What can I find out with name/age/place of birth?

[Nick Carver]

I apologise if this is a very basic question, but I recently found an article from 1999 by a lady who found several photographs at a car boot sale relating to a Nicholson family, some of the pictures being taken on board the boat to Canada as they were emigrating. I always wondered why I couldn't find any descendants of the seven siblings of my grandmother and this may help to explain it.

I don't know exactly when they emigrated, but I have names and places of birth and approximate ages. I believe they landed in Vancouver. Could some kind soul tell me if this provides enough information to trace these relatives or if I need to find out some more? I also think I know which boat they travelled on (its name appears in one of the pictures).

Many thanks
Nick

[KarenM]

Hi Nick,

You should be able to find out something.  What year are you looking at and what province where they born in.  Each province has different ways of obtaining birth certificates. 

Karen

[Nick Carver]

Karen

I have Michael Nicholson, born in Newcastle, England in 1877, his wife Jane born in Wheatley Hill, Durham in 1876 and daughter Frances May (Mary?) born in 1900 in Gateshead. There are believed to be other members of the family - further children of Michael and Jane and Michael's siblings and their families. I believe they settled in BC. Does this help?

Thanks
Nick

[AnneMc]

Hi Nick:
If you know the name of the ship and year they came to Canada you could order the film from the National Archives in Ottawa, Ont and you should be able to find them. I believe it tells you where they left from and where they were going. I have not looked at the films myself but my friends have. Also if they lived in B.C. have you tired the Birth, Marriage, Death site on the web?  If they are on there and you copy done the GSU # you can order a copy of the certificate from Salt Lake family history library much cheaper then getting one from the record office.  On the death certificate is asks how long the have lived in the province so that may help in finding out when they arrived in Canada.

Anne
Canada

[KarenM]

Hi Nick,

Here's a link to the Nanaimo Family History Site.  They are located in BC.  They have started a project of putting the ships passenger lists online.  They have some already for part of the year 1909 and 1910.  Perhaps, if you contact them they will be able to help you further.

http://www.island.net/%7Enfhs/index.htm

Karen

[KarenM]

Another site to check out is www.pier21.ca which is in Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Even though they may have settled in BC, they would of started their trek west either in Quebec or Nova Scotia.  Since you may have the name of the ship, you are definetly ahead of the game.  In the winter months the ships came to Nova Scotia and in the spring, summer and fall they went to Quebec.  You can also check out www.ellisisland.org  since even though they came to Canada, alot of people came through the states up to Canada that way.

Karen

[AnneMc]

Hi Nick

Here is the website address for b.c. archives bmd

http://search.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca


Anne

[carol8353]

There is a death of a Jane Nicholson that could fit,on the BC archives site.


Jane Nicholson Place North Vancouver
Reg. Number:
1973-09-005864
Date: 1973 4 28 (Yr/Mo/Day) Age:96
Microfilm #: B13324   (GSU # 2050076)

For 19-95$ you can order the cert to be emailed to you.
Canadian death certs are great-they give length of time in Canada and parents names as well as the usual next of kin and spouses name.

Log on to http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/sn-58DAEE3/textual/governmt/vstats/v_events.htm#indexes

All the best

Carol

 
 

[Nick Carver]

Thanks to all for your brilliant suggestions. Will now try and make some sense of it all in relation to my family. Carol - do you know if you can place a conditional order for a certificate, i.e. yes, I want it if the data in a particular field matches what I know, otherwise not? I  know you can do that in the UK (not sure if everywhere, but certainly in many places).

Thanks
Nick