Guest contributor: Karen
North Americans have just had two big days of celebrations.
Canada Day often recognized as Canada’s birthday is July 1st as on that date in 1867 it became a country in its own right. The colonies of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick joined what are now known as Ontario and Quebec - previously these two provinces were jointly identified as the province of Canada.
In the United States, Americans celebrate Independence Day on what is often referred to as the 4th of July and it commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence in the year 1776.
It seemed like a great time to make everyone aware of our updated"Americas" Family History leaflet. It is a listing of the information and resources available at the Central Auckland Research Centre that may assist you when researching your ancestors that spent time in North America. In addition to our library resources, Ancestry.com has an extensive collection of North American records and it is free to access within all 55 of the Auckland Libraries and you can even use your own laptop with our WiFi connection.
Heritage Images is a rich collection that even includes photos taken in Canada and just to give you a small sample of the variety of pictures available in the Digital Library. The first image depicts Canada’s Parliament Hill where King George celebrated his birthday in 1939 and this is also the focal point for the nation when celebrating Canada Day. The subsequent images are of New Zealand airmen that were undergoing training in Canada during the 1940s and enjoying a bit of leisure time too.
Photographer: Auckland Weekly News
Date: 1 December 1943
Description: KING'S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATED IN CANADA: HIS MAJESTY ATTENDS THE TROOPING OF THE COLOUR IN OTTAWA
Click for more detail: AWNS-19431201-18-1
Photographer: Auckland Weekly News
Date: 26 August 1942
Description: PILOTS FROM THE NORTH ISLAND WHO HAVE QUALIFIED FOR THEIR WINGS IN CANADA UNDER THE EMPIRE AIR TRAINING SCHEME
Click for more detail: AWNS-19420826-19-4
Photographer: Auckland Wekly News
Date: 1 December 1943
Description: DOMINION AIRMEN TRAINING IN CANADA ENJOY A HOLIDAY AT A FAMOUS TOURIST RESORT: NEW ZEALANDERS AND FRIENDS AT BANFF NATIONAL PARK
Click for more detail: AWNS-19431201-18-1
There are a number of photos of on the database that can located by keyword searching 'Canada &New Zealand” for military photographs or "Canada" to browse the collection as there is always the possibility of recognizing a relative!
Seonaid recently shared a list of new books for the Family History collection and here are a few more titles that we have acquired to help you with researching your USA and Canadian family connections:
Shaking the family tree: blue bloods, black sheep, and other obsessions of an accidental genealogist by Buzzy Jackson
A biographical dictionary of Canadian Jewry, 1909-1914: from the Canadian Jewish Times by Lawrence F. Tapper.
Karen
