Genealogy
This started as a Mastodon post, but quickly turned into something longer so I decided I ought to share this on my blog.
I went down a rabbit hole last night & this morning. It started when I re-read my late grandfather's WWII memories (I try to do this every year on Remembrance Day or leading up to it, but don't always get there). (Quick aside: I'm glad I re-read it, because there are details in there that I either forgot or never noticed.)
In the first few pages he described the march from Lansdowne Park to Union Station (in Ottawa) no November 4, 1940. It was a send-off he said was never seen before and probably never would be again. I figured there would be pictures, but there aren't very many. I found one, and I'll share it at the end of the post, but I didn't stop there.
I was interested in looking up my grandfather on my Dad's side. I know his full name, so did a search. The first result was my great-grandfather. I never knew his name, even though I know my Dad did some genealogy research several years ago (fun fact: my great-grandfather appears to have had 15 siblings; I'll have to ask my Dad about the information he found).
Originally, I was looking for his obituary — it's easy to find my maternal grandfather's obituary because the funeral home keeps historic records, and he served in the military so it would probably be available on a Legion website or something. Unfortunately I could not find an obituary, though through the family tree page of my great-grandfather I was able to confirm his death was indeed December 25 as I remember (in 1993).
The most interesting discovery that I found was a scanned marriage registry document from Halifax, NS. My grandfather and grandmother were married September 6 1947; he was 25, she was 27. There are some neat details on the license that you probably wouldn't see today: the bride and groom were required to indicate whether they were a bachelor / spinster, widowed, or divorced.
I couldn't make out much of the writing, as it is in cursive — but it's not impossible to decipher. The whole thing is fascinating. At some point I should compare their license to what my wife and I signed 4 years ago.
And this all started from trying to find a photo.
