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Recent Updates
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Please see also the
Project Status Page for more detailed information about database additions,
researchers' contributions and other updates.
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The former Collins' Inn in East Alburg, run by the Bremmer family in 1896. Now a quiet residential area on Lake Champlain that shows little sign of its resort status at the turn
of the last century!
All images from Alburg posted soon!
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12 SEP 2008
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During the summer months I enjoy travelling around Eastern Ontario, the Eastern Townships of Quebec and the bordering northern US states looking for those elusive Bremner families
that came to the New World in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
This year I found a Bremmer (sic) family in Alburg, Vermont, just south of the Canadian border and Eastern Townships of Quebec.
There is no doubt that the family originated in Scotland, and was probably "Bremner" before their arrival in North America.
This is very much a work in progress, and I thank David Bell, the Alburg, Vermont historian for his help and expertise in supplying local information on the family.
As many of you already know, those Scots that left their homeland between 1745 and 1770 are very difficult to trace. Many were caught up in the American Revolutionary
War in the years beginning in 1776. Some Loyalists were fortunate to have been awarded land grants in Lower Canada after that conflict.
See details on this Bremner branch that settled first in Vermont and then moved westward
to Wisconsin, Minnesota, Idaho and Oregon. There was a large contingent of this family in Portage County, Wisconsin from the 1860s onward
through to at least as late as the 1950s.
At this writing, I'm still looking for a definite connection with this group to what I believe to be Morayshire antecedents.
So far I have had no contact from anyone who claims this family as their own, but I have great confidence that the internet and Google will eventually turn up
a descendant with the fabled family bible that tells all!
Tracing the Bremmer/Brimmer spellings in the United States turns up a huge number of German and Dutch families, and sifting
through those genealogies to find the Scots emigrants is a time-consuming process! Having said that, there is a Brimmer family genealogy
in that same area of Quebec that is NOT part of the Scottish Bremner family... they are Dutch Lutherans that came from Rensselaer, New York.
View that non-Scottish Brimmer genealogy...
So often research is more a matter of elimination than of inclusion!
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11 SEP 2008
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Many of my loyal readers check the brebner.com pages regularly to see what new information I have turned up. During the summer months I spend as much
time outside as possible with a number of activities both competing with and related to my real job in photography and video production,
and it may appear that the web-site lies dormant during that time. Not so! While I admit to falling behind in adding gravestone and personal photographs
during the all-too short Canadian summer, I update the databases and family genealogies on a weekly basis.
Your submissions will eventually be added, and I appreciate all information that is sent. Unfortunately, until I retire (perhaps in 2040!)
that information usually has to wait until the winter months to be added to the site.
While I have no intention (or time!) of adding a regular "blog" to the site, I will be making periodic comments that will appear in this "What's New" section
of the site to keep all my fellow Brebner/Bremner genealogists up to date with any new discoveries.
It seems that every day there are new web sites on-line that have a wealth of index information.
I update the BMD data and census information regularly on my pages from any new information that comes on-line.
If you find a new web source that has Brebner/Bremner data, please drop me an e-mail and let me know!
Yes, the next newsletter is well-past due. It is in the works, and should be a "bumper issue"!
Please keep this "What's New" page bookmarked to read my most recent comments about the progress of ongoing research.
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New Register House, Edinburgh (May 2008)
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10 SEP 2008
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All Brebner/Bremner etc. BMD transcriptions from this year's May visit to Edinburgh have now been added to the databasesand compiled genealogies.
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20 MAR 2008
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More newspaper extracts about Brebner/Bremner individuals in Scotland.
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07 DEC 2007
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Some recent additions to newspaper and other documents mentioning the Brebner/Bremner doings around
the world:
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14 OCT 2007
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I often re-visit cemeteries at different times of the day, and especially if a later visit happens to occur on a sunnier day.
Sunlight at the right angle can make all the difference between a legible stone and one that can be overlooked on an overcast day.
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12 OCT 2007
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Almost caught up on cemetery photographs and transcriptions! These are from assorted locations:
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Wick Old Kirkyard, CAI
(some photographs for existing transcriptions)
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Maple Grove Cemetery, Munising, MI, USA
Some gravestone photographs courtesy of Mike Taff of descendants of the
Tarland Brebner group.
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Hillside Cemetery, Hinchinbrooke, QC, CAN
A single gravestone of David Will and Jean Bremner
from Strathdon, ABD.
Genealogy...
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Hill Side Cemetery, Hawkesbury, ON, CAN
Gravestones of John Johnstone and
Jane Bremner and family in Hawkesbury.
Genealogy...
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11 OCT 2007
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Still more new cemetery photographs and transcriptions:
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10 OCT 2007
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And more new cemetery photographs and transcriptions:
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09 OCT 2007
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Some more new cemetery photographs and transcriptions:
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08 OCT 2007
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Now that the summer weather here in Canada is finally coming to a close, I'm back inside and getting around to posting the many cemetery transcriptions
made in Scotland last May. Please note that these are a work in progress and may not include all Brebner/Bremner graves, especially in the
larger cemeteries.
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30 JUN 2007
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During my trip to Scotland in May, I took part in a BBC Radio Scotland interview along with Allan Bremner for their new series
"Digging Up Your Roots". The program is due to air on July 1st, and will be available on the
BBC site for about a week after
the original broadcast (select "Listen again...").
Photo: John Brebner and interviewer Claire White in Allenvale Cemetery, Aberdeen.
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28 JUN 2007
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Thanks to Jim Bremner in Belleville, Ontario, additions to and connections with the Plevna, Ontario Bremner family from Keith, BAN into
the larger
family of William BREMNER and Jean WILSON have been made. On a recent visit to Belleville,
Jim kindly allowed me to copy many of the old photographs
and artifacts. Some of these photographs were tintypes made about 1860, and probably in Keith before the family emigrated to Ontario.
The identities of these individuals is still a matter of speculation... please
have a look at these family photos and see if any of these old faces are familiar!
Photo: James Bremner (1816-1909), s/o William Bremner and Elspet Allan.
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30 MAY 2007
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On my recent trip to Scotland, a few days in Caithness allowed the transcription of a number of documents relating to James Bremner,
Engineer and Shipbuilder. These included:
For other articles please use the
Site Search keyword facility.
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29 MAY 2007
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After returning from another research trip to the north and north-east of Scotland, the BMD databases
and many of the genealogies of Aberdeenshire Brebner/Bremner families have been updated with detailed information of
Aberdeen City marriages now up to 1949. Please search the marriage database,
or view the compiled genealogies for more details.
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27 JAN 2007
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The new site is now operational! While the old site, which made its debut in 1999, has served the Brebner/Bremner research community
well, it was time for a fresh look. This marks only the fourth such change since brebner.com first went on-line
in 1994. I hope that you find this more minimalist design effective and easy to navigate. It will more easily accommodate the
addition of new information, perhaps for the next seven years! Text and .pdf files will also be updated over the next few months.
As always, I welcome any comments or criticisms!
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23 JAN 2007
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Addition of
the searchable database for the 1841 United Kingdom have been posted.
As with all datasets, content is updated monthly.
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21 JAN 2007
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The Brebner/Bremner entries for the Canadian 1851-1911 Censuses are now available for searching. While the 1881, 1901 and 1911
census data is approaching completion, other years are still a work in progress. Updated monthly.
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20 JAN 2007
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Please bear with me as I update brebner.com to its new look for 2007. I expect the process to take about two weeks. Some pages
may be temporarily unavailable during the upgrade, others may revert to the older style.
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17 JAN 2007
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Many of you responded to my December request for photographs, and I'm pleased to announce that the
photo and portrait
database has been expanded by over 75 images in the past two weeks. I'm always on the look-out for more photographs,
especially those from the 19th century. Please have a look at the
photo suggestions and guidelines page before sending
those photos of your ancestors.
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