Wordless Wednesday - My Two Grandpas

This is a picture of my paternal grandfathers. The man on the left is my father's father, Robert Farrell and the man on the right is my step-father's father, Adam Sinclair Kay.

They are the husbands of my two grannies from last weeks post.

Tombstone Tuesday - Elizabeth Muirhead (Sinclair) Kay

Mount Royal Cemetery, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

KAY

In Loving Memory of
Elizabeth Muirhead
Jan. 18, 1865 - Sept. 15, 1927
Wife Of The Late Adam B. Kay

Elizabeth is my step-great grandmother. After much searching, I finally located her tombstone in June and was able to take this photo.

Wordless Wednesday - My Two Grannies

This is a picture of my two paternal grandmothers. The lady on the left is my step-father's mother, Clarice Mabel (Salmon) Kay and the lady on the right is my father's mother, Helen "Nellie" (Devlin) Farrell.

The picture was taken two years before my mom married into the Farrell family and 12 years before she married into the Kay family.

My granny and grandpa Kay were visiting their daughter, Helen (Kay) Farrell in Saskatchewan. Helen (my step-father's sister) was married to my father's brother, Forbes Peter Farrell.

Treasure Chest Thursday - Certificate of Discharge (John H. Beare)

My step-father’s uncle (by marriage) was Captain John Henry Beare, a seaman in the Mercantile Marines. Amongst the treasures that I have are Captain Beare’s Certificate of Discharge papers from the various ships of which he was a member of the crew. I have about 30 of these discharge papers ranging from 1886 when he was just 16 years old to 1912 when he was 41 years old (he retired as Captain in 1935 at the age of 64).

The Certificate of Discharge below is for his time served on the Elizabeth Graham. He joined the crew in Melbourne, Australia on December 10, 1890 at the age of 20 and was discharged on January 13, 1892 in Sydney, Australia. The Master of the ship was a Captain C. Hodge. His station on board was “AB” – not sure what that is. Either on the back of the certificate or stamped on the front the Master would note the character of the seaman. On all of the discharge papers, his “Character of Ability” and “Character of Conduct” was always no less than Very Good.

One of the items on my To Do List is to try and find passenger lists to match the discharge papers. The one below is one that I have found on Ancestry for his time on the Elizabeth Graham (there could be several for his 2 year stint on this ship). On this trip, they left Bluff, New Zealand on January 30, 1891 and arrived in Sydney on February 2,1891.

After he left the Elizabeth Graham, he joined the crew of the Nemesis in May 1892 as 3rd Mate.

52 Weeks to Better Genealogy – Week 21 – States Archives

Week 21 of Amy Coffin’s 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy is to examine the website of our state or provincial archives. To take time to push all the buttons and click all the links. I’m a week late in this challenge, but better late than never.

The Quebec Archives are called the Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du Quebec (BAnQ). It is a result of an amalgamation in 2005 of the Grande Bibliothèque du Quebec, the Bibliothèque nationale du Quebec and the Archives nationals du Quebec. The BAnQ is devoted to the acquisition and preservation of Quebec’s published, archival and film heritage. Because this is a joining of the Quebec archives and two libraries (bibliothèque is French for library), there is a whole lot more to it than just your regular archives.

A new building was built in 2005 and is called the Grand Bibliothèque. This serves as a lending library for reference material, non fiction as well as fiction and has everything that libraries would have, such as activities for youth, workshops, exhibitions, etc., and also serves as one of the archive centres.

Although they are in the process of digitizing a lot of the archives, not everything is available online yet and therefore requires a trip to one of the archives centres. The archives branch of Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Quebec offers its services throughout Quebec via a network of nine regional centres. If anyone is looking for a specific type of record, it is best to call to find out which centre to go to.

A few months back I found online the Lovell’s Montreal Directory, which lists the old Montreal municipal directories from 1842-1999. I had a great old time looking up addresses for my step-father’s family from the time they arrived in Montreal and then later directories from when we moved to Montreal from Saskatchewan after my mom married my step-dad. Because they have their own website, I had no idea at the time that these records were part of the digital collection of the Quebec Archives. I only discovered this a couple of weeks ago when I found the BAnQ’s website while trying to locate archived records of the old Montreal Star newspaper.

Part of the collections available is a section devoted to genealogy. There are online research tools, but it also lists resources available in the research rooms. I must make mention here that all the records in the archives are strictly related to Quebec. You will not find any census records for any of the other provinces.

As I mentioned above, a couple of weeks ago I was trying to find where the archives for the Montreal Star newspaper were located as I was looking for an obituary from 1927. In looking around BAnQ’s website, I discovered that they are held at the Quebec Archives (I know that seems logical, but there was also a chance that they would be located at Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa!), but they have not been digitized yet. As there are two archive centres in Montreal, I called to find out which one the newspaper archives would be located (it’s a good thing I did call as they are not located in centre that I thought they would be in). All the newspaper archives (for both of Montreal’s two English newspapers) are on microfilm and are located at the Grand Bibliothèque in downtown Montreal, which being, a library, is open on weekends! So two Saturday’s ago I hopped on the Metro (absolutely no parking available downtown) and decided to make a day of it. I have to say here, this place is huge. It’s so big that they give guided tours twice a month, and there is a boutique and a restaurant!

Now don’t laugh, but this is the first time in 27 years that I have used a microfilm reader! They have changed considerably since 1983. After I was shown how to load and use the machine, there was no stopping me. It took me awhile to find what I was looking for because I kept getting distracted reading the old newspapers! However, I eventually found the main obituary I was looking for as well as another one from 1917.

Although I thought I had only been there for about an hour, it turns out I had spent 3 ½ hours there. I defiantly have to go back soon, as I still have more newspaper obits that I want to look up. Maybe I will go on a day that they have a tour.

1901 Irish Census Now Online!

All thirty-two counties for 1901 are now available online on the National Archives of Ireland website.

I've been waiting awhile for this day as I have quite a few ancestors from Northern Ireland. I had previously ordered an extract from Emerald Ancestors, but it would prove to be a bit costly if I wanted to search for all the names that I have. They also couldn't guarantee that they had the extracts for everyone. So when the 1911 census went online, free, I was quite excited - even if the county I wanted was one of the last to go online.

For the 1901 census, they have released all 32 counties at once. I have done a quick check and have found my grandfather (aged 4) with his family. Will have to wait until the weekend to be able to spend more time looking more thoroughly.

Tombstone Tuesday - Dulcie Maud Farrell (1903 - 1961)

In Loving Memory Of

A Dear Wife & Mother

Dulcie Maud Farrell

Died 1st July 1961

Aged 50 years

At Rest

Dulcie was the wife of my great uncle, James Farrell and mother of little Ross Farrell. She was born around 1903 in Dubbo, NSW, Australia, daughter of Thomas Henry McNamara and Heneritta Nicholson. Dulcie, James and Ross are all laid to rest in the Coonabarabran General Cemetery in Coonabarabran, NSW, Australia.

I obtained this picture through the Australian Cemeteries Index and was given permission to post to this blog.

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Orphan Photo #5

In going through a box of pictures that belonged to my mother, I've come across a lot of photos of people I don't know. I believe they might be friends and/or family of my step-father, Douglas Sinclair Kay. I'm posting these in the hope that someone might come across them and be able to identify them.

My Step-father was a Scout Leader for the 1st Storer Troup in St. Lambert, Quebec. This picture is of the Court of Honour and was taken on October 4, 1955. Written on the back is:

Left to Right:

A.S.M. Rod Eaves
A.S.M. Fred Horrell
J.T.L. Ian MacDougall
P.L. Clifford Macormack
P.L. Brian Denyar
P.L. Don Bunker
A.S.M. George Gage

Held at S.M. D. Kay's house.

On the bottom of the front of the picture is written: A Storer "Court of Honour".

Tombstone Tuesday – Anderson, Devlin & Dunlop – Oh My!

Erected by Jane Dunlop,

In Memory of her husband,
Alexander Anderson
Who died 21st Dec. 1909, aged 74 years
The above Jane Dunlop,
Who died 24th Sep. 1921, aged 83 years,
Her great-grandson Peter Green
Who died 25th Sep.1913,
Aged 1 year, and 10 months,
Also their great-grand-daughter
Annie Green,
Died 27th June 1914, aged 10 months,
Also Jean died in infancy
Also Henry Green,
Beloved husband of Jean Devlin
Died 21 Aug. 1952, aged 71 years.
The above Jean Devlin
Died 15th Nov. 1969, aged 82 years

(Auchinleck Burial Ground
Auchinleck, Ayrshire, Scotland)

A few months back, a distant cousin, Sean Devlin, sent me a link to some photos of tombstones that he took while he was in Scotland (and kindly gave permission to post any on this blog). I’m guessing that he snapped photos of tombstones with the name “Devlin” on it and sorted them out when he got home (which is what I would have done). Fortunately for me, he took the above photo even though they are not his direct line.

Alexander Anderson and Jane Dunlop are my 2x great grandparents. Their daughter, Janet Anderson married Peter Devlin (my great grandparents) and they are the parents of the above referenced Jean Devlin. Jean Devlin is the oldest sister of my Granny Farrell (Helen Devlin) and is my Grand Aunt.

This stone provides a lot of information that I didn’t have. I knew that Jean had married Henry Green, but I did not have a death date for either of them. It also lists three children with their death dates. In due time, I will search for the birth dates of the children and also see if there might be any more.

Surname Saturday - Burnett

Each Saturday I will be posting one of my surnames. I will be starting with the 4 main lines – my paternal line of Farrell and Devlin and my maternal line of Marshall and Burnett, after which I will post most likely in alphabetical order using the Ahnentafel numbering system.

This week’s surname is Burnett, my maternal grandmother's paternal line.

1. Me (Alana Farrell)

2. Robert Allan Farrell (1927-1962)
3. Rhona MacDonald Marshall (1933-2003)

6. Robert Burn Marshall (1872-1935)
7. Eliza Hamilton Burnett (see information on Eliza and her children here)

14. John Burnett, born 29 July 1863 in Fettercairn, Kincardineshire, Scotland and died 2 March 1923 in Dundee, Angus, Scotland. John was the son of John Burnett and Elizabeth Smith. He married Helen Leighton Marshall on 24 Apr. 1885 in Dundee, Angus, Scotland.

15. Helen Leighton Marshall, born 11 Feb. 1863 in Kirrimuir, Angus, Scotland and died 19 Jan. 1929 in Dundee, Angus, Scotland. Helen was the daughter of Robert Marshall (abt. 1819-1891) and Ann Kynoch (1820-1885).

The children of John Burnett and Helen Leighton Marshall were:

Isabella Balfour Drever Burnett (1886-1911)
Charles Cowan Burnett (1888-??)
John Marshall Burnett (1889-??)
Margaret Arbuthnott Burnett (1891-??)
James Alexander Burnett (1896-??)
Eliza Hamilton Burnett (1897-1943)

28. John Burnett, b. 1 Mar. 1838 in Fettercairn, Kincardineshire, Scotland. John was the son of Alexander Burnett and Margaret Crabb. He married Elizabeth Smith on the 28 May 1859 in Glenbervie, Kincardineshire, Scotland.

29. Elizabeth Smith, b. abt 1836 in Glenbervie, Kincardineshire, Scotland. Elizabeth was the daughter of Charles Smith and Helen Longmuir.

The known children of John Burnett and Elizabeth Smith are:

Alexander Burnet (1859 - ?)
Charles Burnett (1861 - ?)
John Burnett (1863-1923)
James Burnett (1870 - ?)

56. Alexander Burnett (no further information known at this time)
57. Margaret Crabb(no further information known at this time)

If you think we may be related, please contact me either at alana dot farrell at sympatico dot ca or by using the "contact" button.