Upper Canada Land Petitions (1763-1865)

Library and Archives Canada has a listing by surname of land petitions up to 1865. A description of the database is as follows:


“Before the arrival of the Loyalists and British military settlers, the present-day Province of Ontario was an extension of the Province of Quebec. Following the Constitutional Act of 1791, the colony of Quebec was divided to create Upper Canada (today Ontario) and Lower Canada (today Quebec). Many early settlers, both military and civilian, submitted petitions to the Governor to obtain Crown land. Sons and daughters of Loyalists were also entitled to free lands.

The Upper Canada Land Petitions contain petitions for grants or leases of land and other administrative records. This research tool provides access to more than 82,000 references to individuals who lived in present-day Ontario between 1783 and 1865.”

This is not a primary source. It gives a name, date, and the township. To see the actual petition you would need to send for the microfilm.

Bits and Pieces

Canadian Naturalization Data Base
Library and Archives Canada has released a new data base “Canadian Naturalization 1915-1951”. This is a data base with a list of those who applied for Canadian citizenship. The reference numbers can be used to request copies of the original naturalization records.
 
Elgin County P.O.W.’s


Jeff Booth’s new book “Dreams of Food and Freedom” will be launched at the Elgin County Military Museum in St.Thomas on October 30th. from 2pm. to 4pm. The book is a look at the men from Elgin County who were P.O.W.s in both World Wars. Hopefully around seven surviving veterans (including my father) will attend.

Library and Archives Canada - New Data Base

On September 23 Library and Archives Canada launched it’s new data base “Upper Canada Land Petitions (1763-1865)". The data base contains more than 77,000 references to petitions for grants or leases of land by individuals who lived in Upper Canada (Ontario after 1867) from 1863 to 1865. This data base will give you a reference to the microfilm that contains the petition.

For example, a search for Hillman results in six names of which George Hillman(great great great grandfather), and John Hillman (great great grandfather) are listed.

Name: HILLMAN, George
Place: Zone
Year: 1848
Volume: 245
Bundle: H 4
Petition: 127
Microfilm: C-2100
Reference: RG 1 L 3

What remains now is getting my hands on that microfilm.

Library And Archives Canada - Microform Digitalization

The data base at Library and Archives Canada is huge. In my other bog Veterans Of Southwest Ontario I try to deal with the data bases relating to the military. On this blog I will deal specifically with the data bases relating to genealogy.

Recently Library and Archives Canada has been releasing a data base of documents in microfilm and microfiche format. The data bases of interest to the genealogist are:

1.Form 30: Border Entry Records, 1919-1924. There are 96 microfilm reels in this collection. The first reel contains 5,165 pages so overall you will need the patience of Job to get through all of them. Also none of these records seem to be searchable.

sample page, Library and Archives Canada

2. School Files Series, 1879-1953. These on first glance appear to be records from the Department of Indian Affairs. They contain information on the reservation schools throughout Canada. The first reel of 317  contains 2,136 pages.

sample page from Library and Archives Canada

3. Ocean Arrivals, 1919-1924. Pages of immigration papers. The first reel of 310 contains 3,723 pages. Note that in these years they had no problem asking if there was any insanity in the family! I wonder if those who did not speak English realized what they were being asked?

sample page, Library and Archives Canada

 

 

4. Sir John Thompson Fonts. These will be of more interest to historians as Sir John Thompson  was a former Prime Minister of Canada in the 1890’s.

News from Library and Archives Canada

Library and Archives Canada seem to be doing more digitalizing. A quote from their “what’s new”:

“Numerous documents belonging to the Library and Archives Canada collection have been copied to microfiche and microfilm. Some items from this collection are being digitized for access over the Internet. These digitized microforms are available on the Browse by Title page. Please note that this is not a database, therefore the images are not searchable by keyword.

Once you have selected the specific microform series you wish to access, you will be presented with links to the digitized images for that set of records. This online access to microforms attempts to duplicate the experience of going to a reading room. Use these links as you would an actual reel or fiche of microform. Each digitized reel or fiche is presented in sequence from beginning to end.”

I belong to a generation that can live with microfiche or microfilm reproductions. Bravo!!!

Genealogy Challenge #19

The Genea Bloggers’ “52 Weeks To  Better Genealogy Challenge #19” is to examine genealogy and military records that are available at the US National Archives. For non-U.S. folks (that’s me!) we can examine the military records at our own National Archives. The Canadian Archives! - Yikes now that’s a challenge- Eh!

The National Archives is based in Ottawa. Its taken me several years to get comfortable with a web site built by government bureaucrats . John D. Reid in his blog “Anglo-Celtic Connections” has been following the ongoing tale of what the Archives does and does not do. Mostly not do!

There are several data bases that are useful and free.

“Faces of War” is an online collection of photographs of the men and women who served in the Second World War.

“Soldiers of The First World War” is a data base containing the attestation papers of over 800,000 Canadians who served with the Canadian Expeditionary Force. This data base duplicates what is on Ancestry.  You can access this by either surname (hopefully its not Smith), or if you know it, a service number. Regardless you will need that number to pursue your research any further. If you are lucky your ancestor’s battalion is also listed. Don’t get too excited as many of the battalions were broken up in England as reinforcements for the front.

“The Canadian Virtual War Memorial” contains information on the Canadians who are buried overseas. Canadians from the First and Second World Wars are included.

“War Diaries of the First World War” is a data base containing the battalion diaries. Now this data base is heavy going. If you know which battalion that your ancestor served in  (that is the trick) then these diaries can give you a feeling for their lives on the Western Front. But do not expect to find your man unless you are prepared to spend hours going through the diaries. Even so, lots of luck.

The Canadian National Film Board although not part of the National Archives, but nevertheless a government agency, has “Images of a Forgotten War” of photographs of the Western Front.

So you want to find information on your relative? The first place to start is with “Soldiers of the First World War” either by using the government data base or Ancestry.  If it is the government data base use the search option and enter Surname and Christian names or the regimental number if you know it. The results will give you the information that the individual answered on the form. Do not believe everything you read. Keep track of the regimental number as you will need it.

If the individual died in Europe you can search The Virtual War Memorial by using the regimental number.

If it is one thing that the military is it is a bureaucracy - it produces a ton of paper work!. Service files are not online. For the First War these service files can come in several forms.

There is the Record of Service which can show you  the name of the ship that the serviceman arrived on in England or France, the battalion he was sent to, as well as promotions, transfers, injuries, etc.

If a casualty there is the Casualty Form.

If you are lucky pay sheets ( $1.50 a day). But not what they spent it on - that is another story.

There could be as many as 30 to 60 documents in a file. To order the file use the order form from Library and Archives Canada. The cost is $.40 per copy plus taxes if applicable, and could take as much as 4 weeks to arrive. If sent by Canada Post tack on another week. Be aware that not all of the records are available as there was some damage to some of them in the past.

On a personal note I ordered the service records of both my father and his younger brother who were in the Royal Canadian Air Force in the Second World War. Ordering these records are a little bit different as some of the servicemen are still alive. If not you need to provide proof of death or in my father’s case I was able to get him to sign for permission to access his files. Use the same order form as above. What I received 4 weeks later were two tomes. My father’s files (largely I think because he was a Prisoner of War for a year and a half) generated an amazing amount of paperwork. What I have is an incredible record of his service from 1940 to 1945. In an aside, I also found out that he was engaged while in England. Boy did I query him on that one!



The above images are all from Library and Archives Canada

Library And Archives Canada

Library and Archives Canada is one of if not the most important source for historians and genealogists. Having said that how then do we access information. Well there’s the rub. A huge amount of the material in the possession of the Archives is in microfiche and microfilm form not online.

The easiest would be to go to Ottawa and do the research there. Of course. not all of us can afford the expense and time to do this. Also, hours of operation have changed and one needs to keep track of the Archives accessibility.  John D. Reid in his blog “Anglo-Celtic Connections”  does a good job of keeping us informed of the goings on at the Archives.
http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com

Some of the collections are online http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/index-e.html , and you need time and the patience of Job to go through them. The Data bases are extensive and the following is a short list:

Aboriginal Peoples
 Art and Photography
Biography and People
 Censuses
Databases 
Ethno-Cultural Groups
 Exploration and Settlement
 Literature
 Military and Peacekeeping: (For our purposes these include Soldiers of the South African and First World War. A good deal of this information is on Ancestry; however, I would not recommend you running out and getting a subscription for information that is free here. One thing Ancestry is useful for is for information on Canadians who for one reason or another served with British Forces. A first cousin of my grandfather and an uncle of mine both fall into this category. You could say that the Brits swiped them. The cousin from the Canadian Corps and my uncle from the R.C.A.F.)
Music and Performing Arts
 National Identity
 Newspapers: (The Canada Gazette)
 Other Topics: (Theses and Dissertations, Shipwrecks, Transportation, Printing and Publishing)
Philately and Postal History
Politics and Government: (Not something you will find me jumping to read)
 Sports
 Vital Statistics: (Mostly genealogical)

OK so how to access. There are regional offices maintained in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Halifax. That doesn’t help me here in London. Probably the best alternative is to through your library. There is an inter-library loan service available. Check first as there might be some of the records that you want already available in your Library’s Regional or Genealogy Center. If not, you need the microfilm reel number, and then request the item through your Library. Mind you for those of you in a university town problem somewhat solved. The University of Western Ontario in my hometown has a pretty good collection of the microfilms from Library and Archives Canada. Hooray for the History Department.

Good Hunting.