Ontario Compiled Genealogies
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Most archives, historical societies, and genealogical societies have special collections and indexes of genealogical value. These must usually be searched in person. See:
- Archives of Ontario. Biographical and Genealogical Card Index for Ontario, 1780-1869. (On 13 Family History Library films 1544194-99 and 1544223-29.) This was prepared from a variety of sources at the Archives of Ontario.
An important genealogical collection, the William Perkins Bull Collction, was transferred in 1991 from the Archives of Ontario to the Region of Peel Archives in Brampton. The Collection includes research notes that are alphabetically arranged by family name, newspaper clippings, and other records collected in the 1930s on more than 2,000 families in the Peel County region. Part of the "Families" series from this collection is on microfilm at the Archives of Ontario. It is not at the Family History Library. It is described in:
- Bull, Wm Perkins. Guide to the Wm. Perkins Bull Records at the Region of Peel Archives. Brampton, Ontario: Region of Peel Archives, 1995. (Family History Library book 971.3535 H23w.)
The Family History Library has microfilm copies from the Archives of Ontario of:
- Reive, W. D. Dr. W. G. Reive Collection. Niagara District. (Family History Library films 573954-55.) Includes cemetery transcriptions and historical and genealogical information.
Family histories and other records of genealogical value included as parts of books and periodicals located at the Family History Library are indexed by county in:
- Sykes, Ernie and Eileen Sykes. Supplementary Index to Canadian Records. Volume 2: Ontario. Revised. Salt Lake City, Utah: Family History Library, 1985. (Family History Library book 971 D22si v. 2; film 1421714 item 2; fiche 6051410.)
This book is basic to genealogical research on Ontario Loyalists:
- Reid, William D. The Loyalists in Ontario: The Sons and Daughters of The American Loyalists in Upper Canada. Lambertville, New Jersey, USA: Hunterdon House, 1973. (Family History Library book 971.3 V2r; fiche 6046758.) Used early land records to make the family groups given here.
Ontario branches of the United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada have published lineages of some of their members. An example is:
- Loyalist Ancestors: Some Families of the Hamilton Area. Toronto: Pro Familia Genealogical Services, 1986. (Family History Library book 971.352/H1 D2L; not on microfilm.)
Local histories frequently include biographical and genealogical information. For example:
- Anderson, Allan and Betty Tomlinson Anderson. Tecumseth Township, the Unforgettable Past: a local history of Tecumseth Township, simcoe County, Province of Ontario, Canada. [Ontario]: Corp. of the Township of Tecumseth, 1984. (Family History Library book 971.317 H2t.) Has a large genealogical section of Tecumseth families.
Two useful indexes to genealogical information in published Ontario sources are:
- Elliot, Noel Montgomery. People of Ontario 1600-1900: Alphabetical Directory of the People, Places and Vital Dates. Three Volumes. London, Ontario: Genealogical Research Library, 1984. (Family History Library book 971.3 D22p 1989.) This master index lists over 250,000 people alphabetically by surname from more than 400 townships. Citations include: surname, given names, type of event (birth, marriage, death, etc.), year, sometimes an abbreviated place name, and always a source code (often including a page number). The appendix at the end of each volume provides bibliographic information about most, but not all, of the 153 sources. Many of the sources appear to be the series of illustrated historical atlases of the counties of southern Ontario published between 1876-81. See Ontario Maps. Other sources include directories, census extracts, collected biographies, and local histories. Looking up the source may provide further information about the date, event, or residence. Many of these and some additional sources are indexed in the very similar:
- Elliott, Noel Montgomery, ed. The Central Canadians, 1600-1900: An Alphabetized Directory of the People, Places, and Vital Dates. Three Volumes. Toronto, Ontario: Genealogical Research Library, 1994. (Familt History Library book 971 D22cc.) Master index of over 500,000 people found in 211 sources for Ontario and eight sources for Manitoba. It is an index to many published atlases, biographies, census records (1851-1881), directories, familly histories, genealogies, immigration lists, land records, local histories, Loyalist listings, marriage records, native races, naturalizations, and slavery records.
- Adsett, Roy. The Autobiography of Charles Adsett - 1826. Autobiography with notes, starting in England Sussex, North Chapel moving to Ontario Canada, Parish Town Guelph. Surnames mentioned are Cornell, Betchel, Baldwin, Shaw, Forbes, Jackson, Wissler, Galbraith, Heather, Kirkland, Watson, Tilt and Hough. Article covers years 1826-1940, and is found in the Sussex Family Historian Magazine, vol.1 #4, March 1974, pages 102-105. Family History Library Ref. 942.52 B2su
Writing and Sharing Your Family History[edit | edit source]
Sharing your own family history is valuable for several reasons:
- It helps you see gaps in your own research and raises opportunities to find new information.
- It helps other researchers progress in researching ancestors you share in common.
- It draws other researchers to you who already have information about your family that you do not yet possess.
- It draws together researchers with common interests, sparking collaboration opportunities. For instance, researchers in various localities might choose to do lookups for each other in remote repositories. Your readers may also share photos of your ancestors that you have never seen before.
- See also:
