Ontario County, Ontario Genealogy

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Ontario

Ontario County

Guide to Ontario County ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.

Ontario Online Genealogy RecordsAsk the
Community

Civil Registration

Birth

• 1869 - 1911 Ontario Births, 1869-1911 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1858 - 1913 - Ontario, Canada Births, 1858-1913 at Ancestry.com--index and images. ($)
• 1869 - 1912 - Ontario Births, 1869-1912 at [1]--index. ($)

Marriage

• 1801-1858 - Ontario, District Marriage Registers, 1801-1858 at FamilySearch — index and images.
• 1801-1928, 1933-1934 - Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1801-1928, 1933-1934 at Ancestry.com--index and images. ($)
• 1858-1869 - Ontario, County Marriage Registers, 1858-1869 at FamilySearch — index and images.

Death

• 1869-1937, and some 1939-1947 - Ontario Deaths, 1869-1937 and Overseas Deaths, 1939-1947 at FamilySearch — index and images
• 1869-1938, 1943-1944, and some 1939-1947 - Ontario, Canada, Deaths, 1869-1938, 1943-1944, and Deaths Overseas, 1939-1947 at Ancestry.com--index and images. ($)

Writing for a More Recent Birth, Marriage, or Death Record

• ServiceOntario, Birth Records is the only government-authorized source for obtaining birth certificates. Go to the section entitled "Order a Birth Search". This is the most economical, searches the widest time period, and allows searches for people not immediately related. A letter of information is provided rather than a certificate.
• ServiceOntario, Marriage Records offers a marriage search option and a historical certificate option.
• ServiceOntario, Death Records offers a death search option and a historical certificate option. Also official death certificates are available to a wider range of relatives than birth and marriage certificates.

FamilySearch Library Microfilmed Records

Some of the church/civil records have been microfilmed by FamilySearch.These microfilms may be available for viewing at Family History Centers around the world. To find a microfilm:

a. Click on records for Canada, Ontario, Ontario County. You will see a list of available records for the county.

b. You will also see above the list the link Places within Canada, Ontario, Ontario County. This will take you to a list of towns in the counties, which are links to records for the specific town.

c. Click on any topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.

d. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the microfilm listed for the record. . The magnifying glass indicates that the microfilm is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the microfilm.

Census Records

Year	Census	Links
1800-1842	Ontario and Nova Scotia Census, 1800-1842	Ancestry $
1851	Canada Census, 1851	Archives of Canada FamilySearch Ancestry $
1861	Census of Canada, 1861	Archives of Canada FamilySearch Ancestry $
1871	Census of Canada, 1871	Archives of Canada FamilySearch Ancestry $
1881	Census of Canada, 1881	Archives of Canada FamilySearch Ancestry $
1891	Census of Canada, 1891	Archives of Canada FamilySearch Ancestry $
1901	Census of Canada, 1901	Archives of Canada FamilySearch Ancestry.com $
1911	Census of Canada, 1911	Archives of Canada FamilySearch Ancestry $
1921	Census of Canada, 1921	Ancestry $

Church Records

Church records can include baptisms, marriages, burials, membership lists, financial business, and other records for a particular congregation. They may be available online or on microfilm, but frequently they are still with the local church or in centralized archives by religion. The Canadian census records asked for the religion of those listed, so you will be able to narrow down which archives to consult. For help with writing a letter requesting copies of records, see Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy.

• Link to Anglican church archives
• Link to Baptist church archives
• Link to Catholic church archives
• Link to Lutheran church archives
• Link to Moravian church archives
• Link to Presbyterian church archives
• Link to United Church of Canada (including Methodist) church archives

Online Church Records

These records are incomplete.

• Ontario Births and Baptisms, 1779-1899 collection includes indexed Ontario church records.
• Ontario Marriages, 1800-1910.
• Ontario, Roman Catholic Church Records, 1760-1923., images only.
• Ontario, Canada, Roman Catholic Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1760-1923, index and images, ($).
• Ontario, Canada, Catholic Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1802-1967

($).

• Ontario, Canada, Roman Catholic Marriages, 1827-1870, ($).
• Various individual church records at FindMyPast, ($).

Cemetery Records

See, Ontario Cemeteries for information on cemetery record collections not yet digitized, but available in published sources and on microfilm.

Online Cemetery Records

• Ontario Cemetery Finding Aid website has a free, searchable database of over 2 million burials in Ontario.  It can be searched by name, cemetery, county and town, but its references do not include dates of death.  Although it does not include any gravestone inscriptions, it can be used to locate graves in Ontario.
• Ontario Cemetery Ancestory Index
• Ontario Name Index (TONI)
• The Ontario section of Canada GenWeb Cemetery Project
• Ontario, Canada Headstones.com
• Ontario, Toronto Trust Cemeteries (FamilySearch Historical Records)
• Canada, Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current

Useful Websites

• Canadian Geographical Names Data Base (CGNDB) - gives brief information about a place, including historic names/places. For historic information, scroll to #3, and click Formerly Official, also try with All.
  

• Google Maps - shows the whereabouts of places on a map.
  

• Google Images - shows pictures/photos/old maps (sometimes) of a place.
  

• WorldCat - shows sources (books, maps, etc.) at various libraries/repositories, etc. for a place.

Notes

• Listed below are the Populated Places in this district, according to the Gazetteer of Canada: Ontario of 1962.  This gazetteer is used for the sources of locations or Populated Places in the Family History Library Catalog for the Province of Ontario.
  

• If you wish the current division, where your Populated Place now exists, check the Canadian Geographical Names Data Base listed above.

Populated Places Table

1	2	3	4	5
POPULATED PLACE	FORMER NAME, if applicable	TYPE	FHL  CATALOG	WIKIPEDIA
Ajax			Link	Link
Altona			Link	Link
Ashburn			Link	Link
Beaverton			Link	Link
Brechin			Link	Link
Brock		Township	Link	Link
Brooklin			Link	Link
Brougham			Link	Link
Cannington			Link	Link
Claremont			Link	Link
Columbus			Link	Link
East Whitby		Township	Link	Link
Fairport			Link	Link
Fawkham			Link	Link
Glasgow			Link	Link
Goodwood			Link	Link
Green River			Link	Link
Greenbank			Link	Link
Greenwood			Link	Link
Humber Bay			Link	Link
Kinsale			Link	Link
Longford			Link	Link
Manilla			Link	Link
Mara		Township	Link	Link
Mount Carmel			Link	Link
Myrtle			Link	Link
Oshawa			Link	Link
Pickering			Link	Link
Pickering		Township	Link	Link
Pinedale			Link	Link
Port Perry			Link	Link
Port Whitby			Link	Link
Prince Albert			Link	Link
Raglan			Link	Link
Rama		Township	Link	Link
Reach		Township	Link	Link
Sandford			Link	Link
Scott		Township	Link	Link
Scugog		Township	Link	Link
Seagrave			Link	Link
Sebright			Link	Link
Siloam			Link	Link
Simcoe Point			Link	Link
Sunderland			Link	Link
Thorah		Township	Link	Link
Udney			Link	Link
Uptergrove			Link	Link
Utica			Link	Link
Uxbridge			Link	Link
Uxbridge		Township	Link	Link
Vroomanton			Link	Link
Whitby			Link	Link
Whitby		Township	Link	Link
Whitevale			Link	Link
Zephyr			Link	Link
ANY NEW LOCATIONS IN FHL CATALOG???			Link

Websites

The Forebears website will give you an extensive list of websites that could have information for people who lived in this county. Some sites cover just the county, some cover all of Ontario, and some cover all of Canada. Some sites are databases of names and facts about people; other sites cover background information such as maps, history, geography, or genealogy strategies and methods for the region.

• Forebears, Ontario County

History

Name and structure after late 20th century reorganization

Since 1974 most of Ontario County is part of Durham Region. Its two most northern townships of Rama and Mara were transferred to Simcoe County at the same time.

Places/Localities

Townships

The original townships of Ontario County (working first east then north from the southwest corner) were as follows:

• Pickering

• Whitby

• East Whitby

• Uxbridge

• Reach

• Scugog

• Scott

• Thorah

• Mara

• Rama

Independently incorporated towns and villages to late 20th century reorganization

• Pickering Village (established as a village in the 19th century, but alterations occurred in the 20th century with the growth of Ajax)

• Whitby Town

• Oshawa (became a city before the establishment of Durham Region in 1974)

• Uxbridge Village (then town)

• Ajax (established during World War 2 within Pickering Township and grew with its industries to become the major municipality within the township. The original Pickering Village is located within Ajax.

Neighbouring Counties

• York (to the west)

• Simcoe (to the north)

• Durham (to the east)

(The southern boundary is Lake Ontario.)

Family History Library