Timeline Oct 12 to 15

Oct 12
1492  (Old Style calendar; Oct 21st New Style), Christopher Columbus arrived with his expedition in the present-day Bahamas.
1957  Lester Bowles Pearson, minister of external affairs, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
1960  Nikita Khruschev, Soviet Premier, disrupted a UN General Assembly session by pounding on his desk with a shoe.

Oct 13
1812  Major-General Isaac Brock died during an attempt to regain Queenston Heights from the Americans who had attacked across the Niagara River.
1812  After Brock's death, Major-General Roger Sheaffe took the Heights, capturing 958 prisoners. This victory ended the American offensive of 1812.
1833 Edward Blake, premier of Ontario from 1871 to 72 and leader of the National Liberal Party from 1880 to 1887, was born in Adelaide Township.
1975  Prime Minister Trudeau announced the imposition of wage and price controls.

Oct 14
1066  Normans under William the Conqueror defeated the English at the Battle of Hastings.
1644  William Penn, English Quaker and advocate for religious liberty, founded American colony of Pennsylvania, was born. Died July 30, 1718.
1844  John A Macdonald was elected to the House of Assembly for Kingston.
1952  Lester Pearson, minister of external affairs, was elected president of the United Nations General Assembly.

Oct 15
1954  Hurricane Hazel killed 82 people and caused $24 million damage in the metro Toronto area.
1957  The Queensway, a throughway bisecting Ottawa, was dedicated by Queen Elizabeth.
1989  Wayne Gretzky of the Los Angeles Kings surpassed Gordie Howe's NHL career scoring record of 1,850 points.

Volunteering Outside the Box

As members of the Ontario Genealogical Society should be aware, the lack of volunteers to run the Society and the branches is reaching a critical stage. Three of the ten Directors positions on the OGS Board are vacant and two positions are filled by Past Presidents. In Ottawa Branch, the Chair, Treasurer, Secretary and Program Coordinator positions are empty and many of the other directors have served for long times. I was Chair for almost eight years because we could not find anyone willing to take on the role (and still cannot). Most other branches are in similar situations.

Despite these opportunities, many of the four thousand members of the Society seem to be willing to sit back and hope somebody else will do the job. I am sure that some of them are involved in other organizations and others have done their time with the Society. But groups like OGS need volunteers to operate. There are a few paid staff at the Provincial Office but we cannot afford to have all the work done by them. As a result, tasks are falling through the cracks and the remaining volunteers are getting tired of doing extra work.

I am not a great one for looking outside the box but perhaps there are other ways to handle some of these jobs. In Ottawa, we have one volunteer who lives in Hamilton and handles our publicity for us. We are hoping to hold at least some of our Board meetings on line, so that some of the volunteers would not have to live in the area. OGS has already done this with Executive meetings to save on travel costs.

I know that some branches have two or more people handling one task. At least one branch has co-chairs, so that they need only do part of the work. Another has a snowbird for a Chair, and others fill in when she is away for the winter. Others have committees so that they can share the work of producing the newsletter or arranging the meetings. There are probably other ideas for handling the work that needs to be done.

I have talked to some branches about sharing their workload but have yet to see this put into practice. Could one person do the same task for a couple of branches? With the use of e-mail and on-line meetings, I don’t see why not? It would mean more work for that person but not necessarily twice the workload, as there should be some overlap.

Consider what will happen to you if the Branch disappears? Or even the Society? What will you lose? What will you miss? How will it impact on your research and your enjoyment of the hobby? Will you do anything to prevent this? Do you have any ideas to help out? Let me know at pastchair@ogsottawa.on.ca

Timeline Oct 9 to 11

Oct 9
1635  Roger Williams, religious dissident, was banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony.(He was one of my ancestors - Ed)
1855  Thomas McKay, pioneer Ottawa businessman, died at his home, Rideau Hall, New Edinburgh (Ottawa).
2008  Financial markets went into a rout.

Oct 10
1738  Benjamin West, American painter, was born. Died Mar. 11, 1820.
1886  The tuxedo dinner jacket made its American debut at the autumn ball in Tuxedo Park, NY.
1979  Wayne Gretsky made his National Hockey League debut as the visiting Edmonton Oilers took on the Chicago Blackhawks.

Oct 11
1776  The first naval battle of Lake Champlain was fought during the American Revolution.
1910  The Ontario Hydro Electric System was opened at Berlin (Kitchener) Ontario.
1917  An order-in-council prohibited strikes and lockouts during WW I in Canada.

RYAN TAYLOR MEMORIAL LECTURE Saturday October 15, 2011

Saturday, October 15, 2011
RYAN TAYLOR MEMORIAL LECTURE
Location:  Library & Archives Canada, 395 Wellington, Ottawa
Time: 10:00 a.m. in the auditorium
Speaker:  Leslie Huber, author
Topic:  The Journey Takers, Leslie’s latest book.
www.understandingyurancestors.com

Timeline Oct 5 to 8

Oct 5
1793  Lt Gov Simcoe viewed the harbour at Penetanguishene, "Place of the White Rolling Sands."
1813  Battle of the Thames took place at Moraviantown (present-day Thamesville). Indian Chief Tecumseh was killed and the town of Fairfield was destroyed by the Americans.
1878  The Marquis of Lorne, married to Princess Louise, daughter of Queen Victoria, was appointed 4th governor general of Canada.
1962  The Beatles' first hit, Love Me Do, was released in the UK

Oct 6
1744  James McGill, Scottish born Canadian fur trader, merchant and politician, was born. Died Dec. 19, 1813.
1768  Sir Isaac Brock, British politician and soldier, War of 1812, was born.
1948  A Newfoundland delegation arrived in Ottawa to discuss terms for entering Confederation.

Oct 7
1763  The Proclamation of 1763, which provided boundaries and terms of government for territories Britain acquired from France under the Treaty of Paris, was issued.
1765  The Stamp Act Congress convened in New York to draw up colonial grievances against England.

Oct 8
1843  Old Christ Church, on Sparks St. in Ottawa, was consecrated by Bishop John Strachan, The original church had been built in 1832.
1884  Pembroke became the first Ontario town to use electricity for street lighting.
1951  Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip began a tour of Canada which lasted until November 12.

Ottawa Branch - Meeting Location Survey

We are in the process of reviewing the location of our general meetings. Some of our members may be too far away to regularly attend our meetings but we would would appreciate you taking a few minutes to fill in the attached survey.

SURVEY LINK: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BGJSDGD

As background:

 

a. effective January 1, 2012, Public Works and Government Services Canada ( PWGSC ) will assume responsibility for the booking of spaces on the ground floor of Library & Archives Canada (LAC), including the rooms we have traditionally used. We have been unable to determine if we will be able to continue holding our meetings at LAC or the conditions and cost of any rooms;

b. the new City of Ottawa Archives has suitable rooms for our meetings and the Partners (including Ottawa Branch) can obtain them for free if not already booked. However, there is a charge for security if the room is required outside normal working hours (9am to 5pm Mon to Friday, 10am to 5pm Saturday); this is normally $85.00 for an evening or $45 for a shorter period.  We currently hold four meetings in most months: the Board meeting, the general meeting, the Computer Special Interest Group and the Irish Research Group. These have traditionally been held on weekday evenings and so moving all to the City Archives would cost us $340 per month.

c. the recent OGS/National Institute of Genealogical Studies partnership has provided us with the opportunity to use LiveMeeting to "broadcast" general meetings to members via the Internet. At least one other branch has done this already with good success. Out of town members could "attend" meetings by using their computer. We need a location that provides Internet access.

We continue to look for other options and to hope that PWGSC can resolve their situations soon. We have come up with a few options and I would appreciate your feedback:

SURVEY LINK: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BGJSDGD

War of 1812

Battle of the Thames, Thamesville, ON 5 Oct 1813


Info taken from Gilbert Collins' "Guidebook to the Historic Sites of the War of 1812" pg 74
A more detailed account is Pierre Burton's "Flames Across the Border 1813-1814" pg 191-208
This battle occured during General Proctor's retreat from Amherstberg
"On the morming of 5 Oct. 1813, General Proctor deployed the 41st Reg., which consisted of less than 297 men rank and file, across the main road to Burlington. Tecumseh, with 800 Indians, was deployed in the woods on the British right. It was here, near the Moravian village, that they would try to stop the Americans advance.
When the American Army, 3000 strong under Major General Harrison approached, Harrison noted that the British line looked rather thin. He decided to charge with his mounted infantry, and the attack succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. After one ragged volley, the British line went to pieces under the inpact of the charge. The Battle of the Thames was small, but one of the most decisive of the war. The British were never able to field an army in the western half of the province for the remainder of the war.
Thamesville would hardly be remembered today but for the death of the great Tecumseh
The battle site is located on Hwy 2, about 4k's east of Thamesville