Timeline Nov 30 to Dec 3

Nov 30
1782  The United States and Britain signed preliminary peace articles in Paris, ending the Revolutionary War.
1835  Author Mark Twain was born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in Florida, MO. Died Apr. 21, 1910.
1872  Lt-Col John McCrae, poet, physician and soldier, was born in Guelph. Died in France on Jan. 28, 1918. He wrote his famous poem In Flanders Field in April 1915 near Ypres.
1874  Sir Winston Churchill, British statesman, orator and author who served as prime minister during World War II, was born at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. Died Jan. 24, 1965.
1929  Dick Clark, TV personality, American Bandstand, was born. [Does anyone remember American Bandstand?]
1933  Sir Arthur William Currie of Strathroy, died in Montreal. He commanded the Canadian Corps in France from 1917-19. He was principal of McGill University from 1920-33.

Dec 1
1680  The "Great Comet" appeared in the sky and caused considerable alarm. It remained visible until Feb. 1681.
1926  Fifty-six per cent of the Ontario electorate approved government control of liquor sales.
1927  Canadian Tire Corporation was founded by John W. and Alfred J. Billes of Toronto as Hamilton Tire and Garage Ltd.
1962  The famous Fog Bowl, Grey Cup game of 1962, was played over two days in Toronto because of dense fog and smog.
1963  The Beatles' first single, "I Want to Hold Your Hand," was released in the United States.

Dec 2
1804  Napoleon was crowned emperor of France.
1863  Charles Ringling, American circus owner, was born. Died Dec. 3, 1926.
1942  A self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was demonstrated for the first time at the University of Chicago.
1981  The House of Commons approved a new constitutional resolution providing for patriation and a Charter of Rights.

Dec 3
1837  Armed men, supporters of William Lyon Mackenzie, assembled at Holland Landing and Newmarket in preparation for an attack on Toronto.
1842  Charles Alfred Pillsbury, American flour miller and food products manufacturer, was born. Died Sept. 17, 1899.
1951  The federal and Ontario governments reached an agreement to proceed with power development on the St. Lawrence.
1967  Surgeons in Cape Town, South Africa, led by Dr. Christiaan Barnard, performed the first human heart transplant. Louis Washkansky lived 18 days with the new heart.

Unregistered Cemeteries in Ontario

For more than thirty years, The Ontario Genealogical Society has been recording the inscriptions in all of Ontario's cemeteries. OGS volunteers have endeavoured to identify all marked, unmarked and abandoned cemeteries in the province. We have discovered that many of these cemeteries are not considered to exist by the government and bureaucrats despite having been used for several generations.

Many cemeteries are no longer used and have been forgotten. Early cemeteries were probably not well documented and all the visible signs may have disappeared. In some cases, people have turned a blind eye, and burial sites have been paved over to become parking lots.

Under current Ontario regulations, when a site with human remains is identified, it is checked against the list of “Approved” cemeteries held by the Registrar of the Cemeteries Regulation Unit. If the location is not on the list, or cannot be identified as one of the cemeteries on the list, the Registrar would declare it an “Unapproved” cemetery. Then he publishes a notice in the local paper calling on any descendants to come forward and provide opinions on what should be done. After that time period, the Registrar decides what to do with the site. He might require a full archaeological survey (at the owner’s expense) to determine the extent of the burial site and then it is within the Registrar’s authority, if he wishes, to proclaim it a Registered Cemetery and require the owner to apply for a license to own a cemetery. The registrar’s other option is to order the archaeological survey and then the owner must remove all the human remains to a registered cemetery in the vicinity. Then the owner has to find a cemetery that will accept the remains and pay for it all to happen. The costs that I have heard run to about $1000. per burial for the whole process. When human remains are discovered in other countries, it is often the government looks after the work and the costs. The Ontario system really discourages anyone from reporting the discovery of old remains on their property.

During our project, OGS has discovered numerous unregistered cemeteries. However, the Province is not willing to add these cemeteries to the official list unless OGS provides more details. The OGS website at http://www.ogs.on.ca/services/unreg_cemeteries.php has the list of known unregistered cemeteries in each county but we need to verify the location of the burial sites by a municipal address for the front gate of the location (i.e. the “fire” code number for the rural areas) and/or GPS coordinates. Local people should have the best knowledge about near-by cemeteries. If the list for your area is incomplete, submit any missing locations to be added to the list. We know that it is a large job but it won’t get done unless we get out and do it. Otherwise, the Registrar may overlook the sites in your area. Then when someone disturbs the cemetery, it will not have any protection under the law and OGS will have no standing to complain. Those of you who cannot check on the unregistered cemeteries should still be canvassing your MPPs to tell them that the cemetery registration should be done before any more are damaged.

Timeline Nov 27 to 29

Nov 27
1701  Anders Celsius, Swedish astronomer and inventor of the Celsius thermometer scale, was born. Died Apr. 25, 1744.
1829  The final section of the Welland Canal was opened.

Nov 28
1520  Ferdinand Magellan, Portuguese navigator, reached the Pacific Ocean after passing through the South American strait that now bears his name.
1844  John A. Macdonald took his seat in the Province of Canada legislature for the first time.
1939  James Naismith, native of Almonte and father of basketball, died at Lawrence, Kansas at age 78.
1949  Paul Shaffer, bandleader on the Late Show with David Letterman, was born.

Nov 29
1855  The Grand trunk Railway completed the line form Montreal to Brockville.
1898  C. S. Lewis, English writer and scholar, was born. Died Nov. 22, 1963.
1961  Enos the chimp was launched from Cape Canaveral aboard the Mercury-Atlas 5 spacecraft, which orbited Earth twice before returning.

Timeline Nov 23 to 26

Nov 23
1889  The jukebox made its debut, at the Palais Royale Saloon in San Francisco.
1903  Singer Enrico Caruso made his American debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, appearing in "Rigoletto."
1936  The first issue of the Globe and Mail appeared.
1936  Life magazine, created by Henry R. Luce, was first published.

Nov 24
1807  Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea), a chief of the Six Nations, died at Wellington Square (now Burlington)
1859  British naturalist Charles Darwin published "On the Origin of Species," which explained his theory of evolution.

Nov 25
1783  The British evacuated New York, their last military position in the United States, during the Revolutionary War.
1830  Ontario's first Mechanics Institute - a social and educational organization - was created in York (Toronto).
1835  Andrew Carnegie, Scottish born steel Industrialist and philanthropist, was born in Dunfermline, Scotland. Died Aug. 11, 1919.

Nov 26
1922  Charles Schulz, American cartoonist and creator of the "Peanuts" comic strip, was born. Died Feb. 12, 2000.
1926  Prime Minister Mackenzie King appointed Vincent Massey as the first Canadian Minister to the US.

Region VIII OGS AGM and Genealogy Day

Region VIII Ontario Genealogical Society

AGM and Genealogy Day

hosted by Ottawa Branch OGS

Saturday, April 21, 2012

City of Ottawa Central Archives

100 Tallwood Drive, Ottawa, Ontario

 Join us at the new City of Ottawa Archives at 100 Tallwood Drive, located on the southwest corner of Woodroffe Avenue and Tallwood Drive. Tallwood Drive is the western extension of Meadowlands Drive, from Woodroffe Ave to Centrepointe Drive. The entrance to the parking lot is from eastbound Tallwood Drive. Free parking is available in the lot.

9:30-10:00       Check-in.  Coffee and tea will be available on arrival.

Speakers include Robert Serré, Rick Roberts and one of the staff from the City Archives. Lunch is included in the price of admission. The City Archives will be open 10am to 5pm for research as well.

More details will be soon available on the Ottawa Branch website (http://ogsottawa.on.ca/)

Marketplace will feature Global Genealogy as well as the member organizations of Region VIII and some of the local heritage organizations.

Cost: $25 including lunch.

The building is a scent-free environment. Some staff have a severe allergic reaction to scents and fragrances. We urge people to use unscented products and to avoid perfumes, body spray and other fragrances.
Free parking is available in the lot but spaces are limited. There is three- hour parking on Avenshire Street. OC Transpo buses number 94, 95, 156, 172, 174, 178 stop at the corner of Tallwood and Woodroffe.   For more information about parking arrangements, please contact the security desk at 613-580-2424 extension 39731. All participants need to register at the security desk when they enter and sign out when they leave.
The building is only equipped with hydration station, not water fountains. Participants need to bring their own water bottle to refill.

Timeline Nov 20 to 22

Nov 20
1833  Col Joel Stone, the Loyalist founder of Gananoque, who commanded the 2nd Leeds militia against raiding American Forces in 1812, died at age 84.
1889  Astronomer Edwin Powell Hubble was born in Marshfield, MO. Died Sept. 28, 1953.
1947  Britain's future queen, Princess Elizabeth, married Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh, in Westminster Abbey in London.
1985  The first version of Microsoft's Windows operating system, Windows 1.0, was released.

Nov 21
1829  The first issue of the Christian Guardian, a newspaper supporting Methodist interests in religion and politics, was published. The editor was Egerton Ryerson.
1877  Inventor Thomas A. Edison unveiled the phonograph.
1981  Nearly 100,000 people marched on Parliament Hill to protest against high interest rates.

Nov 22
1643  Rene-Robert La Salle, French explorer of North America, was born. Died March 19, 1687.
1859  Tenders were called for the erection of the first parliament building in Ottawa.
1906  The SOS distress signal was adopted at the International Radio Telegraphic Convention in Berlin.
1963  President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in Dallas.

The Street Arab - The Story of a British Home Child

Following her talk to Ottawa Branch OGS this month, Sandra Joyce will read from her book "The Street Arab - The Story of a British Home Child", on Saturday, November 26, 2011, from 7 - 9 pm at the Collected Works Bookstore and Coffee Bar at 1242 Wellington Street, Ottawa.  The book was launched as part of the celebrations of the British Home Child Day on September 28 at Upper Canada Village. 

Sandra Joyce was unaware until the death of her father in 2002, that he was a home child. She and her sister found a family history in Scotland as a result of the records they discovered through their research. After uncovering her father’s story, Joyce was left wondering "how many other home children had similar circumstances." She wrote the historical fiction novel for "all those who suffered the silent stigmatism associated with home children." Incorporating various events and circumstances uncovered in her research, Joyce has woven a story that could representative of any number of home children.


Anyone interested in British Home Children should find this evening of interest as Sandra Joyce will discuss her own story and how her research led her to write this book.