Manitoba Cemetery, Funeral Home, and Newspaper Records - International Institute

Cemetery and Funeral Home Records
Cemetery records may provide the genealogist with information about ancestors. This will depend on who owns the cemetery. Church cemeteries usually did not charge church members for plots so often the information about the deceased is part of the church record. This record often will not indicate whether the person was buried in the church cemetery or else where. Rural Municipalities, villages and cities keep Burial Registers that detail the plot location, the name of the person who purchased the plot, the name of the deceased, date and place of death, date of burial, the name of the funeral home and sometimes the cause of death. Not all burial registers survive for all cemeteries. A death registration will tell you where the deceased was buried. Beware of disinterments. The Inventory of Archival Records in Western Manitoba or Inventory of Archival Records in Eastern Manitoba lists communities with cemetery records. Some cemeteries are starting to put some records on the Internet. Use a search engine to check if the records you want are online.

Manitoba Genealogical Society (MGS) Cemetery Program
Members of the Manitoba Genealogical Society (MGS) began locating and transcribing headstone information in Manitoba in 1978. These cemeteries are arranged by their location within each Rural Municipality. A master surname index for all transcribed cemeteries is found at the MGS Resource Centre. Members of the Society can view the list without charge while others must pay the daily research fee.

MGS have copies of most cemetery transcriptions for sale. This list along with the cost may be found on the MGS web page. Copies of maps that show the names of the Rural Municipalities and their boundaries are found in Carved in Stone, the MGS publication that describes the program and has the lists of the cemeteries, their location and if they have been recorded when the book was published. An excellent description of the project with detailed maps is found in Generations: The Journal of the Manitoba Genealogical Society.

Guides

 * Carved in Stone: Manitoba Cemeteries and Burial Sites. 2nd edition. Winnipeg: Manitoba Genealogical Society, 1997.


 * Holy Ghost Roman Catholic Cemetery Records. East European Genealogist 6 and 7 (Summer and Fall 1998, Winter and Spring 1999).


 * Jonasson, Eric. “Manitoba Cemetery Index.” Generations: The Journal of the Manitoba Genealogical Society 3 (Fall 1978), 4 (Spring 1979), 5 (Summer 1979).

Funeral Homes
Funeral homes may have records that could provide information about people who have died. Records vary from person to person depending on the knowledge the informant had about the deceased. Because there are no regulations with regard to retaining the records many records were destroyed or taken by the owners when funeral homes were sold.

To find the name of a current funeral home check online telephone books or contact the:


 * Manitoba Funeral Service Association Box 48067, RPO Lakewood Winnipeg, Manitoba R2J A43 Telephone: (204) 947-0927 Email:[mailto:info@mfsa.mb.ca info@mfsa.mb.ca]

A list of those funeral homes and cemeteries that belong to the association can be found on their web page.

Newspapers and Newspaper Indexes
Newspapers allow us to have a picture of a community and the province at the time our ancestors lived. There is much information to be gained if we look beyond the birth, marriage and obituary/death notices. The classified section has ads to notify the public about Changes of Name and Divorces, a Notice to Creditors tells us there will be surrogate court records. We learn the names of the churches, schools, organizations and sports teams in the community. From the Local News type columns we learn who was traveling, why they were traveling, whom they were visiting and who and why people were visiting the community. During times of war there is extensive information about members of the community who have enlisted, those who were injured in battle, those missing or kill in action and/or those who returned.

Manitoba Legislative Library
The Manitoba Legislative Library has an extensive collection of newspapers published in Manitoba dating back to 1859. The book The Manitoba Newspaper Checklist, 1859-1986 contains the list of the newspapers that have been published in Manitoba and which newspapers are found on microfilm. There is an online database that lists what copies of the newspaper are currently available. Those newspapers on microfilm are available through Interlibrary Loan.


 * Manitoba Legislative Library 100-200 Vaughan Street Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 1T5 Telephone: (204) 945-4330 Email: [mailto:legislative_library@gov.mb.ca legislative_library@gov.mb.ca]

Guides

 * Loveridge, D.M.A Historical Directory of Manitoba Newspapers 1859- 1978. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, c1981.


 * The Manitoba Newspaper Checklist, 1859-1986. Winnipeg: The Association, 1986.

Library and Archives Canada
The Library and Archives Canada has received all newspapers microfilmed in Canada since 01 January 1988. The library also lists all newspapers filmed by provincial/territorial institutions. At this time there is an in-house finding aid which allows on site users to locate all the National Library holdings. The last edition of the Union Lists of Canadian Newspapers on Microfiche list the names of the newspapers published in Canada, showing which libraries have copies and which editions have been microfilmed.

Guide

 * Union Lists of Canadian Newspapers on Microfiche. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 1993.

Indexes to Manitoba Newspapers

 * Centre d’études franco-canadiennes de l’Ouest, compiler. Index du journal Le Métis 1871-1881. Saint-Boniface, Manitoba: Le Centre, 1981.


 * Centre d’études franco-canadiennes de l’Ouest, compiler.Index du journal Le Métis 1881-1925. Saint-Boniface, Manitoba: Le Centre, 1982.


 * DeGroot, John G., compiler.Manitoba Notices: Selected Births, Marriages, Anniversaries and Deaths Extracted From the AWinnipeg Free Press, November 1984-February 1986. Ottawa: Self-published, 1991.


 * Contains about 6,100 entries of individuals who appear to be of French origin. Section One is an alphabetical name index and Section Two has photocopies of the actual notices.


 * Hamson, Vera, compiler. An Index of Births, Marriages, Deaths and Residents Found in Newspapers of Thompson, Manitoba: A genealogical aid for those interested in looking for family history in the Thompson area. Winnipeg: self-published, 2003.


 * Index to the Obituaries of Brandon Newspapers 1900-1909. Brandon, Manitoba: South West Branch Manitoba Genealogical Society, no date.


 * Index to the Obituaries to Brandon Sun 1910-1919. Brandon, Manitoba: South West Branch Manitoba Genealogical Society, no date.


 * Obituary Notices Index: Manitoba Rural Newspapers 1980-1990. Winnipeg: Manitoba Genealogical Society, 1990.


 * Obituary Notices Index: Winnipeg Newspapers 1969-2002. Winnipeg: Manitoba Genealogical Society,1999 +.


 * Pallet, Mary, compiler. The Winnipeg Tribune Subject Clipping Research Files: Microfilm Master Index. Winnipeg: Department of Archives and Special Collections, University of Manitoba Libraries, 1986.


 * Covers 1890-1980. There is an alphabetical subject index, subdivided chronologically. The actual clippings are in 167 microfilm reels found in the general collection of the University of Manitoba.


 * Stokes, Kathleen Rooke et al. An Index of Marriage and Death Notices From Manitoba Newspapers: Vol. 1: 1859-1881. Winnipeg: Manitoba Genealogical Society, 1986.


 * Stokes, Kathleen Rooke et al. An Index of Birth, Marriage and Death Notices From Manitoba Newspapers: Vol. 2: 1882-1884. Winnipeg: Manitoba Genealogical Society, 1993.


 * Stokes, Kathleen Rooke et al.An Index of Birth, Marriage and Death Notices From Manitoba Newspapers: Vol. 3: 1885. Winnipeg: Manitoba Genealogical Society, no date.


 * Stokes, Kathleen Rooke et al. An Index of Birth, Marriage and Death Notices From Manitoba Newspapers: Vol. 4: 1886. Winnipeg: Manitoba Genealogical Society, no date.

____________________________________________________________

Information in this Wiki page is excerpted from the online course Research: Manitoba Ancestors offered by The National Institute for Genealogical Studies. To learn more about this course or other courses available from the Institute, see our website. We can be contacted at [mailto:wiki@genealogicalstudies.com wiki@genealogicalstudies.com]

We welcome updates and additions to this Wiki page.