The Family Attic


Welcome to The Family Attic, home to:

Roots to the Past genealogy column

Researcher's File genealogy queries

 Atlantic Canada's Genealogy Calendar

 Sources for Atlantic Canada Census Returns

The Lonely Grave

Diana's Index for Genealogy Books

Veterans of Guysborough County Project

Harrigan Cove - an adopted community



   Support the Movement: 2009 Year of the British Home Child

Links for those researching British Home Children


Roots to the Past genealogy column
A selection of previously published columns

I Hit the Genealogy Jackpot! Newfoundland's Grand Banks Genealogy Website (December 22, 2005): Where should I start? Well, if you are researching family in Newfoundland and Labrador, the place to start is the Newfoundland’s Grand Banks Genealogy Site. Read More.

Obituary 101 - Writing the Perfect Obituary (November 2005): Recently, I gave a workshop on how to write a genealogy friendly obituary. We chose a fictional character as the deceased. The workshop involved the pertinent information every obituary should contain. Read More.

Researching the Soldiers of the First World War (November 2005): Uncovering ancestral military history has never been easier. Thanks to the National Archives of Canada, the public can search more than 800,000 images of First World War attestation papers from the comfort of home. And it’s free! Read More.

Herbert Edward Rymer, Where Are You? Missing Since 1929 (February 2006): Betty hasn’t seen her brother, Herbert, since he was sixteen. When Herbert arrived at Halifax, he mailed a post card home to his family at London, England. They eagerly awaited further news. It never came. Betty, now 96, wonders what happened to her youngest brother. Read More.

Remembering and Researching the Forgotten Soldier (August 2006): On a recent trip to the supermarket, my son and I were greeted at the entrance by a uniformed gentleman. Tug Wilson manned a table displaying information about the Korean War. Between the postcards, pamphlets and books, Wilson, a Korea Veteran himself, said he was too young to serve in the Second World War, but that didn’t stop him from trying. Read More.

A Cemetery in Need - The Porter's Lake Cemetery, Halifax County, NS (November 2006): If you have never been in a cemetery before, you really don’t know what you’re missing. The headstones within these sanctuaries are a treasure trove of genealogical information. Read More.

Deciphering Old Handwriting (March 2007): We learn easier when we are having fun. If we are dreading the experience, it not only takes longer to learn, but we may get frustrated and quit. Read More.

Genealogy - It's a Family Thing (April 2007): How many times have you wished you had started researching your family tree when you were younger? We can’t go back in time, but we can give future genealogists - our children and grandchildren - a head start. Read More.

Requesting Information by Mail (June 2007):  Let's face it. We all don’t live where our ancestors lived. Many of us don’t even live where our parents were born. And many of us, for one reason or another, are unable to travel to these places. This can make researching difficult. Read More.

. . . more to come



anderbo.com has requested a reprint of "Dit Names" for their
website. It will appear for one year, starting May 15, 2006


Genealogy Articles by Diana Lynn Tibert on Helium
a place where writers write

How to Create a Family Tree : Every Family Has to Start Somewhere: Creating a family tree has become an addictive hobby for millions around the world. It continues to grow every year as people ask, "who were my ancestors and where did they come from?" . . . .

Sharing Your Family with the World:   When I first thought about creating a website to share information on my family name with the world, I was a little apprehensive. I had never created a website before and the Internet language was confusing. Still, I believed with a little reading and help from my Internet friends, a basic website could be made. . . .

The Best Resource for Genealogy on the Internet: One can spend days listing great websites with the best resources for genealogy, but in reality, just one website is all that is needed. It is the portal to the thousands of websites on the Internet that are dedicated to genealogy. . . .

Where Can you Read Roots to the Past?
The following newspapers publish the genealogy column:

Announcement (January 2008): The Dartmouth Laker has been discontinued. The Southender (Halifax) and the Bedford Magazine continue to be published monthly.

Announcement
(September 2007): Beginning in October, the Lunenburg Progress Enterprise and the Bridgewater Bulletin will be published on Tuesday instead of Wednesday.

Announcement
(April 2007): The Roots to the Past column will make its debut in the Dartmouth Laker, Southender (Halifax) and Bedford Magazine in June.

Announcement (April 2007): Due to format changes in the You section of the Halifax Sunday Daily News, the Roots to the Past genealogy column will be discontinued. The last column appeared April 8th.

New Brunswick

Kings County Record - Sussex - Tuesday
Times & Transcript - Moncton - Saturday

Newfoundland

The Western Star - Corner Brook - Thursday

Nova Scotia

The Citizen - Amherst - Saturday
Bedford Magazine - Bedford - once a month
The Bridgewater Bulletin - Bridgewater - Tuesday
Dartmouth Laker - Dartmouth & Cole Harbour - once a month
The Guysborough Journal - Guysborough Co. - once a month
The Lunenburg Progress Enterprise - Lunenburg - Tuesday
Southender - Halifax - once a month

NOTE: The Bridgewater Bulletin and Lunenburg Progress Enterprise can be purchased at Atlantic News-stand at 5560 Morris Street, Daily Grind News-stand at 5686 Spring Garden Road, and News Break Cafe at 287 Lacewood Drive Unit 101. These dealers receive the papers by courier on Wednesday afternoon.

Prince Edward Island

Journal-Pioneer - Summerside - every second Wednesday

If you enjoy reading the column, please, let your newspaper know. They love receiving feedback from their readers. Follow the links to the newspaper of your choice to find the contact information (email addresses and mailing addresses) for each publication.



Genealogy Announcements
from around Atlantic Canada
updated: May 25, 2008

newGrass Roots of Lunenburg - Plagiarized Book

New95,000 Records Added to NSHVS website

Veteran Photos Needed for Stewiacke Valley Project

19th Century British Newspapers Available Free On-line for a short time

Bluenose Sailor: Memoirs of the Sea, written more than 60 years ago republished

UPDATED: Help Declare 2009 the Year of the British Home Child

. . . and more.


Queries - Updated February 5, 2008
The following pages contain the queries already published in the Researcher's File (which is published with the Roots to the Past column). Click on the province to find the queries published in that province's newspapers.

Newfoundland

Prince Edward Island

Nova Scotia

New Brunswick



Comments from Readers

Glenda Daken of Oxford, NS: "Thank you for such a wonderful informative column, ‘Roots to the Past’. I read your column each week without fail and enjoy it so much. Please, continue as it is so informative and so well organized. Great work!"

Virginia Bergmann of Baddeck, NS: "I’m thrilled with the results from what you put for me in the Amherst paper! A lady saw it and wrote me a letter containing vital info that I needed for my research on the BERRY name! Thanks so much for this great service!"

Tammy Curtis of Newfoundland: "I was told about your articles in the newspaper from a family member, so I decide to start buying the paper to check it out and I'm glad I did."

Monika English of Port Coquitlam, BC: "I did get one letter by snail mail from Stephenville, NL. She ended up being a cousin of my late husband's. We did get in touch by telephone (she has no computer) and she gave me some more information for my Tree with a promise to get me some more."

      Submit a Query

How to Submit a Query to the Researcher's File
  It's Free !
When submitting queries, ask one specific question. For example, ‘Who were Jane Smith’s parents?’ or 'Looking for information on the Appleby family of Lewin's Cove.'

Add information that will help identify the person such as date and place of birth, and names of parents, spouses and siblings. Use the date format, month (spelled out), day, year (i.e. May 23, 1897) to avoid confusion.

Queries can be up to 35 words not including contact information. Include a mailing address and an email address.

NOTE: Read some of the queries already posted to learn more about the format.

Send Queries with the Subject Line "Researcher's File" to: Diana Lynn Tibert: tibert@ns.sympatico.ca 

Unfortunately, time does not permit me to research the family trees of others, but I hope by posting queries, I will help knock down brick walls and extend the branches of the tree.

If queries arrive through Canada Post and an answer is desired, please, include a self-addressed-stamped envelope.

Please, do not send queries as attachments. Due to possible viruses, I will not open any attachments.

If you do not want your contact information posted to the Internet, please, let me know.

The Lonely Grave - Coming Soon

Cemetery


Diana's Index for Genealogy Related Books

The Harvest Train - When Maritimes Worked in the Canadian West 1890 - 1928
by A. A. MacKenzie
(Maritime Names Only)

History Along the Old Guysborough Road
by M. Noreen E. Gray & Annie A. (Blois) Smith
 

. . . more to come as time permits.




Abbreviations: Postal Codes (Canada) and Zip Codes (United States)


Genealogy Links, Books, Societies and Events

These pages contain links specifically for the four provinces where my column is published.

New Brunswick

Newfoundland

Nova Scotia

Prince Edward Island

General Genealogy Links of Interest

NEW: Local Genealogy Books Currently Available for Sale from Local Authors

Atlantic Canada's Genealogy Calendar
UPDATED: August 11, 2008

b 2008 Year of the Loyalist b

Learn about genealogy events happening around Atlantic Canada, including the many celebrating the arrival of the Loyalists 225 years ago. If you know of an event, reunion, society meeting or any other genealogy happening not listed, please, let me know.

Armsworthy Reunion: August 8 to 10, 2008
Bergeron Reunion: July 18 to 19, 2009

Join Us for a Celebration to Remember at Shelburne, Nova Scotia


Sources for Atlantic Canada Census Returns
UPDATED: November 5, 2007 - A work in Progress

A page for the many sources of Atlantic Canada Census returns, including those for Newfoundland who did not join confederation until 1949.
Visiting the Four Atlantic Provinces

To order maps and tourist guides and to view additional details on a province, visit their tourism website.

New Brunswick: http://www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca/
Newfoundland: http://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/
Nova Scotia: http://www.destination-ns.com/default.asp
Prince Edward Island: http://www.gov.pe.ca/visitorsguide/index.php3

 

Veterans of Guysborough County
line

Book One of the Veterans of Guysborough County will capture and preserve the identities of the Second World War veterans. Everyone who served in Canada, overseas, with the Army, Navy, Air Force, Merchant Navy and with Allied Forces will be named. Accompanying each name will be a 300-word biography and photo. (Updated September 26, 2007)

Veteran Research Around the Atlantic Provinces

Saluting Our Veterans the Best Way We Know How (November 2007):
Several years ago, while visiting the in-laws at Christmas time, a thick book under the tree caught my attention. It was a book about First and Second World War veterans, Read More.

Canadian Soldiers Executed during the First World War

Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics - on-line since March 18, 2007 (updated May 2008)
www.novascotiagenealogy.com

New Brunswick Searchable Vital Statistics on PANB - updated August 8, 2007
http://archives.gnb.ca/APPS/GovRecs/VISSE/?L=EN

Diana's Professional Home Page
Harrigan Cove
Halifax County, NS
Adopted community of RootsWeb




This site is maintained by the author of Roots to the Past, Diana Lynn Tibert
Drop by again and see what has been added.
Last Updated: August 11, 2008

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