Saturday, October 22, 2011

Lanark Gavin's

Robert Gavin, 1874-1938 = Elizabeth Ferguson

Robert Gavin, eldest son and
third surviving child of Robert
Gavin and Margaret Horn was
born April 23rd, 1874 in
Lanark County. His father was
shown as an innkeeper at the
time of his birth.


He was married in Muskoka in 1904.

Vital Statistics #13026-1904 13026-04 (Muskoka Dist.) Robert GAVIN, 30, farmer, Lanark Co., Draper, s/o Robert GAVIN & Maggie HORNE, married Elizabeth FERGUSON, 23, Draper, same, d/o William FERGUSON & Ellen BANAGH, witn: William GAVIN & Ella FERGUSON, both of Draper, 31 Aug 1904 at St. Paul’s Church, Draper

Bracebridge Gazette Sept 15, 1904
"At 3 o'clock on Wednesday afternoon Aug. 31 a large number of friends and neighbors gathered in St. Paul's Anglican church to witness the marriage of Miss Elizabeth Ferguson to Robert Gavin, of Purbrook. The sacred edifice was neatly decorated with flowers for the occasion. The ceremony was conducted by the incumbent the Rev. Geo. Gander. The bride looked exceedingly handsome in a becoming gown of cream silk crepe-de-chine with lace insertion, appliqué, etc., and wore a pretty white silk chiffon hat trimmed with Duchess Ribbon and lilies of the valley, and with veil and orange blossoms. She was attended by her sister Ella and Amy, and the groom was supported by his brother William, and his nephew, Willie Ennis. At the conclusion of the ceremony, Mr. and Mrs. Gavin and guests proceeded to the residence of the brides' parents, where an appetizing repast was served of which all partook heartily. A pleasant evening was spent in dancing. About 12 o'clock the bride appeared in an Eton suit of dark green cheviot cloth with hat to match, and the newly wedded couple left immediately for Bracebridge where they took the early morning train for a week's visit to New York, calling at Toronto and Niagara on the way. The bride was the recipient of many useful presents and many were the hearty good wishes received. "

1911 Census
Lot 22 Con 11 Muskoka, Draper

Gavin, Robert, Head, b. Apr, 1874, 37, farmer
Gavin, Elizabeth, Wife, b. Jun, 1881, 29
Gavin, Eileen Amy, Dau, b. Oct, 1905, 5
Gavin, Harvey, Son, b. May, 1908 3
Gavin, Clive, Son, b. July, 1911, 10/12 mo.

(One more son, Albert William, was born after 1911)

Rob't Gavin, R.R.2, Thessalon, Ontario
May 26th, 1937
Dear Sister Maggie,
I received your letter on my birthday and was glad to hear that you were all well and hope that this will find you the same. We are all as well as we can expect. Well, Maggie, you asked me in your letter if I could go out. I can't walk, even with (crutches?) The only time I get out is when someone carries me to the car and takes me for a ride. I was pretty sick most of the winter but I feel quite a lot better since it got warm. I don't think I will walk again. I suffer a lot with my legs and arms. I have to take tablets. I don't know where Albert is. We haven't heard from him since he left one year ago last December. And I haven't heard from Clive for a long time now. I expect I will soon. Bessie was home two weeks ago. She is fat and looks well. She weighs 122 pounds. That's a good weight for her. Harvie (?) is on his mail rounds. He has been pretty busy seeding but is ____ now. He sowed 45 bushels of oats. He has a man (?) nearly all the (time). He will have 7 cows milking this summer. He has 2 big white-faced 2 year olds to sell and 4 one year olds for next year. I am going to see Mable Reid tomorrow. She comes to see me quite often. I think Sarah is in the Soo now. I don't see her very often. Well Maggie, I think I will have to stop for this time. Ab was here not long ago. He said he was going home soon. Sarah was to go with him, but I don't think he went. Well, this is all for this time. Write soon. Goodbye, with love to all. From Bob

Muskoka Herald Mar 24 1938.........

"Mr. Robert Gavin...Called By Death...
Word was received here Thursday of the death the previous day of Mr. Robert Gavin of Thessalon. Mr. Gavin had been ailing for several years from rheumatism. Mr. Gavin was a son of the late Mr. & Mrs. Robert Gavin and was born at Purbrook. He leaves his wife and 3 sons, Clive, Harvey and Albert and one daughter, Mrs. Ted Massey(Ellen) of Sault St. Marie, Ontario.

He also leaves three sisters, Mrs. Thomas Carduges(Cordukes), of Thessalon; Mrs. Alfred Hammond of Fraserburg, and Mrs. Herbert Shire, of Draper, and two brothers, Albert of Sault St. Marie and Wm of Crown Hill. Mr. Gavin spent his boyhood in Purbrook and later moved with his wife and family to Bracebridge, where he lived several years before moving to Thessalon. He was in his 64th year. The funeral services took place at Thessalon on Monday. "

(He died March 18, 1938 and is buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Thessalon, Ontario.)

Family Marriages:

6862-25 Frederick John MASSON, 25, barber, Gravenhurst, Sault Ste Marie, s/o John Napoleon MASSON & Selina POIDEVIN, married Amy Eileen GAVIN, 19, Draper Tp. Muskoka, Sault Ste Marie, d/o Robert GAVIN & Elizabeth FERGUSON, witn: Ethel REID & Roderick James MASSON both of Thessalon on Sept. 7, 1925 at St. Luke's Cathedral Sault Ste Marie (Source - Ontario marriages 'on-line')

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Maps by Philip Turnor

Athabaska To James Bay Map

Churchill Factory

Across The River

Philip Turnor

This information came from www.ancestry.com
Carol Vint email address cvint@mts.net
Updated: 2006-04-20 03:15:02


ID: I0052
Name: Philip Turnor
Sex: M
Birth: 1751 in Laleham, Middlesex, England
Death: BEF. 1800 in Rotherhithe, England
Reference Number: 52

Marriage 1 Unknown Eskimo Woman b: 1752 Married: 1782

Children:
1.Joseph Sr. Turnor b: 1784 in Abitibi River Country, Ont.
2.Mary Turnor

Marriage 2 Elizabeth Armstrong
Married: 9 OCT 1785 in Stepney Spitalfields in Christs Church, England



Across The River

Philip Turnor was the first scientific observer in western Canada. His greatest achievement is considered to be the training of David Thompson and Peter Fidler in the sciences of surveying, calculations and making maps.
Found on the internet:

Look for Plaque #16.
Plaque Location: In small park beside H-Way 17 at Michipicoten River Crossing, Wawa

THE MICHIPICOTEN CANOE ROUTE
The nearby Michipicoten River formed an important link in the canoe route from Lake Superior to James Bay via the Michipicoten, Missinaibi and Moose Rivers. The route was probably explored at an early date by the French fur traders who maintained a post at Michipicoten. However the first recorded journeys were not made until the 1770's when the Hudson's Bay Company began to establish fur-trading posts along this route inland from Moose Fort. In 1781 Philip Turnor, the Company's first full-time surveyor, made a detailed investigation of the waterway. Considerable improvements were made to the portages along the route which, after 1821, became the Hudson's Bay Company's supply-line for its Lake Superior District. Erected by the Archaeological and Historic Sites Board, Department of Public Records and Archives of Ontario
Turnor, Philip.


Turnor, Philip, surveyor, fur trader (b in Eng c 1751; d at London, Eng 1799 or 1800). The first servant of the HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY employed specifically to survey and map its vast empire, he accumulated, in the course of his employment from 1778 to 1792, a considerable part of the information on the northern interior of N America published on Arrowsmith's map in 1795 (see CARTOGRAPHY). In 1789-90 he taught surveying to David THOMPSON and Peter FIDLER; and during his last assignment, to establish the position of Lake Athabasca and to find a route to it from the Saskatchewan R, he met Alexander MACKENZIE, whom he evidently persuaded to seek instruction in navigation before continuing his explorations. His enthusiastic evaluation of the great fur trading potential of the Athabasca region led to the establishment of the first HBC post there in 1793.



Directory of Designations of National Historic Significance of Canada
Philip Turnor National Historic Person of Canada
Life span: 1751-1800
Moose Factory, Ontario

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Designated: 1973
Plaque Status: Plaqued in 1978

Hudson's Bay Company surveyor, explored the Athabasca (1790-1792)

Over the years, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) made periodic requests to the school for students to be apprenticed to the North American fur trade. Many of these students would later receive training from Philip Turnor, the HBC's first chief surveyor. Among these pupils were Joseph Hansom, George Hudson, John Hodgson, and George Donald.
It was at Cumberland House that Thompson's life would take a new path. In October, 1789, Philip Turnor arrived to plan a surveying expedition to the Athabasca country with the man in charge of Cumberland House, Malchom Ross. The study group included Turnor, Ross, George Hudson, and the young Peter Fidler. The invalid Thompson was invited to join in Turnor's lessons. He later wrote with remembered pride & pleasure that 'during the winter [I] became his only assistant and thus learned practical astronomy under an excellent master of the science' (Glover, 55).
By 1789, Philip Turnor had been the HBC's official surveyor for over ten years. His work had been included in the nautical almanacs, which seems to have impressed and possibly inspired Thompson. Turnor may also have influenced another great explorer. He bumped into Alexander Mackenzie shortly after the North West Company (NWC) explorer returned from his journey to the Arctic Ocean, and it seems that Turnor's skeptical reception caused Mackenzie to return to England and brush up on his navigational skills before he made his journey to the Pacific (Lamb, 18-19).
During his navigational training that winter, Thompson became blind in his right eye, probably due to observing the sun without proper eye protection. (See 'A Theory on the Cause of David Thompson's Blindness', Northwest Journal Vol. II, pp. 23-26) In the spring of 1790, Thompson was still too weak to accompany Ross, Turnor & Fidler on the Athabasca journey. Instead, Thompson was ordered to accompany a brigade to York Factory. They departed Cumberland House on June 9. He surveyed this route as he traveled, using a sextant and watch borrowed from Philip Turnor. After a short stay at York Factory, Thompson returned to spend the winter at Cumberland House, where he returned Turnor's instruments.


TURNOR, PHILIP, HBC inland surveyor; b. c. 1751; d. 1799 or 1800.

When first engaged by the Hudson’s Bay Company on 30 April 1778, Philip Turnor was described as a resident “of Laleham Middx. 27 yrs. age not marry’d brot up in farming business.” Recommended to the London committee by William Wales, who had spent the winter of 1768–69 at Prince of Wales’s Fort (Churchill, Man.), Turnor signed on with the company to serve as an inland surveyor for three years at £50 per annum, and sailed for York Factory (Man.), arriving there on 24 Aug. 1778.

Although the company had previously encouraged such servants as Joseph Robson* and Anthony Henday* to survey and explore its holdings in Rupert’s Land, Turnor was the first to be engaged specifically as a surveyor to map “the Lattitudes and Longitudes of all their settlements . . . also their respective distances from each regularly adjusted.” After surveying the grounds of York he was ordered by Humphrey Marten, chief at York, to map the route to Cumberland House (Sask.) and the newly established post of Upper Hudson House (near Wandsworth, Sask.), and then, if possible, to make his way to Fort Albany and Moose Factory (Ont.) “thro the Lakes inland.” He reached Cumberland on 11 Oct. 1778 and the following March he, William Walker, and others set out with a dog-team on the 280-mile journey over ice to Upper Hudson House, arriving there on the 19th. He was prevented from attempting to survey the Canadians’ upper settlement, in the Eagle Hills (to the south of Battleford, Sask.), by the news that a band of Indians had killed two of the Canadians and plundered the post. Turnor returned to York on 15 July by canoe with the information he later incorporated into his “Chart of the rivers and lakes falling into Hudsons Bay according to a survey taken in the years 1778 & 9.”

Turnor was next involved in surveying the route from Albany to its two outposts, Henley House (at the junction of the Albany and Kenogami rivers, Ont.) and Gloucester House (Washi Lake, Ont.). After spending the early winter of 1779 at Albany with Thomas Hutchins, Turnor set out in February 1780 to walk to Henley with five others. Eleven days later he arrived, snow-blind and exhausted. He rested until mid-March, but was prevented from continuing to Gloucester by lack of provisions, and returned to Albany. In June 1780 he set out for Gloucester once more, by canoe, and reached it on 8 July. Returning to Albany on 11 August, he sailed to Moose in September, and that December he walked back to Albany “to take a sketch of the coast as it appears in Winter.” On 22 Jan. 1781 he set out to visit Rupert River (Que.) and Eastmain House (at the mouth of Rivière Eastmain, Que.). After failing in his attempt to walk to Mesagamy Lake (Kesagami Lake, Ont.) in April, Turnor travelled in May to Wapiscogamy (later Brunswick) House (near the junction of the Opasatika and Missinaibi rivers, Ont.), Moose’s new outpost. He spent June surveying the route from there to Michipicoten House, a Canadian post at the mouth of the Michipicoten River on Lake Superior. He then tried to reach the Canadian post on Lake Abitibi (Ont.) but found the rivers too difficult. He was back at Moose on 13 July. A second attempt to get to Abitibi in August failed, but Turnor agreed when he renewed his contract in September 1781 to trade at Abitibi. While at Moose he drew plans in March 1782 for a new post at Henley. That May he left for Abitibi, returning on 2 August.

Although employed as a surveyor, Turnor took charge of Brunswick House on 14 Oct. 1782. During the winter he suffered so badly from rheumatism that he was unable to go down to Moose in March 1783 to consider company policy after the capture of York and Prince of Wales’s Fort by the Comte de Lapérouse [Galaup]. Turnor served as master at Brunswick until the spring of 1784, when he was ordered to establish a new post “towards Abitibi.” He left Moose in June with two large and four small canoes and two new bateaux. All his craft proved defective, however, and he was forced to stop 80 miles short of Lake Abitibi. After wintering at the junction of the Abitibi and Frederick House rivers, he moved south the following spring and built a post on the shores of Frederick House Lake (Ont.). He served there as master until July 1787, when he was sent out to survey the Canadian posts in the Lake Abitibi-Lake Timiskaming region. He then returned to Moose and sailed for England in command of the Beaver sloop on 9 September.

In London Turnor worked on his maps and in November 1788 was paid 20 guineas by the HBC for his “Draught of several inland settlements belonging to the company.” He was also probably consulted about the notion of establishing a trade route from the Saskatchewan River to Lake Athabasca (Alta) and from there to the Pacific. Peter Pond*, a Montreal-based trader, had traded at Lake Athabasca in 1778–79, making an enormous profit and producing a map which made a route to the Pacific seem feasible. The possibility of a trade route through Rupert’s Land, in an age still hoping for a northwest passage to China, concerned Alexander Dalrymple, Samuel Hearne, William Wales, and the London committee. Turnor, who had recovered his health, was engaged on 16 May 1789 primarily to establish the position of Lake Athabasca and to find a route to it from the Saskatchewan River. He reached York Factory on 27 August and left for Cumberland, arriving there on 7 October.

During the winter of 1789–90 at Cumberland Turnor taught surveying to Peter Fidler* and David Thompson*, who was recovering from a broken leg. In June 1790, while awaiting the arrival of supplies, Turnor met Alexander Mackenzie*, who told him of his trip down the Mackenzie River (N.W.T.) to the sea. Turnor wrote that Mackenzie “thinks it the Hyperborean Sea but he does not seem acquainted with Observations which makes me think he is not well convinced where he has been.”

The party that set out for Lake Athabasca on 13 September consisted of Malchom Ross and his Indian wife and two children, Turnor, Fidler, and four Orkney servants, all in two canoes. Badly provisioned, the party was constantly helped by Canadian traders. At Île-à-la-Crosse (Sask.) its members wintered in two houses lent to them by Patrick Small, a Canadian, who also provisioned them when they set out the following May. Turnor arrived at Fort Chipewyan (Alta), on Lake Athabasca, on 28 June 1791. From there he canoed down Slave River to Great Slave Lake (N.W.T.). Deciding it was too late to explore farther to the northwards, he returned to Lake Athabasca and spent most of August trying to find a way from the east end of the lake into Churchill River. He then returned to a house, which Ross was building near the Canadian fort. Turnor, who kept a careful record of the trade at Fort Chipewyan, considered the post to be “the Grand Magazine of the Athapiscow Country,” and concluded that the Canadians could afford to compete at a loss elsewhere as long as they kept their monopoly of the rich Athabascan trade. Convinced that the Indians would patronize a HBC post if one were built there, he began preparations for his return journey in April, before the ice was clear from the Athabasca River, in the hope of getting to York in time to persuade the council there to send supplies and establish a post. Although he reached York on 17 July, he did not carry his point, since, as he believed, William Tomison*, chief inland, “had set his face against any undertaking to the Northward.” Turnor returned to England in October 1792.

In London the apathy of the York council was overruled. In 1793 Ross was ordered to organize an expedition to the Athabasca country and to establish a post there. Though the project proved endlessly difficult it ultimately proved crucial to the company’s fortunes. In the mean time Turnor worked on his maps and in 1795 was given by the London committee the watch he had used on his trips as well as £100 “in consideration of his services in having surveyed the Company’s several Settlements & explored several New Tracts & laid down the same in a large and accurate Map.” In retirement Turnor lived at Rotherhithe (London), and taught navigation. Apart from his formal relations with the HBC little is known of him. Obviously a courageous and conscientious man and a competent traveller and surveyor, he left no intimate or personal records. He must have died shortly after 4 Dec. 1799, when he last wrote to the company, for on 26 March 1800 the London committee read “a Petition from Elizabeth Turnor Wife of Philip Turnor Geographer to this Company, lately deceased, praying for some pecuniary assistance.”

The importance of Turnor’s work lies within the general context of the surveying effort launched by the HBC in 1778. Seeking to establish the positions of its inland posts and the river routes that linked them, the company amassed a wealth of information concerning the interior of North America that was published as a map in 1795 by Aaron Arrowsmith, the London cartographer. Entitled “A map exhibiting all the new discoveries in the interior parts of North America,” the Arrowsmith map was often reissued and became the basis of many subsequent maps of Canada. Indeed, as Arrowsmith wrote in 1794, the work of the company’s servants, Turnor among them, “had laid the permanent Foundation for the Geography of that part of the Globe.”

E. E. Rich

HBRS, XIV (Rich and Johnson), XV (Rich and Johnson). Journals of Hearne and Turnor (Tyrrell), [Alexander Mackenzie], The journals and letters of Sir Alexander Mackenzie, ed. and intro. W. K. Lamb (Cambridge, Eng., 1970). Moose Fort journals, 1783–85, ed. E. E. Rich and A. M. Johnson, intro. G. P. de T. Glazebrook (London, 1954). [David Thompson], David Thompson’s narrative, 1784–1812, ed. R. [G.] Glover (new ed., Toronto, 1962). Rich, History of HBC, II.
© 2000 University of Toronto/Université Laval

Canoe Ride with a Prince




In 1901, the then Prince of Wales came to Canada. John Polson was one of the men who went to Ottawa to take the Prince for a canoe ride. It was an honour he felt was the highlight of his eighty-two years of life on the Northern Frontier.

Source: Turn of the Century... stories about northern pioneers from the early
1900's, 1992 by David McLaren

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Merry Christmas & Happy 2011!

This is my all time favourite book! I don't have mine for this year I left in a different province but I will get it back. My parents gave it to me when I was a little girl!
Merry Christmas!



I love this book too! Classic!

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Dominion of Canada 1867

What were your ancestors on Dominion Day in 1867?
Find out by searching through archived documents like census, archives of Ontario and other resources.
Find a Map of Canada in 1867

July 1, 1867
Kingdom, Dominion or Just Plain Canada? Read: History of that day!

Imagine yourself a small child looking up at the fireworks and knowing that today is going to change the place you live forever! You can see the smiles on everyones faces and your parents are talking about how it's going to be different from know on. What would that be like?

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Maps, Atlases & Gazetteers

Keep Learning...

Throughout history, boundaries and borders have been redrawn. Knowing where those lines fell during the life of your ancestors is another key to finding your story!

Go to ancestry.com or ancestry.ca

Go to search (at top of screen along the panel of choices), search all records (drop down window), see more (at the bottome of the features section) and then you will have all the record collections in front of you.
Click on:
"Maps, Atlases & Gazetteers" or see more for a complete library of maps (countries, years...)at the bottom of the title "Maps, Atlases & Gazetteers"

Ancestry Map Search Link

Good Luck on your findings.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Ontario Archives

I quick guide to the documents that are available to the public in your area.

Major Archives of Ontario Collections on Microfilm include:
•Vital Statistics:
•Births: 1869 to 1912
•Deaths: 1869 to 1937 (Older than 70 years : 1938 and up will be released soon.)
•Marriages: ca. 1780 to 1927 (pre-1869 records are very incomplete)
•Wills and Estate Files: c. 1790 to 1930 (dates will vary depending on the county).
•Newspapers: The Archives has microfilmed most of its newspaper holdings, including a large selection of older Ontario newspapers.
•Eaton's Mail-order Catalogues: 1884-1976
The Archives also provides access to some Library and Archives Canada microfilm including:

•Ontario Census Returns: 1842, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901
•Upper Canada Land Petitions: 1792-1867
•Ships Passenger Lists: 1865-1919

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

How to find a will at the archives of Ontario

Step by step instructions on how to find a Last Will and Testament
Are all Wills in the court records?

No. If the deceased's estate consisted ONLY of real estate (e.g., farmers), the original Will may have been deposited in the local Land Registry Office to transfer the land to the heirs. Some Land Registry Offices hold over 60% of all surviving Wills. Because they were never probated, these Wills are not indexed or registered in the court records. Consult Inventory 61 (Private Property Registrations) for further details.

Why should I be looking for an "Estate File" rather than a Will?

An Estate File contains the documents used by the Surrogate Court to disperse the deceased's estate, whether he/she died with (testate) or without (intestate) a Will. The contents can include: Petition for Probate (with Will) or Administration (without Will), the original Will, the executors' or administrators' oaths, and an inventory of the assets (see the glossary at the end of this Guide for further details).

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Who Do You Think You Are?



I can't wait to watch on March 5, 2010.
Produced by Lisa Kudrow and her production company, Is or Isn't Entertainment, in collaboration with Wall to Wall Entertainment, "Who Do You Think You Are?" explores the roots of Kudrow, Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, Spike Lee, Susan Sarandon, Brooke Shields and Emmitt Smith. The show is an adaptation of the hit BBC series.
Read the NBC and Ancestry Press Release
Read more...

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Tracing Your Family History

Unfortunately I missed the episode but here is a clip from Martha The Martha Stewart Show. Click on the title of this post-entitled "Tracing Your Family History". Enjoy!

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Microfilm at local LDS Family History Centres

Birth records are indexed from 1869 to 1907

Marriage records are available from 1869to 1922

Death records from 1869 to 1932.

Birth, marriage and death documentation began in 1869, which can be found at the Ontario Archives that can be borrowed through your local library. http://www.genhomepage.com/FHC/Canada.html

This site can be complicated but it is fun to get the info you are looking for but could not find in any other documents through this resource.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Give Credit Where Credit is Due!

Just recently I found that someone took the pictures I posted on a family friend's Family Tree and claimed them as thier own. I WAS STUNNED! I was shocked, I was horrified!

I could not allow this to happen so I decided that some of the pic's were more private than others and asked the person to delete them from their computer and family tree. I did originally post them for the family friend and his father to enjoy them because the father actually knew the people in the pic's who have passed away since.

This person is such a distant relative that they don't even know the people in the pic's or even knew they existed until I contacted them and introduced myself as a relative.

Am I right in doing this? Maybe not, I don't know!

Friday, January 29, 2010

Journal Entry ~ November 2000

When filling in my tree I made sure to include first, last, and middle names, birth, marriage, death dates and places in which they occurred. For future references this allows for quick access to the researched information.

*Important Note: Use maiden name for females if known. Too many times the wife’s maiden name is lost at time of marriage and, unfortunately, it may remain unknown.

There is only one thing I wish I had done differently that would have saved time and frustration and that is to record every piece of information I found and to keep it on file either in my computer data base or my paper files. This would have avoided repeating searches for the same individuals or families, which I found was defeating.

*Note: I found that keeping a record of the information I obtained to alleviate duplicating my searches with best done through charts. I began with a simple chart my uncle had created but as my searching became more in-depth I used the charts found at Ancestry.com. http://www.ancestry.com/trees/charts/researchext.aspx

November 15, 2000
The Hudson Bay Co. era, the late 1700’s early 1800’s in particular have fascinated me for some time. I gravitate towards this period repeatedly, which made me wonder if there was something I needed to uncover.

As I learn about my ancestors I find myself asking new questions. When I searched “Philip Turnor” my eighth great-grandfather I found that he worked with Samuel Hearne. Philip Turnor was born in 1751 in Laleham, Middlesex, England and came to Canada to assist in Cartography for the Hudson Bay Company. Further in my search I found many resources including a book written by these two Hudson Bay surveyors. In the book David Thompson is mentioned along with many others who assisted or learned from the surveyors in charge. Philip Turnor was the first servant hired by the HBC to map Rupert’s Land, he met Alexander Mackenzie and established a Hudson Bay Post in Saskatchewan because he saw the potential of the fur trade there. The significance he represented in our history is documented and I sense he was an accomplished man of that time.

Getting acquainted with the local library system I noticed the collection of Canadian History documentary television series. I scanned through the movies for the 1700’s and noticed David Thomson’s name in the movies description.

To my surprise the documentary touched on the history of Philip Turnor’s and David Thompson’s association. Philip Turnor had a brilliant mathematical mind; he taught David Thompson while recovering from a broken leg, the skills that surveyors needed. David Thompson went on to become well known through his published journals in his surveying skills and findings.

In my research I found that Philip Turnor was married twice, when and where he was born, when he was married, how many children he had, and when and where he died. I find that each search no matter the out come inspires me to keep going.

Keep working at it!

Your genealogical experience will be motivating, educational and inspirational. You will come in contact with family lineage you didn’t even know existed, your research will be time well spent and you will enjoy yourself as you go.

There are many resources for public use I have given you but you will find many more as you go.

The information presented in my blog is for getting started or to give new resources (ie: key sites, archives) to those who have already started but have come to a stand still and need ideas to continue. Genealogy research can get very in-depth so much so that it is impossible to write about the entire subject, simply because everyone is lead down a different path which is their individualized Family Tree. You will learn a great deal as you travel through Ancestry.com and Familysearch.org where they have more comprehensive and complex searchable areas.

As you collect information, and watch your family tree grow you will gain a great sense of accomplishment.

Till next time I wish you good luck on your findings.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Internet Not Always Right!

Online information can be misguiding!

Just because it's on-line doesn't mean it's the right information! Always keep this in mind, take other's family trees and labels on pictures with a grain of salt.

I always check the info I get off the Internet because I have come across wrong information all over the place! I will have a document in my hand with a certain date, maiden name, cause of death, etc, and find online where someone has entered their data wrong.

Just because a relative said that Aunt Helen died on March 5, 1867 doesn't mean that is accurate information. It is always best to do the legwork and find the death and document it from that source.

Although, all documents are not 100% completely right I go with the document over someone’s memory of what Grandmother told Aunt Lucy who told cousin George who is now telling me what he thinks he knows.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Cyndis List Ship Search

Home Page: http://www.cyndislist.com/

Cyndis List has a lot of information on it. She has it in alphabetical Order to make searching easy.

I recommend using this site for all genealogy searches.

The Ships List


Have you ever wondered where your great great great grandparents came from? Were they European Explorers, Arcadian’s, Aboriginal Indians? How many children came with them? Why did they leave their home country? Was it because of the potato famine?

If they came from Europe or another country then they could be listed on a Ship's List.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

My Two Cents...

I think that the many people who throw their “weight” (power, education, job title, knowledge) around are the ones who need a wake up call. They are not thinking ahead to the future when making decisions; they are simply solving a problem now. There are some many things wrong with this process that I couldn’t even begin to tell you the ramifications we are going to have to deal with in the future.

These big wigs need to learn from our history books, it's all right there laid out in front of you to educate yourself with but for some reason “they” think they know what they are doing. Leading their country into a complete and utter mess. Then they walk away when they see what they’ve done only to leave someone else to clean up.

The education system is completely out of control with grade 13 dropped, all grade curriculum’s had been bumped back two years and it is only leading our children down paths of failure, which leads to giving up and a future society that has adults who are ill-equipped. These young generations have to think older than their years to keep up with what the teachers expect from them. That in turn is producing children who feel like they have little or no control by the time they reach high school which forces them to act out, disrespect peers and educators more then the generations before them.

The only solution I see to our problems is to learn from our History. Revert back to the way our ancestors lived. Life should be simple and happy. I don’t see how we can accomplish that unless we retrace our ancestor’s steps. Maybe that is what we need to do so that the world can be a better place to live and raise our children. I see nothing but disaster in our futures if something isn’t done now.