1970-2008 Ottawa Branch News, Ontario Genealogical Society

By Ottawa Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society

This 7328 page collection is one of the most helpful but overlooked resources for those with Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec roots.  The Branch News was more a journal than a newsletter.  Issues routinely featured historical record transcriptions, local history, family history and so much more.   This collection is completely searchable by any name or word, or access any issues individually.   Scroll down to browse the index.  There is a separate collection available for 2009 to 2017

Contents include:

• Introduction
• All Ottawa Branch News journals/newsletters from April 1970 to December 2008
• Index for issues 1970-1987   Browse 1970-1987 Index (28 pages, 3 Mb PDF)
• Index for issues 1988-2008  Browse 1988-2008 Index (1455 pages, 4.5 Mb PDF)

Why are these old journals useful?

Ottawa Branch News issues are filled with useful information for those researching their Ottawa Valley roots (Ontario & Quebec) including but not restricted to:

• Research how-to articles and best practices
• Cemetery transciptions
• Family history sketches
• Settler lists
• Birth, marriage and death notices from Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec newspapers
• Birth marriage and death extracts from various religious newspapers
• Privately recorded births (eg Hull births betweeen 1800 to 1820... recorded by James Taylor)
• Burial Records
• Indexes to local Wills
• Early land records excerpts
• Family History queries
• Family Bible genealogy records
• Upper Canada Militia Rolls
• Local History
• Early Population Lists (census)
• Probate and administrations
• Church register transcriptions
• Early lot subscribers to pioneer cemeteries
• Veterans lists War 1812
• Canada Company early remittance books excerpts
• Biographies early settlers
• Settlement Societies (overview and individuals)
• Heir and Devisee extracts/indexes
• Emigrants' hospital reports at Quebec
• Lists of 19th century migrants (examples: Lanark County families to Lambton County. Ottawa Valley migrants to Manitoba. Carleton County Farmers to Western provinces.)
• Early immigrant letters
• Methodist early baptismal records
• Student and teacher lists
• Early Marriage Licence Bonds (examples: Carleton County, Prescott and Russell Counties and Western Quebec
• Some returns of Birth Marriages and Deaths in Perth 1816-1818
• Returns of discharged British Soldiers
• Early Assesment Rolls (similar to later census)
• British Home Children (exampe: Children from the Southwark Catholic Emigration Society, London England)
• Strays
• Extracts from early directories
• Immigrant ship arrival lists
• Ottawa area residents at Quebec in 1861
• Misc immigrant paasenger arrival lists
• Applicants lists to fraternal organizations (example: Loyal Orange Order Bell's Corners 1894-1927)
• Ottawa area strays in North Dakota
• and so much more...

Using the Collection:
Most users will choose to use the search option to look for any word, topic or person within the entire collection. 

However the collection is set up so users can also easily browse specific issues and years. The collection is organized in a continuous run of pages beginning with a "title page", then an Introduction. The journals follow in chronological order, beginning with Vol 1, Number 1 issued April 1970, and ending with Vol. 41, number 5 issued December 2008. Convenient hot-linked bookmarks are listed for every jounal, on the left hand side of the page, should you choose to browse a specific edition. 

Reviews:

What a treasure trove! While testing the search tool during development of this resource, I found many new pieces for my personal family history. Surprisingly, when I searched the surname of one of my maternal ancestors, I found a letter that was submitted to an early 1980s issue of the Ottawa Branch News asking the membership if anyone had information about one of his ancestors. I have known the writer of that letter since we were in grade school. It turns out that my life-long friend and I are both descended from that ancestor... neither of us knew that we are related. So much to find in this collection. - Rick Roberts, Global Genealogy

Details

• 7328 Pages
• Searchable PDF format digital file
• Pages can be printed at high resolution.
• Originally published by Ottawa Branch, Ontario Genealogical Society, 2009 Original 2009 ISBN 978-7779-1507-3
• This edition redesigned and published by Global Heritage Press, Ottawa 2017
  New ISBN 978-1-77240-070-0 (digital edition)