Ontario Civil Registration Marriages and Deaths After 1869 (National Institute)

Marriages
Marriage registrations usually give the name, age residence, current marital status, religious denomination, place of birth, and names of parents for both the bride and the groom, the date and place of the marriage, names and residence of witnesses, name of clergy, whether by banns or licence, and date of registration. Ontario marriages become available to the public 82 years after they occurred, since 1869.

In order to locate a marriage registration, follow the same two steps as described in “Births”.

The exception to be aware of in marriage registrations is that the index is from 1873, not 1869. When marriage registration began, there were no numbers on the registrations and therefore, when the indexing program began they discovered that they could not use the registration number as a reference in the index. Therefore, in 1873 when marriage registration began to be numbered, the index began.

In order to correct this problem, various indexes have been created for the years 1869 to 1873. For these marriages, search through a series of indexes in book form called Index to Marriage Registration of Ontario, Canada 1869-1873, compiled and edited by Carrie Slingsby and Renie A. Rumpel. There are also handwritten indexes for this period in the Archives’ finding aid, from which the book was compiled. They are RG 80-11 and RG 80-24.

Marriage Registration
To Find a Marriage Registration Find the individual in the Vital Statistics Index. Make a note of the registration number and the registration year.



Marriage Affidavit
Affidavit of the Marriage Go to the microfilm in Finding Aid.



Marriage License
This will follow the affidavit on the microfilm. There are often two numbers on this document.



Marriages 1869

Begin your search with either the published index mentioned above or in series RG 80-11 (Original Index Books—Birth, Death and marriage Registrations).

Marriages 1870-1872

Begin your search with either the published index mentioned above or in series RG 80-24 (Original Index Books - Marriage Registrations)

There is also another series of indexes in progress that continue on with the unindexed geographical areas and include the full entry of the marriage registration. These indexes are by location so you will need to know where the marriage took place. Jeff Stewart and Sherilyn Bell have produced this series of valuable indexes. They are done by county and a list of completed books can be obtained by contacting Heritage Productions.

Deaths
Death registrations usually show the name, age, sex, rank or occupation of the deceased, religious denomination, place of birth, name and description of informant, cause of death, date and county of registration and place of burial. From 1907 on, names of parents of the deceased may be provided, but this practice was not consistent. The search for a death registration is similar to the search for births and marriages. First, you use the index to locate the registration number and then you use the registration date and number to locate the actual registration. Deaths are available 72 years after the event, starting with 1869.

To Find a Death Registration Find the individual in the Vital Statistics Index. Make a note of the of the registration number and the registration year. Go to the Death Registration Finding Aid and locate the registration number in the appropriate year. Make a note of the microfilm number. Notice the information provided—profession, where born, cause of death, etc.



Delayed registrations of death have not been forwarded to the Archives of Ontario by the Registrar General. If you suspect this may be the case, you will have to contact the Office of the Registrar General for more information.

Hints, Exceptions and Irregular Registration Numbers
There were some pages missing from the microfilmed records. They have been identified and are in a book in the Reading Room at the Archives of Ontario. Included in the missed records are:


 * Births, MS 931 (RG 80-4)
 * Marriages, MS 934 (RG 80-7)
 * Deaths, MS 937 (RG 80-10)

Births
If the registration number is between 001001 and 099999, you will find the registration under the year in which the birth occurred and within that year by the registration number. For example: a birth date of 1 May 1881, with a registration number of 025022/81 (the date registered indicates 1881), the registration of this birth would be found under the year 1881. If however, the birth date is again 1 May 1881 but the registration number was shown as 225022/82, you will find this birth registration under the year 1882.

If the registration number is between 201001 and 399999, you will find the registration under the year in which the birth was registered. Drop the first digit (the 2 or 3) from the registration number and look under that number within the year (i.e.; 225022 becomes 025022).

If the registration number is between 501001 and 599999, then these births were not registered within one year following the event. Go to the finding aid sub-series RG 80-3-1 to locate the particular volume. The volumes are arranged by the year in which the birth occurred.

If the registration number is between 901001 and 909999, then the birth occurred between 1869 and 1901, the registration occurred more than a year after the event but before 1945. The registration numbers for these births all begin with the digits 90. Go to the finding aid sub-series RG 80-3-2 to locate the particular volume from the listing in Appendix A15. These volumes are arranged by the year in which the birth occurred.

Marriages
The same numbering features are as above for births with an additional series of number 601001 and 699999. These registrations can be extremely difficult to find. This numbering system was discontinued around 1947. It can be assumed that most of these registrations were renumbered to the 50 series and are indexed in the Correction Book. If found in the Correction Book, note the registration number and proceed to Sub-series RG 80-6-1 (Delayed Registrations of Marriages). If not found in the Correction Book and if the registration is dated 1869 to 1911, proceed to the Original Index Books-Marriage Registrations (RG 80-11 or RG 80-24).

Once you have checked the indexes in either Series RG 80-11 or Series RG 80-24 and have noted the date of the event, the year of registration of the event, the county, district or municipality in which the marriage occurred, the Liber (i.e. Volume) number and Folio (i.e. Page) number, consult appendix B2 in the RG 80 inventory to locate the microfilm and unit/volume references to the required marriage registration by locating the year of registration of the event, and within the year of registration, the appropriate Liber and Folio number. On the microfilm, the registration should appear on the page (i.e. Folio number) in the volume (i.e. Liber number) containing registrations for the location in which the marriage occurred. Take heart, although this sounds or looks very complicated, once you are looking at the microfilm, all will be clear. (I hope!)

The Archives of Ontario and the Genealogical Society of Utah hold identical copies of the Ontario Vital Statistics microfilm but their numbering system is different. If it is more convenient for you to bring a microfilm into a local FamilySearch Center than order it through inter-institutional loan (or if you think it might be faster that way) go to Archives of Ontariofor a conversion chart of numbers. Furthermore, some local FamilySearch Centers may hold in permanent inventory the Indexes for Births and Stillbirths in Ontario. Check to see.

Alternatively, indexes to, and digital images of, birth, marriage and death records in Ontario are available on Ancestry.ca (subscription site). Check your local library, they may have a subscription to Ancestry Library Edition where you may be able to access their databases.

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Information in this Wiki page is excerpted from the online course offered by The National Institute for Genealogical Studies. To learn more about this course or other courses available from the Institute, see our website. We can be contacted at [mailto:wiki@genealogicalstudies.com wiki@genealogicalstudies.com]