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Database Resources for a Few Canadian Relatives

With the United States bordering Canada it is only natural that many U. S. ancestors may have lived in provinces of Canada over the centuries. Many ancestors also first came to North America from Europe or Asia to settle in Canada. So it is worth reviewing any databases with Canadian information.

In the web site That’s My Family there are a collection of numerous databases to investigate. First, it will convert the material into English or French, which is helpful. There are databases with the National Canadian information, like censuses and then individual provinces with databases.

Not all the provinces are represented. Beside the National Resources, there is information for Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan and British Columbia. Those not included will be added later. The sources for Quebec alone have some 3 million records.

In the search box, you can select which sources to use, such as Federal Resources or certain provinces by clicking on each. In the search place a surname, especially if it is a less common name. For more common names, use the advance search to include any given names.

After the search a selection of names will appear, along with a brief description of what is in the source. Click on a desired name will provide some of the information. For example, a Federal Census for 1871 will show the person was in Ontario Province, their age, the birthplace, religious preference; occupation and the district they lived in 1871 are all listed.

Also records of ship travel are provided. The person’s name, age, date they arrived in Canada, the port they departed from, the name of the ship and where they were destined to travel to are listed. Included in this section are the thousands of English children who were sent to Canada in the early 20th century as part of the “British Home Children.”

Another interesting portion of the collection is the military muster rolls covering 1777 to 1785. Along with that are digital copies of World War I enlistment papers for Canada. Not only natives of Canada served in the war, but also many citizens from the United States entered military service early by enlisting in the Canadian Army.

Canadian Directories are a good source with about 95 complete directories listed covering from 1790 to 1901. Some interesting records are with the divorce publications in Canada which cover 1841 to 1968 and containing some 12,700 listings. Also the jail logs for the City of Quebec from 1813 to 1899 have the full transcript of some 45,000 prisoners.

So a variety of databases are on the site and will take some time to research, but just might provide the answer to that Canadian ancestor.