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?
Before 1908, the death records may contain the following information:
 * Name of the deceased
 * Death and registration date
 * Birthplace of the deceased.
 * Either the spouse's name of deceased or, if single, the father's name (1907-1908)
 * Age at death
 * Gender
 * Name of the informant
 * Informant's relationship to deceased (often a relative)
 * Former residence of the deceased (1896–1906)
 * Residence of the informant (1869–1896)

After 1908, the death records added the following information:
 * 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?
You can search the index or view the images or both. To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor
 * The name of a relative or date of the event

View the Images
View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page.
 * 1) Select Record Type
 * 2) Select Year
 * 3) Select Registration Number Range

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.

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

 * Cite the record. See below for help citing this collection.
 * Look at an image of the original record. The original may contain information that was not recorded in the index. To find a copy of the original record, visit the Archives of Ontario page.
 * To help keep track of your research, you may want to keep a research log. FamilySearch has an example example research log which you can download.
 * Use the information you have found to find the person in census records.
 * 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?

 * If your ancestor does not have a common name, collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This can help you find possible relatives.
 * Search the records of nearby areas.
 * Check for other names. An individual might appear under an unexpected name for a variety of reasons:
 * - They might have been listed under a middle name, nickname, or abbreviation of their given name.
 * -A woman may have returned to her maiden name after the death of her husband.

Known Issues with This Collection
For a full list of all known issues associated with this collection see the attached article. If you encounter additional problems, please email them to [mailto:support@familysearch.org support@familysearch.org]. Please include the full path to the link and a description of the problem in your e-mail. Your assistance will help ensure that future reworks will be considered.

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.


 * Collection Citation:

Top of Page