When you think Findmypast you have to learn to use the Card Catalog? Today we're going to talk about
how to use the Card Catalog to find even more searchable databases hiding below the surface.
Howdym, I'm Devon Noel Lee with Family History Fanatics where we help you understand your DNA,
climb your family tree, and write your ancestor stories along the way. And today we're gonna talk
about climbing our family tree by diving into the Card Catalog on Findmypast to find super
cool searchable databases that you might not have considered by using the main search form. Now,
here we are over on a Findmypast. And I'm gonna go to search and I'm gonna go to A to Z record sets.
Now, the next thing I'm going to do on Findmypast is I am gonna filter down to Canada. And then I'm
going to filter down to Ontario. Now, I really love this Card Catalog over here on Findmypast
because I can sort these collections in many ways. The default is a sort by title but I can also sort
by category. And this enables me then to see all of the collections from the military conflicts,
from the census records, from church religion, and all of them grouped together. And I can also
do then do Subcategories and this is pretty handy because. Now, I have the simple birth,
just the full deaths. And burials. And directories and almanacs. Which I love city directories,
no matter what country they're from. So, take advantage of using these little sort by collection
tools that are you unique to Findmypast. So, I have found a number of collections that are
searchable here on Findmypast. The way I found it to be honest was just scroll down, page by page
looking at the catalogs. And thinking, would that be applicable to my ancestor who's living
in that time and place? So, the catalog you're not searching for your ancestors names yet.
You're searching for collections they may lead you to your ancestor in that collection. So,
I found this collection called the Lavelle's Canadian Dominion Directory of 1871. It says
it's a newspaper directory. So, it's a postal and telephone directory kind of like a city
directory. Let's dive in. I can go to a specific page number to browse this collection which
I highly recommend you do. Once you find your ancestors name within the collection this helps
you become familiar with what kind of content was within this book. To navigate it's a little
bit tricky and the navigation I advanced page forward and back is up here with previous. So,
I can go to the previous image. And now, I can read this Dominion Directory information is.
zoom in. It says abbreviations used and gives you a little bit of information about this. So,
be sure to always kind of flip through your pages. If you want to go to the next page you click Next
up there. And it will advance a page. And your zoom in is right here on the screen. And zoom out
right there. If you want to download a particular page you could do that. And if you want to print
it you can as well. I'm going to look for some ancestors who need.. Whose last name is Marr to
see what pops up. There are 14 results and I can go through and I can scroll through this Dominion
directory. So now, I'm going to go ahead and look to see if I can find Ellen Mar in this directory.
There I found her right there. Ellen Mar, widow of John. She is a dressmaker. Now, unlike a city
directory I don't see her address. But I can't get a clue as to where she's from. Because it says,
says Brougham. It gives me a little bit of background about the actual town and its size and
things of that nature. So, it's kind of nice to look here. And then I can see who else is living
around her based on them being listed in this town as well. So, that's a really good collection
that you can use to find specific individuals in your family. So, let's check out another one. So,
this collection is called the for Ontario. It's the rural directory for Elcho, all district of
Lincoln. I don't know if I set that all right in January 1929. So, election rolls are helpful
in putting your ancestors in a specific place and time. And I was able to come in and find
this entry for. And it's hard to read but it went. It's. It's a great fine for W.R. Woodland,
a laborer and he is in Beamen, still Ontario. So, this is an entire collection full of people
in specific places in time, their occupation and where they lived. And we're able to to
though. There's some other keys that you'll want to pay attention to because they can give you more
biographical information. So, when you're in a TIZZY catalogue. If you see electoral district
that is a record collection you'll definitely want to explore for your ancestors. So, military
conflict records are great in finding the men in your family tree and the conflicts that they were
engaged with. So, here is another example this is the Cameron rolls. Now, on this roll I can see
individuals that were listed in particular units. That they were discharged. That they're dead. That
they joined Captain Harry Howard's unit. This is kind of nice for John subject to convulsive sits
and discharged. So, you can find a lot of great information here and as well. Also pay attention
to those footnotes at the bottom. You will went to. When you find your relative on these records
you'll then want to scroll forward or back a few pages to see if you can find out some more of the
unit histories and the creation of the records. So, you really know what you're looking at rather
than just, "hey, I found them in this record." Now, passenger lists are records that you want
to explore. They may not be specific to your the place you're researching, in this case Ontario,
but they may have your ancestors. So, what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna go type the destination
port sister's City as Canada. And we have a list of individuals where their names weren't located.
The names weren't listed. But their birth year or the destination port was. So, I'm gonna add
a last name. So now, I have to filter down to a last name in the Port of Canada. And I can then
go and view in some images for some individuals who came to Canada. So, I'm going to go ahead and
explore one of the records for. This one's for Gladys. And there she is. And we can find out
the information about her arriving. That she's bringing some children. Her address in the UK.
That's awesome. And in the address of where she's going to. And then we can look at the top of this
record and it says Canadians Wives Bureau. Now, click on View Transcript. And you're gonna find
something really cool. Findmypast will then allow you to add this to your tree. But it'll also see
if they have found another record for you that you can then go explore. people with the same
last name on this voyage. So, it goes and looks through the whole voyage the whole passenger
list to see if there's someone else. Now, we knew Betty was there because she was listed in the same
line. But what if there were five or more other people traveling with her. So, that's a really
cool record to explore on Findmypast. And you'll find that by going to the Card Catalog, searching
your for your locality. And it will not only pick things specific to, in this case Ontario,
but anything in the larger sphere that would apply. Such as arrivals from the date UK to Canada
which would eventually go to Ontario perhaps. Now, the final collection I didn't even know existed.
And that's why you go to the Card Catalog and do a location search. This is for the Odd Fellows Life
Insurance Application collection that's available on Findmypast. In this record collection I can
see so many wonderful details about the applicant. Their name, their age, their places of residence.
Their marital status. except of the injuries. They may have had whether they have are caught
up with their immunization. But even though this doesn't necessarily name the father,
the father's parents. The mother. The mayor spent the brothers and the sisters. But look at this
biographical information that you can find you can find out. That in the date on the date that
this record was created. Levi's father was living. His mother was living. His mother's parents were
living but his and mother his father's parents were deceased and the reason why. And the age
at which they died that can help you support your life event. Facts of when did an ancestor die? And
what did they die of? And the same can be said of the brothers and the sisters. You'll also want to
look at who the beneficiary is. And here in this case this was his mother. I have another
example I want to show you. This is a record for Charles Shipley. And his record, it's for Emma
Miller his ... His fiancee. They're not married yet. So, these are more modern records but you
can still figure out that his wife's, his future wife's maiden name is Miller. How cool is that?
Plus you can find all sorts of information. All died of old age. That's his parents. And that's
his siblings. So, I invite you to move beyond that homepage search form on Findmypast. Dive
into the Card Catalog. Narrow down the options to the locations you're researching anywhere around
the world. That find my classic covers. And see what you can find in. The next video I'm going
to talk to you about using the Card Catalog to find a social history. until that video
comes out be sure to check this playlist for more tips and tricks on how to research on Findmypast.