Newspapers In The London Area

For genealogists one of the primary sources for research is the local newspaper. Increasingly many of the major dailies are finding themselves online. Lots of luck for the newspapers of Middlesex and Elgin Counties. How are you with 20th century technology?
For Elgin County the Elgin County Library has microfilms of the St. Thomas times Journal, the Dutton Advance, and the West Lorne Mercury Sun.
For Middlesex County the London Public Library has microfilms of the London Free Press, the London Advertiser, and other smaller papers that were published in Middlesex County. The best and most complete microfilm collection is to be found at the University of Western Ontario. They just about have everything; however, be prepared to write notes as they will not copy any pages for you. For some reason the West Lorne and Rodney papers were put in the regional room separate from the other microfilms, and has gone missing. Darn they will steal anything nowadays!!

Steele’s and Thomas’s

My mother’s side of the family is an interesting one. Matthew Steele(1805-?) and Mary Ann Fletcher immigrated from Scotland to a farm in West Nissouri Township Middlesex County. Their farm was near the village of Thorndale just north and east of London, Ontario. They had five children Donald(b.1845 London-d. 10 December 1914 in Middlesex County), Archibald(b.1847-d. 28 July 1907), Andrew(b.1848-d.?), Laura(b.1841-d.?), John(b.1856-d.?). Donald Steele(my great grandfather married Mary Jane Coleman(b.20 June 1848 Middlesex County-d. 20 October 1933 Middlesex County). They were married 18 May 1881 in Middlesex County. Their marriage certificate shows Donald Steele as a shoemaker in Thorndale. They had two children William Fletcher(b. 15 May 1885 in Thorndale-d. June 1935 in London), Ethel Pearl(b. 1892 in Thorndale-d. ?). William Fletcher Steele married Hilda May Thomas 31 December 1918 in London. They had two children Audrey June(b. 15 May 1921-d.1989 in London), Cameron Fletcher(b. 8 July 1924 in London- d. sometime before 1999 in Hamilton, Ontario).
My grandmother’s family were from Cornwall. Her father Edward John Thomas(b. 1858 Cornwall-d. 13 February 1892 London), and mother Maria Gartrell Rickard(b. 19 September 1862 Callington, Cornwall-d. 2 June 1914 London, Ontario) immigrated to West Nissouri sometime around 1890 as they can be found in the 1891 Canada Census. There is some indication from their son’s census returns of 1911that they came via Boston. They had four children Arthur Edward(b. 17 October 1884- d.6 March 1919 of the influenza outbreak in London, Ontario), Maude Maria Beatrice(b. 2 July 1886 Cornwall- d. ?), Raleigh Ewart Cornelius(1889 Falmoth, Cornwall, England- d. ?). and Hilda May(my grandmother)(b. 29 April 1892 London, Ontario- d. 1970 London, Ontario).

The photo is of Hilda May and Maude Maria Beatrice 1918.

Canadian Headstones Photo Project

A new attempt to put digital photos of tombstones online is the Canadian Headstones Photo Project.

The mission (as stated on the webpage) of this project is to capture digital images of  headstones of our ancestors. As decades pass -- many stones are becoming harder, if not impossible, to read the inscriptions they originally contained.

By archiving the images, we can help save these important records and also assist researchers using this valuable resource.
This Headstone Photo Project is a privately sponsored, non-profit, educational site. Success of the Project depends completely upon the activities of many volunteers and other individuals who contribute photographs to the archive.
I looked at the Ontario section and there is nothing there yet. But it will come.
The project can be found at www.canadianheadstones.com

Canada's 142nd Birthday

It's only been celebrated as Canada Day since 1983; but it remains a day for barbecues and beer. Here in southern Ontario it is cold and rainy but the parties are still on.
Although Canada only came into existence in 1867 many of our immigrants such as the Hillman's came to Upper Canada(as it was then known) well before Canada became a nation. Looking back at your family history can be one of the most satisfying educational trips into our country's past.

Ontario Archives have moved

The Ontario government has partnered with York University to create a new home for the Archives of Ontario. A new and modern facility for the Archives was opened yesterday on the main York University campus, at 4700 Keele Street, in Toronto. 
The Ontario Archives collections have:
over 1.7 million photographs
more than 200,000 architectural plans
approximately 40,000 maps
over 40,000 audio, video and film recordings
And almost 2,500 historical and contemporary works of art in the Government of Ontario Art Collection administered by the Archives.
For those of us who do not live in Toronto York University is far more accessible than was downtown Toronto. Also the Ontario Archives has been developing a strong online presence, http://www.archives.gov.on.ca , a must see web site for genealogists.

Famous Hillman's

Many eagerly research their family tree hoping to find a famous person. Personally, I tend to follow the line- " we are looking at who to point the finger at!" After years of looking I have found tailors, stone masons, store clerks, one drain inspector, one railroad engineer, and dozens of farmers. No entertainers, no movie stars, no princes or kings, no N.H.L. players(although if I could find the link to Larry Hillman I would be in the money). Equally, I haven't found a hanging or jail sentence yet either. It seems that I belong to a family that has been basically salt of the earth. Not so bad after all.

Dutton Hockey

When going through my father's things I came across two cloth badges that says it all about the state of the hockey teams in Dutton in the late thirties and early fourties.
The high school badge would have been Bruce Ivan Hillman's. Both Bruce and John A.(my father) played for the Dutton Thistles of the Ontario Rural Hockey League from 1938 to 1942.