At Ancestry.ca, once your ancestor’s name is entered, providing it’s in the 1921 census database, it will show up highlighted. Image courtesy of Loretta Houben

BY LORETTA HOUBEN

The Canadian census is a wonderful tool for genealogists, and the recent 2013 release of the 1921 census is a marvellous resource for those of us tracing our Canadian ancestors from 92 years ago.

Canada has a 92-year privacy law, unlike England’s law of 100 years or the USA’s law of only 72 years. I’m not sure as to the how and why of these laws, but I was delighted to begin searching the 1921 census online the day it became available in August 2013.

Since that time, the census has been fully indexed on Ancestry.ca. This means that you don’t need to know where your ancestor lived, but you can simply enter the name and if they were living in Canada at that time, you will find them.

The 1920s were a decade of great change. The settling of the West took place, along with Prohibition and women’s rights. On June 1, 1921, enumerators were sent to every part of Canada, and the questions asked on the census form were dated from the first, meaning that anyone born after that date is not included in the census, and anyone passing away after the first is still on the census.

There are 8.8 million records in this database. A new technology is used for the first time at Ancestry.ca for this census. Once your ancestor’s name is entered, providing it’s in the database, it will show up highlighted. (Please see example shown.)

The first national Canadian census was taken in 1871. At first it was taken every 10 years, but after 1956 it was taken every five years. From 1911 to 1921 there was a 22 percent increase in the population of Canada. Thirty-five questions were asked on the 1921 census.

If you go to Ancestry.ca and click on “card catalogue” and then “search” you will find a list of options. Choose “1921 Census of Canada” and fill in the form. This is completely free but you need to create an account by using an email address.

I was thrilled when I entered my paternal grandfather’s name and discovered that, as of June 1, 1921, he was married to Ellen and had one son named Edward H. No one in my family knew her real name as she died in 1926; we only knew her by the nickname of Nellie. This was my first real clue and confirmation as to her name. Also, Edward was called Harry, probably his middle name, and he died in 1925, so this is the one and only time he and his mother appear on a census.

The 1921 census covers a lot of material. In the first section, the dwelling number, number of family members, names of each person, parish, section, township, range and meridian of farms for addresses in the country.

The next section asked a series of questions about the house itself; was the house rented or owned? How much per month if rented? What is the class of house? What are the materials of construction? Even the number of rooms is included.

A personal description including relationship to the head of the household, sex, marital status, age at last birthday, nativity (where born; give province or name of country) and citizenship, which included year of immigration, year of naturalization and nationality, were all asked. Racial or tribal origin, language; English or French, language other than English, religious body, denomination with abbreviations such as Meth: Methodist; RC: Roman Catholic; CH of E: Church of England; Pres: Presbyterian; Bapt: Baptist.

Other questions, which were all tallied in columns on a large page, included education; can he read, write, how many months has he been in school since September 1920. Profession, occupation or employment, with specific questions on status of employment. Even income and unemployment earnings for the past 12 months are listed and whether the person was employed on census day.

As you can see, that is a wealth of information! For 92 years it was kept secret, and now we can all access it, thanks to Library and Archives Canada, which has released it to Ancestry.ca for free. If you are really interested, you can go to YouTube and view a discussion on the above by Ancestry.ca—this is what I used to understand the 1921 census more fully.

It’s all there at your fingertips, and I encourage you to try it to trace your family roots. You will be pleasantly surprised at what you discover!

The next installment in family tree tips will focus on Vancouver City Directories and Cross Directories for hunting down clues to where your family lived.

Loretta Houben has enjoyed writing these family tree articles and would love to know if any of you have had success with your own family tree these past few months. This article was first published in the February 2014 issue of the Renfrew-Collingwood Community News.

Copyright 2019 Renfrew-Collingwood Community News

New Year’s Day, 1970: Loretta Houben (in the middle) with her two sisters and her dad.

BY LORETTA HOUBEN

Hopefully you had time during the busy Christmas season to look over a few of those old family photos you’ve stashed away in the closet. Maybe you shared your newfound passion with the older generation, and verified a name or two.

Older people love to reminisce about the past, which isn’t really that long ago. I urge you to do this while you have your grandparents and great aunts and great uncles around. I had an aunt who told me to do this with my Grandma way back in the 1990s. Fortunately my Grandma hand wrote on all her photos, but what if she hadn’t?

One of the best ways to preserve your valuable family photos is to scan each one into your computer. Scanners are now a great price, with many options available at your local Staples, Best Buy, London Drugs or any similar store. There are good ones available for under $100, and well worth the investment.

Once the scanner is hooked up to your computer, simply read the instructions and begin to scan and save each photo in the best resolution possible. If you scan at low resolution, your photo will be too small, and if you wish to view it later for details, alas, you won’t be able to.

I found this out the hard way when I scanned in a family photo (please see my article from December 2013) at a very low resolution, and now am unable to determine a specific clue due to the fuzziness of the image. Scanning takes time and commitment but is truly well worth it for yourself and future generations.

You will need to store the photos in files on your computer, so take time to label the folders using a system that makes sense to you, so you’re able to locate the photos at a later date. There are many ways to do this, as each computer program is different.

The fun part comes after the photos are saved. You can then share with other family members around the world, providing they have a computer too.

One of my favourite ways to do this is to upload my photos to Facebook. I make sure only family members are able to see them. I’ve created a family group on Facebook, and invited family members only. So far no one else has shared any photos, but I’m hopeful the idea will catch on!

There are also blogs. I use Blogger to upload my photos for free, new and old. Since I began in 2009, I’ve had a few relatives which I had lost track of contact me and reconnect, so this is very exciting indeed.

Family genealogy is currently one of the most popular hobbies, and people use the internet as a tool to search for family members. My mother’s maiden name is very unusual (Brutke) so when that name is entered into the search engines, my posts with old photos pop up immediately! I make sure to leave my email address on my blog so relatives can contact me.

Another fantastic site to post and keep your photos for free is Flickr.com. You can store hundreds of photos for no cost, so if something should happen to your computer, your mind can be at rest. Of course, the best option of all, once you’ve scanned in your precious photos, is to have two back-up devices: one that you keep, and one that you store off site, maybe at your in-law’s or parent’s home, or at work. These devices are now reasonably priced and small enough to carry easily.

Of course, after the scanning is complete, you should save and store your actual paper photos safely, too. I store mine in the sturdy cardboard boxes sold at Michael’s craft store. They have cardboard dividers that you can label and insert between photos so that you can section them in year order. One box can hold many photos, and it’s a convenient size and can stack well in a closet. They are often on sale for $2.50 each.

If you work on this project one night per week, in no time you will be finished, and you’ll experience a feeling of great accomplishment! Then you can return to searching for more names to add to that family tree.

The next installment will feature aspects of the 1921 Canadian census (a great genealogy tool), which was newly released to the public in the summer of 2013.

Loretta Houben looks forward to a new year getting deeper into genealogy research, and wishes all of you following these monthly series on family tree tips all the best for a successful year. First published in the January 2014 issue of the RCC News.

Copyright 2018 Renfrew-Collingwood Community News