Ontario Land and Property

Online Records

 * Ontario Land Registry Access Archives of Ontario
 * Upper Canada Land Books Library and Archives of Canada
 * 1763-1865 - Upper Canada Land Petitions (1763-1865)
 * Upper Canada Sundries
 * Michael Stephenson's Upper Canada Land Petitions Index A-Z
 * 1764-1841 - Quebec's Lower Canada Land Petitions, 1764-1841 Present-day Ontario was part of Quebec before 1791. Many petitions submitted by people living in Ontario before 1791 can be found here.[1]
 * 1765-1804 - Search: Land Boards of Upper Canada, 1765-1804
 * Heir and Devisee Commission The government created the Heir and Devisee Commissions to settle disputes about who was entitled to receive the letters patent for a parcel of land.
 * Crown Lands Department Township papers, ca. 1783-1870's
 * 1796-1894 - Heir and Devisee Commission Land records, 1796-1894 - at FamilySearch

Research Guides and Instructions
Archives of Ontario Research Guides: Library and Archives Canada '''OnLand Records at My Moynahan Genealogy Blog. These are quite complex but have some good illustrations:'''
 * Finding Land Registration Records
 * From Grant to Patent: A Guide to Early Land Settlement records, ca. 1790 – ca. 1850
 * Pathfinder Research Guide to Land Patents At the Archives of Ontario
 * Using the Ontario Land Records Index ca. 1780 - 1920
 * Pathfinder Research Guide to: The Ontario Land Records Index (OLRI)
 * Researching Crown Land Records
 * Pathfinder Research Guide to Petitions for Land
 * Library and Archives Canada: Land Records
 * Part I: OnLand Records: Historical Books: First Registration Book Instruction
 * Part II: OnLand Records: Historical Books: Abstract/Parcel Register Book Instructions
 * Part III: OnLand Records: Historical Books: General Register Index Instructions
 * Part IV: Historical Books: Canada Lands Index Instructions

Importance of Land Records

 * Land record indexes are among the best tools for locating residents in Ontario before 1851 when few censuses and other province-wide records or indexes exist.
 * Many immigrants came to Ontario to claim available land, so land ownership was generally recorded soon after they arrived.
 * Also, wills were often copied into deed books and other land records instead of in probate records. Land records sometimes exist when other records are not available.

Ontario Land Records History

 * The British crown (government) frequently offered prospective settlers free land grants.
 * The continuing settlement of Ontario was enhanced by large numbers of land grants to American Loyalists and their children who began moving into Ontario during the American War for Independence, 1775--.
 * In 1789, Land Boards were established in four Ontario districts, Hesse, Nassau, Mecklenburg, and Lunenburg, to better organize the land granting process.
 * In 1791, Upper Canada (Ontario) was separated from Lower Canada (Quebec), so many land records of Ontario before 1791 are still in Quebec land records.
 * In 1794, Ontario Land Boards were dissolved— their authority and records were then transferred to the more centralized Executive Council. The land registration system has now been replaced with a land title system, where title to the land is registered. Land title records are held by the Land Registry Offices.
 * Until the early 1900’s, a large number of wills (more than half for some counties) were registered with the Land Registry Offices instead of being probated (homologated) in the Courts. Those wills were treated as land records.

Information in Ontario Land Records

 * where and when ancestors lived in an area
 * the name of spouses, heirs, and other relatives
 * the names of neighbors (potentially relatives)
 * where ancestors lived previously
 * the occupation of ancestors
 * the relationship of ancestors to a Loyalist ancestor
 * when ancestors left the area and where they were moving
 * who transferred the land to an ancestor, and the person to whom the ancestor transferred it—people who are possibly relatives
 * Heir and Devisee Commissions records may explain a person's entitlement to land, such as military service or Loyalist ancestry. They may list:
 * the date of an application for land
 * the age of the applicant
 * and his place of birth.

Types of Land Records

 * Instruments and deeds – these are the original documents filed by the parties. They include sales, bankruptcies, liens, wills, and other documents transferring or affecting ownership.
 * Copybooks of instruments and deeds – transcriptions made by Land Registry Office staff of instruments and deeds registered with them.
 * General Registers – transcriptions of wills filed at the Land Registry Offices, beginning in 1865; wills registered prior to 1865 would be found in the copybooks of instruments and deeds.
 * Abstract Indexes – indexes to the instruments and deeds for a given township or town, arranged by lot and concession (or subdivision) number.
 * Alphabetical Indexes – indexes to the instruments and deeds for a given township or town, arranged by name of the parties.

Using Ontario Land Records
Some Ontario land records are indexed. Others are not indexed, but are organized geographically by their legal land description which includes the county, township, concession number, and lot number.

Search land records by index.
If you find an ancestor in one of these indexes, write down the name of the ancestor's county, township, concession number, and lot number.
 * Ontario Land Registry Access Archives of Ontario
 * Upper Canada Land Books Library and Archives of Canada

Search land records arranged by description.
You may also find an ancestor in further  land records organized under the description of the land. In order to do this you must first identify their property (find the legal description). This legal description usually includes the county, township, concession number, and lot number. Three types of records help identify an ancestor's land:


 * Land records with surname indexes (already explained in Step 1 above)
 * Censuses
 * Illustrated historical atlases

Censuses
A census was taken in Ontario (a.k.a. Canada West) every ten years starting in 1851. Every person is listed by name in each census' personal  or population  schedules. In selected census years important land information was also listed in separate agricultural  schedules, or listed in building and land  schedules. These additional schedules show the county, township, concession and lot numbers of a person's land:


 * 1901 Census "Buildings and Lands, Churches and Schools" schedules follow each enumerator's population schedules.
 * 1861 Census "Agricultural" schedules appear at the end of each county after all other personal schedules for all the towns in that county.
 * 1851 Census "Agricultural" schedules follow each set of personal schedules.


 * [[Image:1851 Ontario Ag Sched.jpg|900px|1851 Ontario Ag Sched.jpg]]

'''If you find an ancestor in one of these censuses, write down the name of the ancestor's county, township, concession number, and lot number. Links to online census indexes and images for Ontario are at:'''

To learn more about Ontario census records in general see the Ontario Census Wiki page.

Illustrated Historical Atlases


For some southern Ontario counties, illustrated historical atlases show farm lots and concession numbers with the names of landowners in the late 1860s and 1870s. The atlases are listed in the Family History Library Catalog Places Search under the name of the Ontario county with the topic Maps. Most of these oversize folios are in the Family History Library's high density storage. For the location of copies of these atlases available at other repositories, view the WorldCat Online Catalog. Many are also available on microfilm. Most of Ontario's illustrated historical atlases are indexed in:
 * The Central Canadians, 1600-1900, 3 vols. (Toronto: Genealogical Research Library, 1994). . . This index is in the FHL Canada reference area. Look in the back of each volume for the keys to localities and sources.
 * Canadian Genealogy Index, 1600s-1900s. Family Tree Maker's Family Archives; 118. ([Novato, Calif.]: Brøderbund, 1996). . Contains over 2 million entries, this CD shows name, event, date, location, province, county, source (sometimes an illustrated historical atlas), and page.


 * This latter Index  is also on the Internet at Ancestry.com available for free at the Family History Library and family history centers.

'''If you find an ancestor in one of these atlases, write down the name of the ancestor's county, township, concession number, and lot number.

Use the land description to find the land records.
Once you know the county, township name, concession number, and lot number, you can use this information to find an ancestor's land records. Be sure to note who sold the property to your ancestor, and who obtained the property from your ancestor—these are potential relatives. Look for the ancestor's land records in these sources:

Township Papers
Township Papers, ca. 1783-1870's. Archives of Ontario, 1982. This series includes early records for most southern Ontario townships and some cities. Search alphabetically for the names of the townships and cities. Papers for lots in townships are arranged by concession and farm lot. Papers for cities are arranged alphabetically by owner's name. These records may include maps; petitions; correspondence about land disputes, including the names of ancestors; or military discharge papers showing the place of birth.

Abstract Index Books of Deeds
These are arranged by county, township, concession, and lot numbers. They tell what happened to a particular piece of property through time, from the date of the original grant or patent to as late as 1959. The grantors (sellers) and grantees (buyers) are listed and should be considered candidates to be relatives. Memorial numbers (file numbers, or Number of Instrument) are also listed for each transaction (sale or will). If you find it, write down the memorial number of an ancestor's property for use looking up the deed.


 * [[Image:Ontario Land 170913.jpg|900px|Ontario Land 170913.jpg]]

Deeds
If you have a memorial number, found in the Abstract Index, for the years prior to 1880, you can look for deed records.

Search for probate records,
When individuals died, their land was usually sold or transferred to an heir or creditor. Usually a person's last will and testament was copied either into a deed book at a land registry office, or into a probate record at the probate court or surrogate court to make a land transfer official. Copies of the will or probate papers are rarely filed in both the land registry office and the court. But probate papers in the land registry are a hint that you may find some additional related papers in court records.

Probate Registers and Estate Files
The Abstract Index Books, listed under Step 2, are the major indexes to wills recorded or memorialized in deed books. If land records show the person's estate was proved or probated before a court, look for additional information about the person in one of the following sources:


 * Bill Zuefelt, Court of Probate: Registers and Estate Files at the Archives of Ontario (1793-1859): an Index for Genealogical Research. ([Toronto]: Ontario Genealogical Society, 1986). . . This record indexes:


 * Upper Canada. Court of Probate, Probate Registers, 1793-1858; and Estate Files, 1793-1859 (Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1982). On . The probate registers may include wills, administrations, guardianships, or citations of next of kin. Estate files may include inventories, administration papers, bonds, affidavits, letters, or wills.

Surrogate Court Records Index

 * Catherine Shepard, Surrogate Court Records Index, 1793–1858. (Toronto: Ontario Genealogical Society, [1988]). . . This index may list dates, volume and page numbers, and the county that received the pre-1854 records.


 * For film numbers of indexed records, check the Family History Library Catalog Place Search under the name of the county and the topic Probate Records.

More recent surrogate court records can also be found under the same catalog Place Search heading. For a county-by-county index see:


 * June Gibson, Surrogate Court Index of Ontario, Canada, 1859-1900, 27 vols. (Agincourt, Ont.: Generation Press, 1988- ). . This index lists name, locality, will number, and year proved. A table in each volume lists the Archives of Ontario microfilm reel numbers that are indexed in that volume.