26 September, 2004 - 1826 Bytown Settled The settlement of Bytown
was begun and named after Colonel John By, overseer of the construction
of the Rideau Canal. In 1855, it became the city of Ottawa, and next
year, Ottawa will celebrate its 150th anniversary!
The Bytown Museum is located downtown in Ottawa, and is on the Internet at <http://www.bytownmuseum.com>.
21 September, 2005 - 1832 Rideau Canal The Rideau Canal was
finished after having been started in 1827. Today there are two Celtic
Crosses, one at each end of the canal, to mark the Irish workers who
worked on it. See the website of the Rideau Canal and its memorials at
<http://www.rideau-info.com/canal/history/memorials.html>. 20 September, 2004 - 1783 Treaty of Paris Signed Two hundred and twenty-one
years ago, the Treaty of Paris was signed between the new country of
the United States and Great Britain. It marked the end of the American
Revolution and the evacuation of any lands in the United States still
occupied by the British - for example, New York City.
Besides setting down the conditions under which the
American Loyalists could be accommodated, it also set the boundary
between the Untied States and British North America along the St.
Lawrence River and the Great Lakes.
15 September, 2004 - Renovations of Victoria Memorial Museum Building, Ottawa
There
will be a public information session at the Canadian Museum of Nature
building about the renovations to the building between 6:30 p.m. and
8:30 p.m. on 15 September, 2004. In addition, there will be a
presentation of the museum’s public programmes and activities for this
fall and winter.
The galley spaces in the West Wing are now in
construction and are closed to the public. The new parking area facing
the Metcalfe extension will open in September, and work will begin on
the new South addition facing Argyle Avenue.
To stay informed, you are asked to visit the website at <http://nature.ca/reno>.
08 September, 2004 - Library and Archives Canada Online Access to Map Database
The Library and Archives of Canada is now allowing access to its online map database at <http://www.collectionscanada.ca>.
It has been acquiring, preserving and commemorating
some 50,000 maps of Canada since 1872 and is now the largest source of
cartography in the world. The maps date from the 16th century to the
mid-1980s. Some 1,500 of these maps have been digitized for inclusion
in this database.
“As the second largest nation in the world,
geography has played an important role in the history of Canada. Our
cartographic legacy allows us to understand our geographic diversity
and how we came to grips with it as we forged a nation,” said Library
and Archives of Canada's Ian E. Wilson.
08 September, 2004 - Italian Campaign
As we remember the Canadians in the Italian
Campaign from 1939 to 1945, we can find the history of the battles on
the website at Veterans Affairs website at <http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca>.
The battles took place in Sicily from 10 July to 06
August, 1943 and on the mainland from 03 September, 1943 to 25
February, 1945, where, it is said “the fighting was particularly
bitter.”
Of the 93,000 Canadians who fought in Italy, there were 5,900 killed, and 19,364 injured.
07 September, 2004 - New England History Genealogical Society Changes Hours
Although not located in Canada, the New England
Genealogical Society (NEHGS) does house many Canadian resources of peculiar
interest to Canadians, it may be worth noting that the library hours
have been reduced and will not be open at all on Sundays, as it has
been in the past.
Effective Tuesday, 07 September, 2004, the library
will only be open from Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 a.m to 5:00 p.m.,
with extended hours on Wednesday and Thursday until 9:00 p.m. in the
summer. Their winter hours, from 01 November to 31 March, are from
10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Their website is <http://www.nehgs.org>.
04 September, 2004 - British Home Children and Descendants
The second annual reunion of British Home Children
and Descendants will take place on 02 October, 2004 at the Church Hall
of the Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 148 Evergreen Drive, in
Princetown Heights, just outside of the town of Truro, Nova Scotia.
Registration will start at 9:00 a.m., with opening remarks at 10:00 a.m.
At 10:30 a.m., a history consultant from the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will give a speech on the Lynch
Family of Nova Scotia.
In the afternoon, there will a speech on first-time
searchers given by Joan McCarron, and at 2:00 p.m., there will be a
speech by Robert Hartlen on the Butterbox Survivors.
The meeting will close at 3:00 p.m., with the cutting of a cake and photo session.
For further information, please contact Dawn Hopkins
at 1-902-737-2316 or by email at <bhc@seascape.ns.ca>.
4-6 September, 2004 - Canadian War Museum Closes
The Canadian War Museum on 330 Sussex Street in
Ottawa is closing this weekend, and the new museum will open in
LeBreton Flats in Ottawa in May, 2005. It has been at its present
location for 37 years.
All are welcome to the events to be held in the courtyard this weekend.
The website is <http://warmuseum.ca/cwm/sussex/index_e.html>.
07 September, 2004 - Labour Day
Labour Day first started in Canada when, on 15
April, 1872, the Toronto Trades Assembly first marched on the city
streets.
On 23 June, 1894, it was declared a national holiday.
Website Pick of the Month
The Victoria Genealogical Society is this month’s
Website Pick of the Month. They have so much going on in the society,
with eight Special Interest Groups (SIGs) meeting on a monthly basis.
They are located on the web at <http://www.victoriags.org>, and can be reached by snail-mail at P.O. Box 43021, Victoria North, Victoria, BC V8X 3G2.
They are an organization located on Vancouver Island
on Canada’s West Coast in the province of British Columbia.
First, they first have a group for beginners which
meets in the afternoon on the 2nd Wednesday of each month. Who has such
a group for beginners and that they can have their own meeting, too?
Second, they have a British Columbia interest group.
Being in the capital of the province already, they have a ready-made
resource with the library and archives being in the city, and they take
full advantage of it with field trips.
Third, they have the Celtic group, which meets on
the 3rd Tuesday afternoon every month, tracing ancestors from
Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England.
Fourth, the East Anglia group covers the areas of
Suffolk, Essex, Norfolk, Cambridge, and the Northants, and meets every
3rd Monday of each month.
The East Midlands group has been discontinued, but
Jean Ostrowski can be contacted at <jeas@island.net> if information is
required.
The Lanceshire group meets every 2nd Tuesday in the
afternoon of each month, while the South West England group, which
covers Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, and adjacent counties, meets every 4th
Friday of every month, with the USA group meeting every 3rd Wednesday of
each month in the evening.
There are databases on-site of the VGS Member
Surname Index which is searchable, the Victoria and Area Pioneers, and
the surnames of women pioneers mentioned in “Roses At Their Feet:
Pioneers Women of Vancouver Island” and “Pioneer Women of Vancouver
Island, 1843-1866.”
