Ontario Compiled Genealogies

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Ontario

Genealogy

Most archives, historical societies, and genealogical societies have special collections and indexes of genealogical value. These must usually be searched in person. See:

Collecting Previous Research by Others Part Two: Online Family Tree Collections

For step-by-step instructions on searching several important compiled genealogy websites, see Collecting Previous Research by Others Part Two: Online Family Tree Collections.

Digitized Books

• Local histories frequently include biographical sketches of early and prominent settlers. Many histories are no longer under copyright and can be found in the following online, digitized book collections. Search with keywords "History" and "the name of your locality" (state, county, or town).
  • FamilySearch Books
  • Google Books
  • World Cat
  • HathiTrust
  • Internet Archive

FamilySearch Catalog

• Surname or Keyword Search FamilySearch Catalog Family genealogies can be found listed by using the "Surname" search. For extremely common surnames, narrow down your search by using the surname and the location where the family lived in the "Keyword" search.

Archives of Ontario

• Genealogy Collections and Published Genealogies Research Guide
• Genealogies can be searched at the Archives of Ontario, requested in interlibrary loan for use in your local library, or you can hire a researcher from the provided list of individuals who are certified by the Board for Certification of Genealogists or who are members of the Association of Professional Genealogists.
  • Prepare for Your Visit to the Archives of Ontario.
  • For information and request forms for interlibrary loans, see What is the Microfilm Interloan Service?
  • Genealogical Researchers in Ontario

Records

Archives of Ontario

• Biographical and Genealogical Card Index for Ontario, 1780-1869. Digitized. This card catalogue is a name index to a variety of genealogical sources and biographical information on individuals and families. The Index has not been updated for many years.
• Archives of Ontario Genealogical and Biographical Research Files. These files have information on a limited number of families in Ontario that Archives’ staff have researched. The Archives no longer collects this information.
• Genealogies Collection: (Description includes list of surnames). This collection has genealogies completed and donated to the Archives prior to the 1970s.
• Published Genealogies: The Archives has a small number of published genealogies. Search online library catalogue for more information. The Archives no longer collects published genealogies but you can find some in the:

Canadiana Collection
North York Central Library Branch
Toronto Public Library
5120 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario M2N 5N7
Phone: 416-395-5623

William Perkins Bull Collection

An important genealogical collection, the William Perkins Bull Collection, 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 FamilySearch 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. FamilySearch Library. WorldCat.

FamilySearch Library

The FamilySearch Library has microfilm copies from the Archives of Ontario of:

• Reive, W. D. Dr. W. G. Reive Collection. Niagara District. FS Library Collection. Digitized. Includes cemetery transcriptions and historical and genealogical information. WorldCat.

Family histories and other records of genealogical value included as parts of books and periodicals located at the FamilySearch Library are indexed by county in:

• Sykes, Ernie and Eileen Sykes. Supplementary Index to Canadian Records. Volume 2: Ontario. Revised. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch Library, 1985. FamilySearch Library. Digitized.

Loyalists

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. FamilySearch Library. WorldCat. 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. FamilySearch Library. WorldCat.

Indexes

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. FamilySearch Library.WorldCat.

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.

• 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. FamilySearch Library. WorldCat.

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.