1887 Mine Explosion The horrific Nanaimo mine explosion occurred on May 3, 1887, and killed 150 miners. The mine burned for a full day. The explosion started deep underground in the Number One Coal Mine. Operated by the Vancouver Coal Company, the Number One Coal Mine opened in 1884…
Somewhere in France 1918 Here’s a photo that was taken somewhere in France of the 9th Battalion Canadian Railway Troops of which my grandfather Frederick Groves Kerley was a member. You can view Fred Kerley’s WW1 Diary in a previous post. It is certain that this photo was taken in…
Here’s some good advice from GotGenealogy of things to keep in mind when doing genealogy research. I have found myself that the same name can be spelt in many different ways. It’s easy to make assumptions if you believe your information is correct. “SPELING DUSN’T COWNT” Back in the day…
The newspaper announcement below is from the November 9th, 1918 edition of the Belfast Telegraph. The headlines were saved for news of the stories about the final days of WW1 and the November 11th Armistice. The text of the announcement is a bit fuzzy. Here’s what I think it says:…
May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand. Read about Owls of…
One hundred years ago today on St. Valentines Day, 1919, died a Mrs Annie McRae. Born a McRae, she was the daughter of the Rev John (Macrath Mor a Chnuicbhain) MacRae of Knockbain, and wife of 2nd great uncle Reverend Alexander MacRae of the Free Church of Scotland. …
MARCH 1958 Sixty years ago, in Copper Canyon, MacMillan Bloedel’s Chemainus Sawmill Division on Vancouver Island, British Columbia; a very long and straight log was taken down from the mountain and sent to Kew Gardens in England where it became the longest flagpole in the world. It was erected to…
The trail of my Irish ancestors leads from Ireland to Scotland, USA and Canada. Last year I had been researching my ancestors on my mother’s side. In the Censuses of 1911, they are recorded as being of the United Free Church of Scotland and are living in Belfast. They…
Easter Monday, April 24, 1916 On Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, a group of Irish nationalists proclaimed the establishment of the Irish Republic and, along with some 1,600 followers, staged a rebellion against the British government in Ireland. They didn’t have much of a chance of pulling it off…
Four years previous to the Easter Rising (I will be writing about this in an upcoming post) many of the people in Ulster signed the Ulster Covenant and the Ulster Declaration. The men signed the Ulster Covenant and the women placed their signatures under a more simply worded Ulster Declaration. Signatures basically…
