PLESE NOTE:
Branch meetings beginning April 2016 will be held at
Eglinton St. George’s United Church, 35 Lytton Blvd. Meetings begin at 7:30 p.m.
TORONTO BRANCH MEETINGS
Join the Members' Network Group prior to the
main meeting at 6:15 p.m. in the Eglinton Room,
and meet with fellow genealogists.
A CAPTAIN? MY CAPTAIN?
Elizabeth A. R. Kaegi and James F. S. Thomson
24 October, 2016
Long ago, far away, in the middle of the Second
World War, a baby boy was informally “adopted”
by foreigners. A very few morsels of information
about his background, imparted to the boy when
still young, would fuel his determined, decadeslong search to identify his biological parents and to
learn what he could about their lives. Working
with the “adoptee” (now a retiree in Glasgow), and
using a variety of traditional genealogical techniques in conjunction with new genetic genealogy
tests, Elizabeth A.R. Kaegi, Judith Sweets (USA)
and James F.S. Thomson have been able to solve
the seven-decade-old mystery. This multinational
team approach, taking advantage of new resources
and revisiting recently enhanced records as they
peeled away the layers of mystery covering a remarkably interesting story, was effective and thoroughly enjoyable.
Mini-presentation: TBA
GREAT MOMENTS IN GENEALOGY
28 November, 2016
Once again in November, a number of Toronto
Branch members will be sharing “great moments”
in their genealogical research in a series of short
presentations. In addition, special refreshments
will be served to celebrate the end of another year.
Many members consider this meeting the highlight
of the year!
In This Issue
From 15 Relatives to 350 ........................................... 1
Ancestors in Unusual Places…...................... ........... 4
German Mills: Review……………….. ........................ 6
In Memory of Jack Tyson……...………….... .............. …7
What’s On in Genealogy… ......................................... 10
FROM 15 RELATIVES TO
350 RELATIVES IN 30 MINUTES!
Elayne Lockhart
Not my words, sadly, but those of my latest newfound cousin!!! Mary answered my cold call and
was convinced this wasn’t a crank call when I
quickly mentioned a number of names and places.
Then – her next words – repeated over and over –
“but how did you find me? “
I told Mary that I had finally tracked down her
father, first cousin to my mother, after looking for
him for over 35 years. Of course I did not know
about Mary herself so she was a bonus, and then
some! And now, finally, finally, someone on my
grandmother’s side, and further, because of Mary,
a link to our family in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland, lost for over 100 years.
My grandmother, Sarah McAuley, was born in
Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland, in 1880. She
married Frederick Richenet Lockhart and moved
to Canada in 1898, keeping in touch with a brother, Charles, who moved to Ottawa, and a brother,
Jack, who moved to Buffalo, New York. My mother
and her siblings were very familiar with the names
of several first cousins, children of Charles and
Jack, and corresponded until the early 1920s.
Charles married Clarence Margaret Ann Sullivan
(yes, her first name was indeed Clarence), known
in the family as Aunt Maggie. Charles died of TB
at the age of 41 in 1906 and Maggie then raised
four boys on her own. We had a photo of her in her
nursing sister uniform during WW1. Her two eldest sons went overseas, and neither returned.
Bombardier Frederick Ronald Lee McAuley, who
had signed up at the very beginning of the war in
September, 1914, at the age of 18, died October 10,
continued on p. 3
Toronto Tree, Volume 47, Issue 5, September/October 2016
1
TORONTO BRANCH LEADERSHIP
FOR 2016/17
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:
CHAIR: Richard Yeardye
[email protected]
VICE-CHAIR: Connie Culbertson
[email protected]
TREASURER: Valerie O’Brien
[email protected]
SECRETARY: Ann Rexe
[email protected]
MEMBERS AT LARGE:
Ann Brown, Sue de Groot, Don Hall, Gwyneth
Pearce
PAST CHAIR: Greg Marlatt
CO-ORDINATORS
CEMETERIES: David Reed
[email protected]
EDUCATION: Jane Briant
[email protected]
MEMBERSHIP: Ann Brown
[email protected]
NEWSLETTER EDITOR: Marian Press
[email protected]
PUBLICITY: Gwyneth Pearce
[email protected]
PUBLISHING: Jane MacNamara
[email protected]
RESEARCH SERVICES: Ann Rexe
[email protected]
VOLUNTEER PROGRAM: Diana Thomson
[email protected]
WEB SITE: Website Committee
[email protected]
Toronto Tree, Volume 47, Issue 5, September/October 2016
TORONTO TREE
ISSN 0381-9137
Published: Six times each year by The Ontario
Genealogical Society Toronto Branch
Editor: Marian Press
Email: [email protected]
Submissions: We invite submissions of genealogical relevance from our members. Please include
contact information with all event notices. For articles, contact the Editor to discuss format and
length.
Next Submission Deadline: 15 November 2016
for 28 November 2016 distribution.
Copyright: Permission is granted to reprint any
material from Toronto Tree unless copyright is
shown as belonging to an individual or another
organization, provided the original source is credited.
Disclaimer: Every effort has been made to provide accurate information. Toronto Branch cannot
be held responsible for errors/omissions and does
not vouch for the quality of goods or services described in this newsletter.
Contact Information:
TORONTO BRANCH
35 Lytton Boulevard
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4R 1L2
Web page:
Email:
Phone:
www.torontofamilyhistory.org
[email protected]
647-933-6463 (voice mail)
The Toronto Branch, established in 1967, is one of
31 branches of the:
ONTARIO GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
2100 Steeles Avenue West, Unit # 202
Concord, ON L4K 2V1
Telephone:
Toll-free
Web site:
416-489-0734
855-MYROOTS
www.ogs.on.ca
The Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) is a notfor-profit corporation with almost 5000 members
worldwide. Its aim is to encourage, bring together,
and assist all those interested in the pursuit of
family history.
When you join OGS, you can join any of the 31
branches, for a small additional fee for each.
2
1918, so very close to the end of the war. His name
is on the Vimy Ridge memorial. His elder brother,
Sgt. Charles Henry McAuley, who had also signed
up in 1914, died of pleurisy and a pelvic abscess in
England in January, 1919. Three months later
Maggie was also dead (March 22, 1919), her obituary saying that she had died of a broken heart.
That was undoubtedly true, but the actual cause of
death was cancer.
At the time of her death her two youngest sons
were living in Ottawa, but contact between them
and our family was soon lost. We assumed they
had gone to the United States to find work. Later,
records on Ancestry uncovered the marriage of
William John McAuley in Ottawa in 1919 and a
crossing into the U.S. with his wife Anna and their
young daughter Constance in 1921. Later records
indicated that they had divorced, as she returned
to Canada and married again.
And there things stood until January, 2016 when a
new hint came up on my on-line McAuley tree –
the death of a William John McAuley in British
Columbia in 1982. This looked promising, but the
name is not all that uncommon. I was about to order the death certificate, when on the screen appeared, courtesy of FamilySearch.org, the complete
death registration. And yes – there was no doubt
that it was him. His date and place of birth as well
as the names of his parents were completely accurate, so accurate that it indicated that this information had been given by someone who knew him
well. So things were looking up – my first thought
was that he had kept in touch with his daughter
Constance.
Instead, the informant was an Edna McAuley, sister-in-law! And if sister-in-law, then clearly she
had to be the wife of the other brother! So two
finds at once! Edna’s address was Point Edward,
Ontario, and some more quick searches located the
deaths and burial of Edna and her husband, William’s brother, Clarence Robert McAuley. Death
and burial dates led to obituaries and Edna’s obituary provided a much needed clue – Edna was
survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Mary
Frances and Jim Purves.1
A quick search on www.canada411.ca found a J&M
Purves in Sarnia, which I learned was very close to
Point Edward. It did not take long to make that
call. A man answered and I cautiously checked to
see if I had the correct residence and then whether
Mary might be available (keeping in mind that she
might have died). When he said she was available
he asked who was calling and I said that she did
not know me but that I was a cousin. Then when a
Toronto Tree, Volume 47, Issue 5, September/October 2016
background voice asked who it was Jim said “she
says she is your cousin.” Mary answered with a
very slow and cautious “hello?” at which point I
had to talk fast before she could hang up. Once the
ice was broken came her incredulous questions.
Mary told me that was an only child, born to a
much older father, and she herself has no children.
She knew of no family at all on her father’s side
except for his brother, Bill, who had died in B.C.
She could not believe that I had photos of her
grandmother and also of her great grandmother, in
Ottawa, and she had never heard the story of the
four young boys being raised by their mother
alone. She could not believe that I had so much
history about this family and kept saying, then,
and afterwards to friends: “when I picked up the
phone I knew of about 10 members in my family,
and by the time I hung up I heard that there are
about 350!”
We quickly determined that on their next trip to
Toronto a visit was in order, so in February Mary
and Jim came to visit me. We were joined by my
granddaughter, Aidan, who had visited Vimy
Ridge during a high school trip and had taken a
rubbing of Frederick Ronald Lee McAuley’s name
on the memorial, which she showed them. They
were very moved. Mary had also brought a box of
medals from her uncles and her father. She had
always wondered what to do with them, and now
asked Aidan, who is very artistic and interested in
family history, if she would like to make a shadow
box to keep and display them in the family. Aidan
was honoured and is carrying out this request.
Amongst the medals was a very special medal, a
Dead Man’s Penny, which would have been given
to Frederick’s mother. Another such medal would
have been given to the widow of Frederick’s elder
brother. Mary’s father had kept Frederick’s and
now it has found its way to a permanent family
home.
But the story doesn’t end there. Mary mentioned
that her father used to go over and visit Carrickfergus every few years, and kept in touch with
some people there. Mary sent me the address, and
although the names of Margaret and George
Hampton were not familiar, a search of on-line resources in Ireland located another obituary – this
time for George Hampton in 2015. But – the notice
mentioned the names of two daughters and an
email to the funeral home led to the married
names of the daughters. I had no success finding
them through www.192.com, but now Facebook
became an invaluable tool.
3
FINDING ANCESTORS IN
UNUSUAL PLACES
Judy Gauthier
In October, 2015 my husband and I visited the Huronia Museum in Midland, Ontario. This place is
well worth a visit! They have a reproduction of a
Huron longhouse and a wonderful mini-museum
inside.
The museum consists of the museum building and
the Huron/Ouendat Village. The museum is open
year round and has nearly one million objects.
Much more information can be found on their website: huroniamuseum.com/
Dead Man’s Penny – Fred Roland Lee McAuley
I located these daughters and the messaging system within Facebook allowed me to make contact.
The response: “Oh yes, we remember Bob McAuley
coming over from Canada to visit my grandfather –
he was a cousin or something.. So now we had a
link – but to whom, exactly? It took about six
months of gentle nudging via messaging to get
more information, until one of these new ‘cousins’
remembered that her sister’s daughter was “all
into family history” and gave me another contact.
Instantly, young Amy, only age 26, was ‘friending’
me and sending details by regular email. She had
become interested in family history after her
grandfather had died the previous year (why is it
always ‘after’?), but she had taken allthe available
family papers and photos and even set up an online tree. She has a photo album she will copy and
share with me, and her details have proven the
link to a descent from my grandmother’s eldest
brother, Robert, through his son William.
So I now finally have a family contact in my
grandmother’s home town, the link which has been
so difficult to establish due to the complexities of
Irish research. And young Amy has convinced her
mother to have her DNA tested (I paid) and I am
optimistic that we may yet find more family members through this. This story reminds me of when I
was first encouraged to join OGS. My response had
been: “But it can’t help me since I have no family
in Canada.” Once again I have been proven wrong.
I encourage everyone never to give up on seemingly-lost family members, and to post their trees online. One day Ancestry will send you that very special hint and you’ll be off on another exciting quest.
1
London Free Press, May 17, 2002.
Toronto Tree, Volume 47, Issue 5, September/October 2016
While wandering through the museum, I came
across this picture.
This early 20th century photograph shows the descendants of one of the early French settlers from
Quebec, Charles Perreault and Julie Frennette. The
family settled in Perkinsfield between 1839 and
1843.” (Source: Huronia Museum image
2004.0015.0024. With permission of Geneviève
Carter, Curator. )
I then checked my family history database to see if
I had any Perreault or Frennette ancestors. I found
that in my database ‘Perreault’ is spelled ‘Perrault.’ I had a Paul Perrault married to a Marie
Cretien, who are my 9th great-grandparents. Now
to see if Charles and Paul were related, I had to do
more research.
I often use a website called NosOrigines/Our Roots
at www.nosorigines.qc.ca. The following was extracted from their mission statement:
Généalogie du Québec's mission allows anyone who has roots in Quebec to register
their descendants on their family page anytime for free. So, together, we will make
4
thousands of family trees available regardless of lineage, (we will make the links)
right up to their respective ancestors.
Généalogie du Québec's has set itself an
ambitious goal; they plan to build Quebec's
Tree up to the first ancestors. To do this
your participation is essential. Généalogie
du Québec is the only participatory and free
website. You help us and we will help you.
Our research has already led us to organize
an interesting database consisting of births,
marriages, and deaths that will help make
the job easier when you decide to build your
family tree.
We have researched parish, cemeteries, and
civil status registers. We already have information about the first settlers who
founded prominent families mainly from
the 17th and 18th century.
I then searched for Charles ‘Perreault’ on this website and found him under ‘Perrault.’ According to
The Tanguay Collection, Perrault can be spelled
many ways (Perrot, Pereau, Perot, Perrault, Perraut, Perreau) – one of the joys of FrenchCanadian research.
Charles was shown married to Julie Frenette
which indicated I had the correct couple. His father
was ‘Charles’ married to Marguerite Langlois.
(There are hot links to parents and siblings, making it easier to add generations to your files). His
father was ‘Nicolas’ married to Josephte Delisle,
then ‘Jacques’ married to Marie Madeleine Paquin,
then ‘Paul’ married to Marie Cretien!
Yes – I had this last couple in my database due to
having previously recorded their son François
married to Françoise Feuilleton. So, I added these
new generations to my database and after the system calculated our relationship, I discovered the
following:
Charles PERRAULT and Judith Mary
GAUTHIER are 3rd cousins seven times
removed through the Gauthier, Lalonde,
Aube, Godard, Therrien lines. Their common ancestors are Paul PERRAULT and
Marie CRETIEN.
Charles PERRAULT and Judith Mary
GAUTHIER are 5th cousins six times removed through the Gauthier, Lalonde,
Aube, Godard, Therrien, Charbonneau,
Gariepy, Godin, Boucher lines. Their
Toronto Tree, Volume 47, Issue 5, September/October 2016
common ancestors are Marin BOUCHER
and Perrine MALLET.
To ensure the data was valid, I then used The
Tanguay Collection (I have the database on CD)
and the Programme de recherche en démographie
historique (PRDH) to confirm the relationships. I
also used the following websites to confirm information:
FichierOrigine:
www.fichierorigine.com
Two sections of the Migrations website:
www.migrations.fr/MARIAGES%20REGIMENT/m
ariages_regiment_pq.htm
www.migrations.fr/compagniescarignan/compagnie
petit.htm
Searching the Ancestry database, I found Charles
and Julie were married February 8, 1831 in SteAnne-de-la-Pérade Québec. Their son, Zéphirin
was born July 16, 1838 in St-Stanislas, TroisRivieres, Québec – so they moved to Ontario sometime after 1838.
I then Googled ‘Perkinsfield’ (where the family settled from the caption under the photo) and found it
is located near Midland, Ontario. Next summer, I
plan to see if the log house is still there!
So – Keep your eyes open while in museums –you
never know what treasures you may find!
By the way – if you are ever in this area, also visit
the town of Penetanguishene – just north of Midland. Besides the wonderful waterfront and trail
dedicated to Samuel de Champlain with statues
(the Champlain-Wendat Rotary park), there is another Museum, the Penetanguishene Centennial
Museum, which is well worth a visit. There are
plaques of about 46 early French-Canadian settlers
to the area with their names, approximate migration times, and their place of birth. My next project
is to see if any of these settlers are ancestors also!
The museum also has a genealogy room! But you
must book ahead, as there may be a fee to use the
facilities. Visit www.pencenmuseum.com for more
details.
This newsletter is available in alternative formats
(large
print,
email)
on
request.
Please
email [email protected] if you have
other accessibility questions or concerns.
5
BOOK REVIEW
Jane E. MacNamara
German Mills: A Novel Pertaining to the Life and
Times of William Berczy by John Steffler
Kentville, NS: Gaspereau Press Limited, 2015
As a Torontonian interested in history, I’ve known
a little about William Berczy for a long time. We
have had a Berczy Park in downtown Toronto for
several decades, and now a condo “The Berczy.”
I’ve known about Markham’s Berczy Settlers and
that they came to Upper Canada after broken
promises in New York. Oh, and William Berczy
painted portraits, designed houses—and for some
reason used several names. But I’d never really
looked into the life story of this fascinating individual.
German Mills is a novel, which has given Steffler
license to fill in details, particularly about Berczy’s
motivation and reaction to circumstances—but it is
based on sound historical research. Luckily, Berczy
and many of his associates left papers to enrich the
official records. And Berczy left paintings as well.
Born in about 1744 in Germany, Berczy was educated in Vienna. His art and writing, and perhaps
spying for the Austrian Foreign Ministry took him
to Poland during turbulent times in Eastern Europe in the 1860s. His ability to learn languages
was helpful during his time as a businessman in
Croatia and Hungary in the 1770s. By the 1780s
he turned back to painting portraits, based in Bern
and Florence. Again his ability with languages and
business acumen helped him insinuate himself into
the social circles of people who could commission
his portraits. I found that aspect of life in a classconscious society very illuminating.
Seventeen ninety took Berczy and his wife Charlotte (also a talented painter) to London for more
portrait opportunities, where he met William
Pulteney of the Genesee Association, who hired
him to recruit German settlers for their settlement
in New York. The Berczy family and some 200 settlers arrived in America in 1792 to find the situation not nearly as rosy as promised. This section of
the book—about the “business” of settlement—was
very interesting.
After a punishing couple of years involving backbreaking work with no reward, most of the group
chose to move on with Berczy to Upper Canada in
1794.
And that’s when the plot thickens and comes close
to home. Big promises are made, but few kept
Toronto Tree, Volume 47, Issue 5, September/October 2016
without a fight and many not at all. Circumstances
change on the whim of powerful men. Officials take
advantage of the time it takes messages to travel.
Berczy’s talent and ability is recognized by officials, but they also knew his fortunes relied on
their cooperation and were willing to exploit that
reliance.
We see the daunting procedure all settlers had to
go through to acquire land—as well as the extra
hoops that Berczy and atypical petitioners had
placed before them. Fascinating for anyone whose
ancestors went through the process.
Steffler provides some interesting glimpses of the
Town of York and its social life. We meet Elizabeth
Simcoe, who has painting and a young family in
common with the Berczys, showing off Castle
Frank.
I was impressed with William Berczy’s tenacity
and versatility and the way he adapted to so many
different worlds—something that many of our ancestors had to do. The plot is gripping and real. I
found myself rooting for William and Charlotte
and heartily recommend German Mills: A novel
pertaining to the life and times of William Berczy.
Research Guide to York – Township, Borough
and City, 1793 – 1997.
goo.gl/mXdHYY
The Toronto Public Library has developed and
posted the guide above on its website, focusing on
TPL’s own resources. Incudes a history of York,
subject headings used in the library catalogue and
a list of relevant books in the collection.
6
IN MEMORY OF JACK TYSON
May 22,1939-August 12, 2016
best remembered for his role as Transcription Coordinator for the St. John’s Norway cemetery project – a major undertaking which lasted twenty
years.
Jack still found time for more volunteering and his
other interests – East York Canada Day; Bruce
Trail Conservancy; 115th Boy Scout Group; sailing;
bridge; camping; travel and his never-ending hobbies of genealogy and home renovation.
Throughout his long years of failing health, Jack
remained a forceful presence, a loving and devoted
husband, father, and grandfather who will be sorely missed by his immediate and extended family
and friends.
NEW BOOKS OF INTEREST
Campey, Lucille H. Atlantic Canada’s Irish Immigrants: A Fish and Timber Story. Dundurn, 2016.
Jack Tyson - OGS # 5976, a member of Toronto
Branch, OGS lived a full, interesting, and productive life. James Jackson Tyson was born in Port
Arthur, Ontario - he always made that distinction!
In his youth, Jack grew up in Geralton, near the
Alaska highway, Labrador, Guelph and Richmond
Hill and later in London where he graduated from
the University of Western Ontario.
Griffith, Lisa Marie & Wallace, Ciarin, editors.
Grave Matters: Death and Dying in Dublin, 1500 to
the Present. Four Courts Press, 2016.
Herlihy, Jim. The Royal Irish Constabulary: A
Short History and Genealogical Guide With a Select List of Medal Wards and Casualties. Four
Courts Press, 2016.
During Jack’s time at Western, he was active in
many activities including an expedition to Chubb’s
Crater in 1958. At Western, Jack met Jeannette
Campbell and for 48 years they were inseparable.
The couple travelled to every state in the USA with
the exception of Mississippi and in later years to
China, Northern Europe and a cruise up the Rhine
River from Switzerland to Amsterdam.
After graduation, Jack and Jeannette moved to
Toronto and embarked on their separate teaching
careers and raised their three sons and daughter.
Jack was very involved in the Ontario Secondary
School Teachers Association. His final teaching
post before retirement was as Vice-Principal at
Harbord Collegiate Institute.
As a team, Jack and his late wife Jeannette OGS #
3812 (2013) made significant contributions to genealogy and family history as long-standing volunteers on Toronto Branch cemetery projects. These
projects included several smaller cemeteries in Toronto but also the Necroplis, St. James, and Mount
Pleasant cemeteries. However, Jack will likely be
Toronto Tree, Volume 47, Issue 5, September/October 2016
Oates, Jonathan. Tracing Your Ancestors through
Local History Records. Pen and Sword, 2016.
Oliver-Malone, Elizabeth, compiler and editor. Recipes & Remedies in Upper Canada by Hannah Peters Jarvis. Gaspereau Press, 2015.
A complete transcription of Hannah Peters Jarvis’s
journal with entries from the late 1700s to the
1840s.
7
MEET THE 2016/2017 TORONTO BRANCH
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS
At the Branch’s Annual General Meeting held on
May 30, 2016, the following five members of the
2015/2016 Executive Committee were elected for
additional terms in their former positions: Richard
Yeardye, Chair, Connie Culbertson, Vice Chair,
Valerie O’Brien, Treasurer, and Susanna de Groot
and Donald Hall as Members-At-Large.
Gwyneth Pearce, who served as Secretary in
2015/2016, was elected as a Member-At-Large.
Ann Rexe, 2015 Volunteer of the Year, was elected
as Secretary for a third time. She served previously in that role in 2007-2009 and 2011-2012.
Greg Marlatt, by virtue of past office, continues to
serve as Past Chair.
Ann Brown, a relatively new member of Toronto
Branch, was elected as a Member-At-Large. A
University of Western Ontario graduate with a
degree in Geography, Ann went on to study accounting and worked in the bookkeeping and public accounting field until retirement in 2015. She
returned to school for a year full time in 2001 to
study web design and has been a freelance web
designer ever since, continuing this work in her
retirement.
She has served for many years as a volunteer with
both the Girl Guides of Canada and her church.
She currently volunteers as a web developer/coordinator with a number of community-based
groups and churches.
below is a candid shot of Ann taken recently as she
chased down some of her ancestors in Ireland!
A small group of Dieppe Veterans descendants
have started a not-for-profit research project to
find photos on all 564 soldiers from the Royal Regiment of Canada who landed at Dieppe on August
19, 1942.
In honour of the 75th anniversary of the Raid, a
book is planned to honour each man with a short
biography and a photograph by August of 2017.
This group has found service files for 210 of the
227 men who will killed in action, but photos and
stories have been difficult to track down.
Every Man Remembered is currently seeking information from the public on these brave soldiers.
If you have any information, please
it www.dieppebluebeach.ca or their Facebook page
to share.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO HELP WITH A
RESEARCH PROJECT?
Dr Tanya Evans, MRes Director, Senior Lecturer
and President of the History Council of New South
Wales, is requesting help with a study that she is
currently working on comparing family historians
and the meanings of family history in Australia,
England and Canada.
Dr. Evans’ research will involve collecting survey
data and a handful of oral history interviews. Her
last book on family history in Australia, called
Fractured Families: Life on the Margins in Colonial New South Wales, won the NSW Premiers' History Award in community and regional history.
She has also written two books on the history of
illegitimacy in England.
If you would like to participate, please
email [email protected] and she will email a
consent form and the survey.
Ann, a first generation Canadian, has Irish and
English ancestors. Her husband’s Canadian ancestors originated in Scotland and Germany. Pictured
Toronto Tree, Volume 47, Issue 5, September/October 2016
“History remembers only the celebrated, genealogy
remembers them all.”
Laurence Overmire
8
INTERESTING ONLINE RESOURCES
Lost Cousins Newsletter
www.lostcousins.com
This free email newsletter is a side product of the
unique family-matching site (via census records),
Lost Cousins. Arriving monthly, it is a mixture of
genealogy news, articles and useful research tips.
A extremely good resource for keeping up with the
world of genealogy. Simply visit the site above and
sign up.
Mention
web.mention.com
Since Google Alerts no longer seems to function
more than sporadically, I have signed up for another web alert service, Mention, choosing some of
my more unusual surnames to be monitored. Some
very interesting items have come my way as a result.
What The Victorians Threw Away
www.whatthevictoriansthrewaway.com
A project, a book and a database, the original idea
was to dig up rubbish dumps and examine what
different households discarded as a new technique
for delving into the past.The objects that emerged
often tell intimate stories about the people who
used them. Explore this website to bring the world
of your great grandparents vividly to life. You can
also use it to discover the origins of our throwaway
society today.
ANNIVERSARY OF
GREAT FIRE OF LONDON
Marian Press
On September 2nd, 1666 the Great Fire of London
began and continued to burn until the 5th. 13,000
houses were engulfed as were scores of public
buildings. The old St. Paul’s Cathedral was destroyed, along with many other historic landmarks. An estimated 100,000 people were left
homeless.
As I have been reading about all the anniversary
events being held, I have been thinking of one of
my ancestors who was right in the thick of it – or
not quite. Joseph Skottowe, a cloth merchant in
the city, although he had been born in 1593 in
Norwich and retained business and political interests there, died and was buried on August 22nd,
1666 in the south aisle of St. Michael Cornhill
church – unfortunately one of the 90 London
churches burned to the ground in the blaze. So he
would have lain at peace for only about 12 days.
The remains of one of Joseph’s sons, another Joseph, buried March 17th, 1637 in the same church,
would also have been destroyed.
Mary, his wife, and their surviving children, may
have been left homeless by the fire, as they are described as living in the parish itself.
INTERESTING RECENT BLOG POSTS
Blogs are a great way to keep up to date with genealogical news, but they are also a wonderful
source of more general genealogical and historical
facts and information.
Torontoist Blog:
“Historicist: Wicket Little Town”
Toronto's well-to-do learn the game of cricket and
the origins of the first ever international cricket
match.
torontoist.com/2016/07/historicist-wicket-littletown
Brenda Dougall Merriman: Baltics and
Celtics:
“Will George Porter Get His Due?”
A further posting on who will get credit for Toronto’s first house.
goo.gl/7TgnIE
Toronto Tree, Volume 47, Issue 5, September/October 2016
An engraving of the fire, by Samuel Rolle, from 1667.
Joseph is my 8x great uncle and I have a particular
fondness for him as his will, written in July, 1665,
is a genealogical treasure trove and has helped me
immensely with my Skottowe family research. The
350th anniversary of the fire has been a great opportunity for me to especially remember Joseph
and his son.
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WHAT’S ON IN GENEALOGY
OGS BRANCH MEETINGS:
OGS Toronto Branch
Date:– 24 October, 2016 see page 1
Date:– 28 November, 2016 see page 1
OGS York Region Branch
www.york.ogs.on.ca/
Date: 9 November, 2016
Speaker: Kathryn Lake Hogan
Topic: Parish Registers
OGS Halton-Peel Branch
haltonpeel.ogs.on.ca
Date: 23 October, 2016
Speaker: Dave Naylor
Topic: Why Should You Test Your Autosomal
DNA?
Date: 27 November, 2016
Speaker: Steve Fulton
Topic: Preserving the Analog Past for a Solid
Digital Future
OGS Simcoe County Branch
www.simcoebogs.com/
Date: 5 November, 2016
Speaker: TBA
THE ART OF CARTOGRAPHY
TD Gallery, Toronto Reference Library
August 13 – October 16, 2016
An exhibit showcasing the unexpected beauty of
maps and atlases from the 16th to the 19th century. Features world maps, atlases, manuscript
maps, sea charts, celestial maps, city plans and
other cartographic curiosities from the library's
Special Collections.
ONLINE EXHIBIT – TEXTILE MUSEUM
Crafting the Canadian Quilt
www.narrativethreads.ca
A collection of historical artifacts, both curated
and user-submitted.
Members of Toronto Branch are eligible to be on
the mailing list for the Electronic Bulletin, occasional emails that remind members of meetings
and other special events of genealogical interest
and announce new resources. If you wish to be on
the list, or have changed your email address,
please contact: [email protected]
Toronto Tree, Volume 47, Issue 5, September/October 2016
ONLINE EXHIBIT – City of Toronto Archives
Bridging the Don: The Prince Edward Viaduct
goo.gl/Tr0qi6
A history of the building of the viaduct, with
accompanying plans, drawings and photographs.
TRINITY COLLEGE BOOK SALE
Seely Hall, Trinity College
October 20 – October 24, 2016
Thousands of donated books sorted into 70 academic and popular categories. At the sale you can
find cookbooks, art books, musical scores, biographies, children's books, popular and classic literature, travel guides, academic monographs
from a variety of disciplines, theology, religion,
and many other categories. Local history and genealogy books also are typically available.
BEACHES HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Architecture in the Beaches Community
Beaches Library, 2161 Queen Street East
4 October, 2016
7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
A special meeting of the Beaches Historical Society, part of the 100th anniversary celebrations of
Beaches Library will feature local historian Gene
Domagala and Barbara Myrvold (Senior Services
Specialist, Toronto Public Library) discussing
some of the architects who designed buildings in
the local community. Co-sponsored with the
Beach and East Toronto Historical Society.
Still Spaces Available in Toronto Branch’s
Basic Genealogy and Family History Course
Begins October 19, 2016
Eglinton St. George’s United Church
For more information and to register:
www.torontofamilyhistory.org
ARE YOU INTERESTED IN FORMING A
GERMAN SIG AT TORONTO BRANCH?
If you are interested in forming a German SIG in
the fall, please contact Branch member, John
Mahler, at: [email protected]. Results will
discussed at a future Branch meeting.
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