New Brunswick Land and Property Records

The land record collection of the Provincial Archives contains microfilms and originals of many important land transactions. The most useful are the land petitions and the old land deeds. The most helpful petitions were submitted between 1784 and about 1850. In general, the earlier land petitions contain more biographical information. Land petitions after 1850, as a rule, do not provide much information. Land records before 1784 are among the Nova Scotia records. Most of the petitions at the Provincial Archives are on microfilm. The following are also available on microfilm at the Provincial Archives:

General Index of Grants   1785 to 1830

Index to Land Grants       1765 to 1900

Index to Land Grants       1785 to 1852

Abstract Index of Grants  1785 to 1830

After the petition for land was made and the land grant issued, the provincial government was no longer involved in transactions concerning that particular piece of land. The Land Registration Office was created to handle all subsequent land sales. The old land deeds are the most useful of all the Land Registration Office records. They can provide names, dates, addresses, occupations, and similar information. The older deeds contain more information than the more modern deeds. The Provincial Archives have microfilms of these records as well as many indexes and maps.