New Brunswick Land Records (National Institute)

What’s Available on the Internet
Provincial Archives of New Brunswick - Index to Land Petitions: Original Series, 1783-1918 A searchable database of the earliest petitions for land grants.

Provincial Archives of New Brunswick - Index to New Brunswick Land Grants 1784-1997 This is a searchable database of individuals and corporate bodies who acquired Crown land between 1784 and 1997.

Websites of Interest
Provincial Archives of New Brunswick

New Brunswick Genealogical Society

Map
Map of New Brunswick



History
When the mainland of Nova Scotia was ceded to Britain in 1713, France retained the area north of the isthmus, where Acadians had settled along the rivers, and built forts to protect them. These forts were taken by the British in 1755 and the Acadians were expelled although some did return after 1783 and did receive land at that time.

Men from the disbanded regiments after peace was reached between France and England, as well as, New Englanders and British immigrants, arrived shortly after 1755. The arrival of the Loyalists in 1784 augmented the population and in 1784 the province of New Brunswick was created. As a result, land records before 1784 are among Nova Scotia records. By 1867 New Brunswick was one of the founding provinces of the Dominion of Canada with Confederation. When New Brunswick was established in 1784 it was divided into eight counties. As time progressed and the population expanded the original counties were divided and new counties were set up. The final total was 15 and these counties are subdivided into civil parishes similar to American townships:

- Madawaska - Restigouche - Gloucester - Northumberland - Kent - Sunbury - Westmorland - Albert - Queens - Kings - St. John - Charlotte - York - Carleton - Victoria

New Brunswick Genealogical Society
The New Brunswick Genealogical Society Information Sheet provides a wealth of information including advice to write to the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick and ask for a County Genealogical Guide for the county in New Brunswick where your ancestors lived. The guide lists the material that is available on microfilm, such as land and other records, with reel numbers for most items. You can then go to the library which has a microfilm reader and order and view the films. You may only order 3 films per request.

New Brunswick Genealogical Society P.O. Box 3235 Station B Fredericton, New Brunswick, E3A 5G9

Provincial Archives of New Brunswick
The staff of the Provincial Archives will do a brief search for each written inquiry. Precise questions have the best chance of being answered. Where possible, indexed sources will be checked but because of the volume of inquiries and the intricacies of family history research, neither extensive research nor extensive photocopying will be done.

The land record collection of the Provincial Archives contains microfilms and originals of many land transactions. The most useful are the land petitions and the old deeds and the most helpful petitions were the ones submitted from 1784 to 1850. The earlier the petition the more personal information was given. After 1850 the land petitions do not generally give as much data. Remember that land records before 1784 are among the Nova Scotia records. There are other documents of value at the Archives on microfilm for your use:


 * General Index of Grants 1785 to 1830 
 * Index to Land Grants, 1765 to 1900 
 * Index to Land Grants 1785 to 1852 
 * Abstract Index of Grants 1785 to 1830

Once the petition was made for land and the grant issued the provincial government was no longer involved in the rest of the transactions to do with that piece of land. The Land Registration Office would then be responsible to handle all subsequent land sales.

The old land deeds are the most useful as they may provide names, dates, addresses, occupations or similar information that is very valuable to a genealogist. These actual records have been microfilmed and are also at the Archives.

The Archives currently offers two searchable online databases at their website. This is a great boon to long distance researchers. The results are from indexes, and you will still have to explore the original documents. They are:


 * Index to Land Petitions, 1783-1918 (RS 108)
 * Index to New Brunswick Land Grants, 1784-1997 (RS 686)

Provincial Archives of New Brunswick Richard Bennett Hatfield Archives Complex Bonar Law - Bennett Building 23 Dineen Drive UNB Campus Fredericton, New Brunswick Telephone: 506-453-2122

Mailing Address P.O. Box 6000 Fredericton, New Brunswick E3B 5H1

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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]

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