Largest Online Family History Website Encourages Preservation and
Promotion
of Canadian HeritagePROVO, Utah, Feb. 15 /CNW/ -- In recognition of Heritage Day,
Ancestry.ca, the largest Canadian family history website, is offering three
days of free access to its World Deluxe collection through the end of the
month. Established in 1973 by the Heritage Canada Foundation, the holiday is
observed on the third Monday of February, commemorating Canada's nationally
significant historic, architectural, natural and scenic heritage. This year,
Ancestry.ca is encouraging Canadians to celebrate the day by reconnecting with
their past and discovering their own personal family history.
"Tracing the footsteps of your own ancestors through time provides
emotional, real context to history, making it easier to understand, connect
and appreciate the past," said Tim Sullivan, CEO, The Generations Network,
parent company of Ancestry.ca. "With full access to the entire World Deluxe
collection this Heritage Day, more families can now begin to explore their
roots through Canada's dynamic and diverse history."
Ancestry.ca is the largest Canadian family history website, offering 352
million names and fully indexed 1851, 1901, 1906 and 1911 Censuses of Canada.
Since its launch in January 2006, the site has experienced a steady surge of
new users with more than 16,000 Canadian subscribers joining the Ancestry
network of sites, which collectively host more than 5 billion records from the
United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany and Australia.
A cross-section of Ancestry.ca's record collections illustrates the
multicultural heritage and history of Canadian ethnic groups, including
English, French, Scottish, Irish and Black Canadian --(*) The 1851 Census of Canada showed a rise in Black Canadians as a result
of the United States Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which spurred the
migration of many fugitive slaves and free blacks to Canada.
Ancestry.ca has the largest collection of African-American family
history records available and searchable online.
(*) The Scotland Census collection, which includes the complete 1851 and
1861 Scotland Census records and records from the 1841 Census, is a
pivotal source of information for Canadians who can trace their
ancestry to Scotland. Nearly 9 million names from this Victorian
period are available and fully searchable online in this collection.
(*) For Canadians of Irish ancestry, the 1851 Census of Canada is a
significant resource, capturing a range of rich data missing from Irish
archives. Only partial records exist for the 1821, 1831, 1841 and 1851
censuses in Ireland. Ireland is the second most common place of birth
in the 1851 census.
(*) After the War of 1812, more than 50,000 British Loyalists were sent to
Canada from central United States. The 1851 Census of Canada shows
evidence that these loyalists largely resided in Niagara, New Brunswick
and Nova Scotia.
(*) French and English are the most common ethnicities stated in the 1911
and 1901 Censuses of Canada.
(*) The 1906 Census of Canada lists the United States and England among the
top four birth locations.Ancestry.ca is part of a larger network of Ancestry sites, with members
in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and Australia. With more than
725,000 subscribers worldwide and more than 1 million online family trees,
Ancestry.ca now provides Canadians with access to the largest family history
social network. In building family trees, members have added an estimated 150
million names, uploaded 400,000 photos and attached 10 million family history
documents directly from Ancestry's 23,000 historical records collections.
Built with family collaboration in mind, the tree-building tools on
Ancestry.ca allow family members to work together on their family trees,
whether living in the same house or on the other side of the world. Families
can add their ancestors' names, photos, life stories and much more to a shared
family tree -- all for free.About Ancestry.caAncestry.ca is the leading online site for Canadian family history
records, with the first and only online collection of vital records for
Ontario and British Columbia and the only completely digitized and indexed
1851 and 1911 Censuses of Canada. Ancestry.ca is operated by The Generations
Network, the leading online network connecting families, present and past. The
Generations Network' tools, content and community empower individuals to find
the people most important to them -- and discover and share their unique
family stories. In addition to Ancestry.ca, The Generations Network of
properties includes MyFamily.com, Ancestry.com, Ancestry.co.uk,
Ancestry.com.au, Ancestry.de, Genealogy.com and RootsWeb.com. The Generations
Network also publishes Family Tree Maker(R) (the number-one selling family
tree software), Ancestry Magazine, over 50 book titles and numerous databases
on CD-ROM. For more information on Ancestry.ca, visit http://www.ancestry.ca
For further information: Joelle Kenealey, +1-650-373-2005,
joelle_kenealey@coltrin.com, or Amber Henrie, +1-212-221-1616,
amber_henrie@coltrin.com, both of Coltrin & Associates, for Ancestry.ca Web
Site: http://www.ancestry.ca
