Ontario Land Records - International Institute

What’s Available on the Internet
Library and Archives Canada - Upper Canada Land Petitions 1763-1856 Library and Archives Canada have an index database for Upper Canada Land Petitions searchable by name and place. The results provide the necessary information to access the petition by microfilm.

Library and Archives Canada - Upper Canada Land Board 1765-1804 Library and Archives Canada have an index database for Upper Canada Land Board with more than 16,400 references searchable by name and district. The results provide the necessary information to access the document by microfilm.

Websites of Interest
Library and Archives Canada

Archives of Ontario

Ontario Genealogical Society

Many branches of the OGS have separate websites, reached through the above. Some will have projects that transcribe information about local land descriptions, or excerpts of landowners from historical atlases, gazetteers or directories.

The township maps of nineteenth century Ontario historical county atlases, many of which feature names of farm occupants (not necessarily the owners) at the time of publication, can be seen at McGill University’s In Search of Your Canadian Past: The Canadian County Atlas Digital Project. A few atlases are also featured for Quebec and the Maritime Provinces. The site is searchable by the name of a map or a person.

In Search of Your Canadian Past: The Canadian County Atlas Digital Project

Maps
Map of Northern Ontario



Map of Southern Ontario



History
After the Treaty of Paris in 1763, British territory encompassed the colony of Québec with boundaries that extended across what would become Upper Canada (Ontario). The British Crown ruled, although French civil law continued to dominate the land ownership system. British merchants, commercial interests, and some settlers moved into the colony, followed by the Loyalists during and after the Revolutionary War. Their combined influence demanded a land tenure system similar to the American colonies, and was successful.

The Constitutional Act of 1791 divided Québec into Upper Canada (Ontario) and Lower Canada (Québec). Later when the Act of Union came into effect in 1841, Upper and Lower Canada were united as the Province of Canada (Canada West and Canada East). Finally in 1867 with the British North America Act, Canada West became the province of Ontario.

So we must determine when land records were created, and if or how these different jurisdictions affected them. As a genealogist you will want to investigate land records for information about your ancestors, in the variety of data they can provide. Some, more than others, can be a rich source of information.

Ontario land records are in two different categories, Crown land records and Land Registry records. The Crown Land Records pertain to property owned by the Crown. Once this property was disposed of by grant or sale (patent issued) it no longer fell under the Crown lands records category.

The second category, Land Registry records, pertains to property after it was granted or sold by the Crown. In Ontario in 1795 a land registry system was established to document land ownership. See Land Registry records further for more detail.

Crown Lands Records
All land was Crown property until it was given or sold to an individual or corporation. Initially, many free grants were dispensed, meaning an eligible individual did not pay for the land itself. A free grant usually meant the recipient paid the service fees incurred by the government departments who processed the paperwork. In the case of the Loyalists, the fees were waived. It was the colonial government which determined eligibility for free grants. Once the grant or patent was issued by the Crown, its responsibility ended and was assumed by local Land Registry or Land Titles offices.

Norman MacDonald, author of Canada, 1763-1841, Immigration and Settlement: The Administration of the Imperial Land Regulations, gives an interesting view on this topic.


 * “The Land of Upper Canada was initially regarded in Great Britain and in Canada as Crown land to be managed under the direction of the Colonial Office by the Lieutenant-Governor and Executive Council of the province, assisted later by an official who bore an English title, Commissioner of Crown Lands. The Imperial government was at first disposed to give the land away to reward loyalty and service; later it wanted to make the land pay the expenses of its administration; finally it became eager to develop a revenue from the Crown lands to further emigration from the mother country. Gradually, the land came to be thought of as public domain subject to the legislature of the province, and this foreign concept came to be accepted by the Colonial Office.”

This is a good example of the feelings and thoughts of the day. So many different changes and adjustments were made because of this pattern of decision making by the British government.

Loyalist Land Grants
Land in Upper Canada was granted to the United Empire Loyalists for two reasons. The first was to reward them for their loyalty to the Crown and the second was to help increase the growth of settlement of the country. Grants to Loyalist refugees were generally 100 acres to a head of family, and an additional 50 acres for each child or dependent. Men who fought with the various Loyalist corps were entitled to 200 acres for a private, rising from there up to 5,000 acres for a field officer. Of course some evidence of their service was necessary for approval. The Upper Canada Land Petitions series can often reveal good genealogical information about these men.

Procedures and Steps in Land Granting Process
The general procedures for acquiring land were as follows:

Beginning in 1795 in Ontario, any early settler who wanted a free grant of land was required to submit a petition to the Governor or Lieutenant-Governor stating his wish. As in any government system there was a series of steps that had to be taken in order for the grant to be awarded.

First the petition was made to the Lieutenant-Governor. If approved a grant was ordered by the Executive Council. A copy of the order-in-council with a warrant to survey was forwarded to the Receiver General’s office where all appropriate fees were paid. The receipt of these fees was sent back to the Executive Council and filed.

The order-in-council and the warrant of the survey were then forwarded to the Attorney General’s office where the order was replaced by a fiat authorizing that the grant be made. The fiat and the warrant were then taken to the Surveyor General’s office.

The parcel of land to be granted was located and a description of the location was issued. The description and the Fiat were sent to the provincial secretary who engrossed (created/issued) the patent or certificate proving ownership.

A record of each patent was then recorded in the docket book of the Auditor General and in the register of the Provincial Registrar.

The Provincial Secretary kept the fiat and description and issued the patent to the petitioner.

As you can see, there was a lot of paperwork to simply get a piece of property identified and authorized for the settler. However, each time another step took place another record was created which, as genealogists, is to our benefit. Fawne Stratford-Devai lecturing on Upper Canada land records and the land granting process, stated, “Payments received were recorded in 13 different places; this is the beginning of the trail of records.”

The procedures outlined above are just a general outline as individual circumstances dictated the route people had to follow depending on their own situation. It serves as a guideline to help direct your search through the maze of government records created by the land granting process.

There were certain obligations to be fulfilled by the settlers when they received their land grant. They were to build a house, clear a certain amount of land and other and various duties within a certain time period. Because this was not done by many, the government imposed another step in the system.

An affidavit was required to be presented to the Surveyor General by the petitioner before the fees were paid and before the Attorney-General’s fiat was issued. The affidavit was to confirm that the settlement duties had been completed. As you can see, this changed the time and order of the paperwork and therefore makes the present day search all that more interesting and rewarding.

In 1827, free grants were abolished for all but children of United Empire Loyalists and those who were eligible for grants for militia or military service. At that time a Commissioner of Crown Lands was appointed and he became responsible for all existing Crown Land sales in Ontario. All petitions and applications now had to be sent to this Commissioner of Crown Lands.

The early land records of Ontario and Québec are divided between Library and Archives Canada and the provincial archives. The division of the records is the result of political processes.

Library and Archives Canada
Library and Archives Canada 395 Wellington Street Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N4 Telephone: 613-995-5138 Toll-free Canada &amp; US: 1-866-578-7777

Library and Archives Canada has custody of such land-related documents as petitions, land books, land board minutes and other sources. For the most part, the Archives of Ontario has microfilm copies of the series created during the eras of Upper Canada and Canada West. Both institutions participate in inter-institutional lending of microfilm.

Land Boards
After four districts were created in the western part of Québec (1788), the Lieutenant Governor appointed a Land Board for each district, which was to hear applications for land and assign specific locations for settlers with a location ticket or certificate. In the very early re-settlement period, Loyalists and other settlers were given slips of paper or certificates by the first Land Boards to denote the location of their lots. It was expected that these papers would later be exchanged for a patent grant. The boards reported to the Governor-in-Council which was advised by the land committee, a sub-committee of the Council.

This first Land Board system lasted only until 1794 when a more centralized land granting procedure evolved. The Clerk of the Executive Council kept minutes of the committee’s proceedings in what are known as Land Books. After the War of 1812, Land Boards were re-established with a more restricted role. Sixteen volumes of records of the early Land Boards(LAC, RG 1, L 4) have been microfilmed. They may include reports and correspondence, and sometimes documents which pre-date their establishment. An index to names and subjects was prepared and microfilmed. It is available in a searchable online database.

Upper Canada Land Petitions are designated LAC, RG 1, L 3; there are nominal card indexes in two series (microfilms C-10810 to C-10836 and H-1176 to H-1178). Petitions requesting (“praying for”) a land grant are often the most informative source about an early ancestor. Both the indexes and petitions are microfilmed. The index is available in an online searchable database.

Upper Canada Land Books (LAC, RG 1, L 1) are also filmed. The Ontario Genealogical Society is publishing an extensive series, Index to the Upper Canada Land Books which may “catch” some of the errors or omissions in the index to petitions. An illuminating introduction to this series, in each volume, is by Patricia Kennedy, acknowledged expert on the Archives’ pre-Confederation period.

There were two Heir &amp; Devisee Commissions, the first 1797-1804 (LAC, RG 1, L 5) and the second 1805-1911 (Archives of Ontario, RG 40), both microfilmed (Archives of Ontario has copies of the first commission). They were created to sort out and correct problems arising from claims for land and confirm earlier certificates or location tickets as eligible for a patent. As a result, the applicants often provided a wealth of information to support a claim for a piece of property. Many of the earliest settlers had lost their original papers, or had moved away, or perhaps died, causing additional confusion.

The first series is arranged by districts and has no nominal indexes. By patiently scrolling through the minutes, reports and correspondence, you may find a rewarding reference to your ancestor. The second series has a nominal index according to the person who applied to the commission. That person might have come to the property later than your ancestor, so you are advised to use the Ontario Land Records Index to see who did receive the patent to a specific piece of land.

Archives of Ontario
Archives of Ontario 134 Ian Macdonald Blvd. Toronto, Ontario M7A 2C5 Telephone: 416-327-1600 Toll-free in Ontario only: 1-800-668-9933 Email: [mailto:reference@ontario.ca reference@ontario.ca ]

Crown Land records are found in RG 1 at the provincial archives (not to be confused with RG 1 holdings of Library and Archives Canada). The Crown Lands Department was created in 1827 when most free grants stopped and land was now to be sold. There are hundreds of sources in this record group, including petitions, location registers, sales registers of Crown/clergy/school reserves, and so on. It also has sources which pre-date the Crown Lands Department, such as orders-in-council, fiats and warrants, and sponsored emigration settlements. Most of these are briefly described on the AO website. Some land-related records are in different series, as indicated. A few of the most relevant for family historians are the following:

Ontario Land Records Index ca. 1780-1920
This is a microfiche index of settlers who have:

1. Requested Crown land to settle on.

2. Received permission to lease or live on a specific piece of Crown land while fulfilling their settlement duties.

3. Received the patent for the land.

4. Leased or purchased land from the Canada Company or were Peter Robinson settlers (will be discussed in Canadian Land Records-Part 2).

This index is arranged by name or by township. Copies of the microfiche index have been distributed to almost all libraries, archives in Ontario as well as the FamilySearch Centers. Of course, a copy is also available at the Archives of Ontario.

When you are searching through the index, be sure to use your genealogical research skills, i.e.: search all possible spellings, including phonetic and typo errors. When you find your person or location, copy the entire citation. You will need all the data shown to continue on to various groups of records. This index provides:


 *  the settler’s name and residence (if known);
 *  township, concession and lot of the crown property;
 *  date and type of grant;
 *  the archival reference to the source of the data.

To determine if your settler eventually acquired the patent to the land you should check the Index to Land Patents in series RG 53-56, arranged by surname, 1826-1967.

You should also check the Index to Land Patents in Series RG 53-55 arranged by township, 1793-1852, and the Abstract Indexes to Deeds which are also arranged by township.

Remember, however, that these are indexes. To do a proper job of your research you must access the documents. An entry on an index is not considered to be genealogical proof of a fact. An index is a finding aid only.

The Archives of Ontario provide many research guides to assist you with your work. Research Guide No. 205 “Using the Ontario Land Records Index ca. 1780-ca. 1920” includes the information to help you interpret the results of your findings. (See Tables 1-6 in the Research Guide on the Archives of Ontario website.

Indexes to Land Patents
Indexes to Land Patents (1793-1826) as well as book copies of Land Patents are at the Archives of Ontario (RG 53), in the records of the Official Documents section. The Index to Land Patents has been organized by:


 * Name 1826-1967 (RG 53-56)
 * Township 1793-1852 (RG 53-55)
 * District 1793-1825 (RG 53-2)

The Research Guide 215 From Grant to Patent: A Guide to Early Land Settlement Records,ca.1790 to ca.1850 is available on the Archives of Ontario website.

The original book copies of Land Patents issued for Crown Lands in Ontario are at the Archives of Ontario in RG 53-1 from 1793-1984.

The copy of the actual Crown Patent must be ordered from:


 * Ministry of Natural Resources Crown Land Registry P.O. Box 7000 300 Water Street, 5th Floor South Peterborough, ON K9J 8M5 Telephone: 1-800-551-5552 Email: [mailto:crownlandregistry@ontario.ca crownlandregistry@ontario.ca]

Provide as much information as possible about the record being requested, such as lot, concession, township, name of original grantee and date of patent, if known. Do not send payment with your request. You will be informed of the amount owing when the request is processed.

Clergy Reserves, Crown Reserves, School Lands
The Clergy reserves, Crown reserves and School lands were designated parcels of land that were set aside to provide funds, upon their sale, for the church, state and schools.

Military Land Grants
Free grants were offered to those who fought during the Fenian Raids (1866, 1870) and in the South African Campaign (Boer War, 1899-1902) as Military Land Grants. The surname indexes are available on self-serve microfilm at the Archives of Ontario. The grant books themselves have not been microfilmed and must be requested in the archives Main Reading Room. Veterans’ land grants records 1901-1922 and earlier grants to militiamen for service in the War of 1812 are included in the Ontario Land Records Index.

Patent Plans 1780-1977
These plans were drawn at the time a township was surveyed. The names of the original grantees were written on them. Over time, information such as patent numbers and references to other land records were added on some of the plans. These records can only be viewed in the special Collections Reading Room at the Archives of Ontario. For further information, the series description is in Inventory 1, Crown Lands and Natural Resources Records.


 * Township Papers are a miscellaneous group of documents that were received or created by the Surveyor General and the Commissioner of Crown Lands or their agents during the land granting process. They could include petitions, location tickets, certificates of settlement duties and correspondence. They are arranged by township (thus the name), concession and lot numbers.


 * Crown Lands Petitions are a series of petitions (1827-1856) addressed to the Commissioner of Crown Lands, often through one of his land agents. They are microfilmed and indexed.

Geographic Division of the Land: The Survey
Upper Canada was originally divided into districts, with townships clustered in locations accessible by water. The township became the basic unit of land division, surveyed into parts called concessions and lots.

Each concession is a strip of land 1¼ mile wide. A road allowance, generally 1 chain (66 feet) in width separates the concessions, usually every five townships lots. The width varies however; some allowances are only 40 feet wide.

Concessions can run in any direction and are usually divided by a road. Each concession is numbered, usually with Roman Numerals (I, II, III, etc.). When concessions do not run the length or width of the township because of water, they are usually labeled with letters (A, B, etc.).

A gore is a piece of a township that does not fit in the rectangular shape, i.e.: “extra” land or land that goes around a body of water. In this case the shorelines of lakes, rivers and swamps form irregular boundaries and are known as broken front concessions.

Concessions are divided into lots that use Arabic numbers (2, 3, 4, etc.). A lot was originally 200 acres, and then could be sub-divided into two parcels of 100 acres each. The lots ran parallel to the road and were often divided by direction, i.e. the south ½ or the south part of lot 4, or the southeast ½ of lot 4. Further sub-divisions could then be made, i.e.: the east ¼ of the south ½ of lot 4, or in more recent times, into parcels of acreage.

Land Registry Records and Offices
For information about land registry records and the addresses for land registry offices, see the Wiki page, Ontario Land Registry Records and Offices (National Institute).

Additional Information
For additional information see:

Ontario Land and Property

Ontario Land Records

____________________________________________________________

Information in this Wiki page is excerpted from the online course 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.