A Map For BC Historians

The always excellent BC Studies journal has now published online a map showing the location of all its articles over several decades. The map is easily scalable to any level of detail and could be a very useful tool for locating scholarly articles on a particular place. I have to note that there have been no … Continue reading A Map For BC Historians →

Research Methods For Local History

Vancouver is fortunate in having a very fine Library and City Archives (CVA) system that maintains an enormous body of documentary and visual evidence of Vancouver's history and heritage. There is, in fact, so much data available that it can be overwhelming for both professional and amateur researchers alike. To assist researchers, the CVA has … Continue reading Research Methods For Local History →

Digital History Resources

Stephanie Ann Warner's blog has a great list of all the available on-line tools for researching all things local and Vancouver Island, with a few sources from elsewhere. Check it out!

Goad’s 1912 atlas now a VanMap layer

Regular readers of this blog, and researchers of local history, will be aware of the 1912 Goad's Fire Atlas, which has been available in low-res images on the national archives website for the past few years. As part of the fantastic digitization efforts undertaken by City of Vancouver Archives, the atlas is now available in … Continue reading Goad’s 1912 atlas now a VanMap layer →

Missing Block in 1921 Census

I have been doing more work on the 1921 Census for Grandview and have discovered that the north side of the 2000-block Venables Street was missed by the enumerator. The south side of the block (house numbers: 2012, 2030, 2036, 2052, 2056, 2062 and 2076) is captured on pages 4, 5 and 6 of district … Continue reading Missing Block in 1921 Census →

Census Finding Aid 1921

Some while ago, I produced a Census Finding Aid for the 1911 Canada Census. Now that the 1921 Census data is available, I have made the same kind of aid for that series. The purpose here is to allow researchers looking for specific addresses or specific streetscapes to find the data they require more easily … Continue reading Census Finding Aid 1921 →

Chilliwack Archives

I spent the day in Chilliwack, at their archives. It was my first visit, both to the city and to the institution. It was a partly cloudy and a partly sunny day, great both for the highway and for walking around. It was neat to be out of the big city, I have to say. … Continue reading Chilliwack Archives →

20,000 Maps Made Available

The New York Public Library has just made available a collection of 20,000 maps in high definition downloadable format. I am certain there will not be a single map of Grandview there, nor even of Vancouver, but I believe it is important to celebrate and praise the opening up of such material that previously was … Continue reading 20,000 Maps Made Available →

Meeting Notes: August 2013

We had another great meeting last Thursday evening. We covered quite a lot of ground: It was noted that the 1921 Census of Canada is now available for scholars. At the moment it is made available via Ancestry.ca and a subsription membership is required. The current search engine dies not allow searches via addresses. Bruce … Continue reading Meeting Notes: August 2013 →

Improvements at City Archives

The good folks at City of Vancouver Archives have made a significant change to the ability of researchers to view digital objects: Until now, digital objects that were under the copyright of a 3rd party (other than City of Vancouver’s copyright) could only be viewed online as a tiny thumbnail. Now they can be viewed … Continue reading Improvements at City Archives →

Online Resources for Researching the History of Your House

You can begin your research in your slippers and with a cup of tea, because there are good resources online. You might even find all you feel you need online. But once you start finding tantalizing tidbits of information, you will likely want to delve deeper; this will involve actually visiting the Archives or the VPL … Continue reading Online Resources for Researching the History of Your House →

Notes From The March Meeting

Nineteen people jammed the Britannia boardroom for our latest meeting, including first-timers, some of whom had been contacted about hosting a centenary sign on their front lawn. The highlight was Eric Phillips's excellent talk on the esoterica of knob and tube wiring, early electrical codes and how Grandview houses fitted seamlessly into the modern age … Continue reading Notes From The March Meeting →

Hunting The History of Your House

Here's one for your calendar! Penny Street, long-time history buff, heritage advocate, and one of the founders of the Grandview Heritage Group, will be leading a workshop on how to research the history of your house. She will be covering the use of building permits, water permits, City directories, Census entries and who knows what … Continue reading Hunting The History of Your House →

1911 Census Finding Aid

The 1911 Canada Census, now available online, is an extraordinary resource for historians. For those seeking information about individuals or families, a number of geneaological organizations have transcribed some of the data, making it a relatively easy matter to find people. However, the same cannot be said for those of us who study streets and … Continue reading 1911 Census Finding Aid →

More Building Permits

I haven't been writing blog posts regularly over the last few weeks because I am swimming in an ocean of historical data that I am trying to collate for a project. Part of this data is coming from the extraordinarily important work that Heritage Vancouver is putting in to transcribe all the old Vancouver building … Continue reading More Building Permits →

Goad’s 1912 fire atlas on line

Library and Archives Canada have recently added a copy of a century-old property atlas (used by the fire insurance industry) to its website -- the perfect time-waster for a rainy day. Grandview is in Volume 2. Click on the link above and search on the archives site or use Google to search Goad's + Vancouver … Continue reading Goad’s 1912 fire atlas on line →