Month / June 2013

by ottawafamilytree

Federal government witholding 1921 Census

UPDATE: The 1921 Census was finally released, and is available through ancestry.ca under an agreement with the LAC.

Elizabeth Lapointe in her blog Genealogy Canada, reports that the 1921 Census is ready for release … it is already digitised and prepared to be put on the LibraryArchives Canada website, ready, in fact, since 12 June.

Apparently, the Federal Government has decided to withold the Census.

The word leaked to her from an LAC employee is that the best way to get things back on track is to contact Heritage Minister James Moore and urge the release NOW.

Minister Moore’s mailing address is:

The Hon. James Moore,

Minister of Canadian Heritage & Official Languages,

House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6

Remember, there is no postage required for sending snail-mail to MPs from within Canada.

His telephone number is 613-992-9650, and his fax number is 613-992-9868.

His email james.moore@parl.gc.ca

———————————————————–

Here is my email sent tonight:

Dear Minister Moore,

There is nothing more important to preserving the heritage of Canada than to be able to tell the story of its history and pass that story along.

Historians, genealogists and average folk who want to research their history need to be able to have access to the digitised 1921 Census already prepared for release by LibraryArchives Canada.

I urge you to give the OK for the immediate release of the census on the LAC website today.

There is absolutely no legal or practical reason to delay its release.

Looking forward to a speedy resolution of this matter through your efforts,

Respectfully,

Shaun OConnor
Ottawafamilytree.net

from:  ottawafamilytree@gmail.com
to:  james.moore@parl.gc.ca
date:  Tue, Jun 18, 2013
subject:  1921 Census release
by ottawafamilytree

Irish Land Maps 1656-1658 Available Online

The 1650s saw the end of 12 years of warfare with the victory of Cromwell’s forces in Ireland. The cost: Irish Catholics lost their land, which was given to English “adventurers” (investors and entrepreneurs) and English soldiers.

To accomplish the task of re-distribution of land on such a massive scale, the Down Survey was undertaken. It measured all Catholic lands being confiscated throughout the whole of Ireland.

DownSurveyMapsThere are two main components to this Trinity College website. The Down Survey Maps section comprises digital images of all the surviving Down Survey maps at parish, barony and county level. The written descriptions (terrier) of each barony and parish that accompanied the original maps have also been included. The second section, Historical GIS, brings together the maps and related contemporaneous sources – Books of Survey and Distribution, the 1641 Depositions, the 1659 Census – in a Geographical Information System (GIS). All these sources have been geo-referenced with 19th-century Ordnance Survey maps, Google Maps and satellite imagery.

This makes it possible to find the original land owner and location, as well as the name of the owner after the redistribution of the land.

Thanks to Deborah Large Fox and Mary Catherine Moran who passed along this information.