Canada, Royal Canadian Mounted Police obituary card index and Notices - FamilySearch Historical Records

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Canada, Royal Canadian Mounted Police obituary card index and notices, 1876-2007          CID1425003 {{{CID2}}} {{{CID3}}} {{{CID4}}} {{{CID5}}} {{{CID6}}} {{{CID7}}} {{{CID8}}} {{{CID9}}}
This article describes a collection of records at FamilySearch.org.
Canada
Flag of Canada
Location of Canada
Record Description
Record Type	Obituaries
Collection years	1876-2007
Languages	English
Title in the Language
FamilySearch Resources
Canada Record Finder
Canada Research Tips and Strategies
Canada
FamilySearch Library Catalog
Canada Military Records
Canada History Links
Library and Archives Canada
Canada Historic Maps
Canada Record Finder
Related Websites
Saskatchewan Genealogical Society This society has a copy of the obituaries on file and an explanation about how the file index was created.
Library and Archives Canada - Censuses
Library and Archives Canada - Genealogy and Family History: collection information; search for 'RCMP' to access related material.
RCMP Graves
North West Mounted Police (NWMP) - Personnel Records, 1873-1904
Archive
RCMP Heritage Collections Unit, Regina

What is in This Collection?

This collection includes records from 1867 to 2007. These records include Royal Canadian Mounted Police death records found in Royal Canadian Mounted Police publications, including an index to some of the obituaries.

This collection is a memorial to those Royal Canadian Mounted Police who died while in service. Secondly, it is a collection of publications sent to living officers to inform them of the deaths of fellow officers. The index was created by a retired officer, Norman G. Wilson, who wished to make the obituaries more accessible to family members and researchers. These publications and the accompanying index only include the records of those officers whose deaths were reported to the publications.

Among records of Canadian governmental officials are the personnel files of more than 40,000 former members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Structured along military lines, this organization was established as the North West Mounted Police in 1873 to bring law and order to the region between the Red River Valley of the North and the Rocky Mountains. Although they have sometimes been involved in military actions, such as helping to suppress the North West Rebellion of 1885, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police members now comprise the national police force of Canada. They also contract with provinces other than Quebec and Ontario to provide police protection on a provincial level.

• 1876–1971 Deaths of Royal Canadian Mounted Police killed while on duty, taken from S.W. Horrell's The Pictoral History of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Toronto, Ontario: McGraw–Hill Ryerson, 1973)

• 1919–1997 Scarlet and Gold (Royal Canadian Mounted Police Veterans' Association) publication including an historical honor roll of officers killed while on duty and more current obituaries. Honor roll contains deaths prior to 1919

• 1933–2007 Digital images of an obituary card index for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and digital images of the obituary sections of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police publications the index refers to

• 1976–1994 Pony Express: Staff Relations Branch Newsletter

Scarlet and Gold and the Pictoral History of of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are lists of officers killed while in the line of duty. These lists are in chronological order. Some obituaries are included in these records. The obituary card index is arranged alphabetically by surname. This index covers the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Quarterly beginning with Volume 1, July 1933. Not all deaths are covered by this publication. If the Quarterly was not advised of a death, no obituary was printed. Surnames in the index are followed by given name or initials and possibly nicknames. The second column holds the regimental number for the individual. Regimental numbers may be preceded by the following letters:

• O=Officer Number
• R=Reserve Constable
• S=Special Constable
• M=Marine Member
• C=Civilian Member

The third column lists the rank of the officer when he or she took their discharge, or when then died in service. The final two columns indicate the Volume and Issue number of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Quarterly where an obituary was printed. Use these numbers to access the digital images found within this collection. The following abbreviations may be found on an index card:

• CST = Constable
• CPL = Corporal
• SGT = Sergeant
• S/SGT = Staff Sergeant
• S/M = Sergeant Major

• INSP = Inspector
• C/S/M = Corps Sergeant Major
• SPL = Special
• S/S/M = Staff Sergeant Major
• SUPT = Superintendent

• VET = Veterinarian
• ASST = Assistant
• COMM'R = Commissioner
• C/M = Civilian Member
• R/ = Reserve

• M/ = Marine
• HON = Honorary

Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.

Index and Image Visibility

Whenever possible FamilySearch makes images and indexes available for all users. However, rights to view these data are limited by contract and subject to change. Because of this there may be limitations on where and how images and indexes are available or who can see them. Please be aware some collections consist only of partial information indexed from the records and do not contain any images. For additional information about image restrictions see Restrictions for Viewing Images in FamilySearch Historical Record Collections.

To Browse This Collection

You can browse through images in this collection using the waypoints on the Collection Browse Page for Canada, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Obituary Card Index and Notices, 1876-2007.

What Can These Records Tell Me?

The following information may be found in these records:

Obituary cards

• Name of deceased
• Date and place of death
• Age at death
• Date and place of birth
• Residence at time of death
• Brief description of service

Collection Content

Sample Image

• 

  1982 Royal Canadian Mounted Police Obituary file

How Do I Search This Collection?

Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:

• The name of your ancestor
• The name of a relative or date of death
• Approximate date of the event

Search the Index

This collection does not have a searchable index. Only images are available. See View the Images to access them.

View the Images

View images in this collection by visiting the Collection Browse Page:

1. Select Publication, Years and Volume to view the images

How Do I Analyze the Results?

Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

What Do I Do Next?

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

• Add any new information to your records
• Use the information found on the obituary card index to locate the actual death certificate
• Use the information to find other records such as birth, christening, census, land and marriage records
• Use the information to find additional family members
• Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family
• Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking For, What Now?

• Try searching by surname only
• The person may be recorded with an abbreviated or variant form of their name
• Remember that spelling was generally not standardized until the early part of the 20th century

Research Helps

The following articles will help you research your family in Canada.

• Canada Record Finder
• Canada Research Tips and Strategies

Other FamilySearch Collections

These collections may have additional materials to help you with your research.

FamilySearch Catalog

• Canada, Royal Canadian Mounted Police obituary card index and notices, 1876-2007
• Library and Archives of Canada. Royal Canadian Mounted Police, documents
• Commissioners of the Royal North-West Mounted Police. Opening up the West : being the official reports to Parliament of the activities of the Royal North-West Mounted Police force from 1874-1881.Toronto, Ontario : Coles Pub. Co., c1973 FS Library 971 M2op
• Commissioners of the Royal North-West Mounted Police. Settlers and rebels : being the official reports to Parliament of the activities of the Royal North-West Mounted Police force from 1882-1885.Toronto, Ontario : Coles Pub. Co., c1973. FS Library 971 M2sr
• Commissioners of the Royal North-West Mounted Police ; introduction by by W. L. Higgitt. The new West : being the official reports to Parliament of the activities of the Royal North-West Mounted Police force from 1888-1889.Toronto, Ontario : Coles Pub. Co., c1973 FS Library 971 M2t
• David Ross and Robin May. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 1873-1987.London, England : Osprey Publishing, c1988 FS Library 971 M2r
• Joanne Poulin, comp.; Peter Gillis, general editor, Records of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RG 18)Ottawa, Ontario : Public Records Division, Public Archives Canada, 1975 FS Library 971 A3pg no. 2

FamilySearch Historical Records

• Canada Deaths and Burials, 1664-1955

FamilySearch Digital Library

• Alan Phillips. The living legend : the story of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Boston, Massachusetts : Little, Brown and Co., 1957

Citing This Collection

Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.

Collection Citation: The citation for this collection can be found on the Collection Details Page in the section Cite This Collection.

Image Citation: When looking at an image, the citation is found on the Information tab at the bottom left of the screen.