Newfoundland Ancestors: Directories online at Memorial University

 Newfoundland did not become a province until 1949. However, the first official accounts of Europeans setting foot on Newfoundland goes back to the late 1400's. The historic site L'anse aux Meadows is over 1,000 years old, and attributed to Leif Eriksson. The province is considered England's first overseas colony, going back to Elizabeth the first.

Newfoundland is not in the available national Census records for Canadian research. They do have their own census returns, held onsite at Library and Archives Canada and The Rooms in Newfoundland. You can also view the original images online both at Family Search and at Ancestry for 1921,1935, and 1945. Transcriptions of many years are available at the Newfoundland Grand Banks website. I wrote a previous blog post on their site back in 2018, which you can access here. Directories are a great census substitute. I wrote a previous blog post on a what a great source of information directories can be, which you can read here. Memorial University has digitized several varieties of directories and indexes on their site.

For each of the publications, you view each a page at a time. Use the side bar to go through the pages. You have the option of downloading and/or printing specific pages to your computer.

I've provided links to some of what's available on the site

Directories

• A directory : containing names and present addresses of professional men, merchants and shopkeepers, burnt out by the general conflagration of July 8th, 1892 - a great resource if your ancestor lost their homes and/or businesses due to the devastating fire in St. John's in 1892. The first part of the book gives an account of the fire itself. The names are arranged alphabetically

• Business and general directory of Newfoundland, 1877
  

• Directory for the Towns of St. John's, Harbor Grace, and Carbonear, Newfoundland, for 1885-86
  

• Hutchinson's Newfoundland directory for 1864-65
  

• List of electors. Harbor Grace, 1900
  

• Lovell's gazetteer of British North America [1871; extract: Newfoundland sections only]
  

• Lovell's Province of Newfoundland directory, 1871
  

• McAlpine's Maritime Provinces directory for 1870-1871 [Extract: Newfoundland sections only]
  

• McAlpine's Newfoundland directory, 1894 to 1897
  

• McAlpine's Newfoundland directory, 1898
  

• McAlpine's Newfoundland Directory, 1904
  

• McAlpine's St. John's city directory, 1915 : comprising a directory of St. John's, a classified business directory, a street directory and directory of Belle Isle, Carbonear and Harbor Grace.
  

• McAlpine's St. John's directory : containing a directory of citizens and business and street directories 1908-9 ; also, directories of citizens of Harbor Grace and Carbonear and classified business firms of Newfoundland
  

• Newfoundland Directory 1936
  

• Newfoundland directory : containing an alphabetical list of all business firms and private citizens and list of streets in St. John's and St. John's Suburbs, also directories of Bay Roberts, Harbor Grace, Carbonear, and Burin West ; also list of popular hotels, tea rooms, motor service stations and business houses in the Districts of Hr. Main and Port-de-Grave
  

• Devine and O'Mara's City Directory for 1897
  

• St. John's city directory, 1924
  

• St. John's classified business and city directory 1932
  

• St. John's Newfoundland Directory 1913
  

Census Substitutes

• Number of inhabitants in the Harbour of Brigues, Cupids, Bareneed and Port de Grave ending September 27th 1817 - this handwritten census substitute lists the heads of household. Also listed are the number of men, women, children, female servants and male servants. 
  

• An account of inhabitants residing in the harbor & district of St. John's, 1794-1795 - This index was compiled from the 1794/1795 census of St. John's. It would be good to read the first few pages, as it explains the abbreciartions and reference numbers

• Newfoundland Population Returns 1836
  

Blue Books

These ledgers kept by the Colonial Governors mainly deal with the mundane figures involved in running the colony. However, they also list appointments, and do have some names listed. The University has digitized a large amount of these. These are a few to get you started.

• Newfoundland Colonial Blue Books 1822
  

• Newfoundland Colonial Blue Books 1823
  

• Newfoundland Colonial Blue Books 1825
  

• Newfoundland Colonial Blue Books 1826
  

• Newfoundland Colonial Blue Books 1836
  

• Newfoundland Colonial Blue Books 1838
  

• Newfoundland Colonial Blue Books 1840
  

• Newfoundland Colonial Blue Books 1841
  

• Newfoundland Colonial Blue Books 1843

Miscellaneous

• First four hundred Royal Artillery, 1940 - If your ancestor was one of the first 400 men attested to the two Newfoundland regiments of Britain's Royal Artillery during World War II, you'll want to look at this. It includes the names and addresses of then men, as well as an honour roll.

• First Newfoundland Regiment Rifle Range Register - this unique resource has the names and points scored on the rifle range. It covers the first world war years. The sheets also give wind direction and visibility.

• The journal of Oliver Rouse, Anglican missionary in Newfoundland : September 1846 to May 1850 - This journal mentions the names of many people and places within the province
  

• The first five hundred : being a historical sketch of the military operations of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment in Gallipoli and on the Western Front during the Great War (1914-1918), together with the individual military records and photographs where obtainable of the men of the first contingent, known as "The First Five Hundred", or "The Blue Puttees"