User:Rmbackus/Sandbox/Manitoba

Guide to Manitoba ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth, marriage, and death records found in civil registration, census records, church records, and cemetery records. Birth, death, and marriage information is the foundation for describing your family history. It defines the life span of individual ancestors, and links both generations and ancestral lines. Your four best sources for locating this information are these record groups: You will find some of these records online in digital form. Others are available on microfilms available through Family History Centers. Correspondence searches are required for records kept in centralized archives or in the original offices that created them. This article gives you links and instructions for accessing these important record groups in their various forms.
 * Civil registration
 * Census
 * Church
 * Cemetery

Civil Registration
A government civil registration system registers births, marriages, and deaths. Also included may be name changes, divorces, and adoptions. Certificates are issued for each event. The Vital Statistics Agency, a Special Operating Agency under The Special Operating Agencies Financing Authority Act, performs this function on behalf of the Ministry of Health.

In addition to Manitoba registrations, civil divorces were granted by private acts of the Parliament of Canada from 1867 to 1919.

Manitoba Vital Statistics Agency
254 Portage Avenue Winnipeg, MB  R3C 0B6

Telephone: 204-945-3701 Toll Free:	1-866-949-9296 Fax:	204-948-3128 Email: vitalstats@gov.mb.ca

Genealogy Webpage: The Agency database contains information from vital event records from 1882 to present. You can request a genealogical search for:
 * Births less than 100 years ago
 * Marriages less than 80 years ago
 * Deaths less than 70 years ago

Genealogical Search Application Form. If the Agency locates the requested record, you receive a certified photocopy. If the record is not located, a Search Receipt is issued stating that there is no record for the years searched.

Vital Statistics Agency Collections at Ancestry.com ($)

 * Web: Manitoba, Canada, Birth Index, 1866-1912
 * Web: Manitoba, Marriage Index, 1879-1931
 * Web: Manitoba, Death Index, 1881-1943

Other Ancestry.com Collections ($)

 * Canada Parliamentary Marriage and Divorces, 1867-1919
 * Canada, War Graves Registers (Circumstances of Casualty), 1914-1948. The collection can be browsed by province.
 * Canada, Obituary Collection, 1898-2015 ($).  This collection of substitute vital information was compiled from hundreds of newspapers.
 * Canada, Royal Canadian Mounted Police obituary card index and notices, 1876-2007

Archives of Manitoba
130-200 Vaughan St. Winnipeg, MB R3C 1T5 Telephone: 204-945-3971 Toll Free (Manitoba only): 1-800-617-3588 Email: archives@gov.mb.ca

Archives of Manitoba main webpage Partial index of Manitoba soldiers killed in the First World War includes over 1000 entries.

Census Records
A census is a count and description of the population. Census records can provide family relationships, age, year of birth, description of property, religion, and place of birth. They can provide information missing from other records. Use census information with caution because information may be incorrect or deliberately falsified.

Manitoba became a province in 1870, so it was first included in the Canadian census in 1881. In 1906 the first Prairie Provinces Census was taken in Manitoba. This was one year after the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta were created, and Manitoba borders redefined.

Censuses of the Red River Settlement (1827–1856, 1870)
The Red River Settlement was located in the Red and Assiniboine Rivers area. Censuses for 1827-1856 were taken by or for the Hudson Bay Company. The 1870 census was taken under the direction of Canada's Department of Agriculture.

The online FamilySearch browse collection contains images of typed card indexes to the census returns. The entire collection (1831-1870) can be browsed, or the 1870 census by itself. Names are divided into alphabetical groups to facilitate browsing. Click on the "Learn more" link located under the collection description for detailed information.

Censuses of Other Early Settlements
Descriptions of early settlement censuses can be located by searching the Archives of Manitoba Keystone Archives Descriptive Database. The database includes censuses and other records dated from 1705-1941. Some censuses include individual's names and family information. However, most focus on numbers of people in various categories, cultural information, and commercial parameters (buildings, stock, furs, accounts, expenses, personnel, and general information).

Church Records
Church records may include baptisms, marriages, burials, membership lists, finances, business, and other records for a particular congregation. They may be available online or on microfilm, but frequently have not been copied.

Original records may still be with the local church or in centralized archives by religion. To determine which church archive to consult, check census records for the person's religion.

For help with writing a letter requesting copies of records, see Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy.

Links to Church Archives

 * Anglican church archives
 * Baptist church archives
 * Roman Catholic church archives
 * Lutheran church archives
 * Mennonite church archives
 * Presbyterian church archives
 * Ukrainian Greek Catholic church archives
 * Ukrainian Greek Orthodox church archives
 * United Church of Canada archives

Online Records
Web: Canada, Wesleyan Methodist Baptismal Register, 1828-1910


 * (Index)
 * Canada, Quaker Meeting Records, 1786-1988: Browse to Swarthmore Monthly Meeting, 1905-1929 and Swarthmore Monthly Meeting 1906-1929. ($)
 * Canada, Quaker Meeting Records, 1786-1988: Browse to Swarthmore Monthly Meeting, 1905-1929 and Swarthmore Monthly Meeting 1906-1929. ($)

Cemetery Records
See Saskatchewan Cemeteries for detailed information about cemetery research.

Online Cemetery Records

 * Canada GenWeb Cemetery Index. Also available at Ancestry.  ($)
 * Saskatchewan Cemeteries Project
 * Saskatchewan Genealogical Society Cemetery Database
 * Find A Grave indexed entries may include photographs, portraits, biographies, and stories.
 * FamilySearch, 1500-2013.
 * Ancestry Canada, Find A Grave Index, 1600s-Current. ($)
 * Canadian Headstones.com. Index available at Ancestry.
 * Canadian Headstones.com. Index available at Ancestry.

FamilySearch Microfilm Available for Saskatchewan
Microfilm copies of additional church and cemetery records may be identified by searching the online FamilySearch Catalog. To see all the Saskatchewan localities for which records have been identified in the Catalog, Click Here, then click on "Places within Canada, Saskatchewan."
 * 1) Select a locality to see what types of records are available.
 * 2) Click on the "Church records" type to see specific collection titles.
 * 3) Choose the title that reflects the correct religion and time period for your ancestor.
 * 4) 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.
 * 5) Follow the same procedure for "Cemeteries."

Microfilm can be ordered for viewing at one of the worldwide FamilySearch Centers or participating libraries near your home. Introduction to LDS Family History Centers explains that you can receive one-on-one assistance at a Center without charge. Also provided are links to information about the microfilm loan program and how to find a Family History Center.