In search of Peter Martin: Tracing a family genealogy in Nova Scotia

Posted on Mar 25 2009 in Feature Articles, Genealogy, Uncategorized

 

Alannah Ryane is looking for information about prisoners in Canso, (around the mid 1700’s, to be more precise) !
It is somewhat reminiscent of those posters “Wanted…information on the whereabouts of so and so… Dead or Alive,” that I remember so clearly from my favorite childhood TV series, “Bonanza ,” “Rawhide,” or “The Lone Ranger.” In this instance, the hunt is on for Peter Martin, last known whereabouts, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Turns out that Alannah is a keen genealogist, searching for her ancestors as well as being an avid videographer. Is it possible that Peter Martin might have been taken prisoner in Canso in 1745 when the fortress on Grassy Island was attacked by the French from Louisbourg, she wonders?

Alannah is currently working on a video series called “By Her Roots”. The eight webisodes in the series trace her journey to Nova Scotia as she searches for information on Peter Martin’s life  and are being shown on Youtube ( http://www.youtube.com/user/RyaneInc ). The last two webisodes are based on her research in Louisbourg.

It all started, says Alannah when she was given a box of photographs that had belonged to her “Aunt Del,” her great-grandmother’s sister. The photos, many of which had handwritten inscriptions on the back had been sent by “Aunt Del “during her lifetime to her brother in Nova Scotia…and so the story of Alannah’s search for her great-great-great-great-great grandfather, Peter Martin, begins!

One of the interesting things about Alannah’s videos is how they cut across history: By retelling the story of a life , and the painstaking piecing of it together, Alannah recreates a tapestry of life in Nova Scotia in the 1700’s that is both rich and intriguing. Like reading a compelling detective story, Alannah picks away at disconnected threads to unravel the mystery of Peter Martin’s life. As a viewer of her webisodes on Youtube, I came away saying, ” Oh, I never knew about such and such,” -like the link between the Masonic Lodge and the control of land grants and commissions in the military!

Alannah will be posting more of her work on the genealogy TV site, ”webroots TV ” in the coming weeks. ( http://rootstelevision.com ) If you have even a passing interest in genealogy or history you will be delighted by this website.You can also view Alannah’s work on her own websites ( http://www.ryaneinc.com/ )