my genealogy life

Family stories are my buried treasure

Tracing ancestors in Canada, England, Scotland & Ireland

Sharing my love of digging through old documents, uncovering family stories, and sharing the real papers that bring our ancestors back to life.

Category: Military

  • Protestant Schools in Quebec City

    Protestant Schools in Quebec City

    The question started with “Did my grandmother attend school while she was living in Quebec City?” And it snowballed as it usually does when doing genealogy. I found a book on the BAnQ (National Library and Archives of Quebec) website about Protestant Schools in Quebec. The book is called “Molding our tomorrows: a survey of…

  • WWII Honours & Awards Indexed on Library and Archives Website

    WWII Honours & Awards Indexed on Library and Archives Website

    Looking around the Military Section of the Library and Archives Canada website I came across a link to a searchable database of WWII Canadian Army Overseas Honours and Awards. For fun, I put in a couple of surnames in the hopes of finding a relative mentioned. You how it is, if there is a searchable…

  • More Newspaper Finds at BAnQ

    More Newspaper Finds at BAnQ

    If you follow my blog you will know I have been having an absolute blast searching through old newspaper. The BAnQ (Quebec Archives) site has either made some changes to their search engine, added new papers or I have gotten WAY better at searching! A few of my latest finds include a clipping of A. E.…

  • What I Found in a WWII Canadian Service File

    What I Found in a WWII Canadian Service File

    While I was working on the book I was compiling for the Jordan family I learned that William or Syd as he was known had served in WWII. I filled out the paperwork from Libray and Archives Canada, sent away for the file, and waited. Yesterday it arrived, an initial look through of the file…

  • IT’S ALL THERE IN BLACK & WHITE Sorry, still doesn’t mean it’s true

    IT’S ALL THERE IN BLACK & WHITE Sorry, still doesn’t mean it’s true

    Digging into the family tree often leads to more questions than answers. This time I found the answer. Long before Library and Archives Canada started adding their WWI soldier files online I was systematically ordering the records of family members. (On a side note these records are a treasure and the fact that they are…

  • Day 11 of the Military Challenge from Ottawa

    Day 11 of the Military Challenge from Ottawa

    Today I am concluding the 11-day Military Challenge with photographs of the Memorial in the centre of Ottawa. It was a surprise trip and I can’t think of a more fitting place to be than our Nation’s capital this Remembrance Day. I am grateful for the service that my family has given in causes in Canada and further…