Canada, Ontario District Marriage Registers - FamilySearch Historical Records

Canada Ontario

What is in this Collection?
This collection includes marriage records from 1801-1858. The collection contains images of district marriage records. Most marriage entries are between the 1830s and 1850s, but there are a few entries earlier and later.

During the time of the records in this collection, Canada was run on a system of districts and counties. A district was the larger of the two and a district could contain several counties. The districts were used mainly for administrative and court purposes. To find out more about districts and counties, including tables and maps that explain the history of the districts and counties, visit | Ontario's Ministry of Government and Consumer Services website.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
Marriage records may contain the following information:
 * Name of groom
 * Name of bride
 * Residence at time of marriage
 * Date of Marriage
 * Witnesses, who might be related
 * Person who performed the marriage
 * District the marriage was performed in

How Do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know:
 * The name of your ancestor.
 * The approximate year of marriage.
 * The place where the marriage occurred.
 * The name of the intended spouse.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: To search this collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial search page ⇒Select the "District" category ⇒Select the "Years and Volume Number" category which takes you to the images.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s marriage record, carefully evaluate each piece of information about them. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details that can lead you to other records about your ancestors.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * It would be a good idea to view the original record to see if there is any additional information that might lead you to find other records or family members.
 * Use the information to look up your ancestors in the census. There you can usually find ages and additional family members. Then use the ages to find birth and death records.
 * If you know your ancestor's preferred religion, try looking for them in that sect’s local church records. For example, if your ancestor was Catholic, you can try looking online at the Ontario, Roman Catholic Church Records to find a christening, marriage or burial of your ancestor or their children. Church records were usually kept before government records, making them a necessary resource in pedigree extention.
 * Don’t forget to look for your ancestor’s death or burial information. One place to start searching is the Ontario Deaths and Overseas Deaths collection. Sometimes a person is buried in a city or town in which they did not die so it is not always accurate to assume that a burial place is the same as a death place. The name of the undertaker or mortuary could lead you to funeral and cemetery records, which often include the names and residences of other family members. If a family member was buried in a church cemetery, it may mean they were members of that congregation, and their existing church records should be examined.

I Can't Find Who I'm Looking for, What Now?

 * Errors sometimes occur in the transcription process, so it is wise to study the original record to verify the information.
 * If you are looking for a marriage that took place after 1858, try looking in the Ontario, County Marriages collection. Many of these marriages contain more information than the District Marriages collection.
 * If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they were born, married or died, then try searching records of a nearby locality in an area search. In this case, it may be useful to try looking for them in a neighboring province such as Manitoba or Quebec. They could have even crossed into Michigan, Minnesota, or another state in the United States.
 * Standard spelling of names typically did not exist during the periods our ancestors lived in. Try variations of your ancestor’s name while searching the index or browsing through images. Pay special attention to how the name should have been pronounced and try variations on the pronunciation.


 * Remember that sometimes individuals went by nicknames or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for these names as well.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image. Collection Citation: Record Citation (or citation for the index entry): Image Citation: