FFHS-NEWS The Canadian census indices

[News from the Federation of Family History Societies]

The Canadian census indices

 

Following my recent email about  free access to census material at Automated
Genealogy (www.automatedgenealogy.com) I have been sent the following
additional information about Canadian censuses.  I hope it will prove of
interest.

 

-o0o-

 

The Canadian census indices are very comprehensive and they are all free to
access (except 1861 and 1871 - see below notes). The earlier census years
are very important for research on UK people who migrated to Canada before
1911.

 

Library and Archives Canada (LAC) (http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/) has
the images on-line for the following:

 

1851/52 for Canada East (now Quebec)

1851/52 for Canada West (now Ontario)

1881 for all of Canada

1891 for all of Canada

1901 for all of Canada

1906 for the Northwest Provinces - Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta

1911 for all of Canada

 

Only the censuses of 1881 and 1891 are name searchable. 1881 uses the
sometimes difficult Utah index: inspires creativity. The Catalogue of Census
Returns on microfilm 1666-1901 digitized on the LAC site gives a list of
what years are available in any given census locality.

 

The 1861 and 1871 Canadian censuses are particularly valuable for gaining an
insight into how one's ancestors lived. These census forms asked many
questions other than the basic ones. Especially in rural areas, which
comprised much of early Canada, one may learn what crops were harvested, how
much land was under what cultivation, what farm animals the family owned
(and even slaughtered), what farm equipment they owned, what kind of houses
they lived in and much more. 1871 had up to 9 schedules. Needless to say not
all questions were pertinent to each family.

 

The 1871 census on the LAC site is a transcription of only the Heads of the
family in Ontario from Schedule 1 but it does give reasonable identifying
information about the head and gives the complete reference to where the
family is found in the census. The 1861 and 1871 censuses for Canada have
not been put on line but they have been microfilmed and include all
schedules. These and the other microfilms are available from LAC on
inter-library loan, both within and outside Canada. The Canadian Genealogy
Centre in LAC has a section on 'How to Access LAC Records.' One does need to
have an idea of where in Canada to look in the instances of 1861 and 1871
censuses. Fortunately, the bulk of migration went to Ontario and the Heads
of Family index is invaluable for that.

 

1901, 1906 and 1911 can only be searched by the geographic area not the
name. However, as stated in the previous email, the website Automated
Genealogy has had a large number of volunteers index these records by name.
Their site links to the images on Library and Archives Canada.

 

1851 has many areas missing. These apparently were lost or destroyed.
Unfortunately, the very important (early migration-wise) Simcoe County is
one of these areas. If one knows the general area where the people one is
looking for were resident in 1851/52, it is not a terribly onerous job to
search image by image. Even if you know only "Canada West" (now Ontario),
population was not high in those days and some perseverance will work!
Automated Genealogy is in the process of indexing the 1851/52 censuses that
encompass Canada East and West and the Maritimes provinces of New Brunswick,
Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island also. These are still incomplete but
are searchable to the current extent.

 

As an aside, the attestation papers of Soldiers of WWI have also been
digitized and are on line (free access). The actual service records are also
available from LAC as photocopies but this is on a fee per page basis. Many
of our volunteers were British-born fellows. I even obtained from another
database the service records of my great grandfather's two brothers who were
with the Northwest Mounted Police in 1880s (free access for the whole
shot!).

 

Roger Lewry

FFHS Archives Liaison

archives.liaison at ffhs.org.uk

 

The Federation of Family History Societies is a Company Limited by Guarantee

Company Number 2930189 (England & Wales) - Registered Charity Number 1038721

Registered Office: Artillery House, 15 Byrom Street, Manchester, England M3
4PF

 

 

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