Canada, Ontario Deaths and Overseas Deaths - FamilySearch Historical Records

What is in This Collection?
This collection includes an index of death records from July 1869 through 1937 and overseas deaths of Ontario military personnel from 1939-1947. Registrations were kept on printed forms and then bound into volumes. The entries are arranged chronologically by date of registration. A provincial act to register births, marriages, and deaths went into effect on July 1, 1869. This act created the Office of the Registrar General, and in each county or incorporated city or town, a clerk of the peace acted as the district registrar. Each municipality (city, village, town, township, or district) had a division registrar who sent all their books to a district registrar. This district registrar then transmitted the records to the registrar general at the provincial level. In 1875, the office of district registrar was eliminated, and the division registrars began sending their registrations directly to the registrar general.

What Can These Records Tell Me?
The following information may be found in these records:

Death before 1908 • 2 Death after 1908
 * Full name of the father and maiden name of the mother
 * Parents' birthplace
 * Place of death. The place of death was implied by the divisions and county where the event was registered

How Do I Search This Collection?
Before searching this collection, it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor
 * The name of a relative or date of the event

How Do I Analyze the Results?
Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images. Keep track of your research in a research log.

I Found the Person I Was Looking For, What Now?

 * Add any new information to your records
 * If available, check the image for additional information
 * Analyze the entry to see if it provides additional clues to find other records of the person or their family
 * Church Records often were kept years before government records were required and are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900

I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking For, What Now?

 * Try searching by surname only
 * The person may be recorded with an abbreviated or variant form of their name
 * Remember that spelling was generally not standardized until the early part of the 20th century

Research Helps
The following articles will help you research your family in Ontario.
 * Ontario Record Finder
 * Canada Research Tips and Strategies

Other FamilySearch Collections
These collections may have additional materials to help you with your research.

FamilySearch Catalog

 * Brenda Dougall Merriman,  Genealogy in Ontario : searching the records 3rd ed. Toronto, Ontario : Ontario Genealogical Society, 1996 FS Library 971.3 D27m 1996
 * Families (Ontario Genealogical Society) Waterloo, Ontario : Ontario Genealogical Society, 1971- FS Library 971.3 B2f
 * Fawne Stratford-Devai and Ruth Burkholder, Vital records in Ontario before 1869 : a guide to early Ontario vital records Milton, Ontario : Global Heritage Press, c2003 FS Library 971.3 V27s
 * Deaths - registration, 1869-1937 and index, 1869-1937
 * Division registrar vital statistics records, 1858-1930
 * Probate registers, 1793-1858; and estate files, 1793-1859
 * edited by Bill Zuefelt, ed. Court of probate : registers and estate files at the Archives of Ontario (1793-1859) : an index of genealogical research Toronto, Ontario : Ontario Genealogical Society, c1986 FS Library 971.3 P2z
 * Probate minute book, 1795-1847; probate record books, 1789-1901; probate estate papers, 1858-1900; index, 1877-1953

Citing This Collection
Citations help you keep track of places you have searched and sources you have found. Identifying your sources helps others find the records you used.