MAPS

The Family History Library has a small collection of Ontario maps and atlases. Among these is a very useful series of outline maps which give county and township boundaries and the names of county seats:

Hancocks, Elizabeth. Townships and County Seats of Ontario. Toronto: Ontario Genealogical Society, [197-?]. (FHL film 982,435 item 11.)

Various companies published excellent atlases of southern Ontario counties during the 1870s and 1880s. These atlases include maps of townships which show the names of settlers. Many are in book form or on film at the Family History Library. Most of these atlases are indexed in People of Ontario or Central Canadians described in the “Genealogy” section of this outline. An example is:

Illustrated Historical Atlas of the Counties of Grey and Bruce, Ontario. Toronto: H. Belden and Co., 1880. Reprint. Port Elgin, Ont.: Cumming Atlas Reprints, 1975. (FHL film 982,194 item 2.)

The best collections of Ontario maps are at the National Archives of Canada and the Archives of Ontario. A bibliography of early Ontario maps is:

Winearl, Joan. Mapping Upper Canada, 1780-1867: An Annotated Bibliography of Manuscript and Printed Maps. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1991. (FHL book 971.3 E73w; not on microfilm.)

MILITARY RECORDS

Many of the Loyalists who arrived in Ontario beginning in 1784 had served in militia units attached to the British army. Until 1870, Canadian provinces were defended by units of the British army and navy. Many useful military records are at the National Archives of Canada and the War Office in Great Britain; some are on microfilm at the Family History Library. The Canada Research Outline (34545) provides more information about Loyalist and British military sources.

During the 19th century, Ontario men between 16 and 60 years of age served in reserve units of local militia organized by county. Militia members fought in military actions such as the War of 1812, the 1837 Rebellion, and the Fenian Raid of 1867, but records are few. Scattered lists of militia members are at various archives in Ontario. Some have been published in periodicals and books such as:

Bull, Stewart H. The Queen's York Rangers: An Historic Regiment. Erin, Ont.: The Boston Mills Press, 1984. (FHL book 971 M2bs; not on microfilm.) Includes lists of officers of the York County militia in 1798, 1812, and 1837.

Additional militia returns are in the periodical articles listed in Brenda Dougall Merriman's Genealogy in Ontario, pages 184-85. See the “For Further Reading” section of this outline.

World War I (1914-1918)

Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) service records are available through the Personnel Records Unit of the National Archives of Canada (see the “Archives and Libraries” section of this outline for the address). These service records contain detailed information from enlistment to demobilization (discharge). Information may include each person's date and pace of birth, address at time of enlistment, name and address of next of kin, marital status, occupation, personal description (eye and hair color, height, weight, distinctive marks or scars), and religion. When requesting information from the Personnel Records Unit, please include the person's name, rank, and regiment (if known).

The Family History Library has almost no records of Ontarians who served in 20th-century wars. To get copies of their service records, see the sources listed in the Canada Research Outline (34545).

Return to top of page

Previous Document   Next Document

©1998, 2001 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. No part of this document may be reprinted, posted on-line, or reproduced in any form for any purpose without the prior written permission of the copyright holder. FamilySearch is a trademark of Intellectual Reserve, Inc.
[FamilySearch^TM: Research Guidance
Version of Data: 6/9/2001]