Boyd family history and the house at 173 Huntmar Drive

The Ottawa Start blog is currently doing a 5 part series on the history of the house at 173 Huntmar Drive in Stittsville. Part two provides a really interesting look at the Boyd family who bought the property around 1872, farmed the land, and built the house that is there today. Included in the article are lovely old photos, newspaper clippings and screen shots of census records.

• Part 1: The Boyd house as it looks today
• Part 2: Who were James and Jane Boyd?

Parts 3, 4 and 5 will be posted later this week.

Ottawa Branch OGS Meeting - Saturday November 16th

Ottawa Branch OGS General Meeting

Saturday November 16th, 13:00 – 15:00
City of Ottawa Archives, 100 Tallwood Drive, Ottawa. Room 115.
Please arrive by 1:00 p.m. for free refreshments and a chat time (networking).

Topic: How do I prove it - Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS)

Speaker: Heather Oakley

Proof is a fundamental concept in genealogy. In order to merit confidence, each conclusion about an ancestor must have sufficient credibility to be accepted as "proved."" (Board for Certification of Genealogists).  In this presentation, OGS Ottawa branch board member Heather Oakley will describe the 5 elements of the GPS and will explain how to use the standard to come to credible conclusions.

The joyless fate of St. James Anglican Church

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 St-James Anglican  Church in old Hull Quebec was sold last year and is now called St-James Décor (furniture); a sad ending. This Church was erected in the time of Philomen Wright. The Anglican St. James Parish, founded in 1823, was the first in the entire region on either side of the Ottawa River. The current church, dating from 1901, succeeded two others that had burned down in 1865 and 1900. The church was the place of worship for most of the early anglophone settlers of Hull, but since 1977, it has served the multi-ethnic francophone Christian Community of Saint-Bernard-de-Clairvaux. An active centre of religious, community and cultural activities, St. James Church, has played an important role in the revitalization of the Promenade du Portage

You can read more on the church at http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/city/story.html?id=5f6ee361-d0fc-4375-80ba-5b766a510528 .

Information on the church cemetery is included at: http://geneofun.on.ca/cems/qc/QCGAT0173?PHPSESSID=f1f0a5df384043ef74950d3861818753

and the church records are listed at http://www.archivescanada.ca/english/search/ItemDisplay.asp?sessionKey=999999999_142&l=0&lvl=1&v=0&coll=0&itm=261115&rt=1&bill=1 .

Thanks to Norah Cousins-La Rocque for this information

When Life decides to throw you a Curve Ball

Early Thursday evening of September 19th Ian Munro, the husband of  Ottawa Branch member Susan Munro, suffered a heart attack at home and unfortunately they were not able to save him.

 

Susan organized Gene-O-Rama for many years and has been back on many occasions to help at the event. She also helped organize a number of the OGS Conference in recent years and was presented with an Honorary Membership in The Society for her service earlier this year.

A memorial service for Ian took place on Saturday October 5^th 2013 at the St Thomas a Beckett Church in Mississauga for the family and friends from the area. 

Because of the health of his Mom and Susan's parents, a second service will be held in Ottawa.

The memorial service in Ottawa will be Saturday, November 9th at Barrhaven United Church at 1 o'clock.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum or the Arthritis Society of Canada.

See the full obituary at http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/ottawacitizen/obituary.aspx?pid=167258408

Coming to Ottawa to do research? What you need to know

Last weekend we got a question from someone who had driven from LA to Ottawa to do research on a family member. They only had a few days available for research and wanted to know where to start. Board member John Patton provided the following advice that is useful for anyone planning a trip to Ottawa for research:

• Day 1: spend your first day at Library and Archives Canada and/or the Ottawa Public library (Main Branch--especially its Ottawa Room).
• Day 2: spend your second day at the City of Ottawa Archives which, in addition to its own records, also houses the research collections of The Ottawa Branch OGS, the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa and the Sir Guy Carleton Branch of the United Empire Loyalist Association.

All of these places have staff and volunteers available to assist you. Don't forget to check the hours of operation for all three when planning your trip.

In advance of your trip - don't forget to apply for your user card for Library and Archives Canada. As OGS member Ken McKinlay told us in his talk at last week's Canada and the First World War event, you can apply for this card online and your user card number is emailed to you within 2 business days. You can also request the documents you would like to review in advance through this online form.

Don't forget to back up your computer files.

Backup your hard drive. If you have not done a backup so far this month make it a priority today.

OGS Facebook page reaches 1000 'likes'

The OGS Facebook page reached a milestone this week as the 1000th person clicked "Like" and began following the page to stay abreast of OGS news and genealogical information. If you are a Facebook user and you haven't "liked" our page yet, this is a great time to do so. New information is shared several times a day and the page has grown into a family history discussion forum for members and non members alike. Come join us!