Ancestry.com partners with Library Archives

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Ancestry.com is making it easier to access military family history records by teaming up with Library Archives Canada.

Have you ever thought about creating a family tree, or wanted to learn more about your family history?

Information from military attestation papers, birth, marriage and circumstances of death records are now all accessible through www.ancestry.ca, a network of the global ancestry records.

“Up until 2006, anyone wanting to view military records of their Canadian ancestors would have to physically visit the Library Archives in Ottawa and look at microfilm or original records,” says Lesley Anderson, Ancestry genealogist and content specialist.
Now it’s as easy as logging onto the Internet.

“The war graves and circumstances of death register were only viewable at Library Archives Canada. We partnered with them to digitized all the registers and now details like where a soldier was buried, if they were exhumed and reburied, or where they’re memorialized is available online,” says Anderson.

An Attestation Paper was the first document a soldier signed before entering the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF). In many cases these may be the only surviving record of the enlistment of many Canadian soldiers who fought in World War One.

Attestation papers provide a range of details about the enlistee, including place of birth, age, physical description and next of kin. Some also include valuable information about their lives before the war, such as their occupation, marital status and residence.

The records of more than 600,000 World War One veterans are now online with billions of historical records from around the world.
“Researching family history can be very addictive,” says Anderson.

Users can build a family tree adding photos and stories free of charge and then share them with their families.

To view the original images of historical records users are charged $9.95 per month for Canadian use, or $24.95 per month to access records from around the world.

“Users can take advantage of a two-week free trial to access this information,” says Anderson.

The records date back to before the 1600s depending on the country, and include passenger lists to Canada.

Ancestry.ca was launched in January 2006 and offers members access to 129 million searchable Canadian family history records. It is part of the global network of Ancestry websites containing seven billion names in 26,000 historical record collections.

Ancestry.ca’s historical record collection reflects Canada’s multicultural heritage and enables members to explore their family’s history using Canadian and international records, including the Canadian censuses, military, passenger lists, Irish records, English, Welsh and Scottish censuses, birth, marriage and death records as well as user-contributed family trees, and by connecting to millions of other members making their own discoveries.

To date more than 7.25 million family trees have been created and 700 million names and 11.5 million photographs uploaded.

-Shelley Lipke, Staff Writer

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