Canada, Census, Civil Registration, Coroner, and Probate Records - International Institute

Specific Groups of Records
Let’s examine some groups of records, with the idea of thinking about the kind of problems they solve and how the archivist can help you to use them, or if, in fact, researchers should need much assistance in using them.

Census
Most introductory texts about genealogy explain how the census works, which ones are available and how to find them. Since the census is widely accessible, use it before coming to the archives. From the census, you can learn names, family groupings including relationships, years and places of birth, ethnic group, occupation, whether people could read and write, and, from the 1901 census onward, when they came to Canada. Aside from an occasional interpretive problem, researchers should be able to use the census without much assistance from archivists beyond help in determining how the microfilm reels are housed in their institution.

Other census than the every-name federal ones (1851-1921) are available going back to 1666 in New France. These will probably not be every name but may still help in locating families and determining their composition (how many people in the house and general age-sex distribution). A complete listing of those available through Library and Archives Canada (LAC) can be found in Catalogue of census returns on microfilm, 1666-1891=Catalogue de recensements sur microfilm, 1666-1891, by Thomas A. Hillman (1987) and its companion volume, same title, for the 1901 census alone. Many of the census records, both indexes and digital images, are available online, at free and pay-for-view sites.

LAC also offers information about the various census records including common abbreviations used, instructions to the enumerators, and meaning of the column headings at the above link.

Civil Registration Records
These are government-controlled registration of births, marriages and deaths. The dates of the beginning of these activities vary considerably across Canada, and the arrangements for them did as well. You cannot expect that these will be available in the archives, as the government in question may regard them as private and may control the dispensing of information from the records very carefully. Consult a genealogical handbook to see how the matters are handled in the province which interests you.

If some of the civil registration records have become publicly available, they are probably at the provincial archives. Before coming to the archives, consult the website to see what, if anything, they have in this area and how it can be approached. The provinces range from complete control still residing in the government department, with no access beyond formal certificates, to annual transfers of records to the archives, with indexes or even the online purchase of digitized copies. Always find out if there are indexes available in printed form, which can be consulted ahead of time. There are such indexes for British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, for example. Check, as well, to see what is online from the province of your interest. It will save considerable time, effort and expense if digital copies are online rather than visiting a provincial archive to obtain the same copy from a microfilm.

If an archive has copies of the civil registrations from an early period which are available, you can expect the archivist to explain how to use the system to find the ones you need. Civil registration, even in the nineteenth century, is a very complex business and it may be that finding an entry will be a multi-step process. If so, there are probably explanatory leaflets. If you can, find them ahead of time.

Birth, death and marriage certificates are so full of information for the genealogist that they will be discussed further.

Coroner’s Records
The local coroner was required to investigate any death which took place suddenly or under unusual circumstances. The coroner’s permission was required before the body could be taken for burial, and the records of his court were kept in the same way that other court records were.

The accessibility of these records varies considerably from province to province, some provinces considering that more recent ones should be kept private, others making them public. From them, researchers can learn more about the death of an individual, including quite detailed circumstances, and it is possible to learn family relationships, if someone testified at the inquest who was a family member, or about the family members themselves.

There is little that can be done before coming to the archives beyond determining (from a website) if there are coroners’ records available, and ensuring you have the date of death with you. The archivist will be able to point out how to request the records, and may interpret difficult passages in the records, although the language used, aside from actual medical terms, is usually straightforward.

If you find an inquest occurred, it might have been reported in the newspaper, if the death was interesting enough. If coroners’ records are sealed for the moment, consider doing a newspaper search to find an account of the inquest.

Wills and Probate
A genealogical handbook will tell how wills are handled in your province. Before you come to the archives, discover the process and fix in your mind what kind of documents you may find. Ensure you have the date of death, or approximate year if the date of death is not known.

Documents from the probate process may supply a date of death if it was not known before, may give a list of relatives with their relationships specified, and perhaps their places of residence, will give some idea of the economic status of the devisee. It is wise to read a will carefully to see if it tells us more between the lines than the actual words say; the words, which are often complicated, can be pared down in this process of reading. Examples of wills which tell us more than the words say will be examined in the next session.

If there was not a will, but simply an application for probate, there will be a detailed list of the contents of an estate, and a list of interested parties with their relationship to the deceased.

If there is no will in the court records, genealogists should consider looking at land records where they may locate a copy of an unprobated will. Many estates consisted only of the land owned by an individual, their house or farm. To avoid the expense of the probate process, the will could simply be attached to the relevant deeds at the land registry office, indicating the change of ownership. The wills treated in this manner remain among the land records. Some counties in Ontario have published volumes listing wills in this category.

The archivist can assist you in understanding how the probate documents are arranged in the archives, and where to find them or how to request them. ___________________________________________________________________________

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