Canada, Royal Canadian Mounted Police obituary card index and Notices - FamilySearch Historical Records

Canada

What Is in This Collection?
This collection includes records from 1867 to 2007. These records include Royal Canadian Mounted Police death records found in Royal Canadian Mounted Police publications, including an index to some of the obituaries.

This collection is a memorial to those Royal Canadian Mounted Police who died while in service. Secondly, it is a collection of publications sent to living officers to inform them of the deaths of fellow officers. The index was created by a retired officer, Norman G. Wilson, who wished to make the obituaries more accessible to family members and researchers. These publications and the accompanying index only include the records of those officers whose deaths were reported to the publications.

Among records of Canadian governmental officials are the personnel files of more than 40,000 former members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Structured along military lines, this organization was established as the North West Mounted Police in 1873 to bring law and order to the region between the Red River Valley of the North and the Rocky Mountains. Although they have sometimes been involved in military actions, such as helping to suppress the North West Rebellion of 1885, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police members now comprise the national police force of Canada. They also contract with provinces other than Quebec and Ontario to provide police protection on a provincial level.


 * 1876–1971 Deaths of Royal Canadian Mounted Police killed while on duty, taken from S.W. Horrell's The Pictoral History of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (Toronto, Ontario: McGraw–Hill Ryerson, 1973).


 * 1919–1997 Scarlet and Gold (Royal Canadian Mounted Police Veterans' Association) publication including an historical honor roll of officers killed while on duty and more current obituaries. Honor roll contains deaths prior to 1919.


 * 1933–2007 Digital images of an obituary card index for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and digital images of the obituary sections of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police publications the index refers to.


 * 1976–1994 Pony Express: Staff Relations Branch Newsletter

Scarlet and Gold and the Pictoral History of of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are lists of officers killed while in the line of duty. These lists are in chronological order. Some obituaries are included in these records. The obituary card index is arranged alphabetically by surname. This index covers the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Quarterly beginning with Volume 1, July 1933. Not all deaths are covered by this publication. If the Quarterly was not advised of a death, no obituary was printed. Surnames in the index are followed by given name or initials and possibly nicknames. The second column holds the regimental number for the individual. Regimental numbers may be preceded by the following letters:


 * O=Officer Number
 * R=Reserve Constable
 * S=Special Constable
 * M=Marine Member
 * C=Civilian Member

The third column lists the rank of the officer when he or she took their discharge, or when then died in service. The final two columns indicate the Volume and Issue number of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Quarterly where an obituary was printed. Use these numbers to access the digital images found within this collection. The following abbreviations may be found on an index card:


 * CST = Constable
 * CPL = Corporal
 * SGT = Sergeant
 * S/SGT = Staff Sergeant
 * S/M = Sergeant Major
 * INSP = Inspector
 * C/S/M = Corps Sergeant Major
 * SPL = Special
 * S/S/M = Staff Sergeant Major
 * SUPT = Superintendent
 * VET = Veterinarian
 * ASST = Assistant
 * COMM'R = Commissioner
 * C/M = Civilian Member
 * R/ = Reserve
 * M/ = Marine
 * HON = Honorary

What Can these Records Tell Me?
These records usually include:


 * Name of deceased
 * Date and place of death
 * Age at death
 * Date and place of birth
 * Residence at time of death
 * Brief description of service

How Do I Search the Collection?
You can search the index or view the images or both. To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor.
 * The name of a relative or date of death

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page.
 * 1) Select Publication, Years and Volume

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images.

For more tips about searching on-line collections see the on-line article FamilySearch Search Tips and Tricks.



I Found Who I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Use the information found on the obituary card index to locate the actual death certificate.
 * Use the information to find other records such as birth, christening, census, land and marriage records.
 * Use the information to find additional family members.
 * Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking For, What Now?

 * Try viewing the original record to see if there were errors in the transcription of the name, age, residence, etc. Remember that there may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * Collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you identify possible relations that can be verified by records.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name, especially French versions.
 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.
 * Search the indexes and records of Canada Genealogy.
 * Search in the Canada Archives and Libraries.
 * Search in the FamilySearch Library Catalog

Citing This Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image. Collection Citation:

Image Citation:

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