Copper & Kin Genealogy

05/21/2026

🇨🇦 New Pathways to Canadian Citizenship by Descent for Americans with Canadian Ancestry!! Exciting!!..Did you know? For decades, Americans with Canadian parents, grandparents, or even deeper ancestral roots were excluded from Canadian citizenship because of outdated “Lost Canadian” laws?
That is now starting to change.

Recent developments in Canadian citizenship policy and court decisions are expanding opportunities for descendants of Canadians born abroad. Specially those previously blocked by the “first-generation limit.” This has created renewed interest among genealogists, family historians, and Americans researching Canadian roots.

Millions of Americans have:
French-Canadian ancestry
Métis heritage
Loyalist roots
Maritime or Newfoundland connections
Parents or grandparents born in Canada
Many are now discovering they might qualify or for Canadian citizenship through descent under the new legislation.

If you are exploring eligibility, the documentation is critical. Helpful records include:

Canadian birth registrations
Baptismal and parish records
Border crossing records
Census records
Naturalization documents
Marriage certificates
Métis scrip records
Hudson’s Bay Company employment records

Building a BMD documented lineage from a Canadian ancestor to the present day is the most imporatnt step. If you would like any assistance on that, feel free to reach out.

05/13/2026

Let's talk Census Records!

"But the Census is Intrusive!"

We genealogists think not!

Below is the Canada Census Evolution for those that feel our census might be asking for too much.
Each year, the columns grew to add another fact about a family.

1851: Names, gender, age, birthplace/year, religion, family relationships, locations, original record images
1861: Added marital status
1871: Added origins and family numbers
1881: Added other household members
1891: Same details as 1881
1901: Added birthdates, race/tribe, immigration year, naturalization year
1911: Same details as 1901
1931: Most detailed public census — added languages spoken and whether the household owned a radio.

And that's more mild than England's questions.

England Census Evolution
1841: Names, ages (rounded for adults), gender, occupation, birthplace (county or not), addresses
1851: Added exact relationships, marital status, precise birthplaces and disabilities!
1861: Similar to 1851 with improved accuracy and household details. windows/fireplace etc.
1871: Added clearer employment and disability information.
1881: More detailed family relationships and occupations.
1891: Added number of rooms occupied (for smaller homes) and employer/worker status
1901: Expanded workplace/employment details and household conditions.
1911: The most detailed pre-WWI census. Which included years married, children born/alive/deceased, industry details, infirmities. --This is my favourite census to look at.
1921: Added workplace address, employer name, school status, orphanhood information.

And then sadly, The 1931 England & Wales census was destroyed in a fire, and no 1941 census was taken because of World War II.

So get on that website and fill out your details without fear! I promise it won't bite! And you won't hurt anyone but your descendants and your wallet if you refuse.

04/14/2026

Do you know if you have a relative who passed in the sinking of the Titanic? You can search them by name, class or profession on this website.

My great Uncle Thomas Henry Blake perished on the ship. He was a fireman working down in the furnace rooms. His body like so many others, never recovered.
I have yet to find a photo of him in my family collection or discover one elsewhere.
May they all be resting in peace. ❤️

https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-victim/thomas-blake.html

03/15/2026

Even Gru has a family tree!

Family always matters. ❤️

03/06/2026

As the 1911 census was being taken in England, the massive Titanic anchor was being forged in Dudley at the Noah Hingley & Sons works! 😎🆒🚢

It’s my favourite year of census records so far.
Easily legible and full of details.

Moments like this are why census records are so fascinating! They capture ordinary people living their everyday lives while major moments in history are unfolding around them.

But sadly, the 1931 England & Wales census was destroyed in a fire during the Blitz in 1942.
AND no census was taken in 1941 due to the Second World War.
This creates a huge 30-year gap for researching. While it’s sad, there are other ways to fond family like Newspapers.com or Parish registers.

The next census scheduled for release is the 1951 census! Which will begin opening records for a whole new generation of families! 🌳
But for us eager researchers in 2025, we have to wait until 2052 for its release! Start the countdown!

I’ll be turning 70! 😳

For those of us researching British ancestry, that release will be incredibly exciting!!
Hopefully my passion and profession is even greater still. 😉

03/04/2026

In February, Alberta Family Histories Society volunteers uploaded 4 new cemeteries to our cemetery database, Alberta Ancestors. This was a total of 4085 names. More names are being added all the time, so check it out: Alberta Ancestors – https://albertaancestors.ca

Plus many updates, new names and new photos for other rural cemeteries and the City of Calgary cemeteries.
February - 2026
Vulcan Cemetery (Vulcan County) 2,824 names + 2,263 photos - https://albertaancestors.ca/cemeteries/vulcan-cemetery-vulcan-county/
Royal View Cemetery (Lethbridge) 572 names + 370 photos - https://albertaancestors.ca/cemeteries/royal-view-memorial-cemetery-lethbridge/
Grassy Lake Prairie View Cemetery (MD of Taber) 371 names + 359 photos - https://albertaancestors.ca/cemeteries/grassy-lake-prairie-view-cemetery-md-of-taber/
Huntsville Cemetery (Lethbridge County) 316 names + 241 photos - https://albertaancestors.ca/cemeteries/huntsville-cemetery-lethbridge-county/

Current Alberta Ancestors status (February 28, 2026)
379 cemeteries (increase of 6)
264,730 persons (increase of 4085)
191,942 photos (increase of 5,175)

03/04/2026

🌳Rootstech 2026 begins today! If you haven’t already, you can register to attend online for free:
https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/

Although I had hoped to be in Salt Lake City this year, it will have to wait just one more year!
With a full schedule of client work and family commitments, I’ve taken a brief pause from research that I enjoy so much.

If you share an interest in genealogy, history, or family research, it’s well worth exploring the sessions being offered this week!

Explore RootsTech, the world’s largest family history conference. Join inspiring live events and access on-demand genealogy classes anytime, anywhere.

02/05/2026

“My name is Maximus Aurelius!”
In the sixteenth-century in Scottish parish registers, months were often recorded using Latin or Latinised headings. August commonly appears as “AGVST” or “AGVSTI,” reflecting classical Latin spelling conventions in which V was used in place of U. This practice was widespread in Old Parish Registers (OPRs) during the 1500s.
By the late seventeenth to early eighteenth century, parish registers increasingly shifted to English month names with modern spelling, as record formats became more uniform and Latin fell out of everyday administrative use. My own birthday month!

01/24/2026

This is sad news. I hope to contribute to this for the Province of Alberta.
ParksCanada is shutting down the website historicplaces.ca which is such a great source. I think it’s vital to Canadian history to preserve this website and the data base. Have a look before it’s gone.
There are a lot of heritage advocates that are upset about this development. Me included.

The Canadian Register of Historic Places, better known as the historicplaces.ca website, is coming down. Parks Canada announced in late 2025 that the searchable database – a cornerstone for understanding heritage places in Canada – will be permanently unplugged in spring 2026. Heritage advocates are scrambling to save the data and find a replacement.

https://nationaltrustcanada.ca/online-stories/alarm-as-canadian-register-of-historic-places-to-shut-down

01/08/2026

Let talk Ancestry Hints. 🌳📔
At Copper & Kin we use an offline software for our client research and final reports but we also use many online sources. I like to go direct to the repository first when possible.
Try to find the document without ancestry. Sometimes, you will find they are only viewable through ancestry as deals are made with repositories for what records are shared on what platforms.

So many people today start with Ancestry and that’s great! It is the best one to start with for novice genealogists.
When I log into Ancestry I can usually spot some bad hints tied to various people.

So just a reminder to be mindful that Ancestry Hints can be helpful… but they can also quietly derail your tree if you treat them like facts.
Hints are suggestions generated by algorithms and other people’s trees. They are not proof. Nor are they 100% accurate.
If you’re an avid researcher (or building a tree you plan to share with family or clients), especially on Ancestry, here’s your gentle reminder to slow down and verify before you attach.

Hints are best used as
-A lead (a clue to follow)
-A record finder (especially for census, civil reg, immigration, military.
-A prompt to widen your search (alternate spellings, nearby parishes, different counties etc)

Ancestry hints are not your enemy though, uncritical attaching is. Use them, but carefully. Check the main repository when you can.

A family tree built slowly with verified evidence is worth more than a huge tree built on shaky links. Treat ancestry hints like sticky notes. Use them to help advance your research, not define it. 😉

Copper & Kin Genealogy

“Conducting connections across generations”

01/01/2026

Happy New Year!
🍾🥂cheers to happy researching
and new discoveries in 2026. 🥰🎇