Tag Archives: Genealogy

Take a summer road trip and discover your ancestors

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Did you head out to visit your family this summer? Whether you were attending a family reunion, a wedding or an informal get-together, the time spent with
family may have started you thinking about your family history. Did you know that you can discover exciting facts and details about your family by visiting
the Genealogy and Family History pages of the Library and Archives Canada website?

If family history research is new to you, we’re here to help

Begin your search by looking up the following Web pages and use these helpful tips when preparing your quest in family history:

Next, gather the information that you already have in your possession. An attestation paper from the First World War, a marriage certificate, even family pictures can reveal
information about your ancestors.

Talk to your family members and ask questions such as the names of the children in your parents or grandparents families. Did they come to Canada as
immigrants? If so, from which country did they originate? Passenger lists and
their list name indexes can sometimes provide surprising details about a family arriving in Canada.

Now that you have the basics, what else do you need?

A copy of the records in your possession, some writing material (whether in the form of pen and paper or a laptop computer) and a digital camera, will
assist you in documenting your discoveries. Maps of the area where your ancestor was living are also useful in your family history research. For instance,
knowing precisely where your ancestor was living in 1911 or in 1916 (for example, in what county or district) will enable you to find him or her in the Census returns, which contain information such as the profession, date of birth and the siblings living in a given household.

Are you visiting relatives in Ottawa?

If so, visit our Genealogy Services room, located at 395 Wellington Street.
Ensure successful research by watching the video Orientation Services for Clients at 395 Wellington before you
arrive.

Happy research and discoveries!

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!

Did your ancestors come from the Ukraine?

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Do you ever wonder who your first Ukrainian ancestor was and when he or she left the Ukraine and arrived in Canada? Are you curious about your family’s Ukrainian heritage?

If so, our website is a great place to begin your research. For instance, you will find a page specific to genealogical research about Ukrainians.

It provides you with historical background information, archival and published material from our collection, as well as links to other websites and
institutions.

If your ancestor came to Canada between 1865 and 1935, you might find his or her name on passenger lists.

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!

Did your ancestors come from Acadia?

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Do you ever wonder who your first Acadian ancestor was and when he or she arrived in Acadia? Are you curious about your family’s Acadian heritage?

If so, our website is a great place to begin your research. For instance, you will find a page specific to genealogical research for Acadians. It provides you with historical background information, archival and published material from our collection, as well as links to other websites and institutions.

You may begin by consulting the Parish Registers fonds, which contains transcriptions of parish registers of various Acadian parishes and from the Gaspé peninsula.

You may also consult the biographies of the 37 main Acadian families, such as “Surette” and “Poirier” [available in French only], from the Université de Moncton’s website.

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!

Summary of comments received in French up to September 30th, 2013

  • A user mentioned that he used and will still use Library and Archives Canada’ services to document the descendants of Jacques Bourgeois and Jeanne Trahan. The results of this work is available online at http://Histoire-de-Bourgeois.ca.

Did your ancestors come from Russia?

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Do you wonder who your first Russian ancestor was and when he or she left Russia and arrived in Canada? Are you curious about your family’s Russian heritage?

If so, the LAC website is a great place to begin your research. For instance, you will find a page specific to genealogical research for the Russians. It provides you with historical background, LAC’s archival collections and published material, as well as links to other websites and institutions.

If your ancestor came to Canada between 1865 and 1935, you might find his or her name on passenger lists.

Tip:

Tracing your Russian ancestor in Canada is the first step. Joining a genealogical society is an ideal way to begin your genealogy research.

Learn where and how to begin your research at Library and Archives Canada by watching this short orientation video: Orientation Services for Clients at 395 Wellington.

For more information on recent announcements at LAC, visit “News“.

Did your ancestors come from Italy?

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Do you wonder who your first Italian ancestor was and when he or she left Italy and arrived in Canada? Are you curious about your family’s Italian heritage?

If so, the LAC website is a great place to begin your research. For instance, you will find a page specific to genealogical research for the Italians. It provides you with historical background, LAC‘s archival collections and published material, as well as links to other websites and institutions.

If your ancestor came to Canada between 1865 and 1935, you might find his or her name on passenger lists.

Tip

Tracing your Italian ancestor in Canada is the first step. Joining a genealogical society is an ideal way to begin your genealogy research.

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!

New France Census Records

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Did you know that several nominal censuses dating from the early French colonial period have been digitized and are available on our website?  You will see that most of these census records list only the heads of the household. Here are a few examples (in French, only):

To find other censuses such as those mentioned above, simply enter the keywords “recensement nominatif”, “recensement habitants” or “recensement familles” in our “Collection Search” database  and select “Online: yes.”

Note that since the records are of French origin and have been written only in French you must use French keywords to search.

For more information on census records, we invite you to visit our Genealogy and Family History pages.

Happy hunting!

Census Search Tips and Tricks

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Genealogists researching census records may encounter various challenges, including:

Spelling variations

  • Indexers may sometimes have trouble making out enumerators’ handwriting or interpreting records when they are in poor condition
  • Enumerators’ ability to spell and transcribe the information they received correctly may greatly influence search results
  • Enumerators occasionally translated names into their mother tongue or transcribed them phonetically. Accordingly, French-Canadian names like Jean-Baptiste or Marie-Anne might be translated as John Baptist or Mary Ann

Date variations

  • Many dates of birth may also be inaccurate. For example, our ancestors sometimes had trouble remembering their children’s exact date of birth and even their own

Inaccurate information

  • The household member interviewed by the enumerator might have provided incorrect information, which will also influence search results

Help is at hand!

Over the years, genealogists at Library and Archives Canada have come up with research tricks. Here are a few that are sure to help:

  • If you located your ancestor in the 1901 census, for example, but have trouble finding him or her in the 1911 census, just jot down the names of your ancestor’s neighbours from the 1901 census, then try to find them in the 1911 census. With luck, your ancestor will have stayed at the same address, and you will easily trace him or her
  • If you are having difficulty finding an ancestor, try limiting your search criteria; for example, if your ancestor has an uncommon name or surname, search for him or her using only that name
  • You may find information about your ancestor in a city directory if he or she lived in a large city. If this is the case, try searching the directory of the city your ancestor lived in to confirm his or her residence there. Read our blog post What Can Canadian Directories Do for You? to learn more
  • Our Genealogy and Family History section provides search tips and a list of abbreviations found in censuses

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!

Opa! Did Your Ancestors Come From Greece?

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Do you wonder who your first Greek ancestor was and when he or she left Greece and arrived in Canada? Are you curious about your family’s Greek heritage?

If so, the LAC website is a great place to begin your research. For instance, you will find a page specific to genealogical research for the Greeks. It provides you with historical background, LAC’s archival collections and published material, as well as links to other websites and institutions.

If your ancestor came to Canada between 1865 and 1935, you might find his or her name on passenger lists.

Tip

Tracing your Greek ancestor in Canada is the first step. Joining a genealogical society  is an ideal way to begin your genealogy research.

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!

Did Your Ancestors Come From Ireland (Eire)?

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Do you wonder who your first Irish ancestor was and when he or she left Ireland and arrived in Canada? Are you curious about your family’s Irish heritage?

If so, the LAC website is a great place to begin your research. For instance, you will find a page specific to genealogical research for the Irish. It provides you with historical background, LAC’s archival collections and published material, as well as links to other websites and institutions.

If you know your Irish ancestor came to Canada before 1865, the following three databases are great starting points for your research:

If your ancestor came to Canada between 1865 and 1935, you might find his or her name on passenger lists.

Tip

Tracing your Irish ancestor in Canada is the first step. Tracing your ancestor in Ireland will require more research as the county where he or she came from in Ireland might not be known. Joining a genealogical society is an ideal way to begin your genealogy research.

Don’t forget to listen to The Shamrock and the Fleur-de-Lys, our podcast about the mass immigration of Irish settlers to Quebec in the 1800s.

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!

What Can Canadian Directories Do for You?

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Canadian directories have long been a valuable resource at Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and can be used for a variety of purposes. Before telephone books came into use, Canadian directories (sometimes simply referred to as city directories), were used as a tool for advertising and marketing within a community and were intended to facilitate communication between buyer and seller.

Our collection includes national, provincial/territorial, county and city directories from across Canada, primarily from the 19th and 20th centuries. Genealogists are frequent users of the directories as they provide opportunities to track a person within a given time period and place. An individual’s address, occupation and the names of other household members are only a few of the gems that lie ready to be discovered within their pages.

Canadian directories are a popular tool for genealogists but they aren’t the only ones who can benefit from this resource! These directories have many other excellent uses.

Canadian Directories can…

  • help determine the urban development of an area
  • be used to determine the history of a building
  • showcase advertisements from a certain time period that can be a valuable source of information about the services, products and entertainments available to Canadian society
  • provide information on the companies that were active during that time period
  • furnish a list of city officials
  • supply researchers with population statistics for that time period
  • offer the names and locations of important community institutions such as schools, churches, etc.

Useful Resources

Questions or comments? We would love to hear from you!