Canada, Archives of Other Religious Groups - International Institute

The original content for this article was contributed by The International Institute of Genealogical Studies in June 2012. It is an excerpt from their course Canadian: Archival Centres  by Ryan Taylor. The Institute offers over 200 comprehensive genealogy courses for a fee ($).

Archives of Other Religious Bodies

Other religious groups, particularly monastic orders, have archives which may offer a great deal to genealogical researchers. Some of these orders made important contributions to Canadian history through their missionary activities, and in doing so they interacted with members of the public and then created records documenting those contacts. The Oblate fathers who helped colonize much of western Canada, the Sisters of Charity (better known as the Grey Nuns) and their hospitals, and the various teaching orders of nuns with schools throughout the country immediately come to mind.

These orders are often protective of their privacy and may not advertise the fact that they have archives, but following the directives quoted above, they do. With tact and courtesy, it may be possible to discover something that will help the family history. The Oblates, for example, were the parish priests for many pioneer settlements in the west, and registers, diaries and correspondence of these priests are held at the order’s archives at St. Paul University in Ottawa.

Orders which have archives with a public face still remind us that the use of the records depends on permission of the Archivist or Provincial body. For example, the website of the archives of the Redemptorists states the archives“preserves, collects and makes accessible, when appropriate, the records of the congregation. The records reflect the development and activities of the congregation as well as the customs, rules and traditions.”

They do have files on individual members of the order, past and present, but these are regarded as confidential. However the experience of those with relations who were priests or nuns is that their orders will share basic biographical details, even photographs, if approached in the correct spirit. The archives staff will research inquiries for you but visits to the archives are by appointment only.

The Registers

The principal church records which genealogists look for are the ones which give us the BMD dates. They are usually baptisms (rather than births), marriages and burials (rather than deaths). Some denominations (such as the Quakers) do actually keep birth and death information.

These registers are not kept for genealogical reasons, but in connection with church sacraments. Baptism and marriage are significant liturgical events, and burial is a traditional form of farewell and ushering a person to the next world.

However, there have been differing attitudes toward the keeping of records from denomination to denomination, and at different times. By and large we find that the more episcopal the sect, the more likely it is to have well-kept records, and the more evangelical the sect, the less likely these records are to exist. This is because the Episcopal groups (the Roman Catholics, the Lutherans, the Anglicans) both have traditions of records keeping going back several centuries, and also have church authorities who ensure the record keeping is done. Evangelical groups, such as the Baptists, have congregations who govern themselves, and in these groups it is often no one’s job to keep the records or to safeguard the ones that exist. The result is that the records are not kept, or are lost.

In addition there are variances in the meaning of some of these sacraments. Baptism for the Baptists and Mennonites takes place not shortly after birth but many years later when a person has reached years of discretion. Thus, baptismal records cannot always be used to provide a year of birth. Notation of baptismal events for relations in these religions should still be done, as the dates are important in terms of family history.

Especially in pioneer times, the keeping of church records was difficult for clergy who had to travel a great deal under less than ideal conditions. There was often a shortage of clergy in sparsely populated areas, so an open mind should be kept when looking for church records for one’s family as to the denominational records where they may be found. This is especially true of marriages. People who wanted to be married would accept almost any clergy who were available for the purpose.

In Canada it is important to remember that one’s ancestor’s religion can be determined from the census, where religion was a question which was asked every time the census was taken. The very specific sects of Methodism and Presbyterianism given in the 1861 and 1871 census, for example, can be the key to finding the correct records.

As well as the basic BMD records, there is a wide variety of other church archival materials which can be used genealogically. Hard facts can be gleaned from confirmation records and from membership records.

Other kinds of records, principally minutes of meetings and financial ledgers, can also contribute, but they are more time-consuming to use. In certain denominations, minutes can be vitally important, however, and if you find that your ancestors belonged to these, taking time to read the minutes may be worthwhile. These include Quakers, where minutes are of the greatest importance, and Presbyterians, whose synod discussions about members of the congregation will give eye-opening details about the lives of our ancestors.

In addition to the catalogues listed above, there may be outlines or explanations of some of the church records holdings which can be very valuable as a start to examining the very large collections of documents. A good example of this is Guide to the use of the synod journals of the diocese of Fredericton, 1890-1990, by Gillian Liebenberg (1995). It is more likely to find this sort of guide or discussion in the form of a periodical article in an archival or denominational publication. Ask the archivist for references to similar articles.

Some early records may be in the mother language of the group and may continue that way for many years. It is not unusual to find records in German up to the time of World War I for Lutherans, Mennonites and Tunkers, and of course Orthodox and Ukrainian Catholic records will be in Russian or Ukrainian. Older Roman Catholic records are in Latin. When contemplating research in these, the genealogist must not only be prepared for the language but also the handwriting.

Expectations of Religious Archives

When approaching a religious archive, the genealogical researcher must always remember that these institutions have been established for corporate reasons of the church, not for the nurturing of genealogists. In addition, they are paid for by members of the religion and rarely do they insist on payment from researchers outside their own group. This means genealogists are guests in their archives and should act accordingly.

Most religious archives realize that they hold a great many records of interest to the genealogical community, and have made them available according to their own means. In the cases where they have not, there is little that can be done, because the records are theirs to control as they wish. The only consolation we have is that church secretaries retire, clergy go on to another parish and bishops die. Then things might be different. If you have found difficulty accessing records because of one of these classes of people, keep checking back to see if that person has moved on and the new incumbent is more amenable.

Church archivists have no time to do extensive searching for genealogists. They can instruct in the use of their institution, they can suggest useful research strategies and they can assist in interpreting documents (often an important aspect of their work, for religious records can be difficult to read in more ways than one).

For those who use the FamilySearchLibrary it may be worthwhile to point out that they did attempt to copy numbers of Canadian church records in the 1950s and these may be available from them.

References

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