Family History Month – Rediscover Library and Archives Canada

On Day 13 of Family History Month, search free databases at Library and Archives Canada.

 

 

Library and Archives Canada, LAC, is the National Library and National Archive of Canada. The library portion has an amazing collection of Canadian publications because publishers are required by law to deposit a copy of anything published in Canada. The archive portion collects Canadian government records of historical value and also stores government records when a government department no longer needs them.  The archive also accepts private collections of national significance.

 

 

Before you rush off to the LAC for your research, I’m going to give you my main tip for the LAC right here. When you select any database from the above-menu you’ll be brought to that collection’s guide page. I’m always like a deer in the headlights, frozen, panicked, wondering where the search window is. It’s always on the menu in the upper left-hand corner (see below).

 

 

Select, “Search: 1851 Census” and you’ll be brought to the Search page (see below).

 

 

All online databases at the LAC are free of charge. There are multiple ways to search at LAC including:

• Library and Archives Canada French or English option

• ARCHIVE Search searches archival collections (as a body, not by page) OR archival records can be found using ArchivesCanada.ca

• AVITUS, a Latin word meaning “from ancestors” is the online Library catalog search program where you can “access databases, catalogues and Web sites regarding genealogical resources and collections all over Canada.”

• AMICUS Search – searches libraries across Canada

• ANCESTORS Search – shows you genealogical databases you can individually select and search

 

Canada has rich genealogy records because they’ve had many immigrant populations including English, Irish, Scottish, American (including American Revolutionary War refugees), German, Ukrainian, Icelandic, Chinese, and Japanese immigrants. Canada was often the country immigrants arrived at before they crossed into the United States. There were no Canadian border patrols before 1908, though some United States immigration records may exist for these border crossings.

LAC has many searchable databases and guides for how to search these databases. Be sure to use the guides to understand what the collections will and won’t contain. Many databases are indexed and you can search them by name.

I have Canadian ancestors including immigrants from Ireland and Wales but also some Loyalist refugees (Americans who sided with England during the Revolutionary War and later moved to Canada). My favorite collections at LAC are ones where I’ve found my relatives.

 

The 1851 Census

 

 

and Upper Canada Land Records

 

 

 

They’ve added collections since I last searched here. Take a look below and see what you can find in their databases! Best in your searches, whether they’re fee or free.

 

 

Births, Marriages and Deaths

• Acts of Divorce, 1841-1968

• Births, Marriages and Deaths Recorded in Canada

• Marriage Bonds, 1779-1858 – Upper & Lower Canada

• Names appearing on lists of marriage licences issued in Upper Canada (RG 5 B9) and Lower Canada (RG 4 B28)

 

Census and Enumerations

• Census Returns on Microfilm, 1770-1856

• Census for Lower Canada, 1825

• Census for Lower Canada, 1831

• Census of 1842, Canada East

• Census of 1842, Canada West

• Census of 1851 (Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia)

• Census of Canada, 1861

• Census of 1870, Manitoba

• Federal Census of 1871 (Ontario)

• Census of Canada, 1871

• Census of Canada, 1881

• Census of Canada, 1891

• Census of Canada, 1901

• Census of the Northwest Provinces, 1906

• Census of Canada, 1911

• Census of the Prairie Provinces, 1916

• Census of Canada, 1921

• Census of the Prairie Provinces, 1926

• Finding Aid 300: Other census and related documents (1640-1945)

 

Immigration and Citizenship

• Canadian Naturalization, 1915-1951

• Citizenship Registration Records, 1851-1945 – Montreal Circuit Court

• Home Children, 1869-1932

• Immigrants at Grosse Île Quarantine Station, 1832-1937

• Immigrants Before 1865

• Immigrants from China, 1885-1949

• Immigrants from the Russian Empire, 1898-1922

• Immigrants Sponsored by the Montreal Emigrant Society, 1832

• Immigrants to Canada, Porters and Domestics, 1899-1949

• Naturalization Records, 1828-1850 – Upper Canada and Canada West

• Passenger Lists and Border Entries, 1925-1935 – Nominal Indexes

• Passenger Lists for the Port of Quebec City and Other Ports, 1865-1922

• Passenger Lists, 1865-1922

• Ukrainian Immigrants, 1891-1930

 

Land

• Gaspé Land Commission. List of names of claimants, 1819-1825

• Land Boards of Upper Canada, 1765-1804

• Land Grants of Western Canada, 1870-1930

• Land Petitions of Lower Canada, 1764-1841

• Land Petitions of Upper Canada, 1763-1865

• Métis Scrip Records

 

Military

• Black Loyalist Refugees, 1782-1807 – Port Roseway Associates

• Carleton Papers – Book of Negroes, 1783

• Carleton Papers – Loyalists and British Soldiers, 1772-1784

• Courts Martial of the First World War

• Loyalists in the Maritimes — Ward Chipman Muster Master’s Office, 1777–1785

• Military Medals, Honours and Awards, 1812–1969

• Personnel Records of the First World War

• Service Files of the Royal Canadian Navy, 1910-1941 – Ledger Sheets

• Service Files of the Second World War – War Dead, 1939-1947

• South African War, 1899-1902 – Service Files, Medals and Land Applications

• War Diaries of the First World War

• War of 1812

 

People

• Canadian Directories Collection

• Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online [www.biographi.ca]

• North West Mounted Police (NWMP) – Personnel Records, 1873-1904

• Post Offices and Postmasters

• Project Naming

• Railway Employees (Employees Provident Fund)