Halton County, Ontario Genealogy

Canada Ontario  Halton County

= Townships =


 * Trafalgar
 * Nelson
 * Esquesing
 * Nassagaweya

Boundary Changes
Prior to 1816, Halton County was part of the Home District of Upper Canada. In 1816, the Gore District was formed, comprising of two counties: Halton and Wentworth.

Halton County has seen many changes over the course of the years:


 * In 1816, Halton County contained the following townships: Beverly, Blandford, Blenheim, Dumfries, Flamborough, Nelson (formed in 1806), Nichol, Trafalgar (formed in 1806), Waterloo and Woolwich.
 * In 1821, the Esquesing and Nassagaweya townships were added.
 * In 1840, Halton County is divided into East and West Ridings. The West Riding included Garafraxa, Nichol, Woolwich, Guelph, Waterloo, Wilmot, Dumfries, Puslinch and Eramosa Townships.
 * In 1845 the townships of the West Riding of Halton form Waterloo County and the townships of Blandford and Blenheim become part of Oxford County.
 * In 1849, all Districts including the Gore District ceases to exist.
 * In 1853, the Beverley township was transferred to Wentworth County.
 * In 1854, the Flamborough township was transferred to Wentworth County.


 * In 1973, Halton County was dissolved to form the Regional Municipality of Halton.

Biographies
Thomas Merrick (Oakville)

Colonel William Chisholm and family (founder of Oakville)

Chief Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea) - (Burlington) He owned the land which later became Burlington

Also, refer to Biographies in the Province of Ontario Resources - Biography.

Cemeteries
Refer to the follow resources for information regarding cemeteries in Halton:

Transcriptions and online resources:

 * Archives of Ontario Microfilm collection for Halton- provides a list of the cemetery transcriptions available at the archives and through ILL (Interlibrary Loan)
 * Halton-Peel branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society - provides a list of cemeteries transcribed in Halton and available for purchase. Also includes online, historical details about each cemetery and GPS co-ordinates.
 * Ontario Cemetery Finding Aid - online database for names of indivduals interred in various Ontario cemeteries. Searchable by given name, last name, cemetery, township and/or county.
 * Cemetery Ancestor Index and cemetery locator (OGS) - for a list of Halton cemteries in this index refer to this file: ogs.andornot.com/halton%20report.pdf.

Burlington:

 * Burlington Memorial Gardens
 * Greenwood Cemetery
 * Holy Sepulchre - Catholic Cemetery

Oakville:

 * City managed cemeteries - includes Trafalgar Lawn and seven inactive or "pioneer" cemeteries (Bronte, Merton, Munn's, Oakville/St. Mary's, Palermo, St. Jude's and Wedgewood).
 * Glen Oaks

Milton:
Evergreen - includes online search

Halton Hills:

 * Town managed cemeteries - including Greenwood (Georgetown), Fairview (Acton) and seven inactive or "pioneer" cemeteries (Trafalgar Road Pioneer Cemetery ( Georgetown), Pioneer Cemetery
 * (Georgetown), Pioneer Cemetery (Hornby), Acton Pioneer Cemetery (Acton), St Paul’s Anglican Cemetery (Norval), Worden Pioneer Cemetery (Acton), Hornby Presbyterian Cemetery (Hornby))
 * Holy Redeemer - Georgetown Catholic Cemetery

Additionally, please read about Cemeteries in the Province of Ontario Resources - Cemeteries.

Census Records

 * 1841 census for Trafalgar Township - online transcription
 * 1852 census for Halton County - online transcription with original images
 * 1901 census for Halton County- online transcription with original images
 * 1911 census for Halton County - online transcription with original images

Additionally, please read about Census Records in the Province of Ontario Resources - Census.

Church Records
Halton County Marriages - online transcriptions of 1858-59, 1860, 1865-66, 1868, Georgetown Congregational 1858-1872

Halton Marriage records - manual transcription lookups for:


 * Halton Journal 1855- 1858 - Halton Co. Ontario
 * Halton-Peel Marriages performed at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church,
 * Halton-Peel Marriage performed at St. James Anglican Cathedral

Home District - online transcriptions of:


 * 1840-56 (Vol II pg 37)
 * 1831-33 (vol 10)
 * Register of Stephen Howard, Clerk of the Peace, 1803-1830 (Vol 6)
 * Register of Rev. James Harris, Presbyterian Church, 1823 - 1825 (Vol. 7)
 * Register of Rev. James Harris, Presbyterian Church, 1826-1831 (Vol. 8)
 * Brock Parish, Anglican Church records

Also check out: Church Records in the Province of Ontario Resources.

Court Records
At this time, please read about Court Records in the Province of Ontario Resources - Court Records.

Directories
Halton Historical Directories

Online searchable index of Halton names in the following directories:


 * Canada Directory of Professional and Business Men, Montreal: John Lovell, 1851
 * Canada Directory of Professional and Business Men, Montreal: John Lovell, 1857
 * Fuller's counties of Peel and Halton Directory for 1866 & 1867, Blackburn's City Steam Press, Toronto, 1866
 * County of Halton Directory, 1869-70, Hamilton: A. Lawson and Co., 1869
 * Lovell's Business and Professional Directory of the Province of Ontario for 1882, Montreal: John Lovell & Son, 1871
 * Lovell's Business and Professional Directory of the Province of Ontario for 1882, Montreal: John Lovell & Son, 1882
 * Morrey's Business Directory - Halton, Waterloo and Wellington, Ingersoll: Union Publishing Co., 1896
 * Morrey's Business Directory - Halton, Waterloo, Wellington counties, Ingersoll: Union Publishing Co., 1899

Genealogy
At this time, please read about Genealogies in the Province of Ontario Resources - Genealogy.

Land and Property Records
Illustrated Historical Atlas

At this time, please read about Land and Property Records in the Province of Ontario Resources - Land and Property.

Local Histories
The history of Georgetown (now part of the Town of Halton Hills)


 * http://www.downtowngeorgetown.com/about/history-of-georgetown
 * http://www.georgetownon.ca/index.php/culture/heritage/80-brief-history-of-georgetown-ontario

The history of Limehouse (now part of the Town of Halton Hills)

The History of Oakville


 * Town History - http://virtualwalk.ca/index.php/Oakville-Ontario/History-Geography-Oakville.html
 * Oakville Images collection (searchable) - http://images.oakville.halinet.on.ca/search
 * Oakville Hydro http://www.oakvillehydro.com/ohc/about_history.aspx
 * Oakville Trafalgar High School - http://oth.hdsb.ca/?q=node/6
 * Oakville Trafalgar Hospital - http://www.haltonhealthcare.com/about_otmh_history.php
 * Oakville Masonic Lodge - http://www.oakvillelodge400.ca/history_of_oakville_lodge.html

At this time, please read about Local Histories in the Province of Ontario Resources - History.

Maps
At this time, please read about Maps in the Province of Ontario Resources - Maps.

Military Records
At this time, please read about Military Records in the Province of Ontario Resources - Military Records.

Newspapers & Obituaries
A Number of Halton County and present day Regional Municipality of Halton newspapers have been digitally scanned, indexed and are searchable online. http://news.halinet.on.ca/search provides a portal to search for birth, marriage and death announcements, article and in some cases, full issue browsing.

Searchable and/or archived Halton newspapers, including publication dates ranges:


 * Acton Free Press, 1875-1984 (HHPL)
 * Acton Tanner, 1992-1997 undefined (HHPL)
 * Burlington Gazette, 1899-1986 (BPL)
 * Burlington Post (BPL)
 * Canadian Champion (MPL)
 * Daily Journal Record
 * Erin Advocate (HHPL)
 * Georgetown Gemini (HHPL)
 * Georgetown Herald, 1867-1992 (HHPL)
 * Georgetown Independent, 1973-1978 (HHPL)
 * Georgetown Leader (HHPL)
 * Halton Hills This Week (HHPL)
 * Hamilton Spectator
 * Independent & Free Press, 1985-present (HHPL)
 * Nassagaweya Country News
 * New Tanner (HHPL)
 * North Halton Compass (HHPL)
 * Oakville Beaver (OPL)
 * Oakville Journal Record (OPL)
 * Oakville News (OPL)
 * Oakville Record (OPL)
 * Oakville Record-Star (OPL)
 * Oakville Star & Independent (OPL)
 * Oakville Trafalgar Journal (OPL)
 * Standard and Halton and Peel Gazetteer

The acronym in brackets after each newspaper denotes the public library that holds archived material for these papers (microfilm, microfiche etc). Library details are listed below:

Probate Records

At this time, please read about Probate Records in the Province of Ontario Resources - Probate Records.

Taxation Records
At this time, please read about Taxation Records in the Province of Ontario Resources - Taxation.

Vital Records

 * Ontario Death Registrations (surname search)
 * Ontario Birth Registrations (surname search)

At this time, please read about Vital Records in the Province of Ontario Resources - Vital Records.

Societies:

 * Bronte Village Historical Society: http://www.brontehistoricalsociety.ca/
 * Burlington Historical Society: http://www.burlingtonhistoricalsociety.ca/
 * Esquesing Historical Society: http://www.esquesinghistoricalsociety.ca/
 * Milton Historical Society: http://www.miltonhistoricalsociety.ca/
 * Halton-Peel Genealogical Scoiety: http://www.halinet.on.ca/sigs/ogshp/index.htm
 * Oakville Historical Society: http://www.oakvillehistory.org/
 * Trafalgar Township Historical Society: http://www.tths.ca/

Libraries:

 * BPL: Burlington Public Library (www.bpl.on.ca)

Central Branch: 905.639.3611


 * HHPL: Halton Hills Public Library (www.hhpl.on.ca)

Georgetown Branch(note this branch is closed until Fall 2012): 905-873-2681


 * MPL: Milton Public library (www.mpl.on.ca)

Main Street Branch: 905-875-2665


 * OPL: Oakville Public Library (www.opl.on.ca)

Central Branch: 905-815-2042