your family, but my kin who followed the various Protestant branches seemed to switch churches in almost every census enumeration.</p><p>When it comes to names and what the enumerator wrote or scribbled and playing the "guess what the blind transcriber saw" game is no longer fun, then try making use of the wildcard '*' character. If I search for "Luke McMullen" I get back five results: 1851, 1861 (agricultural), 1871 (Ontario), 1891, and 1901. Yet the 1871 Census of Canada result doesn't have an image attached since that transcription index entry was created by the Ontario Genealogical Society in the 1980s of just the heads of household. But what about the 1871 Census of Canada for Luke McMullen with an image?</p><p>Well this is where the wildcard comes in handy.</p><p>If I do a search for "Luke McMull*n" then the 1871 Census of Canada with an image appears in the list. The gotcha there here is that his last name was transcribed as "Luke McMull<i>i</i>n"</p><p>Also, for anyone with a surname that starts with "Mc" or "Mac" I'd recommend replacing the "c" or "ac" with the wildcard. So when searching for McMullen I might start with "M*Mullen"</p><p>But I'm still missing the 1861 population schedule and the 1881 census so I tried searching using "Luke *Mull*n". Now I got back 15 results. Hmmm, just a few more than I expected! Most of them are of a Luke Mullin in Quebec. Yet if I filter on just the Province for "Ontario" I get only four results and still no 1881 and nothing before 1861. To find Luke in the Census of 1881 I had to search for "luke *mull*" and there I found his name transcribed as "Luke Mulle<i>m</i>". By the way, I can't fault the transcriber in this case. It really does look like it is written by the enumerator as "Luke Mullem". However, there is another gotcha when it comes to filtering on the provinces but this is for when I discuss the "Where" search box below.<br /></p><p>As for that Census of 1861 Canada it appears that the enumerator wrote on the population schedule Luke's name as "Luk McMullen". </p><h3 style="text-align: left;">When<br /></h3><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOTy-sEF-8baTC9atg7mL-whxgXjlPaHskJq0iCyKdA5ywU8L628OHpflfCF13C9lcwaRo5r22C6ZuXKsCDax5LJuNektJCIZ_8-tYBPRSlD8b90KqNpR3CYE-NKlNF8hjN5lrB6eTC1P-xIB1yK09TZPTvmfLNpVjA9oIgOCz7lCB7Vhz07x4qiKz/s1151/LAC%20-%20New%20Census%20Page%20-%20When%20opened.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture of the expanded "When" search box on the new Library and Archives Canada Census Search (beta) screen taken on 20 Nov 2022." border="0" data-original-height="118" data-original-width="1151" height="41" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOTy-sEF-8baTC9atg7mL-whxgXjlPaHskJq0iCyKdA5ywU8L628OHpflfCF13C9lcwaRo5r22C6ZuXKsCDax5LJuNektJCIZ_8-tYBPRSlD8b90KqNpR3CYE-NKlNF8hjN5lrB6eTC1P-xIB1yK09TZPTvmfLNpVjA9oIgOCz7lCB7Vhz07x4qiKz/w400-h41/LAC%20-%20New%20Census%20Page%20-%20When%20opened.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture of the expanded "When" search
box on the new Library and Archives Canada Census Search (beta) screen
taken on 20 Nov 2022.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>I'd also leave the dates in the "When" blank just for the same reason I recommended leaving the "Age" blank in the "Who" search box. Our ancestors just weren't too consistent when it come to stating their age and it didn't help that on at least one census it asks "Age next birthday".</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Where <br /></h3><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKpcghtY2-Wth5_Dk3KsPElZoyOq5dUMNpSExoyNwgzjsn1alsQGn54xbgD4-kY24ncpd9Tf9K8AsmI1TlAKLB2mUifUP7umDVExhntMtuFOIluHFrDNcuuZxC564znoFbj69pU-nVaXqLteEWeYzctlRw9y4gToJNN_hHi8JboEbmdfvNJIUYTRje/s1150/LAC%20-%20New%20Census%20Page%20-%20Where%20opened.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture of the expanded "Where" search box on the new Library and Archives Canada Census Search (beta) screen taken on 20 Nov 2022." border="0" data-original-height="369" data-original-width="1150" height="129" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKpcghtY2-Wth5_Dk3KsPElZoyOq5dUMNpSExoyNwgzjsn1alsQGn54xbgD4-kY24ncpd9Tf9K8AsmI1TlAKLB2mUifUP7umDVExhntMtuFOIluHFrDNcuuZxC564znoFbj69pU-nVaXqLteEWeYzctlRw9y4gToJNN_hHi8JboEbmdfvNJIUYTRje/w400-h129/LAC%20-%20New%20Census%20Page%20-%20Where%20opened.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture of the expanded "Where" search
box on the new Library and Archives Canada Census Search (beta) screen
taken on 20 Nov 2022.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The "Where" box is handy if you know in which province your kin resided. Yet if they moved to another province, quite often the phase "Go west, young man" comes to mind, you may miss later census entries. Where the "Where" search box does come in handy is if you are looking for someone in a specific place at a specific time. One does need to keep in mind that district names and sub-district names, along with their numbers, may have changed between the taking of the censuses. </p><p>One thing that is missing on in the "Where" search box is the being able to search by page number. Why would that be useful? What if you were presented with a source citation along the lines of:</p><p></p><blockquote>1901 census of Canada, Ontario, district 81, sub-district f-2, p. 2, dwelling 17, family 17, Luke McMullen; RG 31; digital images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., <i>Ancestry</i> (www.ancestry.com : accessed 3 May 2013); citing Library and Archives Canada microfilm T-6478. </blockquote><p>Yes, I know that this is not a perfect citation but for my purposes it is "good enough". If we don't have Ancestry there is still enough information to find the page on the Library and Archives Canada site even without searching using the name...except the new search form, unlike the old form, doesn't let me narrow down the results to just a single page. The page number is captured in the "Record Information - Details" screen when I look at the search results so this should be a simple thing to add to the form by the developers. </p><p>There is a gotcha, the one I alluded to in the "Who" section, when searching for folks in the censuses before 1871 who lived in Ontario. They weren't living in a place named Ontario yet. They were living on Upper Canada or Canada West according to the government. The same challenge for those living in the province presently called Quebec. Quebec was known as Lower Canada and then later Canada East. You may also have same challenge with the Prairie provinces since depending on the time they may have been enumerated under "The Territories" .</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Location in the archive <br /></h3><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJELAI6BfOfSDm2TeN_Yltfrde-VY5UaS6cMP69W9NrxpS_CCS7F-1dVBrYeShXGfnj3Gn-xYcvoBXDKgD5iLB_6R8DyPFVu3YK4bg5jEFRzTvUGhCvy0daJLIWhJVy64fBX2ud2T3em1z-P5XB8j5LxqdPBnQKopYuhj_F09S0ORUcn26uOFeDChj/s1150/LAC%20-%20New%20Census%20Page%20-%20Location%20in%20the%20archive%20opened.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture of the expanded "Location in the archive" search box on the new Library and Archives Canada Census Search (beta) screen taken on 20 Nov 2022." border="0" data-original-height="244" data-original-width="1150" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJELAI6BfOfSDm2TeN_Yltfrde-VY5UaS6cMP69W9NrxpS_CCS7F-1dVBrYeShXGfnj3Gn-xYcvoBXDKgD5iLB_6R8DyPFVu3YK4bg5jEFRzTvUGhCvy0daJLIWhJVy64fBX2ud2T3em1z-P5XB8j5LxqdPBnQKopYuhj_F09S0ORUcn26uOFeDChj/w400-h85/LAC%20-%20New%20Census%20Page%20-%20Location%20in%20the%20archive%20opened.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture of the expanded "Location in the archive" search
box on the new Library and Archives Canada Census Search (beta) screen
taken on 20 Nov 2022.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Unless you are doing an arcane search leave the various fields in the "Location in the archive" blank. However, there have been times when I've been helping out someone in their research using Ancestry where I want to point them to the image on the Library and Archives Canada site and I do have the image number that I've found embedded in the Ancestry URL. With this extra search field it will make it very easy for me to find the image. As I said...arcane!<br /></p><p>Getting back to Luke McMullen, finding him in the new LAC Census search page I would
have to look for "Luk* *mull*" and filter just on the years he was alive. There will be a number of entries that don't apply
to him. I can't filter on "Ontario" for the Province since then I'd miss the censuses of 1851 and 1861 for those censuses are recorded as being in "Canada West".</p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Collection Search Results <br /></h3>Once you get to the search results screen there is one thing to note: <b>don't</b> use the back button to get back to adjust or modify your various filters. <p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhca-z1aaWJnhEpsGsi2zkAsikucvbRrci2LiMOg7KdR6HoEwegUUqs2Ruv6qoeEoxgMu70tE9H9W-EXKZsoISlAzAjwY00l337tyxBrbuusgWiRqjWv21min0bdJpbU9pe2kTlK-D63urHgojzg32J8AO-_K-He83wXjs5Imnahq1iYLFCnc68d5_9/s1149/LAC%20-%20New%20Census%20Page%20-%20Search%20results.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture of the search results page in Collection Search for the new Library and Archives Canada Census Search (beta) system taken on 20 Nov 2022." border="0" data-original-height="693" data-original-width="1149" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhca-z1aaWJnhEpsGsi2zkAsikucvbRrci2LiMOg7KdR6HoEwegUUqs2Ruv6qoeEoxgMu70tE9H9W-EXKZsoISlAzAjwY00l337tyxBrbuusgWiRqjWv21min0bdJpbU9pe2kTlK-D63urHgojzg32J8AO-_K-He83wXjs5Imnahq1iYLFCnc68d5_9/w400-h241/LAC%20-%20New%20Census%20Page%20-%20Search%20results.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture of the search results page in Collection Search for the new Library and Archives Canada Census Search (beta) system taken on 20 Nov 2022.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br />Instead, at the top of the search results page click on the "Modify search" to open up the search boxes just like we have seen on the initial search page. Make your changes here and click on the Search button to update the results.<p></p><p>Now not all is bad. The new image display page coming from the
Collection Search page allows you to zoom in and out on the image by
increments. So that is a nice feature. Plus being able to search from one screen, once some issues are hopefully dealt with, is a good thing.<br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">Wrapping Up <br /></h3><p></p><p></p><p>Since this is a beta version of the page I figure now is the time to give my constructive feedback to Library and Archives Canada in the hopes of influencing the page and how it works. I've signed up for a 10 minute online feedback session and I've sent a laundry list of things to LAC via their "email us your comments" link at the top of the search page.</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Add search by page number in the "Where" search box. It is there in the old search system so hopefully that is an oversight.</li><li>Add the ability to search by multiple Provinces in the "Where" search box. As I've noticed with Luke McMullen, LAC treats Ontario, Canada West, and Upper Canada as different places. Being able to select all three in my search would be a nice feature.</li><li>One search feature that would be possibly the hardest to implement is to search for a range of numbers. Most of our kin had a range of ages or years recorded in the censuses. Being able to search for something like "From year: 1818" "To year: 1826" for a year would help us to get rid of the extra folks in the returned results. Same with searching by age.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Finally, and this is the important thing to remember. This is a beta version of the pages and things will change, hopefully for the better. So when you get frustrated, <b>not</b> if but when, step away from the computer or switch back to the familiar old Census search pages (at least for now).</p><p><br /></p><h3 style="text-align: left;">UPDATE - 22 Nov 2022<br /></h3><p>It really can pay off to provide constructive feedback for I received a reply to my email from someone in the Digital Access, Public Services Branch at Library and Archives Canada. There are a few things I will share:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>They are in the process of introducing search ranges for"Age", 'Year of birth", and "Year of immigration". So keep an eye open for it in the upcoming weeks.</li><li>Being able to select multiple "Provinces" is already an improvement that was requested by the Library and Archives Canada genealogy staff. So it is one of the features they will be working on.</li></ul><p>For my issue with the page number, they pointed out that is actually under the "Location in the archive" search box but only if a specific year is selected. I've advocated that it should be in the "Where" section since the page number, line number, and family number is more associated with the district, sub-district, and division number when created a citation. <br /></p>Ken McKinlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261891770555198035noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8017295990096371831.post-70679635777900052282022-11-08T19:13:00.005-05:002022-11-08T19:13:52.817-05:00Webinar - Researching a Canadian Soldier of the Great War<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEtdOyoqTksGNVrfjOh0Sf8fiu4QJIVB_O_" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="940" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkL0EGx9g738oegpWMdEjHfHhoTEhsmrB93jRdJESa4EtRI1EU4sSdPN74HYxBaA6jeGTtiTzmqWs7klNkmOt6PIy3l6FPldpnMwRQ6cUE_bAa6sJrHB6MlZAMZGAHDFMvUPro_XDxxVf7fkhfTBmbzo1S5u3HS2MeP0Vgm_YcfHydlv4-NDqA2gMN/w400-h335/Lambton%20County%20Branch%20Ontario%20Ancestors%20-%2020221110%20-%20Researching%20a%20Canadian%20Soldier%20of%20the%20Great%20War.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>I will be speaking at the <a href="https://lambton.ogs.on.ca/" target="_blank">Lambton County Branch</a> of <a href="https://ogs.on.ca/" target="_blank">Ontario Ancestors</a> meeting on Thursday, November 10, 2022 starting at 7 pm ET on "Researching a Canadian Soldier of the Great War". In this presentation I will be looking at the various online resources that are available to us as we seek to learn more about and honour those men and women who served Canada during the First World War.</p><p>Registration to attend via Zoom can be found at <a href="https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEtdOyoqTksGNVrfjOh0Sf8fiu4QJIVB_O_.">https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEtdOyoqTksGNVrfjOh0Sf8fiu4QJIVB_O_.</a><br /></p><p>I hope to see you there!</p><p><br /></p>Ken McKinlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261891770555198035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8017295990096371831.post-37047559052762024152022-11-07T16:20:00.003-05:002022-11-07T16:21:26.155-05:00First and Second World War Research Resource Pages Updated<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB4NTlTOTYo1LMQveeX1w_GMDDLz7SCjSP2gI0Y4JcQ1fxB_2b21ccrIb4_WDuMuub9SELuc2Ob2oJcZfF5PXSGtKNc_4qgFkdQv8AdS-PydogK0ZOEIjX0mDZLUTl0EDvps5aCdHuVi6pM253-02zTx6ZKnX20WJf9tbbD1sSlHl1MJKdKoNa5fJ8/s3024/PXL_20220626_021209695~2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1777" data-original-width="3024" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB4NTlTOTYo1LMQveeX1w_GMDDLz7SCjSP2gI0Y4JcQ1fxB_2b21ccrIb4_WDuMuub9SELuc2Ob2oJcZfF5PXSGtKNc_4qgFkdQv8AdS-PydogK0ZOEIjX0mDZLUTl0EDvps5aCdHuVi6pM253-02zTx6ZKnX20WJf9tbbD1sSlHl1MJKdKoNa5fJ8/w400-h235/PXL_20220626_021209695~2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>For those who are researching their kin who served Canada during the First or Second World Wars, I've updated my resources pages with corrected links and new sites that may just help you in your goal to honour those who have served.</p><p><a href="https://familytreeknots.blogspot.com/p/canada-first-world-war.html" target="_blank">First World War: Researching a Soldier of the Great War</a></p><p><a href="https://familytreeknots.blogspot.com/p/canada-second-world-war-resources.html" target="_blank">Second World War: Researching the Canadian Fallen</a><br /></p>Ken McKinlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261891770555198035noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8017295990096371831.post-12096896320708023332022-10-17T10:39:00.057-04:002022-10-26T14:57:33.683-04:00Archives of Ontario AIMS<p>With relatively little fanfare on September 29, 2022 the Archives of Ontario retired their older Archives Descriptive Database search site, formerly found at http://ao.minisisinc.com/scripts/mwimain.dll?get&file=[ARCHON]search.htm, with a new tool. The <a href="https://aims.archives.gov.on.ca/scripts/mwimain.dll?logon&application=union_view&language=144&file=[ao_assets]html/home.html" target="_blank">Archives and Information Management Systems</a> (AIMS) searches the following existing databases:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Archives Descriptive Database</li><li>BIBLiON Library Catalogue</li><li>Government of Ontario Art Collection Database</li><li>Visual Database</li></ul><p>One side effect of how the Archives of Ontario retired the older search site is that if you have any links using the ao.minisisinc.com address...well...they don't work at all and just return a "Server Not Found" error. Sort of frustrating, especially for those of us still dealing with the changes to the Library and Archives Canada site changes and this becomes one more annoyance for us.</p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizfnUiS2UJinKtOF11ZhSCUJfl9Bp4wmsgHZAIrbXtXQrFHO4Bm1E64M_MM48Q4BrFykYKbpbC739mGrUmoeomR28Vry9VHImLkydh01VPSKo-0ze62LUvWgXU87Hpr_kfBtd8BLQmprTah90W0hLcF2rBxlgWE2vKS8W8O3vuH-IyPi6qQ51PN61A/s1500/Blog%20-%20AO%20-%20AIMS%20Home%20page.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture from 14 Oct 2022 of the Archives and Information Management System (AIMS) home page for the Archives of Ontario collections." border="0" data-original-height="783" data-original-width="1500" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizfnUiS2UJinKtOF11ZhSCUJfl9Bp4wmsgHZAIrbXtXQrFHO4Bm1E64M_MM48Q4BrFykYKbpbC739mGrUmoeomR28Vry9VHImLkydh01VPSKo-0ze62LUvWgXU87Hpr_kfBtd8BLQmprTah90W0hLcF2rBxlgWE2vKS8W8O3vuH-IyPi6qQ51PN61A/w400-h209/Blog%20-%20AO%20-%20AIMS%20Home%20page.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture from 14 Oct 2022 of the <a href="https://aims.archives.gov.on.ca/scripts/mwimain.dll?logon&application=union_view&language=144&file=[ao_assets]html/home.html" target="_blank">Archives and Information Management System</a> (AIMS) home page for the Archives of Ontario collections.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>At first glance, for most of us who used the older search site, there really isn't much of a difference for doing basic searches. Except you may get back results that you hadn't seen before since AIMS searches not just one but four databases. This might be a good thing.</p><p>However, don't dive into AIMS yet with your favourite searches. Instead, take the time to read the <a href="http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/AIMS/faqs.aspx" target="_blank">Frequently Asked Questions</a>. You might notice that there is no link to the FAQ on the AIMS home page. That's because I found it by following the "<a href="http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/events/new_tool_announcement_AIMS.aspx" target="_blank">New Online Tool Allows for Easier Searching</a>" announcement on the Archives of Ontario home page.</p><p>Both on the AIMS home page and in the FAQ they make mention of having an account. Now you don't need an account to do any searches but if you are wanting to request material in person or online then you will need to have a "<a href="https://signin.ontario.ca/" target="_blank">Public Secure</a>" account with the Government of Ontario. It isn't that hard to set up the account and after a few minutes I had mine created. Even if you aren't planning on requesting material having this account might be a nice thing to have since AIMS allows you to save bookmarks for the items you find in their databases. However, my AIMS bookmarks I added the day before disappeared so I'm not sure what is going on. Hopefully they will fix this issue since that might be a handy feature for us.<br /></p><p>Now if you have saved bookmarks you will probably want to access them again sometime in the future. That activity had me stymied for a while until I found them buried in "Client Profile" on the right side of the AIMS home page once you are signed in.</p><p>OK, back to searching.</p><p>But first click on that "How to search our database" button before doing your first search to learn about any search tips for AIMS. </p><p>There are two important tips concerning searching by keywords.</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Certain common words will be ignored in your search such as: the, a, an, in, of, and, these.</li><li>The '*' can be used to truncate your search. According to the search tips the '*' isn't really a wild card so you can't put it in the middle of a word like "pate*t" but instead it seems to have to be at the end of the word like "paten*". Why use it? Maybe you want to find all the items in the database that start with "farm" such as "farm", "farming", "farmed", and "farms". The keyword you would use would be "farm*"<br /></li></ul><p>I have come across a gotcha when doing searches and that is when you get your results and then hit the back button in your browser to make a change to your search. </p><p><i>Did I forget to mention that you can't edit the keywords for your search from the search results screen?</i><br /></p><p>The "Search" button is greyed out and you can't press it and the "Searching records..." wheel is spinning but nothing is actually happening. To get out of that annoying state just refresh the browser page with "F5" (at least on a desktop Windows browser...mobile and MacOS users may have to do something different to refresh the page). The "Search" button will work again.</p><p>If you want to do an advanced search by just clicking the "Advanced Search" button then you might be a bit confused and disappointed since you will only be able to do an advanced search on titles.</p><p>Ya, that had me annoyed too.</p><p>Instead, first select the database you want to search on the left side of the screen:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Art Collection (only)</li><li>Archives Repository (only)</li><li>Library Holdings (only)</li></ul><p>Then click on the Advanced Search button to get a list of the fields you can search. The fields listed will be different depending on the collection/repository/holding selected.<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib1Clt763mBMu1YBU9msVeak8Fz9hf25cxpqxTm--G5UBgkTa1gYbKRb-FTCV5W6z8gEPqrMwNBlc4ICU4Jy1gkQSQti7BdQfR-2jELTNt2peH9pV630kQtVF9w7dFf6_xB9lENv7xQ8caPOysWGgAlAR_fjpKHsdU0iROal11u6o8LAAshegRYmCp/s919/Blog%20-%20AO%20-%20AIMS%20-%20Archives%20Repository%20-%20Advanced%20Search%20screen.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Screen capture of the AIMS Archives Repository (only) Advance Search page retrieved on 14 Oct 2022." border="0" data-original-height="919" data-original-width="575" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib1Clt763mBMu1YBU9msVeak8Fz9hf25cxpqxTm--G5UBgkTa1gYbKRb-FTCV5W6z8gEPqrMwNBlc4ICU4Jy1gkQSQti7BdQfR-2jELTNt2peH9pV630kQtVF9w7dFf6_xB9lENv7xQ8caPOysWGgAlAR_fjpKHsdU0iROal11u6o8LAAshegRYmCp/w250-h400/Blog%20-%20AO%20-%20AIMS%20-%20Archives%20Repository%20-%20Advanced%20Search%20screen.jpg" width="250" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Screen capture of the AIMS Archives Repository (only) Advance Search page retrieved on 14 Oct 2022.</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p>The stacked three lines (AKA <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburger_button" target="_blank">Hamburger button</a>) to the right of each field brings up a quasi-browsable/searchable list of known items for the field. Or you can type in the information you are looking for in the correct spot in the advanced search screen field list. For example if I want to everything related to land patents in the RG 53 collection I could type "RG 53-*" (without the quotes) in the reference search field. I might event add the word "land" to search on the Scope to filter out items such as "Commissions for License Inspectors" in RG 53-31. </p><p>However, if I do a search with the Reference Code of "RG 1-100-*" and the Title of "Drummond" I get only one result. That applies even if I add the '*' to the end of Drummond. Yet when I search for a "Higher Reference Code" of "RG 1-100" and the Title "Drummond" (note: no '*') I get 5 results back all with a reference code starting with "RG 1-100-0-0-". Confused? So am I.<br /></p><p>So if you don't results that you expect when doing an advanced search, try playing around with the search terms and the fields being searched. Each time I go into the Advance Search screen I discover a different or new way to find and filter for the information I'm looking for.<br /></p><p></p><p> </p><p>You might have noticed two additional collections on the left side of the screen: "Immigration Records" and "Second Heir and Devisee Commission Case Files"</p><p>The Immigration Records page brings up the search page for the T<a href="http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/db/hawke.aspx" target="_blank">oronto Emigrant Office Assisted Immigration Registers Database</a>. This is a database index to the four volumes of assisted immigration registers created by the Toronto Emigrant Office between 1865 and 1883 (series RG 11-3). </p><p>The Second Heir and Devisee Commission Case Files Database is a searchable index to the 5184 case files that document claims made to the <a href="http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/en/db/deviseedb.aspx" target="_blank">Second Heir and Devisee Commission</a>. <br /></p><p> </p><p></p><p>Keep in mind that this is a new system and there will be glitches, issues, and probably changes over the coming months. I've already experienced some interesting glitches such as where the search results didn't appear even though AIMS said there were 133 items. I had to try the search a few times and then all was good...for now. A few days ago the system was really slow (minutes slow!) to even bring up the home page one evening. There also appears to be a timeout where the system has automatically logged me out from my account out after a bit of time. <br /></p><p>So try to be patient as the Archives of Ontario transitions to AIMS. But if you do find an issue, bring it to their attention!<br /></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Have fun searching the new Archives and Information Management System (AIMS)!</b> </span></p>Ken McKinlayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01261891770555198035noreply@blogger.com0