We are live!

We are so pleased to let you you we went live last night.  Please take time to check out the NB Scottish History website.  Please send in your comments and suggestions! 

Today is the day we go live!

Are you as excited as we are?  We are going live later today with www.nbscottishhistory.ca.  So keep an eye open for it later today.  AS we prepare this message we are transferring file to the server, checking the site over for spelling errors and broken files.  Once everything has been moved over we will go live.  

 It is our hope that you find the site informative, interesting and useful.   The site is a living history book and as time goes on and funds permit we will be adding more and more information.  We also encourage you our users to send in suggestions and ideas for future information and records.  

Pre-Launch Party

Three years ago the New Brunswick Scottish-Cultural Association embarked upon a journey to discover our Scottish heritage and history through initiative called the New Brunswick Scottish Portal Project. The goal of this project was to tell the untold stories of the Scots who came to New Brunswick in the 19 century. A committee was established with representation from around the province.  Many wonderful stories were discovered and some surprises along the way. That project has come to an end and all the research conducted over the three years has been pulled together and is being readied to be uploaded to the site.  As a result we are ready to launch Phase I of the project! 

It gives me great pleasure to invite you on behalf of the New Brunswick Scottish-Cultural Association and Fredericton Society of Saint Andrew to the pre-launch dinner party of the NB Scottish History website on November 22, 2014 at the Fredericton Inn, 1315 Regent Street in Fredericton.   As a financial supporter of the project your evening will begin with a reception at 5:30 pm followed by dinner at 7 pm.  We have a jammed packed evening planned for you with with traditional haggis, highland dancing, piping and so much more.  The high light of the evening of course will be the sneak peak of the new website and what the site has to offer the public when it goes live on November 30th.   Tickets are $55.00 each and must be purchased by November 17th. Please keep in mind tickets are limited so please purchase yours early.     

The pre-launch is being held in conjunction with the Fredericton Society of Saint Andrew’s Feast of Saint Andrew.  This will be a traditional Feast of Saint Andrew’s as a result the dress code for the evening is Scottish attire or business dress.

Tickets can be purchased through our special ticket purchase centre .  All sales are final and there will not be any refunds because meals are ordered and paid for in advance.  The deadline to purchase tickets is November 17th

Once payment has been received, you will receive an email confirmation.  No tickets will be mailed and will be made available at the door.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me directly by emailing info@nbscottishhistory.ca or calling 506-470-2385.

Urgent Appeal For Help-- NB Scottish Portal To Go Live

On September 11th  we issued an update on our effort to raise the last $3000.00 to finish off the NB Scottish Portal project.  This  $3000.00 if you recall is the last of the $80,000.00 that was required to be raised.  As we mentioned in our updated on September 11th we need to raise that last $3000.00 by October 15^th in order to go live on November 30, 2014.

As of October 25^th we have raised $750.00, this means we now have to raise $2250.00 so we will be able to pay our bills.  Unfortunately we cannot stop the project when we are so close to the finish line.    As a result our website designer has agreed to continue to work and postpone invoicing us for the work until we have raised the remaining $2250.00.



Our supporters have been so helpful and supportive to date, we hope you will not let us down now that we are so close to the finish.  Once again, we can issue tax receipts for your donation.  You can help in two ways.

 1. Donate.  First and foremost, funding the project is at the top of our list. You can donate in the following amounts:
$75
$100
$200
Other
Donating is easy, simply send your cheque - made payable to Associates of the Provincial Archives and by noting on the cheque in the notes section “Scottish Portal Fund” you will be eligible for a charitable tax receipt. In recognition of your donation, you will be listed on the Website as supporter of the NB Scottish Portal.

2. Share information about the importance of this project with your friends and family.  We need to ensure that we preserve our history and the story of the Scots in New Brunswick.

Please remember the NB Scottish Portal, once completed, will finally tell the story of the Scots who came to New Brunswick, settled here and advanced the Province to a vibrant and civilized.

Again, we need your help to make this project is a success.  Donate today.

I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely,



Dan Taylor, Chair,
New Brunswick Scottish Portal Project
n September 11

Scottish Portal Releases Go Live Date- Last Minute Appeal!

Internal Memo

 

Date: September 11, 2014

To: Friends of the Scottish Portal

Subject: Follow up to fundraising request for conclusion project

____________________________________________________________________________________

 

In February we issued our last fundraising letter request for the Scottish Portal project.  As you recall, our target was to raise the last $8000.00 needed to finish the project.  I am happy to advise we only need to raise $3000.00 to finish off the project.  That means our stakeholders were very generous and sent in $5000.00 between February and August of this year.  We are very grateful for those donations and we appreciate every amount you gave towards the project. If you have not received your receipt for your donation, please contact us and let us know. We can be reached by any of the following below. 

 

Unfortunately, we do require the last $3000.00 to bring the site live for November 25^th.  We are asking for your help to raise the last $3000.00 of the $8000.00.  In order to go live with the site by November 25^th we require the $3000.00 by October 15, 2014 at the latest in order to finish the work and to meet the deadline.

 

You have been so helpful and supportive to date, we hope you will not let us down now that we are so close to the finish ( Two months to go live).  Once again, we can issue tax receipts for your donation.  

  

1.     Donate.  First and foremost, funding the project is at the top of our list. You can donate in the following amounts:

$75

$100

$200

Other

Donating is easy, simply send your cheque - made payable to Associates of the Provincial Archives and by noting on the cheque in the notes section “Scottish Portal Fund” you will be eligible for a charitable tax receipt. In recognition of your donation, you will be listed on the Website as supporter of the NB Scottish Portal.

 

2. Share information about the importance of this project with your friends and family.  We need to ensure that we preserve our history and the story of the Scots in New Brunswick.

 

Please remember the NB Scottish Portal, once completed, will finally tell the story of the Scots who came to New Brunswick, settled here and advanced the Province to a vibrant and civilized community. The story of the Scots has never been told in its entirety and we must ensure that our forbearers’ efforts are included in New Brunswick’s history.

 

Again, we need your help to make this project is a success.  Donate today.

 

I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely,

 

Daniel Taylor, Chair,

New Brunswick Scottish Portal Advisory Committee

 

                                                             Your final donation to the project

* Please make all cheques payable to: Associates of the Provincial Archives

 

Name:                                                                                    

 

Mailing Address:                                                                                                      

 

Postal Code:                

 

I would like to support the New Brunswick Scottish Portal Project for 2014:

 

$$75        $100.00         $200           Other             

 

 

 

* Please make all cheques payable to: Associates of the Provincial Archives

Please mail cheques to: NB Scottish Portal Project, 221 Springwater Lane, New Maryland NB  E3C 1J5

May 2014 Update- Scottish Portal Project Coming to An End

It has been December 2013 since an updated has been provided on the Project.  So you would think there would be plenty to say.  However, this is not the case, you see the NB Scottish Portal project is coming to end of it mandate.  Most of the research has been completed and turned over to the Provincial Archives.   The next steps is the design and development of the actual site. As of March we only had to raise $8000.00 to allow us finish the project.  In April the project launched what is expected to be the last

fundraising initiative for the project.  This time around we  made arrangements with the Association of Provincial Archives of NB  to issue tax receipts for donations received.   We are thrilled to say we have  raised in less than a month $4010.00 of the $8000.00.  This means we only have to raise $3990.00 between now and August.  We can already share what the domain will be for the site.  www.nbscottishhistory.com ( remember it is not up and running yet.  The date selected for go live is November 30, 2014.

We can't stress how important it is that we raise the last $3990.00.  It is important to understand that we will not be able to put up a partial site with only half the information  It is a case it is all or nothing and as a result we still need our supporters help.

Remember all cheques are to be made payable to “Associates of Provincial Archives NB” and mailed to 221 Spring water Lane, New Maryland NB EC3 1J5 and please place in the note section of the cheque “Scottish Portal”.  We need to receive all funds by the end of August so we have a very small window of opportunity.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us by emailing us at nbwebportal@belaliant.net

Press Release -Who Was The First Scot in New Brunswick?

 

EDITOR: This is the press release announcing the winner of the “Who Was The First Scot in New Brunswick contest”.  

Who Was The First Scot in New Brunswick? 

(Fredericton, NB – December 11, 2013) - The pioneering Scottish lumberman, shipbuilder and politician, William Davidson, was barely 25 years old when he settled near Miramichi in 1765. Davidson is generally credited with being the first Scot to settle in New Brunswick, but was there a Scot who came before him? The New Brunswick Scottish Portal Project launched the contest “Who Was the First Scot in New Brunswick?” on January 24, 2013 asking the help of the general public to answer that question. The contest ran from Robert Burns Day (January 25^th) to Saint Andrew’s Day (November 30^th). The person or persons who provided proof of an individual or family who moved from Scotland to New Brunswick prior to 1765 would receive either a $500 contest prize or a tablet.

On January 24^tha press conference to announce the details of the contest and featuring the great-great-great-great-grandson of William Davidson, Mr. Brad Sturgeon of Fredericton, was held at the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick in Fredericton. 

The Scottish Portal is an initiative of several Scottish cultural organizations in partnership with the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick. The Portal will be a virtual showcase of the Scottish settlement and experience in New Brunswick and has been in development for more than two years.  

One of its major features will be a searchable database of the 1851 and 1861 census, focusing on Scottish-born immigrants to the province.  Other highlights include searchable land grants and teachers' petitions, passenger lists, family and community histories as well as publications, oral history interviews, and membership lists from the various Scottish organizations dating back to the settlement of the province in the late 1700s.

The advisory committee for the project received three entries for the contest from around New Brunswick. However the winner clearly was the submission received from Chris Robbins of Hanwell, New Brunswick.  Mr. Robbins submitted documentation proving that Andrew Forrester, a Scottish military officer connected with the settlement of New Scotland (1629-1632), located at Port Royal, came to the mouth of the Saint John River in 1632 capturing the French Fort there. Ever so briefly, Andrew Forrester was in what would become New Brunswick in 1632. With that entry from Mr. Robbins, William Davidson has been de-throned and Andrew Forrester now wears the crown as the first Scot to come to New Brunswick. To learn more about Scottish Portal project please visit www.nbsots.com

- 30 -

For further information, please contact:

Dan Taylor

Chair, NB Scottish Portal Committee (506-470-2385 or taylord@nbnet.nb.ca)

 

Koral LaVorgna

Project Manager, NB Scottish Web Portal (506-261-4744)

The New Brunswick Scottish Portal Project is a committee of the New Brunswick Scottish-Cultural Association. The committee is overseen by an advisory Board consisting of representatives from around the province. To learn more about the New Brunswick Scottish Portal Project please visit www.nbscots.com