Wednesday, September 5, 2007

I want to put together a family tree and I don't know how to find relatives on my father's and mother's side. Is there a site I can go to and look up the parent's of my parent's and so on and so on?

The answer is dependent upon the place and time period. A small portion of genealogy records are available online, a larger portion are only available via the "old fashioned" route (libraries, archives, etc.). The chances of finding a website that already has your family tree laid out for you are slim. There are websites that will help you climb your family tree by offering records online but again they are dependent upon place & time (where are you looking and when?). Your best bet would be to first familiarize yourself with how to climb your family tree, then start climbing. On OntarioGenWeb we offer dozens of articles showing what genealogy records are available for what year and what place, as well as how to access these records. We also offer a Beginner's Guide and a Beginning Your Ontario Research guide.

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

How can I find out the county I want to look in? I know the areas, but not the counties

By using the Ontario Locator. It has a listing of Ontario place names and what townships & counties they are located in.

I'm looking for 1924 Coronor records from Cardiff Township, Haliburton, County. The records are not in Ontario Archives or Haliburton East records at Wilberforce, Haliburton or Minden. Can you advise were I might look next?

[From Anonymous] www.serviceontario.ca, 1-800-461-2156 or 416-325-8305. Cost $22., just received coroner's & doctor's report on deceased relative from Eagle Lake Ont!

Saturday, September 1, 2007

I am trying to figure out what abbreviations meant in early documents from land registry books. Specifically, there is an abbreviation that looks something like "B&P" which is neither a mortgage nor a deed transfer (those are clear). One example: Original patent to John Lemmon, Donald Cameron B&P Dec 10 1814 to Donald McDonald is the next line, John Lemmon et al to Donald Cameron B&P April 1 1814 is the third line

[From Bob] It wouldn't mean Bought & Paid?

[From Patty] In Brenda Dougall Merriman's book Genealogy in Ontario, there is a really good section on Land Records. I did not find B&P, but I did find B&S-meaning "bargain and sale". Perhaps this is a variation of that. There are other abbreviations-M for mortgage, QC or Rel for Quit Claims or Releases, A of M or D/M for assignmnets and discharges of mortgages, etc. Now what those all mean I have no idea! Hope it helps...

[From Andrew] The nearest I can figure is that it's a legal acronym for "Bid and Proposal". If you see this link and near the bottom it references B. & P. as part of the case law about indemnification of debt when that debt must shared amongst two parties so involved in the transaction. This is not the only place that B&P shows up as part of land transactions, but seemed to be a concrete example. Also it could be Business and Profession - but that seems highly unlikely, and hardly relevant. Hope this can help. Andrew

[From Anonymous] I do believe that should be B&S which would mean bought and sold.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Sunday, June 10, 2007

My grandmother was adopted and we already know her mothers family, can i get the records, because i think it names her father. Can i do this or do i need her to do it?

Unfortunately at this time neither of you can do it. Adoption records are currently sealed under Ontario law. There are efforts to change this decision, keep an eye on our Important Announcements page for updates.

2009 Update: Ontario adoption records are now 'open'. The adoptee or their next-of-kin (proof required) can apply for a copy of the adoption record. See Access to Adoption Records Act.

Saturday, June 9, 2007

I am missing relatives that are nowhere and am now wondering if, when they did the census from 1851 on did they do census in the Mental Asylums, if so where are they located. I am looking mainly for the Middlesex Ontario area

Mental asylums were enumerated but not under the same schedule as the personal census. Schedule A was the personal census, Schedule B was the agricultural census. Institutions were enumerated under a different schedule - to find this schedule consult the microfilm itself as only Schedules A and B were made available online at Library & Archives Canada. Note that these schedules were only microfilmed for the 1851, 1861 and 1871 census returns.

Saturday, June 2, 2007