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2007-2008 Branch
News
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Ancestors
in Your Attic
By Bob
Dawes, photographs by
Georgette
Green
The Quinte Branch
Annual Ancestors in Your Attic meeting on June 21st attracted
thirty-three genealogists eager to share their triumphs or brick
walls with others. Members and visitors were asked to fill in
a questionnaire outlining their problem which was passed on to an
expert panel made up of Carole Foshay, Rod Green, Lynn Heale,
Barbara Dawes and Marilyn Harry. The panel would read out the
question and then offer their advice which was followed by open
discussion from the audience. Questions ranged from how to get
started on a family history through what pre-census Ontario records
are available to research in the Netherlands. Many new faces
were visible in the group with a lady from Colorado attending after
learning about the meeting while doing research in Kingston.
Some members wanted to share their success stories and made little
presentations of their family history, photographs and documents.
Everyone attending appeared to learn something new, even the expert
panel, making it a very successful meeting.
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Quinte Branch
OGS at Conference 2008
Photographs
by Stacy Goddard
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Jim Gilchrist on
“The Marchmont Home”
By Carole
Foshay, photograph by Bob Dawes
Saturday
May 19, a capacity crowd again packed our meeting room in the Quinte
West Public Library to hear Jim Gilchrist, of Trenton, authour of
"The Marchmont Home" speak about the British Home Children
and the people (mostly women) who brought them to places like the
Marchmont Home.
He
explained the conditions of the times, when thousands of these
children, through no fault of their own, lived on the streets of the
British cities fending for themselves, in poverty and neglect, with
no provision made to feed and cloth them. Concerned Christian people
went about gathering and recruiting these street children. They were
brought into orphanages, where they were cleaned up, fed and often
given a rudimentary education in a trade.
People
like Annie McPherson of the Marchmont Home in Belleville would come
to these orphanages and gather groups of these children and bring
them to Canada and elsewhere in the "Empire". Upon arrival
here they would then stay in places like the Marchmont Home until
they were placed on farms to help out or in homes as domestics.
Naturally there was a good deal of culture shock for these city
children upon their arrival, but most adjusted and made very
successful lives for themselves. Some were very poorly treated and
had to be placed elsewhere, but others were brought in and treated
like members of the family. From 1870 to 1925 over 20,000 children
were brought over and placed by Annie McPherson into her homes,
Knowlton Home in Quebec, the Stratford-Galt Homes and Marchmont Home
in Belleville.
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Quinte Branch Newsletter Editor Larry McQuoid thanks Jim
Gilchrist, author of "Marchmont Distributing Home, Belleville,
Ontario 1870-1925" (Epic Press: 2003) for his presentation.
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Genealogy
101 Workshop in Belleville
By
Bob Dawes,
photographs by
Harriet
Richards
On a
rainy Belleville Saturday afternoon, May 3rd, fifty-three people
took advantage of the Genealogy 101 course put on by Quinte Branch
in partnership with the Belleville Public Library. The feedback from
the day was very good with several people offering to help the
branch with its projects and keeping the publications sales table
busy during the breaks. Our next Genealogy 101 is scheduled for
Quinte West Public Library on July 19th and don't forget to check
the Genealogy 101 page on our
website which always has new features.
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Sher
Letooze on Northern Irish Research
By Bob Dawes,
photographs by Georgette Green
Our guest speaker for April was
Sher Leetooze who spoke on Northern Irish research and played to a
full house of interested genealogists. Sher covered the
strange situation with Irish records where some are located at the
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) in Belfast and
others are located at the National Archives or the National Library
in Dublin in the Republic of Ireland. Before heading out on a
research trip it is wise to contact the web sites of both locations
and check their catalogs to see which records they hold. Sher
described the province, county, parish and townland organization of
the property in Ireland and how to find the specific part your
ancestors came from. If you are unsure, she highlighted the
GENUKI website www.genuki.org.uk
as a place to look for surname lists to help you zero in on a
specific county. She also mentioned how valuable the Ordnance
Survey Memoirs are because they include written descriptions of
parishes with lots of names particularly of the primary landowners.
Of real interest to remote Irish researchers is the new index of
transcribed BMD records covering both church and civil registration
records for all of Ireland. This will be available in July
2008 from ifhf.brsgenealogy.com
which is a pay-per-view website although basic searches are free.
The charge for viewing a detailed record is 10 euros or about
C$15.00. According to Sher, the majority of the work so far
seems to be concentrated in Ulster which is good news to Northern
Ireland researchers. The presentation was followed by a question and
answer session where many members who were familiar with Irish
research shared their tips and hints on how to make a research trip
to Ireland successful. Visit Sher Leetooze at http://sher.leetooze.googlepages.com/sherleetooze
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Ted Cullen of Quinte Branch, OGS thanks Sher Leetooze for her presentation on Northern Irish Research
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Genealogy 101
Workshop in Madoc
By Bob Dawes,
photographs by Georgette Green
April 5th, 2008: Forty people from
Centre Hastings descended on the Madoc
Public Library on Saturday afternoon to attend a Genealogy 101
presentation put on by Quinte Branch as part of their Outreach
Program. The event was jointly sponsored and publicized by both
groups and included a mini-genealogy fair with branch publications
on sale and an information display of Quinte Branch and OGS
material. The program was opened by Gayle Ketcheson (Library Board
Chair) and Dick Hughes (Quinte Branch Chair) with welcoming
messages. Bob Dawes presented a PowerPoint presentation, developed
by the branch for beginners, and everyone took away a package of
basic charts, OGS forms, sample newsletters and a Global
Genealogy catalog. Feedback from the attendees indicated that
the event was a resounding success and a format that will be rolled
out to other public libraries in the Quinte Region in the future.
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Robert Dawes
talks about Pay-Per-View Websites
By Stacy Goddard,
photographs by Georgette Green
Over 40 people
were privileged on March 15th to get a preview of Bob
Dawes’ upcoming presentation at the OGS Conference. His talk,
entitled “Getting Your Money’s Worth (The
BIG advantage of Pay-Per-View and Subscription Based
Websites)”, should make us
all re-think the idea that we shouldn’t have to pay for our
research or that everything will be out there for free if we just
wait long enough. Bob demonstrated his talk with a well-illustrated
PowerPoint presentation. We will all be able to get his references
and links on our Quinte Branch web site after the Conference is
held. Meanwhile, if you have any questions about the talk, Bob will
be happy to communicate with you at:
[email protected]
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OGS
Conference 2008
Wired Genealogy, 30 May-2 June 2008
Fanshawe College, London, Ontario
More information at http://ogs.on.ca/conference/
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Quinte
Roots at Belleville Library
Article and
photographs by Stacy Goddard
Carole Foshay,
Richard Hughes and Stacy Goddard took the show on the road again on
March 11, 2008 to participate in “Quinte Roots” held at
Belleville Public Library. This was an event timed to coincide with
the school March Break, consequently it was aimed at the younger
set. Town Crier Bruce Bedell was there with his grandchildren and
the three of them together rang in the event with gusto. Children
had various stations to visit and activities to participate in; from
listening to Native music or stories of pioneers to playing
checkers. Our booth was able to provide complimentary "Give Me
Five" genealogical charts from Library
and Archives Canada and while we weren’t as popular as we have
been with teens, we gave out several of these charts to children (as
well as pamphlets to the adults); thus, our small visitors will be
able to start tracing their own ‘Quinte Roots’.
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Visit the Youth
Corner at Library & Archives Canada for more interactive
activities.
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Alternate
Death Resources from Paul
McGrath
By Stacy Goddard,
photographs by Georgette Green
The Quinte
Branch hosted the Crouse-Wanamaker Lecture on Saturday January 19 at
the Quinte West Library. This annual lecture is held to honour Gordon Crouse,
the first Chairman, and
Loral Wanamaker, Honourary President, of the Quinte Branch of the OGS formed in 1980.
On this occasion Paul McGrath, noted genealogist and popular figure
from History Television’s “Ancestors in the Attic” made
his first appearance as a speaker for us. The title of his talk, “Beyond
the Death Certificate” was intriguing. Would he talk about
ghosts? Family feuds over wills? Technological advances in reporting
deaths? Handouts consisted of a sheet outlining the TV show and
McGrath’s list of alternate resources. In glancing over the
latter, we got a better idea of what the talk would be about; his
resources included death notices, obituaries, news articles,
compiled lists of death notices and family papers, tombstones,
cemetery documents, church burial records, official reports like
coroner’s reports or the Dominion Register, not to mention estate
records. You can see why, with the aid of his projector, Paul gave a
jam-packed presentation, leaving us breathless and yet wanting more.
Paul hosts the popular website www.OntarioRoots.com
which includes several free databases.
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Paul McGrath presents to a full-house in the Quinte West Council
Chambers in Trenton.
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MEDIA RELEASE
Quinte
Area Family History Research Gets Major Boost, MPP Lou Rinaldi Helps
Unveil New Equipment
Trenton, 7 Jan 2008
– On Monday morning, the Quinte Branch of the Ontario Genealogical
Society (OGS) celebrated some good news with the community at the
Family History Research Library, located in the Local History Room
of the Quinte West
Public Library. Thanks to a $12,700 grant from
the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF), Quinte Branch has been able
to purchase new equipment to advance their goals of assembling,
preserving and promoting the Quinte area’s family heritage and
culture. To mark this special achievement, MPP for
Northumberland-Quinte West, Lou Rinaldi, and OTF representative,
Marty Halloran, presented the group with a plaque.
Quote from MPP Lou
Rinaldi
The Quinte Branch of the OGS owns a significant collection of
historical records including census data, birth, death marriage
records and newspapers contained within 1200 volumes of printed
materials, 300 microfilms, and 500 microfiche. Thanks to the OTF
grant, awarded this past November, the Society has been able to
purchase a microfilm reader/scanner system, computer, storage
cabinet and table to better store and allow access to family history
for the Quinte area community. The Society expects, with the
addition of the new equipment and the on-line listing of their
collection, they will be able to double the amount of research
inquiries they can handle each week.
Quote from Quinte
Branch Chairman, Richard Hughes
The Quinte Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society (OGS) has been
active for over 27 years and is supported
by a corps of 19 volunteers and a membership of 377 people. The
organization recently moved to the new Quinte West Public Library in
2006 where volunteers staff the Branch’s research library four
days a week and respond, both in person at the library and by email
to public requests from around the world for information and
assistance. Quinte Branch’s central goal is to assemble and
preserve Quinte area family history records and documents; it also
provides public education.
For more
information please contact:
1-613-394-3381 Ext. 3328
[email protected]
or visit our website at sites.rootsweb.com/~canqbogs/
The Ontario Trillium
Foundation is an agency of the Government of Ontario. For 25 years,
the Foundation has supported the growth and vitality of communities
across the province. OTF continues to strengthen the capacity of the
volunteer sector through investments in community-based initiatives.
For more information, please visit www.trilliumfoundation.org.
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Linda Corupe
UE alias
Mrs. John Collins Clark
by Stacy Goddard, photograph by Bob Dawes
At
the last meeting of 2007, Quinte Branch was privileged to have Linda
Corupe UE as guest speaker. She arrived wearing widow’s weeds, in
the guise of Mrs. John Collins Clark of Ernestown, Lennox &
Addington County. After taking her place in her rocking chair before
us, crochet work in hand, she proceeded to welcome us to her home
and hence to her time in history. We learned many things about those
times through anecdotes from her “husband’s” diary written
between 1832 and 1862 and were frequently amused by his perception
of the world around him. Those of us intent on turning our family
history into an interesting narrative undoubtedly learned a lot from
the way Mrs. Corupe prepared her presentation.
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Linda Corupe UE as Mrs. John Collins Clark.
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Preserving
Old Memories
by Stacy Goddard, photographs by Harriet Richards
Most
of us have boxes of photographs and old movie films lurking in our
homes, making us feel guilty. The speaker at our meeting of October
20th can help. Paul Clare has a business called PH
Productions waiting to turn your old memories into a convenient disc
to show on family occasions. He showed us a variety of productions
that he has put together for clients. From his presentation and from
the questions that followed from the audience, we got a good idea of
what can be done. We saw old movie footage and stills that had been
put together with narration by the owners and experienced various
ways that music and special effects can enhance your collection.
Apart from guilt, another good
reason to take care of these old formats is that machines to play
them on are getting scarcer and the media themselves can break down
with time or due to improper storage. Imagine your dismay if you
went to show off some rare and precious footage to your descendants
and found it ruined. Mr. Clare proved in his talk how valuable a
service like his can be.
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William Campbell of Quinte Branch OGS thanks Paul Clare for his
informative presentation on Preserving Old Memories.
Carole Foshay (right) Quinte Branch Chair, presents an honourary
life membership to Eleanor Moult.
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Trenton
Volunteer Fair
by Stacy Goddard
On
October 17th, 2007, Quinte Branch participated in a Volunteer Fair. It was a new
experience for me and also for our president, Carole Foshay and for
Rod Green. The three of us spent the day at Trenton High School in the company of other non-profit organizations from the region
explaining to several hundred students who we were and what we do.
The organizers, who had decked the gym out with balloons and signs
for each organization, treated us well, with a snack provided at the
early lunch period and again in the gym to keep us going in the
afternoon. We were able to use the lovely recycled display panels
that had recently been donated to the branch. Student visitors to
the booth had interesting questions about genealogy in general and
us in particular. We hope to see some of them working with us in the
near future.
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Bell
Canada Donates $2,500 to Quinte Branch
by Dick Hughes,
photograph by Georgette Green
The
Quinte Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society has received a
donation of $2,500 from Bell Canada's Employees Giving fund. Here,
Bell retiree Rodney Green presents the cheque to Quinte Branch
chairperson Carole Foshay while members Dick Hughes and Ted Cullin
look on. The Quinte Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society, is a
registered charity which works to assemble and preserve the family
histories of the Quinte District and assists family history
researchers both locally and around the world as they search for
their Quinte ancestors. |
Lisa
Russell brings the Anglican Diocese of Ontario Archives to Quinte
Branch OGS
by Tina Gemmell,
photograph by Harriet Richards
Lisa Russell, the
Diocesan Archival Technician with the Anglican Diocese of Ontario
Archives (ADOA) in Kingston since 1993, brought the ADOA to the
Quinte Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society at Quinte West
Public Library on Saturday, September 15th 2007. Lisa presented
members and visitors with inspiring insight into the holdings of the
Archives and the wealth of material, knowledge and help available
for family historians from the dedicated staff. Lisa set up several
interesting displays that visually illustrated the history and
development of the Diocese and the types of records that can be
found in the Archives from congregations that were established in
the late 1700’s (when only the Anglican, Catholic, Quaker and
Jewish faiths were allowed to perform marriages in Upper Canada). A
very informative handout, brochures and a 40-page book written by
Lisa about the history of the Diocese were given to all in
attendance. Samples of her “From the Archives” articles
(published in “Dialogue”, the Diocese journal) that contain
detailed biographical information about ministers, bishops, early
pioneers and settlers families were available to browse.
The Diocese of Ontario
includes four deaneries that cover the counties of Leeds &
Grenville, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington, Hastings and Prince
Edward. The most popular records for genealogists include the
baptismal, confirmation, marriage and burial records. Helpful
finding aids include index cards, computer indexes, transcriptions
of baptisms, guide and inventory of the holdings and a map of the
exact locations of all parishes in the diocese. Additional records
of interest held in ADOA include vestry minutes, correspondence,
land records and consecration documents, newspaper articles,
journals, minutes of church and community groups and parish
histories. All are welcome to visit the Archives located at 90
Johnson Street in Kingston--open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1.15 pm
to 4.30 pm or by appointment. Lisa is able to undertake genealogical
research on your behalf if you are unable to visit in person. For
more information visit the ADOA website at http://www.ontario.anglican.ca/archives/
where you can also find Lisa’s articles in back issues of the
“Dialogue”. |
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Members and visitors learn about the wealth of genealogical material
available at the ADOA.
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Ontario Genealogical Society
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