• September and School
• A Divorce Item
• Notice re Links
• Assessment Records
• New Database (Marriages)
• 1940 National Registration
• Family Photographs
• Something To Think About
• Subscription, Privacy Policy
• September and School

September means a return to schooldays, for anyone with children of a certain age. My own theory is that the year begins here in September, rather than in January as calendars and marketing will have us believe. After a summer break of two months or more, when many of us (except for researchers) take holidays, we are ready in September to start in on a new year, reinvigorated and inspired .

An item that I found in The Daily Columbian, 05 August 1892, page four, gives some perspective to anyone feeling that modern-day summer holidays are too short:

"When School Opens

There seems to have been a general misunderstanding among the teachers of the province as to the date for the opening of the schools. Some were under the impression that the 8th was the date fixed, and wrote to the Educational Department at Victoria for positive information. Mr. Pope, Superintendent of Education, writes THE COLUMBIAN as follows: 'For the information of the public, will you kindly state in your next issue that under the rules and regulations, the date fixed for the re-opening of the public schools of the province is Monday, August 15th.' This settles the matter finally, and neither teachers nor scholars will regret the extra week's holiday."

Lost and Never to be Found

From The Daily Columbian, 16 November 1892, page four, under "LOCAL AND PROVINCIAL":

"A case of matrimonial infelicity, imported from British Columbia, was filed in the Superior Court at Seattle on Monday. Mrs. K. E. Gray says she married her husband, John H. Gray, at Victoria, April 12th 1885, and that two children had been born to them. She alleges that he deserted her, and has for over 23 months failed to contribute toward the support of his family, that he is an engineer on a steamboat in British Columbia, earning good wages; that he is unfit to have the care and custody of the children, wherefore she asks for a divorce and $50 a month alimony."

Why have I picked up on this item? Well, it seems to me that items like this wherein a legal situation is pursued (and settled?) in a jurisdiction other than the originating one make researchers, especially genealogists, frustrated to no end. So, for the someone who will someday come across this in the archive of my newsletters, this one's for you.

Notice

If you are a new subscriber, and have received the back issues of this newsletter, you should note that some of the links may or may not be in service. Since these things age on their own, I take responsibility of ensuring that the links are good at the time that I create the newsletter, but I don't make an ongoing check of those links.

Assessment Records

Assessment Records are an invaluable source of information for those of us doing research on heritage buildings and the like. They also contain information for genealogists, but for both groups the acquisition of information from this source is tedious and extremely time-consuming. These shortcomings are compounded by our not knowing when the assessments were carried out and how often.

It is helpful, therefore, to discover in the case of Delta Municipality references to the process recorded in the reports of Council meetings. This example taken from The Delta Times of 1904 provides us with several clues. The newspaper dated 19 March 1904 in reporting on a Council meeting of 27th February stated: "On motion the Assessor was instructed to commence the Assessment on March 1st and to return the Roll to the Council on March 26th." A subsequent issue of this newspaper, dated 02 April 1904, reported from the meeting of Council: "On motion the Assessment Roll was received and returned by the Assessor."

Whether this was an annual occurrence would have to be determined by checking out the reports of Council meetings during the same time period.

New On-Line Database

I've already several times extolled the virtues of the Obituaries Database I've compiled in respect of Delta residents for the period 1870 to 1922. For anyone not familiar with this opus, it's available on my website at http://www.ladnerslanding.com.

Sometime later this year, or in the first part of 2002, I expect to have ready for publication a second database of information regarding Delta residents. This will be a compilation of newspaper reports of marriages for the period 1870 - 1922.

The design will be similar to that of my Obituaries Database, but probably with fewer photos which take up a lot of space and take a long time to download. It will include marriages that took place outside of Delta (New Westminster, for example), and I'll cross-reference as much as I can to the Vital Events Index (Marriages) at B. C. Archives.

Frequently the reports contain information beyond the basics, as recorded by Vital Statistics and that is what makes them gold mines of information. The following, taken from The Daily Columbian, 06 June 1900, page four, second column, is such an instance:

"Andrew Gallesich, an Austrian fisherman from Port Guichon, was married, this morning, in St. Peter's Roman Catholic Cathedral, to Miss Tomasigna [sic] Nicolich. The bride, who has recently arrived from Ohnie [sic], Austria, was married from the Windsor Hotel, and, as she walked all the way to the cathedral, in the regulation bridal veil and gown of white, accompanied by the groom and a score of friends, the party attracted considerable attention. After luncheon at the hotel, the happy couple and their friends left by the afternoon steamer, for their home down the river, where a more elaborate celebration of the nuptials will be held to-night."

1940 National Registration

In the January 2001 issue of this newsletter I directed subscribers to a website, which contains information and contact addresses for the National Registration File of 1940. This resource can be especially helpful to those of us who are researching individuals who immigrated to Canada in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

I have since discovered that another national registration was carried out that predated this one. The following are some of the items that I found in The [Delta] Optimist from the fall of 1939, that is, just months after war was declared:

05 October, page four "VOLUNTARY REGISTRATION OF B. C. WOMEN TO BE HELD OCTOBER 16 TO 21 ð The week of October 16 to 21 has been set by the committee in charge for the Voluntary Registration of the Women for British Columbia for National Service. ð Booths for registration will be opened in all districts, ...."

19 October, page one, an item which best states the intent of the registration: "Committee Urges Delta Women To Register For Voluntary Service ð Registration of Delta women under the Voluntary Registration of Canadian women plan has been underway in various parts of the municipality since Monday morning. The response has not been very good as yet, and by Wednesday noon a total of only 37 women were reported to have registered in five polling booths. ð The committee in charge of the local registration expects that there will be a better registration before the booths close on Saturday, but it also believes that there is the possibility that the plan is not fully understood. The committee stresses the fact that the registration has nothing to do with conscription of women for any war work. It is simply designed to show the capabilities of the women willing to serve during the war and to obtain the strength of the united effort of the women of Canada. ð Women from 16 to 65 years may register to give information in whatever capacity they can best serve. They will be asked questions which will give information of physical capability, if they have had any experience in catering, mechanical, telegraph, radio, clerical, nursing and many other technical duties. ð The plan is purely voluntary... "

Lastly, 02 November, page one: "More Than 100 Delta Women Register For Voluntary Service ð More than 100 Delta women registered during the week of October 16 to 21 under the Canadian Women's Voluntary Registration plan, it was revealed here this week. While the registration was not up to what had been expected results were nevertheless far from disappointing..."

My questions are: what happened to the information that was collected? Was it filed away at Ottawa? Does that mean that it's available somewhere for researchers' use? Anyone have any ideas? Please let me know if you do.

Family Photographs

In a future issue, I plan to gather together a list of websites where lost photographs can be posted and/or found.

The subject of family photographs is an interesting one, about which we have little information, especially for the 19th century. We know that families had portraits done in the city (New Westminster most often for Delta residents), but there isn't much else.

This item from The Daily Columbian, 06 October 1896, suggests one venue at which people would regularly expect to be able to have a family portrait or individual photographs taken.

In the preamble describing the attractions at the annual Delta Fair, and prior to the all-important reporting of the prize winners, the correspondent for The Daily Columbian writes: "... there were the inevitable photographer, shooting gallery, and the like..." The "inevitable photographer"? Aha! Of course, it makes sense. People dressed up to attend this event so, what better time for a photo of the family group in everyone's Sunday best?

We don't know whether people availed themselves of the service, but the writer used the word "inevitable." No entrepreneur looks for business where there's none to be had. It's reasonable to assume, therefore, that some of the photographs we encounter of serious, posed individuals came from the midst of the merriment of the fair.

Something To Think About

I have found these irresistible, and I hope I'm not the only one.

For this month, my selection comes from The Delta Times, 28 May 1907:

"A lawyer is a chap who induces two other fellows to strip for a fight and then runs off with their clothes."

Looking for suggestions

If you have an issue that you would like to know more about, send me an e-mail, and let me know what it is.

Privacy

Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone. If you wish to unsubscribe, let me know by e-mail.

Gwen Szychter, M.A.

P.S. Here's a favour you can do for me: If you liked this newsletter and found it helpful or just interesting, please pass it on to a friend or colleague. Thank you.

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BOOKS, DATABASES AND RESEARCH RESOURCES

Delta History, Heritage and Genealogy

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