Location: Ontario

Surnames/tags: Canada Ontario
Ontario is the most multicultural province in Canada. Its population of 12 million includes First Nations and immigrants from 200 countries who speak as many as 130 languages. These resources will help you improve Ontario profiles as part of Team Ontario or discover how your own ancestors helped shape today’s Ontario.
This page is maintained by the Ontario Team, part of the Canada Project.
- Almanac of Quebec, 1779-1840, Civil and Military Register for the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada
- Ancestor Hunt - List of Ontario historical newspapers
- Archives and Museums (see also Library and Archives Canada)
- Anglican Diocese of Ontario Archives - ADOA staff can be hired for genealogical research
- Archives of Ontario - Many finding aids and exhibits; growing amount of digitized content.
- Canadian Libraries: Internet Archive Canada - archive.org page
- Community Archives of Belleville and Hastings County
- Cornwall Community Museum
- Directory of Municipal Archives in Ontario
- Durham Region Area Archives Group
- Elgin County Archives
- Glengarry County Archives
- Lambton County Archives
- Northumberland County Archives
- PAMA Peel Art Gallery Museum + Archives
- Prince Edward County Archives
- Toronto Archives
- Trent University Archives - Historical papers and records relating to the Peterborough and Trent Valley area
- Wellington County Museum and Archives
- British Isles Family History Society of Ottawa
- Canada Genweb Cemetery Project, Ontario Page - A free cemetery directory.
- The Canadian County Atlas Digital Project - Free. Jan suggests searching the historical atlases, finding an ancestor's land location and then using that information to compare to a modern map.
- Canadian Encyclopedia, Ontario - Online encyclopedia useful for general information.
- Canadiana Homepage - (National Resource) A non-profit project to digitize Canada's documentary heritage.
- Early Canadiana Online - Books, magazines, government documents.
- World Wars Aboriginal Veterans - Free.
- The Changing Shape of Ontario: The Evolution of the District and County System - Maps of the changes in administrative boundaries from 1788-1899.
- City Directories
- Canadian Directories Collection, Library and Archives Canada - Canadian Directories is a database of scanned, microfiche versions of pre-1901 Canadian directories. There are 95 directories in the Canadian Directories Collection database, including a comprehensive collection of directories for Ottawa (spanning 1861 to 1901) and Halifax (1869 to 1901).
- Digital Kingston: newspapers and land records as well as directories
- Peterborough City Directories
- Digital Archive Ontario - current and historical content, curated by Toronto Public Library
- 1812 History - Collection of many digitized War of 1812 documents and pictures of artifacts contributed by Universities, Libraries, Museums, and Archives.
- Family Search Ontario Historical Records Collections. Now includes deaths up to 1937 and overseas deaths 1939-1947.
- Federated Women's Institutes of Ontario, Digital Collections
- French Ontario in the 17th and 18th Centuries
- Genealogy in Ontario: Searching the Records by Brenda Merriman and Ontario Genealogical Society, Revised 2013.
- Inscriptions and Graves in the Niagara Peninsula
- Library and Archives Canada Federal government resource; free
- Local Histories, Maps, Newspapers and Gazeteers Online
- Settlers of Algonquin Highlands
- Arnprior & McNab/Braeside Archives Newspapers Ottawa area newspapers
- Belleville Public Library Genealogy Resources
- Biographical Sketches of Some of the Residents of Elgin County
- The Black Settlement in Oro Township, Simcoe County Archives
- Commemorative Biographical Record of the County of Essex, Ontario, 1905
- Commemorative Biographical Record of the County of Kent, Ontario, 1901
- Commemorative Biographical Record of the County of York, Ontario, 1907
- The Early Political and Military History of Burford
- The Early History of the Mennonites in Welland County, Ontario
- Grey County Resources online at West Grey Public Library website
- History of the County of Brant. Brantford: Brant Historical Society, 1920. archive.org
- History of the County of Bruce, published in 1906
- History of the County of Middlesex, Canada, published in 1889
- History of Leeds and Grenville, from 1749 to 1879
- History of the County of Perth: from 1825 to 1902
- History of the County of Peterborough, published in 1884
- A History of Simcoe County, 1909
- A History of Toronto and County of York, 1885
- Huron County Digitized Newspapers
- Illustrated Historical Atlas of the Counties of Essex and Kent, 1881
- Immigrants from England 1800-1900, Province of Ontario, Vol. 1, Frontenac County
- Kingston - Stones: Exploring Kingston's Social History
- Kingston Area Family Files, Dr. H.C. Burleigh fonds, Queen's University Archives
- London & Middlesex Historical Society Heritage Articles
- London, Ontario, Canada: The pioneer period and the London of to-day, by Archibald Bremner, published 1900
- Niagara Settlers Land Records
- Historic Niagara Digital Collections - newspaper index
- Ontario County
- Otonabee Township map 1860 showing lot owners
- Oxford County Library Genealogy resources: name indexes, records, local history, local newspapers
- The Oxford Gazeteer, (Oxford County) published in 1852
- Peel Heritage Property Research Guide
- Peel fire insurance plans
- Perth Military Settlement Map Searchable database of original land grants to discharged soldiers of War of 1812 and other British citizens in Perth and townships of Bathurst, Beckwith and Drummond
- Peterborough and the First World War, Trent University
- A History of Peterborough Area Militia and Fenian Raids by Creighton Avery, Completed for: Lang Pioneer Village, 2013
- The Rear of Leeds & Lansdowne
- Robertson's landmarks of Toronto : a collection of historical sketches from 1792 until 1908
- The Township of Warwick: A Story Through Time
- Eby, Ezra. A Biographical History of Waterloo Township and Other Townships of the County. 1895. Google eBook
- Waterloo Township Map
- University of Calgary, Digital Collections, Ontario Local Histories (approx. 325)
- York, Upper Canada Minutes of Town Meetings and Lists of Inhabitants, 1793-1823, Christine Mosser, ed., Metropolitan Toronto Library Board, Toronto, 1984
- Nothing But Names: Origins of the Names of the Counties and Townships of Ontario, 1899
- Ontario Cemetery Finding Aid
- Ontario First Nations List, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada
- Ontario First Nations Maps
- Ontario Genealogical Society Homepage
- OntarioGenWeb's Census Project
- Ontario Historical Society
- OHS Papers and Records, Vol. 1, 1899 Early Ontario marriages, baptisms, burials by Rev. John Langhorn, Rev. G. O'Kill, Stephen Conger, Rev. Robert McDowall, United Empire Loyalist lists, Niagara Area church records, etc.
- OHS Papers and Records, Vol. 5, 1904 Rev. Ralph Leeming, Rev. John Miller, Rev. William Smart, Marriages, Burials, Baptisms, London/Gore District, Elizabethtown, Ancaster Parish records, etc.
- OHS Papers and Records, Vol. 6, 1905 Lennox County Lutheran Church records, Napanee, etc.
- OHS Papers and Records, Vol. 7, 1906 Assumption births, marriages, records, Waterloo County Pennsylvania German, etc.
- OHS Papers and Records, Vol. 8, 1907 Kingston history, early churches in Niagara, etc.
- OHS Papers and Records, Vol. 9-12 Middlesex County pioneers, St. Thomas, etc.
- OHS Papers and Records, Vol. 13-14, 1915 Ottawa Valley, Moose Factory, etc.
- Early Ontario Records Web page of transcriptions of old Ontario Historical Society records and documents by B. Martin
- Ontario teachers who served in the Great War 1914-19
- Our Ontario - Growing index of newspapers, books, articles, and more including a large amount of digitized content.
- Our Roots (National Resource), contains digital copies of many local histories; login needed.
- Quakers in Ontario
- Rural Diary Archive 150 Ontario diarists and their diaries.
- Sources-Canada - Rick Pierpont's Canadian resources page on WikiTree.
- Toronto Normal School, 1847-1897 : biographical sketches and names of successful students 1847 to 1875
- Toronto Public Library, Virtual Reference Library
- Township Assessment and Voters Lists
- United Empire Loyalists
- United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada website
- United Empire Loyalists of the County of Dundas by Alexander Casselman, 1900s
- Land Petitions Upper Canada
- Land Petitions, use previous link to find the record you need
- Waterloo Region Generations - Free site for researching ancestors in Waterloo County (now Waterloo Region).
- Wikipedia, Ontario
- William Perkins Bull Family Files In the 1930s, Peel historian William Perkins Bull sent a survey to all residents of the County of Peel, asking about their family and its story. Many replied, preserving information and stories that would otherwise not have survived. All files are in the public domain.
- World War One Resources
- Bank of Montreal. 1921. "Memorial of the Great War, 1914-1918: a record of service" - War records with some biographies and photos for Bank of Montreal Staff that served in the Great War.
- World War Two Resources
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Parish registers Items 5-8 Baptisms, 1761-1767 Marriages, 1760-1767 Baptisms, 1767-1771 Marriages, burials, 1768-1771 Baptisms, marriages, burials, 1772-1808 Registres paroissiaux Items 1-4 Registres paroissiaux Citation "Canada, Ontario Roman Catholic Church Records, 1760-1923," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YW8-GX?cc=1927566&wc=M6VY-768%3A221001501%2C221169501%2C221169502%2C221169503 : 22 April 2021), Essex > Windsor > Assumption > Baptisms 1761-1767 > image 2 of 9; Catholic Church parishes, Ontario.
https://archive.org/download/heritage-property-research-guide-2014/HeritagePropertyResearchGuide2014.pdf
And also add Peel fire insurance plans : https://www.archeion.ca/fire-insurance-plans
They will do paid research.
Their blog includes a feature called Way Back Wednesday, it describes in detail the settlement of and the original residents of specific parts of the city. These posts include family histories and often photos .You will need to search through the posts to find entries for the particular areas. https://heritagemississauga.com/blog/
The Dufferin Museum has a wonderful collection of records including:
By-Laws & Municipal Council Minutes, Assessment & Collectors Rolls, Land Records, Genealogy / Family History Records, Local Newspapers dating from 1861, School Records, Maps, Atlases, Cemetery Transcriptions and Indexes to Church Records, Photographs and Post Cards.
The Newspaper collection has many marriage announcements, obituaries and social events, I have found it incredibly useful in linking extended family members.
https://www.dufferinmuseum.com/about-our-collections/
Toronto City Directories online https://www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/history-genealogy/lh-digital-city-directories.jsp
I find it useful for seeing where people lived & Occupations when trying to compare similar names etc..
Lynda
http://jacquest.fortunecity.ws/index.htm Can I rely on this information? I would think if I can back it with other valid information if possible. What do you think?
https://www.societehistoriquenipissingouest.com/
Excerpt: This region, called West Nipissing, contains ten municipalities: Cache Bay, Crystal Falls, Desaulniers, Field, Kipling, Lavigne, Monetville North, River Valley, Sturgeon Falls and Verner.
My ancestors are settlers from this area and would like to attach them if possible. What do you think?
I've sent you a private message.
Laurie
I have found this site very useful.
https://maps.library.utoronto.ca/hgis/countymaps/aboutus.html
This information is taken directly from their website: Nineteenth Century County Maps of Canada are considered an invaluable source of settlement history for Eastern Canada. The large wall maps usually covered one, but sometimes two or three counties, and included such features as the survey grid, roads, railroads, towns, buildings, and most importantly, the names of the rural residents. They also contained agricultural, cultural and natural features and information.
Fifty-four counties are known to have been mapped between 1856 and 1888, although 45 of these were produced between 1859 and 1869. Thirty two of these are of Ontario and rest were spread throughout Eastern Canada. Five Ontario county maps were revised to produce second editions. Of the few original maps still in existence, most are held in libraries and archives across the country.
Many of these maps are in poor condition. In this project we are compiling and creating a geospatial database of land occupancy, cultural information, and environmental change based on these maps. The database, along with the high resolution images will then be made available through this web mapping application. Crucial to the intent of the project is to make available to everyone these important 19th century land ownership maps and the information they contain.
Please be aware the Ontario Historical County Maps Project is a work in progress, many maps are currently being scanned, geo-referenced, and names continue to be added to the database.
http://hwtproject.ca
The link below is a free site that presents an 1880 Map of Ontario Counties, Townships and most towns and cities. The Search button at the bottom allows one to search for relatives in the selected County or Township and displays his land holdings by displaying the Lot, Concession, acreage and location on the map.
http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/countyatlas/searchmapframes.php
https://archive.org/details/cihm_13830/page/n3
I love all of the resources you have listed. I may have missed it in you list, but one of my favorite is here:
https://sites.google.com/site/niagarasettlers2/home
May of my family settled in the Niagara area.
Jamie