tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37074506176539769702012-02-01T19:42:43.067-05:00CAMPBELL - DOUGALL - FRASER - FREIBERGS - JURIKAS - McFADYEN ... and camels ...BDMnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2181100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-4059240731376774172012-02-01T19:39:00.002-05:002012-02-01T19:39:23.485-05:00

For the sake of brief entries, I am not footnoting the facts in this ongoing memorial. Sources have been noted either in other blog posts or in my family history books. 2 February 1854 William Charles Dougall was born at Vankleek Hill, Canada West, second child and second son of Peter Dougall and Catherine “Kate” Fraser. His parents moved to the town of Renfrew, Ontario, where William

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-10287164178763170322012-01-23T23:41:00.002-05:002012-01-23T23:42:29.908-05:00

The topic for the 114th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is: The 5th Annual iGene Awards! It’s the brainchild of the ever-creative Jasia at CreativeGene. That means choosing your own best blog posts in five categories ... a very subjective choice. On Jasia’s website after February 1st, you will see the results—submissions from a spectrum of GeneaBloggers. It’s an opportunity to see the

BDMnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-40047522555259732372012-01-19T21:56:00.000-05:002012-02-01T19:42:43.079-05:00

For the sake of brief entries, I am not footnoting the facts in this ongoing memorial. Sources have been noted either in other blog posts or in my family history books. 20 January 1867: John Dougall, my emigrant ancestor from West Calder, Midlothian, Scotland, died on this day at the age of 86. Presumably he died at his farm located at Beech Ridge, just outside St. Andrews East,

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-12071680011607693442012-01-13T23:47:00.000-05:002012-02-01T19:42:26.396-05:00

For the sake of brief entries, I am not footnoting the facts in this ongoing memorial. Sources have been noted either in other blog posts or in my family history books. 13 Jan 1869: John McFadyen married Isabella Campbell, in Provincetown, Massachusetts. Both were natives of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia: John was from River Denys, Inverness County, and Isabella was from Points West Bay in

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-89492641976657880182012-01-10T21:47:00.000-05:002012-01-10T21:47:16.416-05:00

This is the 5th post in an occasional series about United Empire Loyalists. Part One of eligibility (the ancestor’s) was discussed last month. Part Two is about who qualifies for regular membership in the United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada (UELAC). The two parts are intertwined.They are so intertwined—the second dependent on the first—that this scribe became uncharacteristically

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-29248169842404926462012-01-03T21:31:00.002-05:002012-02-01T19:42:09.717-05:00

For the sake of brief entries, I am not footnoting the facts in this ongoing memorial. Sources have been noted either in other blog posts or in my family history books. 2 January 1962: Marija Jurikas Freiberg died in Port Arthur, Ontario. She was two months short of her 90th birthday when she died, and had suffered from a form of dementia in her last years. Marija had lived at Krumini farm

BDMnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-30057846616366190092011-12-31T00:35:00.000-05:002012-01-03T21:32:46.127-05:00

Right now my only New Year’s resolution is getting past the struggle with wording my Annual Letter. It used to be my Christmas letter until the kids left home. Now it comes out in January. Actually, last time it appeared was March ... pause ... two years ago. I have become a Biennial Letter writer. If it gets later and later, those distant friends and family will think I’m dead. The kind of

BDMnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-57322526327747433682011-12-19T00:10:00.000-05:002011-12-19T00:10:22.946-05:00

Peter Dougall family home, Renfrew, Ontario. Photograph BDM family collection. Like many GeneaBloggers, I have decided to pay tribute to the ancestors by remembering them more often in my blog. It will be monthly, minimally, in my case. Starting in January. Perhaps not always regularly (the old CYA principle) in case I get caught up in something else displacing all other rational thought. It

BDMnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-6943876228987951572011-12-08T12:16:00.001-05:002011-12-08T19:46:36.876-05:00

This is the fourth in an occasional series about United Empire Loyalists. So I don’t lose sight of what I’m doing, a DISCLAIMER: I am an independent genealogist and family historian; my opinions or practice may not always coincide or agree with those of the United Empire Loyalists’ Association of Canada (UELAC)—their Genealogists’ Handbook, or the Branch Genealogists, or the Dominion

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-6163818578394297012011-12-04T20:22:00.001-05:002011-12-04T20:29:08.127-05:00

It's a mouthful just to say the initials. It's the Society of West Highland & Island Historical Research. Herewith an example of how we try to expand our genealogical minds. Serious family historians look for detailed context about their ancestors' lives---geographic, cultural, social, political, economic, religious, legal, and so on. What did the family breadwinner's occupation mean to them

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-39995103136312033442011-11-24T21:39:00.001-05:002011-12-08T12:37:11.564-05:00

The biggest migration in North American history took place in 1783-1784 at the end of the War usually called the American Revolution by Canadians and the War of Independence by Americans. Historians will confound you with the variation in numbers of Loyalists (really, who could count them?!) who left the new republic. Some estimates have been up to 50,000. Let’s say dozens of thousands.

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-11945353590914788642011-11-18T10:37:00.001-05:002011-11-18T11:09:56.291-05:00

It’s been a while, over a year since I blogged about a cemetery. Opportunity comes when and if. And this year I missed Remembrance Day at home. Instead, I had the privilege of visiting Alamein War Cemetery, part of which is one of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission sites.   Photograph BDM, November 2011 The battle of El Alamein in Egypt—across the Western Desert region of Egypt, Libya,

BDMnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-67562766323373387202011-10-23T20:08:00.000-05:002011-10-23T20:08:22.314-05:00

Recently I was appalled to see a statement that a Loyalist had to prove British birth for entitlement to free land in Canada. ... a sentence of mine made last time about an online website. I hasten to add the correction has been acknowledged. What I did not address was two additional elements of that statement: “free land” and “in Canada.”Getting a handle on geography and political

BDMnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-51534597404549150502011-10-18T22:26:00.000-05:002011-10-18T22:28:05.055-05:00

Photograph BDM October 2011 Eye-catching neon bicycles appeared throughout downtown Toronto this summer, fastened to various fixtures. It seems every city has its cache of broken and abandoned bikes. Spontaneous street art became the city-approved “The Good Bike Project” ... not without a few bureaucratic tussles. It's a mystery why the occasional vandal damages something that brings a smile

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-85200710301060516572011-10-10T19:13:00.000-05:002011-10-21T22:05:13.420-05:00

I have a beef, soon to become clear. As this post developed, I thought how much can I condense here and be lucid without tying myself in knots? Thankfully for all of us, I found my way to posing my concern du jour without writing another book on the topic.[1] The word Loyalist, in Canada’s historical context, refers to United Empire Loyalists. Is there any other such group about which the

BDMnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-82620555710945765962011-09-28T19:17:00.000-05:002011-09-28T19:17:05.050-05:00

If you could have but one camel ride in your lifetime ~ should you be so inclined ~ I strongly recommend you book yourself to Jordan and the Wadi Rum desert. If camel rides were rated on a scale of 1 to 10, trust me, it’s a 10. Police Band, Jerash; Photo BDM 2008 The germ for this post preceded recent widespread events in the Arab world. Beyond my obvious sympathies, the blogger in me

BDMnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-80607023372582408102011-09-20T21:21:00.003-05:002011-09-20T21:21:44.750-05:00

Little baby steps after long bleary hours of Internet searching. As per my last post, my Fraser goal was to return to the preliminary writing I'd done, revising and plugging holes as I go. But quite out of chronological order, I wanted to pursue a long delayed hunch. Plunging right into frenzied database searching brought some promising but fragile results. Results … not for my

BDMnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-50363353843928608352011-09-13T20:24:00.000-05:002011-09-13T20:24:55.027-05:00

The family histories I have been working on have revealed my own particular bent. Apparently I am more interested in pushing back than plunging forward. Thus, a few of the descending branches from Scotland and Latvia peter out with no further information known. The investigation of those branches is ongoing, despite a lot of negativity from the usual sources, just at a reduced priority level. Not

BDMnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-57191284795047897322011-09-06T22:31:00.001-05:002011-09-06T22:31:50.184-05:00

Searching for words to describe unexplained gut responses, inherent empathetic reactions, intrigues me. I've been calling it tribal memory ..racial memory .. subconscious cognition .. etc. Well hogtie me and take me to market; a biologist has a scientific term for this: morphic resonance. Yes. His name is Rupert Sheldrake and being slightly sidelined from the mainstream he is not exactly

BDMnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-88390791469007561892011-09-02T20:23:00.002-05:002011-09-02T20:31:33.751-05:00

Celebration of an awesome summer. Amethyst is more than a colour. Nanabijou from the Terry Fox Monument; photograph CDM July 2011 Photograph BDM August 2011

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-76336755226157302392011-08-27T18:24:00.002-05:002011-08-28T20:48:42.778-05:00

This blog is free for the reading. In case a disclaimer is needed in the face of recent concerns, here is … no business model, no registering, no terms of service, no hidden costs, no annoying ads, nothing to smack you in the face later on when you didn't expect it. It's enough to manage what little I do do. Mind you, I don't offer databases (unless you count my labels) or

BDMnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-2086027359276417592011-08-25T20:15:00.001-05:002011-08-25T20:16:41.982-05:00

“Same name” problems fascinate me. Dedicated family historians will usually come across at least one such challenge. For this writer, opportunities just keep arising. In the June 2011 (vol. 99, no. 2) of the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, I wrote about a similar but “reverse” occurrence where one woman was known by three different names at different stages of her life.           I’m

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-91267013422439836562011-08-18T23:05:00.000-05:002011-08-18T23:05:54.357-05:00

"A camel is a horse designed by committee." Attributed to Sir Alec Issigonis (July 1958 Vogue Magazine). Design by committee is a derogatory term referring to the poor results of collaboration. Wikipedia goes so far as to characterize it as a style of needless complexity, internal inconsistency, logical flaws, banality, and the lack of a unifying vision. O ye who know not of which you speak

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-61865301667498602972011-08-07T23:38:00.002-05:002012-01-15T11:55:02.128-05:00

Speaking of John Fraser’s FAN Club (friends, associates, neighbours of my Inverness-shire farmer in St Andrews East, Quebec—related posts here and here—a previously unmentioned neighbour in the 1851 census raised a green flag (gentlemen, start your engines). Dear readers, it should have been the yellow flag (drivers, do not change positions) but let me explain.  The neighbour was Dr. William

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-80375539884159851252011-07-26T22:34:00.000-05:002011-07-26T22:34:06.859-05:00

Apparently Hallmark (or possibly the president of the United States, or maybe Wills and Kate?) has decreed July 27th as Bagpipe Appreciation Day. How appropriate for waxing sentimental about tribal memory. It’s in the DNA.  Family reunion ... at Finisterre Farm in rural Ontario. A perfect summer day. All the cars were parked in a fallow field. Throughout the day the outdoor throng got busier

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-20333463618337522062011-07-17T13:39:00.002-05:002011-07-20T09:28:05.650-05:00

SUMMER ..! .. We’re in the midst of it! Isn’t it glorious? Didn’t we wait all year for this? YES! Photograph May 2011 by BDM Summer has a way of interfering with good intentions about blogging. Mine, anyway. All that daylight. All that warm air on exposed skin. So many surprising free pleasures in a great city—movies under the stars, live music beside the lake, rooftop barbecues, countless

BDMnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-37489354882709224692011-07-05T22:02:00.001-05:002011-07-05T22:09:08.794-05:00

Calton Old Cemetery, Edinburgh In memory of Robert Dougall, Cabinetmaker d. 27.5.1894 age 58y Also his son James d. 5.3.1825 age 2y Erected by his surviving son the Rev. John Dougall, Minister of St Andrew Scots Church, Sydney           ~~~~ On receiving this transcript from Scottish Monumental Inscriptions I questioned the fact that Robert, born ca.1836, could have had a son born in 1825.

BDMnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-59788541051194201252011-06-28T22:42:00.001-05:002011-06-29T07:54:39.964-05:00

Dear readers, a break from the tedium of Frasers, McFadyens, Dougalls, et al. With a mixture of pride and humility, I congratulate the Puslinch Pioneer on its 35th anniversary this month. Wot, you say? What is a Puslinch? And why does it have a Pioneer? Puslinch is a township on the south end of Wellington County, south of Guelph, Ontario. It has almost two hundred years of history as an

BDMnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-3072919268030639332011-06-23T10:58:00.001-05:002011-07-18T21:54:53.702-05:00

A speculative hypothesis to add to the mix: Did my mysterious John Fraser “from Inverness-shire,” the farmer at St Andrews East in Quebec, have a brother called Donald? ... more searching for clues to his origins.    A Donald Fraser appears in the 1825 St. Andrews census in the age category of 25-40, with a wife and four or five children.[1] The poor microfilm quality and continuing folio pages

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-3468161067391879562011-06-18T22:35:00.000-05:002011-06-18T22:35:33.912-05:00

The view from my window Dear Blogspot dot com: Why do I have to fight you all the time to make a PHOTOGRAPH appear on my blog? Or for that matter, why photos disappear from previous blogs? It's not just MY issue! Yours truly BDM

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-82257460905752625132011-06-11T23:37:00.001-05:002011-07-18T21:54:29.278-05:00

Another gasp at finding the origins of my Inverness-shire John Fraser. Let’s take a different tack. Who were the associates and neighbours of John Fraser on the Rivière Rouge at St Andrews East in Quebec? Attention to the “FAN Club”can be effective for uncovering clues to ancestral roadblocks. The seignory of Argenteuil was sold by Louis Panet on 24 May 1793 to Patrick Murray, Major in the 60th

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-7169563934087052242011-05-30T20:51:00.001-05:002011-05-30T20:52:43.665-05:00

Possibly some of the family members will find this of interest. If I could afford to buy hundreds of copies for the relatives, I would, but I can’t. Blogger is playing its frustrating silly buggers game again with uploading images, so if they don't appear as instructed you won't even be reading this! NEW! My Latvian Ancestors. (May 2011). 72 pp., illustrated. $22.00. UniBook. The sub-title

BDMnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-11531435812479567902011-05-27T18:57:00.000-05:002011-05-27T18:57:20.520-05:00

Genealogists who blog are called Geneabloggers (at least the ones who find mutual fellowship among the growing Geneabloggers network, and who try to keep up with following each other; we are nearing the 2,000 mark as Thomas keeps us updated). Many of us (most?) have not met each other in person. Never mind: personality and character come through in the written word. Support, assistance, and

BDMnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-31164870542986292011-05-23T07:30:00.000-05:002011-05-23T07:30:21.883-05:00

Alice's urban garden; photo BDM May 2011.

BDMnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-31161172939235204652011-05-19T22:21:00.001-05:002011-07-18T21:53:47.497-05:00

Already mentioned — the serious gaps in Highland parish registers make this an exercise based on incomplete information. It’s true that a few churches went without a local minister at times, but also “... it is to be regretted that the entries were not by any means regularly made, and this circumstance is probably owing to a strong prejudice which obtained against it in the minds of the people,

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-88448136565916666172011-05-13T19:33:00.000-05:002011-05-13T19:33:40.819-05:00

... continuing a small series of less-than-exhaustive searches for two mysterious George Porters. It’s been a while. Poor George Porter and his doppelgangers must be silently resentful at my neglect. What I’ve been doing overall—I think—is examining not only what might have happened to George Porter of Niagara and York (The Carpenter), why and how he disappeared, but also where he came from. A

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-11660378034612272552011-05-11T08:59:00.001-05:002011-05-11T09:00:49.167-05:00

     It must be spring. Historic Distillery District, Toronto. Photograph BDM, 2010.

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-56847177910890181842011-04-27T20:22:00.000-05:002011-04-27T20:22:39.435-05:00

The Inverness Frasers are becoming my most challenging and interesting of brick walls. The blog serves as a testing ground before daring to assemble a family history. It may well be a fool’s exercise due to the absence of so many records. The third of my three research objectives for John Fraser, my Scottish-Inverness-shire ancestor was: ➣ Hopefully, find the baptism of a John Fraser using

BDMnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-69893509923724012892011-04-23T19:10:00.000-05:002011-04-23T19:10:45.228-05:00

Photograph by BDM, October 2007 Saving up my camel experiences to dole out slowly, savouring one post at a time, hit a serious road block. The blockage is apparent to anyone who reads the news lately. Even if all you can bear are headlines, you will know that the Middle East is in an uproar. The wind of change is blowing through this region ... with apologies to Harold Macmillan.[1] My

BDMnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-65694341684807809582011-04-15T11:12:00.000-05:002011-04-15T11:12:47.147-05:00

Here I am again with those Highlanders. So soon after Tartan Day! There’s a difference. After the Battle of Culloden, the wearing of  tartan was forbidden for 36 years. When the parliamentary act was repealed in 1782, the Highlands of Scotland had undergone a sea change to emerge from mediaeval times. Painting of Prince Charles Edward Stuart by Simon Hill. The white cockade distinguished the

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-12222260420214194522011-04-10T10:15:00.003-05:002011-04-12T21:16:54.056-05:00

I have a concern that images are not only not always loading into Blogger, but also previously posted images keep disappearing! What's up with that?! Half of my personal heritage is Latvian which deserves equal time with the Highlanders. The great cosmic question is why this heritage saddles me with two languages incomprehensible to 98% of the world’s population. My formal schooling was sorely

BDMnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-67342617592589865172011-04-04T23:25:00.004-05:002011-04-05T00:00:50.460-05:00

April 6th is Tartan Day in Canada and the U.S.A. See my new favourite tartan.  Chris who blogs at Scottish GENES will freak if he ever sees this. I respect Chris very much but he is death on spurious Scots regalia and I’d like us to be on speaking terms when he lectures in Toronto in June. He has written plangently more than once about the “Scottishness” industry created in the 19th century and

BDMnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-52425338201811816822011-03-26T23:41:00.000-05:002012-01-16T20:19:14.619-05:00

Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo, Netherlands Photograph BDM, July 2010

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-71895492444637362302011-03-20T23:02:00.002-05:002011-03-21T10:48:37.344-05:00

We GeneaBloggers may be considered a self-indulgent lot, but you have to give us credit for staying the course. This is the fourth anniversary for my blog. I’ve been blogging so long I wrote stuff I forgot I’d written. Awards and doo-dads to stick on my site are minimal. Comments from readers are the best award/reward. If blogger stats are to be believed (i.e. genealegitimate?), “John Fraser:

BDMnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-52130407982346982972011-03-07T08:17:00.002-05:002011-03-07T08:21:54.041-05:00

Departing from my usual posts of scratching my genealogy/family history navel, I am celebrating the advent of Elizabeth Shown Mills to my town. Said town being TORONTO. Not that—her life so often being peripatetic for speaking engagements—she is likely to see anything of my town beyond a few gazes out of hotel windows. Hotel windows are situated in the northern reaches of North York which

BDMnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-41962275336459764072011-02-26T11:47:00.002-05:002011-02-26T11:57:26.618-05:00

In my previous Dougall post, I mentioned that my perspective toward the family origins had changed. Instead of conjuring a vague Highland past for good old John (fl.1750s) and his antecedents, my horizons contracted closer to home—home being Edinburghshire, latterly known as Midlothian. And the town of Edinburgh embodied the heart of Midlothian. It’s quite apparent that, although my Dougall

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-87310574349724872952011-02-23T08:49:00.001-05:002011-02-23T08:50:00.565-05:00

Torontoist, 12 November 2010

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-85502785858315566762011-02-15T19:33:00.003-05:002011-02-21T19:16:54.312-05:00

Lately I see more and more discussion about writing the family history. Positively cheering! We all love the research process. We love the building of relationships and charts. We don’t love so much the citing our sources part. From the comments I see, some of us find it even harder to put it all together into written form. Recently, Kerry of Clue Wagon opened up a nice little discussion. The

BDMnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-77129622125858139572011-02-06T00:01:00.003-05:002011-02-21T19:17:31.865-05:00

Print-on-demand with online publishing is ideally suited for genealogists and family historians who anticipate a relatively small print run, i.e. limited distribution among family members. Not to forget donating some copies to appropriately relevant genealogical societies. Undoubtedly some will still prefer to work with a local printer who can provide a similar and perhaps more personalized

BDMnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-22696794192368814872011-01-28T23:53:00.091-05:002011-03-21T10:42:39.359-05:00

Ja, I know ... 2010 is over and done with. If you think this is post facto, consider the 2010 Annual Letter I haven’t written yet “for friends and family.” Because, of course, the tightening of family history priorities means I have no friends any more and the relatives don’t care what the crazy lady does. That takes care of that, so I am free to issue my first Annual Pictorial Record. Maclean’

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-59904468927525661072011-01-25T23:13:00.001-05:002011-01-25T23:14:39.891-05:00

Confess. You've been missing the camels. Now imagine my next outing with a few of my BFFs. The card was $4.00. The photograph  is priceless. www.marianheath.com.

BDMnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-89563968962195671922011-01-10T21:35:00.004-05:002011-01-10T21:54:15.444-05:00

Speaking of “Parts,” Jurikas posts have been somewhat arbitrarily numbered, since inception it seems. Something to do with the missing DNA math thingy in my brain. Never mind. Previous posts on this family seem to be at Part 3, Part 2, and Marija.  SVEIKS! Who would have thought the Baltic ancestry would way outstrip the Scottish ancestry in terms of historic extension? We should be so grateful

BDMnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-34358357490380725172011-01-04T23:49:00.004-05:002011-01-04T23:58:25.128-05:00

[Memo to Self: Know your geography. Know your county boundaries. Know your parishes. Maps, maps, maps.] I’ve said that before in so many words, and am not too proud to admit mistakes (Parkhead, sigh). Luckily my cognitive skills are not so impaired that I couldn’t rescue a 30-year-old error. Reviewing old research, to my bemusement I discovered I’d misplaced a county. Or rather, identified a

BDMnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-29756691048403937742010-12-29T21:42:00.001-05:002010-12-30T11:51:27.273-05:00

End of the year. GeneaBloggers stir ourselves once again from the turkey coma. Forthcoming are affirmations of mission statements, re-orientation of goals, new lists, all that stuff. You know, what I accomplished this year and/or what I intend to do in 2011. The earnestness is tangible and sometimes self-admonishing. Wo. Woe. Whoa. It’s not like I for one am going to check up on you mid-June and

BDMnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-9386919398331448242010-12-21T10:09:00.000-05:002010-12-21T10:09:10.253-05:00

Clem was born awkward. He fared poorly at camel training school. He didn’t make the cut to be chosen for caravan expeditions. Then suddenly he was sold to a well-dressed man in a hurry. The man was following a star. Clem picked up a lot of experience on the journey and became strong and happy. When they reached their destination, he knew how to kneel as gracefully as can be. Mueller, Virginia.

BDMnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-19960181572069577612010-12-17T11:33:00.001-05:002010-12-17T11:34:08.595-05:00

Christmas Tree, Toronto City Hall, Nathan Phillips Square, 2005

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-63044810857237098082010-12-09T23:01:00.001-05:002010-12-09T23:08:19.149-05:00

In researching my ancestor John Fraser—of St Andrews East in Argenteuil County, Quebec—a few clues to his origins emerged. I can say with confidence that he married Margery McIntyre 17 August 1808 at St Gabriel Street Presbyterian Church in Montreal.[1] He stated his age as 32 (inferring birth year ca.1776) and was a “farmer of Rivière Rouge.” Census and land records indicate he lived and farmed

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-7477712898209439222010-11-19T11:27:00.003-05:002010-11-19T21:58:01.348-05:00

Couldn’t resist an entry for the 100th edition of Carnival of Genealogy. Congratulations to Jasia of Creative Gene on this milestone! One in Every Family is the theme. We are encouraged to write about special individuals, family heirlooms, or “interpret as you like.” I’ve interpreted the theme loosely as One in Every Generation (of the family). Part of the family history fabric for me is to see

BDMnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-29525502731274136572010-11-08T21:56:00.002-05:002010-11-08T22:01:16.857-05:00

Which is stranger, truth or fiction? In family history, the real question is which survives longer or stronger? That depends, bien sûr, on two things in every generation: the level of interest among assorted family individuals, and the abilities of a family historian. One of my main blog goals has been to reach extended family members who feel the occasional curiosity regarding their

BDMnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-51992099496712018032010-11-05T21:04:00.000-05:002010-11-05T21:04:41.350-05:00

Museo de Antropologia, Xalapa, Mexico; photograph BDM 2007 Any excuse for a photo! Dia de los Muertos is not dead yet for this year. All weekend Toronto's Harbourfront Centre celebrates Mexican historical traditions, honouring deceased ancestors among them.

BDMnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-18754044553213639392010-10-26T21:14:00.005-05:002010-10-26T21:23:47.181-05:00

Time for a camel break. Whether blogspot will cooperate with text around photos remains to be seen. My introduction to the Thar desert in Rajasthan, India, was on a sorely tested digestive system. Delhi-belly felled us one by one and the wonderful curries for breakfast, lunch, and dinner temporarily lost their appeal. So we are happy to have tents with toilets and wash facilities, despite water

BDMnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-24165690770587788852010-10-13T19:11:00.001-05:002010-10-13T19:16:41.372-05:00

A post of agony about the Frasers of Perthshire, to be tolerated with kind empathy. Especially by those searching for equally frustrating families like Smith and Jones. I noticed that I’d been spelling Killin in Scotland as Killean half the time so changes were made for consistency. They sound the same to me. For a long time I lived in an Ontario township where communities were named after places

BDMnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-22743895429324870052010-10-09T23:44:00.001-05:002010-10-09T23:45:59.932-05:00

Photograph BDM, July 2010.

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-61273602523218043112010-10-05T22:45:00.003-05:002011-03-20T10:51:43.478-05:00

... continuing a small series on less-than-exhaustive searches for two mysterious George Porters. One George disappeared from Upper Canada about 1800; another George surfaced in 1814, outlined here. Family origins for both are unknown. Two previous “Persons of Interest”have already been introduced. The Rifleman was said to be from Pennsylvania; the Blacksmith apparently originated in New England.

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-8722255102901192772010-09-24T22:08:00.005-05:002010-10-08T18:21:43.952-05:00

While waiting for retrievals at the National Library in Edinburgh, I scooted outside to practice my photography skills. Note to self: Surely the quantity I take will result in some quality. Two minutes away was one of Edinburgh’s iconic historical sites. The entrance to Greyfriars Church and cemetery is all but unnoticeable except for the landmark pub. Something about a faithful dog called

BDMnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-38291322446888552472010-09-19T20:07:00.000-05:002010-09-19T20:07:53.736-05:00

We family historians get quite excited at discovering a black sheep. Why do we react that way? Well, we know our ancestors weren’t all boring, diligent farmers and blacksmiths and housewives and students and salesmen and clerks and milliners. One might think so from the too-often little we can dig up about them. Someone who disturbed the norm, caused problems, or attracted attention, usually in

BDMnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-72608248862519529962010-09-12T12:55:00.001-05:002010-11-29T21:44:55.049-05:00

BCE Place, Toronto, photograph by BDM.

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-30805589850821135662010-08-26T21:55:00.005-05:002010-08-27T11:36:23.076-05:00

It was a grey, rainy day when we found our way to Culloden Moor near Inverness. The site of the last battle fought on British soil has been preserved, not without difficulties over the years, by the National Trust of Scotland. Properties in private hands had to be acquired, a slow process. Many clan organizations and corporate donors have assisted financially for the Culloden Battlefield Memorial

BDMnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-58185876673716328102010-08-22T11:40:00.001-05:002010-08-22T11:41:21.057-05:00

Ten Dougall Boys Thanks, R! Much on my mind. Photograph by RD, July 2010.

BDMnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-45257673242458206742010-08-16T20:07:00.003-05:002010-10-08T19:27:40.597-05:00

Killin sits in the Scottish Highlands of what used to be Perthshire but after a boundary shift, is now in the Stirling Council region. The beautiful back roads feature almost-hidden quaint B&Bs, evidence of the Trossachs’ popularity as a holiday retreat from the major urban areas. This is Rob Roy McGregor country. The village I was expecting turned out to be more like a 21st century town. Note to

BDMnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-81836312927539913142010-08-09T22:02:00.005-05:002010-10-08T18:18:58.515-05:00

At last, my goal in Edinburgh. The Historical Research Room, part of the National Archives of Scotland. The morning walk took less than my estimated ten minutes ... if you disregard the fact that I first went to General Register House instead of to the Garden Entrance for the search rooms, which information I had read several times in advance and apparently forgot in the majesty of it all. I was

BDMnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-70439457975558843542010-08-04T11:31:00.010-05:002011-03-21T10:44:39.693-05:00

Sometimes a longing can be transmitted across generations. Racial memory? This poem, Coll of the Waves by John MacFadyen (Iain Hyne), translated from the Gaelic, resonates among a surprising number of Collach descendants, long-separated from their island origins.           Fair gem of the ocean,         Sweet Coll of my song,         With joy and devotion         To you I belong.         I yearn

BDMnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-4193914911227895402010-07-10T10:08:00.002-05:002010-07-11T19:28:34.391-05:00

I know, it seems like I’ve been leaving for weeks, right? You have no idea how I can work myself up about packing the suitcase, seizing the right moment to buy foreign cash, instructions to leave for interim plant watering volunteers and mail collectors, the slew of emergency numbers-addresses-information-itinerary to disperse to anyone mildly interested.  My buddy The Educated Genealogist and

BDMnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-88251774162753253652010-07-07T21:29:00.001-05:002010-07-07T21:30:25.440-05:00

Just the thing for a long flight. Robert Irwin, Camel (London: Reaktion Books Ltd., 2010). Not to be confused with  the UK progrock band. But both are nice.

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-10038473349323560052010-06-30T21:38:00.004-05:002011-03-20T10:53:09.052-05:00

The circle widens around my target, George Porter—George Porter the Prisoner, that is. We don’t know anything about his family and almost nothing about his associates. But there are several what I call Persons of Interest in the same time period and areas. A prior posting for background information is here. More musings ... The Rifleman On 12 October 1794, Thomas Small reported to Alexander

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-30336780744339093932010-06-17T10:14:00.005-05:002010-10-08T19:07:29.348-05:00

This post isn’t so much about the ancestors per se as it’s about frenzied preparations for two days of research at General Register House in Edinburgh. That’s the one at the east end of Princes Street. As opposed to the one at the west end of Princes Street, imaginatively called West Register House. NAS. National Archives of Scotland. My hotel is thankfully nearby, as memorized from a colourful

BDMnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-61056563332185188242010-06-13T17:59:00.002-05:002010-09-12T12:57:25.435-05:00

Toronto's very own camel. Photograph BDM, April 2010.

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-87845382473838113252010-06-04T18:54:00.001-05:002010-06-04T18:56:11.752-05:00

My previous post here outlined my ancestor identification problem, despite having a rather serendipitous resource to work with. For those who have satisfactorily identified an ancestor in the 1776 list for the Isle of Coll, a bigger leap is back to 1716, the next list (of adult males). That’s a duration of sixty years, about two generations. How likely is it that an adult male in 1716 would be

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-31376977460396178892010-06-02T10:17:00.000-05:002010-06-02T10:17:26.879-05:00

A rare black baby; most dromedaries are born white. Photograph at Petra, Jordan; Francine Mulherin, 2009.

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-50022202900817704542010-05-29T00:00:00.003-05:002011-10-13T11:30:04.306-05:00

One little “back story” illustrates—for the uninitiated—the trail a diligent family historian must sometimes follow to reach the authentic source for one fact. Citing a source gives the reader of the family history an idea of how grounded that fact is, how much weight it carries as evidence. It tells the reader what the source is, who created it, and where it is. The fact I needed to verify was

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-84600028068433639862010-05-23T08:21:00.001-05:002010-05-24T21:03:14.424-05:00

Financial district, Toronto, March 2010, photograph BDM.

BDMnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-33419991244916770292010-05-12T20:05:00.004-05:002011-08-12T22:33:05.981-05:00

Turn-of-the-nineteenth-century George Porter in Upper Canada: One man, or two? Or three? Almost every researcher who pursues ancestry beyond their grandparents will find an example of this classic genealogical problem—“same name” occurrences in one general vicinity and time frame. The attempt to identify same-name individuals in any documented circumstances can lead into unexpected research

BDMnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-84272749408227425972010-05-09T00:37:00.004-05:002010-05-09T00:52:08.586-05:00

“No helmet, no ride.” It has been brought to my attention that riding camels (at least in Australia) has succumbed to political correctness. What is the world of adventure coming to? Tourists are now required to strap a pancake-like fibre-glass contraption on their obedient heads. YES! ... a little trip into the Oz desert on a camel is impossible without a camel helmet. How to spoil a perfect

BDMnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-12054055591047448792010-04-29T22:28:00.000-05:002010-04-29T22:28:37.080-05:00

Photograph CBM, 2006?

BDMnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-67360291374937615452010-04-27T23:09:00.000-05:002010-04-27T23:09:01.828-05:00

Sveiks! This older post has been updated for the 28th edition of the Carnival of Central and East European Genealogy, ... "War Stories." Hosted by Discovering Latvian Roots, I am bound to support Antra who has been immensely enlightening and helpful! Her blog and her projects are models for those of us separated from ancestors by distance and language.

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-65803355422815853032010-04-15T23:08:00.005-05:002011-03-27T10:00:17.232-05:00

Comparing signatures to help identify ancestors is an interesting technique for family historians when faced with two or more ancestors bearing the same name. Obviously, one must have some existing documentation to enable such an evaluation. And even if a signature match looks good, it’s not strong enough evidence to stand alone, for sure. I’m requesting assistance (issuing a challenge?) for

BDMnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-74617561026806369982010-04-11T18:11:00.002-05:002010-11-29T21:46:05.110-05:00

C2 often laments the lack of public art in Halifax. Here's one for her: 18 Yonge Street, Toronto; photograph BDM March 2010.

BDMnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-39510026267384295842010-04-04T10:08:00.002-05:002010-04-21T09:38:09.738-05:00

The 9th Edition Carnival of Canadian Genealogy features “Canadian Fashion Fads.” Hosted by Looking4Ancestors, all the entries will be presented after 16 April. Bet this will attract a ton of submissions. This post could have some appropriateness for Easter when it was customary to don a new bonnet to go to church and/or walk about town in expectation of fine weather. Any females amongst us

BDMnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-76453749710008381432010-03-27T22:20:00.005-05:002010-03-28T23:10:50.872-05:00

A few years ago by chance I renewed my acquaintance with the species camelus dromedarius. I had travelled with a group from Malaga, Spain, across the Strait of Gibraltar and southward through the mid-Atlas mountains. Exotic Marrakesh was the third royal city of Morocco we visited (but not the most memorable in my mind, I give that to Fes). Our tour leader Alami was necessarily proficient in

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-46163401648456880432010-03-24T17:20:00.000-05:002010-03-24T17:20:27.873-05:00

Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto, photograph BDM March 2010.

BDMnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-35195449982543447572010-03-21T17:02:00.002-05:002011-03-21T10:47:20.520-05:00

Saying something about your own blog is pretty boring. It’s not exactly real *yawn* writing. So why would I do that? Because family historians and Geneabloggers have a compulsion to mark all sorts of anniversaries. Like three years it’s been ( ... the usual yadda about time flying). Break out the mojitos, eh? Little did I know thanks to C3 at the time that I would find a kind of writers’ heaven

BDMnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-71073319973934254572010-03-16T10:55:00.003-05:002010-03-16T11:08:57.980-05:00

A post last September referred to my struggles to understand an unfamiliar source: the Quebec Land Register system. My descriptions had some ineptness due to an anglo-centric perspective and semantics. Writer and researcher Sharon Callaghan, who has hands-on experience, kindly shared some further clarification about accessing the online records. Items in the older post have been corrected.

BDMnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-58879153204006549122010-03-11T11:56:00.003-05:002011-10-12T19:08:03.297-05:00

Four major lists of Coll residents exist to inspire the thankless crazy-making task of trying to link generations. Three of them name only the adult male population, but even those slim pickings have value and will be blogged about later. Dear reader, your comments are invited. Dear relatives, a gold star for those who read to the end. In one of those serendipitous turns of fate, we have a

BDMnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-13351516086218098732010-03-03T23:23:00.003-05:002010-03-03T23:28:54.020-05:00

Training a racing camel, United Arab Emirates.Camel Photos.com (http:\\www.camelphotos.com/racing_camels.html#)

BDMnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-69865337607047632162010-03-01T22:05:00.006-05:002010-03-01T22:47:24.662-05:00

The 27th edition of the Carnival of Central and East European Genealogy invited us to “Explore the Village of My Ancestor.” Need it be said, this is a challenge for descendants lacking a particular language among other important skills? Plus, how many villages have a written history? Nevertheless, let’s plunge on and see what happens.My choices were a toss-up between Kastran or Lade in Latvia—the

BDMnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-10256163201395972202010-02-19T20:29:00.004-05:002011-06-10T21:57:44.708-05:00

Human nature will out. In a small community, it’s hard to hide anything from the neighbours! Coll Kirk Session Minutes, 1733-1813, GB 234, CH2/70/1; National Archives of Scotland 7 June 1734 John McLachlan vc Ian vc Dhoil being asked if he would own the Child fathered upon him by Margaret McNeil vc Dhoil said he would not and said he was ready to depose that he had no guilt with her. But it

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-14083395055817554152010-02-14T19:02:00.005-05:002010-11-29T21:47:07.734-05:00

Saturday Morning Market, Helsinki Photograph, BDM, October 2006.

BDMnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-22962368346630662432010-02-08T21:15:00.006-05:002011-06-10T21:57:09.822-05:00

As I study the minutes of the elders’ meetings, it strikes me how much the events could affect a family’s genealogy, attributing the true parents to children ... in particular, the instances of out-of-wedlock children. Whether this immorality was more prevalent in rather isolated, small communities, or rampant across Scotland in general, I can’t say. On Coll, those children were baptized when the

BDMnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-994786396673772982010-02-01T21:34:00.009-05:002011-06-10T21:56:27.299-05:00

Kirk Session records of the Church of Scotland throw illuminating glimpses into the lives of ordinary folk, as seen from the Presbyterian torch held high. Fines for immorality were collected by the Elders of the Kirk Session (or their appointees) and were redistributed to the needy of the parish. Immorality encompassed religious violations from not attending the Sunday sermon to illegitimate

BDMnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3707450617653976970.post-42539310419545530512010-01-30T00:14:00.004-05:002010-01-30T00:21:22.257-05:00

Photograph Mary Ann Waring, October 2009.It's been far too long since we had a camel break. There are other places where life is less complicated.

BDMnoreply@blogger.com2