Halton County, Ontario, Canada Genealogy

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Guide to Halton County ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

Map of Ontario Halton.png


Boundary Changes[edit | edit source]

Prior to 1816, Halton County was part of the Home District of Upper Canada. In 1816, the Gore District was formed, comprising of two counties: Halton and Wentworth. [1]

Halton County has seen many changes over the course of the years:

  • In 1816, Halton County contained the following townships: Beverly, Blandford, Blenheim, Dumfries, Flamborough, Nelson (formed in 1806), Nichol, Trafalgar (formed in 1806), Waterloo and Woolwich.
  • In 1821, the Esquesing and Nassagaweya townships were added.
  • In 1840, Halton County is divided into East and West Ridings. The West Riding included Garafraxa, Nichol, Woolwich, Guelph, Waterloo, Wilmot, Dumfries, Puslinch and Eramosa Townships.[2]
  • In 1845 the townships of the West Riding of Halton form Waterloo County and the townships of Blandford and Blenheim become part of Oxford County.[3][4]
  • In 1849, all Districts including the Gore District ceases to exist. [5]
  • In 1853, the Beverley township was transferred to Wentworth County.
  • In 1854, the Flamborough township was transferred to Wentworth County. [6]
  • In 1973, Halton County was dissolved to form the Regional Municipality of Halton.[7]

Civil Registration[edit | edit source]

Birth[edit | edit source]

Marriage[edit | edit source]

Death[edit | edit source]


Writing for a More Recent Birth, Marriage, or Death Record[edit | edit source]

  • ServiceOntario, Birth Records is the only government-authorized source for obtaining birth certificates. Go to the section entitled "Order a Birth Search". This is the most economical, searches the widest time period, and allows searches for people not immediately related. A letter of information is provided rather than a certificate.
  • ServiceOntario, Marriage Records offers a marriage search option and a historical certificate option.
  • ServiceOntario, Death Records offers a death search option and a historical certificate option. Also official death certificates are available to a wider range of relatives than birth and marriage certificates.

FamilySearch Library Microfilmed Records[edit | edit source]

Some of the church/civil records have been microfilmed by FamilySearch.These microfilms may be available for viewing at FamilySearch Centers around the world. To find a microfilm:

a. Click on records for Canada, Ontario, Halton County. You will see a list of available records for the county.
b. You will also see above the list the link Places within Canada, Ontario, Halton County. This will take you to a list of towns in the counties, which are links to records for the specific town.
c. Click on any topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
d. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the microfilm listed for the record. FHL icons.png. The magnifying glass indicates that the microfilm is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the microfilm.

Census Records[edit | edit source]


Year Census Links

1800-1842

Ontario and Nova Scotia Census, 1800-1842

Ancestry $

1851

Canada Census, 1851

Archives of Canada
FamilySearch
Ancestry $

1861

Census of Canada, 1861

Archives of Canada
FamilySearch
Ancestry $

1871

Census of Canada, 1871

Archives of Canada
FamilySearch
Ancestry $

1881

Census of Canada, 1881

Archives of Canada
FamilySearch
Ancestry $

1891

Census of Canada, 1891

Archives of Canada
FamilySearch
Ancestry $

1901

Census of Canada, 1901

Archives of Canada
FamilySearch
Ancestry.com $

1911

Census of Canada, 1911

Archives of Canada
FamilySearch
Ancestry $

1921

Census of Canada, 1921

Ancestry $

For more information see Ontario Census.

Church Records[edit | edit source]

Church records can include baptisms, marriages, burials, membership lists, financial business, and other records for a particular congregation. They may be available online or on microfilm, but frequently they are still with the local church or in centralized archives by religion. The Canadian census records asked for the religion of those listed, so you will be able to narrow down which archives to consult. For help with writing a letter requesting copies of records, see Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy.

Online Church Records[edit | edit source]

These records are incomplete.



Halton County Marriages - online transcriptions of 1858-59, 1860, 1865-66, 1868, Georgetown Congregational 1858-1872

Halton Marriage records - manual transcription lookups for:

  • Halton Journal 1855- 1858 - Halton Co. Ontario
  • Halton-Peel Marriages performed at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church,
  • Halton-Peel Marriage performed at St. James Anglican Cathedral

Home District - online transcriptions of:

  • 1840-56 (Vol II pg 37)
  • 1831-33 (vol 10)
  • Register of Stephen Howard, Clerk of the Peace, 1803-1830 (Vol 6)
  • Register of Rev. James Harris, Presbyterian Church, 1823 - 1825 (Vol. 7)
  • Register of Rev. James Harris, Presbyterian Church, 1826-1831 (Vol. 8)
  • Brock Parish, Anglican Church records

For more information see Ontario Church Records.

Cemetery Records[edit | edit source]

See, Ontario Cemeteries for information on cemetery record collections not yet digitized, but available in published sources and on microfilm.

Online Cemetery Records[edit | edit source]

Transcriptions and online resources

Taxation[edit | edit source]

Resources[edit | edit source]

Biographies[edit | edit source]

Thomas Merrick (Oakville)

Colonel William Chisholm and family (founder of Oakville)

Chief Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea) - (Burlington) He owned the land which later became Burlington

For more information see Ontario Biography.

Directories[edit | edit source]

Halton Historical Directories

Online searchable index of Halton names in the following directories:

  • Canada Directory of Professional and Business Men, Montreal: John Lovell, 1851
  • Canada Directory of Professional and Business Men, Montreal: John Lovell, 1857
  • Fuller's counties of Peel and Halton Directory for 1866 & 1867, Blackburn's City Steam Press, Toronto, 1866
  • County of Halton Directory, 1869-70, Hamilton: A. Lawson and Co., 1869
  • Lovell's Business and Professional Directory of the Province of Ontario for 1882, Montreal: John Lovell & Son, 1871
  • Lovell's Business and Professional Directory of the Province of Ontario for 1882, Montreal: John Lovell & Son, 1882
  • Morrey's Business Directory - Halton, Waterloo and Wellington, Ingersoll: Union Publishing Co., 1896
  • Morrey's Business Directory - Halton, Waterloo, Wellington counties, Ingersoll: Union Publishing Co., 1899

Land and Property Records[edit | edit source]

1877 Halton County Illustrated Historical Atlas
1877 Halton County and township maps - includes list of property owners

Local Histories[edit | edit source]

Newspapers & Obituaries[edit | edit source]

A Number of Halton County and present day Regional Municipality of Halton newspapers have been digitally scanned, indexed and are searchable online. Halton News provides a portal to search for birth, marriage and death announcements, article and in some cases, full issue browsing.


Searchable and/or archived Halton newspapers, including publication dates ranges:

  • Acton Free Press, 1875-1984 (HHPL)
  • Acton Tanner, 1992-1997 (HHPL)
  • Burlington Gazette, 1899-1986 (BPL)
  • Burlington Post (BPL)
  • Canadian Champion (MPL)
  • Daily Journal Record
  • Erin Advocate (HHPL)
  • Georgetown Gemini (HHPL)
  • Georgetown Herald, 1867-1992 (HHPL)
  • Georgetown Independent, 1973-1978 (HHPL)
  • Georgetown Leader (HHPL)
  • Halton Hills This Week (HHPL)
  • Hamilton Spectator
  • Independent & Free Press, 1985-present (HHPL)
  • Nassagaweya Country News
  • New Tanner (HHPL)
  • North Halton Compass (HHPL)
  • Oakville Beaver (OPL)
  • Oakville Journal Record (OPL)
  • Oakville News (OPL)
  • Oakville Record (OPL)
  • Oakville Record-Star (OPL)
  • Oakville Star & Independent (OPL)
  • Oakville Trafalgar Journal (OPL)
  • Standard and Halton and Peel Gazetteer

The acronym in brackets after each newspaper denotes the public library (see Libraries below) that holds archived material for these papers (microfilm, microfiche etc).

Libraries[edit | edit source]

Burlington Public Library (BPL)
Central Branch
2331 New Street
Burlington, ON L7R 1J4
Phone: 905-639-3611
Website

Halton Hills Public Library (HHPL)
Georgetown Branch
9 Church Street
Georgetown, ON L7G 2A3
Phone: 905-873-2681
Website

Milton Public Library (MPL)
Main Street Branch
1010 Main Street E
Milton, ON L9T 6H7
Phone: 905-875-2665
Website

Oakville Public Library (OPL)
Central Branch
120 Navy Street
Oakville, ON L6J 2Z4
Phone: 905-815-2042
Website

Societies[edit | edit source]

Populated Places Table[edit | edit source]


1 2 3 4 5

POPULATED PLACE

FORMER NAME, if applicable TYPE

FHL CATALOG

WIKIPEDIA

Acton Link Link
Aldershot Link Link
Appleby Link Link
Bronte Link Link
Burlington Link Link
Campbellville Link Link
Drumquin Link Link
Dumfries Township Link Link
Eden Mills Link Link
Esquesing Township Link Link
Georgetown Link Link
Glen Williams Link Link
Halton Hills Link Link
Hornby Link Link
Kilbride Link Link
Limehouse Link Link
Lowville Link Link
Merton Link Link
Milton Link Link
Moffat Link Link
Nassagaweya Township Link Link
Nelson Link Link
Nelson Township Link Link
Norval Link Link
Oakville Link Link
Omagh Link Link
Palermo Link Link
Stewarttown Link Link
Tansley Link Link
Trafalgar Township Link Link
ANY NEW LOCATIONS IN FS Library CATALOG??? Link

Websites[edit | edit source]

The Forebears website will give you an extensive list of websites that could have information for people who lived in this county. Some sites cover just the county, some cover all of Ontario, and some cover all of Canada. Some sites are databases of names and facts about people; other sites cover background information such as maps, history, geography, or genealogy strategies and methods for the region.

References[edit | edit source]