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, that bring our ancestors back to life.


Tag: Military

  • Celebrating 150 Years of the Royal Canadian Artillery

    Celebrating 150 Years of the Royal Canadian Artillery

    This year, 2021 is the 150th anniversary of the formation of the Royal Canadian Artillery. In 1871 the British Military were handing over the reins of guarding Canada to its own people. It was not as prestigious as it may sound, in 1905 the reminisces of William Jordan were given to the Kingston newspaper The…

  • Military Photographs WWI

    Military Photographs WWI

    Yesterday I received a message from a cousin who said he had scanned a few more pictures from his dad’s collection. I had the time to look at the pictures last night and was surprised to see some military photos. One picture was from a Musketry School in Montreal taken in 1917. I quickly suspected…

  • Longevity in the Canadian Military

    Longevity in the Canadian Military

    This week the prompt from Any Johnson Crow is Longevity for the 52 Ancestors challenge. This brought to mind the longevity of the Jordan family’s involvement with the Royal Canadian Artillery. In 1871, William Jordan was the first soldier to join the newly formed company, the first to serve sentry duty and the first to…

  • Someone’s Military Ancestor – The Jay Brothers

    Someone’s Military Ancestor – The Jay Brothers

    Day 4 of the 11-day Military Challenge A tattered old newspaper clipping, tucked in amoung a stack of papers that are the remanents of my grandparent’s lives. Carefully unfolding the yellowed paper to see what will be revealed, three brothers off fighting for Canada in WWI, sons of Minnie Jay of 863 Cadieux Street in Montreal.…

  • My Military Ancestor – Samuel T. Jordan

    My Military Ancestor – Samuel T. Jordan

    Day 1 of the 11-day Military Challenge Samuel T. Jordan was a career soldier serving with the 8th Royal Rifles and later as an instructor at the Royal Military College in Kingston. I recently found a picture of him on a trip to Kingston hanging on the wall at the RCHA social room. He is in a…

  • Tracing Your Canadian Military Ancestors

    Tracing Your Canadian Military Ancestors

    If you have any military ancestors in Canada it is likely that you are aware of the indexing of the WWI Soldier’s service records by Library and Archives Canada. They are over 1/2 done and the last update took us to the surname Russell. Here a few other resources that can be investigated to help…