Ontario County, Ontario Genealogy

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

Birth

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

Marriage

 * 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 - at FamilySearch — index and images.

Death

 * 1869-1937, and some 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 ordered 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. FHL icons.png. 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. Clicking on the microfilm reel will lead to information on how to rent the film. Family History Center staff will assist you in ordering the film.

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. ($).
 * collection includes indexed Ontario church records.
 * Ontario, Canada, Catholic Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1802-1967
 * Ontario, Canada, Catholic Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1802-1967
 * Ontario, Canada, Catholic Church Records (Drouin Collection), 1802-1967
 * Ontario, Canada, Roman Catholic Marriages, 1827-1870, ($).
 * 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 Canadian Gravemarker Gallery
 * The Ontario section of Canada GenWeb Cemetery Project
 * Ontario, Canada Headstones.com
 * Canada, Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current
 * 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.

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

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.

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.)